The UTNIF LD Blog

Lectures & Electives for 2011

2011-07-12T10:40:00.000-07:00

We are excited to announce our camp lectures and elective modules for 2011!

Lectures

All students will be required to attend a skills-based lecture most mornings, which will be presented based on experience level.

Here is the list of covered subjects:

• Establishing Ground: Dissecting Resolutions
• Argument Construction: Claim-Warrant-Impact
• Improving Your Research
• Affirmative Casing & Strategies
• Negative Casing & Strategies
• Debating Standards: The Value & Criterion Clash
• Flowing
• The 1AR
• Crystallization & Weighing
• Building Your Ethos: Professionalism, Confidence, & Ethics
• Judge Adaptation

Electives

In addition to the required skills-based lectures, all students will be allowed to self-select elective modules to attend over the course of camp. Our electives are planned to cover an array of philosophers and trends in LD to recognize the dynamic nature of our activity across the country. We believe our electives this year offer something for everyone, meeting the individualized needs of students with diverse backgrounds, styles, and experience levels from various regions and circuits.

**Course descriptions for each of the elective modules will be posted as comments to this thread. Students also will be given a printed course packet that includes all of this information at camp registration.**

Here are the choices:

PHILOSOPHY & POLITICS ELECTIVES

These electives are all content based to help students deepen their knowledge of the ethical, moral, and political ideas that are used in LD rounds and to introduce them to authors they may encounter in their debate careers.

• The LD All-Stars by Stacy Thomas
• International Relations, Part 1: The Basics by Tyler Cook

• International Relations, Part 2: The Specifics by Tyler Cook
• The Social Contract: But I Didn't Consent! by Tyler Cook
• Immanuel Kant by Garner Lanier
• Utility vs. Deontology: The Crucial Debate within Debate by Shawn Tuteja
• Communitarianism by Perry Beard
• Traditional Conceptions of Justice: A Discussion of Rawls & Nozick by Josh Aguilar
• Alternative Conceptions of Justice: A Discussion of Iris Marion Young by Chris Castillo
• Capitalism & Its Critics by Garner Lanier
• Introduction to Contemporary Philosophical Literature by Garner Lanier
• The Morality and Politics of Violence by Garner Lanier
• Agamben & the State by Tyler Sullivan

• Identity Politics, Part 1 by Kristen Ray

• Identity Politics, Part 2 by Kristen Ray

ARGUMENT STYLE ELECTIVES

These electives will focus on different types of argumentation, including (but not limited to) the trends that have become prevalent in some LD areas, even if controversial. This section of electives is meant to help students gain deeper insight into different approaches to resolutions or different styles of debate that they may encounter in rounds. When choosing these electives, students should consider what is acceptable in their regions and the styles they are likely to come up against at the tournaments they attend. Electives pertaining to presentation and preparation are also included in this section.

• LARPing in Debate, Part 1: Introduction to Policy-Style Crossover Arguments by Paul Gravely & Jared Woods

• LARPing in Debate, Part 2: The Affirmative (Plans, Advantages, & the 1AR) by Paul Gravely & Jared Woods
• LARPing in Debate, Part 3: The Negative (Counterplans & Disads) by Paul Gravely & Jared Woods
• Theory, Part 1: Policing Debate Borders by Ben Clancy
• Theory, Part 2: Making the Laws & Learning to Challenge Them by Ben Clancy

• Theory, Part 3: Weighing the Law & Doing Something with It by Ben Clancy

• Theory, Part 4: Putting It Together/Laying Down the Law by Ben Clancy & Shawn Tuteja
• Kritiks & Performance, Part 1: Putting the K in Debate by John Lewis
• Kritiks & Performance, Part 2: Removing the K from Debate by John Lewis
• Kritiks & Performance, Part 3: Targeted K'ing by John Lewis
• Answering Confusing Positions by Chris Castillo
• Steps for Decreasing Judge Intervention by Chris Castillo
• The UIL Advantage by Perry Beard
• Perceptual Dominance by Josh Aguilar
• Zen & the Art of Debate by Josh Aguilar
• Coaching Yourself: How to be a Successful Lone Wolf on Any Circuit by Shawn Tuteja

DRILLS-BASED ELECTIVES

Every year on our end-of-camp evaluations, some students say they want to do more hands-on drills, some say they did the right amount, and some say they want to do less. To accommodate these different preferences, we are offering a selection of hands-on, activity-based electives for students who want to focus more on execution of their skills. All electives in this section will include only brief lecturing, if any at all. The large majority of the time will be given to drills. This is also a chance for students to work in a drill environment with instructors other than their lab leaders to experience a diversity of teachers. While it is expected that student will be doing a variety of different drills in lab and will cover the subject areas below during that time, as well as many others, these electives let students increase the attention they are giving to specific skills in which they want to see even greater improvement.

• The Lost Art of CX by Tyler Cook & Tyler Sullivan
• Word Economy by Garner Lanier

• Evidence Comparison by Paul Gravely & Jared Woods
• Improving Your Extensions by Kristen Ray
• Turns by Josh Aguilar
• No Warrant by Tyler Sullivan
• Case & Research Tutorials by Perry Beard

Main Session Resolution

2011-06-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

We will be working with the following resolution during our main session of UTNIF for the LD students:

Resolved: Targeted killing is a morally permissible foreign policy tool.

This resolution is taken from the NFL list that was released at Nationals in June. It is a potential topic for next year.

We also think this topic will be highly educational for camp instruction. It is very timely in terms of current events with the death of Osama bin Laden. It also raises several classic LD questions in terms of legitimate government actions, as well as introducing students to many important concepts in international relations that they will encounter throughout their debate careers.

Students are not expected to arrive at camp with cases completed. Part of the camp experience is learning to write cases for beginners or to improve casing skills for experienced students. However, being familiar with the topic is always helpful. We highly encourage students to begin reading on this resolution so that they can familiarize themselves with the topic.

Happy researching!

Lab Placement Survey 2011

2011-06-10T16:21:00.000-07:00

Hello UTNIF campers for 2011,

This is Ms. Thomas, the director of the Lincoln-Douglas program at the UT-Austin debate camp you have enrolled in for this summer. The survery below is needed to gather information so that we can best determine lab placement for our LD students. Your answers will be provided to your lab instructors to help them get to know about you and your goals. The more detailed and accurate you are, the better your camp teachers will be able to serve you. So, please be thoughtful. For those of you who are new to camp, labs are the classes you will be divided into for instruction. Please answer the following questions and email them back to me ASAP at stacyannthomas@sbcglobal.net. I would like all lab placement surveys returned by June 30. But, sooner is better.

This survey was sent via email to every student enrolled. If you didn't get it, you might want to check your spam blocker and set up your email so that you can receive messages from me. Coaches are also welcome to send information regarding lab placement.

This is the lab placement survey:

Please fill out this survey to the best of your ability. The more information you can provide, the better we can help you.

1. Student's Name:

2. Coach's Name:

3. School and Location (city and state):

4. Grade you will be entering for the 2011-2012 school year:

5. Have you previously attended any debate camps? Please tell us which camps, when you attended, and who were your lab instructors.

6. Please describe your debate experience. Tell us how many years you have competed in LD and approximately in how many tournaments in novice, junior varsity (some tournaments in different parts of the country have this division), and varsity. It is very important that you are clear as to if your experience was novice, JV, or varsity to help us best understand your background. Also describe to us any experience you have in other forensics events. Please be clear and detailed so that we can get an accurate picture of your experience.

7. Please give us your record at your five best LD tournaments this past year. Please tell us your preliminary record, elimination round reached if it applies, and division (novice, JV, or varsity). Here is an example: Lamar TFA Tournament, 3-1 prelims, octofinals, varsity LD.

