Welcome to the 2024 Tamar Kaplan Invitational. Friday is online, and Saturday is in person. Traditionally, this tournament has been held at Highland Park HS, but this year we will be at Central HS in St Paul.

FORMAT: There will be 5 rounds of policy debate this weekend. Friday will be ONLINE and Saturday will be IN PERSON. Varsity must enter for both days, but JV and Novice (A, B, C) may enter for both or either day of competition. Policy prep time limit will be 8 minutes. Novice packet information is here. Friday online, Saturday in person.

Drop off location: Buses should drop off on the north side of Marshall Avenue or in the parking lot (street is better though). When you arrive, you should see a big concrete staircase that leads up to the front of the building - take this staircase up and once inside immediately turn right and you'll be at the cafeteria. Cafeteria is where you should hang out before, after, and between debates.

Resolutions: JV and Varsity Policy debate will debate the 2023-24 national resolution:

Resolved: Resolved: The United States federal government should significantly strengthen its protection of domestic intellectual property rights in copyrights, patents, and/or trademarks

Novice A and B will be using the following plan text: The United States federal government should prohibit the fair use defense in any infringement action where the alleged infringing works were created entirely or in part by artificial intelligence.

Food & Drink: Lunch is included as part of the tournament fees. Between rounds 1 and 2 debaters will be fed two slices of pizza, one snack (chips, granola bar, etc.), and a drink. Water will be available at all times for free. Before round 1 and after round 3 snacks will be available in the cafeteria for debaters (chips, granola bars, etc.). The Central Booster Club will also be running a cash concessions stand with The Good Stuff (candy, soda, etc.) during the tournament.

-Judge Obligations: Teams short a judge commitment will be billed since a judge will need to be hired to cover their commitment. The current rate is $75 for Friday and $140 for Saturday. If enough judges to cover the tournament are not available, teams who are short on their judge obligation may have partnerships given byes and assigned a loss until the tournament is able to cover all teams competing.

Schedule:

Friday(online)

Check in: 2:45-3:30

Round 1 3:45-5:45

Dinner 5:45-6:15

Round 2 6:15-8:00

Saturday (in person) (when you arrive go to the cafeteria)

Online Check In 8:30am-9:15

Buses arrive 9:15

First Pairing: 9:30

Round 1: 10:00-11:45

Lunch: 11:45am-12:30pm

Round 2: 12:30-2:15

Round 3: 2:45-4:30

Awards: 5:00-5:30

Buses Plan to Leave 5:45

PAYMENT
Please make checks payable to:

Friends of the St. Paul Central High School Debate Team

C/O Kate Baxter Kauf

1739 Palace Ave, St. Paul MN 55105