1999-2000 Regular Season Resolutions
These are topics that have been submitted by various people. They have no NPDA endorsement, official or otherwise.
Parliamentary League of the Upper Midwest #1
submitted by Dr. Tom Kuster, Bethany Lutheran College
- Round 1: TH would report violations by college students to their parents.
- Round 2: TH would poke holes in the wall of separation.
- Round 3: TH deplores sports mania.
- Bronze Round: TH would be a slave to fashion.
- Gold Round: TH prefers theory to fact.
Creighton/Concordia Double-Up
- Round 1: TH values flight over might. (?)
- Round 2: TH holds the youth to be paramount.
- Round 3: TH would reform the justice system.
- Round 4: TH values peace over fairness.
- Round 5: TH prefers the bull over the bear.
- Round 6: TH should revamp the union.
- Octafinals: TH would promote mediocrity.
- Quarterfinals: TH would relocate.
Great Alaska Speakout
submitted by Steve Johnson, University of Alaska-Anchorage
- Round 1: Housing should be a basic human right.
- Round 2: The blood of Columbine is on the media's hands.
- Round 3: The right to die must be protected.
- Round 4: Private organizations should have the right to restrict their membership.
- Round 5: The adversarial model is failing us.
- Semifinal #1: Large-scale corporate mergers do more to harm than help consumers.
- Semifinal #2: Users of America's National Parks should be held accountable for their own rescues.
- Finals: The US Government owes its native peoples an apology.
Octoberwest Tournament
submitted by Will Edwards, Texas Tech University
- Round 1: Resolved: that the information age will prove to be a greater threat to the Earth's environment that the industrial age.
- Round 2: Resolved: that the quality of life does not matter.
- Round 3: Resolved: that dramatic failure is more useful than mild success.
- Round 4: TH should cut through the madness.
- Round 5: TH would cure the patients, not the disease.
- Round 6: TH should give every species equal protection.
- Quarterfinals: Resolved: that only Americans can hurt America.
- Semis: TH would change its foreign policy with the United States.
- Finals: Resolved: that humanity is overrated.
Lewis & Clark Invitational
submitted by Steve Johnson, University of Alaska-Anchorage
- Round 1: Education vouchers should not be used to fund private education.
- Round 2: A patients' bill of rights is necessary
- Round 3: Tenure for college professors is no longer necessary.
- Round 4: The government has an obligation to fund offensive art
- Round 5: Free trade is an appropriate model for the next millennium
- Round 6: Random drug testing of elementary and secondary teachers would be desirable.
- Double Octafinals: The US should ratify the nuclear test ban treaty
- Octafinals: Competition is an inappropriate model for the US educational system
- Quarterfinals: Domestic service is an appropriate role for one or more of the following branches of the US military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines.
- Semifinals: The US should punish Indonesia.
- Finals: The US judicial system dispenses inadequate justice.
Twin Cities Forensics League #1
- Round 1: Resolved: that good governors, like good children, should be seen and not heard.
- Round 2: Resolved: that the British empire should never have been dissolved.
- Round 3: Resolved: that the Miss America pageant must remain restricted to those who represent the ideal of American womanhood.
Colorado University tournament
submitted by Michelin Massey, Colorado University
- Round 1: THBT it is more important to give than it is to receive.
- Round 2: Be it resolved: the United States federal government ought to enact a policy to promote multiculturalism.
- Round 3: TH would support radical redistribution.
- Round 4: Be it resolved: that hate speech ought to be banned.
- Round 5: TH would give it up.
- Round 6: Be it resolved: tokenism is unjust.
- Octafinals: TH believes in absolute Truth.
- Quarterfinals: Be it resolved: the United States federal government should substantially change its foreign policy toward Cuba.
- Semifinals: TH hates capitalism.
- Finals: Be it resolved: that due process is overrated.
Larry Schnoor Invitational (Minnesota State University-Mankato)
All were quotations from Gov. Jesse Ventura:
- Round 1: THBT love is bigger than government.
- Round 2: TH believes you can't legislate against stupidity.
- Round 3: Resolved: the world belongs to those who show up.
- Round 4: Resolved: No person in Minnesota is ever done learning.
- Semifinals: TH supports "I'm not changing."
- Finals: THBT religion is a crutch for the weak-minded.
Central States tournament
submitted by Tim Hughes, Longview Community College
- Round 1: TH believes history is not being preserved.
- Round 2: TH would say "Thank you and Good-bye" to oil producing nation.
- Round 3: TH would boost the ego.