8. Describe the debate style in your region. If you are from Texas, tell us if your team focuses more on TFA or UIL or both. Does your team travel or stay in its region? Also, tell us if you plan to compete at TOC tournaments next year. If you plan to travel, please tell us where you hope to go.

9. Describe your strengths as a debater. If you have previous debate experience, please tell us what you think are the primary reasons you are winning rounds and describe the types of judges in front of whom you are most successful.

10. Describe your weaknesses as a debater that you hope to improve upon at camp. If you have previous debate experience, please tell us what you think are the primary reasons you are losing rounds and describe the types of judges in front of whom you are least successful.

11. What are your competitive goals for next year? What do you hope to achieve? Are there any specific types of arguments or skills you want to study at camp that aren't discussed above?

12. Place yourself in one of the following categories and explain why you placed yourself there.

BE HONEST in answering this question. The goal is for you to learn and improve this summer so that you are more successful next year. You don't want to be in a lab that is either below your skill level or over your head, making it difficult for you to follow instruction. You will get the most out of camp and improve the greatest if you are properly placed and don't feel overwhelmed. Every year, we have some kids who insist on being in a higher level lab than is appropriate. These students don't get as much out of camp and usually don't do as well the following year as students placed below them with more appropriate instruction. Our teachers are highly qualified from top to bottom at UTNIF. We do not only put our best people at the top. I strongly believe that younger debaters often need the strongest teachers. So, don't be shy about telling us your accomplishments but also be truthful about what you need so we can best help you.

In making your choice from the options below, remember to explain why you placed yourself where you did. These descriptions are guidelines:

A: Advanced, Level 1 -- You have qualified for championships before, such as your state championship (TFA State or UIL State in Texas), NFL Nationals, or TOC. At these championships, you have accomplished a winning record or made it into elimination rounds. You've competed in LD for 2-3 years already, attend tournaments often, and make it into late elimination rounds most weekends.

B: Advanced, Level 2 -- You have qualified for championships before, such as your state championship (TFA State or UIL State in Texas), NFL Nationals, or TOC. Once at these championships, you've struggled and haven't acheived the record you hoped. You've competed in LD for 2-3 years already, attend tournaments often, and make it into early elimination rounds most weekends and late elimination rounds some weekends.

C: Varsity, Level 1 -- You've competed in debate 2-3 years already. You have an average to winning varsity record. You make it into elimination rounds on some weekends but are not consistent about it. If you are from Texas, you may have come close to qualifying for TFA State, such as getting 5-9 of the needed 10 points. If you are a UIL debater, you may have advanced to UIL Regionals. You are right on the cusp of qualifying for state and national championships.

D: Varsity, Level 2 -- You've competed in debate 2-3 years already. You have an average to losing varsity record. You make it into elimination rounds on occasional weekends but are not consistent about it. If you are from Texas, you may have earned some TFA points, such as 2-4 of the needed 10 to qualify for TFA State. You have a lot of experience attending tournaments but are not getting the results to match the efforts you are making.

E: Intermediate -- You've competed steady for at least a year. If you've competed for more than a year, you've attended tournaments infrequently. Most of your prior debate experience was as a novice. You have been a successful novice debater, regularly reaching elimination at this level, and are read to make the transition into competing varsity next year. You might have a few varsity competitions under your belt, but you most likely struggled when debating higher level kids. For the most part, you feel comfortable with the foundational skills.

F: Beginning -- You are a beginner with little to no experience in LD prior to coming to camp. If you have competed before, it has been at only a few competitions (maybe 1-3) at the novice level, and you have struggled in terms of your win-loss record. You feel you still could benefit from learning the foundational skills to build upon them. Even if you have debated some before, if you feel like you still need work on the foundational skills (such as understanding case construction, the function of the criterion, learning to flow, etc.), then you should place yourself in this category.

13. Please look over our staff list on our website (http://studentorgs.utexas.edu/debate/UTNIF//staff-ld.html). Are there any staff members with whom you specifically would like to request to work? Are there any staff members with whom you know you do not want to work? This information will be kept confidential. Only Ms. Thomas will see it. The staff list at the above website is mostly complete, but changes are possible.

14. Do you have any other concerns or information you would like to share? If you are a repeater to UTNIF, are there any changes you hope to see at the camp?

15. Should I continue to use this email for contacting you, or would you prefer a different email address be used on the UTNIF mailing list?

Thank you! We look forward to meeting our new campers in July and to seeing our repeat campers again this summer.

Stacy Thomas
UTNIF LD Director

UTNIF Welcomes New Lab Leaders

2011-05-05T22:15:00.000-07:00

I want to welcome two recent hires to our 2011 UTNIF staff. They are John Lewis, who formerly debated for Memorial High School in Houston and who now is an assistant coach there, and Shawn Tuteja, this year's St. Mark's champion who is graduating from The Altamont School in Alabama. Both of them will have bios up on our staff page in the next few days. These are two wonderful additions to our staff in terms of debate knowledge, approachability, and educational focus.

Check out our 2011 staff page (http://studentorgs.utexas.edu/debate/UTNIF//staff-ld.html) -- we have a great group of teachers this summer!

Going to NFL Nationals

2011-05-04T18:35:00.000-07:00

I'd like to start a thread to recognize UTNIF alum who have qualified to the 2011 NFL Nationals in Dallas. Congrats to all these students and their coaches on their hard work and efforts.

To get us started:

Space City District (TX)

Grant James, sophomore at Cy-Woods HS (UTNIF '10)

Ty Joplin, junior at Cy-Woods HS (UTNIF '09)

Eastern Missouri District

Chris Dopuch, senior at Marquette HS (UTNIF '08 & '09)
Aaron Malin, senior at Marquette HS (UTNIF '08 & '09)
Ashley Kuykendall, junior at Marquette HS (UTNIF '09)

Also congrats to staff members Jared Woods for qualifying to NFL Nationals from the East Texas District and Shawn Tuteja for qualifying from the Deep South District in Alabama.
Please post comments to add other qualifiers.

TFA State Results for UTNIF Alum

2011-04-21T21:18:00.000-07:00

More than half of the participants who advanced to elimination rounds at TFA State this year were either former UTNIF students or coached by current UTNIF staff. It is also pretty exciting to see that 8 sophomores who attended UTINF 2010 qualified to TFA State, including one of the elimination round participants!

Congratulations to these former UTNIF students and their coaches for their accomplishment on reaching elimination rounds at TFA State.

Seniors

Tyler Sullivan of Salado HS (UTNIF ’09 & ’10)

Pippa Mason of Plano West HS (UTNIF ’09)

Blake Andrews of Parish Episcopal (UTNIF ‘08)

Stephen Vincent of Foster HS (UTNIF ‘08)

Juniors

Amyn Kassam of Dulles HS (UTNIF ’09 & ’10)

Brian Hodge of Cypress Falls HS (UTNIF ’09)

Ty Joplin of Cy-Woods HS (UTNIF ’09)

Michael Kohm of Southlake Carroll (UTNIF ’09)

Sophomores

Christine Wiener of Reagan HS (UTNIF ’10)

Also congrats to staff members Chris Castillo, Ben Clancy, Perry Beard, Paul Gravley, and Kristen Ray for coaching 11 additional elimination round participants between them and to staff member Jared Woods for advancing as second seed and reaching quarterfinals.

