USC MissingLink
08-16-02, 05:33 PM
Contact: becky.opsata@csun.edu
2002 Epicenter Classic
November 8-10, 2002
California State University at Northridge
Dear Forensics Colleagues:
        On behalf of the CSUN Forensics Society and the Department of Communication Studies at CSU-Northridge, we would like to invite you to participate in the 2002 Epicenter Classic. Competition will be held from November 8-10, 2002 on our campus.
        California State University at Northridge is located in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. It is easily (and inexpensively) served by both Los Angeles International Airport and Burbank International Airport. Travel times from either airport to our campus are usually under 30 minutes. The Airtel Plaza will again be the tournament hotel, which is offering an excellent rate for our event.
        This will be full service tournament offering three preliminary rounds in all 11 AFA individual events (both novice and open when possible), two divisions of NPDA Parliamentary Debate, and three divisions of policy debate. We will have six debate prelims and the appropriate number of out-rounds. In the past, we have had strong regional and national representation in all three events. Last year both divisions of NPDA went to doubles, most individual events went to semis in two divisions, and all three divisions of policy went to quarters. This year we have altered the IE and Parli schedule significantly from last year: we have divided the A and B events into separate days, we have moved another parli round to Friday, and have tried to make a workable schedule that allows for as many rounds as we have and yet allows everyone to get on the road home as soon as possible.
        We have assembled a top-notch tabulation staff with decades of tabulation experience among them. Dr. Jeanine Congalton of CSU-Fullerton, Erick Roebuck of BIOLA, and Konrad Hack of Azusa Pacific will be administering the individual events tab. The debate tab room will be Shawn Whalen of San Francisco State University, Dr. Jon Bruschke of CSU-Fullerton, Lisa Kawamura of Cal Poly SLO, and Greg Achten of Pepperdine University.
        We are committed to and will uphold the ethical standards outlined in the CEDA Statement on Discrimination and Sexual Harassment and the AFA Code of Ethics.
        Please contact us with any questions you may have about our tournament. November is a great time to visit Los Angeles and we are confident we will host excellent competition.
        Sincerely,
        Becky Opsata                        Romy Tcherkazian
Director of Forensics                Almetria Vaba
                                        Jed Link
                                        Kelli Glazebrook
                                        Assistant Coaches
Hotel Information
        We are pleased to have retained the same hotel as in the recent past at the same rate as last year. The Airtel Plaza Hotel is a 15-minute drive from campus and is easily accessible off Interstate 405. The rates per night are $71.00 for a single or double room. Rollaways will be available for $10.00 each. The rates are significantly discounted off their normal rates and are quite good for Los Angeles. THE LAST DAY RESERVATIONS IN THE BLOCK WILL BE TAKEN IS OCTOBER 24, 2002.        
        The phone number for the hotel is (818) 997-7676 or (800) 2-AIRTEL. Please use the code “CSUN DEBATE TOURNAMENT” to receive these rates. The hotel address is 7277 Valjean Avenue, Van Nuys, CA, 91406-3425.
Directions
        * To the Hotel
                From 405 Freeway South: Exit at Sherman Way. This exits onto Haskell Avenue. Make a left turn on Haskell and an immediate right turn onto Sherman Way. Go approximately one mile to Valjean Avenue. Turn right onto Valjean. Hotel is on your left.
                From 405 Freeway North: Exit at Sherman Way/Reseda. Proceed west onto Sherman Way. Go approximately one mile to Valjean Avenue. Turn right onto Valjean. Hotel on left.
        * To CSUN
                From 405 North: Exit at Nordhoff. Go left under the interstate. About 5 miles down Nordhoff the school will be on your right. Tournament HQ is in Manzanita Hall on the southwestern corner of campus.
               
                From 405 South: Exit at Nordhoff. Go right off ramp. About 5 miles down Nordhoff the school will be on your right. Tournament HQ is in Manzanita Hall on the southwestern corner of campus.
