JMU Debate, First Semester

I am amazed at how quickly this season has gone by. With one semester down, here’s a look at some of the successes the JMU policy debate team has had so far.

Georgia State University

Novice Finalists
Cindy McGrath and Will Meissner
Novice Quarter-Finalists
Allison Bailey and Nikki Cone
Novice First Place Speaker Award
Allison Bailey
Novice Sixth Place Speaker Award
Cindy McGrath

Clarion University

Varsity Quarter-Finalists
Shruti Chaganti and Sean Lowry
Varsity Eighth Place Speaker Award
Katie Sensabaugh
Varsity Tenth Place Speaker Award
Kaitlyn Haynal
Junior-Varsity Quarter-Finalists
Bharath Krishnamoorthy and Samantha Strasser
Junior-Varsity Second Place Speaker Award
Bharath Krishnamoorthy
Novice Finalists
Allison Bailey and Nikki Cone
Novice Quarter-Finalists
Cindy McGrath and Will Meissner
Novice First Place Speaker Award
Cindy McGrath
Novice Fourth Place Speaker Award
Allison Bailey

University of Kentucky

Freshman breakout Quarter-Finalists
Oliver Brass and Bharath Krishnamoorthy

Vanderbilt University

Varsity Octo-Finalists
Shruti Chaganti and Sean Lowry
Junior Varsity Semi-Finalists
Tuba Ahmed and Mark Waugh
Junior-Varsity Quarter-Finalists
Bharath Krishnamoorthy and Samantha Strasser
Junior-Varsity Third Place Speaker Award
Bharath Krishnamoorthy
Junior-Varsity Seventh Place Speaker Award
Tuba Ahmed
Junior-Varsity Tenth Place Speaker Award
Mark Waugh
Novice Semi-Finalists
Cindy McGrath and Will Meissner
Novice Quarter-Finalists
Allison Bailey and Nikki Cone
Novice Second Place Speaker Award
Allison Bailey

Liberty University

JV Finalist Champions
Tuba Ahmed and Mark Waugh
JV Semi-Finalists
Kynndal Hartt and Bharath Krishnamoorthy

JV First Place Speaker Award

Bharath Krishnamoorthy
Novice Finalist Champions

Cindy McGrath and Will Meissner

Novice Quarter-Finalists

Allison Bailey and Nikki Cone

Novice Fifth Place Speaker Award

Allison Bailey

Appalachian State University

Open Finalists
Tuba Ahmed and Mark Waugh

Open Quarter-Finalists

Kynndal Hartt and Bharath Krishnamoorthy

Open Octo-Finalists
Kaitlyn Haynal and Katie Sensabaugh

Open Fourth Place Speaker Award

Mark Waugh

JV First Place Speaker Award

Bharath Krishnamoorthy

Novice Semi-Finalists

Cindy McGrath and Will Meissner

Novice Quarter-Finalists

Allison Bailey and Nikki Cone

Novice Seventh Place Speaker Award

Allison Bailey

James Madison University High School Policy Debate Tournament Invite

Dear Friends,

On behalf of the James Madison University debate program, we are pleased to invite you and your debate team to the 19th Annual JMU Invitational High School Debate Tournament. This year’s tournament will be held December 4th and 5th.

This year we will offer novice, junior varsity and varsity divisions in Switch-Side Policy debate and Lincoln-Douglas debate. We hope you choose to bring students across all divisions.

Additionally, for the third year we will offer public form and student congress. If you plan to bring students in these divisions please let us know early so we can make sure we have enough rooms and awards.

The invitation details are enclosed with this letter. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Please note the change in registration location from previous years.

On behalf of JMU debate, we hope to see you at James Madison University in December!

Sincerely,

Michael K. Davis, Ph.D. Paul E. Mabrey, MA
Director of Debate Assistant Director of Debate
MSC 2106 MSC 2106
School of Comm. Studies School of Comm. Studies
James Madison University James Madison University
(O) 540-568-7308 (O) 540-568-6228
(FAX) 540-568-6059 (FAX) 540-568-6059
(E-mail) davismk@jmu.edu (E-mail) mabreype@jmu.edu

JAMES MADISON HIGH SCHOOL DEBATE TOURNAMENT
HARRISONBURG, VA 22807

DATES
The tournament will be held Friday, December 4th and Saturday, December 5th.

