Debate Commentary

Here is where we will be keeping track of the bidlist for the 2015/2016 season. Congratulations to everyone who earned a bid/bids so far! Those with one bid who are applying for the at large will have a “*” next to their bid number. And here is the bidlist by schools: …

How Do I Reach These Kids?: An Affirmation of Polyvocal Debate By Ben Koh & Rebar Niemi For as long as there has been debate, there has been the debate about what debate is. We are not against a discussion of what constitutes debate. In fact we are absolutely for …

The Role of the Judge (Part 2) By David Branse 5) Practical Considerations In this section, I intend to prove that we should not in fact change the role of the ballot. I do not think that practical considerations give us a reason to prefer an education model of debate. …

The Role of the Judge By David Branse 1) Introduction This paper offers an interpretation of the correct role of the judge. My claim is that educational appeals should not play a role in the judge’s decision calculus. This applies to both critical roles of the ballot and theory voters. …

Resolved: The United States ought to promote democracy in the Middle East. By: Sophia Caldera, Chris Kymn, Carolyn Lau and JP Stuckert This year’s camp topic is notable first for its breadth.  It deals with America’s engagement with between about 18 and 25 countries in the Middle East, depending on …

So my flight out of LaGuardia was canceled last night, and rather than using my time productively, I have instead decided to take an hour or so and write down miscellaneous thoughts about debate that I have and then make them public (honesty I am still surprised at that choice). …

Are Judges Just Guessing?: A Statistical Analysis of LD Elimination Round Panels By Steven Adler Debate judges often bemoan how difficult rounds are to decide: Debaters never seem to do quite enough weighing or issue comparison; evidence is frequently over-tagged; and speakers are often muddled in their delivery, even during …

TOC Changes Rule on First-Year-Out Judges The TOC abruptly changed the rules regarding first-year-out judges in its invitation on Friday several weeks after it had originally released the invitation. The tournament released its first 2015 invitation, entitled “TOC Invitation Final_0,” in mid-February. On Friday, March 6 a new invitation called …

The national circuit is becoming increasingly unfriendly to “lone wolves.” In part because of the misbehavior of some independent travelers, tournaments that have in the past been reasonably friendly for the lone wolf have become less so. And tournaments that have never been lone wolf-friendly have taken steps to more …

Requiring debaters to debate the resolution isn’t unfairly exclusionary, nor does it preclude critical advocacies by Dave McGinnis Lincoln-Douglas debaters should be required to defend the truth of the resolution when they affirm, and to argue the falsity of the resolution when they negate. The meaning of “truth” and “falsity” …

by Emily Massey When I debated five years ago, it was common to hear frameworks like this: “The standard is minimizing terrorism. Terrorism kills [#] people every year, making it the largest threat to civilians worldwide. Terrorism destabilizes the international community, causing wars, etc.” Then, debaters started pointing out that these …

by Sam Natbony Today’s abuse is often caused by theory itself rather than traditionally abusive arguments such as a prioris and skepticism. Paragraph theory arguments have become prevalent in affirmative cases where debaters load cases with theoretical specifications that constrain the negative advocacy. It is uncommon to watch a round …

Portland, OR – Lincoln-Douglas debate has recently taken a new direction. A rise in the popularity and success of “pre-fiat” type arguments that speak to the role of the ballot or judge, an increasing number of online resources that aim to provide debaters with the information and tools to better …

On this page we will be keeping track of the bid list for 2014-2015. Congratulations to everyone who earned a bid this past weekend! As always, let us know in the comments if we’re missing any information/misspelling your name/getting your graduation year wrong. Good luck!

NSD staff members Carlton Bone and Marshall Thompson discuss the 2014 September-October resolution: “A just society ought to presume consent for organ procurement from the deceased.” Click through for the video.