Whitman
Speech and Debate Participation Guidelines
Welcome to our team. The key
elements of our team participation guidelines are:
1. Support Team Goals to improve,
to do your best, to help the program achieve the
highest rankings in the nation it can—as individual teams and speakers and as a
squad.
2. You earn tournament travel by
being a good member of our program; national travel depends on extra commitment
doing extra drills and research assignments and in having a good chance of
success at the tournament.
3. Research assignments
thoroughly, following the proper formatting, and with integrity.
4. Use team laptops and desktops
and all team items with care.
5. Work cooperatively with Jim and
the coaches in drills, research, and during meetings. Respect the decisions
that the coaches must make concerning partnerships and travel, decisions made
with your input and based on team guidelines.
6. Treat other team members
courteously.
7. Engage in appropriate behavior
at tournaments and while the team is traveling. Support team members, work
hard, be nice to people from other programs, keep focused and healthy. Treat
hotels, planes, vans, and staff with respect.
8. Work with coaches at
tournaments to do your best.
9. Do well in your other academic
courses including attending classes regularly and completing quality
assignments on time.
10. Keep yourself healthy. If you
need to act to deal with feeling down, illness, healthy eating etc., take
action—seek out the right resources.
11. If problems crop up, be honest
and work with coaches to resolve problems.
Below is the full, very detailed team
participation guidelines. You usually only need to read the below if you
have a specific question.
Click the item you wish and it will take you to that item.
Whitman Speech and Debate
Participation Guidelines
National Champ
Tournament Goals
GETTING
READY FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR
When partnerships don’t
work out the way you wanted
WHO
TRAVELS TO WHICH TOURNAMENTS IN WHAT DIVISIONS
Students
going to any tournament are expected to
Qualification
National Tournaments
Two Notes about
Tournament Travel Criteria
Why am I not going to a
tournament?
In what division do I
compete?
Integrity of your
researched materials
Borrowing and purchasing
materials
Arguments we Prepare and
Present
Taking
Evidence/Arguments when you leave the team
USING
TEAM AND PERSONAL LAPTOPS
WORKING
WITH JIM AND THE COACHES
TREATING
OTHER TEAM MEMBERS RIGHT
PREPARING
TO TRAVEL TO TOURNAMENTS
Policy preparation
during tournaments
Parliamentary
preparation during tournaments
We expect you to try to
win your rounds
Who advances when two of
our teams hit each other in elims?
Keep your mental
faculties focused at tournaments
Depressed? Hate that
you’re not the best? Overwhelmed?
Things that coaches can
publically announce
Things that remain with
just the coaches
Philosophy about
Disciplinary Action
Welcome to the Whitman Speech and
Debate Program.
This document is designed to provide
you with key information about how our program operates. If you have a
question, just ask Jim.
What are the goals of our program?
In this section, we’re going to talk
about things you are probably wondering about at the beginning of the year:
·
How do partnerships work?
·
Who travels to what tournaments?
·
What guidelines are there for research?
·
How can I best work with Jim and the coaches?
·
What about working in Hunter?
·
You will fill out a partner preference sheet. This will allow you
to tell us who you want to debate with and who you don’t and why.
·
These sheets are confidential—we will not reveal this information
to anyone except to the coaching staff.
·
You will meet with the coaches. We’ll ask you
questions to try to find out what your goals are and more about your thoughts
on partners.
·
Jim along with the coaches makes the final decision about
partnerships.
·
The coaches’ decision seeks to maximize partners
that people on the team want AND that maximizes our competitiveness for
the team as a whole.
·
The coaches have done their best to maximize partners that people
want and that make our team competitive.
·
Sometimes, that is a difficult task and it doesn’t work out
perfectly for everyone.
·
Obviously, you do not deserve a specific partner other than that
the coaches use the criteria above.
·
You are privileged to be part of this team and to have the partner
you have. Work with the partner you have to be the best that you can be.
The team’s web page states what
specific tournaments we are going to but this explains our criteria for who
gets to travel to which of those tournaments.
·
All
221-222 students are expected to participate at all Northwest-West Coast
Tournaments except as permitted by the Director.
·
Qualified 121 students are expected to attend a tournament in the Fall usually the Northwest Parli-IE Warmup.
·
be
enrolled in RFS 121, 221, 222, 401, or 402 except in unusual situations with
the Director’s permission.
·
complete
assignments.
·
practice
their events (drills, debates, speeches) and arrive on time.
·
regularly attend the debate class and arrive on time
·
regularly
attend other classes.
·
not
use debate absences as an excuse to not complete quality assignments in their
classes in a timely manner.
·
not
have complaints from teachers about their performance in classes.
·
listen
to coaching.
·
not
engage in bad behavior toward the coaches or other team members.
·
act
appropriately at tournaments (no drugs, no attacking staff or other students,
etc.).
·
school
permission (meaning you are not on probation and permitted by school rules to
represent Whitman).
·
follow
the Team Participation Guidelines.
221 and 222 students also need to:
·
schedule
and work with coaches 7 hours each week doing drills, research, filing,
strategizing, theory learning, etc.
·
attend
Prep Sessions, particularly the ones prior to the beginning of the school year.
·
assist
tournaments the team hosts.
National travel is for students who excel and the coaches make
decisions on who travels to national tournaments based on a variety of factors.
