December 7, 2013 Dear Friends: Let’s have some fun together! The University of Texas Forensics Union cordially invites you to the University of Texas Open Debate Tournament, to be held on the Austin campus of the University of Texas, February 7­10, 2014. Registration will be on Friday evening, February 7th at the Radisson Hotel. We thank the Wildcats of Northwestern for alternating with us and we hope to get you out of the cold every other year, but we can’t promise that, as the weather in Texas can be wildly unpredictable. A few items of note: 1. All coaches are expected to make themselves available for at least a three round judging commitment. To request an exemption, see below. 2. We have tightly scheduled the tournament. We will enforce strict time limits for judge decisions in elims as well as prelims. As Dallas Perkins eloquently notes, “Courtesy demands and we insist, that rounds start on time and be adjudicated punctually.” 3. The tournament will feature eight preliminary rounds of two­person, switch­sides, cross­examination debate on the national topic in the standard 9­3­6 format. Elimination rounds will start with double­octafinals. Brackets will not be broken, sides will not be equalized. 4. We will be employing some form of mutually preferred judging and will attempt to increase diversity in the available pool of judges. We have yet to decide the method for this. We will post all relevant information on CEDA Forums. 5. UT is now a smoke free campus. Full details below. TOURNAMENT HOTEL We are happy to once again be at what is affectionately known as the “Bat Hotel”, the Radisson Hotel & Suites Austin Downtown; a terrific property adjacent to the Colorado River (AKA Ladybird Lake) and the largest urban bat colony in the United States. You will find a Starbucks located in the lobby. The TGI Fridays has left, but there will be ample dining options in walking distance to the hotel. We urge all of you to stay at the Radisson since the Sunday night banquet as well as Monday's elimination rounds will be held at the Hotel. Travel to downtown on Monday morning will be quite difficult, so we encourage you to stay here if your budget permits. Reservation information: The Cut­Off date for taking reservations is January 7, 2014, but we anticipate filling our block earlier than that, so please make arrangements soon. The group code is : utdebate14. The Radisson has a new booking tool for taking reservations ­ I have included a web link here. This web link will allow you to book your hotel room online from any web or mobile device ­ 24/7. The Cut­Off date for taking reservations is January 7, 2014, https://resweb.passkey.com/go/utdebate14 The Group Room Rate is $108.00 + 15% Occupancy Tax ($16.20) = $124.20. Cut­off date: January 7, 2014. We anticipate filling up quickly, so make your reservations now!!! Email: Ms. Natalie Cohee [email protected] and her number is 512­473­1513. Email her contact name, major credit card, and phone number. Call the hotel directly: at 512­478­9611 and ask for In­House Reservations . The hotel prefers this to your calling the national line. Call the National Reservation line: 1­800­333­3333. It is open 24 hours a day seven days a week. We anticipate filling up quickly, so make your reservations now!!! Radisson Hotel & Suites Austin­Downtown 111 Cesar Chavez at Congress Austin, TX 78701 Hotel Main: 512­478­9611 www.radisson.com/austintx The group rate is $108 a night for up to 4 in a room, including complimentary internet in the sleeping rooms. All rooms will be available for check­in no earlier than 3PM and check out at 12PM. Luggage storage can be arranged with the hotel, if you come in early. GENERAL LOGISTICS Tournament Debates: Preliminary debates will be held in University buildings and elimination debates will be at the Radisson hotel. Transportation: You can access Austin easily by air via Austin­Bergstrom International Airport (AUS). The travel time from the airport to the tournament hotel in ideal conditions is 20 minutes, yet traffic congestion can significantly alter that, making it over an hour. Transportation from the airport to the hotel can be obtained by contacting Super Shuttle (www.supershuttle.com/htm/cities/aus.htm, 512­258­3826). Roundtrip fare is about $25 per person but you may be able to get a discounted rate if you tell them that you are staying at the Radisson. Yellow cab is your best bet for Taxi service: 512­452­9999. Austin is also served by Amtrak, and it drops off near downtown. Amtrak—Texas Eagle Austin Station 250 N. Lamar Blvd. Austin, TX 78703 Parking: It’s expensive On Campus: There will be free open slots if you