Josh Tupler is Florida State Champion

WELLINGTON, Fla. — University School’s Josh Tupler is the Florida Forensic League State Champion, having defeated Lake Highland Preparatory School’s Martin Sigalow on a 3-0 decision in the final round. Read more →

Valley Closes Out Second Iowa State Tournament

IOWA CITY, Iowa — West Des Moines Valley High School’s Yale Zhu and Megan Nubel closed out the final round of the All-Iowa Finals, the state championship tournament for the Iowa High School Forensic League, and were declared co-champions. This is the second of Iowa’s two state debate championship tournaments. In January, Valley’s Anna Lyons and Moses Sloven closed out the final round of the IHSSA State Tournament. Read more →

Allison Douglis is New Jersey State Champion

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. — Ridge High School’s Allison Douglis is the New Jersey Forensic League State Champion, having defeated Hunterdon Central High School’s Alexander Huang to claim the title. Read more →

Steven Adler Earns 13th Bid, Makes TOC History

NEW YORK, N.Y. — Steven Adler of Mercer Island High School earned his thirteenth bid to the National High School Tournament of Champions thus far this season, breaking the record set last season by Catherine Tarsney of Saint Louis Park High School. Catherine had eclipsed the long-standing eleven-bid record set by Nadir Joshua of Newark Science High School in 1998.

It was a weekend of history; as we reported on Monday, New Orleans Jesuit High School’s Jim Huang became the third Lincoln-Douglas debater in history to qualify to the TOC as a freshman. (Hendrick Hudson High School’s Craig Gilbert was the first; the aforementioned Catherine Tarsney was the second.)

An Empirical Analysis of Judging Bias in Competitive Academic Debate

NEW YORK, N.Y. — A paper by Chad Henson and Paul Dorasil entitled “An Empirical Analysis of Judging Bias in Competitive Academic Debate” has been posted to the Social Science Research Network.

“Conventional wisdom among those involved in competitive academic debate,” note the authors, “holds that, despite an emphasis on objective decision-making, factors other than skill affect the outcomes of rounds.” Henson and Dorasil explore the reality of this opinion and suggest remedies to mitigate the impact of biases.