SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
Topicality Index
Topicality Index.............................................................................................................................................. 1
SS-spec 1NC ................................................................................................................................................. 3
SS-spec 2NC ................................................................................................................................................. 4
A-Spec 1NC................................................................................................................................................... 5
A-Spec 2NC................................................................................................................................................... 6
O-spec 1NC ................................................................................................................................................... 7
Generic Extra T – 1NC .................................................................................................................................. 8
The Resolution 1NC ...................................................................................................................................... 9
The Resolution 1NC .................................................................................................................................... 10
The Resolution 2NC – Overview.................................................................................................................. 11
The Resolution 2NC – Limits ....................................................................................................................... 12
The Resolution 2NC – Definition.................................................................................................................. 13
The Resolution 2NC – Definition.................................................................................................................. 14
The Resolution 2NC – Definitions ................................................................................................................ 15
‘Social Services’ Are Plural 1NC .................................................................................................................. 16
‘Social Services’ Excludes Welfare 1NC ...................................................................................................... 17
‘Social Services’ Exclude Area Focus 1NC ................................................................................................. 18
‘Social Services’ Exclude Area Focus 2NC ................................................................................................. 19
‘Social Services’ Excludes Housing 1NC ..................................................................................................... 20
‘Social Services’ Excludes Housing 2NC ..................................................................................................... 21
‘Persons’ Excludes Animal 1NC .................................................................................................................. 22
‘Persons’ Excludes Animal – 2NC ............................................................................................................... 23
‘Persons’ Excludes Animal – 2NC ............................................................................................................... 24
‘Persons’ Excludes Indian Country 1NC ...................................................................................................... 25
‘Poverty’ = Income Line 1NC ....................................................................................................................... 26
‘Increase’ = Make Greater 1NC ................................................................................................................... 27
‘Increase’ = preexisting 1NC ........................................................................................................................ 28
‘Increase’ = to create new 1NC.................................................................................................................... 29
‘Substantially’ = W/ Out Mat Quals 1NC ...................................................................................................... 30
‘In’ = throughout the United States 1NC ...................................................................................................... 31
Definitions: Resolved 1/ ............................................................................................................................... 32
Definitions: Colon (:) .................................................................................................................................... 33
Definitions: The 1/ ........................................................................................................................................ 34
Definitions: United States 1/ ........................................................................................................................ 35
Definitions: Federal Government 1/ ............................................................................................................. 36
Definitions: USFG 1/ .................................................................................................................................... 37
Definitions: Should 1/ ................................................................................................................................... 38
Definitions: Substantially 1/.......................................................................................................................... 39
Definitions: Substantially 2/.......................................................................................................................... 40
Definitions: Substantially 3/.......................................................................................................................... 41
Definitions: Increase 1/ ................................................................................................................................ 42
Definitions: Increase 2/ ................................................................................................................................ 43
Definitions: Social Services 1/ ..................................................................................................................... 44
Definitions: Social Services 2/ ..................................................................................................................... 45
Definitions: Social Services 3/ ..................................................................................................................... 46
Definitions: Social Services 4/ ..................................................................................................................... 47
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
1
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
Definitions: Social Services 4/ ..................................................................................................................... 48
Definitions: Social Services 5/ ..................................................................................................................... 49
Definitions: Social Services 6/ ..................................................................................................................... 50
Definitions: For 1/ ........................................................................................................................................ 51
Definitions: Persons 1/ ................................................................................................................................. 52
Definitions: Persons 2/ ................................................................................................................................. 53
Definitions: Persons 3/ ................................................................................................................................. 54
Definitions: Persons 4/ ................................................................................................................................. 55
Definitions: Living 1/..................................................................................................................................... 56
Definitions: In 1/ ........................................................................................................................................... 57
Definitions: Poverty 1/ .................................................................................................................................. 58
Definitions: Poverty 2/ .................................................................................................................................. 59
Definitions: Poverty 3/ .................................................................................................................................. 60
Theological Definitions................................................................................................................................. 61
Topicality is a Voter ..................................................................................................................................... 62
Extra T Bad.................................................................................................................................................. 63
Effects (FX) T Bad ....................................................................................................................................... 64
A2: “Only our case is topical” ....................................................................................................................... 65
Competing Interpretations Good .................................................................................................................. 66
Topicality Outweighs Theory ....................................................................................................................... 67
AT: K of T 1 / 2 ............................................................................................................................................ 68
AT: K of T 2 / 2 ............................................................................................................................................ 69
A2: Effects (FX) T ........................................................................................................................................ 70
A2: A-spec ................................................................................................................................................... 71
Competing Interpretations Bad .................................................................................................................... 72
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
2
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
SS-spec 1NC
A) The Interpretation –
The affirmative must specify the social service they intend to increase. There are
countless social services and mechanisms.
Boone County Community Services Advisory Commission in 2007 (Boone County, NC), SOCIAL SERVICES FUNDING
POLICY, Dec. 07. Retrieved 6 Jan. 2009 from www.gocolumbiamo.com.
Social services are those services provided to individuals or families experiencing difficulty in meeting their basic
human needs: physical survival (i.e. food, shelter, and clothing); adequate preparation for and help in sustaining gainful employment (i.e.
employment and training programs, child care, and transportation); assistance in addressing conditions related to mental
health and substance abuse, especially in times of personal or family crises (rehabilitation and counseling); prevention services for
at-risk children and youth (education, enrichment, and opportunity); services specifically for seniors and/or disabled residents (i.e. in-home services,
adult day care, and care coordination); and help in gaining access to available appropriate services (i.e. transportation and information & referral
services).
B) They violate and should lose1. Education – The aff ignore and purposely distracts us from education on the
implementation of plan. There is a rich literature base surrounding what social
services are and how they are implemented on the ground to solve poverty. In
order to get topic specific education, we must test the specific service
mechanism.
2. Sand bagging – Either we have to run a T argument to guarantee our links, or
the 2AC can simply clarify what social services are included to get out of neg
ground.
3. Ground – The plan text is written specifically to neutralize PIC options. These
CPs are key to negative flexibility. They also eliminate good K ground because
they will shift out of most state based and biopower links.
C) This is a voter for fairness.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
3
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
SS-spec 2NC
This may seem like a dumb spec argument but in the context of this year’s resolution
it is important. There are only two significant terms in the resolution, “poverty” and
“social services.” The aff erases half the ground the neg has by refusing to specify
what social service they use. Our Boone County Commission in 2007 evidence points
to the dozens of types of services and available. In addition to our impact of
educational confusion, we lose all topic specific education. Poverty is always going
to be vague, but the social service mechanism can be specified and its critical to
effective policy making.
They are also way behind on the “Sand Bagging” and “Ground” debate. The only
reason they refuse to put it in the plan text or answer our cross-x questions is
because they are trying to spike out of link arguments we can make. They eliminate
all PICs, alternative service CPs, and K links.
This is a voter even if there is not clear abuse. Not specifying which social service
mechanism they will use gives them an immediate time and strategy advantage.
Either we have to run a T arg that defines incentive to ensure our link ground or the
2AC will simply define it for us in order to shift out of our strategy. Given the many
different types of “social services” the potential is great.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
4
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
A-Spec 1NC
A. Interpretation and violation – the aff must specify which of the 3 branches of the
federal government passes the plan
B. Violation – they specify the ___________
C. This is a voter for Competitive equity
1. Ground – We lose agent specific counter plans and Disads
2. Conditionality – ‘resolved’ means “a firm course of action” - That’s the American
Heritage dictionary – not specifying allows 2AC clarification which decks
predictability – and means they are not topical
3. No solvency – no such actor as the united states federal government, only specific
branches
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
5
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
A-Spec 2NC
The Elmore ’80 Card
90% of policy education comes from debates about implementation
Elmore ‘80
(Prof. Public Affairs at University of Washington, PolySci Quarterly 79-80, p. 605)
The emergence of implementation as a subject for policy analysis coincides closely with the discovery by policy analysts that
decisions are not self-executing. Analysis of policy choices matter very little if the mechanism for implementing those choices is poorly
understood in answering the question, "What percentage of the work of achieving a desired governmental action is done when the
preferred analytic alternative has been identified?" Allison estimated that in the normal case, it was about 10 percent, leaving the
remaining 90 percent in the realm of implementation.
No Solvency
The USFG does not exist
Brovero ’94 (Adrienne, Debate Coach, Immigration Policies, http://www.wfu.edu/Studentorganizations/debate/MiscSites/DRGArticles/Brovero1994Immigration.htm)
The problem is that there is no agent specified. The federal government does not enact
policies, agents or agencies within the federal government enact policies. The agent enacting a policy is a very important aspect of the policy. For some of
The problem is not that there is not a plan; this time there is one.
the same reasons the affirmative team should specify a plan of action, the affirmative team should specify an agent of action.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
6
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
O-spec 1NC
A. Interpretation and violation – the Aff must defend all three branches of the federal
government – they don’t -- they specify their agent
We have definitional support – ‘the’ is a mass noun
American Heritage ‘2K
Used before a singular noun indicating that the noun is generic: The wolf is an endangered species.
B. Vote negative –
1. Crushes neg ground – allows them to specify down to tiny, unpredictable agents
that we won’t be prepared to debate and they can strategically change
2. Extra-topical – allows them to claim specific agent advantages that go beyond the
scope of the topic. Extra-topicality is voting issue because it proves the resolution
insufficient and is a no-cost burden for the Aff.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
7
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
Generic Extra T – 1NC
A) Interpretation:
The advantages have to stem from the passage of plan through the USFG – any other
advocacy is extra-topical
B) Violation:
The affirmative garners advantages from their presentation of the affirmative, not just
from the hypothetical passage of the plan.
