[eDebate] Northwestern Tournament Invitation

[Scott Deatherage]

Greetings, all.  I hope this note finds you well 
and that your end of the year tasks are not too 
onerous.  A couple of coaches have had difficulty 
accessing the invitation to the 49th Annual Owen 
L. Coon Tournament at Northwestern from the 
"invite" link at www.debateresults.com.  I'm not 
sure why; when I sign-on, I have had no 
difficulty viewing the invite.  There may have 
been a temporary glitch in the system.  In any 
event, I post it here as a secondary 
source.  I'll also ask our web master to post it 
to our web page at 
www.debate.northwestern.edu.  We hope that you 
can join us in January for spirited competition.  Best, all.  SD


November 1, 2006

Greetings Directors, Coaches, Judges, Students, 
Alumni, and Friends.  This serves as invitation 
to the 49th Annual Owen L. Coon Memorial Debates, 
to be held on the Chicago Campus of Northwestern 
University, February 10-12, 2007.  PLEASE READ 
THIS INVITATION CAREFULLY; THERE ARE A NUMBER OF 
LOGISTICAL CHANGES AS COMPARED TO PAST YEARS.

After considerable research, we have decided to 
return to the popular alternative we employed in 
2004, namely hosting the tournament on 
Northwestern’s downtown campus.  The downtown 
campus is in the heart of Chicago’s Magnificent 
Mile, a beautiful shopping district that provides 
easy access to restaurants, cafes, bookstores, 
nightlife, and other amenities of interest.  The details:

Tournament Hotel:  The Holiday Inn City Centre 
will again serve as home to the Owen L. 
Coon.  The City Centre is the nicest property in 
the Holiday Inn chain.  Rooms are available at a 
rate of $109 per night, plus appropriate city 
taxes.  The $109 dollar rate is good for up to 
four persons per room.  The Holiday Inn City 
Centre is a 26 floor facility that boasts more 
than 500 guest sleeping rooms, with enough 
“double-doubles” to accommodate the entire 
tournament.  You will need to secure your 
reservation with a major credit card.  Be sure to 
mention to the reservation clerk that you are 
associated with the NU Owen L. Coon Memorial 
Debates.  Reservations must be made no later than 
Friday, January 19 to secure the tournament 
rate.  Cancellations must be made no later than 
6:00 p.m. on the day of your scheduled arrival 
time to avoid a “no-show” penalty.  A substantial 
number of preset debates will be held at the 
Holiday Inn on Saturday, February 10, and 
elimination debates will be held there on Monday, 
February 12.  Accordingly, we strongly encourage 
you to choose the Holiday Inn.

Amenities in the hotel include in room high speed 
internet access, available via wireless 
connection in the lobby and other common areas 
and by hard wire in guest sleeping rooms.  Also 
available to registered guests is free access to 
the adjoining Lakeshore Athletic Club, a newly 
renovated, full service, professional gym and 
spa.  Parking is available in the hotel’s 
self-park garage at the rate of $30 for each 24 
hour period.  Parkers have in and out privileges 
for each paid 24 hour period, and the cost of 
parking can be billed to your room.  Additional 
parking options are discussed below in the 
“ground transportation and parking” section of this invitation.

             Reservations should be made directly 
with the hotel, 312-787-6100.  You can also 
register on line 
at: 
<file:///BLOCKED::http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/rates/chicc?groupBookingCode=ol6>http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/rates/chicc?groupBookingCode=ol6. 
Otherwise individuals can go to our website at 
<http://www.chicc.com>www.chicc.com and click on 
book a reservation.  Enter their dates and then 
enter the booking code OL6.  It’s probably best 
to cut and paste this web address into your browser.
             The Holiday Inn is located at 300 
East Ohio Street, just two blocks east of 
Michigan Avenue, the main artery of the 
aforementioned Magnificent Mile.  The hotel is 
easy to reach from all directions.  If you are 
driving in from either the north or south on 
Interstate 90/94, take the east bound Ohio Street 
exit right in the heart of the city.  Travel 
eastbound on Ohio Street approximately six blocks 
to the intersection of Ohio and Fairbanks; the 
Holiday Inn is on the northeast corner of that 
intersection.  You can’t miss it.  If you are 
coming in on Lake Shore Drive, exit westbound on 
Grand Avenue, travel two blocks to the 
intersection of Grand and Fairbanks.  Head north 
on Fairbanks for one block to the intersection of 
Fairbanks and Ohio.  Again, the hotel is on the 
northeast corner of that intersection.

The staff at Holiday Inn did a very nice job with 
the tournament in 2004, and we look forward to 
again working with them to make the tournament an enjoyable event for all.

Air Transport:  Downtown Chicago is easily 
accessible by air transportation via both 
Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and Midway 
International Airport.  Both ports are 
approximately ten miles from downtown Chicago, 
each about a $25 cab ride away.  More information 
about ground transportation is provided 
below.  Midway is home to “discounter” 
airlines.  It costs you no more to get to 
downtown Chicago from Midway than it does from 
O’Hare, so it’s worth a serious look to see if 
you can find cheaper flights to and from Midway.