The most important factor is your investment level including:
·
How much time you spend actually working on debate.
·
How long or difficult the research assignments you complete are.
·
How high quality and timely your work is.
·
Your willingness to go above and beyond just your assignments to
seek out the help of coaches.
·
Doing extra drills.
·
Doing extra filing and highlighting.
·
How much you make it clear to us that you care about and actually
carry through in improving your debating.
An additional, important factor is what we perceive as your
potential for success at a tournament (typically at the 50% win-loss or higher
range) which includes:
·
Past success (record, speaker points, head to heads).
·
Current skill level (typically demonstrated in drills and practice
debates).
·
Potential for future success (based on our assessment of your
potential).
Additional criteria which inform
the coaches’ decisions.
·
Our travel budget (available funds dictate how many teams we can
send to tournaments).
·
Frosh typically are not eligible for national tournaments that
occur before November 1.
·
Students traveling to national tournaments do not miss expected
tournaments. For example, when you miss a regional tournament that you are
expected to go to, you are rarely if ever eligible for national travel.
·
Record of commitment to the team (one or more years of commitment
of hard work on the team).
If you would like to discuss
whether you are meeting expectations for traveling to a tournament you would
like to attend, you are welcome to talk to the coaching staff at any time. We
are happy to discuss why you do or do not get to go to a tournament and what
you can do in the future to increase your access to opportunities.
NATIONAL TRAVEL IS, as is any travel with our team, A PRIVILEGE
THAT YOU EARN.
·
Qualification National Tournaments have qualifying rules for
attending. The NDT, NPTE, and Wake Forest tournaments are examples of such
tournaments.
·
Since these and possibly other tournaments restrict the number of
teams we may send, the staff may be required to select the teams submitted for
attendance. Such decisions will be made on a case by case basis with a general
eye toward the criteria, especially the national tournaments criteria, listed
above.
·
As is true for any tournament, you need to be eligible based on
our participation guidelines.
·
The
NDT: 1) Be ranked as Top 16 in the country; or 2) Be chosen as an NDT
district applicant team by our staff based on our travel criteria (and must have
at least a 40% open record) and do well enough at the district tournament to
qualify; or 3) Be chosen as an NDT second round applicant by our staff (this
requires at least a 50% open record and a likelihood of receiving a bid) and be
ranked as a qualified second round team. Note, third
teams from our school must be among the top 6 third teams in the country to
qualify for a second round bid.
·
The
NPTE: 1) Be approved by our staff based on our travel criteria; 2) Earn
at least 18 NPTE points accumulated at the 4 tournaments with your best
results.
·
Wake
Forest: Be one of four teams selected by the staff based on our
qualifying criteria especially the national tournaments criteria listed above
(and you must meet the Wake standards which are breaking at CEDA Nationals or
the NDT previously or at two senior division tournaments in the fall).
·
Decisions
about whether you travel are made at the time travel is
finalized (for national travel that occurs when tickets are purchased—typically
one to two months before we go.)
·
What
happens if one partner doesn’t make the standard?
Then the coaches need to make a judgment call; the coaches might talk to the
debater not meeting the standard; and the coaches might consider repairing
teams.
·
Travel decisions are based on the travel criteria.
·
Travel
is a privilege that you earn. Obviously, we are limited by our
budget but the coaches make assessments based on the travel criteria.
·
Ask Jim and he will tell you directly why you did not get to
travel.
As
a whole, you will compete in the division based on the definitions used by the
tournament that we attend.
For Policy tournaments, most tournaments only have open
division. At a few tournaments, they offer JV division and the definition of
that is complicated but typically, if you are in your first two years of
college competition and you are winning less than 50% of your debates, you
would be a team likely to be placed in JV division.
For Parli tournaments, this usually
means the following:
·
Novice: 3 or less elim awards AND has
not competed in high school. When you get your 4th award, you move
up.
·
Junior IE’s: 7 or less awards in the event. When you get your 8th
award, you move up.
·
Junior Debate: 3 or less elim awards in
JV or Open division at college debate tournaments (elim
awards in a high school TOC qualifying division of debate also counts). When
you get your 4th award, you move up.
·
The staff may, in unusual situations, move a competitor into a
more advanced division based on exceptional performance and ability.
The research you
prepare is research that the entire team will use; it needs to be top notch and
ethical research. The team funds and supports your travel; you are expected to
make good use of those funds. This section lays out the expectations for your
research and arguments. We will provide further details later for your research
assignments.
·
We will not permit any fabricating, plagiarizing, or taking
material out of context. We’ll work with you to resolve the situation but it is
subject to an F grade, reports to the Dean, etc. Please do NOT do this—it is
damaging to you and to the entire team.
·
We will not permit the posting of nor the
use of anonymously published or posted materials that a debater or coach wrote.
In policy debate, if you wish to use quoted material from a debater or coach
from our squad, you should discuss this with the staff before using such
material.
·
You may not use files produced by other schools without a head
coach’s permission.
·
Before a policy debate, you are expected to explain positions/cases
accurately that you have presented before to other teams (unless your coaches
tell you differently). You may not claim you have a new affirmative when you
have essentially the same affirmative that you or other team members have used
before. You may state that you will use another one of our team’s affirmative
cases, that you will have a new advantage or new plan text wording, or other
specific description.
