Invitation 

On behalf of Michigan State University, we are pleased to invite you to the 2015 Spartan Classic Debate Tournament. We’re planning to hold it at Okemos High School (2800 Jolly Rd  Okemos, MI 48864) on Friday and Saturday and on the MSU campus Sunday---December 4-6, 2015.

We will offer novice and varsity divisions. There will be no JV division.

Method of Entry

The deadline for submitting entries is Monday, November 30^th 2015. All registration and entries should be done at www.tabroom.com. If possible, please send a preliminary entry estimate by Monday, November 16 to debate@msu.edu so that we can calculate space requirements. In the event that the tournament reaches capacity, entries will be accepted in the order they were received.

In the last few years, many schools have tried to enter after this date. While we understand that some situations require last minute changes, we would ask that all schools please try and get their entries in on time. Not having accurate information a few days in advance makes it difficult for us to plan schedules and acquire all necessary materials to make the tournament run on time. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to accommodate late entries. There will be a $25 per team fee for all teams dropped after the November 30th deadline.

A Note on Arrival Times

Registration will begin at 2:45pm on Friday at Okemos High School, with pairings released at 3:30 and the first round beginning at 4:00. There are classes taking place on that date, and we will not have classrooms available for student use until 2:45pm. Please do not arrive at Okemos High School prior to the start of registration.

Tournament Format

The annual debate topic, focusing on domestic surveillance will be used. The format for each debate will include 8 minute constructives, 3 minute cross examination periods, 5 minute rebuttals, and 8 minutes of preparation time.

Each two-person team is expected to debate both affirmative and negative. We cannot accept entries from four person teams where two of the team members only debate affirmative and two only debate negative.

We will offer five rounds of preliminary competition. Subject to the number of entrants, varsity will likely clear to quarterfinals and novice to octofinals.

Tournament Fees

The entry fee will be $20 per two-person policy team. This is a slight increase from past years but still extremely cost-competitive with other three day tournaments. If the tournament fee precludes your ability to attend for financial reasons, do not hesitate to contact us and we’ll be happy to try to work something out.

The entirety of this fee will be donated back to the Okemos High School Debate Team to thank them for helping us host the tournament. All checks should be made out to: Okemos Public Schools

They can be brought to registration or mailed to:

MSU Debate

479 W. Circle Drive, Room 10

East Lansing, MI 48824

Judging Requirements

Each school must either bring qualified judges with them or purchase judging from the tournament. Schools must cover three rounds for each two-person team entered or a full commitment for every two teams.

All judges are committed one round beyond the round in which the team they are judging for is eliminated. Thus, all judges are committed through the first elimination round. If your teams are eliminated in the quarterfinals, all of the people judging for your school are committed through the semifinals, etc. We will do our best to accommodate schools traveling long distances to make sure they can leave as soon as possible.

Hired judging is available through the tournament for $30 for each uncovered team. If you need to hire judges, please make sure to notify us in advance so we can plan accordingly. Hired judging will be available on a first come first serve basis. The $30 is for each uncovered team, not for each full unit of judging. For example, if your school entered 5 teams and provided one full commitment judge, the fee to hire out judging would be $90 ($30 x 3 uncovered teams). If you entered 2 teams and have no judge, the fee would be $60 ($30 x 2 uncovered teams).

We will be allowing qualified high school students to judge the novice division. These students must have at least two years of debate experience and be in their junior or senior years of high school.

We are instituting a nuisance fee for judges who no-show debates that they are obligated and assigned to judge. Any judge who arrives to a debate more than 20 minutes after the posted start time will incur a $50 charge.

Families

The Spartan Classic will be making an attempt to have our tournament be more “family friendly.” To this end, we will be making two accommodations but please let us know if there’s anything else we can do. Firstly, we will have childcare provided by students on the MSU Debate Team who have experience. Please let us know if you would like to take advantage of this so that we can be sure to assign enough students to childcare duties. Secondly, we will give any parents debates off to accommodate families with children in attendance. Just let us know how to best accommodate your schedule.

Lodging

There are several options for affordable lodging in East Lansing and the surrounding area:

Marriott East Lansing at University Place - 300 M.A.C Ave, East Lansing, MI 48823 - (517) 337-4440 – this option provides the closest proximity to campus and food, we have encountered issues with people traveling in large buses here so definitely notify them if you plan to bring a bus ahead of time

Candlewood Suites East Lansing - 3545 Forest Road, Lansing Charter Township, MI 48910 - (517) 351-8181

Fairfield Inn East Lansing - 2335 Woodlake Dr, Okemos, MI 48864 - (517) 347-1000

Hampton Inn East Lansing - 2500 Coolidge Rd, East Lansing, MI 48823 - (517) 324-2072

Thanks for considering the 2015 Spartan Classic Debate Tournament! We look forward to seeing you in East Lansing.

Sincerely,

Casey Harrigan

Director of Debate

Carly Watson

Program and Events Coordinator

Tentative Schedule

Friday, December 4^th--- Okemos High School

2:45-3:15 p.m. Registration

3:30 Pairings for Rounds 1 and 2

4:00 Round 1 (pre-set)

5:45 Round 2 (pre-set)

Saturday, December 5^th--- Okemos High School

8:00 a.m. Pairing for round 3 (Snacks and light breakfast items for sale)

8:30 Round 3 (high-low)

10:30 Pairings for Round 4

11:00 Round 4 (high-low)

12:30- Lunch Break (lunch for sale)

1:15 Pairings for Round 5

1:45 p.m. Round 5 (high-low, sides assigned by the tabroom)

3:45--- Awards

4:15 Pairings for First Elimination Debate (both divisions)

4:45 First Elimination Debate (Dinner not provided by the tournament)

Sunday, December 6^th--- MSU Campus

8:00 a.m. Pairings for Second Elimination Round

Completion of Elimination Rounds