October 2, 2019

Hello Debate Coaches and Sponsors!

General Information

The Norfolk Senior High forensics program will again be hosting the Roger Maxwell Fall Tournament.  We will offer debate events on Saturday, November 16, 2019.

The following events and divisions will be offered:

Debate

Policy (Open/Novice)

Lincoln Douglas (O/JV#/N)

Public Forum (O/JV#/N)

Student Congress (O/N)

# The JV division is primarily intended for students who are, for whatever reason, not quite ready for varsity, but aren’t really novice. If, however, you have a novice who is looking for more of a challenge, feel free to enter them here. Aside from the super-novice, JV division students should be:

(1) in their first year of LD or PF, but not in their first year of debate, OR

(2) not in their first year of debate, but had limited experiences in their novice year.

If we don’t have sufficient entries to warrant the JV divisions, we will collapse these into the varsity divisions. 

 ***If you would like to pre-order a lunch voucher, please do so on the tabroom site. Each voucher will be good for up to $5 of concession fare (pizza, candy, drinks, etc). Please note these must be paid for in advance and no refunds or change will be given.***

Registration deadline is November 12 at 8 p.m.  Please ensure your entries are complete at that time. Fees will be assessed at that time.  Adds/changes after that time will be subject to approval by the tournament directors. Please make sure any late adds have judges supplied. If you have any questions about the tournament, feel free to email: chrisbegeman@npsne.org.

Congress Legislation is available on tabroom.com. Please note the docket order has been set. For both the novice and open houses:

1. The docket is set and bills are numbered in the order to be debated.

2. All legislation must have at least an authorship/sponsorship speech and a negative speech before motions to table or previous question.

Updates for all events will be made on the tabroom.com website.

In past years, we have had schools not cover entries with judges at registration, and add them the day before or day of the tournament. We hire judges based on entry and judge numbers at the registration deadline. Please have judges hired and registered on the website at registration time.

We would prefer that you bring judges rather than give us money for open judging slots! 

This is a high school only tournament.  Students must be eligible according to NSAA and may only compete for the school in which they are currently enrolled.  The NSAA bylaws can be viewed at nsaahome.org. 

Also, please try to use email as much as possible if you need information, have questions, or need to make changes.  Phones and faxes are 20th century.  It makes it much easier for everyone involved if you can use email.  If absolutely necessary, the High School’s phone number is 402.644.2529.

We look forward to seeing you in November! 

Amber Doughty

Chris Begeman

Tentative Schedule

We may accelerate the schedule! Please do not leave the building. 

Saturday

Registration (All events)          7:15 – 7:45 a.m. (In the forum area)

Policy Debate

Round I         8:15 a.m.

Round II        10:15 a.m.

Round III       1:00 p.m.

Round IV        3:00 p.m.

Awards           5:00 p.m. (in the Little Theatre)

LD/Public Forum

Round I         8:15 a.m.

Round II        9:15 a.m.

Round III      10:30 a.m.

Round IV       12:30 p.m.

Round V         1:45 p.m.

Semifinals      3:15 p.m.

Awards         5:00 p.m.  (in the Little Theatre)

Finals         ASAP

Congress

Opening Remarks         8:15

Session I         8:15 – 10:00

Session II       10:15 – 12:00 p.m.

 Lunch break

Session III      12:45 – 2:30

Session IV       2:45 – 4:15

Awards           5:00  (in the Little Theatre)

Event Information

Debate will follow NSDA rules for times and event rules. (Policy debate will have 8 minutes of prep time). 

We will use the November topic for Public Forum:

Resolved: The benefits of the United States federal government’s use of offensive cyber operations outweigh the harms.

We will use the pilot time rules for public forum.

Lincoln Douglas will use the November/December topic: 

Resolved: The United States ought to eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels.

Policy Debate will use the current national resolution:

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially reduce Direct Commercial Sales and/or Foreign Military Sales of arms from the United States.

Congress docket is available on the www.tabroom.com site: 

The docket order is: 

1. A Bill to Make Influenza and Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Shots Mandatory in Public Schools (C. Prep)

2. An Executive Resolution on Ratification of CTBT (Marian)

3. A Bill to Tax Labor Automation (L. East)

4. A Bill to Amend Title 31 of the United States Code (Hastings)

5. A Bill to Amend the Constitution to Standardize the Number and Geographical Appointment of Supreme Court Justices -- MN 

6. Bill to Amend the War Powers Act -- LSW

7. A Bill to Limit Pharmaceutical Patent Protection -- Norfolk 

8. A Bill to Establish the Policy of the United States Regarding the No-First-Use of Nuclear Weapons -LSE

9. A Bill to Expand the Draft -LE

10. A Bill to Subsidize Renewable Energy --Hastings

Our intention is to follow the National Speech and Debate Association guidelines of having one parliamentarian and two point recorders in each house.

For NOVICE divisions, we ask that students be in their first year of competition in debate. If a student has previously competed in any debate event, they need to be placed in either the JV or varsity divisions. If you have questions or concerns, please contact chrisbegeman@npsne.org.

Tournament Fees and Awards

The fees for the tournament are as follows:

• C-X Debate   $25                   

• L-D Debate   $20                   

• PF Debate $20

• Congress  $15                    

For debate entries, please provide one adult judge for every two entries or fraction thereof.  If you have two entries, you’ll need one judge.  If you have three entries, you’ll need two judges.  The tournament has a LIMITED number of judges available for hire.  Policy judges are $150 per judge. LD judges are $125  PF is $100 and Congress is $15 per uncovered entry. If you have students competing in congress, we ask that you provide one judge for every six entries (we may need to use the judge in another event--please note secondary events when entering your judge).

WE ASK THAT THE JUDGES YOU PROVIDE BE QUALIFIED TO JUDGE ALL DIVISIONS.  IF THIS IS AN AREA OF CONCERN FOR YOU, PLEASE EMAIL BEFORE YOU COMPLETE YOUR ENTRY.  PLEASE DO NOT ENTER A JUDGE AND LIST AS "NOVICE ONLY."  Unless you have prior confirmation, these judges will not be accepted and you will be assessed a judge fee for any judge that is removed.  If you have policy entries, you need to bring policy judges. If you have LD entries, you need to bring LD judges. We typically run short in these areas, and we need judges.

The top four debate teams/entries and the top six speakers will receive awards.  In congress, the presiding officer(s) and top six speakers will receive awards.

Sweepstakes awards will be given for

• Richard Cross Top Overall Team

• 2nd and 3rd place teams will receive awards