Jan./Feb. LD topic

Resolved: Rehabilitation ought to be valued above retribution in the United States criminal justice system.

Several things about this topic:

1. First, it's important to think about the OVERALL impact of rehab vs. retaliation.  Clearly in drug related cases (possession, use, etc.) it's easy to argue rehab vs. retribution.  But what about other types of crimes - crimes that aren't victimless crimes?  Robbery, rape, murder?  These are clearly crimes that involve a victim and the question of how the criminal justice system should approach these criminals becomes more complicated.

2. What is justice?  Is the goal of justice to right wrongs or ensure a safer society?  The easy answer is both and that righting wrongs by imprisonment (retribution) does make things safer.  But can the criminal justice system be an effective deterrent against crime if it's more focused on rehab than retaliation?  Is the criminal justice system which right now prioritizes retribution (hence the wording of the resolution) being undermined by that position?

3. Look at the recidivism rate (the rate at which criminals released from prison commit crimes and return - they become career criminals).  Is retribution really the best way to address that?  This goes back to the  deterrence issue.  If the focus was to rehabilitate these criminals (and rehab entails helping these folks obtain jobs and become functional members of society so that a life of crime becomes less lucrative) would the recidivism rate be reduced?

These are just a few questions to be parsed before jumping into value/value criterion pairings.  This is a great topic and should spur some good debates.  Good luck!

Jan. PF Topic

It's been out for a while. 

Resolved: On balance, the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission harms the election process.

This is a good place to get started. Plus it has a Stephen Colbert video.

2012-2013 Tournament Schedule

Here's our tentative schedule.  Debate veterans should know that things get moved around and so this isn't set in stone.  We are going to places that have a good track record in keeping tournaments, so hopefully this should stick.  I'm looking for a tournament for us in early January, possibly Klein Oak because that's where we went last year during that time.

EVENT                                    DATE                          LOCATION                            

Bellaire Novice Extravaganza       Sept. 14/15                  Bellaire High School*

Afterschool Debate Club Starts      Sept. 11                              Debate Room

Tournament                           Oct. 12/13                   Univ. of Houston

Tournament                           Oct 19/20                    Bellaire High School*

Tournament                           Nov. 10                       Klein High School

6^th Grade Tournament          Dec. 7/8                       Lanier Middle School

Tournament                           Dec. 15                        Oak Ridge High School

Tournament                           Jan. 25/26                   Lamar High School*

Tournament                           Feb. 2                          Hastings High School

Tournament                           Mar. 23                       Oak Ridge High School

Tournament                           April 12/13                 Univ. of Houston

Debate Banquet                     May 18                       Sheraton Galleria

* - No buses on Friday night or all day Saturday

Nationals are scheduled to be hosted in Birmingham, AL

June 2013

Lamar results

Public Forum Debate
Lyle Derden & Hugh Hajdik 2nd
Olivia Cardenas & Erin Sheena - Octofinalists
Mackenzie Aden & George Zhang - Octofinalists
Gregory Pauloski & Sam Tekie - Double octos
Marcos Coronado & Miguel Covarrubias - Double octos
Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Jason Lan - Quarterfinalist
Policy Debate
Ashley Liu & Lauren Nyquist - Quarterfinalists
Foreign Extemp		Prose
Sam Tekie - Finalist		Maddie Spence - 1st
		Dikla Taylor - Finalist
Impromptu
Tomas Arango - 2nd		Poetry
		Madeline Mulhlerr - Finalist
Dramatic		Jia Zhu - Finalist
Maddie Spence - Finalist

Lamar High School schedule

THERE WILL ONLY BE A BUS TO TAKE US FROM LANIER TO LAMAR ON FRIDAY.  STUDENTS WILL NEED TO GET THEIR OWN TRANSPORTATION HOME FRIDAY NIGHT AND TO AND FROM LAMAR ON SATURDAY

LAMAR HIGH SCHOOL

JAN. 27 & 28

Friday, January 27

3:00         Leave Lanier 

4:00         Debate Round I  

4:30         Student Congress Session 1

5:30         Debate Round II 

7:00         Student Congress Session 2

7:30         Debate Round III

9:00 p.m. Pick up at Lamar

Saturday, January 28

7:30 a.m.   Extemp Draw

8:00         Section A Prelims

9:30         Section B Prelims

10:00     Debate Challenge Ends

11:00       Debate elimination rounds; Student Congress Finals

                Duet Acting Prelims

1:00         All IE Semifinals and Extemp Draw
2:15         Debate Elims continue

                Duet Acting Semis

4:30         IE Finals and Extemp Draw

5:00         Duet Finals

Awards ASAP

6:00         Debate Elims Continue

7:30 p.m. Pick up at Lamar

Section A                                Section B                                Debate

Foreign Ext. $15                                    Oratory $15                                           Public Forum $20

Domestic Ext. $15                                 Dramatic $15                                         Lincoln-Douglas $20

Humorous $15                                      Prose $15                                               Policy (CX) $30

Poetry $15                                             Duo Interp. $20                                     Congress $20

                                                                Impromptu $15