C) Reasons To Prefer:
1. Predictability: Affirmatives that generate offense from their advocacy outside of
the plan explode the topic because there is an infinite number of things that they
could advocate that are tangentially related to the topic – Affirmatives could stand up
and read movie scripts that barely relate to the topic, and negatives would never be
able to predict them.
2. Bidirectionality: Our interpretation forces affirmatives to affirm the passage of the
plan which means that we would have stable ground like USFG action is bad and
USFG authority is good. Affs like this remove that guarantee and allow affirmatives
that are wholly critical of the topic. This at least doubles the amount of research that
negatives would have to do and decreases the chance that we will get any topic
education.
3. Extra-Topicality is bad: It allows affirmatives to spike out of links and
counterplans. It gives affirmatives advantages that they would otherwise not have. It
disproves the resolution because it shows that it is not sufficient for the advantages.
And, any increased ground that we get is unpredictable and undebatable.
D) Voting Issue for Fairness and Ground
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
8
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
The Resolution 1NC
A) Interpretation – The aff must substantially increase existing social services
already that are only available to persons living in poverty as defined by the HHS
poverty guidelines.
1. Increase means pre-existing. You can’t create something new.
Buckley et al, 06
- attorney (Jeremiah, Amicus Curiae Brief, Safeco Ins. Co. of America et al v. Charles Burr et al,
http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/supreme_court/briefs/06-84/06-84.mer.ami.mica.pdf)
First, the court said that the ordinary meaning of the word “increase” is “to make something greater,” which it believed should not “be limited to cases in which a
company raises the rate that an individual has previously been charged.” 435 F.3d at 1091. Yet the definition offered by the Ninth Circuit compels the opposite
conclusion. Because “increase” means “to make something greater,” there must necessarily have been an existing
premium, to which Edo’s actual premium may be compared, to determine whether an “increase” occurred.
Congress could have provided that “adverse
action” in the insurance context means charging an amount greater than the optimal premium, but instead chose to define adverse action in terms of an
“increase.” That definitional choice must be respected, not ignored. See Colautti v. Franklin, 439 U.S. 379, 392-93 n.10 (1979) (“[a] definition which declares
what a term ‘means’ . . . excludes any meaning that is not stated”). Next, the Ninth Circuit reasoned that because the Insurance Prong includes the words
“existing or applied for,” Congress intended that an “increase in any charge” for insurance must “apply to all insurance transactions – from an initial policy of
insurance to a renewal of a long-held policy.” 435 F.3d at 1091. This interpretation reads the words “existing or applied for” in isolation. Other types of adverse
action described in the Insurance Prong apply only to situations where a consumer had an existing policy of insurance, such as a “cancellation,” “reduction,” or
“change” in insurance. Each of these forms of adverse action presupposes an already-existing policy, and under usual canons of statutory construction
term “increase” also should be construed to apply to increases of an already-existing policy.
the
See Hibbs v. Winn, 542 U.S. 88,
101 (2004) (“a phrase gathers meaning from the words around it”) (citation omitted).
2. There is a limited about of social services that actually use the poverty guidelines
to determine eligibility.
Monmouth County in 2008 (4/3/3008, "Your Needs Are Our Concern" THE 2006 HHS POVERTY GUIDELINES,
http://co.monmouth.nj.us/page.aspx?ID=2698
The poverty thresholds are the original version of the federal poverty measure. They are updated each year by the Census Bureau
(although they were originally developed by Mollie Orshansky of the Social Security Administration). The thresholds are used mainly for
statistical purposes - for instance, preparing estimates of the number of Americans in poverty each year. (In other words,
all official poverty population figures are calculated using the poverty threshold, not the guidelines.) Poverty thresholds since 1980 and weighted average poverty
thresholds since 1959 are available on the Census Bureau's Web site. The poverty guidelines are the other version of the Federal
poverty measure. They are issued each year in the Federal Register by the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS). The guidelines are a simplification of the poverty thresholds for use for administrative purposes - for instance, determining financial
eligibility for certain federal programs.
2008 HHS Poverty Guidelines
Persons in Family
1
48 Contiguous States and D.C.
$10,400
Programs using the guidelines (or percentage multiples of the guidelines-for instance, 125 percent or 185 percent of the guidelines) in
determining eligibility include Head Start, the Food Stamp Program, the National School Lunch Program, the
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Note that in
general, cash public assistance programs (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and its predecessor Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and
Supplemental Security Income) do NOT use the poverty guidelines in determining eligibility. The Earned Income Tax
Credit program also does NOT use the poverty guidelines to determine eligibility. The poverty guidelines (unlike the poverty
thresholds) are designated by the year in which they are issued. For instance, the guidelines issued in January 2006 are designated the 2006 poverty guidelines.
However, the 2006 HHS poverty guidelines only reflect price changes through calendar year 2005; accordingly, they are approximately equal to the Census
Bureau poverty thresholds for calendar year 2005. The poverty guidelines may be formally referenced as "the poverty guidelines
updated periodically in the Federal Register by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the
authority of 42 U.S.C. 9902(2)."
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
9
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
The Resolution 1NC
B) Violation – The plan either creates a new service or increases services that are
offered to larger segments of the population (domestic violence services, general
cash assistance, etc.), not exclusively or geographically limited to persons living in
poverty according to the current guidelines.
C) Standards –
1. Limits – there are countless social services that an organization could offer to
people. Literally anything that helps improve people’s standard of living can be
considered topical. Health care, social security, education services, which were all
separate topic papers, would all be allowed without a limited definition. Limits are the
best internal link into fairness, education, and research burdens.
2. Predictability – “living in poverty” is a term of art and has a precise numerical and
legal meaning. The topic is USFG specific and we should value poverty definitions
that endorse the same standard.
3. Ground – Allowing teams to create new social services or redefine poverty gives
the aff unfair and unpredictable advantage ground. It also lets them steal neg kritik
ground by critiquing status quo conceptions of poverty and service. Saying “poverty
good” is not good ground. The neg should get to test the current delivery mechanism
of social services in the United States.
4. Extra and Effects Topicality are illegitimate – at best, the aff can prove that persons
in poverty will use their service or that their service will prevent the root cause of
poverty, but this obfuscates the resolution and lets them apply an unpredictable
literature base to support their solvency and advantages. Its an independent voter
because of potential spike outs and it proves the resolution insufficient.
D) Topicality is a voter for competitive equity, education, and jurisdiction.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
10
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
The Resolution 2NC – Overview
Our interpretation is simple – The aff must increase social services that are already,
and exclusively, directed and persons living in poverty. Our Monmouth County
evidence says programs like Head Start, Food Stamps, Low-Income Home Energy
Assistance Program, SCHIP all use the poverty guidelines but general cash
assistance and other issue-specific programs are NOT included. Our interpretation
has a built in caselist.
Our interpretation makes sense. Clearly, anything can be considered a social service,
the distinction is that this topic demands that we increase poverty related social
services. The aff would like you to conflate terms and explode the topic area by
including things like Tax benefits, Domestic Violence, Mental Health, Veterans
Affairs, and Katrina programs, just because the people that receive those services
also happen to be poor. The aff gets to combat poverty and nothing else.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
11
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
The Resolution 2NC – Limits
Extend the Limits Standard – You should evaluate topicality on competing
interpretations and who best limits the topic. Limits outweigh every other standard
1. Defining ‘poverty’ without the federal standard is ambiguous which means we
never get good education on actual standards of poverty and we can’t predict which
segment of the population is actually receiving the service.
2. ‘Social services’ could potentially include anything. Examples include public
hospitals and clinics, good roads, clean water supply, garbage collection, electricity,
and telecommunications. Not to mention health, social security, and education. ALL
of which were separate and huge topic papers. No neg team can keep up in a world
without limits.
3. < Insert Generic Limits Good Block >
The aff’s interpretation artificially limits the topic. While they may only send the
service to persons living in poverty, there is no lit that defines and supports that
geographic specification. The proof is that all of their solvency evidence assumes
that the social service is widely available. All neg ground rest on the assumption that
the service is structurally possible to be given only to people living in poverty.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
12
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
The Resolution 2NC – Definition
There are countless social services. Here is a list including everything from disability
to housing to domestic violence to HIV awareness. None of these have anything to do
with poverty. Proof we need limits.
Monmouth County in 2008 (4/3/3008, "Your Needs Are Our Concern" THE 2006 HHS POVERTY GUIDELINES,
http://co.monmouth.nj.us/page.aspx?ID=2698
Social services offered by the Monmouth County Division of Social Services (DSS) are available to recipients of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
(TANF), General Assistance (GA), Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and also to other Monmouth County residents who qualify as low/moderate income
Social Services are funded by the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), Title XX of the Social Security Act,
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF) Block Grant, Medicaid, Monmouth County and a variety of grants. Professional social work staff provide information and
households.
referral, assessment, short-term individual and group counseling, case management, housing-related services, health-related services, and (limited) protective
services to both families with children and single adults/couples. Social workers are deployed at all three DSS offices. Clients may phone or come to any office
without appointment, or have a social worker visit their residences. Staff work closely with government and community agencies to coordinate and integrate
services within the county. Social workers are also assigned as liaisons to certain agencies to facilitate easy access of resources for clients.
Social Services available include the following :
* Services for the disabled
* Disability Services - Provides intensive services to physically disabled adults and children to enhance quality of life and independence.
* Community Care Program for the Elderly and Disabled (CCPED) - Provides case management arranging medical and social services to persons
who might otherwise require nursing home placement; funded by Medicaid.
* Medical Review Team - Prepares social assessment and medical records for medical review panel to determine medical eligibility.
