Dear Colleagues:

The Point Loma Nazarene University forensics squad is pleased to invite you to our annual SUNSET CLIFFS CLASSIC Invitational forensics tournament.  The tournament will be Saturday and Sunday, February 9-10, 2019.  We hope you can come enjoy our beautiful seaside campus and the typically sunny weather.   San Diego State University will again be offering their Individual Events Swing on Friday, February 8^th.

PLNU will offer open and novice division competition in all eleven AFA individual events (collapsing some events should numbers so dictate); six rounds of Junior and Senior divisions of Parliamentary Debate; junior and senior divisions of NFA LD debate if numbers allow; plus one division of British Parliamentary Debate, with a possible break out Novice elimination round should those numbers allow. 

• British Parliamentary Debate Note:  This year we will again offer a combined division of British Parliamentary Debate as it has gone so well the last few years.  Due to the longer scheduled number of and time of rounds though, students and judges in BP debate cannot be involved in other forms of debate or individual events at the Sunset Cliffs. As mentioned above we may ty to carve out a novice Final Round should the number of novices justify that.  

• Round Robin Note:  We will not be offering a Round Robin this year in NPDA style Parliamentary Debate. Hopefully, you will be able to enjoy our fair city of San Diego on that Friday, or hop over to SDSU for their IE Swing should you arrive in time.

• SDSU IE Note: San Diego State University will again be hosting an Individual Event Swing this year on Friday, February 8^th, 2019.  The Sunset Cliffs Classic IEs and LD will not start until around noon Saturday at PLNU, to allow our swing guests to catch up on their rest.  Director of Forensics at SDSU Ashley Cuevas can be contacted at anuckelscuevas@sdsu.edu, for the SDSU Swing.

• Electronic Debate Balloting this year: Mike Middleton has agreed to run debate tab for us in NPDA Parli, and will be using electronic ballots.  So judges for Parli debate are required to have an electronic phone or tablet or lap top capable of receiving emails to qualify as judges, and bring a charger please.  Judges should not be on line during the actual debate rounds though, for any reason, including but not limited to social media, fact checking, etc. . . You may flow on your electronic device if you are a judge. This added note from Mike:  Additional instructions about email balloting will be provided once registration has closed. However, please ensure that you supply an email address in the judge notes for each judge you enter AND please be sure it is an email that can be accessed throughout the tournament.

• Topic Areas and Recommendations:  The President’s State of the Union Address will be offered a few weeks prior to the tournament, and we will continue to draw Parliamentary debate topics from the address for both the Sunset Cliffs and the Round Robin.  Coaches and students are invited to submit recommended topics for our consideration.  Those submissions should be in by February 4^th, 2019. We suspect that there might be controversial issue or two raised that will hopefully lend themselves to spirited, collegial and respectful intercollegiate debate.

• Some noteworthy attractions of the Sunset Cliffs Classic include:
• Strong competition with diverse regional representation and quality judging.
• A picturesque ocean front campus.
• Two $3,000.00 scholarships for the top community college competitors (one each for debate & IE’s) for tuition remission at PLNU the following year.
• Attractive trophies.
• Enjoyable food nearby, and especially for judges and coaches.
• Did I mention the ocean?
• No guarantee on chamber of commerce, post card weather, but it will likely be better than where y’all came in from. ☺

We look forward to you joining us this year.  Please let me know of any questions or concerns.

Skip

Dr. Skip Rutledge, Director of Forensics Caleb Moore, ADOF        

skiprutledge@pointloma.edu calebmoore24@pointloma.edu

Cell  (619) 655-0112

Office (619) 849-2391

Special note on debate judge registration: Please enter judges’ e mail address for ballot dissemination, and Judging Philosophies for all Parli debate judges through registration.  These added steps will help the tournament run more smoothly and on time, and provide a more pleasant round experience for debaters and judges alike.