·
During a policy debate, you may not clip evidence (claim you have
read words, phrases, or sentences that you actually skipped during your
speech).
·
During a policy debate, you must give evidence you will present
directly to the other team without delay when you begin speaking or by the time
that you finish presenting the arguments. Delays in giving the evidence and
making it difficult to ascertain the evidence you read is not appropriate (e.g.
giving the other teams multiple pieces of evidence that you know you won’t
read).
·
If you believe another person or team has misused or fabricated a
piece of evidence, please do not make a public issue of it. For example, we frown on evidence challenges
made in a round; we prefer that you talk to the other team quietly during prep
time; if that doesn’t resolve it, you can argue that the evidence IS NOT
CORRECT but ONLY if you have ABSOLUTE DOCUMENTED PROOF. We expect you to check the evidence by
researching it and to speak with the other person or team quietly. If there is a serious problem that you are
unable to resolve, speak to one of your coaches.
·
We encourage exchanging source citations, argument ideas, and
flows with the exception of arguments and speeches that we have not presented
yet.
·
You must have the permission of a head coach to trade our
materials with other schools including high school teams. If you do receive
permission, you must make certain that the people you give the materials to
re-cut them and that any reference to
·
The team can purchase books and journals IF AND ONLY IF you get a
head coach’s permission first. If you do not receive permission first, the team
is under absolutely no obligation to reimburse you.
·
The team accepts no responsibility for overdue fines or lost
books/journals even if you checked out items for other people and they lost
them or returned them late.
·
We support your freedom to present a variety of arguments at
tournaments within limits.
·
As a general rule, affirmative/government teams must seek to
follow and support the resolution/topic.
--One test of this: The 2AC/MG must seriously go for “the aff/gov is topical”.
--Another test: Saying you “relate to the topic” is not sufficient. You have to
support the topic.
--Affirmative/government teams do not need to “implement” the resolution (and
hence deal with politics and other logistical arguments), but they do need to
support the advocacy advanced in the resolution.
·
As a general rule, negative/opposition teams must answer the affirmative/government
team’s support of the resolution.
·
This is not meant to restrict our teams from unusual situations
where a non-topical case might be strategic against a team that refuses to
engage the affirmative; or if you are on the negative against a team that ran a
brand new case out of nowhere.
·
Our norm is plans/advocacies with advantages, disadvantages,
counterplans, and kritiks; some performance is fine
too.
·
As a general rule, we are not willing to fund travel for teams
that wish to make other kinds of arguments including attacks on judges or other
competitors, non-topical affirmatives, and overtly obscene behaviors (such as
nudity, flipping off opponents, etc.) This is not meant to interfere with
discussion of controversial topics such as sexuality, racism, etc. If you have
a question, ask a coach.
·
You may take arguments you directly researched.
·
You may not take any other files or arguments unless with the
explicit approval of Jim.
Whitman does not use printed
materials for debates (other than flowsheets).
Instead, we use laptops.
Team
Laptops for Policy Debaters
·
Each team on the policy debate squad may have use a laptop.
·
If you need more than the third laptop for your debating, speak
with Jim; we’ll do our best.
Team
Laptops for Parli Debate and Extemp
·
We will bring 2 or 3 Team Laptops for Parli
Debate Prep and for Extemp Files to tournaments.
·
You can also use your own laptop.
Team
Laptops for Policy Debaters
·
Debaters who want to use a team laptop beyond tournament use may
do so on a first come, first served basis. See Jim.
Debating
use of your personal laptop
·
If your laptop is broken during a tournament/practice session for
situations where someone else/something destroys or harms your computer, the
team will pay to repair it.
Examples where we will compensate: Someone else walks on your laptop; someone
throws water on your computer (if done recklessly, carelessly, or purposefully--we
will pursue the person at fault to reimburse us for the cost of repair).
Examples where the team will not pay--your hard drive dies; your laptop screen
gives out; you were not using the laptop for team purposes when it was broken
(e.g. you took it to a tournament and barely used it for prep time).
Damaging
a Team Laptop
·
If you break a laptop by reckless, careless or purposeful means,
you will be responsible for the cost of repairing such damage including for a
team laptop.
·
Please do not lie about damage to team or other team members’
laptops. Be honest and accept any responsibility you had for damage. We will
consider lying about this a serious breach of team guidelines and serious
consequences (e.g. suspension from the team) will occur.
We want to work productively with
you. Here are some key tips. J
Hunter is a great
place to work. Please keep it that way!
·
Use the computers and desk space to get your work done efficiently
and to have fun.
·
Please keep the Prep Rooms relatively clean.
·
Throw away trash.
·
Keep your desk area including the floor relatively clean, neat,
and organized.
·
Jim and the coaches reserve the right to require you to spend
several minutes cleaning the Prep rooms if they are messy.
·
You must enter Hunter through the doors, not through a window. If
your swipe card is not working, you need to call security at 5777.
·
To use Hunter when the doors are locked, you must be on the
Picture list. If security asks about your presence in Hunter, you can point to
the Picture list near the Prep room doors.
·
You can be removed from Hunter for loud noise, disruptive or
illegal behavior (smoking is illegal in all Washington state buildings). Please
avoid this from happening.
·
ALWAYS be courteous and cooperative with security.
·
If you see unusual behavior from others in the Hunter building
that concerns you—talk to Jim immediately or call security at 5777.