        * From the Hotel to CSUN
                From the parking lot of the hotel, turn right on Sherman Way. About 5 miles is Reseda Street. Go right on Reseda for about 3 miles. At a major stoplight, turn right on Nordhoff. School is 2 blocks on your left. Tournament HQ is in Manzanita Hall on the southwestern corner of campus – just as you come to campus.
       
Parking on Campus
                You will want to park in student lots B1 or B3. They are located at the corner of Nordhoff and Darby – on the very southwest corner of campus. On Friday, buy a one-day pass from the automatic vending machine at the entry to lot B1 on Darby Street. Saturday and Sunday you won’t need passes, they should not be ticketing over the weekend.
Events
        Team Policy Debate:
                We will have six preliminary rounds on the 2002-2003 CEDA resolution with appropriate numbers of elimination rounds per division. There will be three divisions (Novice/Junior/Open). We will follow CEDA rules for eligibility. If collapsing of divisions is warranted, it will be our priority to maintain a pure novice division first. Time limits will be 9-3-6 with 10 minutes of prep. Rounds 1 and 2 will be preset, 3 and 4 will be lagged off 1 and 2, and 5 and 6 will be powered separately. Teams will advance to elimination rounds based on the following criteria: win/loss, total speaker points, adjusted speaker points, double-adjusted speaker points, and ranks. Brackets will not be broken. Policy debaters will not be able to participate in individual events. CSUN students may compete, but will not be eligible to clear or for speaker awards. One critic covers two debate teams. A policy critic cannot judge IE’s or Parli, since they will be run concurrently.
                Policy Schedule:
        Friday, November 8
                11:00 – 1:00 Registration, Manzanita Hall
                1:30 Release pairings at Manzanita Hall
                2:00 Round 1
                4:30 Round 2
                Saturday, November 9
                8:00 Release pairings at hotel and school. Light breakfast at school.
                9:00 Round 3
                11:30 Round 4
                1:00 – 2:00 Lunch (provided)
                3:00 Round 5
                6:00 Round 6
                10:00 Posting of teams clearing at hotel and Coaches function at hotel in                                Opsata Suite
                Sunday, November 10
                8:00 First elim pairing released at hotel and school. Light breakfast at                                school.
                9:00 First elimination round
                Immediately following 1st elim: Policy awards ceremony
                Other rounds to follow as appropriate
       
Team Parliamentary Debate – NPDA:
                We will offer two divisions (novice/open), following NPDA eligibility rules. There will be six preliminary rounds, followed by the appropriate number of elimination rounds. Teams will use the 7-8-8-8-4-5 format, with 15 minutes of prep time. Topics will be political in nature, divided between domestic and international focused. The first two rounds will be preset and then rounds 3 and 4 will be powered off 1 and 2. Rounds 5 and 6 will not be lagged. Teams will advance to elimination rounds based on the following criteria: win/loss, total speaker points, adjusted speaker points, double-adjusted speaker points, and ranks. Brackets will not be broken. Parli debaters will be able to participate in individual events. CSUN students may compete, but will not be eligible to clear or for speaker awards. One critic covers two debate teams. A parli judge can also cover IE slots, but cannot judge policy debate since they will run concurrently.
        Individual Events
                There will be THREE preliminary rounds followed by the appropriate number of elimination rounds. We will offer two divisions in each event, but reserve the right to collapse divisions if necessary (novice/open). For novice division, contestants should be in their first year of competition in either high school or college. We will have all 11 AFA events, and AFA rules will govern each event. Pattern groups will be as follows:
        A: Extemp, Prose, Duo, Informative, POI, CA
        B: Impromptu, Poetry, Persuasive, ADS, DI
In the interest of student wellness, students will be allowed to enter no more than two events per pattern. Students may compete in two duos with two different partners. Competitors may not use selections used in competition prior to September 1, 2002. CSUN students may compete and advance to elimination rounds. One critic covers five IE slots per pattern. An IE judge can also cover parli, but cannot judge policy debate since they will run concurrently.
