Welcome to the CSU Chico Wildcat Forensics Team! It is my hope that your experience on the team will be both educational and enjoyable. This manual will provide you with basic information about the team and the competitions and/or presentations you will be participating in as a member of the team. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, do not hesitate to contact me! I look forward to getting to know you better!
Sue Peterson
Director of Forensics
Contact Information
Sue Peterson, Director
Office: THMA 379
Feel free to drop in. If I am not there, leave a note, email or call me for an appointment. I am much more likely to respond to email than to phone messages in a timely manner.
Cell: 530-592-9893
Office: 530-898-4771
Email: sepeterson@csuchico.edu or bk2nocal@gmail.com
Google Chat: bk2nocal
Graduate Assistant Coaching Staff
Office: THMA 377, X4091
All GA coaches will have available office hours during the week and MAY be available by appointment. Remember, the graduate assistant coaches are graduate students first and coaches second, so do not expect them to be available at your convenience. Be flexible!
Nolan Cox
Email: ncox2@mail.csuchico.edu
Cell:707-373-2593
Whitney Dunham
Email: wdunham@mail.csuchico.edu
Cell:760-574-1095
Hassan Ghiassi
Email:
Cell:
Brett Peterson
Email:
Cell:
Volunteer Coaching Staff
All volunteers are just that – volunteers. So, you have to be willing and able to work around their schedules (they will work via scheduled appointments only) and SHOW UP TO YOUR APPOINTMENTS! These individuals have busy lives and are sacrificing time doing important things to work with you. Please respect their time! You can schedule appointments with these individuals via Sue Peterson – she will have a list of individuals who are willing to work with the team in her office.
Dr. Gary Collier, Individual Events
Email: ggcollier@sbcglobal.net
Theresa Perry, Debate
Email: theresaperry@gmail.com
Cell: 916-529-8435
Competition: The CSU Chico Speech and Debate team is a full-service intercollegiate forensics program. The term “full-service” designation means that we have competitors in both policy debate and individual event competitions. The term “intercollegiate” means we compete in tournament settings against other two- and four-year institutions of higher education. The team offers competition in the following events:
- Cross-examination, team policy debate
- Platform speaking, including informative, persuasive, and communication analysis.
- Limited preparation speaking, including impromptu and extemporaneous.
- Oral interpretations, including prose, poetry, duo, and program of oral interpretation.
Participants receive coaching for competitions from an extremely talented and well-trained coaching staff.
Travel: In order to compete against other institutions of higher education, the CSU Chico Speech and Debate team travels to regional and national competitions. These competitions typically take place Friday though Sunday, and some will require traveling on Thursday and/or Monday. This travel is school sanctioned, but it is important to keep up in classes and notify professors of your travel schedule well in advance in order to guarantee instructors will excuse you for the travel.
Costs: Most costs for competition are covered by CSU Chico. The University pays for travel to and accommodations at tournaments. It also covers entry and judging fees for participants. You will be receive a small per diem for food when traveling as well.
Non-competitive public speaking: In addition to intercollegiate competitions, the CSU Chico Speech and Debate team will sponsor and/or participate in public speaking events on campus and in the community.
Service learning and outreach: The CSU Chico Speech and Debate team members will volunteer for community service in the area of speech and debate. Members may help local high school speech and debate teams prepare for competitions. Members may also act as volunteer judges for local high school or service group speech competitions. In addition, members will be required to help with the CSU Chico Rookie Tournament, held on campus for the public speaking and argumentation and debate classes each semester.
Fun: The CSU Chico Speech and Debate team will offer an academic setting in which participants can also enjoy social interaction. You will get to know other students here at CSU Chico, as well as students from other colleges and universities.
Mission Statement: The Chico State Forensics Team is committed to advancing the benefits of speech and debate on a local, state and national level. This is, first and foremost, an educational activity with an emphasis on critical thinking, research, written and oral communication.
On a local level, coaches and competitors will serve the campus by offering a Rookie Tournament each semester in order to give a maximum number of CSUC students the opportunity to compete. In the greater Chico community, the team will facilitate opportunities for local community members to participate in public speaking, engage in public discussion and debate, and improve their public speaking and argumentation skills.
Regionally, the CSUC forensics team will establish and continue an active commitment to both the expansion and revitalization of speech and debate in the Northern California Forensics Association. Nationally, the team will make every effort to send competitors to key tournaments across the country, establishing CSUC as a nationally respected forensics program. The out-of-region tournaments will be selected each year in order to maximize student exposure to the top competitors, universities and coaches in the country.
Why we have requirements: CSU Chico University invests money in the Speech and Debate team to pay for travel costs and entry fees. I believe this investment deserves some return. I believe this return comes in three ways:
(1) Educational benefits – participants learn a ton about public speaking, research, public policy making, persuasion, dramatic interpretation, and so many other areas. This knowledge makes you a better student, which pays back the university with better students on campus.
