Wisconsin Forensics Daily

Forensics/Speech Camp Added to MUDI

Adam Jacobi — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:26:23 +0000

Ever wish your students were a bit more prepared for the season? Want to get a jump start on a great 2010 Forensics Season? Now is the time to get ready at the Marquette University Debate Institute (MUDI) Individual Events Summer Camp!

Please invite your students to take advantage of the opportunity to attend a first-rate forensics camp right here in their home state! The Marquette University Debate Institute is offering, for the first time, an Individual Events camp. Dates are July 19-26, and both resident and commuter options are available.

The Individual Events camp provides a dynamic, talented group of coaches and former competitors from Wisconsin and beyond in a hands-on environment that offers closely supervised preparation of all Wisconsin categories, as well as all NFL and NCFL events. Students will leave camp with a complete forensics piece.

Please visit MUDI’s Web site for more information. Questions can be directed to Mary Wacker.

Live From New York, It’s WFD: Covering Catholic Nationals

Bill Batterman — Thu, 21 May 2009 04:57:32 +0000

Wisconsin Forensics Daily will be on-hand to provide coverage of this weekend’s National Catholic Forensic League Grand Nationals in Albany, New York. Sheboygan North’s Jon Voss, Marquette’s Bill Batterman, and the National Forensic League’s Adam Jacobi (along with many others) will be in New York to share news and notes about Wisconsin competitors with their friends and families back home. If you are a Twitter fan, search for the hashtag #ncfl to read updates from those tweating before, during, and after the tournament. Please use this thread to discuss the tournament, share results, or wish good luck! We’ll get things started: who’s attending? In what events? Good luck, Wisconsin.

James Madison Memorial Head Coach featured in Isthmus

Nick Bubb — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:20:13 +0000

James Madison Memorial’s Head Coach, Tom Hardin, was recently profiled by the Madison weekly Isthmus. The article is now online. Surf over to the Isthmus can check it out. Also, if you hear of other news outlets covering debate or forensics in the state of Wisconsin, be sure to tell Wisconsin Forensics Daily. We’ll make sure to link you to the story.

Live from the WDCA Spring Coaches Meeting

Bill Batterman — Sat, 09 May 2009 15:16:15 +0000

The Wisconsin Debate Coaches’ Association is holding its Spring Meeting today at the Ripon Public Library. Eighteen schools are represented and will be discussing a wide range of issues including the novice evidence packet, the WSDT, next year’s tournament calendar, etc. A running log of the meeting (live from the President’s table) is below the fold.

Bill Batterman convened the meeting at 9:30AM. His President’s report including a discussion of the novice packet. The following text was unanimously added to the Standing Rules:

Section VII. Novice Policy Debate Argument Limits

Until a date determined by the Executive Committee, arguments in the novice division are restricted to those contained in the official novice evidence packet. Following that date, packet restrictions are removed but affirmatives remain limited to the plan texts specified in the novice evidence packet. In the event that an argument is presented from outside the novice evidence packet, the judge should not consider that argument in their decision regardless of whether the issue is raised in the debate. If the affirmative team presents a plan that is not found in the novice evidence packet, they should receive a loss. Tournament directors should enforce these novice evidence packet restrictions.

The other officers presented their reports and we have now moved on to the Committee reports.

Update 10:41AM

The WDCA has just passed four changes.

1. The evidence standards now require debaters to only verbally cite the AUTHOR and DATE of the evidence, not the source. This is consistent with current practices.

2. The clause in the adjudicator guidelines that prevents judges from asking or seeking information as to the identity of the schools participating in a round has been eliminated.

3. The clause in the adjudicator guidelines about evidence reading by judges has been amended:

The review of evidence by a judge is not allowed unless there is a dispute by the opposition regarding the meaning, context, or validity of the evidence or a suspicion of falsification.

4. The clause in the adjudicator guidelines about “tag teaming” has been eliminated.

We are not discussing proposals about the Judging Ethics and Grievances procedures.

Update: 10:55AM

Clarifications to the ethics/grievance procedures and the electronic communication restriction were passed unanimously.

