Not to be outdone by Mia, it was also Luke Stuttgen's birthday, Thursday. Happy birthday, Luke! What better way to spend your birthday than teaching debate!
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As the 2012/2013 Season fast approaches, remember to order your 2012/2013 Topic Analysis Books for LD, PF, and Victory Briefs' Policy Files. Ordering a subscription not only gives you a substantial discount when compared to purchasing the books individually, but also means that the books will be delivered directly to your email as soon as they are released. Follow the links below for more information.
2012/2013 Lincoln-Douglas Topic Analysis Subscription
Congratulations to St. Louis Park's Leah Shapiro for championing the 2013 West Des Moines Valley Mid-America Cup over Collegiate's Andrew O'Donohue. The decision was a 2-1 for Leah (Legried, Hymson, *Melin). Leah is coached by Christian Tarsney and Charles McClung, and Andrew is coached by Aracelis Biel and Mark Gorthey.
The Federal Aviation Administration says you'll be allowed gate-to-gate usage of most of your personal electronics.
Congratulations to Apple Valley sophomores Prince Hyamang and Sophie Ober for closing out Minnesota's JV State Tournament. Prince and Sophie are coached by Chris Theis, Ed Hendrickson, Josh You and David Quinn.
In the Novice division Kiley Eichelberger a junior from Chanhassen defeated Edina Freshman Annie Amen in the final round to win the Novice State title. Congratulations to both debaters. Kiley is coached by Zach Prax
Congratulations to Cypress Woods' Xixiang "Shawn" Xiong for winning the 35th Isidore Newman Invitational! In finals, Shawn defeated Greenhill's Mitali Mathur on a 2-1 decision. Shawn is coached by Heath Martin and Jared Woods. Mitali is coached by Aaron Timmons and Rebecca Kuang. Isidore Newman is a semis bid to the Tournament of Champions.
Congratulations to Collegiate's Andrew O'Donohue for defeating Scarsdale's Noah Thaler to win the 2014 Columbia Invitational!
More and more, there appears to be disconnects between judges and debaters on the virtues of using theory as a strategy practice. Theory debate has steadily garnered the reputation as a frivolous, unpleasant practice, labeled as a tool employed to garner “cheap wins,” a “crutch” for those who lack substantive debate skills, and even a mechanism to exclude underprivileged debaters from the activity.
However, I find that a lot of these issues are not inherent either to theory debate or strategic theory debate, but the way debaters run these arguments. While it may occur much less frequently nowadays, excellent theory debate does exist. The goal of this article is to establish guidelines to help debaters improve on theory debate, should they choose to engage in it.
Congratulations to Collegiate's Andrew O'Donohue for defeating Scarsdale's Noah Thaler to win the 2014 Columbia Invitational!
More and more, there appears to be disconnects between judges and debaters on the virtues of using theory as a strategy practice. Theory debate has steadily garnered the reputation as a frivolous, unpleasant practice, labeled as a tool employed to garner “cheap wins,” a “crutch” for those who lack substantive debate skills, and even a mechanism to exclude underprivileged debaters from the activity.
However, I find that a lot of these issues are not inherent either to theory debate or strategic theory debate, but the way debaters run these arguments. While it may occur much less frequently nowadays, excellent theory debate does exist. The goal of this article is to establish guidelines to help debaters improve on theory debate, should they choose to engage in it.
