Norman North Mnemosyne

2022 — Norman, OK/US

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5a/6a Public Forum

Event Description:

1. Debate teams must qualify together as a team and two debaters must participate in every round by giving a four minute speech, a two-minute speech, and participating in Crossfire. No partner substitutions will be allowed after the debate competition begins. No debater may qualify for regionals more than three separate times. Any subsequent qualification will be invalid for that debater and his/her partner(s).

2. Sides will be randomly assigned by the tournament director. In tournaments that have 4 prelim rounds, each team should debate the pro twice and the con twice unless a team has received a bye. In tournaments that have 3 rounds, sides in round 3 will be randomly assigned by the tournament director ensuring that no team debate the same side 3 times.

3. The following order and times shall be observed and the timekeeper shall say stop at the end of regulation time for each speech: a) First Speaker, Pro, 4 minutes b) First Speaker, Con, 4 minutes c) Crossfire between the First Speakers 3 minutes d) Second Speaker, Pro, 4 minutes e) Second Speaker, Con, 4 minutes f) Crossfire between the Second Speakers 3 minutes g) Summary First Speaker, Pro, 3 minutes h) Summary First Speaker, Con, 3 minutes Speech 2020-21 SPE 22 OSSAA i) Grand Crossfire between all four speakers 3 minutes j) Final Focus Pro, 2 minutes k) Final Focus Con, 2 minutes l) Preparation time will not exceed three (3) minutes per team. Crossfire is to be shared between the two sides, but the first question should come from Team A.

4. Each judge will award the decision to the Pro team or the Con team and will award speaker points for each speaker on a six (6) point scale

5. All debaters shall have available during each round complete citations for each piece of evidence introduced to include the name of the author, qualifications, complete source title, complete date and page number. Lack of a full citation shall void any effect of that piece of evidence in the round. Should two or more quotations be used from the same source the complete citation need be given only for the first piece of evidence used from that source. Either no internal ellipsis (Ellipses occur after the first word of the quotation and before the final word) may be used in evidence cited on a card, or ellipses may be shown on cards if the original source or a copy is present. The evidence may be read in ellipse form but the entirety of the evidence must be available in one of the two ways cited. Personal letters or telegrams shall not be admissible as evidence.

6. Judges may read evidence after the round for a period of time not to exceed five (5) minutes. \

7. Proof of falsification of evidence will result in removal from the competition. (See Section VII, Subpoint E, 2) Proof of falsification is not subject to the two (2) hours protest filing rule.

8. The use of profanity and vulgarities is forbidden and may result in a speaker rating of 0 or disqualification and a protest being filed with the tournament director.

9. Verbal prompting other than calling time is considered a violation of ethics and will result in a speaker rating of 0.

10. The debate question will be chosen monthly by the National Forensic League.

11. The semi-final losers shall debate for third place if necessary to determine qualification.

12. Forfeiting a round to gain an advantage for the school will be a violation except in elimination rounds.

13. After teams have debated preliminary rounds (including round robin), qualifying for the placement on the bracket will be based on the following criteria: (1) win-loss record; (2) head-to-head meeting; (only used to break a two-way tie), (3) total speaker points; (4) Speaker ranks; (5) opponents’ win-loss records; (6) opponents’ speaker points. In all divisions of debate, when only 3 rounds occur, all winning records must advance. a) Placing teams on a 16 point bracket will be in this manner: See bracket on page SPE26. b) Placing teams on an eight-point bracket from preliminary rounds will be in the following manner. See bracket on page SPE29.

14. In qualifying tournaments the round-robin or bracket system is optional and will be determined by the tournament director. At least three (3) preliminary rounds must occur to result in regional qualification. If sixteen (16) or more compete, eight (8) must be advanced to elimination rounds. If thirty-two (32) or more compete, at least sixteen (16) must be advanced to elimination rounds. If sixty-four (64) or more compete, at least thirty-two (32) must be advanced to elimination rounds. At the discretion of the Tournament Director, to avoid the elimination from competition of debaters with exact won-loss records, partial-elimination brackets will be allowed, giving sufficient byes to the higher seeded contestants to fill the bracket. Partial-brackets will not be broken.

