2009 NFA-LD Debate Cooperative
This is a reminder that the registration deadline for the 2009 NFA-LD Debate Cooperative at Otterbein College is nearing! Payment and registration forms are due by July 17th, 2009. If this is a problem we can try to make alternate arrangements.
If you are considering attending camp this summer, please e-mail lafayettedebate [at] gmail [dot] com as soon as possible and let me know so I can work you into the estimate.
For more information, check out the camp website.
John Boyer
Camp Director
NFA-LD Debate Cooperative
Hydrogen Economy File
Thanks to Nick Matthews, a new debater for UCLA, for sending in this file. Here is his contribution for next year!
Note:
I’m a graduating high school senior who did policy debate for four years with some decent success. I’m attending UCLA in the fall, so hopefully I will have the opportunity to participate in NFA-LD and offer my debate background and experience to what I hope is an actively-growing community.
The high school debate resolution for my senior year involves increasing alternative energy incentives in the US, so I have a couple luxury yachts’ worth of files from this year that are going to prove VERY useful in the upcoming season.
I also like the idea of free files, so I’m distributing this particular sample affirmative for anyone to use. The aff was originally cut by the Northwestern University high school debate camp, so please do not give me any credit for any of the cards in here. All I did was reformat it and reorganize it into a more printer-friendly version. It’s a good file, but that’s not an excuse to avoid doing any more research on hydrogen - there’s a lot of topic literature that’s not covered in this.
You will definitely need to modify the precut 1AC. It’s meant for an eight minute speech with spreading, so you will not be able to even get close to finishing it in the NFA-LD format.
Have questions? Want to contact me? My email is listed [in the file].
Summer Break
Now that finals have finished and summer is here I wanted to let everyone know the posts will be a bit more sporadic over the summer months.
Which leads me to a question - what do you recommend to do over summer with respect to NFA-LD? We know the general topic and the 5 potential topics so you could get started on research. However, I am a big proponent on taking at least SOME time off after each year to decompress and relax a bit.
Any good generic resources anyone has found so far? Here is the blog from the U.S. Sec of Transportation that may be a good place to start reading.
Travel Ban Files
Thanks again to Will Chamberlin from Univ of Pacific for sending him an example affirmative and negative case on the Travel Ban case. Here, again, are great examples of what you want for files.
Quick note - these are the versions at the end of the year - they are a product of a full year research and work. This is what we want the files to look like by the end of the year =)
Travel Ban Affirmative File
Travel Ban - Neg File
Sample Disadvantage
Thanks to Will Chamberlin from UoP for sending in this sample disadvantage based on oil drilling. It really is an outstanding file and one that would be good for everyone to review and see how to construct a quality disadvantage file for NFA-LD.
Here is the negative answers in case anyone ran the drilling disadvantage against Will - remember when constructing DAs to be ready to have it run against you! From the comments - this is a neg file against an Aff case re: drilling =)
Send in Sample Evidence!
If you have any files that you are willing to share from the 2008-2009 season on Cuba I would be happy to post them on the site for new students to learn how to debate in NFA-LD. You can see examples of evidence that has been sent in by others here.
Thank you in advance - you are helping the next generation of NFA-LD debaters see what debaters use in round which is one of the most helpful ways to teach students. Additionally, one thing I’ve noticed from the site is that many people who are researching the same topics we debate come here to see your arguments. The site becomes a repository of information for the topic each year. Please email the information to ten.dl-lacos@ofni. Thanks!
A new season… a new look
SoCal-LD.net will be going through a new theme and look in the next few weeks - it will be more colorful and allow for greater customization and more ‘widgets.’
Interestingly, the site has been active now for over 2.5 years without an upgrade - hope you like it!
— Note, in case anyone was wondering, the site has been growing steadily for the past three years. The following chart is the total hits per year on the site:
LD summer day camp at RCC
Good news. I can get four or five classrooms reserved, with A/C, on the RCC campus for the week of August 17, 10-6 PM. I am pretty sure the campus is operational but deserted, so we could stay longer if we wanted to. That being said, I can draft a schedule for a workshop.
This workshop will be free. I will do my best to connect people when it comes to tranportation and/or housing. Since we are a CC we do not have access to dorms, but let’s just see what the level of interest is and see what we can do once it gets closer to the time.
