Caesar Cicero
2024 — Layton, UT/US
Caesar and Cicero Memorial Tournament 2024
Northridge High School
Dates: Friday, December 6 & Saturday, December 7
Contact Info: Shannon Chamberlain schamberlain@dsdmail.net
Registration Deadlines: December 3 @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, Informative Speaking, Oratorical Declamation, Duo Interp, Humorous Interp, Odd Impromptu, Princeton Extemp, and POI
**See information below for explanations of Cicero events**
Double Entry: 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 speech and debate within the same block! No double entry in NX and FX.
Students are encouraged to enter events in both the Caesar and Cicero blocks. The rounds will alternate Caesar then Cicero, so they will have more fun if they have events in each round.
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.
LD Topic: Resolved: The United States ought to adopt a wealth tax.
PF Topic: Resolved: The United States should substantially reduce its military support of Taiwan.
CX Topic: Resolved: The United States federal government should significantly strengthen its protection of domestic intellectual property rights in copyrights, patents, and/or trademarks.
BQ Topic: Resolved: Creativity is a more powerful force than intelligence.
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 email 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. $25 school fee. Make checks payable to Northridge High School.
Tab room: 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.
Food: Concessions will be sold Friday and Saturday. There will be Little Caesar’s and hopefully one other choice (McDonald's or Chick Fil A), 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.
Princeton 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.
Schedule:
Friday, December 6
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 7
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 5-7in each event will compete in a finals round. Any event which approaches 90 entries will have double finals, so the top 10-14 will compete.
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 may bring it to the tournament director. They should report it and then recuse themselves from the situation. 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, must go through their coach.