Unofficial Minutes of the

National Debate Tournament Committee Meeting

February 5, 2000, Suite 907, Omni Orrington Hotel, Evanston, Illinois

Committee Chair John Fritch called the meeting to order at 2:10 p.m., with Frank Harrison serving as Secretary and David Hingstman as Parliamentarian.

Members present in person or by proxy were: Jon Brushke, proxy for Shawn Whalen (District I); Glenn Frappier (District II); David Breshears, proxy for Joel Rollins (District III); Heather Aldridge (District IV); Steve Mancuso (District V); Mike Janus (District VI); Brett O'Donnell, proxy for Mike Berry (District VII); Tim Mahoney (District VIII); Mike Bryant (District IX); Ken Strange (AFA East); Ross Smith (AFA South); Cate Palczewski (AFA Midwest), and Greg Achten (AFA West).

Also present were the 2000 Tournament Host, Linda Collier (University of Missouri, Kansas City) and her graduate assistant, Wendy Lawrence.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

At Palczewski's suggestion, the number "six" was inserted before "categories" in the Directors' report on a possible increase in the number of categories in the Mutual Preference system at this year's tournament. It was then MOVED by Smith, second by Mancuso, that the Minutes be approved as amended. CARRIED unanimously.

REPORT OF THE CHAIR

The Chair's written report is attached to these minutes. He elaborated on it in several respects.

The Chair recognized Leslie Mueller, of A.T. Kearney Management Consultants, who requested permission to establish a booth, at an appropriate place at the tournament, to meet and talk with potential student interviewees. MOVED by Mancuso, second by Palczewski, that the request be approved. CARRIED unanimously.

Fritch reported that he will be available in his office all day on the submission dates for First and Second Round At-large bids. He requested that copies of all bids be sent to him both by FAX and email so that he can forward a copy, by the appropriate medium, to any committee member who has not received one.

Fritch then discussed the procedure for establishing dates for the submission of first and second round bids. He said that, traditionally, the date for the tournament have first been determined according to the availability of facilities at the Host institution. Other dates have then been determined by counting backward, allowing two weekends for district tournaments and two weeks after the announcement of second rounds to allow for the purchase of airline tickets at advance ticket prices. Strange added that the dates of the Northwestern tournament had, on occasion, been factored in. Scott Deatherage (Northwestern) said this had not been the case in the past ten years. It was the unanimous sentiment of the Committee, as expressed by Deatherage, that the third weekend in February should be protected for district tournaments.

It was the unanimous sentiment of the Committee that preliminary round "byes" do count as wins in determining the 50% requirement for eligibility for second round at-large bids.

Discussion of the possible announcement of the total wins and ballots of all clearing teams was deferred until later in the meeting.

REPORT OF THE TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR

Donn Parson was not present as he was recovering from dental surgery. His written report is attached to these minutes.

REPORT OF THE TOURNAMENT HOST

Collier presented Committee members with a booklet containing extensive information on the tournament, and reported that the same information would very soon be available on the website.

She reported that Urban Debate League activities are being planned for the Tuesday and Wednesday preceding the NDT, and specific announcements will be made shortly. There will probably be a "college fair" of some kind in Wednesday.

Collier announced that UMKC has been able to raise $40,000 to defray tournament expenses. As a result, actual registration fees will be $200. for one team and $300. for two. The differential is accounted for by the traditional "half judge problem." Since each team must provide twelve rounds of judging, single teams entail expenses for four people, whereas two teams entail seven.

Due to UMKC's curricular requirements, the computer "labs," which will be available throughout the tournament, cannot be made available for participant use prior to that time.

REPORT OF THE RANKING DIRECTOR

O'Donnell reported that rankings are continuously updated on the web. The next printed report will be mailed on February 15th.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Mancuso, for the Bid Allocation Committee, reminded all districts chairs to report the actual attendance at their tournaments as soon as possible, so that any necessary adjustments in district bid allocations can be announced promptly.

REPORT OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

On behalf of the Board, O'Donnell thanked Linda Collier and the University of Missouri, Kansas City, for their enormous fundraising efforts, which have made it possible to reduce registration fees to the amounts previously announced.

OLD BUSINESS

By unanimous consent, the "Joint Program" proposal, which was passed by majority vote at the November, 1999, meeting of the Committee, was returned to the floor for second consideration. The MOTION by Strange, second by Smith, would add the following to the Standing Rules as II.A.1.h:

"Teams comprised of debaters from different schools may be permitted to participate in the NDT if they represent an Approved Joint Program. An Approved Joint Program is one receiving such recognition at any of the three NDT Committee meetings preceding the NDT in which they wish to participate (these would currently be the prior year's NDT, the NCA, or the Northwestern Committee meetings). The Joint Program's District representative at the Committee meeting must submit them to the Committee for approval, and approval will require a majority vote of the Committee. Approval must occur for each NDT in which the Joint Program wishes to participate. The Committee should use the following standards in approval of the Joint Program:

1. A Joint Program will consist of one "host" school and one "guest" school which operate as a single program throughout the academic year; it does not include hybrid teams from two independent subscribing schools. The host school must be a subscribing school in accordance with Article II of the NDT Charter.

2. A Joint Program may not have operated as such for more than a six year period. Teams with members from the guest school may submit for NDT participation during any or all of those six years, but may participate in no more than two NDTs.

