[eDebate] Changing the topic won't effect research burdens.

[Scott M. Elliott, Ph.D.]

My first question is this: If the terrorism topic is going to be debated anyway via politcal disads, then what values are being promoted? No in depth analysis of the Indian topic is going to occur because the politcal disads dominate the debates. And,  students will still be just as stressed in terms of research burdens becuase they have to do updates on the politcal disads. I doubt people are oing five hundred pages of peyote or ghost dance updates. They are updating the links to their pics and political disads. If anything, the terrorism topic would be a more honest and less research intensive. Its not like people will spring a Native Americans disad on the terrorism topic every round. But, it is very likely that a terrorism disad will be run in every Native American topic round.


Second, why not allow a tournament to change the topic? If you don't like it, you can 'vote with your feet. Go to the Alabama Tournament or a regional tournament in Texas.

The precedent, I think, is great. A lot of the topics have--quite simply--sucked after one semester. They almost always lose their educational value by November. After December, the topic is just a tool for gamesmanship. It almost always devolves into political disads or pics anyway. So, why not change topics. In the end, the judge is still going to 1) vote for the perms to a counter-plan, 2) vote on the morality d-rules, or 3) thethree nuke wars on the negative outwiegh the two nuke wars claimed by the affirmative.

Evil Scott

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