Hurricane Debates Invitation – 2017
Hello!
The University of Miami Debate Team and the School of Communication would like to invite you to the Hurricane Debates held at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida from January 3-6, 2017!
The Hurricane Debates is a college policy debate tournament and will offer 10 rounds in the Varsity divisionand 8 rounds in the Junior Varsity and Novice divisions over four days of competition.
We hope you will join us for some fun in the sun!
Sincerely,
David Steinberg, Patrick Waldinger and Oliver Brass
Director of Debate, Assistant Director of Debate and Graduate Student & Assistant Coach
University of Miami
Why Miami?
There is an average high of 76 and average low of 60 in January.
The food! We offer a variety of local cuisine unique to Miami: Cuban pastries, Argentinean empanadas and much more!
Winner of the Varsity division receives a traveling trophy of a plate designed specifically for the Hurricane Debates by Cuban artist, Sauma (pictured above). A big trophy for the Novice and JV champions as well.
Because you want to visit before you need scuba gear.
When else can you say, “In round 10…”?
You can party in the city where the heat is on. All night, on the beach till the break of dawn.
Format, Tabulation & Administration
The Hurricane Debates will offer 10 rounds in the Varsity division and 8 rounds in the Junior Varsity and Novice divisions on the intercollegiate debate topic. Each round will follow the standard college policy debate format of 9-6-3 with 10 minutes of preparation time.
The topic for the Hurricane Debates will be the current 2016-17Cross-Examination Debate Association (CEDA) intercollegiate debate resolution: “Resolved: The United States Federal Government should establish a domestic climate policy, including at least substantially increasing restrictions on private sector emissions of greenhouse gases in the United States.”
The Hurricane Debates will be sanctioned by the American Debate Association (ADA) and the Cross-Examination Debate Association (CEDA) and the American Forensic Association (AFA).
Stefan Bauschard will run the tabulation, using Tabroom.com with online balloting. David Steinberg will assist in the tab room. The tournament will use a mutual preference system of judge placement. The tournament is committed to promoting a diverse pool of judges.
University of Miami debaters will be able to participate in the debates in all divisions and can break and earn speaker awards. Any judge placement or other tab room decision regarding the University of Miami will be conducted by Stefan Bauschard only, without any input or knowledge from anyone affiliated with the University of Miami.
Entries
Entries will be accepted on Tabroom.com in all three divisions – Varsity, Junior Varsity and Novice. Entries will close on December 21, 2016and fees will freeze on December 23, 2016. We encourage you to add the total number in your party and specify dietary restrictions when you register so we can better prepare our hospitality.
Hybrid entries are welcome and eligible to clear. For the purposes of ADA tournaments, a debate team is defined as the two-person team that begins the first round of the tournament and who debate together throughout the course of the tournament.
Judging
Each school must provide 5 rounds of prelim judging per Varsity team and 4 rounds of prelim judging per JV and Novice team. Each judge is obligated through the VarsityOctofinals. After the Varsity Octofinals, all judges are committed to judge one round past the point of their school’s elimination from the tournament.
In preliminary rounds, judges are expected to render a decision within 2:30 of the announced start time. In elimination rounds, judges are expected to render a decision within 2:45 of the announced start time. If the judge is unable to make a decision within the appropriate time parameters for that round, the tab room will randomly decide a winner by coin flip. Judges must vote for one and only one team in each debate.
Fees & Payment
The fees for the tournament will be as follows:
$165 per Open Team
$140 per JV/Novice Team
$70 per Observer/Judge/Coach
Cash: Yes
Checks: Please make checks payable to “UM Debate”.
Credit Cards: We can accept American Express, Visa, Mastercard or Discover cards for payment through the School of Communication website:
If you pay online by credit card, please FORWARD a copy of your receipt to .
Hospitality
We will provide full breakfast all 4 days, lunch the first 3 days, and dinner on the 2ndday. We will also provide snacks during the tournament. We will provide speaker awards and awards for those who reach out rounds in all the divisions. Winner of the Varsity division receives a traveling trophy of a plate designed specifically for the Hurricane Debates by Cuban artist,Sauma (pictured above). A big trophy for the Novice and JV champions as well.
Hotel
We have a secured a block with the Aloft Dadeland hotel. This is formerly the Hotel Indigo and Miami Dadeland Hotels we have used in the past. They completely remodeled the hotel and it has a great bar and pool area, as well as guest rooms.
They are giving us a rate of $135/night + tax. You can book from January 2 through January 7.
Be mindful of the December 1 block deadline. There is no guarantee we can get more rooms after the deadlines since it is a busy time of year.
