LD RESEARCH BEFORE CAMP

 

A. SHORTLY AFTER JUNE 22, Request research assignments.

A. During NFL Nationals (about June 22nd), the NFL LD 2008-09 topics will be announced.

B. BEGINNING SHORTLY AFTER JUNE 22, Nicholas will begin taking requests for research via e-mail.

C. Find out from Jim how many topics you will research (in your job email).

D. The topics you get to research are determined by ranking your choices; Nicholas will work cooperatively with you on this.

 

B. EXPECTATIONS FOR ALL RESEARCH FILES

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT:

1) When you mess this stuff up, it means Nicholas has to spend a ton of extra time fixing your files.

2) IF YOUR FILE IS SUBSTANTIALLY OFF FROM THE BELOW EXPECTATIONS, YOU WILL BE FINED $10 TO $30 FOR EACH FILE DONE IMPROPERLY (and if you don’t follow rule 2 noted below, you can be fired).

3) READ THESE GUIDELINES AND CAREFULLY DOUBLECHECK YOUR FILE TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE FOLLOWING THEM.

 

Example LD Research File

 

BY THE DEADLINE NICHOLAS SETS:


EMAIL HIM A 3 PAGE FILE; HE WILL CHECK IT TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE DOING YOUR RESEARCH PROPERLY.

 

1. CUT AT LEAST 25 pages of affirmative evidence and 25 pages of negative evidence ON EACH OF THE TOPICS YOU HAVE (Your job offer tells you how many topics you research).

a. Include an Affirmative and a Negative Case

b. Include a 1 PAGE single spaced Topic Overview (see below for details)

c. INCLUDE 2 TO 4 PAGES OF DEFINITONS ON KEY TERMS IN THE TOPIC.

d. When you complete 25 & 25 pages, it means you receive $250.

e. FILES OVER A TOTAL OF 150 PAGES (AFF AND NEG) IN LENGTH REQUIRE JIM’S PERMISSION.

 

ALSO—YOU CUT A SHORT FILE FOR “CONTENT” LECTURES PER THE INSTRUCTIONS THAT NICHOLAS PROVIDES.

2. YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY BANNED from using files that you did not cut unless they are from your COLLEGE team’s files (no high school files) or you go find the originals. TWO YEARS AGO, WE HAD A PLAGIARIZED FILE!!! Don’t let that happen. I will fire you for this kind of violation.

FURTHER: You may NOT submit a file for the camp with

1. any more than 20% materials from West Coast work you did or that came from a handbook or handbook worker.

2. any more than 20% materials from Whitman/UPS/your team backfiles. It must be NEW material.

ANY EXCEPTIONS TO THESE TWO LIMITS NEED JIM’S PERMISSION.

3. USE THE WHITMAN DEBATE TEMPLATE or something very close.

THE TEMPLATE: wndi.dot

--10 point Times New Roman Font

--1 inch margins

--header at the top with the file name

--page numbers in the upper right hand corner

4. NOTICE—WE NO LONGER ACCEPT ANYTHING BUT PURE WORD DOCUMENTS. Do ALL of your files in MS Word as text—no graphics, no scanning in pictures of cards you hand cut.

5. AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR FILE

--Make sure you have a table of contents at the beginning of your file.

DO A DOUBLECHECK—After doing your table of contents, see if there aren’t missing pages (eg you see pages 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12—where’s 8 and 9? Fix it!); also, check the last pages of your file—a frequent spot for blank pages.

--Include a one page topic overview for each file.

--Include the resolution wording at the top
--Include a paragraph or two of background/key info/facts on the topic
--Include a list of affirmative arguments on the topic with several sentences of explanation/details/examples for each.
--Include a list of negative arguments on the topic with several sentences of explanation/details/examples for each.

--In total, the topic overview should fill up one full page with single spaced typing.

 

6. FORMATTING

--USE CITATIONS LIKE THIS:

July Davis, Professor of Politics, Harvard University, June ’05, JOURNAL OF COMPLEX ISSUES, p. 227

July Davis, Professor of Politics, Harvard University, June ’05, JOURNAL OF COMPLEX ISSUES, accessed 6/4/2005, www.mentalhealthweb.com/psycho/helpers/tips23.htm

--PLEASE GENDER MODIFY EVIDENCE by changing "his conception of . . ." to "his or her conception of . . ." or "their conception of . . ." AND note that you did this in the evidence.

