Minutes

September 2, 2002

I. President Cardoza called the meeting to order at 9:15am. Williamson, Matley, S. Niemi, Richards, and Marcucilli were absent. All others were present.

 

II. Corrections to the minutes from May 18:

A.     p. 6, Section X, Para. A: Scripts were sent from Leland, Logan, and San Gabriel schools. The "thank you" letter was sent by a San Gabriel student.

 

B.     p. 6, Section X, Para. B: migrant workshops conducted through the San Joaquin County Dept. of Ed.

 

C.     throughout: Authors of motions were omitted.

1)      01-09-E: Moved by Ballingal, Second by S. Niemi (p. 14)

2)      01-09-I: Moved by Cardoza, Second by Stockton (p. 14)

3)      02-05-B: Moved by Pinza, Second by Ballingal (p. 16)

4)      02-05-C: Moved by S. Niemi, Second by Ballingal (p. 16)

5)      Marcucilli/Brasher motion on p. 17 should be labeled 02-05-H.

6)      02-05-D: Moved by Marcucilli, Second by Pinza (p. 18)

7)      02-05-E: Moved by Cummings, Second by Marcucilli (p. 18)

8)      02-05-F: Moved by Cummings, Second by Marcucilli (p. 19)

9)      02-05-G: Moved by Cummings, Second by Marcucilli (p. 19)

10)  01-09-H: Moved by Cardoza, Second by Marcucilli (p. 20)

11)  02-05-J: Moved by Cummings, Second by Pinza (p. 20)

12)  02-05-K: Moved by Cummings, Second by Pinza (p. 20)

13)  02-05-L: Moved by Cummings, Second by Pinza (p. 21)

14)  02-05-M: Moved by Stockton, Second by Alexander (p. 21)

 

 

III. President Cardoza

A. Passed around printouts of the new website.

 

B. Asked that a Commission on Recruitment and Retention of New Coaches be established for the purpose of devising a program to recruit, train, and retain new coaches across the state. Thanked Macdonald for agreeing to be a part of this commission; invited Gay Brasher, Myrna Goodwin, and Sharon Prefontaine to also join.

 

C.     Asked for nominations to the Hall of Fame.

a.       Cullen asked if Doug Campbell would automatically stay on this year's ballot. Cummings said no, only Sharon Smith was automatically retained.

b.      DeGroff noted that the Hall of Fame nomination deadline was difficult to meet for leagues which have their Fall meetings after the CHSSA meeting.

 

 

 

D. St. Mary's College in Moraga has begun a dialogue with CHSSA concerning the revamping of the college's Teacher Credentialing Program. Cardoza hopes that they will include Oral Communication Theory as a requirement regardless of a candidate's subject area.

 

IV. Treasurer Barembaum

A. Handed out envelopes with assessment forms to all League Presidents (with apologies to new presidents whose names he does not know yet).

1)      Assessment form has a new line for schools to order Coaches Handbooks at $16 apiece.

2)      Please have your school deliver the assessment check to you personally. Don't trust the administration to send it. This way, you can be sure the assessment is in by December 1.

B. Handed out budget report

1)      Assessments - final figures for 2001-02 are listed. Barembaum hopes he can have these totaled before the end of the year next year. He has provided Area Chairs with a spreadsheet that will hopefully improve tracking of assessments during the year.

2)      Assets - wanted to move $5,000 from the Checking account to the CD, but we have to wait six months in order to do that.

a.       Noted that, for a non-profit, we have too much money in the bank. Thus, CHSSA should consider increasing the amount of scholarships.

b.      State fees, however, will remain the same (they were increased last year) to cover new expenses for the website.

3)      Operations - 21^st Century Fund donations are included in the "Contributions" figure. "Misc. Income" refers mostly to fees that arrived late. Some expenses for 2002-03 are already being spent.

