Basic Downloads

Are you new to speech and debate? The following downloads are for you. They contain introductions to various events that the Monument Membership explores. These downloads are updated every summer to prepare for the new year of competition.

Your Basic Downloads Source Material for Season 22:

File Name	S22-Policy-Stoa-25-NEG-RoboCalls.docx
File Size	58.93 KB
Date added	November 15, 2021
Category	Policy (Stoa)
Author	Vance Trefethen

Resolved: The United States federal government substantially reform the use of Artificial Intelligence technology

Case Summary: The AFF plan requires the telecom companies to put anti-robo call AI software into phone service so that consumers automatically get protection against junk and spam robocalls. AFF’s expert is Dawn Song at Univ. California-Berkely. We have some quotes from her study where she admits her solution isn’t ready yet and another guy who says it won’t work anyway.

Important points:

1) STIR/SHAKEN is the Status Quo. These are confusing acronyms that refer to a system already rolled out in the US to automatically stop robocalls. This will be confusing because AFF will read cards from TNS, the company that made S/S, regarding how bad it is. But TNS is not opposed to their own product! S/S was mandated by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) for all telecoms in the USA as of 30 June 2021. It requires calls to have a layer of authentication that robocalls don’t have. If a call comes in and it doesn’t have that authentication, you will see a message that says “Spam Risk” on your phone, so you can ignore it. It requires NOTHING for the user to do to activate.

2) AFF will claim that Stir/Shaken will fail, using older evidence. This brief updates with 2021 evidence that says S/S is working and that, since it just got implemented, we have to give it time to develop. Also, this brief proves that S/S will get better over time as new technology is added to it.

3) AFF’s “solution” is to forget S/S/ and use an AI system proposed in a paper written by Ms. Dawn Song and others at a college in China and U. California-Berkeley in 2018. Couple of problems with Ms. Song and her paper:

i) She admits in the paper that her method isn’t ready yet, and needs more study
ii) She admits her method can’t handle “spoofing,” which STIR/SHAKEN can
iii) Her method has to be installed on the end user’s phones. It is NOT installed by the telecoms on their servers, contrary to the entire purpose of the Affirmative’s plan. They were supposed to be making it easier for consumers to be protected, but the D. Song plan makes it worse.

Download Your Preseason Documents, too:

You may still access Season 21 downloads here.

All Season 22 Basic Downloads will be updated by August 31, 2021. They will remain available through Season 22.

Easy Entry to the World of Speech and Debate

All Members have access to the digital copy of Easy Entry to the World of Speech and Debate by Chris Jeub. Download it below or order a hard copy.

Season 22 Release Schedule

Monument releases content all year long, from one national tournament to another, in what we call "seasons." We are entering Season 22 (2021-2022). For a list of all Member downloads for Season 21, click here. The following is the general release schedule for Season 22:

End of Season 21 - Officially archived on June 28, 2021. The new Season 22 releases begin July 5, 2021.
July-August - The first Monument Monday releases July 5, 2021. Basic informational material will continue through the summer (e.g. summaries, resolutional articles, etc.).
August 30, 2021 - End of the Pre-season, beginning of the official year of Monument Speech and Debate.
~~Christmas~~ Thanksgiving 2021 (we finished early!) - All foundational downloads are complete! Summaries of all releases are now available.
Through March 2022 - BONUS material released to members on a more as-needed basis using our Coaching Request Form.
April-June, 2022 - Qualifier and Nationals Preparation work is arranged...and Monument Members will be prepared to win!

Season 22 Debate Resolutions

Resolutions for Season 22 are posted here as they are announced by various speech and debate leagues.

Policy (all season):
- NCFCA: "Resolved: The United States Federal Government should significantly reform its policies regarding convicted prisoners under federal jurisdiction."
- NSDA: "Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its protection of water resources in the United States."
- NSDA Vote for Season 23 (Due December 15, 2021):
  - OPTION 1 – GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE – Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its support of multilateral greenhouse gas emission reduction regimes.
  - OPTION 2 – GLOBAL GEO-POLITICAL CRISIS: EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES – Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its security cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in one or more of the following areas: artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cybersecurity.
- Stoa: "Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially reform the use of Artificial Intelligence technology."
Lincoln-Douglas:
- NCFCA (all season): "Resolved: In the context of innovation, the proactionary principle ought to be valued above the precautionary principle."
- NSDA releases six resolutions through the year:
  - Sept/Oct Novice: "Resolved: Civil disobedience in a democracy is morally justified."
  - Sept/Oct Varsity: "Resolved: The member nations of the World Trade Organization ought to reduce intellectual property protections for medicines."
  - Nov/Dec: "Resolved: A just government ought to recognize an unconditional right of workers to strike."
  - Jan/Feb: "Resolved: The appropriation of outer space by private entities is unjust."
  - Next release is due February 1, 2022.
- Stoa (all season): "Resolved: In the field of biomedical engineering, restraint ought to be prioritized over scientific advancement."
Other Formats:
- Big Questions Debate (all season): "Resolved: On balance, societies benefit from religious belief and practice."
- Public Forum for Sept/Oct: "Resolved: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization should substantially increase its defense commitments to the Baltic states."
- Public Forum for Nov/Dec: "Resolved: Increased United States federal regulation of cryptocurrency transactions and/or assets will produce more benefits than harms."
- Public Forum for January: "Resolved: The United States federal government should legalize all illicit drugs."
- Public Forum's next release is due January 1, 2022.

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