·
Is a printer, computer, mouse, something else broken in a Prep
Room? Please email Jim to tell him that it needs to be fixed. He will put in a
work order to get it fixed.
·
You may not post on the walls or computers in the prep rooms
“overtly objectifying sexualized pictures/words” nor “attacks on identifiable
groups or individuals.” This is because you may make other team members
uncomfortable and because administrators, people, etc. may visit. The walls and
computers are not yours, they are the property of the program. Jim will remove
these items and, if necessary, “lock down” the computers preventing any changes
whatsoever to the computers (i.e. when they reboot, they will totally clean the
hard drive of any changes).
·
Your music may not be played so loudly that it interferes with or
bothers others in Hunter, including Jim. To that end, you must play music with
your headphones/earbuds unless you get “noise level
certified” by Jim.
·
Posting something on a wall? You need to use BLUE TAPE. Other tape
damages the paint.
Members of our team
are friends, debate partners, and colleagues. We are working together and that
means it is important to treat each other right.
·
Our squad should give you the opportunity to participate in
speaking and debating events COMFORTABLY.
·
We encourage you to support the diversity of people on our
team—people of different colors, political views, intellectual abilities,
talent, weights, genders, sexualities, cultures, religious views, and
experiences.
·
Since what happens in social settings such as parties where team
members get together, dinners where a few debaters are eating together, etc.
doesn’t suddenly disappear when those same people are in the prep rooms, at
tournaments, etc., you are encouraged to treat people right wherever you
interact. That includes social gatherings of team members as well as when
directly participating in our program such as in hotel rooms, on van rides,
while debating, in the prep rooms, etc.
·
The
staff is committed to working with you to make the team atmosphere comfortable.
If you feel we aren’t doing what we should, please report it to Clare Carson or
Dennis Hopwood in Mem.
·
We STRONGLY discourage you from attacking or blaming your partner
for problems in debates. If you have a problem with your partner—have a private
conversation with him or her. Don’t gossip behind his or her back and don’t
turn it into a public dispute. You can also talk with the coaches if things
aren’t getting resolved.
·
We encourage you to show respect for all parts of our
program—Policy Debate, Parliamentary Debate, Extemp,
Impromptu, and Platform speaking. You are certainly welcome to critique fast
speaking, krazy kritiks,
ridiculous heg and econ impacts, not using quoted
material, and adapting to “comm.” critics. However, calling one of the two
types of debate stupid, claiming superiority to another team member, and
devaluing others’ work is not acceptable, is hurtful to people, and undermines
our team.
·
We
encourage you to complement team members for extra effort (e.g. doing a
research update), for showing good skills, for their contributions to the team
or just as friends.
·
We encourage you to keep a positive attitude. Making repeated
negative comments about debate, our program, other team members, and coaches is
harmful to creating a positive culture on the team.
·
We encourage you to support team members who are having problems.
This might be just talking with them; it might be helping them get to a
counselor.
·
We encourage you to help with research when fellow team members
are away at tournaments.
As a
participating member of the team and especially at Hunter and Tournaments but
in all of your interactions:
·
You are expected to follow the guidelines noted in Whitman’s
Student Handbook including during your debates, practices, and at tournaments.
·
You may not order items on the team’s bill from restaurants or
stores (such as appetizers or special pens) without the explicit consent of Jim
or a coach who is in charge of a tournament. You are never permitted to charge
to the team entertainment items (such as movies in your hotel room) or
medicine/toiletry items from stores (such as cough medicine or mouthwash).
Traveling to
tournaments with the team is what makes all the work you do all the more fun.
We have a great time. Jim will make you stop at Multnomah Falls a bazillion
times, you gotta love the college judging, and how
can you deny the joy of team bonding in the Whitman vans!
Pack and be ready to go at the
scheduled times including when we leave Whitman to go to the tournament; when
we leave the hotel in the morning to go to the tournament; and when we leave
the tournament to return to Whitman.
Any claims preventing travel
should be verified by the Health Center.
If you are sick and unable to
attend a tournament, inform the coaches and your debate partner. We will do our
best to give your partner the opportunity to debate.
1. Clothes
·
Bring nice clothes. “Nice,” means wear clean, wrinkle free
clothing that represents the best quality dress in the style that works for
you.
·
Bring a different set of clothes for each day of the tournament.
·
Many students also like to bring an extra set of casual clothes
for when they aren’t competing.
2. Toiletries
·
Deodorant, mascara, hair care, feminine products, razors,
toothbrush, toothpaste, combs, dental floss, shampoo, etc.
·
For some tournaments, you will also need to bring a
comforter/sleeping bag and towel. Jim will alert you via the email listserv
when you need to do this.
3. Extra money
·
The team will pay for food, transportation and hotel rooming for
you during the tournament.
·
Bring a debit card, small amount of money, or a credit card for
all other items including special pens, medicines, personal items, etc. If you
like snacks/expensive drinks, bring extra money for that too.
4. Your Speech and Debate Materials
·
Check to make sure you have the Extemp
Files and the Parli Case Book on your laptop.
·
Check to make sure you have your laptop, cords, usb key, etc., and that your laptop has the files from the
server. Use our Tech Checklist.
·
We expect you to speak to one of the coaches before debating.