4)      R. Niemi asked if the school fee for the State Tournament was increased. Barembaum replied that it was last year.

a.       Underwood commented that this fee increase was to cover the cost of mailing results from State, but since that didn't happen, perhaps the fee should be brought down again.

b.      Barembaum also acknowledged that he hadn't received results from State 2002. Cardoza asked the Area Chairs to compile a list of schools who haven't received results from State.

c.       Keller-Firestone noted that coaches used to fill out envelopes at registration to expedite the results-mailing process.

d.      Barembaum asked the results not be mailed out right after the tournament so he would have time to double-check them.

 

5)      Macdonald suggested that the surplus be put into the Commission for Recruiting and Retention.

a.       Cardoza noted that funding has already been authorized for a presentation at CATE in February; specific estimates as to the number of people involved and the amount of money needed were unavailable.

b.      Johnson added that a cash reserve is always a good idea. As he recalled, the increase in income via assessment fees enabled us to provide food for the judges at State.

c.       Barembaum also pointed out that the cost of Council meetings fluctuated drastically between 2000-01 and 2001-02.

 

V. VP Activities Niemi

A. Will travel to CSU San Bernadino in December.

B. Announced that Gay Brasher has volunteered to hold informal "Q&A" sessions for coaches at State. She'll have a room with food where people can drop in with their queries. All coaches from the San Bernadino area are encouraged to attend.

 

VI. Secretary Pinza

A. The revised directory will be sent out as soon as possible, but minutes take about six weeks to write and send.

 

B. Minutes will continue to be sent electronically unless members cannot access attachments. Smith, Keller-Firestone, and Montgomery requested that hard copies be shipped to them.

 

C. In the minutes, Motions to Revise the By-Laws will now include the actual Constitutional paragraph with the proposed changes.

 

VII. VP Curriculum - report provided under committees

 

VIII. Editor Glahn

            A. The upcoming bulletin has many articles:

1)      Derek Yuill writes about running a tournament.

2)      Landis offers fundraising ideas.

3)      Pictures from the awards assembly at State.

B. Call for submissions for February bulletin (focus on the State tournament)

1)      Unique types of tournaments your league hosts (ex. Leland hosts an ESL tournament each Spring).

2)      Send digital photos from your league's events! Attach them as a JPEG file and send via e-mail. If you have some pics from State, please send those!

3)      Coaches are encouraged to write about their experience at State. Offer tips, advice for those attending State for the first time. Macdonald volunteered to write and submit such a piece.

4)      Submissions should be sent by December 1. The Spring Bulletin issue will focus on curriculum.

 

IX. Vice President Public Relations Fernandes

            A. Upcoming dates and hotels:

1)      Dec. 13-15: Santa Clara University Invitational, the Hyatt in San Jose is available for $75.

2)      Jan. 9-12: Winter meeting at Hyatt Islandia in San Diego, $84.

3)      May 1-5: State Tournament 2003.

a.       The Hilton has 145 rooms at $83/night.

b.      Radisson has 100 rooms at $86/night (though they will probably be talked down to $83).

c.       Dinner Dance will be at The Orange.

d.      Hotels will charge 10.05% tax.

4)      May 15-18: Spring meeting probably at Marriott or Hyatt in San Jose. Room rate will probably be around $75. If it's the Marriott, Fernandes will try to negotiate a special rate for the parking garage.

 

X. Historian Cummings

A.     Stockton mentioned that a Sacramento magazine featured an article about Granite Bay HS in a recent issue. Pritchard and her program were mentioned.

 

B.     James Logan was featured on the Jim Lehrer NewsHour over the summer. A documentary about the program, Accidental Hero - Room 405, aired on PBS this month. The program was also the focus of a large feature in the San Francisco Chronicle.

~ Barembaum noted that a clerk at Kinko's asked about his forensics program after seeing the feature on PBS.

 

C.     Jardine has found a business that is willing to convert our Hall of Fame videos onto DVD. The cost would be $300 plus $8-10 per disc. About 12-15 videos can be burned onto one DVD.

