User:Megan.fountain/sandbox

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The word "forensic" is an adjective meaning "of public debate or argument." The word is derived from the Latin word forensis, meaning "of the forum." The sense of the word "forensic" that means "pertaining to legal trials" dates from the 17th century (Oxford English Dictionary) and led to the use of the word "forensics" in reference to legal evidence.

Mission Statement
The Texas Forensic Association mission is "bring about more effective cooperation among the members of the speech and theatre arts profession in the discharge of their special responsibilities in forensic and theatre activities; to create a means of educating the general and professional publics to the important educational functions of forensics and theatre arts; to make collective action possible on problems of common professional interest; and, in general, to maintain and advance the ideals and standards of the speech and theatre arts profession." It also seeks to "promote the interests of interscholastic speech and theatre by encouraging a spirit of fellowship among participating students and teachers."

History
The Texas Forensic Association officially formed in October 1972 as the organization in Texas to qualify students to the National Forensic League national tournament. It began as only a policy debate organization, but within the first five years tournaments also offered speech events, Duet Acting and Student Congress, and Lincoln-Douglas debate was added in 1979. In 1986, the TFA successfully proposed speech as fine art credit for high schools in Texas, and in 1989 supplemental events began being offered at the state level. TFA became an incorporated organization in 1991.

Regions
TFA divides Texas into five regions for administrative purposes; there are no regional championship tournaments or limit on number of schools or students to qualify to the state tournament from each region. The regions are divided by area code, and there is a region representative from each region to coordinate the region's activities with the state association.
 * Region 1 covers the Texas panhandle, area code 806. The Region 1 representative is Mellessa Denny of Amarillo High School in Amarillo, TX.
 * Region 2 covers Northeast Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. The area codes included are 214, 254, 469, 682, 817, 903, 940, and 972. The Region 2 representative is Robert Shepherd of Creekview High School in Carollton, TX.
 * Region 3 covers South Texas, including the San Antonio metro area. The area codes included are 210, 361, 512, 830, and 956. The Region 3 representative is Kirsten Nash of Hendrickson High School in Pflugerville, TX.
 * Region 4 covers East Texas. It is the smallest region and mainly encompasses the Houston metro area. The area codes included are 281, 409, 713, 832, 936, and 979. The Region 4 representative is Debbie Waddell of Cypress Falls High School in Houston, TX.
 * Region 5 covers West Texas, area code 915. The Region 5 representative is Yolanda Silva of Burges High School in El Paso, TX.

Events Offered
The association offers the following events for qualification to the State Tournament: Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking (FX), Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking (DX), Original Oratory (OO), Humorous Interpretation (HI), Dramatic Interpretation (DI), Duet Acting (DA), Duo Interpretation (DUO), Lincoln-Douglas Debate (LD), Policy Debate {Cross Examination: CX}, Student Congress (Stu-Co), and Public Forum Debate ("PFD"). TFA tournaments use the same resolutions as the National Forensic League (NFL) for Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, and C-X (Policy) Debate.

State Qualifying Events

 * Policy Debate (Cross-Examination, CX, Policy): Debate between two teams of two students on a question of policy, which remains the same for the competitive season
 * Lincoln-Douglas Debate (LD, Value Debate): Debate between two students on a question of values or morality, which changes every two months
 * Public Forum Debate (PF, Ted Turner Debate, Puff, PoFo): Debate between two teams of two students in which each team accepts or rejects a position
 * Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking (Foreign Extemp, FX): A 7 minute extemporaneous speech on a foreign current events topic
 * Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking (Domestic Extemp, DX): A 7 minute extemporaneous speech on a domestic current events topic
 * Original Oratory (Oratory, OO): A 10 minute memorized speech on a topic of the student's choosing
 * Humorous Interpretation (Humorous, Humor, HI): A 10 minute memorized humorous presentation of a published work
 * Dramatic Interpretation (Dramatic, DI): A 10 minute memorized dramatic presentation of a published work
 * Duet Acting (Duet, DA): A 12 minute scene from a published work, presented by a team of two students
 * Duo Interpretation (Duo): A 10 minute memorized presentation of a published work, presented by a team of two students
 * Student Congress (Congress, StuCo): A mock congress session where students make speeches and motions on a set of given legislation

Non-Qualifying Events
In addition to the events that can qualify a student to the St

ate Tournament, some tournaments also offer:
 * Prose Interpretation: A 7 minute non-memorized presentation of a published piece of prose
 * Poetry Interpretation: A 7 minute non-memorized presentation of a published piece of poetry
 * Impromptu Speaking: A 7 minute impromptu speech on one of two topics

State Tournament
The competitive season culminates in the TFA State Tournament, a three-day event held at a different Texas school each year. [list of previous venues from existing page]

