[eDebate] Actual Madison Cup Invite

[Mikedavis13 at aol.com]

Pete says I sent the judge invite. If anyone wants to come judge that one  is 
for you.
 
Here is the actual invite:
 
 
January  16, 2007 
On behalf  of the James Madison Center and JMU Debate we are pleased and 
excited to invite  you to compete for the Madison Cup at the fifth annual “James 
Madison  Commemorative Debate and Citizens Forum” on Wednesday March 14, 2007. 
The James  Madison Commemorative Debate and Citizens Forum is a unique 
inter-collegiate  debate competition, which combines the excitement and challenge of 
tournament  competition with the relevance and empowerment of a public 
audience and audience  participation.   It is also one  of the showcase events of 
our university’s James Madison Day Celebration.  
2007  Topic: Resolved: “that our nation needs Affirmative  Action now more 
than ever." 
Other cool  and unique features: 
*$10,000.00 in prize money 
*Debating and competing in front of public audiences 
*No entry fees 
*Continental breakfast, snacks and lunch provided 
*Video web-cast  
*Great PR for your debate program 
*Bibliography: we’ll have a resource web page up by mid-February   
More cool stuff:  This year’s “Madison Cup Debates”  are part of a semester 
long, campus wide project designed to encourage difficult  discussions related 
to topics of race, ethnicity, gender, and identity. These  events were kicked 
off with Cornell West’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Address,  and will 
conclude with an undergraduate conference entitled, “Figuring Culture: 
Communication, Aesthetics and  Identity.” 
The tournament details are enclosed with this letter.  If you should have any 
questions, please  do not hesitate to contact us. 
We look forward to hosting you in March! 
Mike Davis, Ph. D.                                                       Pete 
Bsumek, Ph.D. 
Director of Debate                                                        
Director, Madison Cup Debates 
School of Comm. Studies                                             School of 
Comm. Studies 
James  Madison University                                             James  
Madison University 
(O) 540-568-7308                                                       (O) 
540-568-3386 
(E-mail)  _davismk at jmu.edu_ (mailto:davismk at jmu.edu)                          
                  (E-mail) _bsumekpk at jmu.edu_ (mailto:bsumekpk at jmu.edu)   
Background: Timed to coincide with James Madison  University's yearly  
celebration of James Madison's birthday in mid-March, “The James Madison  
Commemorative Debate and Citizen Forum” centers on an important question facing  
American democracy. Last year debaters argued both sides of the topic; Resolved "That 
 the theory of Intelligent Design (in both its historical and its 
contemporary  versions) has a proper role in America’s High School biology  courses." 
The James Madison  Center at James Madison University sponsors the event in 
the  spirit of James Madison's ideal that a republican democracy is healthy 
only when  informed and civil debate thrives. The final round will be broadcast 
live on the  World Wide Web.  Last year’s debate  featured teams from Baptist  
Bible College, Brown University, Claremont Colleges, College of William and 
Mary, Cornell University, George  Mason University, Georgetown University, James 
Madison  University, Liberty University, Pepperdine University, Rochester  
University, Towson University, University of  Mary Washington, University of 
Notre Dame, University of Pittsburgh, University of Richmond, University of 
Virginia, Wake Forest  University, and Yale University. 
2007 Topic:  Resolved: “that our nation needs Affirmative Action  now more 
than ever." 
Eligible Participants:  Each school may enter one two-person  team.  The 
debate is open to  undergraduate students who are in good standing at their 
respective  institutions.  Second teams will be  considered on a case-by-case basis, 
if space permits.   
Competition Format:  The debate uses a “long table”  format.  This is a 
public debate.   Last year there was an  audience of around 500 people for the 
final round, preliminary rounds were  smaller (audiences of 20-30 people).   The “
long table” format features  three (two person) teams on each side of the 
question.  Speeches start with the affirmative and  alternate between the 
affirmative and negative throughout the debate.  Teams are randomly assigned to sides 
and  speaker positions.  In other words,  if a team is selected to be the 
first affirmative, they will give the first two  affirmative speeches in the 
debate.  The first and last speeches on each side of the question are  
uninterruptible.  Any member of the  opposing team may interrupt the speeches in the 
middle of the debate in order to  ask the speaker to yield to a question.  
Speakers are not required to answer these questions (although not  answering 
questions may cause the audience to think that the speaker is  “dodgy”).  Please see 
the example  format below for more information.  You can view last year’s 
final round at: http://www.jmu.edu/orgs/debate/madisonCup/index.html 
Jury Adjudication Procedure:  A three to seven member panel, or jury,  will 
adjudicate the debate.  Juries  will be comprised of local residents, students, 
professors, distinguished JMU  alumni, and special invited guests.  At the 
completion of the debate, the panel will adjourn to discuss,  deliberate and 
decide upon the winners as a group.  The jury votes for (2-person) teams, not  
sides of the question.  In other  words, first place could go to an affirmative 
team, while second place could be  awarded to a negative team.  This year we 
will institutionalize jury  feedback for the participants. 
Tournament  Procedures: 
*Number of rounds: This year we will  offer two preliminary rounds of debate  
and one final round. 
*Switch side debate: Each team will  debate once on the affirmative and once 
on the negative.   
*Side  & position:  Sides (affirmative  or negative), and positions (first 