~ Steinbach mentioned that a DVD-burning machine can be purchased for about $800.

 

D.     Thirty years ago..

1)      Vice Presidents of Curriculum and Activities were established as offices.

2)      Rule established allowing students to observe rounds at State.

3)      Area Chairs were elected by a vote of League Presidents.

4)      A judging deposit of $25, covering a commitment of four rounds, was established for the State Tournament.

 

E.      Twenty years ago..

1)      The Travelling Sweepstakes award for the State Tournament was eliminated.

2)      Manuscript revisions were allowed between the qualifying tournament and State.

3)      The ban on hybrid debate teams was established.

4)      Ballot Review was established at the State Tournament.

5)      Duo Interpretation was proposed as a new event and defeated.

 

F.      Ten years ago..

1)      Judges' deposit was increased to $100.

 

G.     Held a debate workshop for 48 students of migrant workers at UOP.

1)      The students, who came from as far as Ventura and Chico, were very eager participants. The workshop was a huge success.

2)      Cummings will help organize a tournament for these students in December.

3)      He will also conduct a similar workshop in Chico for approximately eighty students.

4)      Glahn asked if Cummings could write an article on this experience for the bulletin. Cummings said he would, but it wouldn't be ready for the October issue.

 

H.     Upcoming book reviews for the bulletin:

1)      Speech - Communication Matters, 2^nd Edition. Randall McCutcheon, Joseph Wycoff. National Textbook Company.

Cummings highly recommends this as a speech text. Ballingal adds that some excellent supplementary materials will also be available soon, including demonstration speeches on compact disc.

 

2)      How to Give a Damn Good Speech, Phillip R. Theibert. Galahad Books, NY, 2000. Also recommended.

 

3)      Public Speaking for Dummies, Malcolm Kusher. Also a good resource.

 

XI. Area One Chair Ko

A. Welcomed Smith back to the Council.

B. CSU Hayward is almost confirmed as the site for State 2004.

C. Brasher is looking forward to hosting the aforementioned Q&A sessions at State.

D.     Videotapes are not ready yet; they will be distributed at the January meeting.

 

XII. Area Two Chair Underwood welcomed Zeigler to the Council.

 

 

XIII. Area Three Chair Cullen

A. Welcomed Kamel to the Council.

B. Corey is looking into Cal Poly San Luis Obsipo as a possible site for State 2005.

C. Will report on the status of schools and assessments in January.

 

XIV. Area Four Chair Macdonald

A. Welcomed Brown, Foncell, and DeGroff to the Council. Also thanked Stockton for all his work.

 

B. Report on the State Tournament site (DeGroff):

1)      Rooms are already reserved; the university boasts some new buildings, thus creating additional competition space.

2)      Will try to reserve Casulis Arena for awards. The space hosts Division I basketball; it's a very nice facility.

3)      University President Carnig is very supportive, as is the Director of Forensics, Scott Rodriguez.

4)      Claremont/McKenna Debate Outreach is helping to recruit college judges. Smith asked if that meant the entire Claremont consortium was being tapped. DeGroff said, "yes".

 

C. Anna Roseboro was elected President of CATE, and she is eager to promote Oral Communication. CHSSA will present "Debate in the English Classroom" at the 2003 CATE conference in Palm Springs. Macdonald and Williamson invite other coaches to staff a booth at the conference with the aim of bringing CHSSA's curriculum materials to the greater teaching community. The conference runs February 13-17.

 

XV. Committee Reports

 

A. Curriculum (Glahn)

1)      Handed out extra Multimedia packets for those who needed them.

2)      Handed out revised Informative/Persuasive packets. Thanks to Pritchard and Keller-Firestone for their work on Thursday as well as Friday.

3)      Goal for January is to align all curriculum packets to the State Standards.

4)      Debate and Group Speaking packets are a bit thin, so please send materials. Send submissions via e-mail or on computer disk to Williamson. Corey offered a debate unit from her English class that is already aligned to the Standards.