FORMAT
All debates will involve the current national high school debate proposition and the appropriate VHSL recognized Lincoln-Douglas debate resolution. Time limits for policy debate will be 8-3-5. Prep time will 8 minutes. The appropriate Lincoln-Douglas time limits as per VHSL rules will be followed. We will offer six divisions of debate: open, junior varsity and novice policy divisions and open, junior varsity and novice Lincoln-Douglas divisions.
Novice Policy Division: Open to students who have not participated in interscholastic debate prior to the 2008-2009 school year. The tournament director will make exceptions on a case-by-case basis. There will be six rounds of preliminary debates plus elimination rounds. This is a switch-sides division—teams will debate both sides of the proposition (3 affirmative and three negative rounds).
Junior Varsity Policy Division: Open to students who are in their second year of inter-scholastic debate. The tournament director will make exceptions on a case-by-case basis. There will be six rounds of preliminary debates plus elimination rounds. This is a switch-sides division—teams will debate both sides of the proposition (3 affirmative and three negative rounds).
Open Policy Division: Six rounds of debate and elimination rounds. This is a switch-sides division—teams will debate both sides of the proposition (3 affirmative and three negative rounds).
Novice Lincoln-Douglas: Open to students who have not participated in interscholastic debate prior to the 2008-2009 school year. The tournament director will make exceptions on a case-by-case basis. There will six rounds of preliminary debates plus elimination rounds. Debaters will debate both sides of the resolution.
Junior Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Division: Open to students who are in their second year of interscholastic debate. The tournament director will make exceptions on a case-by-case basis. There will be six rounds of preliminary debates plus elimination rounds. Debaters will debate both sides of the resolution.
Open Lincoln-Douglas Division: Six rounds of debate for individual competitors who debate both sides of the resolution.
Public Forum: We will offer one division of public forum using the December NFL Public Forum topic.
Student Congress: We will offer one division of Student Congress as well. More information on Congress is listed on page 4.

FEES
The entry fee for each two-person debate team is $50.00. The entry fee for each Lincoln-Douglas debater is $25.00 and the fee will be $10 for each student congress entry. These fees will be used to defray tournament costs (especially hired judges) and to purchase trophies. Please make checks payable to Delta Sigma Rho.

JUDGES
Each school must supply 1 qualified debate judge (he/she must be a high school graduate) for every two debate teams entered and 1 qualified judge per 4 Lincoln-Douglas debaters. We will offer a few hired judges. These judges are available on a “first come, first serve basis.” Please make all requests for hired judges by November 25th. If you have any questions about the fee structure please ask.

The hired judge scale is as follows:

Uncovered Policy Team $75
Uncovered Public Forum Team $50
Uncovered LD Debater $40
Hired Judge for Congress $25 per school

ENTRY
A school may enter a maximum of six (6) teams per Policy division and eight (8) Lincoln-Douglas debaters per L-D division. If you desire to enter additional teams/debaters please call ahead and if space permits, your entry will be welcomed. All entries should arrive here by December 1st. You may e-mail them (davismk@jmu.edu), or fax them (540-568-6059). Registration fees are due at registration. You no longer need to mail checks in advance. Checks should be payable to Delta Sigma Rho, C/O Dr. Michael Davis.

AWARDS
In Policy, Public Forum and Lincoln-Douglas, teams advancing to quarterfinals will receive awards. Speaker awards will be given based on the size of each division. Appropriate awards will be given for Student Congress

We will continue the tradition that we began last year by awarding the top speaker in varsity policy a $1,000 per year scholarship if they choose to attend JMU and participate in debate.

LODGING

There are two hotel options for the tournament:
Best Western Inn – $54.00 per night
45 Burgess Rd
Harrisonburg, VA 22801-9731
(540) 433-6089
The Best Western has hardwired internet access and exterior rooms. Includes continental breakfast.