* Personal Preference Program - Researches whether disabled clients, if given responsibility for a monthly allowance similar to CCPED above, will spend the
funds appropriately to meet their daily needs (federal demonstration project).
* ARC (Association for Retarded Citizens, Monmouth Unit) provides services, support and advocacy for individuals with mental retardation and their families.
Please note that ARC is a community organization and not part of the Monmouth County Division of Social Services. Further information about ARC may be
found at www.arcofmonmouth.org
Housing Services
* Housing Counseling - Provides how-to counseling on landlord-tenant rights and procedures including eviction prevention; also includes
homeownership pre-purchase guidance, foreclosure prevention and reverse equity mortgages (HUD certified). 2491 households received tenant assistance; 689
received mortgage counseling; 46 cases were saved from eviction in District Court negotiations.
* Emergency Home Repair - Funds emergency repair or replacement to remedy health/safety code violations for very low-income homeowners. 133
households.
* Barrier Free program - Provides access ramps and other modifications to homes and apartments, which enhance mobility to persons with physical
limitations. 12 households.
* Monmouth County Public Housing Agency (MCPHA) - Administers U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rent subsidy payments for
the following programs: Section 8 Vouchers, Mainstream (disabled), HOPWA and Shelter Plus Care (AIDS), Family Unification (DYFS), Welfare to Work (postwelfare), and HOME (seniors and mental health). Offers a Family Self-Sufficiency contract to tenants who are motivated to enhance their personal and
marketable skills and to increase household income. Eligible tenants may be selected to participate in a new mortgage subsidy program.
* Emergency Assistance - Available to recipients of TANF, SSI and GA in financial crisis to address security deposits, utility arrears and homelessness.
Programs include emergency placement, Transitional Housing, Temporary Rental Assistance and the Long Term Support Program.
* Shelters - Makes appropriate referrals for available slots for adults, families and youth in family crisis for temporary emergency placement
* Emergency Family Shelter Program - Services homeless working poor with motel placement and/or security deposits. Program is budget limited.
Case Management Services
Family Referral and Case Management Services - provides information and referral services for resources such as
food, child care, medical services, housing, etc. Provides short-term case management.
Adult Referral and Case Management Services - Provides information and referral services and short-term case management.
Other Services
* Parents Anonymous- Facilitates weekly support group meetings to discuss the challenges of parenting. Call 732-431-6317. Also see Protective Services
page for more information.
* Domestic Violence Initiative - Provides intensive emergency response for domestic violence victims in accessing housing and supportive services.
(see Protective Services)
* HIV/AIDS & S+C HUD - Provides housing subsidy for persons with AIDS who are homeless and whose health is seriously compromised. Includes
information and referral, intensive case management and counseling services.
* NJ EASE - Provides services to persons age 60+. Linkages are made for housing options, medical and medicaid waiver programs, in-home care, etc.
* Boarding Home Services - Performs facility visits to monitor compliance with housing, supervision and personal care. Investigates complaints. Provides
assistance with relocation to and from facilities. Assesses need for level of care. Facilitates resolution of problems between resident and operator.
* Social Security Administration (SSA) - Liason works closely with the SSA to facilitate resolution of problems and assist with applications.
* Application Assistance - Completes applications for homebound persons for Medicaid, TANF, General Assistance or Food Stamps.
* Teen Pregnancy/School Related Programs - Provides individual and group counseling at area high schools and at the Youth Detention Center.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
13
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
The Resolution 2NC – Definition
We have a litmus test – “Social services” are distinct from “Housing Services” or
“Case-specific services” like domestic violence and health.
Monmouth County in 2008 (4/3/3008, "Your Needs Are Our Concern" THE 2006 HHS POVERTY GUIDELINES,
http://co.monmouth.nj.us/page.aspx?ID=2698
Social Services available include the following :
* Services for the disabled
* Disability Services - Provides intensive services to physically disabled adults and children to enhance quality of life and independence.
* Community Care Program for the Elderly and Disabled (CCPED) - Provides case management arranging medical and social services to persons
who might otherwise require nursing home placement; funded by Medicaid.
* Medical Review Team - Prepares social assessment and medical records for medical review panel to determine medical eligibility.
* Personal Preference Program - Researches whether disabled clients, if given responsibility for a monthly allowance similar to CCPED above, will spend the
funds appropriately to meet their daily needs (federal demonstration project).
* ARC (Association for Retarded Citizens, Monmouth Unit) provides services, support and advocacy for individuals with mental retardation and their families.
Please note that ARC is a community organization and not part of the Monmouth County Division of Social Services. Further information about ARC may be
found at www.arcofmonmouth.org
Housing Services
* Housing Counseling - Provides how-to counseling on landlord-tenant rights and procedures including eviction prevention; also includes
homeownership pre-purchase guidance, foreclosure prevention and reverse equity mortgages (HUD certified). 2491 households received tenant assistance; 689
received mortgage counseling; 46 cases were saved from eviction in District Court negotiations.
* Emergency Home Repair - Funds emergency repair or replacement to remedy health/safety code violations for very low-income homeowners. 133
households.
* Barrier Free program - Provides access ramps and other modifications to homes and apartments, which enhance mobility to persons with physical
limitations. 12 households.
* Monmouth County Public Housing Agency (MCPHA) - Administers U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rent subsidy payments for
the following programs: Section 8 Vouchers, Mainstream (disabled), HOPWA and Shelter Plus Care (AIDS), Family Unification (DYFS), Welfare to Work (postwelfare), and HOME (seniors and mental health). Offers a Family Self-Sufficiency contract to tenants who are motivated to enhance their personal and
marketable skills and to increase household income. Eligible tenants may be selected to participate in a new mortgage subsidy program.
* Emergency Assistance - Available to recipients of TANF, SSI and GA in financial crisis to address security deposits, utility arrears and homelessness.
Programs include emergency placement, Transitional Housing, Temporary Rental Assistance and the Long Term Support Program.
* Shelters - Makes appropriate referrals for available slots for adults, families and youth in family crisis for temporary emergency placement
* Emergency Family Shelter Program - Services homeless working poor with motel placement and/or security deposits. Program is budget limited.
Case Management Services
Family Referral and Case Management Services - provides information and referral services for resources such as food, child care, medical services, housing,
etc. Provides short-term case management. Adult Referral and Case Management Services - Provides information and referral services and short-term case
management.
Other Services
* Parents Anonymous- Facilitates weekly support group meetings to discuss the challenges of parenting. Call 732-431-6317. Also see Protective Services
page for more information.
* Domestic Violence Initiative - Provides intensive emergency response for domestic violence victims in accessing housing and supportive services.
(see Protective Services)
* HIV/AIDS & S+C HUD - Provides housing subsidy for persons with AIDS who are homeless and whose health is seriously compromised. Includes
information and referral, intensive case management and counseling services.
* NJ EASE - Provides services to persons age 60+. Linkages are made for housing options, medical and medicaid waiver programs, in-home care, etc.
* Boarding Home Services - Performs facility visits to monitor compliance with housing, supervision and personal care. Investigates complaints. Provides
assistance with relocation to and from facilities. Assesses need for level of care. Facilitates resolution of problems between resident and operator.
* Social Security Administration (SSA) - Liason works closely with the SSA to facilitate resolution of problems and assist with applications.
* Application Assistance - Completes applications for homebound persons for Medicaid, TANF, General Assistance or Food Stamps.
* Teen Pregnancy/School Related Programs - Provides individual and group counseling at area high schools and at the Youth Detention Center.
* Early Periodic Screening Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) - Provides medical screening of children for all new applicants of TANF, Medicaid, Jersey Care,
Family Care and Kid Care. Introduces families to DSS and community service resources.
* Family Self-Sufficiency - Provides social services, facilitates training for career development and escrow account for savings for HUD Section 8 clients.
* Project Transition/PATH - Provides short-term intensive services to homeless mentally ill. Also provides case management and community support for
mentally ill chemically addicted persons.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
14
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
The Resolution 2NC – Definitions
The federal poverty standard is the best definition
Andrew Cherlin in 2009 is Benjamin H. Griswold III Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at Johns Hopkins University, The Annals of The American
Academy of Political and Social Science January, 2009, :Welfare Reform in the Mid-2000s: How African American and Hispanic Families in Three Cities Are
Faring,” p. 11
The federal poverty line is the most widely cited figure in discussions and debates about low incomes, poverty, and inequality,
and it has the advantage of historical continuity because it has been calculated the same way since the 1960s.
It doesn’t matter that their case harms talk about poverty or people who are poor. The
term ‘Poverty’ does not equal poor.
Steve Hobbs, Tom Bevill Chairholder of Law, University of Alabama School of Law, Winter 2006, Boston College Third World Law Journal, “Tending To
The Spirit: A Proposal For Healing The Hearts Of Black Children In Poverty,” p. 110
Recent statistics indicate that approximately 12 million children live in poverty and 26 million children are poor, defined
as households with total income between 100% and 200% of the federal poverty level.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
15
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
‘Social Services’ Are Plural 1NC
A) Interpretation – The affirmative must substantially increase more than one social
service to persons living in poverty.
1. Social services are plural.
Joseph Pickett
in 2006, (Editor), AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, 4TH ED., 06, 1650.
Social Services:
Services, such as free school lunches, provided by a government for its disadvantaged citizens. Often used in the
plural.
2. Substantially is 90% - means more than one.
Words and Phrases, 05
(v. 40B, p. 329)
N.H. 1949. The word “substantially” as used in provision of Unemployment Compensation Act that experience rating of an employer may be
transferred to an employing unit which acquires the organization, trade, or business, or “substantially” all of the assets thereof,
is an elastic
term which does not include a definite, fixed amount of percentage, and the transfer does not have to be
100 per cent but cannot be less than 90 per cent in the ordinary situation. R.L. c 218, § 6, subd. F, as added by Laws
1945, c.138, § 16.
