Many university science outreach programs involve presentations of research projects to high school students. These presentations often focus more on exciting scientific content and less on fostering direct relationships between high school students and scientists. Such interactions are important for sustaining student interest in science…

This dissertation is a "public forum" legal case study on the federal court case "Madison v. Wolf" (2005) involving a conflict over the exercise of First Amendment speech rights on the Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC) campus in Denver, Colorado. The dissertation involves the content analysis of the "Mason v.…

When tournament judges view a particular speaking event they are inevitably going to have different perceptions of that event. For example, typical descriptions for after dinner speaking events deal with time limits, originality, wit and creativity, and tasteful humor. Definitions of these terms vary, but efforts have been made to establish some…

Policy debate as an activity should be maintained but must be invigorated. Some reasons to save policy debate are (1) the benefit to large numbers of students who might otherwise fail to debate given the increased difficulty associated with learning how to play the game; (2) the shrinking size of policy tournaments, which makes it easier for…

Debate judge philosophy statements have been part of the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) National Debate Tournament since the tournament's inception. Judges are asked to identify their preferred debate paradigm in the statement. The practice has raised the question of whether debate critics understand the debate paradigms as they are…

A study examined how debate coaches determine the validity of a ballot and how coaches can pass those validity judgments on to students. A survey consisting of five questions was attached to judging schedules at the 1998 L.E. Norton Individual Events Tournament held at Bradley University (Illinois) in November 1998. Surveys were distributed to 64…

Though after dinner speaking attracts fewer participants than most other categories at American Forensic Association tournaments, it can be one of the most fulfilling for those participating, coaching and listening. One of the reasons for the low participation rate is that judges offer vague and sometimes insensitive evaluations. Judges must not…

Neither of the two major forensics associations uses an ideal point system for the team sweepstakes award at debate tournaments. The National Forensics Association (NFA) awards points for preliminary round ballots and uses a 3-tiered system of team awards based on entry size. They restrict preliminary round sweepstakes points by capping the total…

This paper argues that there is a need to take a negative position on "Resolved: that 'should' should appear in Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) debate resolutions." The paper also asserts that it needs to be clear that value debate is not a policy debate. The first contention offered to defend this position is that value…

Understanding communication (of which individual events is a part) requires a triangle among theory-practice-criticism, and any missing component dramatically hinders understanding and ability. Students compete in, and judges judge, forensics to better enhance communication understanding and abilities. The process of oral interpretation requires a…

The use of questions in oral interpretation may offer a number of opportunities for moving forensics away from the performance paradigm. As competition in all interpretation events begins to sound the same, judges are left with only one criteria for judging--performance. While this may be considered an important criteria, it limits the educational…

Noting that the skill of debate is essential in a free democratic society, this paper presents a rationale for the use of judging philosophy statements at all intercollegiate debate tournaments. The paper considers: the role of the debate critic; discussion of judging philosophy statements; and advantages to be gained through the use of…

Noting that the use and utility of judging philosophy statements have long been a contested issue in intercollegiate debate, this paper examines the rationale for using philosophy statements, discusses the effectiveness of philosophy statements, and advocates the use of such statements at Pi Kappa Delta's National Tournament. The paper notes that…

Many of the American Debate Association (ADA) rules merely codify conventions which are almost universally practiced in ADA tournaments. Among them are such standards as who is eligible to debate and judge, what shall be debated and for how long, and restrictions on ballot submissions. Other rules come under the general heading of "which…

Discusses implications of debate judges' bias in theoretical argumentation. (CH)