15. In 3A/4A tournaments with nine (9) teams entered, the four (4) teams with the best records from preliminary rounds will qualify for bracketing. When ten (10) or more teams are entered, eight (8) teams will qualify for bracketing. In regional and state tournaments, when eight (8) or fewer teams are entered, the round robin system will be used.

16. Speaker points for byes will be awarded on average of speaker points of other rounds debated. A team who forfeits receives 0 speaker points. A team who is forfeited to receives an average of their speaker ratings.

17. Teams from the same school should not be paired against each other in the first elimination round. The minimum amount of bracket movement must be used. No brackets shall be broken after the first elimination round has occurred. When moving teams to break the bracket, move the lower seeded team. Partial elimination round sare not considered the first elimination round for the purpose of breaking brackets.

18. The use of electronic retrieval systems during the rounds are not allowed for contestants. This includes, but is not limited to computers, cell phones, MPs, and pagers.

19. In all debate events, all students unable to return to scheduled competition on Saturday must notify the tournament director before registration. Changes made after registration will be counted as a “Drop at Registration”: and fees will be assessed by the tournament director. Students marked as “not returning” will not be reinstated after round 1 has begun

20. The use of laptop computers by competitors in Public Forum Debate is permissible for flowing and/or evidence retrieval so long as wire or wireless connections are disabled and remain disabled while the debate is in progress.

a) Computers equipped with removable wireless cards must have the cards removed before the beginning of any round of competition. It is the responsibility of the contestant to disengage equipment.

b) Computers with built-in wireless capability may be used only if the wireless capability is disabled. It is the responsibility of the contestant to disable the equipment.

c) Wired connections (Ethernet or phone) during rounds of competition are not permitted. 2020-2021 Speech SPE 23

d) Computers or other electronic devices may not be used to receive information from any sources (coaches or assistants included) inside or outside the room in which the competition occurs. Internet access, use of email, instant messaging, or other means of receiving information from sources inside or outside the competition room are prohibited. (This does not prohibit non-electronic communication between debate partners during prep time.) Sanction: Contestants found to have violated provisions a-c above shall forfeit the round of competition and receive zero points. Contestants found to have violated provision d above shall be disqualified from the tournament and shall forfeit all rounds. Contest directors shall be empowered with the final decision concerning disqualification.

e) Availability of Evidence: Contestants electing to use computers shall have the responsibility to promptly/immediately provide a copy of any evidence read in a speech for inspection by the judge or opponent. Printers may be used. Evidence may be printed in the round but must be provided in a format readable by the opposing team and the judge.

f) Contestants electing to use computers are responsible for providing their own computers, batteries, extension cords and all other necessary accessories. Tournament hosts shall not be responsible for providing computers, printers, software, paper or extension cords for contestants. Contestants choosing to use laptop computers accept the risk of equipment failure. No special consideration or accommodations, including no additional prep time or speech time, will be given by judges, contest directors or tournament hosts should equipment failure occur. By choosing to use laptop computers in the round, debaters are consenting to give tournament officials the right to search their files. Debaters who do not wish to consent should not use computers in the rounds.

1. Access to the internet can ONLY be utilized for email chains between the participants and the judge in a particularly assigned edebate, so long as the participants and judge agree. Any outside interference or inclusion in an email chain, instant messaging, or any other way communicating with any person not involved in that particularly assigned debate will immediately result in disqualification of offended team/person. If any persons or person of non high school age are found violating this rule, it will be considered a violation of ethics and a letter of reprimand will be sent to the administration of the offending person or persons; by the OSSAA, as well as immediate disqualification of the offending team/person. Any access to the internet for any other reason will be considered a violation resulting in disqualification.