We would also like to recognize the hard work of all the other UTNIF students who qualified for the 2011 TFA State Championship:

Seniors

Josh Gutierrez of Three Rivers HS (UTNIF ’09 & ’10)

Alex Kaplan of Dulles HS (UTNIF ’09 & ’10)

Tyler Corder of Central HS (UTNIF ’10)

Andrew Markham of Reagan HS (UTNIF ’10)

Summer Mills of James Madison HS (UTNIF ’10)

Barrett Rowston of Keller HS (UTNIF ’10)

Yamna Zaman of Colleyville-Heritage HS (UTNIF ’10)

Mirusha Yogarajah of Stony Point HS (UTNIF ’09)

Sarah Zhou of Clements (UTNIF ’09)

Ryan Stephenson of Cy-Ridge HS (UTNIF ’08)

Juniors

Jeron Whalen of Keller Central HS (UTNIF ’09 & ’10)

Farrah Bara of Foster HS (UTNIF ’10)

Michael Ferrer of Cy-Woods HS (UTNIF ’10)

Travis Fife of Keller HS (UTNIF ’10)

Ellen Hense of Pflugerville HS (UTNIF ’10)

Jonathan Huang of Jasper HS (UTNIF ’10)

Steven Kung of Clements HS (UTNIF ’10)

Connor Miller of Cy-Woods HS (UTNIF ’10)

Sean Semple of Klein HS (UTNIF ’10)

Shareen Woody of Reagan HS (UTNIF ’10)

Mark Lee of Plano West (UTNIF ’09)

Michelle Li of Hockaday (UTNIF ’09)

Savannah Kumar of Anderson HS (UTNIF ’09)

Sophomores

Tushar Madan of Shepton HS (UTNIF ’09 & ’10)

Akshay Avantsa of Dulles HS (UTNIF ’10)

Taylor Horton of Clements HS (UTNIF ’10)

Tillman Huett of Pflugerville HS (UTNIF '10)

Grant James of Cy-Woods HS (UTNIF ’10)

Enrique Martinez of Cy-Woods HS (UTNIF ’10)

Jonathan Wei of Dulles HS (UTNIF ’10)

Please post a comment if there is anybody we missed!

TFA Qualifying Results 2010-2011

2011-04-21T21:17:00.000-07:00

We'd like to recognize the accomplishments and hard work of former UTNIF students at TFA Tournaments this school year. Congrats to them & their coaches on their hard work & success!

In the Houston TFA region:
UTNIF alum closed out the final round of the Jersey Village, Klein, and Travis tournaments.
Won the Bellaire, Cy-Creek, and Seven Lakes tournaments.
Placed second at the Mayde Creek, University of Houston, Westfield, and Woodlands tournaments.
Reached semifinals at the Bellaire, Cy-Creek, Dulles, Elkins, Kempner, Lamar Consolidated, Northbrook, Northland Christian, Seven Lakes, Spring Woods, Travis, and Westfield tournaments.
As well as many other quarterfinal and octofinal appearances.

In the Austin/San Antonio TFA region:
UTNIF alum closed out the final round of the Madison and Round Rock tournaments.
Won the Anderson, John Jay, Pflugerville, and Smithson Valley tournaments.
Placed second at the Churchill, La Vernia, O’Connor, Reagan, S. F. Austin, and Warren tournaments.
Reached semifinals at the Carroll, Churchill, Claudia Taylor, Hays, O’Connor, Pflugerville, S. F. Austin, St. Mary’s Hall, and Stony Point tournaments.
As well as many other quarterfinal and octofinal appearances.

In the Dallas TFA region:
UTNIF alum won the Arlington, Colleyville-Heritage, and Southlake Carroll tournaments.
Placed second at the Flower Mound and Naaman Forest tournaments.
Reached semifinals at the Jasper, Keller Central, Naaman Forest, Northwest, Plano Senior, Plano West, and Southlake Carroll tournaments.
As well as many other quarterfinal and octofinal appearances.

In other TFA regions:
UTNIF alum won the Lubbock tournament.
Reached semifinals at the Big Springs tournament.
Reached quarterfinals at the Coronado tournament.
Reached octofinals at the Coronado and Lubbock tournaments.

Congrats to our Georgia & Ohio students!

2011-04-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

We would like to recognize senior Lucas Bailey of Grady High School (UTNIF '09 & '10) and his coaches for his success in earning the title of George State Champion in Lincoln-Douglas Debate!

In addition, congratulations to the following students and their coaches for reaching elimination rounds at the Ohio State Championship:

Quarterfinalist -- junior Abby Davis of Magnificat HS (UTNIF ’09 & ’10)

Octofinalist – junior Nathan Peereboom of St. Ignatius HS (UTNIF ’09)

If you know of other results outside Texas, please post a comment.

Lectures & Electives

2009-07-05T10:37:00.000-07:00

We are excited to announce our camp lectures and elective modules for 2009!

Lectures

All students will be required to attend a skills-based lecture most mornings, which will be presented based on experience level.

Here is the list of covered subjects:
• Establishing Ground: Dissecting Resolutions
• Argument Construction: Claim-Warrant-Impact
• Improving Your Research
• Conceptualizing Casing & Frameworks
• Debating Standards: The Value & Criterion Clash
• Negative Strategies
• Flowing Fundamentals
• Seeing the Flow Game
• 1AR Strategy
• Crystallization & Weighing
• Judge Adaptation
• Building Your Ethos: Professionalism, Confidence, & Ethics

Electives

In addition to the required skills-based lectures, all students will be allowed to self-select elective modules during the main session to attend over the course of camp. Our electives are planned to cover an array of philosophers and trends in LD to recognize the dynamic nature of our activity across the country. We believe our electives this year offer something for everyone, meeting the individualized needs of students with diverse backgrounds, styles, and experience levels from various regions and circuits. Several of the electives on this list will repeat during the third week, giving students who are remaining for the extension additional opportunities to explore their interests.

**Course descriptions for each of the elective modules will be posted as comments to this thread over the next few days. Students also will be given a printed course packet that includes all of this information at camp registration.**

Here are the choices:
• The LD All-Stars by Stacy Thomas
• Preparing for a Winning Tournament by Perry Beard
• Immanuel Kant by Garner Lanier
• Social Contract, Part 1: Understanding & Defending It by Dan Jennis
• Social Contract, Part 2: Shredding It by Eric Melin
• Utility vs. Deontology: Is It the Journey or Destination? by Eric Melin
• Rawls & Nozick by Josh Aguilar
• Individual Rights by Chetan Hertzig
• International Relations, Part 1: Keepin’ It Real by Jenn Miller
• International Relations, Part 2: My Big Mac Saves Lives! by Jenn Miller
• Political Transitions by Dan Jennis
• Economics of Public Policy by Dan Jennis
• Turns 101 by Josh Aguilar
• Extensions 101 by Chetan Hertzig
• The UIL Advantage by Tyler Cook
• Intersubjective Morality by Dan Jennis
• Introduction to Postmodernism by Garner Lanier
• Theory, Part 1: An Introduction by Garner Lanier
• Theory, Part 2: How to Answer It by Ryan Bennett
• Kritiks by Andrew Cockroft
• Pre-Standards Arguments & No-Risk Outs by Andrew Cockroft
• Truth-Testing vs. Comparative Worlds by Andrew Cockroft
• Defending Comparative Positions by Chetan Hertzig
• Biopower by Garner Lanier
• Neitzsche & The Will to Power by Ryan Bennett
• Ethics of Care by Ryan Bennett
• Feminism(s) by Stacy Thomas
• Why Skepticism? by Andrew Cockroft
• Nontraditional Ballot Stories by Ryan Bennett
• Answering Confusing Positions by Tyler Cook
• Tips for the Underdog by Jessie Stellmach
• I Want to Help My Novices: Being a Team Leader by Stacy Thomas

Main Session Topic Announced

2009-07-02T11:55:00.000-07:00

Resolved: In the United States, the principle of jury nullification is a just check on government.