·
In elimination rounds especially, please do not interfere with
coaches prepping teams. This means, stay out of the area/room where coaches are
working with the debaters unless you are asked to help/come in.
·
You are expected to provide source citations for good cards to
other debaters and our coaches.
·
On the day/night before the tournament starts, we expect coaches
and students to help prep key areas. We expect work on files, practice reading
evidence, etc., but you should have some fun too.
·
On the night(s) of prelims, we will discuss cases, neg. positions,
etc. on an ad hoc basis. We want you to get sleep so file and go to sleep.
·
On the night before elims, we will make
every effort to return to the hotel as soon as possible. This means that we
will not do team dinners and we may very well order pizza so we do not have to
make any stops.
·
We typically gather together and go through the list of elim participants. We will discuss our strategy against
each case and each major negative position. We will identify areas needing
further research. While we will try to go through this list as quickly as
possible, it will probably take 15 minutes to do this. After the research areas
are identified, people will be given assignments that we expect to be finished
by the next morning. If you're not going to get it done, tell us at this
meeting; not in the morning right before we hit that team.
·
You are expected to complete 2 to 3 hour research assignments in
the evening if you are no longer in competition.
·
You are expected to watch (and flow) at least the first two or
three elimination rounds if you are no longer in competition (and after having
at least 6 hours of sleep). Watch to help us prepare arguments and watch to
improve—take notice of how the debaters argue, the arguments they present, and
the strategies they use. Get ideas from their debating to incorporate into your
own debating.
·
We will attempt to balance competing concerns for sleep and
preparation. First, we will attempt to make assignments that you can complete
in 2 to 3 hours of work. Second, coaches and students should get enough sleep,
at least 6 hours, particularly if you are still competing in rounds the next
day. Third, if you can't stay awake or you're worried about getting sick, we
will not force students to do something harmful to their health. Overall, we expect people to get their
assignments done, but we understand the need to get sleep. Socializing on the
night before elims is a "luxury" and is not
a reason to leave an assignment incomplete.
That's true for coaches just as much for students.
·
A quick story of Whitman lore—in 1993, the night before Jenn and Char went to their octas
and quarters rounds, Steve, Loan, Andy, Jim, and others stayed up until 5:30 in
the morning putting together positions and briefs (using Lexis for DOS, an old
dot matrix printer, 2400 baud modem, and Word for DOS 4.0). You’ll see our
current Policy coach and others on the team carry on this tradition. Your
willingness to help out is much appreciated. We expect students and coaches to
prepare so we can do the best that is possible.
·
Teams should talk with their coaches and each other during the
preparation time about the cases and arguments to use in their debates.
Typically, this entails a coach assigned to the PMC, another to the MG, and
another to the Opp.
·
Students review and utilize prep materials during the 20-25 minute
prep time but should never take materials prepared before prep time into their
rounds—that is against the rules.
·
It is important that you leave the Prep area so that you arrive at
your round on time. Make it happen especially since you are usually
disqualified for being late.
·
Please, do not leave the Prep room a mess. These rooms are frequently
used for debates. Throw away trash/messes before the resolution gets announced;
the only items you should have before the resolution is announced are the
things you will bring with you to your debate.
·
Our program spends money, our coaches spend time helping to
prepare you, and our coaches judge for you so that you can compete at
tournaments. We use those resources for teams that try, not ones that give up.
·
You may not purposefully try to lose any round.
·
You may not choose strategies that will increase your chances of
losing because “there’s no reason to win” or “I’m not going to break.”
·
No, you may not argue with judges.
·
You are encouraged to ask judges questions, to write down their
ideas for future improvements.
·
You can ask judges why they did not vote on something you felt
they should have BUT you need to recognize a line that you should not cross—the
line where you are attacking and disrespecting a judge.
The coaches will determine which team advances.
At Regular Tournaments
Team seeding will be the primary
consideration but the coaches will also preference:
·
Teams in contention for NDT or NPTE or other qualifying bids.
·
Teams that are regular traveling members of the team.
·
Teams that have members who do not have significant team
participation guideline violations.
At NPDA Nationals, the NPTE, CEDA Nationals, and the NDT
Team seeding will be considered
but the coaches will also give preference to the following teams:
·
Teams with seniors on them.
·
Teams with debaters with a substantially longer term, significant
commitment to the team.
·
Teams that have done substantially better over the course of the
year.
·
Teams that have regular traveling members of the team.
·
Teams that have members who do not have significant team
participation guideline violations.
The coaching staff will inform the
team not being advanced of the reason. Note that unusual situations not
contemplated here may also arise that the coaches would consider.
·
We expect you to support the team and other team members. If you have a disagreement with another
person on the team or a squad policy, we encourage you to address the matter
away from students and coaches from other schools.
·
We expect team members who are not competing in an elimination
round to either help with preparation or watch and flow appropriate elimination
rounds. Students requesting an exception should see a coach first.
·
We expect you to attend the awards assembly of the tournament
unless told different by one of the coaches.
·
We expect you will treat the hotels and restaurants we use with
respect including, obviously, not taking items from rooms, not mistreating
those serving you, being rude to other customers/people around us, etc.
·
When we leave hotel rooms--please make sure the room is reasonably
clean and that you have checked outlets, the beds, the bathroom, and the
dresser drawers so you don't leave items behind.
