THE FIRST GREAT ATS DEBATE! The brackets. And Opening Topics!

Here it is, your contestants for the great debate that will begin on Sunday.

Debate topics will appear in the gray areas tomorrow.

Those listed in the top of their bracket will represent the affirmative position on the chosen topic.



updated with topics

[Edited on 6-6-2003 by William]

[Edited on 6-6-2003 by William]

[Edited on 8-6-2003 by William]

Thank you William.

Things look great.

Maybe next time we will see a lot more contestants after they see how much fun we have with this one.

Can't wait to see our topics.

Remember don't make it too easy or too hard on anyone person. I don't need to tell you that, you probably know that quite well already. Good luck everyone.


Thank you for keeping us informed.


Abe

Looks good William. I am looking forward to this. How long will the tournament last?

Yay, i get to disprove something, so much easier than justification

This should be a pretty good tournament. Lets see who emerges as the ATS Debate Champion.

Very Cool!


I dont know who gets the first shot on the debate (top or bottom person), however, I will be back late Sunday night: If this kicks off before I am back, and Illmatic is on before me, I will certainly concede first post to him.

Dont want to hold it up. I'll have a response up by the next day.

anyone up for betting?

Oh this is going to be fun!

Working sunday morning but will have a reply on by mid afternoon!

Abraham....what the hell we doing?

Who's going first?

Anyway...a little friendly competition never hurt anyone!

Yeeps, they put the two best debaters against each other? DR vs. Ill? First Round? Shouldnt you save the fireworks for last?

XAOS

Luck of the draw.

I put names into a bowl... this is what we get.

Should make it interesting to say the least.

Whoo hoo im ready. William can you post the rule and procedures again??

The brackets are updated with the topics.

Good job, I like those topics. Everyone of them, this is going to prove to be interesting.

Can't wait to see it happen.

Illmatic,

Im not going to be online sunday until a little late. If you are on before I am, launch your first shot.

The debate tournament is about to begin!

The rules here will be similar to any formal debate you've seen or heard about, as well as modeled after the rules in the debate furm. In general, it's very simple. Members allowed to debate are assigned a "Debater" status by Administration, and allowed to post in their debate (the status enable you to post in any thread in the forum, please stick to your debate).

Posts in the debate tournament should not exceed 1000 words, if you can't make a singular point in fewer works, you should not be attempting an online interactive debate.

A chair (forum staff) will begin the debate by introducing the individuals and announcing the topic. For the first debate tournament, I will announce each topic, but every member of the forum staff is co-chair since lots of action will be going on.

Points of information (links) may only be offered every in your posts, but please keep them to one link per debate post. Once you have accepted a point of information you can't just ignore it and carry on. You must deal with it or risk the forum's wrath when it comes time for them to vote on the winner.

Points of order concerning the procedure of the debate must be addressed to the chair. These can be brought at any time and take priority over all other posts. However these are only used in exceptional circumstances when the rules and standing orders are being abused and the speaker making the point must be certain that the point of order is appropriate. Any abuse of points of order will be penalised by adjudicators and in general these are avoided by most speakers.

Speakers must observe ATS Terms and Conditions, i.e. bad language is not permitted and is considered automatic loss of debate. No exceptions.

If the debate is limited to a fixed number of posts, the last posted on each side is expected to sum up his/her side's argument and rebutt or refute the arguments of the other side while maintaining the 1000 word-per-post maximum. Generally this speaker will not add a great deal of new information to the debate.

Rebuttal is vital in any competitive speech. Any argument left unchallenged is allowed to stand.

Heckling is also common in some debates. This involves members of the forum offering some good humoured abuse to the competitors in the chit chat section of the site. However there is a fine line between heckling and barracking and members of the audience should remember to respect the speaker. Heckling can be scary at first but you will soon get used to it.

Remember you do not necessarily have to believe the side of the motion you are on. You just have to make it appear as though you strongly believe in it 1000 words at a time. In competitive debates you will have very little choice as to which side of a motion you get.

If you can use humour it can be extremely effective in a debate. You can ridicule and destroy an opponents whole post with a one line joke attacking it. But don't go over the top, while humour helps, adjudicators may not be impressed by stand up routine with little substance. Although humour can be an advantage don't worry if you can't crack a joke to save your life (or speech).

If you are engaged in an online interactive debate here at Above Top Secret, you are expected to commit to responding to your opponent. Responses of greater than 24 hours after your opponents post are frowned upon, and if the time lag exceeds 36 hours, the point is forfeit. You may petition the forum staff for extenuating circumstances, and if you opponent allows, the debate may be reopened.

Editing of your posts is strictly prohibited! For obvious reasons.

The format for one-on-one debate tournaments will be simple.

1- Competitors assigned the affirmative position go first with an opening statement, and have right of passing their opening statement post to their contrary position competitor. Opening statements cannot contain links.

2- Each competitor in turn contributes six posts to support their side of the topic. (For a total of seven posts)

3- The competitor representing the contrary position has first right of closing statement. As with the opening statement, they have an opportunity to pass to their competitor representing the affirmative position. Closing statements cannot contain links.

4- Each competitor can submit one rebuttal to their competitors closing statement, but cannot exceed 200 words. Rebuttals are not required.

This is a total of 18 posts, the debate is closed, and voting begins. Forum members will vote on the merits of your capabilities arguing your side of the position, not their opinion of the position.

Good luck, and have fun.


Debate threads will be posted Sunday 6/8. Opening statements must not occur before 8:00 PM EST, Sunday 6/8/2003.

Well Gryffen there is your answer.

If I happen to get the first draw I will pass it on your way.

I think women should always be first.

So you can take it either way so as long as you want to.

Global Government.

That is a tough topic.

I am glad to be debating you in this one.

I also like the final topic.

That one is going to get heated.

I can only hope I am there to attend to the fire.

I only hope I don't get burned.


Good luck everyone.

So let me get this straigt. The debate will be posted tommorw, and we must present our opening post after 8 PM EST?

I'm wondering how come the high-rollers on ats.com didn't join?

Originally posted by JediMaster
So let me get this straigt. The debate will be posted tommorw, and we must present our opening post after 8 PM EST?

Yes. 20:00 EST is the official start time.

Where are the debates going to take place? And NOTN, you can go first, I will be asleep.

XAOS