5)      Coaches Handbook is ready!

a.       Williamson will process the shipment to schools that order books.

 

b.      Kamel asked if the handbook could be copied. Glahn said it could be.

c.       Cummings noted that the handbook is typed but not proofread. It is in pdf format, so it will be ready to post on the Web as soon as it is proofread. The book is about 200 pages long.

 

d.      Johnson suggested adding "© 2002 CHSSA" to the title page along with an introductory paragraph granting coaches permission to copy pages. This will distinguish the new handbook from its predecessor. Glahn will see that these additions are made.

 

e.       Carleno asked when the handbooks would arrive once ordered. Cummings replied, "the end of October." Carleno asked if a coach could download the same handbook from the website without paying $16. Glahn confirmed that this is true.

 

f.        Corey asked if the price of the handbook covered copying and shipping costs only. Glahn affirmed this. Kamel asked if the handbook could be sent on a disk so that teachers could adapt material for their specific classes. Carleno noted that this would be possible by downloading from the website.

 

g.       R. Niemi asked if the Coaches Handbook could be submitted to the Library of Congress for an LCC number to reinforce the copyright issue. Cummings said he would look into it.

 

6)      Carla Ferrie is retiring as President of the University of California. Cardoza has already been in touch with the new President.

a.       Carondelet has had some success certifying speech courses for Visual/Performing Arts credit. Cardoza notes that "Current Events" courses that use extemporaneous speaking have also been certified for Social Studies credit.

 

b.      Jardine will get templates from two speech courses certified for VPA in the Long Beach Unified School District. Cardoza suggested collecting a list of certified courses and their course templates. Glahn will prepare that list for the January meeting.

 

c.       Carleno mentioned that his template wasn't approved. Corey asked if challenging the ruling was an option. Cardoza said it was dangerous to do so. Smith suggested resubmitting the course with sample exercises and assignments. Cardoza added that UC does provide a letter offering feedback on each submitted course. Keller-Firestone noted that it helps to have a supportive principal and/or district.

 

7)      Barembaum is in the process of converting curriculum packets into pdf format for the website. Right now, each packet is made up of several different document files; he's trying to condense each packet into one file. He's also looking into combining packets with similar chapters so they can be cross-referenced easily. (The goal is to reduce the webmaster's workload for financial reasons.)

 

B. Congress Committee

1)      Handed out topic areas and league assignments for State. Sample bills and resolutions will be sent later. Leagues are reminded to send each bill and resolution on its own page. All submissions go to Bob Stockton.

~ Keller-Firestone asked about the distinction between the topic areas "Ethics" and "Business". Stockton noted that the former was more broad than the latter, though cross-applications could certainly occur.

 

2)      Motion 02-05-M on the banning of props and visual aids has been remanded until the January meeting.

 

3)      Committee is working on a new format of Congress ballots that would offer new guidelines and align the event with the State Standards.

 

4)      Committee is also looking into revising the method by which Presiding Officers are selected for Semi-Finals and Finals at the State Tournament.

 

5)      Addressed the problem of judges assigned to consecutive sessions of Congress at State. Should we codify a solution, or would a discussion among the Area Chairs solve this?

 

a. Cardoza advised that a discussion with Area Chairs would suffice. Stockton noted that, since Area Chairs change, a codified solution might be in order.

 

b. DeGroff mentioned that the judge houses also need to be advised.

 

6)      Status of the statewide discussion of ethics

 

a.       Stockton reported that the Committee would like to establish an Oath of Office. He also suggested that bills and resolutions submitted under the "Ethics" topic could address ethical conduct in Student Congress specifically.

 

b.      Cardoza advised against debating the ethics of competition within a competitive setting. Since coaches are the role models of ethical standards, they should initiate this discussion with students. Cardoza suggested beginning the discussion in relation to Congress because it is an activity that specifically teaches discussion skills.