·
We expect you to support other teams and competitors. As a
representative of Whitman College, your actions reflect on Whitman College, our
program, yourself and other members of our team.
·
We ask that you not speak negatively about other schools, judges,
coaches, team members, etc. Negative
comments like, "He is a jerk" and "She's a lousy judge,"
and “I’m glad they lost,” reflect poorly on our squad and damage the kind of
community we want to part of.
·
We expect you to listen courteously to decisions and critiques
that judges give. You may ask questions
to understand better how the judge viewed the round; You can talk with judges about
their decisions; respectfully ask about arguments that you thought they should
have voted on. Arguing with a judge about his or her decision is absolutely
inappropriate. If you have a problem
with a judge's behavior, bring it directly to your coach's attention as soon as
possible.
·
We support talking with other teams about the arguments and
positions we present in speeches and debates except items that we have not yet
presented (for example, new affirmative cases, negative strategies against a
team). You should allow others to watch and flow you in debates and in
speeches.
·
You are expected to follow the student handbook’s guidelines.
·
Violations of college policy can mean loss of tournament travel
and possibly expulsion from the team.
·
Socializing or staying up until late in the night is not permitted
if it harms your competitive abilities and team responsibilities.
·
Coaches who view students engaged in behavior damaging to their
mental faculties are required to report such behavior to the Director.
·
Please keep the coaches apprised of where you are. This is particularly true when you wish to
visit friends or family at tournaments, when you go to a party, if you wish to leave
the tournament via your own transportation, and when we are on plane
trips. We are willing to accommodate
students who wish to do other things.
Tell one of the coaches before you go so we know where you are.
·
Going to the bathroom or stepping out at the end of dinner? Tell a
driver/coach so we don’t leave you.
·
When we return to Whitman, we need to return all items to the
hallway, prep rooms, and Jim's office.
·
We need to clean the vans and throw away all garbage.
·
We need to make sure that everyone has taken all of the items they
own. Please help us avoid lost and found problems.
·
Trophies: You keep them except for major national
tournament/championship awards which remain the property of the program.
·
We need Van Safety Certified drivers for travel. At the end of
your frosh year, we want you to become van safety certified (unless you have a
bad driving record, have not driven for 3 years, or will not be 19 by Sept. 1).
·
Drivers must always communicate with the head coach at the
tournament the night before travel so that all involved know who will need to
be available to drive.
·
If you’re tired—stop!!! Don’t kill people simply because you or
others want to get some place.
·
NOTICE TO RIDERS: The radio is owned by the driver (within
reasonable limits especially volume level) and there MUST be at least one
person who is awake at all times in the two front seats.
·
Who gets which seats in the van?
--Coaches get first pick
--Van safety certified drivers get second pick
--Team members with most time on the team get third pick
·
Have Government Picture ID with you, including preferably a
driver’s license and social security card. If you don’t have this, they won’t
let you on the plane.
·
YOU
MAY BRING 1 BAG THAT IS LESS THAN 22 X 14 X 9 INCHES IN SIZE AND 1 LAPTOP
BAG/BACKPACK. NO CHECK-INS—NEVER.
·
Clothes and toiletries must be brought in luggage/backpacks that
you can carry on to the plane.
·
Your toiletries (mouthwash, toothpaste, etc.) must be in a see
through zip bag and must be 3 ounces or less each. THAT IS A FEDERAL
REGULATION--they will make you throw it away otherwise.
·
After exiting from the plane, always stay near the plane exit
until everyone is gathered together.
·
While traveling on debate trips sponsored by the College, student
debaters will be assigned to rooms according to gender. This may mean that
three or four people might be assigned to one room in some cases.
·
If a student has questions or concerns about the lodging
assignments, he or she should contact the head coach privately. The head coach
may adjust the roommate assignments if appropriate. Consideration will not be
given to dating couples.
·
We ask that all students be inclusive, accepting of differences, and
respect the needs of their teammates in terms of sleep and privacy..
We want you
to do well in your school work. Your future plans depend on it, as does the
reputation of our squad. Consider the following:
·
Missing classes for debate tournaments is an officially excused
absence. Even so, it is very important that you work with your professor to
assure that you complete assignments and makeup for the missed classes.
·
EVERYONE: AVOID THURSDAY EVENING AND FRIDAY CLASSES. Schedule as
many Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (except evening) classes as you can.
·
Parli
debaters are going to typically miss Fridays for tournaments (sometimes
Thursday evening).
·
Policy debaters are going to typically
miss Thurs evening, Friday, Monday, and sometimes Tuesday for tournaments.
·
Keep your professors apprised of your travel. At the beginning of
the semester, Jim will give you sheets explaining your absences; give these
sheets to your professors and talk to them about makeup work.
·
Participate effectively in class
discussions. Provide relevant comments, do NOT argue
to win, do not argue to attack other students, don’t dominate discussion, and
also don’t say nothing because the “topic isn’t worth discussing,” etc. In sum,
be a good student—involved and engaged, YOU SHOULD BE HELPING THE DISCUSSION,
HELPING THE PROFESSOR TO HAVE A PRODUCTIVE DISCUSSION.
·
Turn in assignments on time. Do not turn in papers late. Do not
turn in shoddy “last minute” papers. Plan ahead so you can complete your papers
BEFORE tournaments rather than after. Turn in high quality work on time.
