2008 U.S. Universities National Championship Tournament

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

On behalf of the Portland State Debate Team, I would like to invite you to the 2008 U.S. Universities National Championship Tournament, to be hosted on the Portland State Campus in downtown Portland, Oregon April 11-13, 2008. This tournament will feature 6 rounds of preliminary debate competition, with the appropriate number of elimination rounds, based on entries. The tournament will also offer 2 preliminary rounds of public speaking, with a break to finals.

The tournament will include a common briefing for all judges and competitors, as well as break-out sessions to provide training to debaters and judges new to the British Parliamentary Debate format.

This tournament is open to any school that would like to participate. International teams are particularly encouraged to join us! The registration deadline for this tournament is 5:00pm on Wednesday April 2, 2008.

I hope you will join us for this fantastic event!

Sincerely,

Christopher Richter

Director of Forensics – Portland State University
richter.christopher@gmail.com
503-490-9619

Tournament Information

Schedule

Friday, April 11
10:00 – Registration/Check-in
11:00 – Common Briefing
12:00 - Lunch
1:00 – Judging/Debating Break-Out Sessions (Required for Judges)
3:00 – Round 1 Public Speaking
4:00 – Round 1 Debate
6:00 – Round 2 Debate

Saturday, April 12
8:30 – Breakfast
9:00 – Round 3
11:00 – Round 4
1:00 – Lunch
1:00 – Coaches Meeting (Lunch Provided)
2:00 – Round 5
4:00 – Round 6
6:00 – Round 2 Public Speaking
9:00 – Tournament Social and Break Announcement

Sunday, April 13
9:00 - Breakfast
10:00 – Main Break Elimination Round 1
12:00 - Lunch
1:00 – Main Break Elimination Round 2, Novice Final Round
3:00 – Elimination Round 3
4:00 – Public Speaking Finals
5:00 - Awards

Registration
All entries must be submitted via e-mail to richter.christopher@gmail.com. Please include the number of teams, team member names, and names of adjudicators. Also, please indicate which debaters/teams are to be considered novice for awards purposes. You will receive confirmation of your registration within 48 hours. Please make all checks payable to Portland State University Forensics.

Fees
School Fee - $25
Team Fee - $60
Uncovered Team Fee - $100 (N-1 Rule Enforced)

Registration and Uncovered judge fees will be waived for all international teams. Any U.S. team that can demonstrate financial hardship may have their fees or judging requirements waived at the discretion of the tournament director.

If you happen to have any extra judges that would like to attend, we will likely be able to hire them. Please inquire when you send in entries.

Eligibility
This tournament is open to any undergraduate or graduate student seeking a degree from an accredited academic institution. Hybrids will only be allowed when an additional debater from that institution cannot be found, and a hybrid is necessary in order to compete.

For the purposes of this tournament, “Novice” will be defined as someone who has competed in fewer than 3 British Parliamentary Debate tournaments, and less than two years of competition on other collegiate debate formats.

Debate Rules
We will be following the WUDC rules, which can be found at www.debating.net/wudc.

Pairings
This tournament will feature 6 preliminary rounds of competition, and the appropriate number of out-rounds, based on the number of entries. As is common in international debate formats, it is likely that teams may face other teams from the same school in any given round, and to hit the same teams multiple times.

The tournament will be utilizing Smooth Tournament Software to produce the pairings. This is the same software that has been successfully used at Assumption worlds, as well as many local and regional tournaments.

Awards
Awards will be given to all elimination-round participants, as well as the top 10 speakers. If there are sufficient novice entries, there will be a separate final round for novice teams (that did not make the main break). The top 5 Novice speakers will also be recognized.

Travel Information
For those of you arriving by plane, you will want to fly into Portland International Airport (PDX). It is approximately 15 minutes from downtown Portland. A taxi will cost approximately $25-$35, or you can ride our light-rail system (The Max) for $1.65, which will take you into the heart of downtown.

Portland State University is an urban campus, located in downtown Portland, and is spread out over several city blocks. We will try to keep the tournament confined to three main buildings. The registration and general meeting area will be in the Smith Center, which is located at 1825 SW Broadway. Look for signs to guide you to registration.

To get to PSU (from the airport): take I-205 South to I-84 West. From I-84, merge onto I-5 Southbound. From there, merge onto the I-405 Northbound and take the 6th Ave. exit. Proceed three blocks, and turn left on Harrison Street. There you will see Parking Structure #1 on your left.

Unfortunately, because we are an urban campus, parking can be difficult. We will do our best to provide guest parking passes to tournament attendees, but we cannot guarantee sufficient supply to cover all attendees. You can pay to park in Parking Structure #1 located at 1872 SW Broadway, which is directly across the street from the Smith Center. Prices vary depending on the time of day. University Place Hotel (see below) also offers guest overnight parking for $12 a night or you can always try to find parking on the street.

Hotel
We recommend staying at the University Place Hotel located at 310 SW Lincoln Street, Portland, OR 97201, just a few blocks from campus. Rooms are furnished with 2 double beds or 1 King bed at a rate of $89 per room, per night. To make reservations call 503-221-0140 or toll free at 1-866-845-4647. There isn’t a specific “block” of rooms, just mention when reserving that you are going to be “visiting Portland State” for the $89 rate. More information about the University Place Hotel can be found at http://www.uplace.pdx.edu/.

Crash
There will be a limited amount of crash available with Portland State debaters. Preference will be given to international teams, but is open to all competitors. Please indicate whether you will need crash in your registration.

Food
Portland State has several low-cost food choices close to campus, Breakfast, including pastries, bagels, coffee, tea, and juice will be provided by the tournament on both Saturday and Sunday morning.

Recreation
Should you find the time, Portland has a variety of activities to suit any interest. Whether it is the Portland Art Museum, Powells City of Books, or Saturday Market, there’s something for everyone to do. We hope you will take the time to enjoy our great city.