- Round 4: TH believes the media forms its own conclusions.
- Round 5: TH believes the cost of capitalism is excessive.
- Round 6: TH would open the adoption records.
- Quarterfinals: TH will have a Millennium brightout.
- Semifinals: TH would regress back to a child.
- Finals: TH believes "there is no place like home."
Vocal Viking (Bethany Lutheran College)
submitted by Dr. Tom Kuster, Bethany Lutheran College
- Round 1: Tax dollars should not support bad art.
- Round 2: TH would return professional sports to the fans.
- Round 3: TH would speak loudly and carry no stick at all.
- Round 4: TH would hold parents responsible.
- Semifinal: TH should ratify the treaty.
- Final: America deserves Professional Wrestling.
Todd Lewis Invitational (Biola University)
submitted by Konrad Hack, Pt. Loma Nazarene University
- Round 1: Be it resolved that the United States should adopt the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty.
- Round 2: Be it resolved that national comprehensive health care would fail.
- Round 3: Be it resolved that the government that governs least governs best.
- Round 4: Be it resolved that it is better to lead than to follow.
- Round 5: Be it resolved: Let the Wookie win.
- Round 6: TH would reform the United States welfare system.
- Octafinals: TH should embrace its feminine side.
- Quarterfinals: Be it resolved that United States hegemony is detrimental to world stability.
- Semifinals: TH would reform the United States national campaign process.
- Finals: TH would party like it's 1999.
University of Oregon
submitted by Dr. Kelly McDonald, Western Washington University
Separate topics were used in the novice and the junior/senior divisions.
Junior/Senior Topics:
- Round 1: Resolved: That when in conflict, the preservation of endangered species is more important than the protection of indigenous culture.
- Round 2: Resolved: That increased regulation of the biotechnology industry would be desirable.
- Round 3: Resolved: That alternations to the welfare system have exacerbated the problems of the poor.
- Round 4: Resolved: That the United States should significantly increase humanitarian assistance to foreign nations.
- Round 5: Resolved: That economic embargoes, on balance, are a justified tool of United States foreign policy.
- Round 6: Resolved: That the United States should end the war on drugs.
- Octafinals: Resolved: That the national news media impairs the public's understanding of political issues.
- Quarters: Resolved: When in conflict, the promotion of national sovereignty is more desirable than economic globalization.
- Semifinals: Resolved: Presidential supremacy in the area of international treaties is desirable.
- Finals: Resolved: TH would give Federal workers the right to strike.
Novice Topics:
- Round 1: Resolved: TH supports home-schooling.
- Round 2: Resolved: That gender segregation improves the quality of education.
- Round 3: Resolved: Standardized testing is an inappropriate method of measuring student performance.
- Round 4: Resolved: Increased security measures in public schools are inappropriate.
- Round 5: Resolved: TH would support the adoption of a 12 month school year.
- Round 6: Resolved: Requiring uniforms in public primary and secondary schools would be desirable.
- Octafinals: Resolved: TH would grant school newspapers first amendment rights.
- Quarters: Resolved: Vocational education is preferable to general education.
- Semifinals: Resolved: National curriculum standards undermine students' education.
- Finals: Resolved: TH would guarantee privacy rights to kindergarten through 12th grade students.
Jackrabbit Jousts (South Dakota State University)
- Round 1: Be it resolved that Parliament is a dangerous place.
- Round 2: Resolved: the customer is always right.
- Round 3: TH would teach the teachers.
- Round 4: THBT Americans take their games too seriously.
- Quarters: TH would poke the bubble.
- Semifinals: TH would abolish halloween
- Finals: THBT politics offers yesterday's answers to today's problems.
Colorado College tournament
submitted by Prof. Al Johnson, Colorado College (Emeritus)
- Round 1: Teachers' salaries should be based on students' academic performance.
- Round 2: The loophole should be closed.
- Round 3: Three-State run lotteries are undesirable.
- Round 4: Jesse Ventura is right.
- Round 5: American sexual mores are ridiculous.
- Round 6: You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
- Octafinals: We believe in things that go bump in the night.
- Quarterfinals: The ethical cost of selling human eggs outweigh the potential benefits.
- Semifinals: If at first you don't succeed, quit.
- Finals: The debt of the third world should be forgiven.
The Great Wide Open tournament
submitted by Jessica Nelson, Texas Tech University
- Round 1: Resolved: Protection of the environment should take precedence over global development.
- Round 2: THBT Bigotry can be treated, but never cured.
- Round 3: Resolved: NASA is a waste of space.
