SpeechWire Tournament Services - Forensics Tournament Software

EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL of COMMUNICATION, MEDIA & THEATRE ARTS
Education First emich.edu/CMTA

Dear Colleagues:

The coaching staff and students of the Eastern Michigan University Forensics Program and the School of Communication, Media and Theatre Arts cordially invite you and your team to attend the 49th Annual Tower Swing Invitational taking place on Saturday, February 4th, and Sunday, February 5th 2023. We are eager to have Tower back in-person this season! We are also excited to host a free tournament this year. All we ask is that you bring enough judges to cover your slots.

Both tournaments will offer all 11 NFA Individual Events. Awards will be given to the top six I.E. finalists and to all elimination round participants if needed. We will also be acknowledging the top novice for each individual event. Finally, we will recognize the top 5 competitors entered in I.E. individual sweepstakes as well as the top three schools in I.E. team sweepstakes.

Please find attached information regarding the projected schedule, entries, as well as options for lodging and food. We are very excited to announce that this year the theme of our tournament will be “Total Drama Tower.” We are so excited to see all of you here. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact Lee Schwab by either email lschwab1@emich.edu or phone 317-640-9480. Entries are due by 5 p.m. EST, Tuesday, January 31st, 2023. We look forward to seeing you in Ypsilanti!

Sincerely,

Timothy Ward                Lee Schwab
Director of Forensics            Assistant Director of Forensics

Alex Azzopardi                Olivia Allen
Graduate Assistant            Graduate Assistant

Eastern Michigan University Forensics Team · Department of Communication, Media and Theatre Arts
127 Judy Sturgis Hill Building, Ypsilanti, MI 48197
Phone: (734) 487-0320 · Fax: (734) 487-3443

2023 Tower Invitational Schedule (Saturday)
9:00 AM          Extemp Prep
9:30 AM          Round 1 of Flight A (ADS, DUO, EXT, PER, POI, PRO)
10:45 AM        Round 1 of Flight B (RC, DI, IMP, INF, POE)
12:30 PM        Extemp Prep
1:00 PM          Round 2 of Flight A
2:15 PM          Round 2 of Flight B
3:30 PM          Extemp Prep for Finals
4:00 PM          Final Round of Flight A **
5:30 PM          Final Round of Flight B
7:00PM           AWARDS CEREMONY

EMU Alumni Invitational Schedule (Sunday)
8:15 AM          Extemp Prep
8:30 AM          Round 1 of Flight A (ADS, DUO, EXT, PER, POI, PRO)
9:45 AM          Round 1 of Flight B (RC, DI, IMP, INF, POE)
11:30 AM        Extemp Prep
12:00 PM        Round 2 of Flight A
1:15 PM          Round 2 of Flight B
2:30 PM          Extemp Prep for Finals
3:00 PM          Final Round of Flight A **
4:30 PM          Final Round of Flight B
6:00PM           AWARDS CEREMONY

**We will attempt to collapse finals if possible

Entries:
All entries must be received bv 5:00 p.m. EST, Tuesday, January 31st http://www.speechwire.com

Any adjustments made to the entry after the deadline but prior to the tournament will be subject to a $10.00 nuisance fee, as well as a $30.00 fee per dropped judge. Any changes at registration will be subject to a $20.00 nuisance fee and $100 per dropped judge.

Entry Limitations:
Students may enter three events per pattern in both tournaments. Overall school entry is unlimited. Judges will be instructed to allow double/triple entered contestants to perform first.

Patterns:
A: After Dinner Speaking, Duo Interpretation, Extemporaneous Speaking, Persuasive Speaking, Programmed Oral Interpretation, Prose Interpretation
B: Rhetorical Criticism, Dramatic Interpretation, Impromptu Speaking, Informative Speaking, Poetry Interpretation

Judges:
One judge is obligated to cover six I.E. slots. We appreciate every effort to cover your slots. Additionally, any judge who is an alumnus/alumna of EMU’s Forensics Team will cover eight IE slots instead of six. Please designate alumni on your entry form.

Fees:
$0.00 for each I.E. slot (Please cover your slots 😊 )
$20.00 for each uncovered I.E. slot
$10.00 per drop prior to registration/$30.00 per dropped judge
$20.00 per dropped slot at registration
$100.00 per dropped judge at registration

Scoring:
IE: Final team sweepstakes placement will be based on team points accumulated according to the table below. Each school's top three speakers in each event will be used for tabulating prelims sweepstakes. Half of the total prelim points will be added to points based on finals placement. Team sweepstakes will recognize the top three IE programs. Individual sweepstakes awards will be given to the top five students entered in at least five individual events.

Placing
Prelims – IE
1st- 3 pts
2nd- 2 pts
3rd- 1 pt

Finals – IE
1st- 12 pts
2nd- 10 pts
3rd- 8 pts
4th- 6 pts
5th- 4 pts
6th- 2 pts

Event descriptions:
Event descriptions for all eleven NFA events can be found at www.nationalforensics.org.