Tournament Debates:  Some preliminary debates 
will occur in the Holiday Inn, particularly as 
pertains to rounds one and two.  Some early 
debates, and nearly all debates beginning in 
round three, will occur in Weiboldt Hall on 
Northwestern’s downtown campus.  Weiboldt Hall is 
approximately three blocks from the Holiday Inn; 
it takes approximately seven minutes to walk from 
the main entrance of the Holiday Inn to Weiboldt 
Hall.  Elimination rounds will be at the Holiday Inn.

Ground Transportation and Parking:  If you plan 
to fly to Chicago for the Owen L. Coon, we 
strongly encourage you to consider public 
transportation rather than vehicle rental.  We 
will be happy to provide evidence transportation 
between the Holiday Inn and the tournament 
site.  We recommend this principally because 
parking downtown can be both difficult to locate 
and expensive.  Once downtown, dozens (hundreds) 
of restaurants are within walking 
distance.  Virtually anything you could want is 
no more than a five dollar cab ride away.  Should 
you choose this option, be aware that the closest 
24 hour copy facility will require that five 
dollar ride, as will access to the nearest fully 
outfitted office supply store.

We are optimistic about finding cheaper perhaps 
free parking on Northwestern’s downtown 
campus.  Negotiation on this matter is underway, 
and additional information will be posted to 
edebate as it becomes available.  In the week 
preceding the tournament, a variety of tidbits 
about the tournament will be posted, including 
follow-up on this topic.  We strongly encourage 
you to review that information.

Entry Procedures, Limits, and Deadlines:  This 
year, entries are accepted at the now famous 
“Bruschke” web page, available at 
<http://www.debateresults.com/>www.debateresults.com. 
Use of the web page offers a number of advantages 
for the community.  Principally, it permits data 
on a variety of issues of community wide interest 
to be available to all.  The page is easy to use, 
particularly if you have entered other 
tournaments through that venue.  Initially, we 
will accept an entry of up to four teams per 
institution.  If space permits, we will take 
additional teams per school on a rotating basis 
(e.g. A school’s 5th team, then B school’s 5th 
team, through the end of the 5th teams, before 
wrapping back around to A school’s 6th team).

Entry Fees:  Entrants and their guests are 
welcome at the fee of $60 for each person plus 
$40 per team entered into the fray.  So, for 
instance, should your school wish to enter one 
team into the competition and offer one judge to 
cover that team’s judging commitment, the a total 
fee of $220 would be assessed:  $60 for each of 
the three participants and $40 for the team.  The 
good news is that this fee is the same as that 
assessed when we last hosted the Owen L. Coon 
College Tournament in February of 
2005.  Hopefully, we can provide our best level 
of hospitality without a substantial cost 
increase.  This fee structure is based on the 
same model employed at the National Debate 
Tournament, as well as other major events.  Fees 
cover a variety of meals throughout the 
tournament, receptions for coaches and judges, 
class room and meeting room rental to facilitate 
both preliminary and elimination round debates, 
as well as bus and cargo van transport to 
accommodate evidence and person movement between 
debating room facilities.  We are budgeting and 
arranging now to make the event both enjoyable and affordable for all.

Should you need to drop a participant, please do 
so no later than Noon Central Standard Time on 
Wednesday, February 7, 2007.  Drops are official 
ONLY if confirmed at the official tournament web 
site, the same URL where you enter.  Should you 
need to drop one or more participants after the 
aforementioned deadline, a drop fee of $60 per 
person will be assessed.  We do understand that 
drops are typically beyond your control.  They 
happen because of illness, poor traveling 
conditions, and other causes.  However, we are 
required by our caterers to provide a guarantee 
number for meals no later than the scheduled drop 
deadline.  Accordingly, after that point, we must 
pay for your meals no matter if you are present 
or not.  We will make a full financial disclosure 
at the conclusion of the tournament.

Judge Requirements:  Schools are required to 
provide four rounds of preliminary judging for 
each team entered.  Each judge is required to be 
available to hear the first two elimination 
rounds.  Per community practice, each judge is 
expected to be available one round beyond the 
elimination of the team with whom they are 
associated.  A limited number of hired judges are 
available at $25 per round.  Early notice of your 
need to hire a judge is appreciated.

Each judge will be REQUIRED to declare ONE AND 
ONLY ONE WINNER and ONE AND ONLY ONE LOSER in 
each debate to which they are assigned by the tab 
room.  Compliance with this rule requires each 
judge to complete an official judge ballot as 
designated by the tab room.  Completion of the 
ballot requires the judge to clearly designate 
affirmative or negative to signify a winning 
team.  Judges will also be required to confirm 
their choice by indicating the school with which 
the designated winner is affiliated.  The side 
(affirmative or negative) and school affiliation 
must match the assignments made by the tab 
room.  Judges will also be required to assign 
speaker points and speaker ranks to each 
participant in the debate.  Speaker points are 
accepted in increments of 0.5 from a minimum of 0 
to a maximum of 30.  Speaker ranks are accepted 
in whole numbers only from 1 to 4.