This will be the LD topic for the two-week main session. This resolution is on the list for potential topics between Nov.-Dec. 2009 and Sept.-Oct. 2010. We think there is a good chance that this topic will be voted in by coaches; however, the guessing is never perfect. So, we also have chosen this topic because we think it will be a good teaching topic for camp. It raises a lot of classic LD issues for those beginning in debate and allows for more advanced debaters to go in some interesting directions.

If you haven't heard the term "jury nullification" before, you are still probably familiar with the idea if you watch any of the legal dramas on TV. Here is a definition from Doug Linder, a constitutional law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City: "Jury nullification occurs when a jury returns a verdict of 'Not Guilty' despite its belief that the defendant is guilty of the violation charged. The jury in effect nullifies a law that it believes is either immoral or wrongly applied to the defendant whose fate they are charged with deciding." Those in favor of jury nullification think it can be a way to generate justice when faced with immoral situations. Others think that this destroys the balance of powers/democratic process in our government by allowing juries to legislate in trials. One case that Prof. Linder gives as an historical example of jury nullification is the 1735 trial of John Peter Zenger, charged with printing "seditious libels" of the governor of the Colony of New York. Despite the fact that Zenger did print the materials, the jury found him "not guilty," and this was considered an important decision in terms of free speech. Some other potential examples discussed by authors: In the 1800s, individuals who harbored slaves in violation of the Fugitive Slave Act were sometimes found "not guilty" by juries in northern states. During prohibition in the 1930s, some juries acquitted individuals who violated the alcohol control laws. Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who is known for assisting terminally ill patients with suicide despite this being against the law in nearly all states, has benefited from jury nullification when brought to trial.

Our schedule will require that cases be finished within the first four days of camp so that we can begin critiqued practice debates. This is actually more time than many camps give for case preparation, but it still is a highly tight crunch. It is recommended that students begin reading, researching, and learning about the topic prior to coming to UTNIF. Some more advanced students may choose to work on cases ahead of time, but this is not required. If case writing is something you are trying to improve, you may want to wait to get guidance from your instructors. Nevertheless, everyone can benefit from reading about the topic ahead of time and familiarizing themselves with the key issues. Very soon, articles will be made available to students via email and the blog. Check back for that research.

We are still trying to decide upon the resolution for the extension. That will be posted soon here as a comment to this message.

2009 Lab Placement Survey for LD

2009-06-16T12:58:00.000-07:00

Hello UTNIF campers for 2009,

I sent this information out via email today. If you did not receive it, then either I don't have the correct email address for you or this email was blocked by your spam/junk filter. You will continue to get email from me, so please add my address to your safe list so that I don't get lost in your spam filter. My email is sthomas@mail.hockaday.org. If you still don't get emails from me, please contact me to verify that I have your correct address. You also can keep checking the blog for information.

This survey (see below) is needed to gather information so that we can best determine lab placement for our LD students. Your answers will be provided to your lab instructors to help them get to know about you and your goals. For those of you who are new to camp, labs are the classes you will be divided into for instruction. Please answer the following questions and email them back to me ASAP at sthomas@mail.hockaday.org. I would like all lab placement surveys returned by July 1.

Here is the lab placement survey

Please fill out this survey to the best of your ability. The more information you can provide, the better we can help you.

1. Student's Name:

2. Coach's Name:

3. School and Location (city and state):

4. Grade you will be during 2009-2010 school year:

5. Have you previously attended any debate camps? Please tell us which camps, when you attended, and who were your lab instructors.

6. Please describe your debate experience. Tell us how many years you have competed in LD and approximately in how many tournaments in novice, junior varsity (some tournaments in different parts of the country have this division), and varsity. It is very important that you are clear as to if your experience was novice, JV, or varsity to help us best understand your background. Also describe to us any experience you have in other forensics events. Please be clear so that we can get an accurate picture of your experience.

7. Please give us your record at your five best tournaments this past year. Please tell us your preliminary record, elimination round reached if it applies, and division (novice, JV, or varsity). Here is an example: Hockaday TFA Tournament, 3-1, octofinals, varsity LD.

8. Describe the debate style in your region. If you are from Texas, tell us if your team focuses more on TFA or UIL or both. Does your team travel or stay in its region? Also, tell us if you plan to compete at TOC tournaments next year. If you plan to travel, please tell us where you hope to go.

9. What are your competitive goals for next year? What do you hope to achieve?

10. Describe your strengths as a debater.

11. Describe your weaknesses as a debater that you hope to improve upon at camp.

12. Place yourself in one of the following categories and explain why you placed yourself there:

A: Advanced -- You have qualified for championships before such as your state championship (TFA State or UIL State in Texas), NFL Nationals, or TOC. You've competed in LD for 2-3 years already and break regularly to elimination rounds.

B: Varsity -- You've competed in debate 2-3 years already. You have an average varsity record. Sometimes you win, but you aren't yet consistent. If you are from Texas, you may have come close to qualifying for TFA State, such as getting 6-8 of the needed 10 points.

C: Intermediate -- Most of your prior debate experience was as a novice. You have been a successful novice debater, regularly reaching elimination at this level. You've competed steady for at least a year. You might have a few varsity competitions under your belt, but you most likely struggled when debating higher level kids. For the most part, you feel comfortable with the foundational skills.

D: Beginning -- You are a beginner with little to no experience in LD prior to coming to camp. If you have competed before, it has been at only a few competitions at the novice level, and you may have struggled in terms of your win-loss record. You feel you still could benefit from learning the foundational skills to build upon them. Even if you have debated some before, if you feel like you still need work on the foundational skills (such as understanding case construction, the function of the criterion, learning to flow, etc.), then you should place yourself in this category.

BE HONEST in answering this question. The goal is for you to learn and improve this summer. You don't want to be in a lab that is either below your skill level or over your head, making it difficult for you to follow instruction. You will get the most out of camp and improve the greatest if you are properly placed and don't feel overwhelmed. Every year, we have some kids who insist on being in a higher level lab than is appropriate. These students usually don't get as much out of camp than students placed below them with more appropriate instruction. Our teachers are highly qualified from top to bottom at UTNIF. We do not only put our best people at the top. I strongly believe that younger debaters often need the strongest teachers. I am convinced, for example, that we have by far one of the strongest novice labs in the country because of the quality of our teachers at this level. We've had kids go on from our beginning and intermediate labs to qualify for their state championships the next year, as well as NFL Nationals. So, don't be shy about telling us your accomplishments but also be truthful about what you need so we can best help you.

13. Please look over our staff list on our website (http://studentorgs.utexas.edu/debate/UTNIF//staff-ld.html). Are there any staff members with whom you specifically would like to request to work? Are there any staff members with whom you know you do not want to work? This information will be kept confidential. Only Ms. Thomas will see it.

14. Do you have any other concerns or information you would like to share? If you are a repeater to UTNIF, are there any changes you hope to see at the camp?

Thank you! We look forward to meeting our new campers in July and to seeing our repeat campers again this summer.

Stacy Thomas
UTNIF LD Director
Hockaday Debate Coach

Labs announced for 2009

2009-06-16T11:17:00.000-07:00

Here are the LD lab pairings for camp this summer:

LD Director: Stacy Thomas
LD Administrative Assistant: Jessie Stellmach

Labs:

Eric Melin and Andrew Cockroft (advanced varsity)
Dan Jennis and Ryan Bennett (varsity)
Josh Aguilar and Garner Lanier (varsity)
Perry Beard and Tyler Cook (intermediate or junior varsity)
Jenn Miller and Chetan Hertzig (beginner/intermediate or junior varsity)

Students will be receiving an email this week requesting information to assist with their lab placement. Please respond ASAP. I'm hoping to have all surveys returned by July 1. These surveys are crucial to helping students get paired with the correct instructors.

