Current Debate Topics
WDCA Spring Meeting Print E-mail

The WDCA's Spring Meeting will be held on May 9, 2009 at the Ripon Public Library. The Executive Committee is currently considering the possibility to make the meeting more of a professional development day, rather than just a business meeting. More information will be forthcoming regarding the format and timing of the meeting.

Please note that the deadline for submitting Tournament Date Requests and ideas for Bylaws/Standing Rules to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it is April 25th. The wording of any rules changes will be drafted by an Executive Committee Member and posted to Wisconsin Forensics Daily for review/discussion.

Information about the agenda and the final drafts of any proposals will be compiled and added to this post as they become available. A discussion of the major items/initiatives and draft proposals  will also be exchanged on Wisconsin Forensics Daily.

Also, at the meeting we will be holding elections. The offices up for election this year are: President-Elect and Secretary. We are currently seeking nominations. If you have suggestions for either of those positions, please make it known to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Please mark the date on your calendar and we hope to see you in Ripon on May 9.

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Poverty is selected as 2009-2010 debate topic Print E-mail

According to a post on the NFHS website: "[B]allots from 36 states, the National Catholic Forensic League, National Debate Coaches Association and the National Forensic League were tabulated at NFHS headquarters to select the 2009-2010 national high school debate topic. Poverty was selected over Health Care with 59% of the votes."

 

Please read on for a state-by-state vote tally and Problem Area Synopsis. 

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2008 Wisconsin State Debate Tournament Results Print E-mail
Congratulations to the schools who participated in this year's Wisconsin State Debate Tournament at Hortonville High School.  Special thanks to tournament director Tim Dale, operations director Tim Scheffler,  and host Kristi Plamann.  A summary of results, as well as a downloadable complete results packet are below the fold...
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Clif Morton Inducted into WDCA Hall of Fame Print E-mail

In his Presidential address to the American Political Science Association on December 27, 1910, Woodrow Wilson said “Your real statesman is first of all, and chief of all, a great human being, with an eye for all the great fields on which men like himself struggle, with unflagging, pathetic hope, toward better things…. He is a guide, a counselor, a mentor, a servant, a friend of mankind.”   These are fitting, eloquent words that describe our most recent inductee to the Wisconsin Debate Coaches’ Association Hall of Fame -- Clif Morton.

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Tim Scheffler Named WDCA Coach of the Year Print E-mail

This year's WDCA Coach of the Year exemplifies competitive success, dedication to other coaches and service to the activity.

He is a dedicated coach of the activity who seeks to better his students at all levels of competition. Last summer his students were among the top Public Forum teams in the country. Their school advanced one team to elimination rounds at NFL nationals, while the other team fell only one ballot short. Early in the 2008 season, none of his teams had a losing record. This included freshmen and sophomore debaters who were trying the activity for the first time. He has qualified an exceedingly large number of Public Forum and Lincoln Douglas debaters to the Wisconsin State Debate Tournament--7 and 4 respectively. Among the state qualifiers are several freshmen and sophomore debaters who exhibit a large amount of skill for their age--due in large part to his coaching.

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Balistreri and Summers Named WDCA Student Scholarship Recipients Print E-mail

The WDCA Executive Committee extends its congratulations on behalf of the WDCA to the 2008 recipients: Marquette University High School's Joseph Balistreri and Rufus King International Baccalaureate High
School's Emily Summers.

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Upcoming Dates

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Student scholarship and coach award nomination forms are available through the "Documents/Forms" menu.

debatetopics

Topic Candidates

Favorite 2009-10 Proposed Policy Topic
 
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Policy Debate

In Policy Debate, students work in pairs (teams) to address the season’s topic, either from the affirmative side (to propose a plan to solve a problem with the topic), or the negative side (to prove how the affirmative’s plan is flawed).  Arguments are highly-structured (with specific speeches and cross-examination periods for each debater), and based on credible, factual evidence.  Read
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Lincoln-Douglas

Lincoln Douglas debate centers on a proposition of value, which concerns itself with what ought to be instead of what is.  Values are ideals held by individuals, societies, governments, etc. Neither side is permitted to offer a plan (a formalized, comprehensive proposal for implementation); rather, they should offer reasoning to support a general principle.  Read
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Public Forum

Public Forum Debate is a team event that advocates or rejects a position posed by the monthly resolution topic. The clash of ideas must be communicated in a manner persuasive to the non-specialist or “citizen judge”, i.e. a member of the American jury.   Read
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