come early enough. Your second best option is to use nearby parking garages that will charge $9 a day. At Hotel: $16 a night self, $23 valet. $6 for a day pass. Free parking in downtown Austin is becoming more and more scarce as the city searches for revenue, but there are some free spaces after midnight. Hotel Bus and large vehicle parking: There is parking available on the Brazos Cul­de­Sac next to the hotel; however this is a first come, first serve basis. To reserve parking space for a bus, please contact LAZ Parking directly at 512­472­4261. This is a flat parking lot located at Cesar Chavez and Red River. ENTRY DEADLINES, LIMITATIONS, PROCEDURES, INTERNET Entry Deadline: January 24, 2014. Use www.tabroom.com to enter. There is no limit to how many teams from one school can participate. We will be able to accommodate up to 200 teams. Please complete your entry by noon CST January 24, 2014. To finalize your entry do the following on tabroom.com by NOON February 3, 2014: (a) double check the teams entered (b) make sure your judges are entered along with number of rounds (as per the invitation schools with more than two teams owe 5 rounds for each subsequent team, and, All coaches are expected to make themselves available for at least three rounds of judging. (c) Make sure your judges have a philosophy entered at tabroom.com (d) Enter the TOTAL NUMBER in your party (all debaters, judges and observers, scouts, hangers on) (e) make sure all attendees’ dietary preferences are in the system (f) Double check your school's contact info at tabroom.com. Entry Fees: Fees for the tournament will be $50 per team and $65 per person attending the tournament. We can take cash or checks for payment. Make checks payable to "UT Debate." Universities that require a fee invoice or a W9 form prior to the tournaments are encouraged to contact the tournament directors by January 24, 2014. Fees are due at the time of registration; but we will allow reasonable accommodations given institutional hurdles. If you need to pay after the tournament commences, please contact the tournament directors beforehand. NB: we will require a late fee of $50 if we receive your payment after February 24, 2014. We will seek to accommodate schools with financial difficulty; please contact me if your program would like to attend our tournament. Your fees cover a variety of meals, including breakfast and lunch on Saturday and Sunday, and a tournament banquet on Sunday evening. It also contributes to internet access on campus and the hotel, other catering, the cost of appropriate team and speaker awards, room and building security and clean­up as required by the University, extra rounds of judging, tab room expenses and supplies required for tournament administration, and a 3.75% administrative charge we pay to the University on all expenditures. All fees will be calculated on February 3, 2014 at NOON CST. Your school will be responsible for all people listed as of that time. Should you need to drop a participant, please do so no later than Noon CST on February 3, 2014. Drops are official ONLY if confirmed at the official tournament web site. Should your school need to drop one or more participants or observers after the aforementioned deadline, a drop fee of $65 per person will be assessed. Tab personnel: We are pleased to have Jon Bruschke and Martin Glendinning in the tabroom. Judge Requirements: Schools are required to provide four rounds of preliminary judging for each of their first two teams entered, and five rounds for each subsequent team. Per community practice, each judge is expected to be available one round beyond the elimination of the school with which they are associated. If you are hiring judging from outside of your school’s staff/alumni, and the tournament cannot place your judges into the required number of rounds, the tournament reserves the right to: (1) adjust the judging obligations of your judges (adding rounds of commitment to those of your judges who are easier to place), and/or (2) charge your school $35.00 per round of unmet obligation. Diversity: we will attempt to increase it. We may need to request information from your judges in order to implement opt­in policies. All coaches are expected to make themselves available for at least a three round commitment. Anyone wishing to apply for an exemption to this rule should notify the tournament 1 week prior. Possible reasons for exemption include: health, family­care, unique travel situations, etc. Judges must post philosophies on the www.tabroom.com website by noon February 3rd. We will offer a schema for speaker points similar to Wake Forest’s.