       
        I.E. and Parli Schedule
        Friday, November 8
        11:00 – 1:00 Registration, Manzanita Hall
        1:30         Release parli pairings at Manzanita Hall
        2:00         Parli Round 1
        3:15         Parli Round 2
                Light snacks will be provided at Manzanita Hall
        5:15         Parli Round 3
        6:30        Parli Round 4
        6:00 – 8:00 IE only registration, Manzanita Hall
        Saturday, November 9
7:45        IE Pairings released at Manzanita Hall. Light breakfast provided at school
8:00        Extemp Draw
        8:30        Pattern A, Round 1
        9:45        Extemp Draw
        10:00        Pattern A, Round 2
        11:15        Parli Round 5
        12:00 – 2:00 Lunch provided at Manzanita
12:45        Extemp Draw
        1:00        Pattern A, Round 3
        2:15        Parli Round 6
        3:45        Pattern A Semi’s (and A events that go straight to finals)
        5:00        Parli Double-Octa finals
        6:30        Pattern A Finals
        7:45        Parli Octa-finals
        10:00        Coaches gathering at hotel, Opsata Suite
        Sunday, November 10
        7:45         IE Pairings released at MZ. Light breakfast provided at school.
8:00        Pattern B, Round 1
        9:15        Parli Quarters
        10:45        Pattern B, Round 2
        12:00        Pattern B, Round 3
        1:00 – 2:00        Pizza slices for sale at MZ
1:15        Parli Semi’s       
        2:30        Pattern B Semi’s (and B events that go straight to finals)
        4:15        Pattern B Finals
        4:45        Parli Finals*
        6:30        Awards Ceremony
* The tentative plan is to have the open parli finals in the auditorium where the awards will be, so everyone can watch! This will be finalized and announced that weekend.
Fees
        Each debate team entry is $65.00 and each individual events entry is $10.00 ($12.00 for duo). Each uncovered parli debate team will be $80.00 and policy debate team will be $100.00. Each uncovered IE slot will be $10.00. Each critic will cover two debate teams. Each IE critic will cover five slots per pattern.
Policy judges cannot judge IE slots or parli teams (or vice versa) since policy will run independently and concurrently with parli and IE’s. (If you have one parli team and one policy team: one judge can cover both for fee assesment purposes, but will have to choose which pool they want to be placed in). One judge can cover both IE’s and Parli, but they will be tired! Fees will be set at NOON on Wednesday, November 6; schools should expect to pay the set fee amount at registration regardless of subsequent drops to the setting of fees.
       
Sweepstakes Awards
        Sweepstakes trophies will be awarded to (1) the top three debate schools; (2) the top three IE schools; (3) the top three community colleges and (4) to the top three schools overall. The following formula will be used for sweepstakes calculation:
IE: (top 3 competitors per school per event)
1st = 10 pts        2nd = 8 pts        3rd = 6pts        finalist = 3 pts        semi’s = 1 pt
Debate: (top 3 teams in each division per school)
3 points for each prelim win plus 2 points for each team that clears.
Contact Information
        If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call.
        Becky Opsata, Director of Forensics
        (818) 677-3043 or email becky.opsata@csun.edu
Entry Procedure
* Please submit your entry via email or fax. You will receive emailed confirmation if you include your address.
FAX TO: Becky Opsata, Director of Forensics
                (818) 677-2663
OR EMAIL ENTRY TO: becky.opsata@csun.edu
* Please include participant names, their events, and their division of entry. Once again, the offered divisions are:
        Policy: Novice/JV/Open
        Parli: Novice/Open
        IE: Novice/Open
If you neglect to list their division of entry, the student will be defaulted into open.
* Please include your contact information and school name.
* Please include judge information including conflicts and levels of competition they are eligible to judge.
2002 Epicenter Classic
November 8-10, 2002
California State University at Northridge
Dear Forensics Colleagues:
        On behalf of the CSUN Forensics Society and the Department of Communication Studies at CSU-Northridge, we would like to invite you to participate in the 2002 Epicenter Classic. Competition will be held from November 8-10, 2002 on our campus.
        California State University at Northridge is located in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. It is easily (and inexpensively) served by both Los Angeles International Airport and Burbank International Airport. Travel times from either airport to our campus are usually under 30 minutes. The Airtel Plaza will again be the tournament hotel, which is offering an excellent rate for our event.
        This will be full service tournament offering three preliminary rounds in all 11 AFA individual events (both novice and open when possible), two divisions of NPDA Parliamentary Debate, and three divisions of policy debate. We will have six debate prelims and the appropriate number of out-rounds. In the past, we have had strong regional and national representation in all three events. Last year both divisions of NPDA went to doubles, most individual events went to semis in two divisions, and all three divisions of policy went to quarters. This year we have altered the IE and Parli schedule significantly from last year: we have divided the A and B events into separate days, we have moved another parli round to Friday, and have tried to make a workable schedule that allows for as many rounds as we have and yet allows everyone to get on the road home as soon as possible.
        We have assembled a top-notch tabulation staff with decades of tabulation experience among them. Dr. Jeanine Congalton of CSU-Fullerton, Erick Roebuck of BIOLA, and Konrad Hack of Azusa Pacific will be administering the individual events tab. The debate tab room will be Shawn Whalen of San Francisco State University, Dr. Jon Bruschke of CSU-Fullerton, Lisa Kawamura of Cal Poly SLO, and Greg Achten of Pepperdine University.
        We are committed to and will uphold the ethical standards outlined in the CEDA Statement on Discrimination and Sexual Harassment and the AFA Code of Ethics.
        Please contact us with any questions you may have about our tournament. November is a great time to visit Los Angeles and we are confident we will host excellent competition.
        Sincerely,
        Becky Opsata                        Romy Tcherkazian
Director of Forensics                Almetria Vaba
                                        Jed Link
                                        Kelli Glazebrook
                                        Assistant Coaches
Hotel Information
        We are pleased to have retained the same hotel as in the recent past at the same rate as last year. The Airtel Plaza Hotel is a 15-minute drive from campus and is easily accessible off Interstate 405. The rates per night are $71.00 for a single or double room. Rollaways will be available for $10.00 each. The rates are significantly discounted off their normal rates and are quite good for Los Angeles. THE LAST DAY RESERVATIONS IN THE BLOCK WILL BE TAKEN IS OCTOBER 24, 2002.        
        The phone number for the hotel is (818) 997-7676 or (800) 2-AIRTEL. Please use the code “CSUN DEBATE TOURNAMENT” to receive these rates. The hotel address is 7277 Valjean Avenue, Van Nuys, CA, 91406-3425.
Directions
        * To the Hotel
                From 405 Freeway South: Exit at Sherman Way. This exits onto Haskell Avenue. Make a left turn on Haskell and an immediate right turn onto Sherman Way. Go approximately one mile to Valjean Avenue. Turn right onto Valjean. Hotel is on your left.
                From 405 Freeway North: Exit at Sherman Way/Reseda. Proceed west onto Sherman Way. Go approximately one mile to Valjean Avenue. Turn right onto Valjean. Hotel on left.
        * To CSUN
                From 405 North: Exit at Nordhoff. Go left under the interstate. About 5 miles down Nordhoff the school will be on your right. Tournament HQ is in Manzanita Hall on the southwestern corner of campus.
               
                From 405 South: Exit at Nordhoff. Go right off ramp. About 5 miles down Nordhoff the school will be on your right. Tournament HQ is in Manzanita Hall on the southwestern corner of campus.