I've also gotten several emails asking about the resolution for camp. That won't be announced for at least another week. We are waiting for the 2009-2010 resolution list to be released at NFL Nationals (which is currently underway) before deciding upon our camp topic. Once the list is released, we will decide on a camp topic asap for both main session and the extension. Those will be posted here on the blog.

Good Luck at NFL Nationals!

2009-06-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

I wanted to congratulate our 2008 UTNIF alums who are currently competing at NFL Nationals in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Best of luck in Birmingham, Alabama!

They are:

Chris Dopuch, a sophomore at Marquette High School of the Eastern Missouri District

Jake Lyonfields, a junior at Parkway West High School of the Eastern Missouri District

Jordan Nerison, a junior at Reagan High School of the Central Texas District

Kara Ramsey, a junior at St. Joseph's Academy of the Louisiana District

Michael Valdez, a sophomore at Victoria Memorial High School of the Gulf Coast District in Texas

I'd also like to recognize our staff who will be coaching or competing at NFL Nationals.

Both of our two first-year-out instructors qualified for the tournament. Ryan Bennett will be competing for Southlake Carroll High School from the Heart of Texas District. He is coached by UTNIF lab leader Eric Melin. Tyler Cook will be competing for Salado High School from the UIL District in Texas. He is coached by UTNIF lab leader Josh Aguilar.

Also best of luck to Carson Chalmers of Marcus High School in the North Texas Longhorns District, who is coached by UTNIF lab leader Jenn Miller; to my Hockaday student Shivani Vohra, from the same district; and to the public forum team of Jacob Koshak and Steven Delperdang of Seven Lakes High School in the Space City District in Houston, who are coached by UTNIF lab leader Perry Beard.

If I missed anybody, please let me know by posting a comment.

Tournament results

2008-10-04T17:49:00.000-07:00

Congrats to the following students who attended UTNIF '08:

Phillips Hogan of AWTY International School for octofinals at Grapevine TFA in DFW.

James Tobey of SFA for second place at Hendrickson TFA in the Austin area.

Michael Valdez of Memorial for first place and Kara Tapangan of Harlingen South for second place at Texas A&M TFA in Corpus Christi. Kara also placed second at the Flour Bluff TFA Tournament.

Charles Rutter of Plano Sr. for semifinals at Newman Smith TFA in DFW.

Also great job to UTNIF '07 students:

Madeline Vuong of Anderson for first place at Hendrickson TFA and octofinals at Grapevine TFA.

Nina Wexelblatt of Albuquerque Academy in NM for her invite to the Vassar Round Robin in NY.

Please add if you know other results.

Research for military conscription resolution

2008-07-08T00:33:00.000-07:00

Affirmative

http://www.tannerlectures.utah.edu/lectures/documents/sandel00.pdf

The above article is by Harvard political philosophy professor Michael Sandel. Title: "What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets." It is a lecture he delivered in May 1998 that is referenced in several articles on military conscription. The section of the article on military conscription is pages 109-114. It, though, is also important to read the beginning of the article where he frames what he is discussing, especially the section entitled "Two Objections: Coercion and Corruption." At first, it may seem like this article isn't topical, but give it a few pages, and you'll see the relevance.

Negative

http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/julkaisut/eri/hecer/disc/106/theecono.pdf

Title: "The Economic Costs and the Political Allure of Conscription." This article is written by Panu Poutvaara, prof. of economics at the University of Helsinki in Finland, and Andreas Wagener, currently a prof. of economics at the University of Hanover in Germany and formerly on faculty at the University of Vienna. It is dated 2006, making it more recent.

"Fixing What Ain't Broke: The Renewed Call for Conscription," http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa351.pdf

"The Volunteer Military: Better than a Draft," http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1531&full=1

The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank that does nonprofit public policy research from this political perspective. Doug Bandow, the author of both articles, was an assistant to President Reagan. These articles are a bit old, but they still have useful points. Just keep in mind the changed historical context when you are reading anything pre-Sept. 11.

Continue to check back in the comments for this post. More links to help with your research may be added.

Resolution Announced for Main Session

2008-06-25T18:55:00.000-07:00

Here it is...

Resolved: Military conscription is unjust.

This will be the LD topic for the two-week main session. This resolution is on the list for potential topics between Nov.-Dec. 2008 and Sept.-Oct. 2009. We think there is a good chance that this topic will be voted in by coaches; however, the guessing is never perfect. So, we also have chosen this topic because we think it will be a good teaching topic for camp. It raises a lot of classic LD issues for those beginning in debate and allows for more advanced debaters to go in some interesting directions.

Our schedule will require that cases be finished within the first four days of camp so that we can begin critiqued practice debates. This is actually more time than many camps give for case preparation, but it still is a highly tight crunch. It is recommended that students begin reading, researching, and learning about the topic prior to coming to UTNIF. Some more advanced students may choose to work on cases ahead of time, but this is not required. If case writing is something you are trying to improve, you may want to wait to get guidance from your instructors. Nevertheless, everyone can benefit from reading about the topic ahead of time and familiarizing themselves with the key issues.

We are still trying to decide upon the resolution for the extension. That will be posted soon here as a comment to this message.

Josh Aguilar added to UTNIF staff

2008-06-22T21:10:00.000-07:00

With growing enrollment at UTNIF this summer, we will be adding an additional intermediate lab. That lab will be led by Josh Aguilar and Oklahoma State Champion Garner Lanier (whose staff bio is also on the blog). Here is information about Josh:

Josh AGUILAR is an active LD judge and the assistant coach at Salado High School, where he has worked diligently to help the team branch out to be competitive at national tournaments without sacrificing its strong local roots. Josh coached the 2007 2A UIL State Champion and 2008 runner-up. His students also have qualified for TFA State and have reached elimination rounds at NFL Nationals, Memorial, Churchill, and the UT-Austin Longhorn Classic. When he was a student at Hays High School, Josh competed successfully himself in LD for four years in the Austin area, qualifying for TFA State, UIL State, and NFL Nationals. Despite limited opportunities to travel, Josh reach elimination rounds at Grapevine, Churchill, and the Longhorn Classic. He is a wonderful role model for local students who are beginning to travel outside their regions and has a great appreciation for the variety of styles currently present in LD due to his experiences. He previously has taught at the Texas Speech and Debate Camp and will be teaching at The Championship Group after UTNIF this summer. He currently is a junior at UT-Austin, where his major is rhetoric and writing. An UTNIF top lab alum, Josh has judged practice debates for the camp the past two summers. We are excited to add him as a full-time lab leader given his patient teaching style, demonstrated dedication, and focus on inclusion for all students in debate.

Congrats to Prof. Thomas & Joan Gass!

2008-06-20T20:52:00.001-07:00

For the second year in a row, UTNIF LD Director Stacy Thomas has coached a student into the NFL national final round. Hockaday student Joan Gass was on the short end of a 5-6 decision in the final. Congrats to Joan as well as NFL Champ Todd Liipfert of Houston's Strake Jesuit for a State of Texas LD Closeout!

