In which we count the numbers

I looked over the setup again for States over the weekend. JV will be doing the room whispering shortly—he’s the official tournament director—and there will be 89 rooms of double-flighted debate. Essentially 360 or so debaters in 6 different divisions. With paper ballots; I’ve already stuffed the printer back into my car.

This is going to be fun.

The tournament is at Hofstra, which is somewhere on Long Island. For native-born Westchester people, Long Island is akin to the Outer Hebrides. I’ve managed to find it on the map, and it doesn’t look all that complicated to get there, once I find the Throgs Neck bridge. Apparently Throggs Neck (2 gs) is named after John Throckmorton. I mean, obvious, right? George Washington called it Frogs Neck; so did I, when I was eight years old. I figure it will take about 90 minutes to get there, which means rising at the c of d on Saturday and heading out early. (Note to self: Charge phone in advance and keep that GPS at the ready.)

One thing is clear in the numbers: there are almost twice as many PFers as LDers in the six divisions overall. (And no Policy.) Therein lies the tale of the migration of events. The last time I went to States, PF didn’t even exist. Now it dominates. Which raises the question, should it? I’ve talked about the reasons for its popularity, things like low-entry bar for coaches and students, readily available parent judging, that sort of mechanical thing that, compared to LD or Policy, makes it just easier. But now that it’s the dominant debate format, one has to wonder if, on the basis of the content of the debates themselves, and the nature of the education derived from preparing for and performing in those debates, if it's better objectively than its predecessors. Better debate and better education overall, that is.

I don’t offer an opinion. But you have to wonder. I would boil it down to the inherent purposes of debate. Does PF serve those purposes better than LD or Policy? Formulate a list of those purposes, and then draw up a list of how the different events meet those purposes.

It would be an interesting exercise.

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