 

c.       R. Niemi argued that discussing Congressional procedures during a competitive Congress session would enable students to address ethical issues and empower them to speak up. He also liked the idea of an Oath of Office, and he encouraged coaches to solicit student feedback on what kind of ethical standards and behavior apply to forensics competition.

 

d.      Cardoza mentioned that his hope was to eventually establish a Code of Ethics since the Mission Statement alludes to ethics. DeBruno added that Mock Trial's booklet includes a code of ethics. Macdonald also noted that in the SDIVSL, a Code of Ethics is printed in the Student Handbook.

 

e.       Discussion of State topic areas:

 

                                                                                                   i.      Cardoza suggested changing the topic of "Homeland Security". He feels that this name implies that our immigrants' security is not germane because they have a different homeland.

                                                                                                 ii.      Barembaum: "As an immigrant, I disagree." The United States is my current home. Thus, I'm not offended by this.

 

 

C. Debate Committee - Ballingal

 

1) Praised the judge houses at State for delivering Congress judges to the Congress tab room for instructions. The judges arrived in a timely manner, which helped Congress run on time.

2) In the Fall, the Committee will discuss:

a. the process by which Presiding Officers are selected for Semi-Finals and Finals.

 

b. Methods for preventing a judge from being assigned multiple rounds of Congress at State.

 

c. Encouraging other leagues' involvement in Committee business (especially during the Final Session meeting at State).

 

d. Developing a Congress ballot that offers better guidance for scoring.

 

e. Clarifying the wording in the Constitution, specifically the directives for Presiding Officers.

 

f. Facilitating a student discussion of Congressional ethics at the league level.

~ Cardoza noted that, thus far, there hasn't been a discussion of what is ethical in Congress. He suggested that each league set aside 30-40 minutes during a Congress tournament in the Fall semester to have this discussion. League Presidents could present any findings at the January meeting.

~ Cardoza added that these findings could be shaped into a Congressional Code of Ethics, which could be the model for other events. We could also reinstate the Oath of Office, which contestants could recite before Round 1 of State.

g. Increasing the number of experienced Parliamentarians in the state.

 

3) Macdonald was congratulated for receiving the WCSA K-12 Curriculum Award for her cross-application of Oral Communication throughout Holtville's departments.

a. Nominees need a letter of nomination and a second letter from someone who currently is not connected with WCSA.

b. To receive the award, you must be present at the WCSA meeting. Next year's will be in Salt Lake City, 2004 in San Francisco, 2005 and 2006 in Palm Springs.

c. Macdonald stated that she took her district superintendent to the meeting this year (when Macdonald was honored). Shortly thereafter, the district gave her program a budget. It pays to attend WCSA meetings.

 

            D. Debate Committee - Ballingal

1) Presented a revised version of 01-09-E, which would prohibit hybrid debate teams from competing in State qualifiers and the State tournament.

Hybrids would not be outlawed from regular league tournaments.

a. Montgomery contended that, if hybrids aren't allowed at qualifiers, they shouldn't be allowed at regular league tournaments. Macdonald added that a "super-hybrid" (consisting of two top debaters from different schools) competed in the San Diego league; this should not be allowed.

 

b. R. Niemi countered that allowing hybrids would give more students a chance to compete. Underwood agreed that adoption of this motion would encourage new debaters to compete.

 

c. Ballingal mentioned that the Southern California Urban Debate League -- which is integrated into the OCSL -- exists in order to increase participation. Johnson added that the UDL targets economically disadvantaged students especially. Forbidding hybrid teams would segregate the debate activity along economic lines, leaving the disadvantaged students in the cold because their schools can't support a complete program.

 

d. Richards added that leagues could still prohibit hybrid teams if they so wished. S. Niemi agreed, stating that several students are dying to get debate rounds for experience. They need to form hybrid teams in order to participate, but the original wording of 01-09-E would forbid those students from the State qualifiers.

