Dear Fellow Debaters and DANEIS Members,
The Hopkins School Debate Society invites you to participate in our
Parliamentary Debate Tournament (Straight Resolutions) on Sunday,
February 28, 2010. There will be both Novice and Advanced divisions.
The
resolutions will be "straight" policy-oriented resolutions, and new
resolutions will be provided for each of the three rounds. The top
teams in the Advanced division will conduct an exhibition debate for
the Hopkins Debate Tournament Championship in Heath Commons after the
three rounds have been completed. Each
school
may
enter one four-person team in each division,
and must also provide one judge for each four-person team (with an
adult judge in the advanced division, not a student). All
schools are expected to have briefed their judges thoroughly on the
rules, format and the scoring techniques of debating. Schools are
invited to bring additional students as observers.
Registration on the day of the debate will be held from 10:30 to
11:30 AM in Heath Commons. Judges' and debaters' briefings will follow
the registration. In addition, brunch and snacks will be served
throughout the day in the Heath Commons Dining Hall. The debate will
conclude no later than 5:00 PM.
The format will be as follows (with 10 minutes to prepare an
argument):
| Prime Minister: | 5 minute constructive |
| Member of the Opposition: | 8 minute speech |
| Minster of the Crown: | 8 minute speech |
| Leader of the Opposition: | 8 minute speech |
| Prime Minister: | 3 minute rebuttal |
Preparing cases before the debate is strictly prohibited. Teams may not consult any reference materials of any kind during their preparation time. Teams that violate these rules will be disqualified from the tournament.
There is a sixty dollar entry fee for each four-person team, and an additional ten dollar entry fee for each observer in order to offset tournament costs. You may either send your entry fee to us with your entry form or you may bring it with you to the tournament. Please make your checks payable to Hopkins School.
Please fill out the attached entry form and send it by mail to the above address, or fax or e-mail it to us by February 23, 2010. Because our space is limited, we encourage schools to contact us ahead of this deadline as we may run out of space before February 23. If you have any questions, please email our adviser, Mr. Thom Peters. You may also call 203-397-1001 (x 175) at school.
We look forward to seeing you in March!
Very sincerely,
| Alex Pack, Captain | Earl Lin, Captain | Neal Patel, Captain |
Thom Peters, Adviser |
Examples of “Straight” Resolutions: (Yale Debate Association)
- This house believes assisted suicide should be legal in the United States.
- This house would allow foreign-born citizens to be president of the United States.
- This house would use force to spread democracy internationally.
Teams are not allowed to “redefine” the resolution in a straight resolution debate. A preparation time of 10 minutes begins immediately for the Government and Opposition after the resolution has been chosen. Judging will occur on a 100-point scale.