Update: 12:07PM

A lengthy discussion of the WSDT is underway. We have decided to move to a Saturday/Sunday event in 2009 while maintaining the three-round format in JV/novice/MS (pending additional actions yet to be discussed).

We are now discussing Tim Scheffler’s proposal to reform the WSDT qualification procedures.

Update: 12:58PM

The Scheffler reform to the WSDT qualification procedure passed.

The JV division has been eliminated from the WSDT.

The discussion continues.

Update: 1:34PM

The meeting adjourned at 1:34PM. Things that haven’t been covered yet:

1. Steve Finch of Bradley Tech was elected President. Brian Devine of Janesville Parker was elected Secretary.

2. The PF judge ratio at the WSDT was reduced.

Several other things were also discussed, but I think this summarizes most of the legislative changes. The minutes will be available before the fall meeting from our outgoing Secretary, Kristi Plamann.

A huge thank you to Kristi for her service these past four years as Secretary. She has volunteered countless hours to the organization above and beyond hosting the WSDT over-and-over again.

Follow Wisconsin Debate @ the TOC on Twitter

Nick Bubb — Fri, 01 May 2009 04:22:31 +0000

Three Wisconsin teams are attending the 2009 Debate Tournament of Champions this weekend in Lexington, Kentucky. Teams from Stevens Point, Marquette University High School, and Sheboygan North will be making their way to the Bluegrass State. You can get all the updates about how they are doing right right here on Wisconsin Forensics Daily.

Wisconsin Forensics Daily is helping out Bluetub cover the 2009 Tournament of Champions at the University of Kentucky. We’ll be using the hashtag #toc2009 and you can follow us at http://twitter.com/wiforensics or you can follow Bluetub at http://twitter.com/bluetub.

WDCA Spring Meeting Discussion

Nick Bubb — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:38:35 +0000

This thread serves as a discussion platform for several Standing Rule Changes that will be items of New Business at the WDCA Spring Meeting in Ripon on Saturday, May 9. Please check this thread often as we will be posting the proposals as we have found the necessary language for them.

WSDT Qualification Change
Judging Standard and Ethics clean-up
Independent Tournament Director clean up
Enforce or Eliminate JV
WSDT Operations/Scheduling Change

No Prepared Document:
Reduce PF Judge Ratios. For the WSDT, reduce the required PF Judging commitment to the following: 1 judge for 1-2 Teams, 2 judges for 3-4 teams, 3 judges for 5+ teams.

Rationale: Teams don’t need to bring as many judges as they have in the past to run Public Forum at the WSDT.

WFD Brewer Game

Nick Bubb — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:01:29 +0000

Wisconsin Forensics Daily hosted a Brewer Game a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (like when the Brewers had pitching). We’ve tried to host WFD Brewer Games since then to no avail. We are trying again this year. We believe that engaging with members of the debate and forensics community outside of a competitive atmosphere makes us better coaches and helps remind us of our goal of teaching students.

This year’s game is scheduled for Saturday, May 30 against the Cincinnati Reds. The game time is at 6:05. Depending on how many coaches show up, we may opt to do a tailgate as we did back in 2005. Where the tickets are depends on how many people sign up.

How is this going to work? If you want to go, leave a comment on this thread or send an email to Nick Bubb (njbubb AT gmail DOT com). We will work out ticketing for those who have committed to go. Please understand that in order for this to work once you commit to going, we are going to assume that you will purchase a ticket.

Coaches and judges have until May 12 to let us know if they want to attend. After that day, we will purchase the tickets.

WFD Experimenting with Twitter @ WFCA State

Nick Bubb — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:44:16 +0000

WFD is experimenting with twitter at this weekend’s state tournament at Ripon College. If the experiment goes well, we’ll jump head-first into the twitter stream.

