2005 in Review: Themes

Larry McGrath has submitted to me the newest installment of “Neat Things by Larry,” but I’ll give him the honor of being the first column of the new year by posting it tomorrow. We’re about a half hour short of the New Year here in New York, which means that the first official post of the year 2006 is on its way (recalibrated to Pacific Standard Time, of course). In the meantime, a retrospective on two themes, with a third forthcoming. Enjoy the final few hours and minutes of the year 2005!

GENEROSITY

The Voices Foundation for the Promotion of High School Debate had gained the support of many volunteers from its inception, and in the wake of John McKay’s passing, a wave of donations and the support of his family allowed for McKay’s project of sending debaters to different tournaments in other parts of the country to be realized. In this case, several students were given scholarships to compete at the Minneapple, Hendrick Hudson, and Manchester’s Tim Averill Invitational, tournaments selected by the founder of Voices and his family. (Details are being arranged to allow students who received Hen Hud scholarships to compete elsewhere.)

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, many tournaments heeded the call of Jane Boyd to collection funds to be directed towards relief for victims. In terms of specific relief to debate teams and debaters, multiple schools in Texas opened their doors to competitors, and some schools arranged to donate large amounts of evidence to affected teams.

MOTHER NATURE

The weather affected debate in a number of ways over the course of the year. Debaters at the Columbia Invitational found the tournament cut short after three rounds of competition; awards were granted, but as there were no outrounds, the tournament’s bids were voided for the year. Just a week later in Atlanta, an ice storm caused a similarly dangerous situation at Emory University’s Barkley Forum for High Schools. Rounds could not be held on the Saturday of the tournament, and ultimately, the tournament could only hold four preliminary rounds. Clearing directly to octafinals, Emory’s fiftieth installment was permitted to adopt a system previously granted only to the policy tournament at the MBA Southern Bell Forum: all sixteen participants in the first outround would be awarded bids to the Tournament of Champions. In both cases, tournament officials made the correct call by placing student safety first. While the staff of both invitationals suffered some immediate criticism for some of their decisions, hopefully in the weeks after, we all remembered that weather-related issues need to be taken seriously.

Fortunately, as noted, in the face of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the effects of the weather also brought out the better side of many people. As the affected areas continue to rebuild, many programs continue to rebuild. The Louisiana High School Speech League has maintained a comprehensive schedule and plans to hold its state tournament. In terms of travel tournaments, as appears to be the theme he Isidore Newman Classic will be hosted by Dulles High School at its first-ever Viking Rampage.

Most recently, of course, a snow storm forced the cancellation of the Malcolm A. Bump Memorial Tournament at Hendrick Hudson, after months of preparation and the assembly of an all-star list of former Hen Hud debaters. (The assembled alumni included past champions and finalists at the Glenbrooks, St. Mark’s, Harvard, Lexington, Manchester, T.A. Edison, and a past top speaker at the TOC among a field of uniformly very fine former debaters.) Coupled with the cancellation of the Newburgh Debate Festival in the previous month–due not to weather, but complications at the school–the year had most definitely seen a series of weather-related dilemmas. (That’s not to mention the traditional snow at Harvard, of course!)

SHATTERING AND MAINTAINING RECORDS

Check back!

Popularity: 4%

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 31st, 2005 at 11:30 pm and is filed under Off the Flow. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.