Comfort Inn – $79.99
1440 E Market St
Harrisonburg, VA 22801-5110
(540) 433-6066
The Comfort inn has wireless internet access and interior rooms. Includes continental breakfast.

Congress Information

JMU is happy to announce that Student Congress will again be offered at our tournament.

Participation: Schools may register up to 10 Congressors. If you wish to enter more please let us know as far in advance as possible.

Fees: The registration for each Congress participant will be $10.

Legislation: For the original docket, each Congressor must submit one piece of legislation, either a resolution or a bill, in one of the topic areas listed below. A second or third piece of legislation may be submitted, but these will only be considered on a second or subsequent docket after the entire first docket has been considered.

Topic Areas:

Domestic: Disaster Preparedness
Improving National Parks and Monuments
Alternative Energy Programs

Economic: Tax Cuts
Increasing Money Available for Post-Secondary Education
United Nations Dues

International US/China Trade
US/Iran Relations
US/Cuba Relations

Virginia Paying for Roads
Abolish the Death Penalty
Allowing a two-term Governor

The format for a resolution or bill can be found in the National Forensic League Student Congress Manual or on the www.vanfl.org website under http://www.vanfl.org/jmu.

Judges: Each school entering students will have to provide one Congress judge. The judge need not have ever judged Congress before, but should be capable of judging a three minute informative and persuasive speech.

Sessions: There will 3 sessions. If more than 40 students register for Congress, there will be a division into 2 preliminary chambers with the third session on Saturday afternoon being a Final Congress. The top half of each preliminary chamber will be invited to finals. If there are 3 chambers, then the top one third of each preliminary chamber will be invited, etc.

Awards: The top four Congressors in finals will be awarded trophies. In addition, the students will elect an Outstanding Legislator from each preliminary chamber.

Rules: The Virginia High School League rules will govern the Congress. Roberts Rules of Order will be the final arbiter. No computers may be used in Chambers.

JAMES MADISON HIGH SCHOOL DEBATE TOURNAMENT

POLICY SCHEDULE

Friday, December 4th, 2008
1:00pm–3:00pm Registration—Harrison Hall 1290
3:00pm-3:30pm Assembly— Harrison 1261
4:00pm Round 1/ Congress Opening Ceremony
5:30pm Round 2/ Congress Session One
7:00pm Round 3/ Congress Session Two
Saturday, December 5th, 2008
8:00am Round 4/ Congress Session Three
10:00am Round 5/ Congress Session Four
12:00pm Lunch (on your own)
1:00pm Round 6/ Congress Final Session
3:00pm Awards
4:00pm Debate Elimination Rounds Begin

LINCOLN-DOUGLAS/PUBLIC FORUM SCHEDULE

Friday, December 4th, 2008
1:00pm–3:00pm Registration—Grafton-Stovall Theatre
3:00pm-3:30pm Assembly—Grafton-Stovall Theatre
4:00pm Round 1–(Flights A and B)
5:30pm Round 2–(Flights A and B)
7:00pm Round 3–(Flights A and B)
Saturday, December 5th, 2008
8:00am Round 4–(Flights A and B)
10:00am Round 5–(Flights A and B)
12:00pm Lunch (on your own)
1:00pm Round 6–(Flights A and B)
3:00pm Awards
4:00pm Elimination Rounds Begin

In all divisions power matching will proceed as follows:
Rounds 1-3 are pre-set.
Rounds 4 is high/low within brackets based upon rounds 1-3.
Round 5 is high/high based upon rounds 1-3.
Round 6 will be high/low within brackets based upon rounds 1-5 (if time permits).

Student Congress schedule TBA

for more information, contact me, or check out our facebook page!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=153540168417&ref=mf

or our jmu debate page!
jmu.edu/debate

JSDI, Summer 2010

More info on how our first camp went later, but look for information on James Madison Summer Debate Institute, summer 2010 coming soon, hopefully later this week!

Until then, check out our web page for more information

JMU Debate Camp

Today is the third day of JMU’s first annual high school debate camp. It was a smallish turnout, about 15 kids, but that just means they will very personal support and coaching from our wonderful staff. Yesterday I got to participate in a ‘practice debate’ about super powers with one of the kids from our novice lab. It’s exciting to see them begin to understand the style in which you have to answer arguments and to see them realize just how many angles need to be covered when debating. I’m excited to see how camp will continue to unfold over the next two weeks.

