Novice Policy Evidence Packets

This year Borah High is excited to announce the use of Novice Evidence Packets for Policy Debate.  Novice Policy Debaters are required to use the evidence presented in the Novice Evidence Packet linked on this page. Novice debaters may only read evidence from this novice packet. They may not read evidence from their own personal files that are not in the novice packet. This does not preclude them from making analytic responses to arguments but does prevent them from reading carded responses to arguments that are not in the evidence packet. The ONLY changes permitted are the inclusion or modification of Plan text to align with the Idaho State Novice Case List.  In the event that any material present in the Novice Evidence Packet include Plan texts not found on the Idaho Novice Debate Case List debaters may modify or include the correct plan text. Debaters may not, regardless of materials presented in the evidence packet, run any plan not found on the Idaho Novice Case list presented here:

1. The United States Federal Government should enact the DREAM Act of 2017.

2. The United States Federal Government should expand the definition of a ‘particular social group’ to include gender for the purposes of determining eligibility for asylum.

3. The United States Federal Government should substantially increase access and availability of H-1B visas in the United States.

4. The United States Federal Government should substantially reduce its restrictions on legal refugee immigration.

5. The United States Federal Government should open its borders to allow free movement of peoples.

The hopes of this initiative are threefold. 1) We hope this increases the quality of clash in the debate through a focus on understanding arguments rather than trying to surprise (or being surprised) by new evidence.  2) We hope this will equalize the playing field for all debaters regardless of the total policy experience present on the team or by the coach. 3) We hope this incentives the learning of policy debate by improving access and a lower threshold for entry. 

Any Competitor who is found to be using evidence not found in the Novice Debate Packet may be subject to loss of rounds and/or disqualification. At the conclusion of the tournament we will welcome feedback on this initiative.  Thank you and Good Luck.

The 2018 Borah Novice Evidence Packet can be found here: Borah Novice Evidence Packet 2018