Book Groups Announced for 2008

2008-06-08T19:43:00.000-07:00

Dear UTNIF extension students,

For those of you participating in our third week, we will be offering book groups each led by an instructor on our staff. Each group will study a philosophical or political text that can help deepen your critical thinking about modern social issues that often arise in LD. It has been my experience as a coach that the kids who read the most do the best in competition and get the most out of their time in debate. Only extension students enroll in book groups, so this is one of the benefits of staying for the third week of camp. Not all book groups will make. Which ones we ultimately offer depend on your interest. Any group that doesn't generate enough interest will be canceled. So, we need you to turn in a few choices.

Please email me with your top three choices from the list of seven groups below with #1 being the book group in which you would most want to be placed. (I also have emailed this list to anybody enrolled in the extension whose address I have in my contacts.) I would like your choices returned to me by June 15 at the latest, but even sooner if possible. Send your choices to sthomas@mail.hockaday.org. To "make," a book group must have a minimum of four students who are interested. No group will be allowed more than six students. Those students who respond first will be placed first, so the sooner you email me back, the more likely you are to get the group you really want. Please read the descriptions of each group carefully to make sure a book fits your experience level, region, and style. If you aren't sure about which book is best for you, please talk to your coach and/or teammates to help you decide. After the groups have been organized based on the choices I receive back, I will then email you about which group you will be assigned. At that point, you should purchase the book and bring it to camp with you. It is important that we get your choices in a timely manner so that people have time to secure a copy of their book from the store or online. Please don't purchase your book until you have received an email from me confirming your group assignment. Thanks!

Anarchy, State, and Utopia by Robert Nozick
Instructor: Melanie Plaza

This book is a classic LD text by one of the most commonly referenced philosophers in traditional debate rounds. Everyone who competes in LD should be familiar with Nozick and his philosophy that humans are ends in themselves. Don't be intimidated by the length of this book, as we will be exploring passages which will give you a comprehensive understanding of Nozick's theories without being overwhelmed with reading. You will learn about Nozick's "minimal state" or "night watchman state," which is what Nozick believes to be the optimal conditions for a society. Nozick, who prizes an individual's liberty, believes that government should only function to protect people's civil liberties and prevent total anarchy. You will learn about the minimal state and its relationship to the Lockean state-of-nature, as well as Nozick's in-depth defense of libertarianism. Although this is a commonly referenced text in debate, we also will discuss how to use liberalism as the starting-point for devising creative positions and how to use Nozick's work to respond to other well-known philosophers. For a summary of the book's influence and key concepts, visit: http://www.igreens.org.uk/anarchy_state_and_utopia.htm.

Justice and the Politics of Difference by Iris Marion Young
Instructor: Mack Coleman

Young looks at how identity and difference – whether gender, race, or another characteristic – affect one's ethical obligations (and how one should conceptualize a just society with identity in mind). It is a great book for debaters at any level or of any style. It has pragmatic implications for more traditional debate rounds. Additionally, many students run this as the token "identity politics good" author on the national circuit too. On a more educational level, this group also will evaluate what the function of identity is in our society and whether it is constructive. Agree or disagree with Young’s conclusion, and in the group students will be encouraged to come to their own decisions, the literature is thought provoking and provides a viewpoint worth discussing. You can read more about the book here: http://conflict-frontiers.beyondintractability.org/abstract/10678/.

Orientalism by Edward Said
Instructor: Garner Lanier

Written in 1978, this book has significant importance today in how we think about international relations and cultural diversity. Said’s main thesis is that our discourse is currently trapped and that our explanation of the "East" is problematically flawed. Said draws on this distinction that has occurred between the West and what we call the "Orient" and how it is viewed. This is an excellent book for those who want to begin their exposure to more "critical literature" but need to see it grounded in something more tangible and sensible. Said discusses the politics of representation (within the East/West distinction, such as the use of the word "Arab") and the nature of oppression. Said brings in a number of resources to criticize and compare to help readers grasp his material from historical events to literature to art. This book will expose students to excellent background knowledge and references for debate and will be intellectually stimulating for anyone with an interest in cultural studies. For more information, visit: http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Orientalism.html.

Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt
Instructor: Dan Jennis

Eichmann in Jerusalem chronicles the trial of Nazi Adolf Eichmann, the chief architect of the Final Solution. Eichmann’s sole legal defense was that he merely was following orders. He assumed that bowing to authority mitigated his complicity with genocide. Arendt rejects Eichmann’s argument from both a legal and a moral perspective. She contends that Eichmann’s actions support what she calls "the banality of evil," meaning the capacity of the average human being to do extraordinarily awful things when beset by group think. Using in-depth journalistic reporting, Arendt constructs a compelling and poignant theory of personal responsibility that helps to explain the greatest atrocity of modern times. In this group, we will really examine the extent to which Eichmann’s argument is defensible. Students will be asked to isolate some of Arendt’s most pressing philosophical dictums and clash them directly with Eichmann’s idea of mitigated responsibility. On the last day of the book group, we will hold a mock trial for Eichmann. This will allow for the enforcement of complex ideas through a more active medium. You can find more information about the book at: http://www.alljudaica.com/detail.asp?bid=7149&catid=10190#Description.

Democracy Matters by Cornel West
Instructor: Alex Ackroyd

This book group is for people who care about politics, current events, democracy, and American society in all its glory and gristle. In Democracy Matters, Cornel West, termed "an eloquent prophet with attitude" by Newsweek, explores the nihilism permeating America and the death of our democracy. In his own words, this book looks "unflinchingly at the waning of democratic energies and practices in our present age of the American empire." The diction is deliberate: in this work he defends the claim that America practices imperialism and that democracy is being torn asunder. Through this text, we will explore partisan politics, free market consumerism, the intersection of race and class in political identity, the historical tradition of American democracy, post 9-11 foreign policy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, religion, and the predicament of today's "hip-hop" youth culture. This book is particularly timely given the national discourse on the state of our democracy that has been stirred up by the Presidential race. We also will look over excerpts from various other speeches and books, especially another text by Cornel West, Race Matters, to which he considers this to be the sequel. In this group, great emphasis will be placed on the ability to apply the contents in debate rounds, as well as formulating individual convictions though a more complete understanding of the America in which we live. For more information, visit: http://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Matters-Winning-Against-Imperialism/dp/1594200297.

Precarious Life by Judith Butler
Instructor: Ryan Lester

This book is a collection of five essays written by Judith Butler, a popular critical author used by varsity and advanced debaters on the national circuit. While Butler is often criticized for her use of confusing language, this work is accessible in terms of readability. Also, though Butler is often viewed as a feminist author, this group will explore some of her writing on other subjects. Some of the areas covered in the book include:
· Anti-intellectualism after 9-11,
· Analysis that explores the nature of death and mourning,
· A look at Guantanamo that introduces Agamben's state of exception theory,
· How charges of anti-Semitism for criticizing Israel relate to acceptable speech,
· A non-violent conception of ethics based on the precariousness of others.
This book turns a critical lens toward significant political events shaping our modern world. Many of the arguments presented can be run in front of almost any judge if packaged correctly. In addition, the book can provide a framework for such authors as Agamben and Levinas. This group will be taught in a format to promote discussion so that everyone can best learn by hearing the opinions of others. A great introduction to the book can be found at: http://www.flakmag.com/books/butler.html.

Third Wave Feminism: Are You a Man, a Woman, or a Cyborg?
Instructor: Kristen Ray

This book group will read a collection of articles compiled by the instructor with a focus on gender politics and queer theory. Drawing from the works of eminent Third Wave feminist writers like Donna Haraway, Judith Halberstam, Rebecca Walker, Judith Butler and others, this group will discuss the nature of gender, sex, sexuality, and personhood in modern times. What does it mean to be a man, woman, gender-bender, or cyborg? Are those distinctions even relevant anymore? We will also discuss these issues with regard to debate. Several interesting critical positions can be crafted from these ideas if you attend tournaments that allow for more progressive approaches to resolutions. Are you tired of writing the same old cases every topic? Sign up for this group and start writing for the revolution.