--NO HIGHLIGHTING OF EVIDENCE. You can underline but highlighting slows the printers down significantly.

--NO GRAPHICS OR PICTURES ARE ALLOWED WITHOUT NICHOLAS’S CONSENT. Email him if you have questions. Graphics slow down the printing process.

--NO LARGE FONTS OR AREAS OF BLACK/COLOR. THIS COSTS US MONEY because it uses up the print cartridges. Use Times New Roman 10 point font with bold and underline only when needed.

--NO HATS—NO BLANK PAGES. Keep the number of pages to a minimum—otherwise, we pay huge bucks—each unnecessary page get multiplied by 60+ copies.

7. ADHERE TO THE PAGE MINIMUMS AND MAXIMUMS

Do not go under the expected page numbers stated for each kind of assignment. Your pay is docked for doing that.

Do not go over the ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM FILE SIZE. If you do, YOU MUST CREATE A SEPARATE ADDITIONAL “FOR THE CD ONLY” FILE. This is because we will NOT print files over the Maximum File Size—it costs too much.

 

8. BRING 16 ELECTRONIC articles (somewhat evenly balanced between pro and con) specific to the topic and 8 ELECTRONIC articles on general values/philosophies critical to the topic. These will be used for an addendum file. THESE ARTICLES NEED TO BE DIFFERENT FROM THE ONES YOU ALREADY CUT BEFORE CAMP.

 

9. BE SURE TO HIT AT THE CORE ISSUES IN THE TOPIC. To enhance this effort, PLEASE E-MAIL ME with your aff and neg basic arguments on your topics. Do so at least two weeks prior to the camp.

EXAMPLE: If the topic was “Drug testing is an unwarranted invasion of privacy,” you would send me a list of arguments such as this: Drug testing does/doesn’t intrude on privacy; Drug testing does/doesn’t stop drug abuse; Drug testing does/doesn’t help safety; Drug testing does/doesn’t assure athletic fairness, etc.

 

10. BE SURE TO HAVE EVIDENCE COMPARING AND IMPACTING YOUR VALUE/CRITERIA

Please, no cases with just “my value is democracy, now let’s move on.” The cases MUST include “democracy is good because . . .” and “democracy is more important than safety because . . .”

EXAMPLE: If the topic was “Drug testing is an unwarranted invasion of privacy,” you would need evidence showing privacy is good/not so good; deterrence of drug abuse/safety problems is/is not critical, etc.

 

NOTE: IF YOUR FILE IS SUBSTANTIALLY OFF FROM THE ABOVE EXPECTATIONS, YOU WILL BE FINED $10 FOR EACH FILE DONE IMPROPERLY. When you don’t follow the above—it means extra printing costs and keeps the printing staff working longer hours. Please do your files right.

 

C. ONE WEEK BEFORE CAMP STARTS (BY JULY 10): Email near complete drafts of your research assignments to Nicholas for approval.

Please address comments Nicholas makes about your research so that the materials you bring to camp are excellent quality.

 

D. BY THURSDAY, JULY 17, EMAIL to Nicholas at least one complete, Nicholas approved final research assignment. THIS IS CRTICAL because Nicholas needs to begin printing files days before the camp starts. The printing process for the beginning of camp takes 3 to 4 days to complete and we need the files ready by Sunday night.

 

NOTE: THE REST OF YOUR COMPLETE, NICHOLAS APPROVED ASSIGNMENTS are DUE SATURDAY, JULY 21 BY MIDNIGHT.

 

E. HEAD LD PERSON.

A. Compile the position explanations and e-mail the group so that each staff member knows what the staff and students will be preparing during camp.

B. NICHOLAS: BY JULY 17, YOU NEED TO SEND OUT THIS LIST OF ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTIONS TO ALL OF THE WNDI LD STAFF.

 

F. NOTE: DO RESEARCH BEFORE THE CAMP STARTS. You will NOT be able to finish this research during the camp because you will be BUSY virtually every minute while working at the camp.

 

G. FINES: YOU WILL BE FINED $10 PER FILE FOR EACH 8 HOURS THAT IT IS LATE.