I would like a list of anything you want to have included, as well as preferences for number of days. You can post it here or e-mail me at:
sydnekasle@yahoo.com. Please tell me who you really are, and what school you are from as well. Anonymous web chats are freaky.
We have a range of the following dates, so with those dates in mind let me know what you think. Obviously I can’t ask everyone about this, but the few who have been discussing this issue and the Resolution issue (Shantal or someone else) can chime in now. I’ll wait a few days to see what people say (about topics and also range of dates), and then I’ll work on a schedule with any coach or DOD who wants to be a part of the planning. Then we’ll advertise it to the masses.
Range of dates: August 17-August 23.
Times: 10 or 11 AM - 6 PM or so (avoiding rush hour)
We can do four or five days during this time span.
sek
Running Pre-Briefed Positions
During the last few NFA-LD tournaments of the year I heard a lot of complaints by coaches and judges that “everyone is running camp evidence” and hardly anyone is doing “original research.” If this is true, than one of the main tenants of NFA-LD is being lost - namely, the research and briefing of evidence which is a main selling point of NFA-LD in our region to supplement parliamentary debate.
My response is two-fold:
1. Since we are in a competitive event it behooves competitors to go beyond the camp evidence to gain a competitive advantage. If everyone is running the same positions and you have something new you are ahead in the debate. If the negative debater is relying on pre-briefed positions (either the LDOC or available here) than you know what the debater is ready to debate - run anything else and you are more likely to win. Thus, I think competition solves - those who just run pre-briefed material are unlikely to continue to win.
There is also an issue of recency. One of the arguments we have been advancing in most debates is that evidence and arguments advanced by the other side are “pre-Obama.” That since the inauguration the tone and debate has so radically changed that anything written before the election (and especially in 07, 06, 05 or earlier) is unlikely to take into account the change in the administration. We tried this approach on a US Hegemony position and Soft Power position. The idea being that if the evidence is old, the debater has not updated it since the election, our more recent responses are superior evidence.
Finally, as many debaters have found out this year, simply running a position someone else prepared is often hard to do - while you get through that important first speech you probably do not know what to say in the rebuttals. Had the debater cut all the evidence themselves they would have a fundamentally better understanding of the issue and be more prepared to debate the issue.
2. First-year students
One of the primary reasons for developing this website was to introduce the event for students who are new to the event. When we began to participate in NFA-LD debate I found the available resources online lacking - especially with examples of evidence that students actually use in NFA-LD. While I had participated in HS policy debate and knew roughly what a 1AC case looked like I did not know what cases looked like in NFA-LD. Three years later we have a wide variety of example positions for new students to see an example online. The ‘camp evidence’ and pre-briefed positions available on this site are designed for those new to the event to get started. When students are able to jump right into the event I hope they get a better understanding of the activity and will become interested in continuing to participate in future years.
However, when students are in their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th year participating, they should not be relying on pre-briefed materials. Students have learned the process of an NFA-LD debate (perhaps by using pre-briefed materials) and should now be able to focus on generating the content to use in rounds on their own.
At the PSCFA Spring Championship one reason for El Camino’s success is that in every round I watched each of the students had their own unique evidence that was well researched and understood by the debater - it seemed apparent the debater them self had cut the evidence. While I think the camp evidence and pre-briefed evidence can be helpful to introduce the event to new students I do not think ultimately it is sustainable to be successful in the event.
How do you approach pre-briefed evidence on your team? How do you think we should approach it as a region?
One recommendation I am going to make is to stop release mass amounts of cut evidence and instead release bibliographies. That way, everyone can access the evidence but it would be up to them to cut their own cards and understand the full context of the cards. This is not to say that I disapprove of releasing evidence but that I would not offer this site as a place to find full briefed positions beyond a few each year for new students. Any thoughts on that last idea? I’m not sure if I want to go that far yet.
2009 NFA-LD Cooperative
Last year, the Lafayette College Debate Camp was a huge success! I know that many of you made good use of the evidence produced by the camp. The camp is returning this year, but in a slightly modified form. The camp will be hosted by Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio. Because of the new site, the camp has a name change, but not much else has changed.