B) Violation – The plan only increases one type of social service. They are not
substantial and are not plural.
C) Standards
1. Limits – The topic is huge. There are countless social services available that the
only ways to check small squirrelly cases are to ensure affirmatives affect a
substantial amount of social services. Asking for two is a fair limit. ’
2. Ground – the affirmative unfairly tries to make the debate about one type of service
which lets them spike out of generic DAs and links that assume the social service
enterprise. The aff should have to defend services as a whole.
3. Grammar – Grammatically precise interpretations are key to predictability because
it’s the only universal and easily accessible way to understand the resolution at the
beginning of the year. It’s also good for language education.
D) Topicality is voter for competitive equity and jurisdiction.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
16
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
‘Social Services’ Excludes Welfare 1NC
Welfare reform deals with cash assistance, not social services
Cheryl M. Mille, Associate Professor, Policy Sciences and Political Science, University of Maryland, 2002, Maryland Law Review, what's ahead for lowincome and no-income families? Reconciling welfare devolution and due process protection: A Response to Professor Cimini,” p. 298
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF), created under the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, does
not have the entitlement underpinnings of AFDC. Cash assistance is now conditional, subject to work requirements,
time limits, and behavioral and other stipulations.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
17
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
‘Social Services’ Exclude Area Focus 1NC
A) There is a distinction between person-based social services and place-based
poverty policies. The aff must be person focused.
1. Social Services are directed at people.
Carol-June Cassidy, (Editor), CAMBRIDGE
DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN ENGLISH, 2nd Ed., 2008, 825.
Social Services: any of the services provided by governments or other organizations to people with particular needs
2. Social services, like welfare, are person-based.
Hilary Hoynes in 2007, Professor of Economic, University of California, Davis, an National Bureau of Economic Research, Industrial & Labor Relations
Review, July 2007, “Economic and Social Security and Substandard Working Conditions,” p. 592
What has received less attention is geographic variation in economic well-being, which has been both stark and persistent. In 2004, the percentage of persons in
poverty ranged from a high of 19.3% in Mississippi to a low of 6.6% in New Hampshire. The variation across counties is even more dramatic, with 1999 poverty
rates ranging from under 6% in some counties to almost 40% in others. There appears to be a great deal of persistence in these spatial disparities, with the
relative positions of many counties hardly budging across the consecutive decennial censuses of 1980, 1990, and 2000. In The Geography of American Poverty,
Mark Partridge and Dan Rickman address this important issue of spatial variation in poverty and in so doing fill a significant void in the voluminous poverty
literature. The thesis of the book is that anti-poverty policies should include both person-based policies (such as welfare reform
and the Earned Income Tax Credit) and place-based policies (such as enterprise zones). To build up to this policy recommendation, the
book provides a wealth of facts and statistical analyses.
B) Violation – The plan is directed at _________________ which is a geographic
region, no a person.
C) Standards
1. Limits – The topic is huge. There are countless social services available that the
only way to check what is on the caselist is to limit what “persons living in poverty.”
The aff explodes the research burden to unpredictable and uncommon
understandings of social services.
2. Ground – the affirmative unfairly steals negative kritik ground by artificially
excluding a debate on persons. This justifies recycling last years Katrina affs and
just reading racism arguments because people in the geographic region are poor.
3. Topic Education – Our interpretation ensures resolution and legal education.
Debate is a training ground for good decisions making and our interpretation
protects a vital distinction. There is a reason the topic is directed at PERSONS living
in poverty, not places. We are key to this education.
D) Topicality is voter for competitive equity and jurisdiction.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
18
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
‘Social Services’ Exclude Area Focus 2NC
Extend our interpretation that social services must be given to specific persons, not
to geographic areas. Our Cambridge Dictionary evidence says that socials services
are directed at people with particular needs and our Hoynes evidence says social
services are person-based polices. Yes, the evidence says that anti-poverty policies
should include both, but this is a reason why they don’t solve. Anti-poverty policies
include lots of approaches but the aff only gets to increase social service. Any
additional geographic action is extra topical and is an independent voter for fairness
and ground.
And, traditional social services must be targeted to specific populations.
Cassandra Netzke , Fall 2001, Hamline Journal of Public Law & Policy, “Rethinking Revitalization: Social Services in Segregation and Concentrations of
Poverty,” p. 155
the more traditional sense of social services. These services are primarily created to
address specific social concerns in target populations.
The second category covers agencies that satisfy
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
19
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
‘Social Services’ Excludes Housing 1NC
A) Interpretation – Housing programs and distinct from social services.
Housing is considered separate from social services
Cassandra Netzke , Fall 2001, Hamline Journal of Public Law & Policy, “Rethinking Revitalization: Social Services in Segregation and Concentrations of
Poverty,” p. 156
Future discussions
of social services in a neighborhood must recognize the intimate relationship between those services and
public housing. Two reasons in particular illustrate the need for this more comprehensive perspective. First, the effective administration of
public housing is increasingly dependent upon the effective implementation of supportive social services. Secondly, the
resulting collaborations between housing and social services directly impact the infrastructure and redevelopment of a
community. For example, assume that the goals of public housing are to prevent homelessness and allow residents time to accumulate resources that will
facilitate home ownership or moving into unsubsidized rental housing. Residents without job skills or food resources will most likely be unable to break the cycle
of subsidization. Barriers to self-sufficiency, like chemical dependency or mental health issues, may make some residents dependent upon subsidized housing
indefinitely. Until these barriers are addressed, and residents are empowered to control these obstacles, they may be unable to accumulate the necessary
resources to move into unsubsidized housing. Hence, public
housing may be able to prevent homelessness in some cases, but will not
is where social services, such as childcare or addiction counseling, come
be able to transition residents into an unsubsidized housing situation. This
into play.
B) Violation – The plan increases housing programs and/or access to property, which
is infrastructure development, NOT a social service.
C) Standards
1. Limits – The topic is huge. There are already countless social services available;
the aff doesn’t need to include literally ANYTHING that could stop the conditions of
poverty. The aff explodes the research burden to unpredictable and uncommon
understandings of social services.
2. Ground – the affirmative unfairly steals negative kritik ground by artificially
including infrastructure and material improvements instead of services to address
those flaws. This justifies recycling last years Green Building Affs or Public Health
literature from two years ago. This is too much ground.
3. Topic Education – Our interpretation ensures resolution and legal education.
Debate is a training ground for good decisions making and our interpretation
protects a vital distinction. There is a reason the topic specifies social services, not
just anti-poverty policies. We are key to this education.
D) Topicality is voter for competitive equity and jurisdiction.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
20
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
‘Social Services’ Excludes Housing 2NC
A) Social services do not include direct educational programs.
Robert Carter, 2003, Seton Hall Legislative Law Journal, v. 27, “Faith-based initiatives: expanding government collaboration with faith-based social service
providers, “p. 343-4
Title II begins by announcing its purpose is to improve social
services by delivering it "in the most effective and efficient manner." n208 To achieve this end,
the bill declares its intention to increase the involvement of current faith-based programs and facilitate the entry of new ones. House Bill 7
is further designed to remove the obstacles faith-based organizations face in gaining access to federal funding while preserving their religious character and
autonomy. The bill also affirms its intent to protect the religious freedom of program beneficiaries by allowing them to receive services from a religious
organization of their choosing rather than be forced into a secular program. House Bill 7 does not create any new welfare programs, but instead modifies the
The legislation moves further than previous Charitable Choice legislation by covering a large number of
programs that exist under the auspices of the Department of Education, the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and
Human Services, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Justice. In a decision that reflects political concerns, the
legislation covers secondary school equivalency programs and non-school hour programs run by the Department of
Education, while programs providing education to elementary and secondary school children are not.
administration of several existing ones.
B) Violation – The plan increases direct educational programs IN-schools. This is a
educational program, NOT a social service.
C) Standards
1. Limits – The topic is huge. There are already countless social services available;
the aff doesn’t need to include literally ANYTHING that could stop the conditions of
poverty. The aff explodes the research burden to unpredictable and uncommon
understandings of social services.
2. Ground – the affirmative unfairly steals negative kritik ground by artificially
including education and school improvements instead of services to address those
flaws. This allows aff’s to recycle academic achievement literature. This is too much
ground.
3. Topic Education – Our interpretation ensures resolution and legal education.
Debate is a training ground for good decisions making and our interpretation
protects a vital distinction. There is a reason the topic specifies social services, not
just anti-poverty policies. We are key to this education.
D) Topicality is voter for competitive equity and jurisdiction.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
21
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
‘Persons’ Excludes Animal 1NC
A) Interpretation – Animals are not “persons living in poverty”
1. Animals cannot be persons morally or legally.
Gary Francione
Fall, p. 98-99
in 1996, Professor of Law and Philosophy, Rutgers University School of Law, WOMEN’S RIGHTS LAW REPORTER,
Our treatment of nonhuman animals reflects a distinction that we make between humans, most of whom we
unproblematically regard as persons, and nonhumans, whom we regard as things. Although we may regard some animals as having certain
"interests," we regard all of those interests to be tradable, dependent on our judgment that the sacrifice of the interest(s) will benefit us. This trade is
generally permissible even when the animal interest involved is significant and the human interest is admittedly trivial, as is the case of the use of
animals for "entertainment" purposes such as pigeon shoots, rodeos, or circuses. Animals
are not persons in either moral theory
or under the law: they are property in that they exist solely as means to human ends. They have no interests that cannot be sacrificed, even
when the "benefit" to be gained by humans is mere amusement at the cost of great pain or death to the animal. That is precisely what it means to be
property. "Persons"
are precisely those beings who have interests that cannot be traded merely for
consequential reasons alone.
