POLICY, LINCOLN-DOUGLAS, & PUBLIC FORUM DEBATE

Novice is defined as any competitor competing in their first year of any debate. Middle School competition in the same debate event counts. Ex. If a student competed in MS Public Forum, they should NOT enter the Novice division of any debate, even BIG QUESTION, at the high school level.

Quarterfinals will be held only if entry numbers warrant.
The topic for L-D Debate will be the NSDA designated topic for Nov / Dec.
The topic for PF Debate will be the NSDA designated topic for November.
PF or CX will NOT allow individual debaters competing as these events are specifically designed for 2 individuals competing as a team.

BIG QUESTION DEBATE

Resolved: Humans are primarily driven by self-interest.

Students can enter as an individual or as a two-person team.

High School Prelims will be on Friday and Out Rounds will be Saturday afternoon.

Middle School Prelims will be on Saturday morning and Out Rounds will be Saturday afternoon.

INDIVIDUAL EVENTS

We will offer the following:

Interpretation Events:

Dramatic Interpretation
Humorous Interpretation
Prose Interpretation
Poetry Interpretation
Program Oral Interpretation
Duo Interpretation
Duet Acting

Platform Events:

Extemporaneous Speaking --The final round of HS Extemporaneous Speaking will have cross- examination.
Impromptu Speaking
Informative Speaking
Original Oratory

AND

RADIO BROADCASTING

Contestants will prep a half-hour before the event ï¿½ just like Extemp.
They will come into the room one at a time ï¿½ again, like Extemp.
Contestants are allowed to use all the notes and papers they wish. This is not a memorized event.
When the contestant enters the room, hand him or her the stopwatch provided by the ballot table. They will time themselves. You also need to time them.
The judge must sit with their back to the contestant.
You both start your timers.
The contestant will present a five minute radio broadcast. It should be judged as if you were listening to the radio news. They will have been given instructions on the contents of the broadcast such as types of news to use, sports, weather, etc.
Some rounds will be open ï¿½ that is, any news item will do. Others will have specific instructions ï¿½ business news, all sports, science news, entertainment, etc.
The broadcast must finish at five minutes: no more, no less. That is the skill of the radio broadcaster!
The contestant is responsible for reformatting newswire, internet and newspaper stories into broadcast ready copy. There is a skill to this.

A competitor may double enter in any three IE events, Congressional Debate, and one debate event unless that student is entered in Extemporaneous Speaking, Radio Broadcasting, and/or Policy Debate, in which that student may only enter ONE (1) other IE event because of Prep Time.

1. ENTRY DEADLINE is Tuesday, November 13th, at 5:00 p.m. Fees will be assessed at this time. Please get your entries in early, If we must limit entries, it will be done on a first come, first serve basis.

2. WAITLIST: Entry is soft-capped at 7 entries per event, 8 for Debates and 18 total for Congress. Impromptu is the only exception, and will remain hard-capped at 7 entries per school. Coaches are encouraged to register students on the waitlist if they have more than 7 students who want to compete in a particular event. We will accommodate as many students as we can from the waitlist, depending on room availability. We anticipate that we will be able to accommodate the vast majority of students on the waitlist based on entry history.

3. Each HS competitor will be allowed to enter Congress, 1 Debate event, AND 3 IE events; HOWEVER, because of Extemporaneous and Radio prep time, these competitors will only be allowed to enter ONE additional IE/Duo event. Policy Debaters will only be able to compete in Policy Debate.

4. It will absolutely be the competitor’s responsibility to get to all rounds completed within the allotted time. If they do not sign in and notify their judge that they are double or triple entered, then we have no other option but to rank them last in the round. Coaches, triple entry in IE events is completely feasible for the more experienced competitor.

5. DROPS / CHANGES: You will be allowed to make drops and changes on the internet until Thursday, November 15th at 4:00 p.m. After that time, you will need to call in your last- minute changes to 480.440.6426 OR to WaterTowertournament@gmail.com. Please call or email as soon as you know your changes.