 

e. R. Niemi claimed that, in the long term, the UDL seeks to work with our leagues to sustain interest in these new schools. The students who *are* interested will lose that interest if they are denied their only chance to participate. Allowing hybrids will foster that interest and, perhaps, enable it to grow into new programs.

 

 

2) Does NOT recommend 01-09-I, which would codify the arguments that should be included in constructives and rebuttals. It also explicitly forbids new arguments in rebuttals. Committee does not recommend the motion because it would increase protests and allow coaches to appeal the decisions of the judges.

 

 

a. Barembaum pointed out that students already believe this is a by-law; therefore, the number of protests shouldn't increase. Besides, the status quo allows students to claim there isn't a rule in order to justify presenting new arguments in rebuttals.

 

b. Montgomery argued that if this is the correct rule, it should be in the By-Laws, and we shouldn't fear the prospect of protests. Steinbach agreed that the By-Laws should reflect the way coaches train debaters, and vice versa.

 

c. S. Niemi: The protests that would result from this By-Law would be difficult to resolve. The judges' instructions cover the enforcement of this rule, so perhaps it need not be codified. Ballingal added that extensions of old arguments and brand new arguments are sometimes hard to distinguish.

 

d. Obregon argued that this motion could affect the power of judges' discretion; they would have to take notes in order to prove their decision in the face of a protest. Corey added that the burden of proof should be on the student to prove an argument's validity and appropriateness.

 

e. Matley contended that a new argument in the last speech cannot be addressed, since the opponent has no more speeches. Currently, this rule exists as a "gentleman's agreement". Cardoza added that the Constitution allows a student to rise to a point of order when a new argument is introduced in rebuttals.

 

f. Johnson pointed out that new arguments in the last speech have no chance to develop, so their impact may not be as great. Further, this motion could create a situation where a judge is pitted against the Constitution and a student's coach in a confrontational way.

 

g. Carleno added that, while compelling all judges to take notes would be a good thing, passage of this motion would force us to re-evaluate the way judges are assigned and handled.

 

 

~ Niemi asked if a By-Law revision was required to change the debate judges' instructions for the State Tournament. Cardoza replied that he had the power to propose changes on his own.

 

3) Presented Motion 02-05-B, which would create a seeding system for pairing debaters in the quarterfinal round (Round 7) at State. The seeding system is recommended because it helps ensure that the best two teams meet in Finals. The only conflict that would necessitate an adjustment of the pairings would be if someone was paired against an opponent from the same school.

a. Macdonald asked if this motion would slow down the tabulation process. Ballingal believed it would speed up the process.

 

b. Matley asked how pairing are currently adjusted in the event that a student is paired against a schoolmate. Ballingal said the cards were simply reshuffled until a proper pairing landed on the table. Corey added that, even if a same school matchup is inevitable, the random shuffling of the status quo is hard to justify. The seeding system provides a more justifiable basis for compelling a school to debate itself.

 

c. Alexander stated that this motion mirrors the way Congress semifinalists are placed in houses -- students are moved only to avoid same school conflicts. S. Niemi added that IEs are also similar in this vein.

 

 

 

 

 

4) Presented Motion 02-05-C, which would remove the ban on note-taking in all debate rounds. The current rule does not prevent scouting (students can simply ask peers who debated against a specific contestant), but it does prevent students from practicing their note-taking, discussing the round with their coaches, and learning from the debate.

 

 

 

5) Revisions for the new Coaches Handbook are on the way.

 

6) The Bay Area Urban Debate League will host a debate workshop for coaches on Saturday, August 24 at UC Berkeley. Glahn will publish a flyer for the workshop in the Bulletin. If this pilot is successful, the UDL hopes to host a similar workshop in Southern California a year later. Urban Debate League personnel will conduct workshops in Policy Debate, while Debate Committee personnel will hold workshops in Lincoln/Douglas. The fee will probably be around $30.

~ Fiene pointed out that the SCUDL hosts a week-long camp at CSU Fullerton. Non-UDL members can attend for $150 (covering the entire week).