2. “Living in poverty” is determined by income – doesn’t apply to animals.
D. Stanley Eitzen in 2009, (Prof., Emeritus, Sociology, Colorado State U.), SOLUTIONS TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS: LESSONS FROM STATE
AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, 2009, 102.
Americans with income and assets below the poverty threshold are said to be living in poverty, meaning
they are living below a subsistence level. In a nation known as the richest country in the world, and sometimes said to have streets
paved with gold, it is shocking to find that over 36 million Americans lived below the poverty threshold in 2006. That is roughly 12.3 percent of the
U.S. population and is the highest percentage among industrialized nations. The percentage of children living in poverty is even higher-18 percent.
B) Violation – The plan affects non-human animals. Their service is not directed at
humans or persons with assets.
C) Standards
1. Limits – The topic is huge. There are countless social services available that the
only way to check what is on the caselist is to limit “persons living in poverty.” The
aff explodes the research burden to unpredictable and uncommon understandings of
persons.
2. Ground – the affirmative unfairly steals negative kritik ground by artificially
redefining persons and poverty to get out of the topic kritiks of poverty. The fact that
there is NO literature on animals living in poverty proves the abuse.
3. Education – Our interpretation ensures moral and legal education. Debate is a
training ground for good decisions making. Its best to exclude interpretations of
persons that are not real world and have no basis under law or morality.
D) Topicality is voter for competitive equity and jurisdiction.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
22
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
‘Persons’ Excludes Animal – 2NC
They fail the legal test – non-human animals have no legal rights and thus are not
included in any literature base about poverty or social services offered by
governments.
Gary Francione
in 1996, Professor of Law and Philosophy, Rutgers University School of Law, WOMEN’S RIGHTS LAW REPORTER, Fall 1996, p. 96
Shue is certainly correct in noting that we always assume that humans have basic rights to physical security, whether or not there are social differences in terms
of the actual distribution of the right. In other words, recognition of the basic right of physical security is a right as a matter of law irrespective of whether the state
enforces this right in an even-handed manner. In the case of animals, however, the situation is precisely the opposite. We
talk informally about the
rights of animals, but animals do not have the basic legal right of physical security, and they cannot possess it as a
matter of law. Because animals are regarded as the property of their human owners, animals can be killed for food, used in experiments, and exploited in
numerous other ways for no other reason than that the owner of the animal regards it as a "benefit" to do so. Moreover, b ecause animals do not have
the basic legal right of physical security (or any other basic rights), it is senseless to talk about animals having true
legal rights at all.
They fail the ontological test – animals are not moral agents and are NOT persons.
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
JOURNAL, Spring 2001, p. 17
in 2001, Professor of Philosophy , Dartmouth College SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INTERDISICIPLINARY LAW
According to Saks, the
ontological status of alter personalities hinges on two questions: that of personhood, and that of identification as
person is rational,
the subject of intentional predicates, a moral object, a moral subject or agent, a user of language, and an entity
possessing a special kind of consciousness, such as self-consciousness. To illustrate the application of Dennett's criteria, animals,
which may well be moral subjects, could not be considered moral agents. Hence, animals are not persons.
a person. To answer the first question, Saks looks to Daniel Dennett, who sets out six criteria for personhood. According to Dennett, a
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
23
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
‘Persons’ Excludes Animal – 2NC
Their own evidence concludes negative – including non-human animals violates
physical, economic, religious, historic and legal interpretations. Even if they prove
it’s technically possible to include animals, it’s not desirable for debate.
Katherine Burke
in 2004, JD Candidate, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO LAW REVIEW, Spring 2004, p. 6545
As Steven Wise noted, objections
to defining animals as persons run much deeper than linguistic or legal technicalities.
Even if animals may technically be defined as persons for specific purposes by statute, an animal-suit provision
faces the physical, economic, political, religious, historical, legal, and psychological problems associated with
expanding the legal status of animals. The psychological problem can be especially acute in regards to the distinctions between humans and
animals, and any implications of equality of status can be deeply troubling. Ultimately, however, our legal system allows for statutory expansion of the term
"person," and the Constitution does not limit the judicial power to cases involving human beings, so it is within Congress's power to define animals as
incompetent persons in an animal-suit amendment to the ESA.
Person – Does Not Include Non-Humans
CETACEAN COMMUNITY V. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, United States District Court for the District of Hawaii,
249 F. Supp. 2d 1206, p. http://www.animallaw.info/cases/caus249supp2d1206.htm
In Hawaiian Crow ('Alala) v. Lujan, 906 F. Supp. 549, 552 (D. Haw. 1991), this court examined whether a bird has standing to sue under ESA. This court
considered the plain language of ESA and concluded that it does not authorize a bird to sue because a bird is clearly
not a "person" as defined in 16 U.S.C. § 1532(13). Id. See also Coho Salmon v. Pacific Lumber Co., 30 F. Supp. 2d 1231, 1239 n. 2 (N.D. Cal. 1988)
(observing that, "without delving into the vagaries of the term 'entity,' the court notes that, to swim its way into federal court in this action, the coho salmon would
have to battle a strong current and leap barriers greater than a waterfall or the occasional fallen tree"). For these same reasons, the court finds that the plain
language of 16 U.S.C. § 1540(g) does not authorize a whale, dolphin, or porpoise to sue under ESA. The statutory language of ESA plainly
evidences Congress's intent that those animals are not "persons" as defined under 16 U.S.C. §
1532(13) and therefore do not
have standing to sue pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 1540(g).
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
24
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
‘Persons’ Excludes Indian Country 1NC
A) Interpretation – “Persons” excludes Indian tribes.
WORDS AND PHRASES, 2005, p. 324
U.S. 2003. Indian tribe was not “person” who could sue under § 1983 to vindicate sovereign rights allegedly violated
by county’s execution of otherwise valid search warrant in course of welfare fraud investigation; statute was designed to
secure private rights against government encroachment, not to advance sovereign’s prerogative to withhold evidence relevant to criminal investigation. 42
U.S.C.A. § 1983.—Inyo County, Cal. V. Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony, 123 S..Ct. 1886, 538 U.S. 701, 155 L.Ed.2d
933.—Civil R 1331(4); Indians 27(1).
B) Violation – The plan is directed at Indigenous tribes, which are not persons eligible
for social services.
C) Standards
1. Limits – The topic is huge. There are countless social services available that the
only way to check what is on the caselist is to limit “persons living in poverty.” The
aff explodes the research burden to unpredictable and uncommon understandings of
persons. Corporations, states, and other organizations would be topical under their
interpretation.
2. Ground – the affirmative unfairly steals negative kritik ground by artificially
including tribes, corporations, or other non-person entities. This justifies recycling
last year’s Natives aff and Indian Country literature. This is too much aff ground.
3. Topic Education – Our interpretation ensures resolution and legal education.
Debate is a training ground for good decisions making and our interpretation
protects a vital distinction. There is a reason the topic is directed at persons living in
poverty, not tribes. We are key to this education.
D) Topicality is voter for competitive equity and jurisdiction.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
25
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
‘Poverty’ = Income Line 1NC
A) Poverty is defined as lacking a necessary income to purchase goods necessary to
sustain minimally decent level of existence
Mark R. Ran in 2007, Professor, George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, Connecticut Public Interest Law Journal,
Spring/Summer, 2007, “Rethinking the Scope and Impact of Poverty in the United States,” p. 166
It was not until 1965 that the United States adopted an official measure of poverty. The task of devising such a standard fell to Molly Orshansky, an economist in
the Social Security Administration. Orshansky's basic approach and methodology have remained largely intact to this day and represent the most common
measure of poverty found ingovernmental reporting and academic research. Poverty
is operationalized as the lack of a specific level of
income necessary to purchase a basic basket of goods and services allowing for a minimally decent level of
existence. Total household income is therefore the measuring stick to determine whether individuals and families have the resources
necessary to purchase this basket of goods, and consequently, whether they will fall below the poverty line or not. Household income is
based on annual gross income prior to taxes or Social Security payments taken out. In addition, household income for poverty determination purposes does not
include in-kind program benefits such as Medicaid or Food Stamps, or tax refunds such as the EITC. Households earning below specific income levels are
therefore considered poor. In order to account for the factor of inflation, the
consumer price index changes.
poverty thresholds are adjusted each year in accord with
The level itself also varies depending on household size. n6 For example, in 2005, a household of one was
considered poor if their income fell below $ 9,973; a household of two was counted as poor if their income was under $ 12,755; for a household of three the level
was $ 15,577; a household of four was considered poor if their income fell below $ 19,971; and so on. This
measure of poverty (or a variation of it that
raises the poverty level by 25 or 50 percent) is the most common measure used throughout the research discussed below.
B) Violation – The plan affects people who are poor, but not in ‘poverty.’ The
solvency mechanism and harm area are both extra topical.
C) Standards
1. Limits – The topic is huge. There are countless social services available that the
only way to check what is on the caselist is to limit the focus to the legal
understanding of poverty. The aff explodes the research burden to unpredictable and
extremely large areas of relative poorness.
2. Ground – the affirmative steals ground by artificially expanding what their plan
affects and simultaneously criticizing the status quo conceptions of poverty. They
claim extra advantage and solvency ground by addressing more people than the 10
percent of the population actually living in poverty.
3. Education – Our interpretation ensures topic specific and legal education. The
distinction between what poverty really means and what being poor means is
important.
