Below you will find the announcemnt for the Baltimore Debate Cooperative. Before  we get to too much of that , i want to thank matt stannard. Matt has taught me a ton with his high school camp and his college cooperative, he has taught me among other things that no matter how fun some camps are or how nice the hotel you stay in at others , what really matters about debate camp is that you get to go. Matt has opened the space to have localized debate cooperatives that benefit the city the region and the community as a whole, it is in solidarity with matt and those provideing the people access to debate all around the world that we announce the following:
 

Get a jumpstart on the college debate topic with one week of intense preparation, research and practice debates on the 2006-2007 college debate topic. Come together with college students from all over the city and contribute to the debate work at the first ever Baltimore Debate Cooperative. The Cooperative is a free debate camp, the only cost to you will be copying and printing whatever evidence you like. We will not provide food or transportation. This year we cant provide much in the way of frills but we can provide a place to come together to work on debating the new topic and building your new teams.

 

Each Participant in the Cooperative will receive:

 

• A full set of evidence produced during the Baltimore Debate Cooperative in electronic format.
• Backfiles
  

• At least 5 practice debates.
• Access to backfiles, books and resources on the coming years topic.
• Assistance in recruiting and teaching novices, starting a team and getting support from your college.

 

The focus of this camp is primarily research.  Special trips will be planned to the College

Park and Johns Hopkins libraries and full access to the Towson library will be available.  But dont let the research drive you away if there is other stuff you would like to work on let us know and we can accommodate you.  This experience is intended to give students what they need to get started debating the 2006-2007 topic.

 

There is no housing available this year so if you are interested in coming from outside of Baltimore you will need to make housing arrangements. We can help you some with that on an ad hoc basis but you should plan on finding your own housing if you dont live nearby.

 

Even if your college doesnt have a debate program you can still debate in college.  There will be several tournaments next fall and spring in the Baltimore/DC area.  Fees for these events may be waived or reduced for new teams and there are existing programs that can provide help.  The bottom line is that if you can find a partner you can debate.  Even better, you can start a debate program at your college and make sure that the students who come after you will have the opportunity.