 

7) Committee will continue its discussion regarding Policy Debate instructions.

 

8) Parliamentary Debate: there are some concerns about the logistics and current practices in this event. John Meaney of Claremont College is willing to bring a demonstration debate to the Fall meeting if the Council is interested in seeing one.

~ Cardoza asked if Meaney would object to the demonstration taking place during a working lunch. Ballingal said there would be no such objection. The Council extended its invitation to Mr. Meaney.

 

9) Cardoza thanked Ms. Johnson for her work with the Debate Committee and her presence at the Council. He praised her for voicing her ideas and proving that they can have an impact even without an official Council vote.

E. IE Committee -- Marcucilli

1) Appointed an ad hoc committee to discuss the definition of a "professional" as it relates to a student's eligibility for competition. Jardine, Marcucilli, and Underwood will sit on this committee.

 

2) Professionally manufactured visual aids in Expository -- is the student relying on the work of professional artists/ designers, or are they a professional execution of the student's original vision?

a. The Committee feels that the only element within our control is the way in which judges weigh visual aids when evaluating an Expository round.

b. The Committee recommended adding wording to the judges' ballots for Expository so that judges are encouraged to weigh the speech more heavily than the visuals in their evaluation.

c. Carleno added that Underwood surveyed his students, and they supported this kind of directive.

 

 

3) Recommended that a school's classification into one of the three proposed Sweepstakes categories be assessed after Round 1 of the State Tournament. This way, late adds and drops can be accounted for, and schools will be accurately classified.

 

4) Several issues remain regarding the addition of Storytelling as a State event: What is the protocol for the event? Which IE, if any, needs to be dropped to accomodate Storytelling? Could it be a consolation event? Do we have enough judges to support it? These will continue to be discussed in the Fall.

 

5) Recommended a change in the By-Laws regarding requirements for interpretation materials. Current By-Law language that material must be "widely available" is too vague. Material should have an ISBN or ISSN number, which verifies it is nationally published. This would make some Internet scripts legal, since they contain ISBN numbers. A more specific By-Law revision will be presented later.

 

6) Tabled discussion of a By-Law revision to address materials printed from DVDs. The current language of the Constitution allows these materials.

 

7) Presented By-Law Revision 02-05-D, which would impose penalties for failing to submit State registration by the April 1 deadline. Schools submitting entries from April 2-10 would pay a $150 fine. Schools submitting entries after April 10 would be disqualified.

a. Underwood received at least twelve schools' entries on or after April 15. Macdonald likewise received four schools' entries around April 11.

b. Montgomery noted that only the forms need to be sent in by April 1; the fees can arrive later. Corey pointed out that the Constitution stipulates that both fees and forms are due on the first.

c. Richards stated that the NFL enforces its deadlines rigorously. Typically, the same schools submit late entries, and this motion would give the Area Chairs the power to enforce CHSSA's deadlines.

 

 

 

8) It is difficult to determine when a student's performance in interpretation violates the author's intent. In the past, characters have been combined, dramatic pieces have been performed humorously, and vice versa. Which of these violates author's intent? Committee recommends that League Presidents read through scripts carefully. R. Niemi will address script reading at the January meeting; Area Chairs will be asked to attend the League Presidents meeting.

a. Cummings questioned whether a careful reading of a script could indicate the nature of the performance. Glahn agreed that most speeches must be seen in order to determine whether they preserve the author's intent.

 

b. Montgomery asserted that "author's intent" is ambiguous and almost impossible to pinpoint. Further, the burden should be on the student to figure out what the author's intent is.

 

c. Brasher said that, while reading scripts won't bring every infraction to light, it enables us to catch what we can before State.

 

d. Carleno reiterated that a script's pages must be arranged in the order they are performed. Marcucilli confirmed this, stating that pages may have to be copied multiple times if text from the page is used in different parts of the speech.