Interesting Debate Articles

‘Gone on Debating‘ – competitive academic debate as a tool of empowerment, written by Ede Warner and Jon Bruschke discusses the role of the Urban Debate League

the 2005 NDT documentary, follows around college debaters through the most intense and competitive tournament of the season, which only the best and brightest debaters qualify for. Its a long documentary, but even if you just watch the beginning description it gives you a good peak into this crazy world.

Gifted Tongues is a book written about the high school debate culture. this is a link to read the book as a word doc

found whats your policy, another students bogging attempts to understand high school debate.

The end of Classic Policy debate in VHSL?

Me and my team at States my senior year

While not especially relevant to my project, I heard yesterday some upsetting news about the Virginia Policy debate community in terms of its VHSL participation.

This little snippet appeared in the minutes of the State Speech/Debate Advisory meeting for this year;

“Committee reviewed Lorraine del Grosso’s Public Forum proposal and drafted rules. Due to overall low participation in policy and classic policy morphing into a “JV” contemporary policy, committee recommended dropping classic policy debate and adding Public Forum. Wonneberger and Garner will review proposal and drafted rules and submit any additional recommendations/comments to Giles by July 31.

So at the same time that the VHSL is thinking about adding TWO events to Speech (Slam/Original Poetry, and splitting Duo into two divisions) they are considering dropping a debate event to replace it with Public Forum.

Allow me to explain to the non-debater what this really means. Forensics is divided up into two activities, speech and debate, which are further broken down into events. Speech has numerous events, including: Extemporaneous Speaking, Impromptu Speaking, Original Oratory, Prose Interpretation, Poetry Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation, and Duo Interpretation. Debate events include: Policy, Lincoln Douglas, Congress and Public Forum. For the purpose of VHSL competition, Policy is further broken down into two categories, classic and contemporary. As far as I know, the only difference between the two is speed- classic speakers are required to speak no faster than conversational speed (meant to be accessible and understood by a general public), while contemporary are allowed to speak as fast as possible (although this also varies based on the judge’s ability to follow speed and how clear the speaker is able to be).
During the school year, almost all policy teams compete in the same pool at tournaments. Division of classic and contemporary only comes into play towards the end of the season as teams compete at districts, regionals and states, for the title of VHSL state champion.
Some are concerned that the evolution of debate has lead classic to be a less legitimate form of debate, as current times praise speed and often look down upon slower speakers as lesser competition. While this may be more or less true on the national circuit, classic is still an educational form of debate, because it forces debaters to pick and choose only the best arguments, rather than getting out as many as possible.
If they eliminate classic debate from state competition than it cuts the number of policy debaters able to qualify in half. This is detrimental for a number of reasons, particularly cuz it increases the already rising risk of students switching from policy to other forms of competition. Public forum being its largest rival, is one of the events that would be replacing classic at states. While I, personally, don’t wish for an event like public forum to be made more legitimate, at the very least, I don’t see why VHSL can’t host both events.
This past year was the 96th annual state debate tournament. I hope that enough debaters talk to their activities directors about vetoing this decision, because without their voices and their votes, this could be just the beginning of a sad future of debate.

Capitol Debate

two students in a debate round

I decided that the only way to learn more about starting and building programs was to talk with someone who has done just that. Ron Bratt is the CEO and Founder of Capitol Debate. Even though I attended his camp five years ago, I have seen him on occasion when I judge at tournaments and he has always remembered me and come up to see how things are going. He was quick to respond to my email and described to me how the organization works:

“Our nonprofit is dedicated to the issues you raised on cross-x.com We debate as a consortium in Howard County and have 80 kids in our system w/40 travelling nationally and now we are pulling in kids from all surrounding counties.