- Round 4: Resolved: A society ought not become too civilized lest it lose its appetite for war.
- Round 5: Resolved: Happiness is a poor index of virtue.
- Round 6: Resolved: The USFG should substantially change its foreign policy with South Africa.
- Quarterfinals: Resolved: The Information Age gives the wrong people too much information.
- Semifinals: Resolved: Americans have too many rights and not enough responsibilities.
- Finals: THBT: Our reflections are more accurate than our selves.
Parliamentary League of the Upper Midwest #3
submitted by Dr. Tom Kuster, Bethany Lutheran College
- Round 1: TH would eliminate the subsidy.
- Round 2: TH would mandate gun safety education in all U.S. schools.
- Round 3: TH would be guided by the youth.
- Bronze Round: TH prefers restraint to activism.
- Gold Round: Resolved: love is over-rated.
Grossmont College
submitted by Skip Rutledge, Pt. Loma Nazarene University
- Round 1: TH supports more stringent limitations on campaign contributions.
- Round 2: TH would increase partnerships between government and private enterprise.
- Round 3: Resolved: You sell the sizzle not the steak.
- Round 4: Resolved: Silence is violence.
- Round 5: THBT the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
- Round 6: Resolved: TH believes rewards work better than punishments.
- Elimination Round 1: Resolved: Technology dehumanizes.
- Elimination Round 2: THBT the Media has gone too far.
- Elimination Round 3: TH would break the glass ceiling.
- Elimination Round 4: THBT the ends do not justify the means.
Epicenter Classic (California State University-Northridge)
submitted by Bill Sheffield, Cal State-Northridge
- Round 1: THBT the blind are leading the blind.
- Round 2: TH would intervene in Chechnya.
- Round 3: THBT the end is near.
- Round 4: TH would discontinue federal control of state prisons.
- Round 5: TH supports prayer in public schools.
- Round 6: TH would catch 'em all!
- Double-Octafinals: TH would increase the minimum wage.
- Octafinals: THBT increase relations with China would be detrimental to the United States.
- Quarterfinals: TH would be apathetic.
- Semifinals: THBT the buck stops here.
- Finals: THBT maintaining the current level of health care funding is more important than paying United Nations back dues.
University of Wisconsin-River Falls
- Round 1: Zero-tolerance policies are inconsistent with public education.
- Round 2: Violence defines American culture.
- Final Round: Society, as we know it, will cease to exist on midnight, December 31, 1999
THBT Classic
submitted by Dr. Tom Kuster, Bethany Lutheran College
- Round 1: Resolved: If science can do it, science should do it.
- Round 2: THBT the importance of rights outweighs the importance of responsibilities.
- Round 3: TH would tell Virginia there is no Santa Claus.
- Round 4: TH would apply cosmetics.
- Round 5: TH would not want to be a millionaire.
- Round 6: THBT the US isn't the world power it thinks it is.
- Round 7: THBT reason is overrated.
- Semifinals: TH prefers the study of literature over the study of science.
- Finals: TH prefers analog to digital.
PSCFA
submitted by Matt Taylor, Cal State-Long Beach
- Round 1: Resolved: That violence and progressive dissent ought to be mutually exclusive
- Round 2: Resolved: That radical change is superior to incremental change.
- Round 3: Resolved: That political and legal equivocation of Judeo Christian marriage with civil marriage is unjustified
- Round 4: Resolved: That on balance, free trade benefits more than it costs.
- Round 5: Resolved: That supporting indigenous efforts at independence is more important than respecting state sovereignty
- Round 6: Resolved: That the means of police interrogation are less important that the ends.
- Elim 1: Resolved: That socialism is superior to capitalism as a means of achieving economic justice
- Elim 2: Resolved: That the courts and legislature have overreacted to sexual harassment in the workplace
- Elim 3: Resolved: That carrots are better than sticks in foreign policy
- Elim 4: Resolved: That on balance, resources spent on space exploration would be better used if directed toward the exploration of earth.
Aleutian to Cascade Swing (Oregon State University)
submitted by Dr. Trischa Goodnow, Oregon State University
- Round 1: America has emphasized individual rights to the detriment of community
- Round 2: The consumption of pornography is immoral
- Round 3: Charity should be mandatory
- Round 4: Legitimate equality requires that we ignore race
- Round 5: National sovereignty should give way to free trade
- Round 6: Civility should be enforced
- Octafinals: TH would give to each according to their needs
- Quarterfinals: The state should encourage parents to stay home with their children
- Semifinals: TH would change its attitude
- Finals: TH would break with tradition
Frank-ly Speaking Tournament (College of DuPage)
- Round 1: TH values the will of the parent over the will of the government.
