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
·
The school does not reimburse for
damage or breakage of a personal laptop including during debate trips.
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.