The consortium model has been successful. We all practice together. We cost share on everything. 40 people chipping in on a bus lowers the cost for all to travel nationally. Each of the 40 chip in to hire one national level coach that can frontline. 40 people split the 1500 lexis bill or 900 planet debate bill. We will go to Wake, GDS, Capitol Debate, Bronx, Glenbrooks, Ohio Valley, Blake, MBA, GMU, Emory, Pennsbury, Harvard, Lakeland, woodward, NDCA, hopefully TOC. We cleared 2 teams at Woodward JV nationals last year which was very competitive.

The consortium invites teams in all surrounding areas to tag along in our infrastructure. We have teams from Frederick, Baltimore, Prince Georges County, and DC coming to practice with us. Montgomery county, Walt Whitman is starting up next year with a NDT winner as their coach Jonathan Massey (they cleared at NCFL nationals). The Potomac School in Northern VA is starting a team under the direction of the 1978 NDT winner Tom Rollins – he hired Scott Phillips to frontline them. Thomas Jefferson Science & Tech has nearly 40 debaters and we are working closely with them on setting up a national schedule for next year (they cleared 2 teams at NCFL nationals).”

From their web page, “Capitol Debate is a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching debate and public speaking skills to students. Capitol Debate also assists schools in setting up competitive speech and debate teams, recruiting students and coaches, fundraising and sustainability.”

They also host debate camps and workshops- I actually attended their camp for seven weeks back in 2004.
What started as a project to create a thriving debate league in Howard County, quickly evolved into a regional project and blessing. Similar to Virginia, with the exception of several prominent private schools, debate for public schools in Maryland wasn’t that great. Through communication with the State of Maryland School Board, however, Ron was able to get debate programs established at all 12 high schools in Howard County, all supported through fund raising and training, resources, infrastructure design, and sustainability thanks to Capitol Debate. They also support not only high schools, but colleges and universities in the region as well, which gives their high school debaters the chance to continue competing on through college as well as receive scholarship money to help pay their way.

Their mission statement is:
“Capitol Debate’s mission is to enhance academic competitive debate in K-12 and college level. Enhancing debate includes training, infrustructual design, sustainability consulting, and fundraising. Capitol Debate’s ultimate mission is provide access to competitive debate in areas where it is limited.”

This is clearly seen through their close communication and relationships with the rest of the debate programs in the Baltimore/DC metro areas. Thanks to their tireless support and assistance, Capitol Debate not only supports local tournaments, but gives their debaters the opportunity to travel nationally so that they have the chance to compete against some of the best teams in the country.
Looking at their fundraising incentives, “Capitol Debate will help new and existing leagues raise money to assist leagues with travel budgets. Fundraising can include booster programs, eBay sales, fundraising events, corporate sponsorship, grant writing, and seeking funds from private foundations.” In his email, he offered me the chance to apply for grants to get me a job after college working with Capitol Debate to grow debate more in Northern Virginia, I plan on more closely communicating with them to see what I can learn from this.

So I need a goal…

jmu debate brainstorming

So I have come to realize that it is difficult trying to narrow down which area(s) of outreach to focus on when I haven’t yet decided what I want to accomplish.
Lately I’ve been talking with a debater from Maryland, a state where debate has rapidly been progressing to a competitive level thanks in large part to community support. More teams are traveling nationally and more are attending camp, so even those who do not have the best coaching staff are still able to be successful and competitive in the activity.

I am a bit frustrated because I more or less have my hands tied as far as dealing with actual communication with Virginia debaters to hear their opinions since the season has ended.

Some areas I am considering include
- increased attendance at debate camps
- increased fund raising/donations for travel/tournament budgets
- spread the program to new schools who have never done policy debate before (how?)
- some way to increase coaching/student commitment
- help the state become more competitive v. just spreading the program at its current level of competition.

Currently, the JMU debate team works with Harrisonburg High School, and once the school year starts I hope to expand our support to several other local high schools, but I wonder if there is anything I can do on a wider level.

back to my high school days…

relaxing at a high school tournament back in the day

So I have been trying to think about why I found debate so rewarding in high school, despite my clear lack of ‘real’ debate skills. I found my college application essay, which I wrote about debate for, and thought I would post it as a way to try and explain my high school debate experience.