affirmative team, first negative team, second  affirmative team, etc) for the 
preliminary debates will be determined by random  drawing. 
*Judging:  Judges will rank teams 1-6 in each preliminary debate, and assign 
each team  quality points based on a thirty-point scale  (1-30). 
*Advancing to the final round: The six teams with the lowest total ranks  
will advance to the final round.  Quality points will be used to break ties. 
*Sides  and Speaking Positions in the final round:  Sides and speaking 
positions in the final round will be based on seeding  after the preliminary rounds. 
 For  example, the first seeded team will choose their “side and position,” 
then the  second seed will choose “side and position,” and so on.  
Public Participation:  While the jury deliberates, the floor  will be opened 
for audience comments and speeches.  An award for the best floor speech will  
be presented.  Local newspapers,  politicians, and the general public are 
invited.  
Awards:  The first place team will leave with the  Madison Cup—a very nice 
traveling trophy. Once again this year there is a  $10,000.00 purse of prize 
money.  All participants in the final round will be recognized with awards.  
Prize money will be awarded as follows: 
1st place: $5000.00 donation to your debate  program 
2nd place: $2500.00 donation to your debate  program 
3rd place: $1000.00 donation to your debate  program 
4th-6th place: $500.00 donation to your debate  program 
Entry:  There are no entry fees. We can  accommodate a field of 24 teams.  
Entry is on a first come, first serve basis.  The first 18 teams to enter are  
guaranteed a spot in the field, after that we will accept teams, if we can  
generate a field divisible by 4 or 6.  Deadline for entry is March  3.  This is 
necessary so we can  determine how many debates there will be in each round.  
Send school info, team info (first and  last names of debaters) and requests 
for additional teams to:  Dr. Mike Davis,  <davismk at jmu.edu> 
Lodging: We  have reserved a block of hotel rooms at the newly renovated Best 
Western Inn of  Harrisonburg (formerly the Guest House Inn).  The Best  
Western Inn is located at exit 247A off of I-81.  Go east on Highway 33—the hotel 
is on  the right side of the road.  The  phone number for the Best Western is 
540-433-6089.  The rate for 1-4 people per room is  $51.00 + tax.  This special 
tournament rate will be  available until March 3.  When  calling the Best 
Western Inn please ask for Gini Boyers, and mention that you  are attending the 
Madison Cup debates at JMU. 
Travel:  James Madison  University is located in Harrisonburg, VA, which is  
two hours southwest of Washington, D.C. on I-81.  If you plan to fly consider 
Dullas and  Washington National/Reagan Airports in Washington  DC (2 hours 
away), Richmond airport (2 hours away), Charlottesville airport (one hour away) 
and the Shenandoah Regional Airport (15 minutes away).  We will arrange 
transport from  Shenandoah and Charlottesville, we’ll do are best to work with  you 
from the others. 
Schedule: 
Wednesday March 14, 2007:  James Madison Commemorative Debate and  Citizens 
Forum 
8:00  AM  registration and  Announcements 
8:30 AM:  Preliminary debate round 1 
11:00 AM  Preliminary debate round 2 
1:30 PM  Lunch 
2:30 PM:  Madison Day Address (participants recognized and finalists 
announced) 
5:000 PM:  Final round (presentation of the Madison Cup) 
Example Debate  Format: The 2004 final round proceeded as follows. 
1st Affirmative Speech (Wake Forest #1): (4 minutes)  uninterrupted 
1st Negative Speech (George Mason #1): (4 minutes)  uninterrupted 
2nd Affirmative Speech (Wake Forest  #2): (5 minutes):  The first and last 
minute of the speech  are uninterruptible.  In the  2nd-4th minutes of the 
speech any opposition debater may  ask the speaker to yield to a question.  The 
speaker may accept, or decline the question. 
2nd Negative Speech (George Mason #2): (5 minutes): The first  and last 
minute of the speech are uninterruptible.  In the 2nd-4th  minutes of the speech 
any opposition debater may ask the speaker to yield to a  question.  The speaker 
may accept,  or decline the question. 
3rd Affirmative Speech (Georgetown # 1): (5 minutes): The first and  last 
minute of the speech are uninterruptible.  In the 2nd-4th  minutes of the speech 
any opposition debater may ask the speaker to yield to a  question.  The 
speaker may accept,  or decline the question. 
3rd Negative Speech (James Madison #1): (5 minutes): The first  and last 
minute of the speech are uninterruptible.  In the 2nd-4th  minutes of the speech 
any opposition debater may ask the speaker to yield to a  question.  The 
speaker may accept,  or decline the question. 
4th Affirmative Speech (Georgetown #2): (5 minutes) The first and last  
minute of the speech are uninterruptible.  In the 2nd-4th minutes of the speech any 
opposition  debater may ask the speaker to yield to a question.  The speaker 
may accept, or decline the  question. 
4th Negative Speech (James Madison #2): (5 minutes) The first  and last 
minute of the speech are uninterruptible.  In the 2nd-4th  minutes of the speech 
any opposition debater may ask the speaker to yield to a  question.  The speaker 
may accept,  or decline the question. 
5th Affirmative Speech (Mary Washington #1):  (5 minutes) The first and last 
minute of  the speech are uninterruptible.  In  the 2nd-4th minutes of the 
speech any opposition debater  may ask the speaker to yield to a question.  The 
speaker may accept, or decline the  question. 
5th Negative Speech (Towson #1): The first and last minute of the  speech are 
uninterruptible.  In the  2nd-4th minutes of the speech any opposition 
debater may  ask the speaker to yield to a question.  The speaker may accept, or 
decline the question. 
6th Affirmative Speech (Mary Washington #2):  (4 minutes) Uninterrupted 
6th Negative Speech (Towson University #2):  (4 minutes) Uninterrupted 

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