4. Extra-Topicality is bad – It allows affirmatives to spike out of links and
counterplans. It gives affirmatives advantages that they would otherwise not have. It
disproves the resolution because it shows that it is not sufficient for the advantages.
And, any increased ground that we get is unpredictable and undebatable.
D) Topicality is voter for competitive equity and jurisdiction.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
26
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
‘Increase’ = Make Greater 1NC
A. Interpretation - Increase implies pre-existence
Webster’s ‘98
Increase: to make greater, argument, implies to what is already well grown, or well developed
B. Violation - the Aff creates new alternative energy subsidies
C. It’s a voting issue
1. Limits – Allowing new forms of incentives delimits the topic – this decks negative
predictability which hurts education
2. Ground - There is very little literature on new incentives – core negative ground is
critical to education
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
27
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
‘Increase’ = preexisting 1NC
A. Interpretation –
Increase requires evidence of pre-existing condition
Buckley et al, 06 - attorney (Jeremiah, Amicus Curiae Brief, Safeco Ins. Co. of America et al v.
Charles Burr et al,
http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/supreme_court/briefs/06-84/06-84.mer.ami.mica.pdf)
First, the court said that the ordinary meaning of the word “increase” is “to make something greater,” which it
believed should not “be limited to cases in which a company raises the rate that an individual has previously been charged.” 435 F.3d at
“increase” means “to
make something greater,” there must necessarily have been an existing premium, to which Edo’s
1091. Yet the definition offered by the Ninth Circuit compels the opposite conclusion. Because
actual premium may be compared, to determine whether an “increase” occurred. Congress could have provided that “adverse action” in
the insurance context means charging an
amount greater than the optimal premium, but instead chose to define adverse action in terms of an “increase.” That definitional choice
must be respected, not ignored. See Colautti v. Franklin, 439 U.S. 379, 392-93 n.10 (1979) (“[a] definition which declares what a
term ‘means’ . . . excludes any meaning that is not stated”). Next, the Ninth Circuit reasoned that because the Insurance Prong
includes the words “existing or applied for,” Congress intended that an “increase in any charge” for insurance must “apply to all
insurance transactions – from an initial policy of insurance to a renewal of a long-held policy.” 435 F.3d at 1091. This interpretation
reads the words “existing or applied for” in isolation. Other types of adverse action described in the Insurance Prong apply only to
situations where a consumer had an existing policy of insurance, such as a “cancellation,” “reduction,” or “change” in insurance. Each
of these forms of adverse action presupposes an already-existing policy, and under usual canons of statutory construction the term
“increase” also should be construed to apply to increases of an already-existing policy.
See Hibbs v. Winn, 542 U.S. 88, 101 (2004) (“a phrase gathers meaning from the words
around it”) (citation omitted).
B. Violation – The plan increases an incentive that is not pre-existing.
C. Standards
a. Ground – affirmatives that do not substantially increase current incentives
explode an already large topic, this destroys core negative disad links and
counterplans.
b. Predictability – increasing pre-existing incentives is key for predictability. The
literature base on the issue is centered around the notion of current incentives.
c. Limits – our interpretation is sets the best limits for the debate. Defending only
current incentives is the best way to limit the topic.
D. Topicality is a voter for reasons of fairness, ground and jurisdiction.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
28
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
‘Increase’ = to create new 1NC
A. Interpretation:
Increase means to create a new policy.
B. Violation: the affirmative fails to create a new policy of alternative energy
incentives; they augment an existing one.
C. Reasons to Prefer:
1. Ground – by adding to an already existing policy, the affirmative can non-unique all
of the disad links and solvency turns by simply arguing that plan has already been
passed in some form or another.
2. Education – the reason we have a topic is that there is a controversy or problem
not being addressed adequately in the status quo. Therefore, creating new solutions
to status quo problems can we adequately address the harms presented in the topic.
This implicates the affirmative’s ability to solve and topic specific education.
Otherwise, we just learn about the status quo and current events.
D. Topicality is a voter for fairness and competitive equity.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
29
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
‘Substantially’ = W/ Out Mat Quals 1NC
A. Interpretation -- Substantially means “with material qualification”
Blacks Law Dictionary 1990
B. Violation – the aff qualifies their plan --- the only act toward ___________.
C. Prefer our interpretation –
1. Limits – the Aff can target thousands of specific alternative energy sources. They
could read Affs about solar, wind, or combinations of any of these, exploding the
Negative research burden.
2. Core Ground – acting toward the entire unqualified topic area is key generate
enough link magnitude for generic negative arguments to be able to outweigh the
case.
D. Topicality is voting issue for fairness and education
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‘In’ = throughout the United States 1NC
A. Interpretation:
The resolution requires social services to be increased throughout the entirety of the
United States. Services to a few areas or people within the United States are not
topical.
1. ‘In’ means throughout
Words and Phrases, 1959, p. 546
In the Act of 1861 providing that justices of the peace shall have jurisdiction
“in” their respective counties to hear and determine all complaints, the
word “in” should be construed to mean “throughout” such counties. Reynolds v. Larkin, 14, p. 114, 117, 10 Colo. 126.
2. And, 'the' is defined as a mass noun.
American Heritage Dictionary 2000
Used before a singular noun indicating that the noun is generic: The wolf is an endangered species.
3. ‘United States’ is all fifty states and non-state territories.
Word Net, 2003
United States n 1: North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North
America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776 [syn: United States, United States of America, America, US, U.S., USA,
U.S.A.] 2: the executive and legislative and judicial branches of the federal government of the United States [syn: United States government, United States, U.S.
government, US Government, U.S.
B. Violation: the Affirmative increases social services that effect only one part or
segment of the United States and not the entirety of the United States.
C. Standards:
1. Limits – the affirmative can target thousands of specific groups or locations to
increase social services for poverty. They could read affirmatives about particular
regions that are affected by poverty, literally anything as long as it exists within the
United States, exploding the negative research burden.
2. Ground – The topic does not say, “increase within” or “increase in one or more
states in.” Affecting whole populations is key to generic links and exclusion CPs.
Negative ground is vital to fairness.
3. Topic Education – Our interpretation is the only way to give “substantially,” “the,”
and “US” meaning. If they can cover a sub-set of the topic region, they could always
claim to meet “substantial” within their sub-region, functionally destroying the
meaning and education of the resolution.
D. Topicality is a voter for fairness and competitive equity.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
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Definitions: Resolved 1/
Resolved means to make a firm decision about
Webster’s II New College Dictionary, 1995, pg.944.
- vt. 1. To make a firm decision about. 2. To cause (one) to arrive at a decision. 3. To decide or express by
formal vote. <...continues...> - vi. 1. To arrive at a decision or make a determination...
Resolved means to decide by formal vote
Webster’s II New College Dictionary, 1995, pg.944.
- vt. 1. To make a firm decision about. 2. To cause (one) to arrive at a decision. 3. To decide or express by
formal vote. <...continues...> - vi. 1. To arrive at a decision or make a determination...
Resolved means determined.
Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2007.
Resolved, adjective [after verb] FORMAL, determined:, [+ to infinitive] He was resolved to ask her
to marry him the next day.
Resolved means determined.
WordNet, wordnet.princeton.edu, 2006.
S: (adj) single-minded, resolved (determined) "she was firmly resolved to be a doctor"; "single-minded in his determination to stop smoking"
Resolved means to decide by formal vote. (2NC ext.)
The American heritage dictionary, bartleby.com/61/, 2000.
Resolve
VERB:Inflected forms: re·solved, re·solv·ing, re·solves
TRANSITIVE VERB:1. To make a firm decision about. 2. To cause (a person) to reach a decision. See synonyms at decide. 3.
To decide or express by formal vote. 4. To change or convert: My resentment resolved itself into resignation. 5. To
find a solution to; solve. See synonyms at solve. 6. To remove or dispel (doubts). 7. To bring to a usually successful conclusion:
resolve a conflict. 8. Medicine To cause reduction of (an inflammation, for example). 9. Music To cause (a tone or chord) to
progress from dissonance to consonance. 10. Chemistry To separate (an optically inactive compound or mixture) into its optically
active constituents. 11. To render parts of (an image) visible and distinct. 12. Mathematics To separate (a vector, for example)
into coordinate components. 13. To melt or dissolve (something). 14. Archaic To separate (something) into constituent parts.
INTRANSITIVE VERB:1. To reach a decision or make a determination: resolve on a course of action. 2. To become separated
or reduced to constituents. 3. Music To undergo resolution.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
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Definitions: Colon (:)
Colon is a punctuation mark that precedes an explanation.
Oxford English Dictionary 08 http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/colon_1?view=uk
colon 1/koln/
• noun a punctuation mark
(:) used to precede a list of items, a quotation, or an expansion or explanation.
Colon is the sign used to introduce a sentence or phrase.
Cambridge Dictionary Online 08 http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=14990&dict=CALD
colon (SIGN) Show phonetics noun [C] the sign (:) used in writing, especially to introduce a list of things or a sentence
or phrase taken from somewhere else
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
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Definitions: The 1/
The word “the” particularizes its noun.
Words and Phrases Second Series, 1914, Updated 1964, Volume 4, 1905, pg. 893.
As designating a particular object
The article “the” directs what particular thing or things are to be taken or assumed as spoken
of, and determine what particular thing is meant. It is used before nouns with a specifying or
particularizing effect so that its use immediately preceding “state” in the constitutional requirement
that indictments shall conclude “against the peace and dignity of the state,” points out the state whose
peace and dignity has been offended, and its omission in the indictment is a fatal defect .
The word “the” specifies the noun after it to be a particular specific one.
Webster’s II New College Dictionary, 1995, pg.1143.