It is early on a Saturday morning. While most teenagers still have nothing but sleep on their minds, I am one of the few who is happy to be waking up early. My alarm goes off at 6:30 and yet I spring out of bed and immediately rush around getting ready for the day; I throw on my clothes, brush my teeth, wash my face, grab my timer, a water bottle, and head out to my car, where I had already loaded a dolly and three Rubbermaid tubs filled with evidence, late the night before. I head to my high school, where a bus filled with my friends, both teammates and some competitors are already waiting and we begin our long bus ride to another high school. With little time to hang out, I grab a pairing sheet, which tells me which room I will begin my day in, who my first competitor will be, then me and my partner take our evidence to the room and begin to set up. The other team and judge eventually arrive, and our round is about to begin.
Standing at the front of the room, I take a sip of water and ask if everyone is ready. After looking to the judge, the opposing team, and then finally nodding at my partner, I take a deep breath. Although I have given this speech more times than I can count, the first few moments before beginning it has never failed to leave me feeling anything less than a huge adrenaline rush as I can feel my heart racing in my chest and butterflies rising in my stomach. I raise my timer up, set for eight minutes, and as I bring my hand down, pressing the start button, all feelings of nervousness leaves me as I begin to read my selectively highlighted, 21 page case, at over 250 words per minute.
The beginning of my freshman year of high school, I became a policy debater. My decision to join this team has more than proved to be my most rewarding high school experience. Being on debate has exposed me to an in-depth study of a wide range of topics including mental health courts, ocean policy, the United Nations, and the 4th and 5th amendment rights granted under the Constitution. I know what the effects of polluted coastal wetlands have on the rest of the ocean, the great horrors of genocide in Rwanda, and the consequences United States actions have on international perspective. Debate has introduced me to very intelligent and long lasting friends from different schools and has also taught me a lot about myself as a person.
What started out as just an after school club, soon became much more than I could have ever anticipated. While most of my friends had jobs, partied, or vacationed over the summer, I have gone off to debate camp for the past two summers for first seven and then five weeks at a time. At camp we research the year’s new topic and create files of evidence which we will use throughout the year. As the year progresses I am responsible for constantly researching and updating my files, because debate is not just a battle of the minds, but a battle of reality.
What I enjoy most about debate is the sense of accomplishment I feel after knowing my hard work has paid off. To lay aside hours of time to research and develop ideas to defend or negate an argument and then win on that same argument in a round is extremely self-satisfying. Be it fortunately or unfortunately, I constantly find myself getting lost in research or carried away with the time I put into debate. I appreciate the complexity of arguments and thoroughly enjoy working towards finding a solution. I have learned that not all problems can be solved with a simple yes or no answer if there is a solution at all. Although after every tournament I go home only to find myself back in the ‘real world’ of politics, the importance of knowledge and being politically aware of my surroundings is a passion, I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

Some thoughts…

I have discussed this problem with several members of the Virginia Policy Debate community, including debate coaches at other schools, my high school debate coach, several debaters, as well as my college coach, (shout-out at Mike Davis). 

Some points of discussion/ideas/dilemmas that have arised: 

• reach out to middle schoolers
• help current high schoolers with policy teams to realize just how ‘cool’ policy debate has become. 
• increased college support (some Virginia schools with teams include U of R, JMU, GMU, UMW, and LU)
• Write letters to schools without teams
• go speak about policy debate to schools without team
• coaches workshops
• getting past debaters to remain involved in the activity
• problems- how to start new programs, how to get school support- travel/tournament registration money. 
• how to get current kids to attend camp

Another question I am curious about, is how far should policy debate go in Virginia? Is it enough to keep the current program alive? How important is increased involvement? Once we get increased involvement, is that alone okay? What about coaching quality, level of competition and dedication? Is it enough that they are just debating, or should the overall goal be to get at least some schools involved on a national level of competition. Now that I know what ‘real’ debate looks like and is like to participate in, I wouldn’t be satisfied with the shallow, sloppy debate I engaged in previously. While I have caught the bug and have come to expect a higher level of quality, even when I’m judging the debates, is that a fair expectation of me? 

 

Thoughts?