League Announces Fall Lincoln Douglas Debate Topic
By staff | Friday, August 28, 2009 2:21 PM
Debaters eager to sink their teeth into this year’s fall topic don’t have to go hungry any longer. The Lincoln-Douglas Debate resolution released by the UIL State Office for use at invitational meets from September through December 2009 is RESOLVED: Standards of professional behavior ought to be valued above freedom of expression on social networking websites.
A state advisory committee made up of successful Lincoln Douglas debate coaches from schools representing each conference and geographical region in the state, along with Director of Forensics at Texas State University, Wayne Kraemer, who serves as the UIL Debate Consultant, and UIL Debate Director Jana Riggins, designs UIL resolutions debated during the school year. Committee members have a combined wealth of experience in writing debate resolutions, many of which have served on national debate wording committees.
Ideas for UIL debate topics come from coaches and students across the state that may submit potential topics via the UIL Web site. The committee examines every online submission, as well as ideas coaches in their geographical region have indicated an interest in debating. Criteria for consideration include significant issues, timeliness, debateability and student appeal.
When drafting resolutions, the committee also takes into consideration topic areas students have debated in the past for UIL competition and the National Forensic League, attempting to avoid any repetition with topics in recent years and with those that may be debated at NFL tournaments during the current season.
The fall topic is designed first and foremost for its educational value. But the committee also endeavors to craft topics that will entice students to join the world of debate.
“If statistics on the number of high school and college students regularly accessing social networking sites are any indication, this fall topic will definitely have strong student appeal. Coaches should have no problem recruiting for their debate team,” Jana Riggins, State Director, said.
Riggins went on to say that “not only is this topic a timely one with great interest for students and debate judges, there is an abundance of scholarly research available for debaters to incorporate into their strategies of argumentation. It should be an exciting fall season.”
UIL topics for the fall and spring competitive seasons are released each August and December, respectively.