·
Attend classes. NEVER cut class when you are at Whitman. It makes
it harder to keep up in class AND it creates a negative image of the program on
campus. In addition, your travel may be cut if a professor complains that
you are not in class on non-tournament dates.
·
Your coursework—which is forensics AND all of your other
courses—is the MOST important objective as far as our program is concerned.
Work hard; give your very best. Forensics students should be maintaining a 3.0
or better GPA.
·
The Registrar will inform Jim if you have a cumulative below a 3.0
or received below a 3.0 for a semester. If that happens, Jim will work with you
to improve your grades by meeting with you periodically during the semester. It
is important that you work to improve as it affects your ability to travel
especially to national tournaments where you miss more days of class.
·
Students with GPA’s below 2.0 are restricted by the school from
competition.
·
Students must be enrolled in RFS 221, 222, 401, 402 or 121 in
order to participate. If you are taking
less than 12 credits, you need to see Jim in order to participate.
Being on the team
is a lot of fun but it can also be stressful at times as can college life in
general. It’s important that you keep your life as balanced as possible. Here
are some ideas and guidelines for eating right, avoiding abuse of intoxicants,
dealing with depression and hating that you aren’t the best, and treating each
other right.
Take control. You are in charge of
what you eat. No one can take that away from you.
·
Eat healthy. We
encourage you to eat healthy food avoiding excesses of candy. For van travel
tournaments, we have coolers that you can use to bring store-bought food to
tournaments.
·
Food allotments at tournaments. Students
receive team paid meals at tournaments.
·
Eat enough. We
encourage you to eat well during tournaments and other days. Students who don’t
eat enough can faint, get dizzy, and compete less effectively. Have something
to eat!
·
Be flexible. There
are many members on this team. Please be flexible about the food establishments
we go to at tournaments. Not everyone’s choices can be supported though we will
do our best to choose places, over the course of the semester, that meet the
variety of student diet needs.
·
Want to take more control? You
can contact the Counseling Center at 5195.
·
We encourage team members to avoid abusing substances. Have fun,
be legal, and have a good time but don’t overdo.
·
In terms of the team directly, please don’t let your use of
substances interfere with your debate work, drills, filing, etc.
·
You can’t be in Hunter when intoxicated. You will be told to leave
if this is the case.
·
You can’t have intoxicants in Hunter. You will be told to leave if
this is the case.
·
You can’t use the team’s listserv to announce parties or events
where the main focus is drinking of alcohol including drinking games or other
intoxicants.
·
You should not pressure others on the team to consume alcohol or
to use intoxicants or cigarettes.
·
If you are having problems, the counseling center is a great
resource for helping you deal with alcohol and drug over-use. They’re at 5195.
·
These are common feelings; you are not alone. They are especially
common among debaters who are stressed and under pressure from competition and
time deadlines.
·
Consider ways to find relief. Take a walk; watch a movie; have
dinner with your friends. Do something that you find enjoyable. If it isn’t
enjoyable like it has been and this is significant, take action—see the
Counseling Center. Make it right.
·
You can talk to Jim or one of the coaches or one of your close
friends or teammates. Obviously, if it is a more significant issue, take more
action—do the right thing for yourself.
·
The Counseling Center can help. They can give you a wide variety
of techniques as well as other treatments to help you cope and manage the way
you are thinking and feeling. They are at 5195.
This section
explains how the team is structured; how decisions are made; who is in charge; when
decisions can and can’t be revealed due to privacy concerns.
·
Jim is in charge.
·
At times, Jim will request input but Jim makes the final
decisions.
·
Please show respect for Jim and follow his decisions. He works
hard for you and this team. Show it in the way you interact with him.
·
At some tournaments and situations, Jim won’t be there. The
Policy, Parli-Policy, or Parli-IE Coach will be in
charge and they make the final decision. You are expected to respect and follow
those decisions; show our coaches the same deference.
·
Decisions are based, as much as is possible on the guidelines in
this document.
·
Obviously, new situations arise; judgment calls arise; Jim makes
the final decision.
·
Periodically, Jim will ask students and coaches for input on
issues.
·
Please provide your input.
·
As you do, be thinking “how can I help Jim make his decision”—not
“How can I get my way?” J
or “This is an opportunity to argue/to show that my idea is best.” Jim is
absolutely not interested in that.
·
If Jim suggests that your idea has a problem, first, genuinely
respect that problem, second, consider whether your idea can be adjusted for
that problem, third, consider offering an alternative; in sum, keep trying to
find ideas that will help Jim.
·
The goal of the process isn’t for you to necessarily find THE
IDEA. The goal is to brainstorm and consider different ideas so Jim gets to
think through and hear out the ideas.
·
The coaches are in charge of assignments, argument strategies for
the squad as a whole, and coaching prior to rounds with some input from Jim.
·
Students get input but ultimately the coaches decide.
·
While students are expected to listen to coaches about ideas and
strategies for their debates, students get to determine what arguments they
will present in their rounds within the guidelines noted in this document
(topical, no attacks, not obscene).
·
When students choose arguments different from what coaches
encourage them to run, coaches should still help BUT students cannot expect
coaches to provide the same level of help and enthusiasm to their efforts when
they aren’t following coaching advice.
·
Who is going to what tournaments (if a team is not going—it is because
a team did not meet the travel criteria or did not wish to go or cannot go for
personal reasons).