You can follow WFD on Twitter by using the following link: http://twitter.com/wiforensics

If you’re twitter savvy, you can also follow all of our posts about the 2009 WFCA State Tournament by searching for the following hash tag: #WFCA2009

WDCA Spring Meeting Discussion: Novice Packet System

Bill Batterman — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:45:48 +0000

For the first time this past season, the WDCA instituted a packet restriction for its novice division. In addition to the usual novice case limits, this system provided all competitors with a packet of evidence and required them to debate exclusively with it for the first two months of the season. At that point, the restrictions were loosened to allow new arguments to be read so long as they complied with the existing novice rules (case limits and prohibition of counterplans/critiques).

The novice packet system was implemented on a one-year basis with the expectation that it would be revisited for 2009. With a test run under our collective belts, now is a good time to discuss what went well, what did not go well, and what changes should be made for the future. This post is an invitation to WDCA coaches to begin that discussion in advance of our 2009 Spring Meeting. A series of questions to guide the discussion is below the fold.

What was your overall impression of the novice packet system? Was its overall impact on WDCA-sanctioned novice divisions positive or negative?
What went well with the novice packet system? What benefits did you experience when coaching or judging novice debaters using the system?
What did not go well with the novice packet system? What downsides did you experience when coaching or judging novice debaters using the system?
Should the novice packet system be continued in 2009? If so, what changes should be made to improve the system?
Should the novice packet system be maintained throughout the season? Or should the “phase-out” again exist beginning on November 1st?

Please encourage your fellow coaches to share their thoughts here on WFD. A summary of this discussion will be shared at the Spring Meeting in hopes of improving the quality and brevity of the in-person discussion.

IE Results From Southern Wisconsin NFL District Qualifying Tournament

Bill Batterman — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:43:24 +0000

The Southern Wisconsin District of the National Forensic League held its national qualifying tournament in individual events this Saturday at Rufus King High School in Milwaukee. After four rounds of competition in International Extemporaneous Speaking and three rounds of competition in all other events, the top two individuals/duos qualified to represent the district in Birmingham. Complete results are below the fold.

Original Oratory:

Qualifier 1: Margaret Bedwell – Brookfield East
Qualifier 2: Michael Freitag – Brookfield East
Alternate 1: Theresa Vander Woude – Brookfield East
Alternate 2: Arush Agni – James Madison Memorial

Duo Interpretation:

Qualifier 1: Andrew Muir & Jamie Caneff – James Madison Memorial
Qualifier 2: Michael Meidl & Chris Vosters – Brookfield East
Alternate 1: Eric Larson & Charles Xu – James Madison Memorial
Alternate 2: Hannah Giese & Katie Klann – Brookfield East

Humorous Interpretation:

Qualifier 1: Jonathan Spence – Wauwatosa West
Qualifier 2: Michael Meidl – Brookfield East (attending in Duo)
Alternate 1: Spencer O’Rourke – James Madison Memorial
Alternate 2: Jon Weisse – Brookfield East
Alternate 3: Jamie Caneff – James Madison Memorial (attending in Duo)
Alternate 4: Nicholas Nassif – Marquette

Dramatic Interpretation:

Qualifier 1: Colin Woodbury – James Madison Memorial
Qualifier 2: Jonathan Spence – Wauwatosa West (attending in Humorous)
Alternate 1: Chris Vosters – Brookfield East (attending in Duo)
Alternate 2: Sarah Arbaje – James Madison Memorial
Alternate 3: Jane Lee – James Madison Memorial

U.S. Extemporaneous Speaking:

Qualifier 1: Valeri Shen – James Madison Memorial (attending in Public Forum)
Qualifier 2: Jason Schwartz – Nicolet (attending in International Extemp)
Alternate 1: Zack Verana – Brookfield East
Alternate 2: Michelle Yang – James Madison Memorial

International Extemporaneous Speaking:

Qualifier 1: Gabriella Friedman – Nicolet (attending in Congress)
Qualifier 2: Jason Schwartz – Nicolet
Alternate 1: Abhilash Sandireedy – James Madison Memorial
Alternate 2: Yang Lei Ye – James Madison Memorial

District Student of the Year:

Chris Vosters – Brookfield East

Sweepstakes Trophy:

James Madison Memorial

Traveling Trophy:

West Bend East