6. NO SHOWS – No Shows have been a large problem in AZ. When a student is not dropped from the event prior to round one beginning, the numbers competing in each section varies drastically and can end up skewing the results. PLEASE help us by reporting all students that will not be competing at the time of registration or as soon as physically possible when a student must drop after the beginning of the tournament due to an illness or some other situation.

Judging Requirements:

1. JUDGES: Schools must register the appropriate number of judges on the JOT website by Wednesday, November 15th by 5:00 p.m. at the time fees are assessed.

3. Each team is required to bring the following judge quota:

1 qualified judge for every 8 HS Student Congress entries. (Must be available for both sessions)
1 qualified judge for every 2 Policy Debate teams entered
1 qualified judge for every 2 LD Debaters entered
1 qualified judge for every 2 PF Debate teams entered
1 qualified judge for every 2 BQ Debate teams entered
1 qualified judge for every 5 Individual Events entries

… or a portion thereof. When in doubt...round up.

Please provide at LEAST one qualified Congressional Debate judge who can cover BOTH the AM and PM Congressional Debate sessions. If your school is unable to provide a judge who can cover both sessions, please email me so we can work out a solution. It is essential that we have enough Parliamentarians to cover all 4 houses

4. All judges will be required to check in and register in the Hallway of the Auditorium (south/west side and tallest building) these times: on Friday afternoon for Debate by 3:00 p.m., and in the Hallway of the A biulding (just off the middle Courtyard) on Saturday morning by 7:30 a.m.

On Friday morning for Congress, we will meet and register in the Foyer of the Auditorium by 7:15 a.m.

5. Each judge should have a clear understanding of the rules and their own stopwatch / timing device. Each judge MUST time each competitor in EVERY event, even if the competitor does not want visible time signals.

6. COACHES, PLEASE ENSURE YOU HAVE YOUR JUDGES AVAILABLE FOR THE ENTIRE TOURNAMENT, EVEN IF THIS MEANS SWAPING OUT MORNING JUDGES FOR NEW AFTERNOON JUDGES.

7. We may need to flight rounds in order to accommodate rounds, but I really do not want to flight. And, tournament efficiency will depend on judging. We will do our best to assist, but we need you to do your best in fulfilling the requirements. Together, WE are a great team. .

8. Please communicate the tentative schedule to your judges, paying particular attention to all Round 1 start times. We need judges to be at the tournament at least 30 minutes prior to each Round 1 start time to ensure there is enough time to distribute ballots and walk to rooms.

A $50.00 judge fee will be assessed for EACH missing judge. If your judges are registered but fail to pick up their ballots, they are considered to be missing judges. Please see the fees page for more information, or email me if you have a specific question

We all win when we help each other. Thank you for all that you do!

MEALS:

FRIDAY AM :

Coaches and judges will be provided with complimentary continental breakfast.
Competitors can buy water and snacks in the AM at the tournament site.
Lunch: Pizza can be purchased ahead of time as a school (MORE information to come on MENU tab) OR Sandwich or Salad meals can be purchased as an Individual. There are really no close places if you choose to go off campus.. We are working on obtaining great food for all. See Menu Tab for more food information.

SATURDAYAM:

Coaches and judges will be provided with a complimentary continental breakfast in the Judges’s Lounge.
Competitors can purchase breakfast items in the cafeteria at the concession stand.

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY PM:

Coaches and Judges will be provided with a complimentary lunch and dinner by The Mesquite Speech and Debate Parents. Snack items will be provided throughout the entire tournament.
Competitors can purchase lunch/dinner and snack items in the cafeteria at the concession stand. We will be grilling hambergers, hot dogs, Veggie Burgers and sausages during lunch on Saturday.

MESQUITE WATER TOWER INVITATIONAL

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

Resolved: Humans are primarily driven by self-interest.

Students can enter as an individual or as a two-person team.

SATURDAYAM:

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY PM: