FIRST, TOURNAMENT
PARTICIPANTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE COURTEOUS TO EACH OTHER[1]
This
tournament affirms the importance of all tournament participants’ cooperation in
creating an educational and competitive environment that is fair, humane and
responsible while, at the same time, encouraging speeches and debates that are
devoted to full and robust argument about a diverse range of ideas. Specifically, this tournament affirms that:
1.
Judges
and students are encouraged to talk about the expectations that they have for
creating a debate that focuses on ideas instead of personal attacks.
2.
Speakers
are encouraged to communicate with respect, not attacking each other or the judge.
3.
Judges
are encouraged to communicate with respect, not attacking or devaluing
students.
4.
Speakers
and judges are encouraged to reject discourse which devalues other members of
our community based on their race, age, gender, class, sexual or religious orientation,
or any reason that is not directly related to the arguments that they present.
5.
Students
and judges are encouraged to communicate with each other when they observe
instances of verbally aggressive attacks rather than silently watching
something happen before them to which they object.
6.
Judges
are encouraged to reward courteous and respectful behavior toward the judge and
other competitors in awarding speaker points.
7.
If
serious and/or repeated demeaning speech materially or substantially disrupts the
opportunity for debaters to compete fairly or the judge to evaluate fairly,
judges are encouraged to dock speaker points or give a team a loss. Please
report this to the ballot table.
Thank you for serving
as the Parliamentarian Judge for Student Congress.
1. Leave the “Member Sheets” on a table or chair near the entrance to the room and encourage participants to pick up a copy
2. Please call the session to order promptly--at the time noted in the schedule.
3.
Begin by choosing the Presiding Officer (P.O.). To do so, do this:
--Call for students
--Test the students by asking them two parliamentary questions:
A. If there is an amendment on the floor—do you vote on the amendment first or
the main motion first? (answer is amendment first)
B. Someone moves to table the motion—is debate permitted on this motion?
(answer: no)
--students that pass these two questions can give a 1 minute maximum speech to
the assembly
--members then vote to choose who will be the first and second presiding officer
(session 1) or the only presiding office (session 2 on Saturday).
4. Then, hand the Proceeding Officer Sheet to the P.O. of the first hour of the session. Sit down and enjoy the congress session.
5. As Parliamentarian, you should attempt to answer questions about parliamentary procedure and act to ensure that Robert's Rules of Order are followed. You have the authority to overrule the P.O. on a parliamentary matter.
6.
For Session 1 only: At 12:50pm, if the P.O. has not
announced the break--remind him or her. The break should last no more than 10
minutes. (Session 2 on Saturday: There is no break.)
When the break is finished, remind the second P.O. to begin the second half of
session and make sure he/she has the P.O. sheet information.
7. If the P.O. fails to use the priority speaking system--you have the right to enforce the priority system. The priority system requires that students who wish to speak and who have spoken the fewest times have priority (Precedence). So--if Student A has spoken twice and Student B has spoken just once and both ask to speak--Student B gets to speak, even if Student A requested to speak before Student B. Further, if two students wish to speak and both have spoken equal numbers of times—the student who last spoke the longest time ago, gets to speak (Recency).
8. Student speeches last up to 2.5 minutes.
9. After the break--the Session continues until the second 45 minutes session has ended.
Thank you for serving
as a Judge for Student Congress.
1. During this session, you will judge the students for their Student Congress skills. During the session, the Parliamentarian Judge (the other judge) will act to ensure that the students follow Robert’s Rules of Order and to ensure that students follow the Priority Speaking system which gives priority for speaking to those students who have spoken the least often. The Presiding Officer (who is one of two students that serve for each half of the session) will run the Session including calling on students and ensuring that the session addresses the Congressional bills.
2. During the round, of course, be sure to fill out your ballot. After each speaker presents his or her speech, provide comments and you should mark a score between 24 and 30 on the ballot (score lower than 24 only if the student is rude).
3. NOTE: YOU ONLY SCORE THE FIRST FOUR 4
SPEECHES FOR EACH STUDENT DURING A SESSION.
4. Student speeches last up to 2.5 minutes.
5. Total the ratings you gave to students and rank the students, choosing four you felt were best. Note: You do not need to give the student who scored the most points the highest score. Students who may have spoken less frequently may have been quite impressive and deserving of a higher rating than other students who spoke more frequently.
Congratulations on
being chosen Presiding Officer for this half of the session.
Take a moment to read
this sheet.
1. Begin by calling a sponsor for a bill in your session. Continue discussing the bill until students table it or vote on it. When you finish the first bill--go to the next bill unless members call to move to a different bill--and yes, members can present new bills if they wish.
2. Follow Robert's Rules of Order in dealing with voting, discussion, etc. If you have questions, you can ask the parliamentarian. Note that the parliamentarian can overturn your parliamentary decisions if he or she so chooses.
3. In
choosing which students to call on--use the priority speaking system. The priority system requires that students who wish to speak and who have spoken the
fewest times have priority (Precedence).
So--if Student A has spoken twice and Student B has spoken just once and
they both ask to speak--Student B gets to speak, even if Student A requested to
speak before Student B. Further, if two students wish to speak
and both have spoken equal numbers of times—the student who last spoke the
longest time ago, gets to speak (Recency). In order to
keep track of how many times each member has spoken, you need to mark down each
time a speaker has spoken. If you need
paper and pen--obviously, ask members.
4. Give each speaker up to 2.5 minutes to speak. If a speaker chooses, he or she may take questions--but that time comes out of the 2.5 minutes. In order to time the speeches--you will need a watch--ask members for a watch if you do not have one.
5.
FIRST HALF OF THE FIRST SESSION ON FRIDAY PRESIDING
OFFICER--At 12:50pm, call a recess for a 10 minute break. After the break, the second P.O. takes
over. Give this sheet to him or her.
SECOND HALF OF THE SESSION ON FRIDAY PRESIDING OFFICER--Be sure to finish 5
minutes before the round should end. DO NOT GO OVER as it will make the
tournament late and will make students in this session late to their rounds.
PLUS JUDGES GET FINED FOR LATE BALLOTS!
IN THE SECOND SESSION ON SATURDAY, THERE IS JUST ONE PRESIDING OFFICER
6. Note your half of the session as Presiding Officer will be used as a “speech” and will be rated. Your speeches during the other half of the session will also be rated. Both will be used to determine your ranking.
1. You are encouraged to put your name into the hat to be chosen as one of the two Presiding Officers (P.O.'s) for the session. You will be asked questions about parliamentary procedure; if you pass those, you will then given an opportunity to speak to the members who will then vote to choose the Presiding Officer.
2.
The judges will rank speakers 1-5 (1st through 4th with
all remaining speakers tied for 5th) and then score each speech with a 24 - 30
with 30 being the best. Because each speech allows you to earn
more points, you should attempt to speak as many times as you can when you have
quality arguments to present. Emphasizing
quality arguments presented well will give you good scores and most importantly
high rankings. Note: Rankings are not
necessarily based on who gave the most speeches nor on who received the most
speaker points. Rankings are based on
who did the best job regardless of the number of speeches a person gave.
3. The Presiding Officer (P.O.) will begin the session by calling a sponsor for a bill. You will continue discussing the bill until you and other members table it or vote on it. When you finish the first bill--you will go to the next bill unless members call to move to a different bill. You and other members can present new bills if you wish.
4. The P.O. will use the priority speaking system in deciding which member to call on to speak. The priority system requires that students who wish to speak and who have spoken the fewest times have priority (Precedence). So--if Student A has spoken twice and Student B has spoken just once and they both ask to speak--Student B gets to speak, even if Student A requested to speak before Student B. Further, if two students wish to speak and both have spoken equal numbers of times—the student who last spoke the longest time ago, gets to speak (Recency).
5. You will be given up to 2.5 minutes to speak. If you wish, you may take questions--but, when you do, it comes out of your 2.5 minutes.
6. Yes--you may ask the speaker to yield to a question--but he or she need not take your questions.
7. The session will use Robert's Rules of Order. The Parliamentarian judge has final say over parliamentary rules.
8.
Friday’s Session occurs in two 50 minute pars with a 10
minute break. There will be two P.O.’s.
Saturday’s Session is 90 minutes long with one P.O.
DURING THE
SESSION: RATE EACH SPEECH (Speeches are 2.5 minutes maximum)
Score each student speech with
this scale:
30-Stunning
29-Superb 28-Excellent 27-Good 26-Okay 25-Fair 24 -Improve*
*if one of
the speakers was rude, report it to the ballot table. Otherwise, you may not
score below a 24.
Scoring the Presiding
Officer: Use THE FIRST TWO SPEECH columns to rate the two halves of entire P.O.
performance; then put their speech scores in the remaining columns (for the speeches
they give as a regular member).
SCORE THE FIRST FOUR SPEECHES for each and every member: Consider the
following when you do:
1. Did the member take a reasonable position?
2. Did the member eloquently present his or her
position?
3. Did the member adequately defend his or her
position with good reasons?
4. Did the member properly follow parliamentary
procedure?
Do NOT score or
rank speakers from your school. Just
write SAME SCHOOL in the row in which their name appears. Your school’s students will be ranked and scored by
the other judge (that judge’s score will be counted twice for students from
your school).
AT THE END OF
THE SESSION:
RANK EACH STUDENT 1ST THROUGH
5TH.
So,
choose the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th best speakers of the session and
give all other speakers a ranking of 5th.
NOTE: RANKINGS DEPEND ON
QUALITY--NOT JUST NUMBER OF SPEECHES GIVEN AND NOT BASED ON TOTALING UP THE
RATINGS YOU GAVE. You should rank on the
basis of the quality of speeches and adherence to proper parliamentary procedure. So, someone whose scores add up to 78 might
receive a 2 while a student with a 59 might get the 1. NO TIES IN RANKING EXCEPT 5TH.
Judge’s
Member Name
_______________________________________________ from School
________________________________
|
First Speech Comments: Rate (24-30) ____ |
Second Speech Comments: Rate (24-30) ____ |
Third Speech Comments: Rate (24-30) ____ |
Fourth Speech Comments: Rate (24-30) ____ |
DO NOT SCORE AFTER THE MEMBER GIVES HIS/HER FOURTH SPEECH.
Presiding Officer
Name ____________________________________________ from School
______________________________
Consider the
|
P.O. Session, First
Half Comments: Rate (24-30) ____ |
P.O. Session,
Second Half Comments: Rate (24-30) ____ |
First Speech (when
not Comments: Rate (24-30) ____ |
2nd Speech
(when not Comments: Rate (24-30) ____ |
DO NOT SCORE SPEECHES THE PRESIDING OFFICER GIVES AFTER HIS/HER SECOND SPEECH.
Click here to judge an example short
Student Congress Session (Step 3)
[1]
Taken from Kristine Bartanen
and Jim Hanson, “Advocating Humane Discourse,” The Forensic of Pi Kappa
Delta 80 (Fall 1994): 20-21.