1. a. – Used before singular or plural nouns and noun phrases that denote particular persons
or things <read the newspaper> b. – Used before a noun, and generally stressed, emphasizing one of
a group or type as the most outstanding or prominent <...continues...>
The word “the” particularizes its noun.
Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2007.
The (PARTICULAR) – determiner – 1 used before nouns to refer to things or people when a
listener or reader knows which particular things or people are being referred to, especially
because they have already been mentioned or because what is happening makes it clear:
The word “the” implies there is only one – as in the USFG.
Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2007.
used to refer to things or people when only one exists at any one time:
‘The’ means all parts.
Merriam-Webster's Online Collegiate Dictionary, No Date,
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary
4 -- used as a function word before a noun or a substantivized adjective to indicate reference to a
group as a whole <the elite
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Definitions: United States 1/
United States is the country that geographically occupies the 50 states it encompasses.
The American Heritage Dictionary, bartleby.com/61/, 2000
United States of America... A country of central and northwest North America with coastlines on the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans. It includes the noncontiguous states of Alaska and Hawaii and various island territories in the
Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. The area now occupied by the contiguous 48 states was originally inhabited by
numerous Native American peoples and was colonized beginning in the 16th century by Spain, France, the Netherlands, and England. Great Britain
eventually controlled most of the Atlantic coast and, after the French and Indian Wars (1754–1763), the Northwest Territory and Canada.
“United States” is one nation
Words and Phrases Second Series, 1914, Updated 1964, Volume 4, 1905, pg. 1074.
The “United States” are for many important purposes a single nation, and in all commercial regulations we are
one and the same people.
United States is the republic containing 50 states, not just the 50 states themselves.
WordNet, wordnet.princeton.edu, 2006.
S: (n) United States, United States of America, America, the States, US, U.S., USA, U.S.A. (North
American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in
northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in
1776)
united states means the united states of america
The American Heritage Dictionary, 1983, p. 857.
United States: Also United States of America. Country of central and NW North America, with coastlines
on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic oceans. Cap. Washington, D.C. Pop. 226,504,825.
UNITED STATES INCLUDES 50 STATES, D.C., AND ALL TERRITORIES
US Department of Defense- 2005 “Base Realignment and Closure”
http://www.defense.gov/brac/definitions_brac2005.html
United States
The 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin
Islands, American Samoa, and any other territory or possession of the United States.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
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Definitions: Federal Government 1/
Federal government is national government that expresses power
Black’s Law Dictionary, 8th Edition, June 1, 2004, pg.716.
Federal government. 1. A national government that exercises some degree of control over
smaller political units that have surrendered some degree of power in exchange for the right to
participate in national politics matters – Also termed (in federal states) central government. 2.
the U.S. government – Also termed national government. [Cases: United States -1 C.J.S. United
States - - 2-3]
Federal refers to the government system especially in the US.
Black’s Law Dictionary, 8th Edition, June 1, 2004, pg.642.
federal, adj. Of or relating to a system of associated governments with a vertical division of
governments into national and regional components having different responsibilities; esp., of or
relating to the national government of the United States. – Abbr. Fed.
Government is the structure of the state determining how it is regulated.
Black’s Law Dictionary, 8th Edition, June 1, 2004, pg. 715-716.
Government. 1. The structure of principles and rules determining how a state or organization is
regulated. 2. the sovereign power in a nation or state. 3. An organization through which a body
of people exercises political authority; the machinery by which sovereign power is expressed
<the Canadian government>. – In this sense, the term refers collectively to the political organs of a
country regardless of their function or level, and regardless of the subject matter they deal with. Cf.
NATION; STATE
“Federal government” refers to the central government of a federation.
WEBSTER'S NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY UNABRIDGED, 1976, p. 833.
Federal government. Of or relating to the central government of a nation, having the
character of a federation as distinguished from the governments of the constituent unites (as
states or provinces).
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
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Definitions: USFG 1/
The United States Federal Government is the combination of legislative, judicial, and executive
branches.
USA.gov, February 27th, 2007[“U.S. Federal Government, Available Online at
http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/federal.shtml, Accessed July 3, 2007// Darxlice]
U.S. Federal Government The three branches of U.S. government—legislative, judicial, and executive—
carry out governmental power and functions. View a complete diagram (.PDF) of the U.S. government's branches. Executive
Branch The executive branch of the government is responsible for enforcing the laws of the land. The president, vice
president, department heads (cabinet members), and heads of independent agencies carry out this mission. Judicial Branch
Courts decide arguments about the meaning of laws and how they are applied. They also decide if laws violate the
Constitution—this is known as judicial review, and it is how federal courts provide checks and balances on the legislative and
executive branches. Legislative Branch Article I of the Constitution establishes the legislative or law making branch of
government. It has a two-branch Congress—the Senate and the House of Representatives—and agencies that support
Congress.
The United States Federal Government is the government of the United States of America, made up
of three branches.
Answers.com, 2007[“Federal Government of the United States,” Available Online at
http://www.answers.com/topic/federal-government-of-the-united-states, Accessed July 3, 2007//
Darxlice]
The government of the United States of America, established by the U.S. Constitution, is a federal republic of individual states.
The laws of the United States are laid out in Acts of Congress (especially the United States Code and Uniform Code of Military Justice),
administrative regulations, and judicial cases interpreting the statutes and regulations. The federal government has three
branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial. Through a system of separation of powers or "checks and balances" (historical
phrase), each of these branches has some authority to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two
branches, and has some of its own authority, in turn, regulated by the other branches.
“United States federal government” is the central government in d.c.
Encarta World Online Encyclopedia, 2006,
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_1741500781/United_States_(Government).html
United States Government, the combination of federal, state, and local laws, bodies, and
agencies that is responsible for carrying out the operations of the United States. The federal
government of the United States is centered in Washington, D.C.
USFG IS ALL 3 BRANCHES
LaborLawTalk Dictionary 2007
http://dictionary.laborlawtalk.com/United_States_Federal_Government
The government of the United States, established by the Constitution, is a federal republic of 50
states, a few territories and some protectorates. The national government consists of the executive,
legislative, and judicial branches. The head of the executive branch is the President of the United
States. The legislative branch consists of the United States Congress, while the Supreme Court of
the United States is the head of the judicial branch.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
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Definitions: Should 1/
“Should” implies duty.
Words and Phrases Second Series, 1914, Updated 1964, Volume 4, 1905, pg. 578.
The word “should,” as used in instructions, may convey to the jury the sense of duty and obligation.
“Should” means obligation.
Jargon Buster, AskOxford.com, 2007
Should modal verb (3rd sing. should) 1 used to indicate obligation, duty, or correctness. 2 used to
indicate what is probable. 3 formal expressing the conditional mood. 4 used in a clause with
‘that’ after a main clause describing feelings. 5 used in a clause with ‘that’ expressing purpose. 6
(in the first person) expressing a polite request or acceptance. 7 (in the first person) expressing a
conjecture or hope.
SHOULD MEANS DUTY
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved July 27,
2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/SHOULD
Used to express obligation or duty
Should is the past tense of shall
Dictionary.com unabridged 06 ["should." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House,
Inc. 01 Jul. 2007. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/should>.]
–auxiliary verb
1. pt. of shall.
2.
3.
4.
(used to express condition): Were he to arrive, I should be pleased.
must; ought (used to indicate duty, propriety, or expediency): You should not do that.
would (used to make a statement less direct or blunt): I should think you would apologize.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
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Definitions: Substantially 1/
Substantially means 1. essentially; 2.without material qualifications
Black's Law Dictionary: Definitions of the Terms and Phrases of American and English
Jurisprudence, Ancient and Modern, West Group, 1991, pg. 1024
Substantially means essentially.
Words and Phrases Second Series, 1914, Updated 1964, Volume 4, 1905, pg. 753.
“Substantially” means in substance; in the main; essentially; by including the material or essential
part.
Substantial means real
The American heritage dictionary, bartleby.com/61/, 2000.
1. Of, relating to, or having substance; material. 2. True or real; not imaginary. 3. Solidly built;
strong. 4. Ample; sustaining: a substantial breakfast. 5. Considerable in importance, value, degree,
amount, or extent: won by a substantial margin. 6. Possessing wealth or property; well-to-do.
Substantially means to a great extent
WordNet, wordnet.princeton.edu, 2006.
S: (adv) well, considerably, substantially (to a great extent or degree) "I'm afraid the film was well
over budget"; "painting the room white made it seem considerably (or substantially) larger"; "the
house has fallen considerably in value"; "the price went up substantially"
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
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Definitions: Substantially 2/
Substantially must be given meaning – the best way is an appeal to field context
Devinsky, 02 (Paul, IP UPDATE, VOLUME 5, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2002, “Is Claim "Substantially" Definite?
Ask Person of Skill in
the Art”, http://www.mwe.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/publications.nldetail/object_id/c2c73bdb-9b1a-42bf-a2b7-075812dc0e2d.cfm)
In reversing a summary judgment of invalidity,
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that the district
court, by failing to look beyond the intrinsic claim construction evidence to consider what a person of skill in the art would understand in a
"technologic context," erroneously concluded the term "substantially" made a claim fatally indefinite .