Lectures & Electives for 2008

2008-06-07T23:49:00.001-07:00

We are excited to announce our camp lectures and elective modules for 2008!

Lectures

All students will be assigned to attend a skills-based lecture most mornings based on experience level.

Here is the list of covered subjects:

Establishing Ground: Dissecting Resolutions
Argument Construction: Claim-Warrant-Impact
Improving Your Research
Conceptualizing Casing & Frameworks
Debating Standards: The Value & Criterion Clash
Negative Strategies
Flowing Fundamentals
Seeing the Flow Game
1AR Strategy
Cross-Examination Techniques
Crystallization: Weighing & The Comparative Advantage
Judge Adaptation
Building Your Ethos: Professionalism, Confidence, & Ethics

Electives

All students will be allowed to self-select an additional eight electives during the main session to attend over the course of camp. Repeaters to UTNIF will get ten electives during this time. Our electives are planned to cover an array of philosophers and trends in LD to recognize the dynamic nature of our activity across the country. We believe our electives this year offer something for everyone, meeting the individualized needs of students with diverse backgrounds, styles, and experience levels from various regions and circuits. Several of the electives on this list will repeat during the third week, giving students who are remaining for the extension additional opportunities to explore their interests.

Here are the choices:

The LD All-Stars (debate philosophy for beginners) by Stacy Thomas
Immanuel Kant by Garner Lanier
Importance of the Stock Case by Ryan Lester
Defending the Social Contract by Dan Jennis
Shredding the Social Contract by Eric Melin
Utility vs. Deontology by Eric Melin
Theories of Justice by Mack Coleman
International Relations, a two-part series, by Jenn Miller
Capitalism & Its Critics by Garner Lanier
Tacit Consent by Dan Jennis
Elitism & Inequality by Dan Jennis
Intersubjective Morality by Dan Jennis
Hannah Arendt by Ryan Lester
Introduction to Postmodernism by Garner Lanier
Normativity & the Legal Subject by Andy Werner
Foucault & Butler by Andy Werner
Agamben by Andy Werner
Identity Politics by Mack Coleman
Third Wave Feminism by Kristen Ray
Does Discourse Matter? by Kristen Ray
Answering Confusing Positions by Melanie Plaza
Offense Per Minute by Eric Melin
Adapting Critical Arguments for Traditional Circuits by Garner Lanier
Introduction to Theory by Andy Werner
Answering Theory: How to Counteract the Whining by Andrew Cockroft
Truth vs. Comparative Worlds by Andrew Cockroft
Kritiks by Andrew Cockroft
Pre-Standards Arguments & No-Risk Outs by Andy Werner

UTNIF Book Groups

2008-06-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

For students who will be staying for the extension, we will offer book groups over the course of the three weeks at camp. We are currently finalizing this list of books. If you have a text or author that you would like to suggest to us, please leave a comment here.

Thanks!

Lab Placement Survey

2008-06-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

I have sent the following survey to all emails I currently have for UTNIF LD students. If you are attending the LD program at UTNIF but didn't receive this survey, please complete it and email it back to me at: sthomas@mail.hockaday.org. I need all surveys by June 15.

This survey is being sent to you to gather information so that we can best determine lab placement for our students. For those of you who are new to camp, labs are the classes you will be divided into for instruction. Please answer the following questions and email them back to me by June 15 or sooner.

1. Student's Name:

2. Coach's Name:

3. School:

4. Grade you will be during 2008-2009 school year:

5. Have you previously attended any debate camps? Please tell us which camps, when you attended, and who were your lab instructors.

6. Please describe your debate experience. Tell us how many years you have competed in LD and approximately in how many tournaments in novice and varsity. Also describe to us any experience you have in other forensics events. Please be clear so that we can get an accurate picture of your background and experience.

7. Please give us your record at your five best tournaments this year. Please tell us your preliminary record, elimination round reached if it applies, and division (novice, JV, or varsity). Here is an example: Hockaday TFA Tournament, 3-1, octofinals, varsity LD.

8. Describe the debate style in your region. If you are from Texas, tell us if your team focuses more on TFA or UIL or both. Does your team travel or stay in its region? Also, tell us if you plan to compete at TOC tournaments next year. If you plan to travel, please tell us where you hope to go.

9. What are your competitive goals for next year? What do you hope to achieve?

10. Describe your strengths as a debater.

11. Describe your weaknesses as a debater that you hope to improve upon at camp.

12. Place yourself in one of the following categories and explain why you placed yourself there:

A: Advanced -- You have qualified for championships before such as TFA State, UIL State, NFL Nationals, or TOC. You've competed in LD for 2-3 years already and break regularly to elimination rounds.

B: Varsity -- You've competed in debate 2-3 years already. You have an average varsity record. Sometimes you win, but you aren't yet consistent. If you are from Texas, you may have come close to qualifying for TFA State, such as getting 6-8 of the needed 10 points.

C: Intermediate -- Most of your prior debate experience was as a novice. You have been a successful novice debater, regularly reaching elimination at this level. You've competed steady for at least a year. You might have a few varsity competitions under your belt, but you most likely struggled when debating higher level kids. For the most part, you feel comfortable with the foundational skills.

D: Beginning -- You are a beginner with little to no experience in LD prior to coming to camp. If you have competed before, it has been at only a few competitions at the novice level, and you may have struggled in terms of your win-loss record. You feel you still could benefit from learning the foundational skills to build upon them.

BE HONEST in answering this question. The goal is for you to learn and improve this summer. You don't want to be in a lab that is either below your skill level or over your head, making it difficult for you to follow instruction. You will get the most out of camp and improve the greatest if you are properly placed and don't feel overwhelmed.

13. Please look over our staff list on our website (http://www.utdebatecamp.com/staff-ld.html). Are there any staff members with whom you specifically would like to request to work? Are there any staff members with whom you know you do not want to work? This information will be kept confidential. (Note: We recently added Oklahoma State Champion Garner Lanier to the UTNIF staff. He attended UTNIF as a student. His bio is on the blog.)

14. If there are any other emails that we should include when sending out information about camp, please list here.

15. Do you have any other concerns or information you would like to share? If you are a repeater to UTNIF, are there any changes you hope to see at the camp?

Thank you! We look forward to meeting you in July.

Stacy Thomas
UTNIF LD Director
Hockaday Debate Coach

Good Luck at NFL Nationals!

2008-06-04T08:26:00.000-07:00

I wanted to wish the best to the following people attending NFL Nationals:

Madeline Vuong (2007 UTNIF novice lab!)
Melanie Plaza (2008 UTNIF lab leader)
Garner Lanier (2008 UTNIF lab leader)

Also, congratulations to former UTNIF students Josh Aguilar and Brittany Paxman, as well as current staff member Kristen Ray and Jenn Miller, who all helped coach students attending NFL Nationals this year in LD. Good luck to their debaters!

If you are attending UTNIF this summer or are an UTNIF alum and will be in Las Vegas, please find me to say "hi." I'd like to meet new students and visit with old students. Please feel free to comment here if I overlooked anybody.

