Debate Without Borders Skype Tournament in Afghanistan

Debate Without Borders Skype Tournament April 5, 2013 Afghans for Progressive Thinking

Afghans for Progressive Thinking (APT) is pleased to invite you to participate in our Debate Without Borders Skype Tournament to be held on April 5, 2013. The tournament will feature a program versus program format and four rounds of Team IPDA-style competition, and the tournament will break to semi-finals. A program may choose different students for each round if they choose.

Debate Without Borders is designed to be exhibition-only, an opportunity for students from different countries to connect with and learn from one another. APT has seen success in single Skype exhibition debates in the past; this tournament will be the culmination of those efforts. Teams from approximately five countries will be competing, creating debates between cultures on topics that are of mutual relevance.

Entrants may register beginning Tuesday, March 12, 2013. Registration closes at midnight Kabul time (GMT + 4:30) on Monday, April 1, 2013. Please register by emailing rachel.mills@apt.af. The tournament is limited to 20 teams, with limits by country. We will be happy to wait-list any team that registers twenty-first or later.

We look forward to seeing you on Skype! Yours,

Rachel Mills Tournament Director Afghans for Progressive Thinking rachel.mills@apt.afAll times are in Kabul time (GMT +4:30).

Tournament Schedule

Rounds 1-3 will be paired randomly, and Round 4 will be power-matched. An effort will be made to country-protect the first three rounds, to the extent possible.

Friday, April 5 Online postings will occur prior to each round at www.apt.af/debate-programs/Skype.

7:30 am 8:00 am 9:10 am 9:15 am 10:25 am 10:30 am 11:40 am 11:45 am 1:55 pm 2:00 pm 3:20 pm 3:25 pm 4:45 pm

Debater/Judge registration (via Skype) Round 1 draw Round 2 check-in Round 2 draw

Round 3 check-in Round 3 draw Round 4 check-in Round 4 draw Check-in for out rounds Semi-final breaks announced/Semi-final draw Check-in for final round

Final breaks announced/Final draw Award Ceremony

Debate

All debates will utilize the official Team IPDA time limits. Before the round, each program will choose its representatives for that round; those competitors must be prepared to debate by the time roll is called. Roll call will consist of each team indicating their readiness at the appointed time (the check-in time listed on the schedule or five minutes before the draw for each round.) Teams will check-in by typing a message in the Skype Tournament Group.

After draw, teams will have a total of fifteen minutes to strike resolutions and to prepare. At the end of that fifteen minutes, all competitors must be in their assigned Skype video conference room and prepared to begin.

Team IPDA: 4 minute 1st Aff. Constructive 2 minute 2nd Neg. Cross Examination 5 minute 1st Neg. Constructive 2 minute 1st Aff. Cross Examination 5 minute 2nd Aff. Constructive 2 minute 1st Neg. Cross Examination 4 minute 2nd Neg. Constructive 2 minute 2nd Aff. Cross Examination 3 minute 1st Neg. Rebuttal 4 minute 1st Aff. Rebuttal 4 minute 2nd Neg. Rebuttal 3 minute 2nd Aff. Rebuttal

The time limitations at this tournament are greater than at most, due to the time differences and the security limitations for competitors in Afghanistan. It is very important that rounds begin on time or as close to on time as possible, which means we cannot wait indefinitely for technical difficulties to be resolved. For that reason, any program that does not check-in on time or any program that loses connection mid-round will have a maximum of ten (10) minutes to resolve the issue or log in on another computer. Any delay greater than ten minutes by either team will lead to that team forfeiting the remainder of its speaking time for the round. Their opponents may deliver their remaining speech(es), and the judge is free to decide the round based on the speeches that were presented. If a team fails to check-in for the round and is not able to resolve technical difficulties within ten minutes, they will forfeit that round and receive 0 speaker points. The opposing team will receive speaker points based on the average of their other three rounds.

All rounds will be conducted via Skype. Other information will be posted at www.apt.af/debate- programs/Skype, including postings, topics, results, and other pertinent information. Programs that are new to Team IPDA debate can also find resources and links at www.apt.af/debate-programs/resources.

Technology All competitors and judges must have access to:

1. 2. 3. 4.

Reliable high-speed Internet A Windows-based PC Skype (Version 5.9 or a more recent update) A webcam and microphone, either external or built-in

As competitors will not be adjudicated by a judge from their program, it will be necessary for programs to provide two rooms and two computers, as well as two separate Skype accounts. We encourage you to have at least one back-up computer, with Skype, webcam, and microphone, available in the case of in- round technical difficulties. We also recommend using a hard-wired connection rather than Wifi, if possible. Please remember that we are only able to offer a ten minute grace period (five minutes for judges) in the case of technical difficulties.

Upon registering for the tournament, each program will be contacted by tournament staff to schedule a test Skype call. Programs will be added to a Tournament Skype group, where check-in will take place prior to each round.

Judgment

Each program must register one judge. If you are unable to do so, please let us know. Judges will be required to remain available for elimination rounds. We encourage you to provide extra judges, if possible, in order to allow us to have clean elimination rounds.

Ballots will be posted online at www.apt.af/debate-programs/Skype. Judges may fill out the ballot electronically or print it, fill it out by hand, and scan it. Ballots must be emailed to rachel.mills@apt.af within fifteen minutes after each round.

Two judges will be assigned to each round, one as the primary judge and one as the back-up judge. Both should plan to flow the round and complete a ballot, but the back-up judge's ballot will only be

used in the event that the primary judge is unable to complete a ballot due to technical difficulties. Judges will have a five (5) minute grace period; if a judge does not check-in or loses access in the middle of a round and does not join again within 5 minutes, the back-up judge and the competitors should continue without him/her.

Awards

The tournament will break to semi-finals and will recognize semi-finalists, finalists, and tournament champions (by program.) The following method will be used in breaking teams to out-rounds:

1. Win/Loss Record 2. Total Team Speaker Points 3. Total Team Speaker Points with the lowest score dropped from each individual. 4. Total Team Speaker Ranks 5. Total Team Speaker Ranks with the lowest rank dropped from each individual.

The top three speaker awards will be recognized, also by program. Speaker awards will be based on each program's cumulative points during the four preliminary rounds, using the following formula:

1. Total Team Speaker Points 2. Total Team Speaker Points with the lowest score dropped from each individual. 3. Total Team Speaker Ranks 4. Total Team Speaker Ranks with the lowest rank dropped from each individual.

Intellectual Property Waiver

APT will be recording the audio and/or video of these debates. Registration for this tournament implies a program's consent and authorization for the future use of these materials by APT.