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Evidence Sharing

Hello all – if anyone has any evidence from this past year on agriculture that they wouldn’t mind sharing with the community I would be happy to host it here on the evidence page. My experience has been that one of the best teaching tools for new debaters is to see existing evidence that was used in competition. I’ll make sure to give you credit and a big thank you!

Email to info@socal-ld.net

Phi Rho Pi LD Results

Congrats to the following debaters from SoCal for their success at PRP!

Gold
El Camino – Jonny Deatherage
IVC – Kelley Kehoe
Moorpark – Keith Corley

Silver
Palomar – Desiree Otillio
IVC – Steven Cosgrove
El Camino – Frank Masi

Bronze
El Camino Carter Beck
El Camino Harrison Shieh
Irvine Valley Peter Doesburg
Irvine Valley Aditya Sharma
Moorpark Trevor Hursey
Mt. SAC David Kim
Moorpark Hannah Holzmann

Full results sheets available on the Phi Rho Pi website.

2013 Possible Topics

From the IE-L

Attached is the ballot for the LD Topic Resolution for 2013-2014. Please remember that all 5 resolutions must be ranked ordered and the ballot can be returned at the National Tournament or sent to Lgene9535@aol.com by April 30th. Only one ballot per school – and please indicate name of school and person submitting the ballot at the bottom of the ballot sheet.

Thanks to the LD Committee for their hard work in developing not only these resolutions but also in the LD Amendments for considertion and revision of rules for LD. These proposals will be presented at the NFA business meeting.

Larry Schnoor, President

NFA BALLOT FOR LD TOPIC FOR 2013-2014.

IN ORDER FOR A BALLOT TO BE COUNTED, ALL 5 RESOLUTIONS MUST BE RANKED ORDERED.

Ballots should be returned to the LD Committee Chair, President Larry Schnoor at the National Tournament or by e-mail, but in either case not later than April 30th. A weighted preferential voting system will be used to determine the final resolution ( lst place receives 5 points, 2nd place – 4 pts., 3rd place – 3 pts., 4th place – 2 pts. and 5th place – 1 pt.) Ties will be broken b the President of the NFA, who may at his/her discretion, consult with the LD Debate Committee. Resolution will be announced on July 1st.

_____ A. The USFG should substantially reform elementary and/or secondary education in the US.

_____ B. The USFG should substantially reform elementary and/or secondary education in the US in one or more of the following areas: student evaluation, teacher evaluation, and core curriculum.

_____ C. The USFG should increase assistance for elementary and/or secondary education in the United States in one or more of the following areas: STEM, the arts, languages, and physical education.

_____ D. The USFG should substantially increase access to elementary and/or secondary education in the United States.

_____ E. The USFG should substantially reduce its role in elementary and/or secondary education in the United States.

BALLOT CAN BE RETURNED AT THE NATIONAL TOURNAMENT, OR BY E-MAIL BUT MUST BE RETURNED BY APRIL 30TH. ONLY ONE BALLOT PER SCHOOL.

Name of school and person returning the ballot:

California at PKD

For the first time in many, many years, Socal has a debater in finals of Pi Kappa Delta. To give some idea of the competition, the other quarterfinalists are 4 Western Kentucky, a Lafayette, a Hillsdale and a U Nebraska Lincoln. The SoCal training ground is getting better and better. I’ll update how far Cal Baptist’s Matt Phillips gets, but a big thanks to all the SoCal judges for their help this year. Be sure to post results from Phi Rho Pi.

2013 Topic feedback

Posted to the IE-L:

Dear LD Community,
Hello and greetings from the LD Committee. As you know, our topic area for 2013-2014 will be Public Education. The committee has been busy researching and discussing the topic.
We would like your input. Please feel free to send us any comments or suggestions that you may have. Also, if you have any proposed resolutions, please send those to us.
Here are a couple of issues that we would appreciate your thoughts on:
1. Size of the topic: Do you favor a broad topic dealing with public education generally, or a topic that would allow the affirmative to choose from a list of three or four sub-areas within public education, or a topic that deals with just one sub-area within public education?
2. Are there any specific issues or areas within education that you would like to see included in the topic?
3. What specific single areas within public education would be sufficient (by themselves) for an entire year of debate?
4. Directionality: Do you favor a directional topic (e.g. USFG should increase…..) or a non-directional topic (e.g. USFG should reform……)?
Please send your comments to any member of the committee. Whoever receives your comments will share them with everyone on the LD committee.
We would like to get your comments no later than March 15th if at all possible. That will give us adequate time to consider them.
On behalf of the committee, we appreciate your time and look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you,
David Trumble – dtrumble@anselm.edu
McNabb Nichelle ‎- nmcnabb2000@yahoo.com‎‎
John Boyer ‎-lafayettedebate@gmail.com‎
Susan Taylor – susanclairetaylor@gmail.com‎ (Student Representative)
Raymond Quiel -rquiel@emich.edu
Larry Schnoor – lgene9535@aol.com‎‎ (President NFA, Chair of LD Committee)