Camp Details
Location: Otterbein College, Westerville, Ohio
Dates: August 1-9, 2009
Cost: $400.00
Registration Deadline: July 17, 2009
Changes for 2009: Meals are included in the price this year. Also, we will be experimenting with a fellows program. Fellows will be selected by the Camp Director from a pool of applicants. Those selected will work closely with lab leaders to provide primary and supplemental research, help with practice rounds and act as peer mentors/coaches at the camp. Fellows will attend camp free of charge. You can download a Fellows application at the camp website, note that 2 letters of recommendation will be required.
I hope to see more representation of the left-coast at camp this summer. I know the Pacific debaters who attended last year had a great time.
John Boyer
Camp Director
NFA-LD Cooperative
NFA Results
Congratulations to all the debaters on a successful NFA National Championship tournament. Schools that regularly compete in Southern California had 8 entries in NFA-LD with a combined record of 23-25 and brought back 3 awards including two double octofinalist and one quarterfinalist award.
Hopefully next year we will have even more teams go and bring back national awards to our region!
- Glendale-CA - Matthew Grisat (1-5)
- Glendale-CA - Grant Toumasian (2-4)
- UN-Reno - Matthew Hogan (4-2) - Double Octofinalist
- Univ of Pacific - Tariq Bruno (2-4)
- Univ of Pacific - Steve Farias (5-1) - Quarterfinalist
- Univ of Pacific - Sarah Hamid (2-4)
- Univ of Pacific - Brandon Schwartz (2-4)
- Univ of Pacific - Will Chamberlin (5-1) - Double Octofinalist
Congratulations also in order to the two debaters in finals - National Champion from Creighton University Mike Storey and 2nd place from Western Kentucky University Lauren Nelson. Amazing job!
NFA-LD Policy Book published!
It is with great pleasure that I announce the publication of Up For Debate: U.S. Foreign Policy Options Towards the Greater Horn of Africa. This new book features eight chapters written by nine students from across the country who participated in NFA-LD debate during the 2007 academic year who transformed their cases into well researched policy recommendation chapters. To my knowledge this is the first book of its kind.
Book Cover
All eight chapters were written by current college students who debated this topic during the 2007 academic year in a debate event sponsored by the National Forensics Association called Lincoln Douglas debate (NFA-LD). The student authors debated and defended their policy idea in many competitive tournaments. As Professor Marty Birkholt from Creighton University, chair of the NFA-LD committee of the National Forensics Association comments, “Up for Debate features cases from some of the best debaters now in NFA-LD Debate. These cases offer a clear and cogent discussion of the Greater Horn of Africa topic.” Furthermore, “It offers a unique record of undergraduate research and contemporary case construction.”
This book is a unique testament to the hard work and dedication our students put into our debate activity. The book would be a great addition to any school’s library and would be a great resource for anyone learning NFA-LD policy debate as each chapter contains all of the elements of a stock issues case and would be a great tool for teaching case construction. Students could be given one chapter and have all the evidence they need to construct a high quality case. Up For Debate also includes twenty-plus pages of references which would allow your students to find the primary sources and write sample cases based on the same articles the authors used during their debate rounds.
For more information and to purchase a copy please visit our website. The book is for sale now at $14.99 plus $2.95 shipping/handling. Thank you in advance for your support of this project.
Sincerely,
Danny Cantrell
Picket Fence Memories
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
CHAPTER 1. ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING
Brandon Merrell & Thomas J. Schally (Western Kentucky University)
CHAPTER 2. MALARIA AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
Nicole Thorspecken (Saint Anselm College)
CHAPTER 3. LANDMINES IN THE GREATER HORN OF AFRICA
Matthew Hogan (University of Nevada - Reno)
CHAPTER 4. IMMIGRATION FROM THE GREATER HORN OF AFRICA
Jessica Furgerson (Western Kentucky University)
CHAPTER 5. READY-TO-USE FOOD AID
Sam Derrick (Lafayette College)
CHAPTER 6. FEEDING THE HUNGRY IN THE GREATER HORN OF AFRICA
Anthony Delcourt (Saint Anselm College)
CHAPTER 7. COTTON SUBSIDIES
Elizabeth Wehler (Lafayette College)
CHAPTER 8. ADDING RELEVANCE TO THE AFRICAN GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY ACT
Teevrat Garg (Lafayette College)