3. A Joint Program should provide evidence that their operation will lead to independent programs, and possible attendance at the NDT, at both schools.

4. The guest school may NOT:

A. be more than 100 miles distance from the host school.

B. be in a different NDT district from the host school.

C. have had a paid staff or faculty supervisor of debating for the five years prior to the beginning of the joint program.

D. have had participants representing exclusively the school in any policy debate tournaments for the five years prior to the beginning of the joint program.

5. A host school may not operate as an Approved Joint Program with more than one guest school at a time."

After discussion, the motion FAILED by a vote of 6 to 7. Voting in the affirmative: Brushke, Breshears, Janus, Mahoney, Strange and Smith. Voting in the negative: Frappier, Aldridge, Mancuso, O'Donnell, Bryant, Palczewski and Achten.

NEW BUSINESS

Scouting Guidelines

On behalf on the ad hoc committee on "scouting" at the NDT, Mancuso MOVED, second by Strange, that the Standing Rules be amended by adding a normative rule as IV.F.6. After discussion and the acceptance of friendly amendments, the proposed rule read:

"I. Prior to the announcement of Round One pairings, the tournament host will post an Affirmative and Negative Disclosure Form on the door of each competition room.

II. Information Disclosure. Disclosure will take place in two steps:

(A) Shortly after arriving to their debate room, if the affirmative teams chooses to disclose, they should write on the Affirmative Disclosure Form a very brief description of their affirmative, or state "new affirmative."

(B) At an appropriate time during the debate, one of the judges should complete the relevant portion of the Negative Disclosure Form with brief descriptions of the negative strategy.

III. Scouting Guidelines.

(A) Prior to the announcement of the decision in the debate, scouts should collect their information exclusively from the posted disclosure sheets or from direct observation of the debate.

(B) Scouts should not interrupt pre-round preparation by asking questions of either team.

(C) Scouts should not intrude during the debate by reading evidence or the 1AC. This includes the cross-examination periods.

(D) After the debate, scouts should not attempt to read evidence until all three judges have voted. Scouts should not interrupt post-debate discussions.

(E) After the post-round discussion the scouts should expect no more than a ten minute period in which they can inspect evidence for citations from the debate. Scouts should not copy entire pieces of evidence, either by hand or electronically."

The motion CARRIED unanimously.

In addition, it was the sentiment of the Committee that the following language should be included in the tournament booklet, or other publication, as advisory only: "Teams are encouraged to bring complete photocopies of their first affirmatives, especially new cases or advantages, to facilitate the copying of cites in a non-disruptive manner. Affirmatives may want to bring prepared cite lists as well."

2001 Host

It was MOVED by Palczewski, second by Smith, that the Committee concur in the Board's designation of Baylor University as Host of the 2001 NDT. CARRIED unanimously.

Breaking Brackets in Elimination Rounds

It was MOVED by Smith, second by Strange, that Standing Rule V.C.3.a be amended to read as follows:

"If the bracket matches two teams from the same school, the bracket will be adjusted according to a procedure determined and announced by the Tournament Director."

After discussion, the motion FAILED on a roll call vote of 6 to 7. Voting in the affirmative: Mancuso, Janus, Mahoney, Bryant, Strange and Smith. Voting in the negative: Brushke, Frappier, Breshears, Aldridge, O'Donnell, Palczewski and Achten.

Side Equalization in Elimination Rounds

It was MOVED by Smith, second by O'Donnell, that Standing Rule V.C.3.b be amended to read as follows:

"Sides shall be determined as follows:

1) Teams which have met in the preliminary rounds shall switch sides.

2) If teams did not meet in the preliminary rounds, then beginning with the first elimination round in which there is a full bracket, if a team has been affirmative in a higher percentage of the full-bracket elimination rounds than has their opponent, the opponent will be affirmative.

3) If teams did not meet in the preliminary rounds and both teams have been affirmative in an equal percentage of the full-bracket elimination rounds, then the sides for the debate will be assigned by the Tournament Director's use of a random procedure. The assigned sides will be announced no later than the time when the coaches are presented with tentative panels as outlined in Standing Rule V.D.4.a.

4) The two teams in any given elimination round may always mutually agree to debate on sides different than those determined by Standing Rules V.D.4.a.1-3, but for the purpose of calculating the "percentage" in V.D.4.a.2-3, the sides assigned according to Standing Rules V.D.4.a.1-3 shall be used.

5) If two teams from he same school are scheduled to debate, then no side will be assigned to the debate for the purpose of calculating the "percentage" in V.D.4.a.2-3."

After discussion, the motion FAILED by a roll call vote of 6 to 7. Voting in the affirmative: Aldridge, Mancuso, Mahoney, Strange, Smith and Palczewski. Voting in the negative: Brushke, Frappier, Breshears, Janus, O'Donnell, Bryant and Achten.

Error and Omissions Insurance

It was MOVED by Smith, second by O'Donnell, that the Committee Chair request the Board of Trustees to look into the possibility of obtaining errors and omissions insurance coverage for the members of the Board and Committee. CARRIED unanimously.

Announcement of records of Clearing Teams

At the Chair's suggestion, the Committee agreed to defer discussion of the issue to the next meeting.

ADJOURNMENT

The Committee adjourned by unanimous consent at 5:35 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Frank Harrison, Secretary


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