Aloft Dadeland Hotel at $135/night + taxfrom 1/2-1/7
7600 N Kendall Drive, Miami, FL 33156 -
Group Link:
Or call (855) 811-0225 and requesting a reservation under the University of Miami-Hurricane Debates block
Block Closes: December 1, 2016
Airports
There are several options to fly into the South Florida area.
We would recommend flying into the Miami International Airport (MIA) or Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL). The Miami airport is 12.1 miles or about 20-30 minutes from the Miami Dadeland Hotel, depending on traffic. The Ft. Lauderdale airport is about 40 miles away or about 45-60 minutes from the area hotels, depending on traffic.
While Miami’s airport is closer and more convenient, the UM Debate team often flies in and out of Ft. Lauderdale due to cost. Ft. Lauderdale hosts several of the budget airline carriers, such as JetBlue and Southwest.
We would discourage you from flying into the West Palm Beach Airport (WPB), even though it often comes up in the search for “nearby airports” for Miami. The West Palm airport is 83.4 miles or about 1.5 hoursfrom the area hotels.
Transportation in Miami
We encourage you to have a vehicle if you want to expand your dining options or take your talents to South Beach at some time during the trip.
Since both work and schools will be back in session, traffic will be heavy on the mornings of the rounds. We will try to provide directions to avoid some of the worst areas but please be advised.
Miami does have a Metrorail. You could take it from the Miami International Airport (MIA) to the Downtown Dadeland area which is about a 15 minute walk to the Miami Dadeland Hotel. The Metrorail does stop at University of Miami and is about a 10-15 minute walk from the train to the School of Communication. The Metrorail will go downtown but NOT over to South Beach. For more information:
Miami has both Uber and Lyft options as well.
Conduct
All participants debate at the invitation of the University of Miami according to its tournament rules and the rules the University holds generally for conduct of guests while on campus. The Tournament will abide by all rules of the ADA, CEDA and the AFA related to tournament operation and contestant, judge and coach conduct.Please remember that our ability to host is contingent on following campus rules and keeping the campus clean.
Tobacco Free Campus
The University of Miami is a tobacco free campus. However, the School of Communication is on the edge of campus so we request you make the modest walk off the campus if you must use tobacco. If someone from the University asks you to cease tobacco use, we ask that you politely acquiesce. If you do use tobacco at the tournament, we ask that you clean up after yourself.
Accessibility
If you are in need of accommodations, please let Stefan and Patrick know-- and . All of our classrooms are wheelchair accessible. We will designate a Quiet Room to allow participants to relax and regain composure. We will designate a breastfeeding room. There are gender neutral bathrooms on campus. We have a list of rental car and car services that accommodate wheelchairs. The University of Miami’s Office of Disability Services (ODS) is located in the Camner Academic Resource Center in Whitten University Center N201. ODS staff can be reached at 305-284-2374 (Voice), 305-284-3401 (TDD).
Internet
The University of Miami has a guest network, CanesGuest, to access the internet. Just log on and accept the terms.
Parking
There is a parking lot outside of the School of Communication, 5100 Brunson Drive. Like last year, we are working on getting free parking because school is out of session. If we cannot obtain free parking, we will hand out parking passes for campus at registration. There is accessible parking in the lot and it is adjacent to the food and competition rooms.
Tentative Tournament Schedule
Monday, January 2
We will do remote registration on this day so fly in when you can.
Approximately 8pm -- Pairings Released for Rounds 1-4 in Varsity; 1 & 2 in JV and Novice
Tuesday, January 3**
7:00am – Breakfast
8:00am – Round 1
11:00am – Round 2
12:30pm – Lunch
2:00pm – Round 3
5:00pm – Round 4
**First 4 rounds in Varsity will be pre-paired; First 2 rounds in JV/Novice will be pre-paired.
Wednesday, January 4**
7:00am – Breakfast
8:00am – Round 5
11:00 am – Round 6
12:30pm – Lunch
2:45pm – Round 7
6:30pm – Round 8
**Rounds 5 & 6 will be lagged paired.
Thursday, January 5
7:00am – Breakfast
8:00am – Varsity Round 9
JV/Novice First Outround
12:00pm – Varsity Round 10
JV/Novice Outrounds Continue
1:45pm – Lunch
3:00pm – Awards
4:30pm – Varsity Doubles
JV/Novice Outrounds continue as necessary
Friday, January 6
7:00am – Breakfast
8:00am – Varsity Octos
ASAP (approx. 11:45am) – Varsity Quarters
ASAP (approx. 3:00pm) -- Varsity Semis
ASAP (approx. 6:45pm) – Varsity Finals
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