Research Sites added

Just wanted to update everyone that as we’ve started jumping into the 2012 Ag topic I’ve started adding a few great sites I’ve come across on the research page. If you have any great sites you’ve found so far please post them in the comments and I’ll add them to the research page.

2012 Farm Bill

It appears that the House has recessed without passing the 2012 Farm Bill. As you start to do research on potential cases for this year be very aware of the potential for your case to lose inherency if the 2012 Farm Bill, once passed, dramatically changes policy.

CONGRESS is now on its five-week August break, leaving farmers, food-stamp recipients and consumers high and as dry as the drought-baked fields across the nation.

In June, the Senate passed a new five-year farm bill to replace the one expiring Sept. 30, and the House Agriculture Committee had a bill ready for the floor. Proponents say the savings in federal spending would range from $23 billion to $35 billion over 10 years.

It is highly likely that either the Senate bill will be adopted OR current policy will be extended for a short amount of time until a new bill can be passed. Given that it’s an election year I’d be very surprised if rural representatives allowed the farm bill to expire without a replacement.

EDIT: Here is a great article with an overview of the farm bill – and a few nice cards to cut!

“Organic Agriculture” and/or “Sustainable Agriculture”

I always prefer to start with definitions whenever a new topic is released. One of the things I like about this topic is that the terms appear to be well defined in actual LAW which given the United Stated Federal Government as the actor makes a good case for the use of an official government definition.

Substantially increase assistance will likely be a standard topicality debate this year although I think if your affirmative case is big enough you should have no problem in the 1AR defending your case. I would certainly look for the term in literature surrounding your case. If you can find someone describing your plan as a “substantial increase in assistance” you would be golden on topicality.

Organic

Here is a US Dept. of Agriculture page explaining how organic is officially defined:

Organic is a labeling term that indicates that the food or other agricultural product has been produced through approved methods. These methods integrate cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity. Synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, irradiation, and genetic engineering may not be used.

This page explains the origin of the official term.

Sustainable

The USDA also has a legal definition of sustainable agriculture on its website:

The term ”sustainable agriculture” (U.S. Code Title 7, Section 3103) means an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will over the long-term:

Satisfy human food and fiber needs.
Enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agriculture economy depends.
Make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls.
Sustain the economic viability of farm operations.
Enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.

That definition is a central element of the legislation of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program of NIFA.

You will probably find this homepage for sustainable agriculture very valuable this year!

Anyone else find good definitions?

2012-2013 Topic Announced!

From the IE-L
===
The NFA Lincoln Douglas debate resolution for 2012-2013 will be as follows:

RESOLVED: THE USFG SHOULD SUBSTANTIALLY INCREASE ASSISTANCE FOR ORGANIC AND/OR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES.

This resolution received a total of 135 points in the tabulation of the ballots returned. The second place resolution received a total of 110 points ( The USFG should substantially reduce subsides to one or more of he following crops: Corn, Soy, and/or Wheat.). The third place resolution receive 97 pts, 4th and 5th were tied with 82 points each.

A total of 34 ballots were returned.

Larry Schnoor, President, NFA

2012-2013 Topics!

Received this from NFA on the IE-L… Send in your ballot or you forfeit your ability to complain next year!

Feel free to make your case in the comment section for how people should vote. The deadline is APRIL 30.

NATIONAL FORENSIC ASSOCIATION
LINCOLN DOUGLAS DEBATE RESOLUTION BALLOT

2012-2013

The 5 LD Resolutions listed below are being submitted for your voting choice. In order for the ballot to be complete, you must rank order all five of the resolutions. The rankings will be converted to a point scale as follows: 1st = 5 pts., 2nd = 4 pts, 3rd = 3 pts., 4th = 2 pts., and 5th = 1 point. Ballot must be returned by April 30th.