If you or one of your judges is unable or 
unwilling to fulfill these requirements, please 
submit an alternative judge prior to the start of 
the tournament.  If, during the course of the 
tournament, any judge representing your school 
refuses to comply with these requirements, teams 
affiliated with your school will be removed from 
the competition by the tab room.

             Topic:  Students are required to 
debate the topic selected for the 2006-07 season 
by a vote of the Cross Examination Debate 
Association membership.  The precise wording of 
this year’s topic is Resolved: The United States 
Supreme Court should overrule one or more of the 
following decisions: Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 
505 U.S. 833 (1992); Ex parte Quirin, 317 U.S. 1 
(1942); U.S. v. Morrison, 529 U.S. 598 (2000); 
Milliken v. Bradley, 418 U.S. 717 (1974). 
Confirmation of the official topic wording is 
available at 
<http://webs.wichita.edu/dt/beta.asp?u=ceda&p=/res>http://webs.wichita.edu/dt/beta.asp?u=ceda&p=/res. 
Topicality is a voting issue at both the Owen L. 
Coon Memorial Debates at Northwestern University 
and at the National Debate Tournament.
Tournament Procedures:  We are pleased to 
announce that Gary Larson of Wheaton College has 
agreed to return as tab room manager.  Gary will 
administer the tournament on the Smart Tournament 
Administrator, or STA, the program he pioneered 
and has used for years to tabulate major 
tournaments.  This is Gary’s 10th year as the tab 
room manager at the Owen L. Coon Tournament; we 
are very pleased to have him back.

Brackets will be broken in both preliminary and 
elimination debates to prevent teams from the 
same school from meeting.  Side equalization will 
be employed in both preliminary and elimination 
rounds.  Details on the procedure for elimination 
round side equalization will be provided at the 
tournament.  Said procedures are the same as 
those employed in previous Owen L. Coon 
tournaments.  Hybrid teams are permitted.  Prior 
to the tournament, maverick entries are NOT 
accepted.  Once the tournament begins, maverick 
debaters may or may not be permitted to 
continue.  The tournament director will evaluate 
maverick situations on a case-by-case basis.  The 
tournament employs the now traditional 9-3-6 
format with ten minutes of preparation time 
allocated to each team.  The first four 
preliminary rounds are preset.  Round five is 
paired on a high-high speaker point basis; six 
through eight are high-low.  We continue to 
employ a mutual judge preference (MJP) placement 
system.  Eight preliminary rounds are scheduled, 
followed by an appropriate number of elimination 
rounds, typically five.  Northwestern teams may 
compete in the tournament.  If so, they are 
eligible to receive speaker awards and to compete 
in elimination rounds.  We will enter via the web 
page and declare our participation 
publicly.  Northwestern teams will be required to 
complete a judge preference sheet; judge 
assignments for Northwestern teams will be 
assigned by the computer and changed only by the 
option of tab room manager Gary Larson.  We 
subscribe to CEDA’s policy against Sexual 
Harassment and Discrimination, and the Statement 
of Ethical Principles, found in Bylawys IV and V 
of the CEDA Constitution.  The tournament is CEDA Sanctioned.


Tentative Tournament Schedule
SUBJECT TO CHANGE


Friday, February 9


7:00 p.m.         Registration and Coaches Reception
Location TBA


Saturday, February 10


7:00 a.m.         Shuttles Load – Holiday Inn City Center

8:00 a.m.         Round 1

10:30 a.m.       Round 2

1:00 p.m.         Lunch

2:30 p.m.         Round 3

5:00 p.m.         Round 4


Sunday, February 11


7:00 a.m.         Pairings Released – Holiday Inn City Center

8:00 a.m.         Round 5

11:00 a.m.       Round 6

1:30 p.m.         Lunch

2:15 p.m.         Pairings for Round 7

3:00 p.m.         Round 7

5:45 p.m.         Pairings for Round 8

6:30 p.m.         Round 8

9:00 p.m.         Dinner and Awards Assembly


Monday, February 12


7:00 a.m.         Pairings for First Elimination 
Round – Ground Level, Holiday Inn

8:00 a.m.         First Elimination Round

11:30 a.m.       Second Elimination Round

3:00 p.m.         Third Elimination Round

6:00 p.m.         Fourth Elimination Round

9:00 p.m.         Fifth Elimination Round


We do hope that you can join us in 
February.  Chicago is truly a world class city, 
and we will finally have the opportunity to fully 
enjoy its many offerings.  After this, someone 
might just start a movement to have a six round 
tournament so we can actually enjoy the possibilities!!!  Best.

Scott Deatherage
Director of Debate
Northwestern University
nudebate at northwestern.edu
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