Competing
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. [...]
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, [...]
“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 [...]
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 [...]
Starter Packet for 2011-12 Topic
I attach here a starter packet for teams looking to begin practicing. It is likely of lower quality than the larger teams already have, but it should allow small and/or new teams to start practicing right away. It includes a currency manipulation aff (donated by Danny), some specific negative against currency manipulation, a specific DA against currency [...]
Good introduction to trade debate
Debate Central is a project of the National Center for Policy Analysis where overviews and evidence is provided to help spur high school policy debate. In the spring of 2010 UIL had a topic that dealt with free trade versus protectionism. While it’s not exactly the same topic we’re covering the site features a great [...]
Debating the Most Intuitive Cases Under the Resolution
Part of being a successful debater is having a solid case. What exactly qualifies as a solid case is open for debate (pun intended). I have always been an advocate of debating the most intuitive case under the resolution. Some of my contemporaries believe in cutting obscure cases that either barely meet the burdens of [...]
Taming the Kritik: How to Beat a Kritik Debater in LD
Today I’ll explain how to engage in kritik debate and some useful strategies to beat back the dreaded K. Although the kritik remains rare in LD debate it is not entirely absent from rounds and tournaments. Some enterprising debaters have changed the headings to DA – Counterplan, but make no mistake – It’s a kritik. [...]
Summer Prep 101: An LD’ers Guide to Taking Advantage of Your Summer Break. Part 3 of 3
So, you’ve finished most of the heavy lifting necessary for next year’s resolution. What’s left is Contention Development targeted at the most likely cases/arguments. At this point in your summer research you should have quite a few articles that you’ve collected and turned into policy chains. From these policy chains you should have generated tags [...]
Summer Prep 101: An LD’ers Guide to Taking Advantage of Your Summer Break. Part 2 of 3
Last week we discussed researching the topic area and building a policy chain. This week we can start putting it all together by tagging and/or frontlining all of the literature in your policy chain. At this point there is no right or wrong way to approach cutting/frontlining. As long as you’re gathering evidence for good [...]
Amended Resolutions
Per an email sent to the IE-L on Thursday, May 5 at 5:49pm the Lincoln Douglas Committee has revised the wording of the 5 resolutions: The Lincoln Douglas Committee has revised the wording of the 5 resolutions for clarification reasons. If you have already voted, and feel you need to change your ballot, send me [...]
Why do you participate in debate?
Now that the season is over I think it’d be a great time to reflect: why do you participate in debate? I often find these conversations are helpful at the end of the season when so many coaches and students are experiencing burnout and may feel like all the hard work of the season was [...]
