Idaho State University hosts CEDA National Tournament; registration begins March 22, debates March 23

Registration for the 2013 Cross Examination Debate Association National tournament starts tonight, March 22, at the Red Lion Hotel in Pocatello, and debates begin Saturday, March 23 on the Idaho State University campus.

There are 500 tournament participants and more than 144 teams registered from across the nation that have been arriving in Pocatello over the past few days. The tournament is hosted by the ISU James M. & Sharon Rupp Debate Team.

Events at the tournament include two award ceremonies, eight preliminary debates, and six single elimination debates taking place between now and Tuesday, March 26.

"The competition for this championship will be as intense as any college sports competition," said Sarah Partlow-Lefevre, ISU professor and director of the ISU James M. & Sharon E. Rupp Debate Team. "The debaters participating here have spent hundreds and sometimes thousands of hours over the course of the last nine months preparing for this moment."

The tournament will be headquartered in the ISU Rendezvous Complex building on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Spectators are welcome to come check out a debate.

Additional event information is available at the CEDA Nationals Facebook page, http://ww.facebook.com/ceda2013.

Live webcasts of tournament debates begin March 23 and can be viewed at http://www.webcast50.com/page/show/778564-2013-ceda-national-tournament.

This is the second time in four years that Idaho State University will host the CEDA national tournament, the largest intercollegiate national debate championship.

Teams will debate the question of whether the United States Federal Government should reduce restrictions on and/or substantially increase financial incentives for energy production in the United States of one or more of the following: coal, crude oil, natural gas, nuclear power, solar power, wind power.

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