Caesar and Cicero Memorial Tournament 2022

Northridge High School

Dates: Friday, December 2 & Saturday, December 3

Contact Info: Shannon Chamberlain schamberlain@dsdmail.net

Registration Deadlines: November 28 @ 5:00 PM

Tournament Level: Open competition (no novice divisions)

Caesar Events: Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, Oratory, National Extemp, Foreign Extemp, Impromptu, Dramatic Interp, and Congress

Cicero Events: Policy, Big Questions, World Schools, Informative Speaking, Oratorical Declamation, Duo Interp, Humorous Interp, Odd Impropmtu, Princeton Extemp, and POI

**See information below for explanations of Cicero events**

Entries: Students can enter up to two speech events in the Caesar block and two speech events in the Cicero block. No triple entry within the same block. No double entry in debates within the same block. For example, students cannot double enter in PF and LD or Policy and BQ. No double entry in NX and FX.

Students are encouraged to enter events in both the Caesar and Cicero blocks. They rounds will alternate Caesar then Cicero, so they will have more fun if they have events in each round.

Internet: Tournament will follow NSDA internet rules.

Congress: Congress sessions will be 2 hours. There will be 2 sessions on Friday, and a final session on Saturday morning. The top 6-8 competitors from each house will compete in finals. There will not be a second final round for Congress in the afternoon.

The docket will be selected from the UDCA website and NSDA legislation and will be posted in Tabroom.

Topics:

LD: The People’s Republic of China ought to prioritize environmental protection over economic growth.

Public Forum: The United States’ strategy of Great Power Competition produces more benefits than harms.

CX: Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its security cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in one or more of the following areas: artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cybersecurity.

BQ: Resolved: Humans are primarily driven by self-interest.

World Schools: Resolved: As part of the ongoing effort to improve public education outcomes, this House supports reformed grading systems. The NSDA has a little "help" page for this resolution to give students some ideas.

We will just use one prepared resolution for the tournament to simplify things. The schedule will be:

Round 1: prepared

Round 2: prepared

Round 3: impromptu (50 minutes prep)

Final: prepared

Laptops/internet can't be used in World Schools, so students should bring materials on paper. They can have one reference book and a dictionary for the impromptu round.

Judges: All judges must be high school graduates! No varsity judges. Ballots will be online, so please remind your judges to bring a device and charger. Judges will meet in the library conference room, and food will be provided for them there.

Judges can be double entered in a Caesar category and a Cicero category. For example, your policy judge can be a PF/LD judge, as well. Your Congress judge can judge Cicero speech events. Your Caesar speech judge can also be your Cicero speech judge. If you have questions, please e-mail me and ask!

Please bring 1 judge for every 4 debate entries, 1 judge for every 5 speech entries, 1 judge for every 5 in Congress, and 1 judge for every 2 policy teams.

Remember: this is a 2-day tournament, so you need a judge for each day! For example, if you have a judge who can only do Friday, please make sure you have another who can do Saturday.

If you have a Congress judge who can be parliamentarian, please let me know.

Awards: There will be awards for the finalists in every event. Any event which approaches 90 entries will have double finals with trophies for all finalists. Speech and debate gladiators will be awarded.

Fees: $4 per entry, per event. $20 school fee. Make checks payable to Northridge High School.

Tabroom: If you are willing to help with extemp prep or with running the tournament, please let me know. Tab will be in the library, and coaches are welcome to hang out there. No students or judges should be in the library, though.

Extemp Prep: C-229

Student Hang-out area: Students can congregate in the commons and cafeteria area. There will be a play happening Friday and Saturday, so please have students stay clear of the auditorium and surrounding area. Students should NOT be in the halls surrounding the auditorium. The dressing rooms for the actors are down there, and anyone walking around will be suspected of trying to get into the dressing rooms.

Food: Concessions will be sold Friday and Saturday. There will be Chick-fil-a, Little Caesar's, and assorted treats, snacks, and drinks. Food and drink are allowed only in the commons and cafeteria areas. Coaches and judges will be fed upstairs in the library and library conference room.

Explanation of Cicero Events:

Odd Impromptu: Same rules as standard impromptu; however, they will choose 2 topics instead of 1. They must combine both of the topics into a speech.

Oratorical Declamation: A memorized presentation of a speech written by a person other than the contestant. The speech should be of good quality and must be published. The speech must not exceed 10 minutes, scripts cannot be read, no note cards. Students may give an introduction.

Princton Extemp: Same rules as standard extemp; however, instead of current event topics, the questions will be rhetorical or silly. Example questions: "Why do we drive on the parkway and park in the driveway?" or "Why are there no B batteries?" Speeches can be funny or serious; they may use real sources or fake ones.

Congress Docket:

Legislation can be found at utahdebatecoaches.org under the Students tab.

Session 1:

a. A Bill to Modernize U.S. Nuclear Power Plant Infrastructure (UDCA November)

b. A Resolution to Annually Educate Teachers on Special Education Guidelines (UDCA November)

c. A Bill to Return Looted Artworks and Artifacts (NSDA September)

d. A Bill to Ease Gentrification (NSDA Diversity)

e. A Bill to Legalize Human Composting (UDCA November)

Session 2:

a. A Bill to Increase the EEOC Budget (NSDA Diversity)

b. A Resolution to Overthrow Bashar al-Assad (UDCA November)

c. A Resolution to Begin Trade Negotiations with the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Lithium Exports (UDCA September)

d. A Bill to Increase Competition in Agriculture (UDCA November)

e. A Bill to Provide Funding for Puerto Rico (NSDA Diversity)

Finals:

a. A Bill to Build Up the IT Sector in Guam (NSDA Diversity)

b. A Bill to Increase Taxes on the Wealthy to Increase Government Revenue (UDCA September)

c. A Bill to Enact Carbon Taxing (UDCA November)

d. A Bill to Send Aid to Ukraine to Rebuild Hospitals (UDCA September)

e. A Bill to Reduce Food Waste and Increase American Fertilizer (UDCA October)

Schedule:

Friday, December 4

Check in: 3:00-3:30-- Please send me drops from the road!

Judges meeting: 3:15

Round 1 Caesar: 3:30-5:30

Round 2 Cicero: 5:30-7:30

Round 3 Caesar: 7:30-9:30

Saturday, December 5

Check in: 7:15-7:30—Please send me drops from the road!

Judges meeting: 7:30

Round 4 Cicero: 8:00-10:00

Round 5 Caesar: 10:00-12:00

Round 6 Cicero: 12:00-2:00

Finals Caesar 2:00-3:30

Finals Cicero 3:30-5:00

Awards Ceremony: 5:30

Finals: The top 6-7 entries in each event will compete in a finals round. Any event which approaches 90 entries will have double finals, so the top 12-14 will compete. Congress has only 2 sessions- finals during Round 5 Caesar. No Congress finals in the afternoon.

We will accelerate the schedule wherever possible to finish earlier.

Protest Procedures: Issues that occur in the round should be addressed within the round with the judge. The judge should be making the determination on evidence violations, rules violations, or similar. Those things cannot be re-litigated after the round.

If a student has issues with the way something was handled in round, or has issues with something non-rules or evidence related, they should bring it first to their coach. Their coach can then determine if it merits being brought to the tournament director. The tournament director will then speak with the appropriate parties to investigate.

If a judge has a concern, they are encouraged to bring it to the tournament director. They should not discuss the situation with coaches or students. If further information is needed, the tournament director will contact them.

Students are welcome to come to tab for basic questions—e.g., what time should Congress end, where is extemp prep, etc. Anything that is rules or protest-related, however, should go through their coach.