- Round 2: THBT the Presidential primary process should be overhauled.
- Round 3: TH would abolish snow.
- Round 4: TH would make the armed forces hold bake sales in order to buy missles.
- Round 5: TH would advocate and teach abstinence only in sexual education classes.
- Round 6: TH would let the good times roll.
Parliamentary League of the Upper Midwest #4
submitted by Dr. Tom Kuster, Bethany Lutheran College
- Round 1: TH would force accountability back into the family.
- Round 2: TH would go on a diet.
- Round 3: TH believes that the entertainment industry is over-rated.
Parliamentary League of the Upper Midwest #5
submitted by Dr. Tom Kuster, Bethany Lutheran College
- Round 1: THBT the voting age should be lowered to age 16.
- Round 2: THBT two is better than one.
- Round 3: TH would impose a speed limit on the technological super highway.
- Bronze Round: TH would change the dining plan.
- Gold Round: TH prefers the movie to the book.
Northwest Forensics Conference (Whitman College) tournament
submitted by Brian Simmonds, Whitman College
- Round 1: TH would substantially change how affirmative action works
- Round 2: TH would establish a Marshall Plan toward Africa
- Round 3: TH would place a moratorium on capital punishment
- Round 4: TH would end racial profiling
- Round 5: TH would force libraries to install filtering software on their Internet terminals
- Round 6: TH would adopt a policy of engagement toward Iran
- Quarterfinals: TH values China over Taiwan
- Semifinals: THBT increased civilian review of police departments would be a good idea
- Finals: Resolved: International development aid needs to take into account the legitimate security needs of developing countries
Western States Communication Association Tournament
submitted by Jennifer DeButts, University of California-San Diego
- Round 1: TH would report violations by college students to their parents
- Round 2: TH would mandate gun safety education in the schools
- Round 3: Resolved: Dramatic failure is more useful than mild success
- Round 4: Be it resolved: when in conflict, individual rights take precedence over government rights
- Round 5: TH believes the customer is always right.
- Round 6: The presidential primary process should be repaired
- Double Octafinals: Resolved: Protection of the environment should take precedence over global development.
- Octafinals: THBT silence means consent.
National Christian College Forensics Invitiational
submitted by Konrad Hack, Pt. Loma Nazarene University
- Round 1: BIRT Christians should not drink alcohol.
- Round 2: BIRT the adversarial model is inappropriate for Christianity.
- Round 3: TH supports comprehensive national health care.
- Round 4: TH should place less reliance on the international monetary fund.
- Round 5: BIRT the goals of the welfare system are contradictory to the goals of Christianity.
- Round 6: TH believes in the separation of Church and state.
- Quarters: BIRT the Tower of Babel is being reconstructed.
- Semis: BIRT the United States government should ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.
- Finals: BIRT the United States has a moral duty to protect Taiwan.
Pre-Nationals Tournament (Longview CC)
submitted by Tim Hughes, Longview Community College
- Round 1: TH would not offset 200 years of racism.
- Round 2: TH should abandon its pursuit of landing on Mars.
- Round 3: TH would have a national presidential primary.
- Round 4: TH should lower academic standards to prevent test anxiety.
- Round 5: TH would invest in the stock market.
- Round 6: TH would repeal the Miranda Rule.
- Quarterfinals: TH owes no explanation to the media.
- Semifinals: TH would sell its eggs to infertile women.
- Finals: TH longs for interactive television.
18th Novice Nationals
- Round 1: TH would keep the treasure buried.
- Round 2: BIRT no problem is too big to run away from.
- Round 3: This class would go online.
- Round 4: TH agrees with one China.
- Round 5: TH would be a slave to fashion.
- Quarters: TH would wait its turn.
- Semis: TH should rock the boat.
- Finals: Resolved: the customer is always right.
Phi Rho Pi Nationals
submitted by Beth Pramme, Diablo Valley College
- Round 1: It is better to be well read than well fed.
- Round 2: Ethical leadership is not as important as effective leadership.
- Round 3: Patriotism: a lost art
- Round 4: Art is like a shark, it must move forward or it will die.
- Round 5: TH would substantially restrict visitors to the National Parks
- Round 6: Resolved: The USFG should substantially increase restrictions on gun manufactuers.
- Semifinals: Resolved: let it be
- Finals: TH values human rights over state sovereignty