Debate Team

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The Carleton Debate Team is an extracurricular activity fostering public and persuasive speaking via argumentation. Anyone interested in debate should attend meetings at the beginning of the school year, though newcomers are welcome throughout the season.

Contents

Supported events

Currently, Carleton Debate only encompasses one event-- Parliamentary Debate (Parli). There has been interest in expanding the events to include Lincoln-Douglas Debate (LD), though Carleton has yet to compete in that event. Brief descriptions follow:

Parliamentary Debate

Parli is team debate simulating parliament; that is, two teams, each comprised of two people, take different sides of an issue (called the Resolution). The winning team is decided by a judge, or panel of judges. Depending on the region, the round is judged more on oratorical persuasion or on argumentative quality. Generally, the former tends to occur at local tournaments, and the latter at national tournaments. The style of Parli pursued by Carleton Debate is NPDA, though the team has attended tournaments supporting NPTE as well.

Resolution

The resolution generally starts with "This house," followed by a statement of belief or policy. These beliefs or policies often reference current events and can range from the serious to the silly to the ambiguous. Every round has a new resolution. Examples:

  • This house would pull out of Iraq
  • This house believes that Minnesota should secede from the United States and join Canada
  • This house would emulate the French

Debate format

Because the resolution is generally phrased as "This house," the debate takes place in parliament format (hence the name of the debate). That is, the team supporting the resolution is called the Government team, with the first speaker being the Prime Minister and the second speaker being the Member of Government. The opposing team is the Opposition team, the first speaker being the Leader of Opposition and the second speaker being the Member of Opposition. The Government team, then, specifies a house (a body with power to influence the resolution) and supports the resolution, generally through creating some sort of policy. The opposition also role plays that house, opposing the policy of the Government team. Hard copies of evidence are not allowed in the debate; debators are supposed to use only common knowledge.

Time scheme

The resolution is announced at the beginning of the round. Then, the two teams have 15 minutes of prep time, in which the Government team writes their plan and the Opposition team brainstorms how to defeat the Government. In the actual debate, the time scheme is as follows:

  • 7 minutes: Prime Minister's Constructive. The PM lays out the basic plan supporting the resolution.
  • 8 minutes: Leader of Opposition's Constructive. The LO gives reasons for opposing the Government plan.
  • 8 minutes: Member of Government's Constructive. The MG refutes the points given by the LO and rebuilds the Government plan.
  • 8 minutes: Member of Opposition's Constructive. The MO refuts the MG's constructive speech.
  • 4 minutes: Leader of Opposition's Rebuttal. The LO summarizes why the Opposition team should win the debate. No new arguments are allowed.
  • 5 minutes: Prime Minister's Rebuttal. The PM summarizes why the Government team should win the debate. No new arguments are allowed.

Questions (also called Points of Information or Cross-Examination) can be asked during any constructive speech, after the first minute and before the last minute, and will be answered at the speaker's discretion.

Lincoln-Douglas Debate

LD is one versus one debate, using just one resolution throughout the entire year.

Schedule

Debate practices begin in September, with tournaments starting in October. The season runs through Spring Break and is particularly active during Winter Term. Practices continue through Spring Term, but occur with less frequency. The practice schedule is current, as of Winter term, 2008.

Practice

  • Tuesdays, 9:00 pm, Leighton 304
  • Wednesdays, 7:00 pm, Leighton 304

Tournaments

Carleton Debate attends tournaments both in- and out-of-state and also participates in the National Parliamentary Debate Association's (NPDA) Nationals tournament over Spring Break. We generally send between two and four parli teams to tournaments.

Tournaments Attended, 2007-2008

Note: This list is incomplete

  • October 19-20, Friday and Saturday: Creighton University in Omaha, NE
  • January 18-19, Friday and Saturday: "Sleet and Sun" at Concordia University in Seward, NE
  • February 16-17, Saturday and Sunday: Minnesota State Tournament at Gustavus Adolphus College
  • March 27-30, Thursday through Sunday: NPDA Nationals in Colorado Springs, CO (during Spring Break)

Tournaments Attended, 2006-2007

Note: This list is incomplete

  • October 27-28, Friday and Saturday: Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, MN
  • January 19-21, Friday through Sunday: "Sleet and Sun" at Concordia University in Seward, NE
  • January 26-28, Friday through Sunday: "Gorlok Gala" in St. Louis, MO
  • February 17-18, Saturday and Sunday: Minnesota State Tournament in St. Marshall, MN
  • NPDA Nationals in Colorado Springs, CO

Tournaments Attended, 2005-2006

Note: This list is incomplete

  • October 4, Tuesday: Bethany Lutheran College; Mankato, MN
  • October 7-8, Friday and Saturday: Bethany Lutheran College; Mankato, MN
  • October 21-22, Friday and Saturday: Bethany Lutheran College; Mankato, MN
  • January 19-22, Thursday through Sunday: "Sleet and Sun" in Lincoln, NE
  • January 27-29, Friday through Sunday: "Glorlok Gala" in St. Louis, MI
  • NPDA Nationals

Leadership

Carleton Debate is a completely student-run organization and is headed by several officers, elected at the end of each season or modified as necessary through the course of the year. Debate suffered a slump in the 2004-2005 school year but was revived by the Army of One, also known as Jeremy Lyon '06, in the 2005-2006 school year. Since this renaissance, the leadership structure has changed along with the growing needs of the team. Such changes are, like the officer elections themselves, subject to a vote of the participating members of the team.

2008-2009

2007-2008

2006-2007

  • Coach: David Schraub '08. In charge of the debate aspect of the team-- teaching, critiquing, etc.
  • Captain/Secretary: Bob Keating '09. Serves as proxy for the Coach at debate meets and also takes care of administrative details.
  • Treasurer: Broderick Dressen '09. In charge of finances, including going to the CSA with funding requests

2005-2006

External links

Retrieved from "http://www.carlwiki.org/Debate_Team"
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