ONLY ONE BALLOT PER SCHOOL MAY BE SUBMITTED. PLEASE INDICATE YOUR SCHOOL AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BALLOT.

BALLOTS CAN BE RETURNED AT THE NFA TOURNAMENT OR E-MAILED TO LGENE9535@AOL.COM BY THAT DATE. THE FINAL RESOLUTION WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON JULY 1ST.

________ A. The USFG should substantially increase regulation, including the possibility of prohibition, of one or more types or classes of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides,
and/or fungicides used for food production in the United States.

________ B. The USFG should substantially reduce subsidies to one or more of the following
Crops: Corn, Soy, and/or Wheat.

________ C. The USFG should substantially increase assistance for the domestic production of
vegetables, fruits, nuts, and/or dairy products.

________ D. The USFG should substantially increase regulation of intensive livestock
operations in the United States.

________ E. The USFG should substantially increase assistance for organic and/or sustainable
agriculture in the United States.

Remember, all 5 must be rank ordered. Return ballot by April 30 as indicated above.

SCHOOL: _________________________________________________________

Tariffs on Solar Panels

Big update on US-China Trade Relations in regards to solar panels today.

The United States Commerce Department said Tuesday it would impose tariffs on solar panels imported from China after concluding that the Chinese government provided illegal export subsidies to manufacturers there.

While this is still breaking nuclear war has yet to break out… =)

Draft resolutions

Posted on behalf of David Trumble..

Dear LD Community,

We are offering the following five draft resolutions (in no particular order) for your consideration.

Please send us any comments or suggestions that you might have on the wording, grammar, directionality, scope, or any other relevant aspects. You can write to me or any member of the committee. All comments will be shared with everyone on the committee.

We ask that your comments be sent to us by March 20th.

A couple of notes:

1. We have already received five comments from members of the community this year. These comments were all very helpful and did help guide us in crafting these resolutions. We hope to receive a number of comments again at this stage of the process.

2. We are planning to include two periods for public comment as regular parts of the topic committee work in the future. We will include: (a) a period for public comment as soon as the topic area is announced, and then (b) a period for public comment on a slate of draft resolutions. If you would like to comment on that process, please feel free to do so while it is fresh in all of our minds.

3. As for agriculture topics not on this list. We have considered a number of other topic areas and chose not to make them stand-alone topics. For example, NFA debated GMOs ten years ago and NFA also debated biofuels (under the renewable energy topic) just a few years ago. These topics are certainly important agriculture issues and may be debated within one or more of these five topic areas, but we chose not to make them sole or stand-alone topic areas. Also, NDT had a topic a couple of years ago calling for the elimination or near-elimination of subsidies to one or more of a very long list of agricultural sectors. We chose not to duplicate that topic. We hope that this process will produce a topic for NFA 2012-13 that is interesting, fair to both affirmative and negative, and offers new and unique ground for debate.

———————————
The USFG should substantially increase regulation, including the potential
prohibition, of one or more fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and/or
fungicides used for food production in the United States.

The USFG should substantially reduce subsidies to one or more of the following
crops: Corn, Soy, and/or Wheat.

The USFG should substantially increase support for the domestic production
and/or consumption of vegetables, fruits, nuts, and/or dairy products.

The USFG should substantially increase regulation of animal factory farms in the
United States.

The USFG should substantially increase support for organic and/or sustainable
agriculture in the United States.

————————————
Also, one last thing. There are definitions of the phrase “factory farm.” You will find two of them here. This list is not meant to be definitive nor exhaustive, but just to clarify that it is not a colloquial phrase outside of the literature base:

1. Encarta® World English Dictionary
http://www.bing.com/Dictionary/search?q=define+factory+farm&qpvt=+factory+farms+definition&FORM=DTPDIA

factory farm

farm using intensive methods: a farm where animals are raised on a large scale
using intensive methods and modern equipment

2. Collins Dictionary http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/factory+farming

factory farm

a farm in which animals are bred and fattened using modern industrial methods

———————————————-

If you prefer an alternative word or phrase for this particular phrase, or any other word or phrase, please include a definition or two (along with their URL).

Thank you.

David Trumble

Susan Taylor – susanclairetaylor@gmail.com
Marlin Bates – mbates@pacific.edu
Nichelle McNabb – nmcnabb2000@yahoo.com
Ray Quiel – rquiel@emich.edu
David Trumble – dtrumble@anselm.edu
Larry Schnoor – lgene9535@aol.com

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