[eDebate] THE REDBIRD NATIONAL INVITATIONAL DEBATE TOURNAMENT

Wed Nov 28 15:00:09 CST 2001

THE REDBIRD NATIONAL INVITATIONAL DEBATE TOURNAMENT
Saturday, January 19 - Monday, January 21, 2002

Friends and Colleagues:

We are pleased to invite you to the Redbird National Invitational, to be held
in Normal, Illinois on the campus of Illinois State University. This will be
the second time in recent memory that ISU has hosted a tournament during the
spring semester, and the first time it will engage in an innovative challenge
format. However, we plan on sustaining the elements of the Redbird that made it
a superior tournament last season and improving it where we think it can be
done. Some of these elements are:

?       A COMMITMENT TO A HUMANE SCHEDULE: We have decided to host a
Saturday-Monday tournament with six preliminary rounds, with plenty of time to
coach and prepare. With your help, the Redbird will run on time.
?       A COMMITMENT TO A CENTRALIZED TOURNAMENT: ISU is blessed with a large
classroom building that should allow us to keep the tournament relatively
centralized and easy to get around.
?       A COMMITMENT TO CREATIVE COMPETITION: The unique challenge round format
will no doubt provide opportunities for enjoyment as well as education.  We are
looking forward to experimenting with such a community-oriented forum.

We hope that all those who enjoyed the Redbird last year will join us in Normal
again, and that those previously unable to attend will be able to do so this
time around. 

Sincerely,

Kevin Wright, Director of Debate 
and The Illinois State Debate Team

ENTRIES - must be received by the tournament no later than 5:00 PM on 
Friday, January 11th. You may enter the tournament using any or all of the 
following methods.
Email (preferred):                              kwright at ilstu.edu
ISU Communications Department fax       309-438-3048
Debate office phone/voice mail          309-438-7740
We?d prefer if you?d send entries by email, and we?ll confirm entries. If you
fail to get a confirmation, please contact us. 

Each school may enter as many two-person teams as desired, as long as 
classroom space and enough judges are available.  If such a conflict arises, 
entries will be accepted on a "first come, first served" basis.  

The entry fee for each team is $90. 

Please indicate which division you wish to enter, choosing from Open (any 
undergraduate student eligible), Junior or Novice policy (we follow the CEDA 
guideline on who is eligible for these divisions).  If there is little or no
demand for Junior or Novice divisions, we may collapse divisions into Open.

JUDGING  One critic covers two teams in any division. Critics are obligated for
four rounds if they are covering one team, although we will make every effort
to give you only three. Uncovered teams may purchase judging at the rate of $80
/ team, but we?d really rather that you bring a judge if you can. We will hire
judges in the pool up to full time at a handsome rate, please let us know if
that interests you. All critics are obligated until the end of the awards
assembly on Sunday or until one elimination round past the elimination of their
last team. The tab room cannot accept ties, half-wins, half-losses or
non-decisions. For the purposes of pairing the tournament, a coin will be
flipped to determine the winner.  When entering judges please notify us of any
constraints they may have against other teams or schools at the tournament.

TIME LIMITS - The Open division of CEDA/NDT will use the 9-3-6 time format, 
with 16 minutes of alternate use time.  The Junior and Novice divisions will
use the 8-3-5 time format, with 8 minutes of preparation time. All divisions
will use the 2001-2002 Indian Country topic. 

THE CHALLEGE FORMAT - For purposes of beginning ranking, round one will be
paired by the tab room.  Subsequent debates will be determined by the teams
entered in each division.  For round two, the team ranked lowest will challenge
any other team in their division to a debate, and then the second lowest ranked
team will challenge, and so on until all debates are paired.  For round three
we will begin pairing with the highest ranked team, for round four the lowest
ranked team, and so on.  The teams will flip for sides, and the tab room will
assign a critic and a room.  A team may choose to debate another team from
their school, however the tab room will not accept strategic forfeits--the two
teams from the same school will actually have to debate.  Teams may choose to
challenge the same team twice, with the understanding that they will switch
sides.  If teams who have debated twice meet again in elimination rounds, they
will again flip for sides.  If teams from the same school meet in elimination
rounds, they may choose to debate or else the tab room will automatically
advance the team with the highest ranking.  Teams failing to appear at the
pairing forums or who choose not to challenge will be paired by the tab room. 
Rules are subject to change depending on number of participants in each
division (to make ranking easier, we may have to pair two debates instead of
just one, et cetera).

TRANSPORTATION - Normal is conveniently located at the intersection of
Interstate highways 39, 55, and 74 and US Highway 51 in the heart of Illinois.
We are a two and a half hour drive from Chicago and St. Louis on I-55. Airline
service is conveniently available to Peoria and Bloomington, and available at
likely lower cost to Lambert Field in St. Louis or one of the Chicago airports.

HOTELS - The tournament hotel is the Best Western University Inn, and will host
the Redbird hospitality suite. There is a block of fifty rooms reserved under
"Redbird Debate" that will guarantee you a flat rate of $59 for one or two
people, and $69 for 3 or 4 people.  All rooms are equipped with a data port for
your late night research needs.  The block will be held until December 18th, so
make your reservations pronto.

Call Amy Watson at 309-454-7070 to make reservations.

We have arranged for this large block of rooms in the hopes that most teams
will choose to stay at the tournament hotel, and the following hotels do not
have blocks reserved:

Holiday Inn             309-452-8300
Super 8         309-454-5858
Motel 6         309-452-0422

SCHEDULE -

Friday, January 18

8:00 - 10:00 P  Registration, tournament hotel

Saturday, January 19

8:00 A          Round 1 released, Schroeder Hall        
9:00 A          Round 1 (preset)
11:30 A         Forum for Round 2 pairing (lows challenge)
12:00 - 1 P             Lunch (On your own - Watterson Food Court)
1 P                     Round 2
3:30 P          Forum for Round 3 pairing (highs challenge)
4 P                     Round 3
6:30 P          Forum for Round 4 pairing (lows challenge)

Sunday, January 20

9:00 A          Round 4 
11:30 A         Forum for Round 5 pairings (highs challenge)
12:00 - 1 P             Lunch (On your own - Watterson Food Court)
1 P                     Round 5
3:30 P          Forum for Round 6 pairings (lows challenge)
4 P                     Round 6
ASAP                    Teams advancing posted, tournament hotel

Monday, January 21

8:00 A          First Elim Posted, Schroeder Hall and tournament hotel
9:00 A          First Elim Round
11:30   A               Awards Assembly
12:30 P         Second Elim Round
3:00 P          Third Elim Round
5:30 P          Final Elim Round, Open Division

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.ndtceda.com/pipermail/edebate/attachments/20011128/44e606e9/attachment.htm 