 

                       

10) Presented 02-05-F, which changes the number of schools needed to enter the qualifying tournament in order to qualify contestant to State. If the league qualifies less than three students in an event, three schools must compete in that event in the qualifier. If a league qualifies more than three, the number of schools entered in that event must equal the number of qualifiers for that event.

 

a. Montgomery stated that some leagues have trouble meeting the current requirement of five schools entered in an event at a qualifier. This leads to students entering the tournament as a last-minute "filler" with a slapdash speech. Further, the current requirement of five schools for all events seems arbitrary.

 

b. Cummings noted that the increased quota (for leagues that qualify more than five) would encourage leagues to sell their unpopular events in the Fall, rather than waiting until just before the qualifier. Carleno added that the judges' experience is worsened by the participation of the last-minute "filler"s.

 

c. Corey countered that the "filler" experience often exposes students to events that they wouldn't ordinarily try. Steinbach likewise pointed out that the five school quota gives schools and leagues an impetus to grow. Lowering that quota for small leagues may stunt that growth.

 

d. S. Niemi asserted that raising the quota is unfair to large leagues who still struggle to fill unpopular events at the qualifier. Brasher agreed: leagues do address the issue in the Fall, but students in smaller programs naturally flock to popular events. They don't have the extra students to enter all events.

 

 

 

 

 

            *** ELECTION RESULTS:                President - Cardoza

                                                                        Vice-President of Activities - R. Niemi

                                                                        Vice-President of Curriculum - Williamson

 

12) Marcucilli presented By-Law Revision 01-09-H regarding the use of additional published materials as introductions and/or transitions in interpretation speeches.

 

~ Corey also clarified that any words inserted into an interpretation speech, whether they are the work of the contestant or taken from a second published source, must be counted against the limit of 150 added words. Cardoza confirmed that this is true.

 

 

 

XVI. No Old Business; therefore, we turn to New Business.

A. Cullen presented a series of suggestions for improving timing at the State Tournament.

1) Rules regarding which events will be timed and how they will be timed (ie which signals are given by timers) should be standardized.

2) Instructions to timers should be consistent between both judge houses at State and, as much as possible, the qualifier tournaments.

3) Contestants at State should be informed in writing of the timing rules well in advance of the State Tournament.

4) Cardoza labeled these suggestions 02-05-I and remanded them (without objection) to the I.E. Committee.

 

B. Motion 02-05-A, regarding the establishment of Legal Counsel on the Executive Committee was remanded to the Executive Committee pending the acceptance or rejection of the similar Constitutional amendment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

F. Barembaum moved to issue a refund of $140 to Jeffrey Sobel of Dorsey HS. This covers his fees and judging deposit for the State Tournament. He was not able to bring his student to State because his district prohibited from going since he was a single male coach chaperoning one female student. Further, the district made its decision on the Tuesday before State.

1) Barembaum addressed concerns that this would set a dangerous precedent. He isn't worried about that because, in this instance, the district stripped the coach of his ability to attend State.

2) Sobel also paid the money out of his own pocket; no school funds were used. Refunding the money would show that CHSSA understands and empathizes with the personal sacrifices that many coaches make for the sake of the activity.

 

 

G. Cullen requested that the various forms for the State Tournament be printed in different colors. R. Niemi said he would distribute white copies of all forms to the League Presidents, who could then color code their copies if they wished. Niemi added that all forms would be available on a computer disc.

 

H. Brasher requested that the first place awards read "held at ___(site name)___". Otherwise, it looks like the site school won the award. R. Niemi thanked her for the suggestion.

 

 

 

I. Cardoza asked all Council members to please attend the California Home School Speech Championships on June 15. The tournament takes place at Oak Grove Baptist Church in San Jose, and they need judges for Rounds 2-5. Please see Cardoza for details on how to volunteer.

 

 

XVII. Meeting was adjourned at 5:30pm.

 

(Whew!)

Submitted, Paul C. Pinza