October PF topic

Resolved: Developed countries have a moral obligation to mitigate the effects of climate change.

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

Sept./Oct. 2012 Lincoln-Douglas Topic

Resolved: The United States ought to extend to non-citizens accused of terrorism the same constitutional due process protections it grants to citizens.

Sept. 2012 PF Topic

There's something about seeing those first debate topics of the year that lets me know school is about to start.  Exciting times, indeed.

September Topic

Resolved: Congress should renew the Federal Assault Weapons Ban.

Two PF topics

Here are the PF topics up for consideration.  If you really have nothing to do, you can start prepping for both.  My guess is the Assault Weapons Ban will be the Sept. topic.  The single primary topic will probably resurface in Oct. or Nov. 

Resolved: Congress should renew the Federal Assault Weapons Ban.
Resolved: The American presidential nomination process should adopt a single national primary.
The September resolution will be announced at www.NFLonline.org on August 15, 2012.

Congress legislation

2012-2013 Fall Legislation is up for all you Congress-ites.  Go to this website:

http://www.txfa.org/congress.asp

Summer Reading

So your summer is winding down.  What better way to exercise your brain in preparation for the coming year and enrich your literary knowledge than reading a Shakespearean play.

In debate, we use a lot of the Greek myths as introductions for extemp./impromptu speeches.  But to give your speech more depth (and show off what you know), consider connecting it to a theme in a Shakespearean play.  Shakespeare borrowed heavily from the Greeks in his plays.  At this point in your academic career you're probably familiar with Romeo & Juliet (which you'll read in 9th grade).  But I would recommend reading the following plays to give you something to build a speech around:

Macbeth - play about seizing power at all costs
Julius Caesar - play about ending tyranny only to be corrupted by power
Hamlet - revenge
Richard III - play about an all-around bad guy

These are some heavy reading, but if you get a good version with notes, like "No-Fear Shakespeare" it shouldn't be too difficult.  And, or course, there are always the film versions to supplement and clarify what you didn't quite catch when you read it the first time.