[GFCA] FW: NFHS 2011-2012 Policy Debate Topic

[Smiley, Adam]

Space will be next year's topic. 

 

________________________________

From: Angela Hays [mailto:AHays at nfhs.org] 
Sent: Friday, January 07, 2011 9:19 AM
Subject: NFHS 2011-2012 Policy Debate Topic

 

Following are the final results for the 2011-2012 national high school
debate topic balloting. Ballots were first sent to states, the District
of Columbia, the National Forensic League, National Debate Coaches
Association and the National Catholic Forensic League last August. After
a period of discussion of the two final topic areas, states conducted
balloting in December and January. Results were sent to NFHS
headquarters by January 4, 2011.

 

Space was chosen with 24 of the 34 votes cast for the topic. Following
is a breakdown of how the states voted, as well as NCFL, NDCA and NFL. 

Space

China

Arkansas

Colorado

Florida

Alaska

California

Hawaii

Georgia

Idaho

Indiana

Illinois

Iowa

Minnesota

Kansas

Michigan

Mississippi

New Hampshire

New York

Virginia

Missouri

Montana

Nevada

NDCA

 

 

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

 

 

 

Pennsylvania

South Dakota

Texas

 

 

 

Utah

Washington

Wisconsin

 

 

 

Wyoming

NCFL

NFL

 

 

 

 

 

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially
increase its exploration and/or development of space beyond the Earth's
mesosphere.

The 2011 Topic Selection Meeting will be held in Denver, Colorado,
August 5-7. Specific information regarding lodging, travel arrangements
and daily schedules will be sent to your office at a later date. You may
also check our Web site at: http://www.nfhs.org/content.aspx?id=2921
<http://www.nfhs.org/content.aspx?id=2921> .

 

 

 

2011-2012 NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL DEBATE TOPIC

SPACE

 

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially
increase its exploration and/or development of space beyond the Earth's
mesosphere.

 

Space exploration fires people's imaginations. The 1969 moon landings
rank as one of the highest achievements of modern civilization. There is
something uncanny about the human need to explore the universe.
Discussing space exploration and development would have the same effect.
A topic like this could spark the imagination of potential debaters, and
the easy accessibility of materials would make the learning curve on the
subject manageable. This is a critical time in the United States space
program. The status of the National Aeronautics and Space and
Administration is in limbo, especially concerning human spaceflight. The
Space Shuttle is retiring in the fall of 2010, with no possible US
replacement available before 2015. In addition, NASA has an unclear
mandate/direction to explore either the Moon or Mars. This is balanced
against NASA's recent success with robotic exploration, such as the Mars
rovers and the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as increased private
sector growth. Affirmative cases could include astronomical surveys,
setting new goals for human spaceflight, using new probes to examine
celestial bodies in our solar system or beyond, and developing space
economies. The technological and economic benefits of the space program
are well documented. Negative arguments could include the increased
militarization of space, the significant cost in money and resources,
timeframe arguments and the need to focus more on problems concerning
the Earth, such as climate change. 

 

 

 

 

This email and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged
information from the NFHS. If you are not the intended recipient, please
notify the sender immediately by return email, delete this message and
destroy any copies. Any dissemination or use of this information by a
person other than the intended recipient is unauthorized and may be
illegal. 

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.gradyspeaks.org/pipermail/thegfca-gradyspeaks.org/attachments/20110107/bafb45d7/attachment-0003.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: topic announcement memo.doc
Type: application/msword
Size: 48128 bytes
Desc: topic announcement memo.doc
URL: <http://lists.gradyspeaks.org/pipermail/thegfca-gradyspeaks.org/attachments/20110107/bafb45d7/attachment-0003.doc>