(2) Competitive success – participants who dedicate their time and efforts to bettering themselves in their area of competition will receive awards at tournaments. This competitive success makes the university look better in the nation and region and it makes our department and college look better to the greater university.
(3) Community outreach – participants who participate in volunteer and outreach efforts improve the view of the team to the university and the university in the community.
Basic requirements:
In order to travel with the team there are only four major requirements:
(1) Attend weekly team meetings. Attendance at these meetings is necessary for planning and teamwork. If you have to miss a meeting, you are responsible for contacting one of the coaches to find out what you missed. Please review the syllabus for the class to see how absences will affect your grade.
(2) Attend additional coaching sessions, as necessary for tournament readiness. Every participant has to be “signed off” as ready before being entered in a tournament. Most entries are due one week before the tournament, so you have to be tournament ready one week prior to the tournament. These coaching sessions can be scheduled with any of the coaches, but should be with someone familiar with your event and your needs.
(3) Participate in service-learning each semester. These opportunities will be posted on the Forensics Board and announced at weekly meetings as they arise.
(4) Maintain a 2.0 GPA as is demanded by the University for participation in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.
There are two types of expectations I have for competitors – the first set are invariant expectations and the second is competition-dependent expectations. Invariant expectations are those that apply to everyone on the team – no matter what your level of competition. Competition-dependent expectations are those that depend on what level at which you are/aim to compete.
Invariant Expectations – The Three R’s
RESPECT:
ü For yourself, your teammates, your coaches, opponents, and judges – everyone you come in contact with via this activity.
ü For the activity.
ü For written materials – books, journals, authors. Treat all access to written material with professionalism and ethics - do not destroy materials, do not take authors out of context, do not use materials without giving proper credit.
ü For the privilege of participating – not everyone attends a school that has a speech and debate travel budget or even a speech and debate team. It is important to appreciate what you have.
RESPONSIBILITY:
ü If you commit to doing something, follow-through. Do what you are responsible for doing.
ü Others are dependent on you in this activity – your partner, your teammates, even your opponents – don’t let others down.
ü You will be given the privilege of missing class to travel to tournaments – do not abuse that privilege – get your assignments early, communicate with instructors often and do not use debate as an excuse. Click here to get a letter to take to your professors at the beginning of each semester - a tentative calendar of tournaments is available here.
ü This is an extra-curricular activity with an academic focus – you must keep your GPA up and be able to keep up with class requirements or you will not be allowed to travel with the team.
REPRESENT:
ü Yourself– be an individual that others look up to and wish to follow – always represent yourself in that way.
ü Your team-
On campus: Teachers and students will look at you and see the speech and debate team. Think about the effects of your behavior on the team.
At tournaments: Judges and opponents will look at you and see the speech and debate team from our school. Think about the effects of your behavior on the team.
At post-tournament celebrations: Everyone will look at you and see the speech and debate team from our school. Think about the effects of your behavior on the team. Think about the possible repercussions to that behavior as well.
ü Your school –
While traveling: Others will inevitably ask you where you’re from and what you are doing and they will judge our school by your behavior.
While in public. We will eat out often. We will stay in hotels. We will deal with the public often and our school name will be attached to our behavior. People will judge CSU Chico by your behavior.
So, remember – Respect yourself and others, be Responsible, and Represent!
On-campus resources:
The Speech and Debate Team has a small library of materials for competitors. This library includes speech and debate textbooks, scripts, journals, etc. The resources are available for photocopying or for checkout, but please respect other team members by returning any materials in a timely manner. In addition, the Meriam library has a number of resources you can utilize and you can inter-library loan resources from other campuses.
The Squad Room (THMA 350) has six computers, a high speed printer, and a copier available for use by team members. This access is a privilege not a right, so please respect the squad room and its equipment by keeping it clean and in working condition.
On-line resources:
There are a number of resources available on-line for speech and debate competitors. The following are some of the pages and lists you might be interested in exploring:
CSU Chico specific:
Chico forensics wiki: http://chico4n6.pbwiki.com/
Chico debate gmail account (includes debate files from current and past seasons): logon: chicodb8; Freed@12
Policy Debate:
Cross-Examination Debate Association (CEDA): http://cedadebate.org/
National Debate Tournament (NDT): http://www.wfu.edu/organizations/NDT/
U. of Vermont’s Debate Central: http://debate.uvm.edu/
Wake Forest’s DRG resources (tons of great policy debate theory essays): http://groups.wfu.edu/debate/MiscSites/DRGArticles/DRGArtiarticlesIndex.htm
Edebate listserv: Subscribe by going to http://www.ndtceda.com/mailman/listinfo/edebate
Debate wikipedia (terms of debate with short explanations): http://sdiencyclopedia.wikispaces.com/
Debate Central: www.debate-central.org
National Debate Coaches Association (includes open access database of evidence): http://ndca.debateteams.net/
Individual Events:
American Forensics Association (AFA): http://www.americanforensics.org/
National Forensics Association (NFA): http://cas.bethel.edu/dept/comm/nfa/
Pacific Southwest Collegiate Forensics Association (PSCFA) online seminar (with video examples of all speeches): http://mcweb.moorparkcollege.edu/pscfa/Videos.htm
1. ENTRIES/TOURNAMENT ATTENDANCE: When we have officially entered a tournament, we are obligated to attend and to compete in all the events we said we will compete in. No drops or cancellations without a very valid excuse! No one goes on the trip unless their material has been cleared by a coach. If you don't get coached, you won’t travel. Interpers: your cuttings and your book must be ready by entry deadline. All books must look good and be black.