We’re excited to announce that Victory Briefs Squads is now open for applications for the 2019–2020 debate season. Squads gives debaters an opportunity to work with top coaches and collaborate as a team with other students from all over the country. Squad membership provides weekly Squad practices, frequent private coaching sessions, access to a curated shared Dropbox, weekly open office hours, guest seminars with championship level instructors and former debaters, and case feedback.We are proud of our first year of Squads and the strong feedback participants offered. We frequently solicit feedback from our students to ensure the best possible experience and on our final student evaluation 100% of respondents indicated that they were glad they chose Victory Briefs Squads over other private coaching resources. Here’s what a member had to say about Victory Briefs Squads:
“Working with the coaches was really great. They were beyond helpful in both increasing my technical skill (ie speed/efficiency/etc) and expanding my content knowledge... Overall, squads has really helped my improve my skills throughout they year and there's no way I would have had any of the success I've achieved without the help”—David Edwards, Charlotte Catholic High School
Our primary coaches this season will include Jacob Nails, Christian Quiroz, and Pacy Yan. Students will also have the opportunity to attend guest seminars led by Brianna Aaron, Anthony Berryhill, Sai Karavadi, Devane Murphy, Jake Nebel, SunHee Simon, Chris Theis, Marshall Thompson, Darius White, and more.The application will be on a rolling admissions basis, but spots are extremely limited, so we encourage you to apply quickly for the best chance at admission. You can apply to join the LD Squad here, or learn more at the VB Squads website. Applications are currently available only for Lincoln–Douglas debate. If you’re interested in a Public Forum squad, please fill out this interest form.Thanks again for being a part of the Victory Briefs family. If you have any questions about Victory Briefs Squads, please email squads@victorybriefs.com.
The topics that will be used in Public Forum debate at VBI 2019 have been finalized for all locations.
- VBI Philadelphia (June 29 – July 12): The European Union should join the Belt and Road Initiative.
- VBI Los Angeles Session 1 (July 14 – Aug 2): The European Union should join the Belt and Road Initiative.
- VBI Los Angeles Session 2 (Aug 4 – Aug 17) will use the official 2019 September/October topic.
The topics that will be used in Lincoln-Douglas debate at VBI 2019 have been finalized for all locations.
- VBI Philadelphia (June 29 – July 12): Resolved: States ought to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.
- VBI Los Angeles Session 1 (July 14 – Aug 2): Resolved: Japan ought to amend Article 9 of its constitution to allow for offensive military capabilities.
- VBI Los Angeles Session 2 (Aug 4 – Aug 17) will use the official 2019 September/October topic.
Congratulations to Liberty High School's Grace Johannes for winning the 2019 National Speech and Debate Association's National Tournament in Lincoln-Douglas debate. In finals, Grace defeated University High School's Nehal Chigurupati on a 12-1 decision.Full results and pairings can be found here.
In late July/early August, active coaches and member students may vote online for a new slate of LD topics chosen by the LD Wording Committee at its summer meeting. The 2019 September/October LD topic will be announced August 8.Resolved: Predictive policing is unjust.Resolved: The United States ought to grant legal personhood to natural ecosystems.Resolved: Japan ought to amend Article 9 of its constitution to allow for offensive military capabilities.Resolved: The United States ought to legalize adult sex work.Resolved: The intergenerational accumulation of wealth is antithetical to democracy.Resolved: In the United States, colleges and universities ought not consider standardized tests in undergraduate admissions decisions.Resolved: States ought to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.Resolved: The United States ought to act as the employer of last resort.Resolved: A just nation ought not use offensive cyber operations to target civilian infrastructure.Resolved: The United States ought to eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels.https://www.speechanddebate.org/topics/
Congratulations to Sandeep Shankar and Daniel Cigale of Lincoln-Sudbury for winning the 2019 National Speech and Debate Association National Tournament. In finals, Lincoln-Sudbury defeated All Saints Episcopal's Bradley Tidwell and Evan Pan.Complete results can be found here. Congratulations to all on a wonderful season!
Congratulations to John Manahan & Yash Patel of Delbarton School for winning the 2019 Catholic Forensics League Grandnational Tournament. In finals, Delbarton defeated Ayush Patel & Jason Scheller of Eagan HS on a 3-2 decision (Hamilton, Sheppard, Shurtz, Teters*, Scheffler*).Full results can be found here. Congratulations to all!
Congratulations to Cape Fear Academy’s Maya Arora for winning the 2019 National Catholic Forensic League’s Grand National Tournament. In finals, Maya defeated Syosset High School’s Ronit Dhulia on a 3-2 decision.Full results and pairings can be found here.