New instructor added to LD staff

2008-06-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

We have recently added Garner Lanier, this year's Oklahoma State Champion and former UTNIF top lab student, to our staff. Here is his bio:

GARNER LANIER graduates this year from Bishop Kelley in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he debated all four years of high school. He debated LD and policy and was successful in both. Garner has twice qualified for NFL Nationals in LD, where he advanced to elimination last year. He has had numerous LD successes in Oklahoma: placing first at Districts, Regionals, and State his senior year and winning numerous local tournaments. He has traveled to Texas to compete at national tournaments, reaching elimination rounds at the UT-Austin Longhorn Classic and Grapevine. In addition, he has placed in the top three of every local policy tournament he has attended. Not only does Garner have experience as a debater but also with coaching. As president of his team, he took on an active role teaching his peers. He has a great deal of experience leading practice rounds and research sessions, training novices, and assisting more advanced students through their senior years. He also worked with the students who placed third and fourth in policy at the state championship in Oklahoma. Garner is a former UTNIF student and is looking forward to working with our students this summer now as an instructor.

About UTNIF LD

2008-05-21T11:32:00.000-07:00

I'm writing to give you information about the Lincoln Douglas program at UT-Austin this summer, which I will again be directing for my fourth year. The University of Texas National Institute in Forensics (UTNIF) will hold its two-week main session in LD from July 11-25 with a third week extension option through July 30. I believe you will find that UTNIF continues to remain one of the best camp deals in the nation. The two-week session is $1,350. For three weeks, the cost is $1,750. This makes our tuition among the lowest for debate camps nationally. For commuters, the rates are even cheaper.

Our 2008 Labs

We have finalized our lab leaders. I'm very proud of the UTNIF instructors and would like to share some information with you about them.

My name is Stacy Thomas, and I'm the LD director of UTNIF and the head coach at the Hockaday School in Dallas. I coached last year's NFL Nationals LD Champion, as well as the third place winner. When I formerly directed the debate program at S. F. Austin High School in Austin, TX, I coached a UIL 5A State Champion. I've also had students in finals of TFA State, and this year, one of my students was top seed and a semifinalist at the 2008 Tournament of Champions. I believe there is value in all the diversity of styles and approaches to LD and organize UTNIF to serve students regardless of their region or background. If you keep reading, my vision for UTNIF is summarized below.

I'm excited to announce that Eric Melin, who coaches LD at Southlake Carroll in the Dallas area, will be joining our top lab for advanced students with Andy Werner, who formerly competed for Strake Jesuit and who currently is studying philosophy at Amherst College. Both are former TFA State Champions. Last year, Eric's students closed out LD at the Heart of Texas NFL District, earning both spots to NFL Nationals. These students, both sophomores, then reached late elimination rounds at NFL Nationals. In addition, Eric has also coached students to the Tournament of Champions, which he attended twice himself as a student (reaching quarterfinals his senior year). He is a mature and thoughtful debate educator who is both experienced and current. Andy, who helped lead the Strake Jesuit team to the national prominence it enjoys today, is returning to UTNIF for his third summer as an instructor. Together, Eric and Andy should make for a dynamic and well-rounded lab experience.

Our varsity lab will be taught by Andrew Cockroft, who twice attended UTNIF himself as a student. Andrew was a quarterfinalist at the 2008 TOC and a semifinalist at St. Mark's, and he is this year's Churchill champion. Andrew will be teaching with Kristen Ray, who was part of the only LD finals closeout in TFA State history. Kristen is a highly experienced camp instructor, returning to UTNIF for her seventh summer as a lab leader.

Our JV lab will be run by Dan Jennis, a Northwestern student who received incredible reviews from his UTNIF lab last summer for his ability to help struggling students improve. He will be joined by Mack Coleman, the former assistant coach at Churchill High School. Together, I'm positive that they will be one of the best lab leader matchups for JV students you will be able to find this summer in terms of their teaching ability.

Our novice lab will be led by Jenn Miller, who is currently the assistant LD coach at Marcus High School in Flower Mound and who formerly coached at Grapevine. Jenn is returning to this position after receiving great reviews from the UTNIF students last summer. Joining Jenn will be Melanie Plaza, who is graduating from Bronx Science High School in New York. Her coach, Jon Cruz, has highly recommended her given the work that she has done with the novices on his nationally recognized team. Melanie will compete at NFL Nationals this summer and has previously competed at the Tournament of Champions. She is also this year's New York City NFL District Student of the Year. The two women are incredibly patient, supportive, and dedicated to making sure that novices receive the foundational skills they need upon which to build their debate careers.

Also joining us in assistant capacities will be Alex Ackroyd of Palo Alto High School in California and Ryan Lester of Dulles High School in Houston. With incredibly positive attitudes, both Alex and Ryan are dedicated to giving back to the debate community all that they feel it has given them.

You can find more information about UTNIF (in terms of our goals, curriculum, more detailed staff backgrounds, etc.) at our website: http://www.utdebatecamp.com/ld.html

What Former Students Say about UTNIF

Our website is admittedly plain, but I've always believed that our students are the best thing UTNIF can show for itself. On our website, you can find a link to comments from our former students about their LD experience.

Here are some samples from that site:

Eddie Elizondo, United HS, Laredo, TX: “The camp easily exceeded the high expectations I had for it. UTNIF is perfect for anyone who wants two tough weeks filled with great labs and great lab leaders, lectures, and a choice of electives that are of interest. I’ve learned more in two weeks than my full school year debating. I’ll enter the upcoming school year with the confidence that I can compete at a much higher level. I would never hesitate to recommend UTNIF to any debater. I don’t know where else you can find such a knowledgeable staff at one of the best college campuses in the nation.” (2007)

Nathan Abell, Marcus HS, Flower Mound, TX: "The educational experience of UTNIF is simply unparalleled anywhere in the nation. The camp does an absolutely incredible job of catering to any level of debate experience, really pushing students from one level to the next. In large part, in my experience, this was due to the incredible staff provided to each student quite literally 24/7 that was comprised of not just really, really good coaches and former debaters, but really, really good coaches and former debaters who can actually educate in an effective manner." (2006)

Jason Bourque, Van HS, Van, TX: “UTNIF is fun and creates champions. It is more than a camp. It is a big group of friends all trying to learn together. This was my third year at UTNIF, and every year, I improve drastically. UTNIF is about debate, whether its NFL, TOC, TFA, or UIL. It will help you understand how to debate on any circuit.” (2007, 2006, & 2005)

Emily Koehler, Caney Creek HS, Conroe, TX: “UTNIF has definitely helped me to reach the next level of my debating career. They’ve taught subjects more in depth than any school debate team would be able to do. In addition, they made me evaluate my true self and reasons for being a debater. I am now much more confident in my debating and communication abilities. I have transitioned from debating for a trophy to debating for the educational and personal benefits.” (2007 & 2006)

My Vision as the Director

I outline some of the things I care about in terms of our program on the website. But some highlights: My goal is to create a friendly and educational team environment at camp where the kids feel supported and comfortable in their learning. I think the diversity of views about debate enrich our activity and that students must understand both the "old school" and "progressive" approaches to LD (or whatever labels are currently in use) if they are going to be able to adapt to a variety of judges and maximize their success. We do not teach that a particular style of debate is correct or better. We know that we have students from many backgrounds and regions. We hope that by the end of camp that our students can understand where different people are coming from in terms of their approaches to LD and that they have gained the ability to independently evaluate their own choices regarding their growth as debaters. Put simply, we pride ourselves on fostering an environment of thoughtfulness and respect. If you look at our student's quote page on the website, I think you will find that debaters from highly diverse regions have all found something to learn at UTNIF. I also think you will see that our students in their own words reflect the vision of the camp, which I hope is a sign of our success as a program.

If you have any questions about UTNIF, please feel free to contact me at sthomas@mail.hockaday.org.

Thank you for your time,

Stacy Thomas
LD Curriculum Director at UTNIF
Director of Debate at the Hockaday School