National Service Resolution Revision

I am writing to update you with regard to the 2006-2007 Policy Debate Topic and resolution. The Wording Committee and the author of the national service paper, Sandy Patrick, met via conference call on Thursday, January 19 and unanimously agreed to revise the wording of the national service resolution as follows:

Resolved: The United States federal government should establish a policy substantially increasing the number of persons serving in one or more of the following national service programs: AmeriCorps, Citizen Corps, Senior Corps, Peace Corps, Learn and Serve America, Armed Forces.

The topic selection procedure states that the final authority to approve the topic and resolution rests with the group that assembles annually in early August to begin the topic selection process for the following year. Historically, there have been other occasions when the wording of the resolution has been revised and these revisions have not become official until the ratification vote at the meeting. Given that students and coaches will need to begin research on the topic, the committee determined that the proper course of action would be to conduct a straw vote of the 2005 Topic Selection Meeting attendees. They then determined that if the results of the straw vote were favorable, the revised resolution would be publicized nationally. This would not only facilitate research of the resolution by students and coaches but would also allow the Forensic Quarterly to be written using the revised wording and would help those working with summer debate camps.

The straw vote of the topic selection meeting attendees was unanimous among the respondents. Of the 46 attendees, 37 voted in favor of the revision and 9 did not respond. Therefore, the NFHS Web site will be changed to reflect the revised national service resolution. In addition, the NFHS News will list the revised wording as well as all future NFHS publications on the national topic.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. I believe that the Wording Committee took the only action possible, given the situation, and that this revision will ensure a successful year of debate with the national service topic.

Kent

Kent Summers

Assistant Director

National Federation of State High School Assns. (NFHS)

P O Box 690

Indianapolis, Indiana 46206

Phone: 317-972-6900

Fax: 317.822.5700