        * From the Hotel to CSUN
                From the parking lot of the hotel, turn right on Sherman Way. About 5 miles is Reseda Street. Go right on Reseda for about 3 miles. At a major stoplight, turn right on Nordhoff. School is 2 blocks on your left. Tournament HQ is in Manzanita Hall on the southwestern corner of campus – just as you come to campus.
       
Parking on Campus
                You will want to park in student lots B1 or B3. They are located at the corner of Nordhoff and Darby – on the very southwest corner of campus. On Friday, buy a one-day pass from the automatic vending machine at the entry to lot B1 on Darby Street. Saturday and Sunday you won’t need passes, they should not be ticketing over the weekend.
Events
        Team Policy Debate:
                We will have six preliminary rounds on the 2002-2003 CEDA resolution with appropriate numbers of elimination rounds per division. There will be three divisions (Novice/Junior/Open). We will follow CEDA rules for eligibility. If collapsing of divisions is warranted, it will be our priority to maintain a pure novice division first. Time limits will be 9-3-6 with 10 minutes of prep. Rounds 1 and 2 will be preset, 3 and 4 will be lagged off 1 and 2, and 5 and 6 will be powered separately. Teams will advance to elimination rounds based on the following criteria: win/loss, total speaker points, adjusted speaker points, double-adjusted speaker points, and ranks. Brackets will not be broken. Policy debaters will not be able to participate in individual events. CSUN students may compete, but will not be eligible to clear or for speaker awards. One critic covers two debate teams. A policy critic cannot judge IE’s or Parli, since they will be run concurrently.
                Policy Schedule:
        Friday, November 8
                11:00 – 1:00 Registration, Manzanita Hall
                1:30 Release pairings at Manzanita Hall
                2:00 Round 1
                4:30 Round 2
                Saturday, November 9
                8:00 Release pairings at hotel and school. Light breakfast at school.
                9:00 Round 3
                11:30 Round 4
                1:00 – 2:00 Lunch (provided)
                3:00 Round 5
                6:00 Round 6
                10:00 Posting of teams clearing at hotel and Coaches function at hotel in                                Opsata Suite
                Sunday, November 10
                8:00 First elim pairing released at hotel and school. Light breakfast at                                school.
                9:00 First elimination round
                Immediately following 1st elim: Policy awards ceremony
                Other rounds to follow as appropriate
       
Team Parliamentary Debate – NPDA:
                We will offer two divisions (novice/open), following NPDA eligibility rules. There will be six preliminary rounds, followed by the appropriate number of elimination rounds. Teams will use the 7-8-8-8-4-5 format, with 15 minutes of prep time. Topics will be political in nature, divided between domestic and international focused. The first two rounds will be preset and then rounds 3 and 4 will be powered off 1 and 2. Rounds 5 and 6 will not be lagged. Teams will advance to elimination rounds based on the following criteria: win/loss, total speaker points, adjusted speaker points, double-adjusted speaker points, and ranks. Brackets will not be broken. Parli debaters will be able to participate in individual events. CSUN students may compete, but will not be eligible to clear or for speaker awards. One critic covers two debate teams. A parli judge can also cover IE slots, but cannot judge policy debate since they will run concurrently.
        Individual Events
                There will be THREE preliminary rounds followed by the appropriate number of elimination rounds. We will offer two divisions in each event, but reserve the right to collapse divisions if necessary (novice/open). For novice division, contestants should be in their first year of competition in either high school or college. We will have all 11 AFA events, and AFA rules will govern each event. Pattern groups will be as follows:
        A: Extemp, Prose, Duo, Informative, POI, CA
        B: Impromptu, Poetry, Persuasive, ADS, DI
In the interest of student wellness, students will be allowed to enter no more than two events per pattern. Students may compete in two duos with two different partners. Competitors may not use selections used in competition prior to September 1, 2002. CSUN students may compete and advance to elimination rounds. One critic covers five IE slots per pattern. An IE judge can also cover parli, but cannot judge policy debate since they will run concurrently.
