Dear Community:

The University of Texas at Dallas Debate Team with assistance from the University of North Texas Debate Forum are pleased to invite you and your debaters to attend the annual Fear and Loathing Texas Two Step on January 2-8, 2018. The Two Step will feature two 6 rounds tournaments and will include three divisions of debate on the 2017-2018 CEDA/NDT topic. The tournaments will clear to an appropriate number of elimination rounds for each division, clearing all teams with a record of 4-2, or better and fill the remaining the bracket with the topseeded  3-3 teams.  However, we will collapse the Novice division into the Junior Varsity division if necessary.

This year UTD will serve as host for both tournaments and UNT will be assisting with both tournaments. Participation in both debate tournaments is a prerequisite to winning the coveted “Texas Two-Step Award” given to the team with the best prelim record at the two tournaments. Preliminary rounds will be held on the University of Texas-Dallas campus and elimination rounds will be at The Wyndham Plaza Suites (tournament hotel).   

Please complete all elements of the entries by 2:00pm on Friday, December 29, 2017. We will submit final orders for all food purchases that afternoon so correct information by the entry deadline is necessary. Please use the Tabroom.com for entering the teams, judges, and food preferences.

Sincerely,

Scott Herndon, Director of Debate, UTD

Phil Samuels, Assistant Director of Debate, UTD

Louie Petit, Associate Director of Debate, UNT

Hotel Accommodations –

The Texas Two Step will be using the same hotel for the duration of the tournaments, thus we strongly encourage all tournament participants to stay at the host hotel. Tournament registration, tournament receptions, and all elimination rounds on January 5^th and 8th will be held at the hotel. The Wyndham Plaza Suites will once again be used as the tournament hotel and it is located just north of the Westin Park Central and the LBJ freeway.  It is a quick drive between the hotel and the UT Dallas campus. Every room in the hotel is a suite. The rooms are quite large and can sleep 5 people. The block rates are 82 for a single or double occupancy, 89.50 for a triple occupancy and 97.00 for a quad occupancy.  This rate will include internet access at no additional charge. The hotel offers ample free parking. Overall this is an exceptional value for such an amazing facility.

The group is listed as “UTD Debate Tournament 2018” and will open Friday, November 17.  Please make sure if they are calling in a reservation that they refer the group. Your attendees have several ways in which they can make reservations.

1.)    Direct to Wyndham Dallas Suites – Park Central – 972-233-7600 option 2, please reference group code “UTD Debate Tournament 2018”.

2.)    Wyndham Worldwide Reservations - 1-800-996-3426. Your attendees must identify themselves as part of the UTD Debate Tournament 2018 to receive the Group rate

The group cutoff date for reservations is Monday, December 19, 2017. While rooms may be available at the last minute, the hotel will only guarantee the block of rooms and the tournament rate for those reservations made before December 19, 2017. We suggest that your reserve your rooms as soon as possible.

Hotel Details:

Wyndham Plaza Suites – Dallas Park Central

7800 Alpha Road

Dallas, TX 75240

Front Desk: 972-233-7600

Our contact at the hotel if you encounter any trouble securing a reservation:

Melissa Knight

972-246-1078

REGISTRATION:

We will accept entries for both tournaments through, December 29th, at 2:00 pm. If there are any problems, email Scott Herndon (saherndon@gmail.com) or Louie Petit (louiepetit@gmail.com). Registration will be held January 2^nd at the tournament hotel. Changes to your entry for the 2^nd tournament can be made online until 6pm on January 5^th, 2018.

FEES:

The entry fees will be $70 per person for each tournament. The entry fee is for everyone in attendance regardless of division or coaching role. For schools that hire judges that are not employed by another program, they are responsible for paying the hired judges entry fee. Please make all checks to the University of Texas at Dallas.If mailing checks, address them to: University of Texas at Dallas, 800. W. Campbell Road, Mailbox FO56,Richardson, TX, 75080. Attention Scott Herndon.

DIVISIONS:

We will have three divisions of debate at the tournament this year. Open division is open to any undergraduate student with eligibility. The junior division and Novice divisions are open to anyone who meets the CEDA eligibility standards for junior or novice participation.

JUDGING:

Each team seeking to enter should provide a qualified judge who will be available to judge at least three (3) preliminary rounds and who will comply with tournament rules. A judge covering the requirements for two teams should prepare to judge six (6) preliminary debates. A qualified judge is a currently active coach, graduate student, or former college debater. EVERY judge will be committed through the 2^nd elim debate in the Open division.

We will have very few hired judges available this year. Please inform the UNT staff (Louie Petit) at least two weeks in advance if your team will need to pay the fee for uncovered teams. Funds gained by such fees will go towards to the hiring of qualified judges. Judges will be assigned on the basis of mutual preference with an emphasis on promoting diversity in the judging pool.

Please indicate to the tournament administration if a judge cannot judge all three divisions. Please repeat any such limitation in person at registration. Judges assigned to a debate by the tab room will be responsible for submitting a correctly completed ballot at the end of that debate. Judges should not leave the tournament unless their commitment has been fulfilled.

FORMAT AND RULES:

We will use the 9-3-6 format, with ten minutes preparation time per team in open and junior divisions. Rounds 1-2 will be preset. The rest will be powered.  Debate teams consist of TWO persons from the same school. Hybrid teams are acceptable, if entered prior to the beginning of round 1, and may advance to elimination rounds. In the event of illness, a single debater may debate 2 rounds alone but may not be allowed to clear based on the tournament director’s discretion.  We will NOT break brackets in elimination rounds. We will enforce a 2:45 limit on decision times for judges beginning with the posted start time of the round. The tournament will defer to the Council of Tournament Directors guide to resolving other matters.

All coin flips should be transparent.  Please do not pick-up the coin prior to your opponent having a chance to verify the result of the flip.  Failure to allow transparency in the process will result in tab administrating a new flip.

Hospitality

As usual, the Texas Swings like to offer an amazing hospitality spread.  Across the two tournaments the following will be offered.

Breakfast will be provided daily at the hotel

4 lunch

2 dinner

Awards

Coaches Reception at registration, January 2^nd.

Tab

Matthew Vega will be running the tab software. We plan to have a policy on MPJ to reflect current discussions in the community and in line with our colleagues at UT-D. Rounds one and two preset.

Student/Coach/Participant Conduct

All participants debate at the invitation of the University of Texas-Dallas and the University of North Texas according to its tournament rules as well as any rules of their sponsoring institutions. We abide by all rules and norms of CEDA and the AFA, including but not limited to CEDA's sexual harassment policy.

Structural Ableism

Please notify us directly and not just on Tabroom if you have an attendee who needs limited room movement.

Moreover, do not hesitate to let us know what else the tournament can do to make the experience better for debaters and coaches. 

And, we will post information about the location of our quiet room and availability of gender neutral restrooms as the tournament approaches. 

Schedule – Tournament 1