Limited Preparation Events:

Impromptu Speaking - Rd 1 Quotations, Rd 2 Words, Final - Quotation

Extemporaneous Speaking: Free WIFI will be available through the universities guest login system. It will issue a temporary access. It does take a few minutes to set up an account so please factor this in when preparing for the event. Additionally, while we are confident that this service will be available, we cannot guarantee it. ***Unlike other event rules, minimum and maximum time limits provided for ALL events are enforced at the discretion of the individual judge rather than the association***

If you're on US-23, take exit 37A Washtenaw Avenue East. Continue on Washtenaw, and take a left onto Oakwood and take the first right. The McKenny Guest Pay Lot is on the right. The Mark Jefferson building is #14 on the map.

If you're on 1-94, take exit 183, Huron River Drive (There should be signs indicating it as the EMU exit). Go north on Huron River Drive, and turn left on Cross Street and then turn right on Oakwood. The McKenny Guest Pay Lot is on the right. The Mark Jefferson building is #14 on the map.

Parking: The university has made a significant shift in its parking policy. The university has privatized parking on campus. Thus, while in the past parking was open on the weekends, this year the only options for parking are in the designated pay lots. The closest is the McKenny Guest Pay Lot located to the southwest corner of Mark Jefferson off of Oakwood Street. The daily max rate is $12.00. Please also find the ParkEMU website where you will find more information https://www.parkemu.com/visitors/parking-rates/. If you have further questions or concerns please feel free to contact Lee Schwab.

COVID Policy: To ensure the health and wellness of everyone attending during the winter season, we ask for everyone to take a rapid test or PCR prior to traveling. If a student tests positive and/or is displaying symptoms, we will be more than happy to drop them without penalty. If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider wearing a mask indoors in public. We will be updating these policies closer to the actual tournament date.

Open Door Policy: Eastern Michigan University is committed to providing safe performance spaces for all competitors and judges. We acknowledge the art of performance may be a healing process and/or opportunity to speak on important topics. As a performer, it is impossible to know all the ways in which content or a performance may unintentionally harm or trigger members of our audience. To better serve our competitors, we will be honoring the NFA’s open door practice during rounds this weekend. An “open door policy” means competitors and other audience members may choose to leave or stay in a room when a performance negatively impacts their wellbeing. Competitors may discreetly leave the room (e.g., before, during, or after someone’s performance) even when not double-entered, without question or penalty. Competitors may disengage from a performance (e.g., actively dissociate, put their head down on a desk, cover their ears). If competitors need to leave a round due to physical (e.g., uncontrollable coughing, vomiting) or spiritual (e.g., Salat times) needs, they may also excuse themselves without question or penalty. Judges may also take steps to protect their well-being and will be asked to read the open door policy at the beginning of every round to reinforce the norm-change emphasizing mental and physical well-being over community norms.

Quiet Room: The tournament will have a designated quiet room to be used to decompress from rounds, work on school work, or just to have a place to relax outside of the competition environment.

Ethical Treatment of Others: Eastern Michigan University is fully committed to a safe and healthy educational, work and competition environment that is free from unlawful discrimination and harassment. As such, we prohibit discrimination and harassment on the basis of sex, gender, sexual orientation, sexual identity, race, disability, religion and other lawfully protected categories. This prohibition includes sexual assault and misconduct, and stalking. Should you experience a Title IX violation while attending our Tournament, please report the violation to your coach or someone you trust, and the tournament host. The tournament host will ensure that the Title IX officers from the host institution, your home university/college, and from the institution of the perpetrator are notified so that investigative procedures can begin. Please report behavior that is not in line with our stated anti-harassment policy. If, at any point in time, behavior is reported that is antithetical to a positive learning environment for any tournament participants, it will be handled accordingly. Directors, please remember, you are responsible for the people that you bring to our campus.

Judge Strikes: We ask that if your students have any conflicts with judges for non-competitive reasons that you let us know so we can block the judge from judging the student. Examples of when this could happen might include: the student is a family member/close friend of the judge, a student was harassed/assaulted by a judge, a student was a teammate of the judge, a student was coached by the judge. We respect the privacy of these decisions. We hope that if a judge has participated in improper behavior that the tournament director will be notified so that, if necessary, the judge can be removed from the judging pool before interacting with students. Students can inform us through their coach or inform the tournament director (Lee) directly at 317-640-9480. The tournament director will not ask for details and do not expect any; we trust in the decision of the student. We will provide a full list of judges to all coaches the week of the tournament.

Gender/gender-neutral restrooms on campus: https://www.emich.edu/dci/lgbtrc/resources/navigating-campus.php

Local emergency information: https://www.emich.edu/publicsafety/emo/procedures/index.php

Emergency Contact:
Lee Schwab
317-640-9480
lschwab1@emich.edu

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