       
        I.E. and Parli Schedule
        Friday, November 8
        11:00 – 1:00 Registration, Manzanita Hall
        1:30         Release parli pairings at Manzanita Hall
        2:00         Parli Round 1
        3:15         Parli Round 2
                Light snacks will be provided at Manzanita Hall
        5:15         Parli Round 3
        6:30        Parli Round 4
        6:00 – 8:00 IE only registration, Manzanita Hall
        Saturday, November 9
7:45        IE Pairings released at Manzanita Hall. Light breakfast provided at school
8:00        Extemp Draw
        8:30        Pattern A, Round 1
        9:45        Extemp Draw
        10:00        Pattern A, Round 2
        11:15        Parli Round 5
        12:00 – 2:00 Lunch provided at Manzanita
12:45        Extemp Draw
        1:00        Pattern A, Round 3
        2:15        Parli Round 6
        3:45        Pattern A Semi’s (and A events that go straight to finals)
        5:00        Parli Double-Octa finals
        6:30        Pattern A Finals
        7:45        Parli Octa-finals
        10:00        Coaches gathering at hotel, Opsata Suite
        Sunday, November 10
        7:45         IE Pairings released at MZ. Light breakfast provided at school.
8:00        Pattern B, Round 1
        9:15        Parli Quarters
        10:45        Pattern B, Round 2
        12:00        Pattern B, Round 3
        1:00 – 2:00        Pizza slices for sale at MZ
1:15        Parli Semi’s       
        2:30        Pattern B Semi’s (and B events that go straight to finals)
        4:15        Pattern B Finals
        4:45        Parli Finals*
        6:30        Awards Ceremony
* The tentative plan is to have the open parli finals in the auditorium where the awards will be, so everyone can watch! This will be finalized and announced that weekend.
Fees
        Each debate team entry is $65.00 and each individual events entry is $10.00 ($12.00 for duo). Each uncovered parli debate team will be $80.00 and policy debate team will be $100.00. Each uncovered IE slot will be $10.00. Each critic will cover two debate teams. Each IE critic will cover five slots per pattern.
Policy judges cannot judge IE slots or parli teams (or vice versa) since policy will run independently and concurrently with parli and IE’s. (If you have one parli team and one policy team: one judge can cover both for fee assesment purposes, but will have to choose which pool they want to be placed in). One judge can cover both IE’s and Parli, but they will be tired! Fees will be set at NOON on Wednesday, November 6; schools should expect to pay the set fee amount at registration regardless of subsequent drops to the setting of fees.
       
Sweepstakes Awards
        Sweepstakes trophies will be awarded to (1) the top three debate schools; (2) the top three IE schools; (3) the top three community colleges and (4) to the top three schools overall. The following formula will be used for sweepstakes calculation:
IE: (top 3 competitors per school per event)
1st = 10 pts        2nd = 8 pts        3rd = 6pts        finalist = 3 pts        semi’s = 1 pt
Debate: (top 3 teams in each division per school)
3 points for each prelim win plus 2 points for each team that clears.
Contact Information
        If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call.
        Becky Opsata, Director of Forensics
        (818) 677-3043 or email becky.opsata@csun.edu
Entry Procedure
* Please submit your entry via email or fax. You will receive emailed confirmation if you include your address.
FAX TO: Becky Opsata, Director of Forensics
                (818) 677-2663
OR EMAIL ENTRY TO: becky.opsata@csun.edu
* Please include participant names, their events, and their division of entry. Once again, the offered divisions are:
        Policy: Novice/JV/Open
        Parli: Novice/Open
        IE: Novice/Open
If you neglect to list their division of entry, the student will be defaulted into open.
* Please include your contact information and school name.
* Please include judge information including conflicts and levels of competition they are eligible to judge.