Points System
To qualify for State in a certain event, a student must accumulate ten state points in the event. Points are awarded based on the number of entries in the tournament.
 * Cross Examination Debate
 * In a tournament with 51 or more entries, the first and second place teams get 8 points, semifinalist teams get 6 points, quarterfinalist teams get 3 points, and octafinalist teams get 2 points.
 * In a tournament with 16-50 entries, the first place team gets 8 points, the second place team gets 6 points, semifinalist teams get 4 points, and quarterfinalist teams get 2 points.
 * In a tournament with 10-15 entries, the first place team gets 6 points, the second place team gets 4 points, and semifinalist teams get 2 points.


 * Lincoln Douglas Debate
 * In a tournament with 75 or more entries, the first and second place winners get 8 points, semifinalists get 6 points, quarterfinalists get 3 points, octafinalists get 2 points, and double-octafinalists get 1 point.
 * In a tournament with 51-74 entries, the first place winner gets 8 points, the second place winner gets 6 points, semifinalists get 4 points, quarterfinalists get 2 points, and octafinalists get 1 point.
 * In a tournament with 16-50 entries, the first place winner gets 8 points, the second place winner gets 6 points, semifinalists get 4 points and quarterfinalists get 2 points.
 * In a tournament with 10-15 entries, the first place winner gets 4 points, the second place winner gets 3 points, and semifinalists get 2 points.


 * Individual Events
 * In a tournament with 51 or more entries, the first and second place winners get 8 points, the third and fourth place winners get 6 points, the fifth place winner gets 4 points, the sixth place winner gets 3 points, the seventh place winner gets 2 points, and the eighth place winner gets 1 point.
 * In a tournament with 25-50 entries, the first place winner gets 8 points, the second place winner gets 6 points, the third place winner gets 4 points, the fourth place winner gets 3 points, the fifth place winner gets 2 points, and the sixth place winner gets 1 point.
 * In a tournament with 15-24 entries, the first place winner gets 6 points, the second place winner gets 4 points, the third place winner gets 3 points, the fourth place winner gets 2 points, and the fifth and sixth place winners get 1 point.


 * Duet Acting and Duo Interpretation
 * In a tournament with 26 or more entries, the first and second place teams get 8 points, the third and fourth place teams get 6 points, the fifth place team gets 4 points, the sixth place team gets 3 points, the seventh place team gets 2 points, and the eighth place team gets 1 point.
 * In a tournament with 10-25 entries, the first place team gets 8 points, the second place team gets 6 points, the third place team gets 4 points, the fourth place team gets 3 points, the fifth place team gets 2 points, and the sixth place team gets 1 point.


 * Student Congress
 * In a tournament with 91 or more entries, the first and second place winners get 8 points, the third and fourth place winners get 6 points, the fifth place winner gets 4 points, the sixth place winner gets 3 points, the seventh place winner gets 2 points, and the eighth place winner gets 1 point.
 * In a tournament with 61-90 entries, the first and second place winners get 8 points, the third place winner gets 6 points, the fourth place winner gets 4 points, the fifth place winner gets 3 points, the sixth place winner gets 2 points, and the seventh and eighth place winners get 1 point.
 * In a tournament with 21-60 entries, the first place winner gets 8 points, the second place winner gets 6 points, the third place winner gets 4 points, the fourth place winner gets 3 points, the fifth place winner gets 2 points, and the sixth, seventh, and eighth place winners get 1 point.
 * In a tournament with 15-20 entries, the first place winner gets 6 points, the second place winner gets 4 points, the third place winner gets 3 points, the fourth place winner gets 2 points, and the fifth and sixth place winners get 1 point.

State Winners

 * 2012
 * Policy Debate: Rosenthal/Mitchell, Kinkaid High School
 * Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Andrew McCormick, Strake Jesuit College Prep
 * Public Forum Debate: Ghaznavi/Vanjani, Parish Episcopal
 * Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking: Arvind Venkataraman, Southlake Carroll High School
 * Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking: Zachary Stone, Plano West High School
 * Original Oratory: Paige LaNasa, Centennial High School
 * Humorous Interpretation: Marah Wilson, Grapevine High School
 * Dramatic Interpretation: Robert Jackson, Alief Hastings High School
 * Duet Acting: Weston/Torres, Grand Prairie High School
 * Duo Interpretation: Hunt/Waller, Mansfield High School.

Scholarship
The TFA awards a scholarship of $500 or $1000 to two male and two female students each year at the state tournament. Any state-qualified senior may apply with a recommendation from his or her coach. The awards are given based on an equally weighted consideration of achievements, financial need, and academics.