·
Work/assignments that were not completed and that still need to be
completed.
·
Who is partners with who.
·
The coaches will not make public announcements of decisions
against a student (eg we will not make public
announcements of _why_ x person didn't get to go to a tournament).
·
The coaches will not make public announcements of information that
a student or coach provides that they request with good reason to remain
confidential.
·
Reasons for partner decisions.
·
Some of the reasons for who received which assignments.
·
Deliberations among the coaches about decisions.
·
Yes—you can ask Jim or any coach about general team policies at
any time.
·
Yes—you can ask Jim or any coach about how a policy was applied to
you at any time. Note that if a private matter is implicated, we cannot discuss
that. For example, if you want to know why you didn’t get X person as a
partner—we cannot tell you that as that would reveal private, confidential
information that other people provided to us. WE RESPECT the confidentiality of
the information that they gave—just as we respect the confidentiality of the
information you gave to us.
·
We cannot provide information about disciplinary action or
confidential information about other people.
·
We
believe in talking with you to resolve problems; your cooperation is really
important to this process.
·
You are responsible for changing your behavior and taking
responsibility for not following the rules; sometimes this resolves the
situation so nothing more needs to be done; sometimes you’ll need to do team
service or some other minor form of action to resolve the problem.
·
When you will not cooperate, when you don’t communicate about, and
when you fail to stop repeating even minor infractions, the problem escalates
from not so significant to much more serious and we have to resort to more
significant conduct action such as loss of tournament travel or suspension.
·
In cases of significant violation of team guidelines and/or the
guidelines in the Whitman student handbook, more severe conduct action may
occur.
·
If you won’t cooperate and communicate about significant
infractions, suspension, probation, and expulsion are highly likely.
·
The best way for you to handle a situation where you violated team
rules is to be honest, to accept responsibility, to be cooperative, and to work
with Jim or the Policy/Parli coach; failure to do so
will DEFINITELY escalate the situation into a much bigger problem.
·
Arguing against the rule, not taking responsibility, blaming
others, claiming the rule is not enforced consistently, etc. are all irrelevant
to the fact that you have violated the rule and just force Jim and the coaches
to focus on your rule violation rather than trying to give you the best outcome
in your situation.
·
Use the right channel. Email or talk with Jim or the coaches.
·
Figure a constructive way to word your criticism or issue.
·
Figure out the right tone.
·
Focus on the actions/policy/issue, not your anger at the person.
·
DON’T THINK YOUR WAY IS THE ONLY WAY—when you don’t get your way,
deal with it; and don’t angrily rail on how “irrational” a decision was, etc.
Be mature.
·
Rude, critical attacks on the coaches is grounds for punishment
even dismissal from the team; learn how to criticize constructively.
·
Want a team discussion of a team management/team policy issue? Ask
Jim. We recommend against taking such issues to the listserv or to a team
meeting without Jim’s approval as it can easily be used as a way to challenge
the authority of the coaches and undermine the team, something that is not
acceptable and would just reinforce what might already be a problematic
situation.
We want to emphasize five
objectives based on the Northwest Forensics “Statement of Ethics” document:
·
Forensics should be considered a form of rhetorical scholarship.
This means that speech and debate is part of an academic effort to study,
practice and evaluate the best means of persuasion. Our program is an academic
activity housed in the Rhetoric Studies Department.
·
Each student should be involved in the invention of the arguments
that the members of our program uses. We understand the need and value of
student and coach participation in the collaborative invention, preparation and
sharing of materials.
·
Fabrication of materials is not permitted. Plagiarism of materials
is not permitted. If you are caught, we will talk with you but you have
committed a very serious breach of academic ethics and you should expect to be
suspended or expelled from the squad and to have a report submitted to the
registrar. If you have any question, please ask a coach or team member.
·
Individuals should not be presumed guilty of ethical violations.
If you think someone has violated an ethical norm, talk with that person in
private—rather than in the public glare of a debate or individual event round.
If you are unsure about an ethical violation, please speak with your coaches or
other team members.
·
Students must be at least half-time enrolled, working on your
thesis, or on special status, and not on academic probation. At Whitman, if you
are not enrolled full-time, you should have a conversation with Jim to assure
that you can compete.
In addition, the Whitman program
affirms the importance of all participants’ cooperation in creating an
educational and competitive environment that is fair, humane and responsible
while, at the same time, encouraging competition that is devoted to full and
robust argument about a diverse range of ideas.
Specifically, our program affirms that:
·
Competitors, judges, and coaches should talk about the
expectations that they have for creating rounds that focus on ideas instead of
personal attacks.
·
Competitors, judges, and coaches should communicate with respect,
not attacking each other.
·
Competitors, judges, and coaches should reject discourse which
devalues other members of our community based on their race, age, gender,
class, sexual or religious orientation, or any reason that is not directly
related to the ideas that they present.
·
Competitors, judges, and coaches should communicate with each
other rather than silently objecting when they observe instances of verbally
aggressive attacks.
·
Competitors, judges, and coaches should not engage in serious
and/or repeated demeaning speech that materially or substantially disrupts the
opportunity for a student, judge, or coach to compete, judge, or coach fairly.[2]
In sum, our program supports
discourse that respects the individuals in our community while at the same time
encouraging robust conversation, including disagreement, about ideas that
individuals communicate.