Hi Paul,

We'd rather not exclude someone from varsity competition who debated once last year, so if you started late in the spring and only went to a couple tournaments, we'd like to still consider you a novice.

The question of whether other formats should count is an interesting one.  Someone who did collegiate LD or policy will probably have gotten a lot less useful preparation for this tournament than someone has done BP, but I can see the argument for the other side too (especially with other forms of parliamentary debate).  Perhaps in the future we will alter the standard we use, but I think that we will stick with this for now, since the invitation has already been posted in multiple places.

Best,
Eric


******************************
Eric Barnes
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Philosophy Department
Public Policy Program
Debate Coach
(315) 781-3182
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>

On Jul 25, 2012, at 10:58 AM, Paul Gross wrote:

Eric,

Your tournament looks awesome and I'm excited to attend with the Cornell squad.

Just a thought about the issue of novices. You say that novices are those who have spoken in fewer than 3 WUDC tournaments. Typically, the definition of novice that we've been using in our region is a student in his/her first year of intercollegiate debating in any format. This was the standard used at Cornell's Novice Nationals last year, as well as several other tournaments with novice breakouts in the region.

Obviously, as your tournament is probably the first of the year for most institutions, novices that attend will satisfy both definitions. Still, to avoid confusion, it might be helpful if everyone agreed on what "novice" means in the American BP circuit.

Other people's input?

Best,
Paul

On Jul 25, 2012, at 1:34 PM, "Barnes, R Eric" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:

Hey Everyone,

Attached is the invitation to the upcoming debate tournament at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY.

We hope to see you there!

Best,
Eric



******************************
Eric Barnes
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Philosophy Department
Public Policy Program
Debate Coach
(315) 781-3182
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]>

<2012 HWS FC Invite.pdf>