2. MISSING CLASSES: You will have to miss classes to attend some tournaments. You are responsible for notifying your instructor AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEMESTER of any dates you might miss. If your instructor requests a letter from me, let me know immediately so I can get them something early in the semester. You are responsible for making up any missed worked, getting notes from fellow students and attending class if you are not at a tournament. PLEASE DO NOT USE SPEECH AND DEBATE AS AN EXCUSE IF YOU ARE NOT REALLY ATTENDING A TOURNAMENT DURING CLASS TIME!
3. DEPARTURES: We depart from the parking lot in front of the THMA unless you are otherwise informed.
4. HOTEL: For overnight tournaments, we will reserve rooms at the tournament hotel. You will be expected to share rooms with teammates of the same sex. Sometimes we may have situations when four people will have to stay in one room. You are expected to sleep in your own room unless you clear an alternative with a coach ahead of time.
5. MEALS: You will receive a small per diem to pay for food at tournaments. Some tournaments may have breakfast and/or lunch provided, but you may want to bring some money to pay for additional expenses. Please realize that due to the length of travel and tournament competition, we will often eat at fast-food places or hotel restaurants with limited menus. You will have to be flexible in your food choices.
6. PACKING: Competition requires professional/business attire for the most part. IEers need professional business attire for each day of competition. If competing in policy, no shorts, no t-shirts, shoes required – I will make you change if you don’t look presentable! Bring enough clothes for all days of the tournament, and some casual clothes to wear after competition. Due to restricted space in vans, please try to pack as light as possible! Don’t forget supplies: index cards, pens, black book pages, paper, laptop, etc. Extempers are responsible for the extemp file box. Policy debate teams are responsible for their debate tubs.
7. DURING TOURNAMENT:
· If you have nothing to do during a round, you watch your team mates or others compete. Support is important and peer feedback helps and you will learn a lot from watching others. If you are not in a round at a tournament, you should have a valid reason.
· You are representing yourself and CSU Chico. Act in a professional manner at all times. You are judged from the time the van enters campus to the time it leaves. Remember that you don’t know who is listening when you are talking at tournaments – so don’t talk about judges, competitors, etc. unless it is something you would say to their faces.
· I encourage you to hang out with students from other schools between rounds, etc. The more people you get to know and talk to on a regular basis, the more you will learn. In addition, it will allow you to have a lot of fun!
· If you encounter problems during a tournament and can not locate a CSU Chico coach or student, go to the ballot table and ask for help there. Coaches will have cell phones, but may be judging and unable to answer.
· If you are driving to a tournament, please be sure to leave on time, have directions and arrive on time.
· If you think it might get you, the school, or me into trouble, don’t do it!
· Be ready for competition. Be up and ready to leave on time. Hotels have wake-up calls and alarm clocks. Use them. Use your cell phone as a back-up. You are responsible for your teammates staying in your room – get them up and make sure they get ready. Once at the tournament, arrive to rounds on time and be ready to go when you arrive. Have all of your files, supplies, books, partners, etc. with you!
8. POST-TOURNAMENT: We will have a “debriefing” at the squad meeting immediately following all tournaments. We will go over ballots, self-evaluations and peer evaluations and discuss strategies to improve performance for the next trip. If you miss this squad meeting you are responsible for scheduling an appointment to do all of these things with a coach THAT WEEK.
Tentative Tournament Schedule Fall 2008
DATES Tournament Location Event(s)
September 13-14 NCFA Debate Workshop Diablo Valley College Debate only
September 26-28 Golden Gate Fall Opener San Francisco State University Debate and IE
October 3-4 CMST Alumni Event CSU Chico NA
October 10-12 Santa Rosa Tournament Santa Rosa Junior College Debate and IE
October 17-19 Ray Buchanan Invite Pepperdine University Debate only
October 24-26 Kevin Twohy Invite Diablo Valley College Debate and IE
November 7-9 Mustang Invitational University of the Pacific Debate and IE
December 5-6 Rookie Tournament CSU Chico Debate and IE
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