Larry Stuber Memorial Debate Tournament

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General information

This is a High School tournament in Indiana.

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Dear Coaches,

You and your students are invited to the October 26, 2024, Valparaiso Dr. Larry B. Stuber Memorial Debate Tournament.  Please plan to enter through Door # 1 and establish your team’s tables in the Cafeteria. Buses may park in the lot North of the School. There is limited space for cars and vans in the East Parking Lot across from Door # 1

Events Available: 

• Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, Policy, World Schools Debate and Congress. 

• World Schools Debate will offer THREE (3) ALL Impromptu Rounds, and in the WSD division ONLY, we will accept hybrid entries comprised of students from more than one school. Hybrid teams must be “sponsored” by a single school, who will be responsible for registering the entry, satisfying the judging commitment for that school, and hybrid teams’ performances will not be counted towards Sweepstakes. 

• We will offer both Novice and Varsity divisions. (Note that some events may be combined based on registration numbers.) If one member of a policy, public forum, and/or World Schools Team is a Veteran (Varsity Member), that team will be considered Varsity.
• The debate tournament will have 4 rounds in LD, PF, and Policy. Rounds 3 & 4 will be power matched. 

We will have certificates for contestants and trophies for team sweepstakes. 

Registration:

• Entries are due in SpeechWire by Monday, October 21^st by 5:00 P.M. Central Time.
• Drops may be made via SpeechWire until midnight on Friday, October 25^th.

After that time, please text 219-363-6618 or email Mary (mfridh@valpo.k12.in.us).   Email is preferable! Entries are capped at a total of 40 per team. Students should bring an electronic device and activate their SpeechWire accounts to be able to receive announcements.

5. Congressional Debate – All students will compete in the morning Preliminary round. The top competitors per Chamber will advance to the Super Chamber of 15-16 in the late morning/early afternoon. All others will compete in the Consolation Session in the morning/afternoon. Both Novice and Varsity Divisions will have a Super Session and a Consolation Session: The Best of the Rest (consolation rounds may be combined in the event of small congress entries).  The varsity chambers will nominate and elect their presiding officers. Please email names of varsity members who would be willing to preside over the Novice Chambers to Mary (mfridh@valpo.k12.in.us).

• Legislation to be debated will be ISSDA Sept. – Oct. Docket #s 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 12

 2. B/E 2: A Bill to Ban Pharmaceutical Drug Advertisements

 3. B/E 3: A Bill to Empower Bankruptcy Courts to Alter Mortgages

 7. S/C 3: A Bill to Streamline the U.S. Military

 8. S/C 4: A Bill to Ban Police Use of Facial Recognition Technology

 9. F/FP 1: The Border Protection Act

12. F/FP 4: The Arming Mexico with the Intent of Gaining Obligatory Security

                    (A.M.I.G.O.S.) Act

5. Lincoln-Douglas (NSDA September/October)
   • Both Divisions will be speaking on the September/October topic as noted by the NSDA:
     • Resolved:  The United States ought to require that workers receive a living wage.

5. Public Forum Debate (NSDA September/October)
   • Both divisions will be speaking on the September/October topic as noted by the NSDA:
     • Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially expand its surveillance infrastructure along its southern border.

5. Policy Debate
   • Resolved: The United States federal government should significantly strengthen its protection of domestic intellectual property rights in copyrights, patents, and/or trademarks.
   • Novice Topic Areas:
     • Patents: Emerging Technologies
     • Patents: Green Technology
     • Copyrights: Protect the Creative Arts
     • Trademarks: Trademark Trolls
   • Restrictions: No counter-plans and No Kritiks

5. World Schools Debate (Please read carefully!)
5. All-Impromptu-Topic World Schools Debate Division(s)

5. Assuming sufficient entries, we will offer both Varsity and Novice divisions of WSD.  (If the number of entries we receive will not support two separate divisions, Novice and Varsity teams will be combined into the same division, but the tab room will make its best efforts to pair teams against similarly experienced competition in as many debates as possible).

5. In place of the traditional mix of prepared and impromptu topics, our WSD division(s) will offer three (3) rounds of debate on impromptu topics only. In other words, we will have no pre-announced "prepared" WSD topics at this tournament. As such, any 3-5 debaters with a pen or two and a notebook or legal pad between them can show up on Saturday morning and (hopefully) enjoy a day of debating without having to prepare cases ahead of time for one or more prepared topics.

5. First, there will be just three (3) separate topics for the three (3) impromptu rounds. 

Round 1 will have a random draw for sides.

Round 2 each team will debate the Opposite Side of the Side that it debated in Round 1 for the new topic.

Round 3 will be a flip-for-sides debate, with the sides decided prior to the beginning of preparation time.

5. Teams will have 60 minutes of preparation time for Rounds 1, 2, and 3. 

5. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or suggestions. 

5. As usual, No electronics allowed for prep or during rounds. Students should write out notes and speeches on paper.

• Students may use 2 reference books for impromptu rounds.
• Students will have 1 hour prep per impromptu rounds 1, 2, & 3

5. Awards @ 4:00 p.m., CDT (we hope)
   • Yes (Gavels for POs, Certificates for the Top Eight, and Sweepstakes Trophies for Top 5 Teams)
5. Judges
   • 1 judge per 4 debaters (5 debaters = 2 judges, etc.); however, if you are bringing WSD Teams, 2 WSD Teams = 1 Judge
   • All judges must be prepared to judge all events
   • All judges must be registered with a valid email and bring a tablet or laptop as we will be using electronic balloting.
   • Judges must stay in the building and be available for the entire tournament
5. Varsity debaters with a minimum 2 years of experience and a minimum of 250 points may judge only novice events. 2023 high school debate graduates must judge novice only.
5. Food
   • Students ~ breakfast, lunch & snack items will be available for purchase in the Cafeteria.
   • Judges ~ breakfast and lunch items will be available in the Judges’ Lounge in the lower Red Hallway.
6. Registration
   • Registration on SpeechWire  www.speechwire.com
     • DUE by 5 pm (CDT) on Monday, October 21, 2024 (Registration will remain open after the deadline for drops only. Please list all judges’ names.)
     • This is an Open Tournament; however, you must be a Registered User in order to use SpeechWire to register for the tournament.
     • Novice = an individual with no previous high school speech or debate experience prior to September 2024. All others are considered to be Varsity.
     • Send registration questions to Mary Fridh – email: mfridh@valpo.k12.in.us
     • Final registration is Saturday, October 26^th.  at Valparaiso HS from 7:00 to 7:30 a.m. (CST), with a judges’ meeting in the cafeteria at 7:45 a.m.
     • Rounds will start promptly at 8 am (CST) ~ we hope!

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone in Valpo!

Heather Beach, Mary Fridh, John Peluso, and Trevor Wells (Coaches), the VHS Speech, Debate & Mock Trial Team & the VHS Forensics Boosters, Inc. (FBI)

Manager contact information

Mary Fridh
Email address: mfridh@valpo.k12.in.us
Phone number: 219-363-6618

Mailing address

None provided