Verve, LLC v. Crane Cams, Inc., Case No. 01-1417 (Fed. Cir. November 14, 2002). The patent in suit related to an improved push rod for an internal combustion
engine. The patent claims a hollow push rod whose overall diameter is larger at the middle than at the ends and has "substantially constant wall thickness" throughout
the rod and rounded seats at the tips. The district court found that the expression "substantially constant wall thickness" was not supported in the specification and
prosecution history by a sufficiently clear definition of "substantially" and was, therefore, indefinite. The district court recognized that the use of the term
"substantially" may be definite in some cases but ruled that in this case it was indefinite because it was not further defined. The Federal Circuit reversed, concluding
that the district court erred in requiring that the meaning of the term "substantially" in a particular "technologic context" be found solely in intrinsic evidence: "While
reference to intrinsic evidence is primary in interpreting claims, the criterion is the meaning of words as they would be understood by persons in the field of the
the Federal Circuit instructed that "resolution of any ambiguit y arising from the claims and
may be aided by extrinsic evidence of usage and meaning of a term in the context of the invention." The Federal
Circuit remanded the case to the district court with instruction that "[t]he question is not whether the word
'substantially' has a fixed meaning as applied to 'constant wall thickness,' but how the phrase would be
understood by persons experienced in this field of mechanics, upon reading the patent documents."
invention." Thus,
specification
substantially means including the material or essential part
Words and Phrases, 05 (v. 40B, p. 329)
Okla. 1911. “Substantially” means in substance; in the main; essentially; by including the
material or essential part.
substantially means to a great extent or considerably
Wordnet, 03 (Princeton University, version 2.0, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/substantially)
substantiallyadv 1: to a great extent or degree; "I'm afraid the film was well over budget";
"painting the room white made it seem considerably (or substantially) larger"; "the house has fallen
considerably in value"; "the price went up substantially" [syn: well, considerably] 2: in a strong
substantial way; "the house was substantially built"
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Definitions: Substantially 3/
A substantial increase is at least 30%
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20060057593.html
[0011] A substantial increase in the amount of a CFTR target segment identified means that the segment has been duplicated while a substantial decrease in the
The term "substantial decrease" or
"substantial increase" means a decrease or increase of at least about 30-50%. Thus, deletion of a single CFTR exon
amount of a CFTR target segment identified means that the target segment has been deleted.
would appear in the assay as a signal representing for example of about 50% of the same exon signal from an identically processed sample from an individual
with a wildtype CFTR gene. Conversely, amplification of a single exon would appear in the assay as a signal representing for example about 150% of the same
exon signal from an identically processed sample from an individual with a wildtype CFTR gene.
Substantial aid means 35%
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSea
rch_SearchValue_0=ED224447&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&accno=ED224447
The text of federal oversight hearings on Title III of the Institutional Aid Program is presented. Statements by various college administrators,
higher education association representatives, and state legislators are included. The proposed regulations were issued pursuant to Title III of the
Education Amendments of 1980. In addition to clarifying the Department of Education's (ED) proposed regulations, the hearing is also designed
to identify the data needed to carry out Congress's intent and to assure smooth operation of the grant process. Attention is directed to four basic
issues: (1) institutional eligibility and use of 1978-1979 Pell Grant data in determining institutional eligibility; (2) the definition of "substantial"
as proposed in the regulation; (3) emphasis on achieving institutional self-sufficiency or graduation from the Title III program; and (4) the
regulatory limitations placed on explicit statutory set-asides for community colleges and historically black colleges. To be eligible, an institution
must enroll a substantial percentage of students receiving need-based student financial assistance under Title IV, and the average amount of this
student assistance must be high as compared with similar institutions. Based on the ED assumption that Congress expected that the statutory
the Department suggests that 35 percent be
used as the definition of "substantial percentage," and advises that the high-average award requirement in the law be
eligibility criteria would identify institutions that serve low-income students,
deleted. (SW).
Substantial increase means 5 percent
Kuehl – State Senator of Los Angeles, California – 2006
[February 23, http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_15011550/sb_1535_bill_20060403_amended_sen.html]
(c) For purposes of this article, "substantial increase" means an increase in excess of 5
percent of the Fish and Game Preservation Fund portion of the department's current year support
budget, excluding cost-of-living increases provided for salaries, staff benefits, and operating
expenses.
Substantially is at least 90%
Words and Phrases, 05 (v. 40B, p. 329)
N.H. 1949. The word “substantially”
as used in provision of Unemployment Compensation Act that experience
rating of an employer may be transferred to an employing unit which acquires the organization, trade, or business, or
“substantially” all of the assets thereof, is an elastic term which does not include a definite, fixed amount of percentage,
and the transfer does not have to be 100 per cent but cannot be less than 90 per cent in the
ordinary situation. R.L. c 218, § 6, subd. F, as added by Laws 1945, c.138, § 16.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
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Definitions: Increase 1/
Increase means to make larger.
Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2007.
Increase: to (make something) become larger in amount or size:
Increase means to make greater in size, amount or degree.
Jargon Buster, AskOxford.com, 2007
Increase: make or become greater in size, amount, or degree.
Increase means to progressively become greater.
Merriam Webster’s Dictionary Online, 2007.
Increase: 1 : to become progressively greater (as in size, amount, number, or intensity)
Increase means to make larger.
WordNet, wordnet.princeton.edu, 2006.
S: (v) increase (make bigger or more) "The boss finally increased her salary"; "The university
increased the number of students it admitted"
Increase must be a net increase
Rogers, 05 (Judge, STATE OF NEW YORK, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. U.S.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, RESPONDENT, NSR MANUFACTURERS
ROUNDTABLE, ET AL., INTERVENORS, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 12378, **; 60 ERC (BNA)
1791, 6/24, lexis)
[**48] Statutory Interpretation. HN16While the CAA defines a "modification" as any physical or operational change that
"increases" emissions, it is silent on how to calculate such "increases" in emissions. 42 U.S.C. § 7411(a)(4). According to
government petitioners, the lack of a statutory definition does not render the term "increases" ambiguous, but merely compels the
court to give the term its "ordinary meaning." See Engine Mfrs.Ass'nv.S.Coast AirQualityMgmt.Dist., 541 U.S. 246, 124 S. Ct.
1756, 1761, 158 L. Ed. 2d 529(2004); Bluewater Network, 370 F.3d at 13; Am. Fed'n of Gov't Employees v. Glickman, 342 U.S.
App. D.C. 7, 215 F.3d 7, 10 [*23] (D.C. Cir. 2000). Relying on two "real world" analogies, government petitioners contend that
the ordinary meaning of "increases" requires the baseline to be calculated from a period
immediately preceding the change. They maintain, for example, that in determining whether a high-pressure
weather system "increases" the local temperature, the relevant baseline is the temperature immediately preceding the arrival of
the weather system, not the temperature five or ten years ago. Similarly, [**49] in determining whether a new
engine "increases" the value of a car, the relevant baseline is the value of the car
immediately preceding the replacement of the engine, not the value of the car five or ten years
ago when the engine was in perfect condition.
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Definitions: Increase 2/
Increase requires evidence of the preexisting condition
Ripple, 87 (Circuit Judge, Emmlee K. Cameron, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Frances Slocum Bank & Trust Company, State Automobile Insurance
Association, and Glassley Agency of Whitley, Indiana, Defendants-Appellees, 824 F.2d 570; 1987 U.S. App. LEXIS 9816, 9/24, lexis)
Also related to the waiver issue is appellees' defense relying on a provision of the insurance
policy that suspends coverage where the risk is increased by any means within the knowledge or
control of the insured. However, the term "increase" connotes change. To show change,
appellees would have been required to present evidence of the condition of the building at
the time the policy was issued. See 5 J. Appleman & J. Appleman, Insurance Law and Practice,
§ 2941 at 4-5 (1970). Because no such evidence was presented, this court cannot determine,
on this record, whether the risk has, in fact, been increased. Indeed, the answer to this
question may depend on Mr. Glassley's knowledge of the condition of the building at the time
the policy was issued, see 17 J. Appleman & J. Appleman, Insurance Law and Practice, § 9602 at
515-16 (1981), since the fundamental issue is whether the appellees contemplated insuring the
risk which incurred the loss.
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Definitions: Social Services 1/
Social services are any government services that improve the quality of life
World Bank, www.worldbank.org/depweb/english/modules/glossary.html
Social services.
Services generally provided by the government that help improve people's standard of living; examples are public
hospitals and clinics, good roads, clean water supply, garbage collection, electricity, and telecommunications.
“Social services” includes support for housing & transportation
Cassandra Netzke , Fall 2001, Hamline Journal of Public Law & Policy, “Rethinking Revitalization: Social Services in Segregation and Concentrations of
Poverty,” p. 155
For the purposes of this article, there
are two significant categories of social services. The first is the public/private partnership
that is responsible for development plans, particularly in the area of housing and transportation in Phillips, such as the Phillips
Partnership and Project for Pride in Living (PPL). These organizations, composed primarily of private businesses and developers sanctioned by public agencies,
have influence over development issues critical to livability in Phillips. These organizations must fall under scrutiny in this debate because of their unfettered
influence over the character of the community without adequate representation of the interests of community residents. The second category covers
agencies that satisfy the more traditional sense of social services. These services are primarily created to address
specific social concerns in target populations.
Social services include childcare and addiction counseling
Cassandra Netzke , Fall 2001, Hamline Journal of Public Law & Policy, “Rethinking Revitalization: Social Services in Segregation and Concentrations of
Poverty,” p. 156
Future discussions of social services in a neighborhood must recognize the intimate relationship between those services and public housing. Two reasons in
particular illustrate the need for this more comprehensive perspective. First, the
effective administration of public housing is increasingly
dependent upon the effective implementation of supportive social services. Secondly, the resulting collaborations between housing
and social services directly impact the infrastructure and redevelopment of a community. For example, assume that the goals of public housing are to prevent
homelessness and allow residents time to accumulate resources that will facilitate home ownership or moving into unsubsidized rental housing. Residents
without job skills or food resources will most likely be unable to break the cycle of subsidization. Barriers to self-sufficiency, like chemical dependency or mental
health issues, may make some residents dependent upon subsidized housing indefinitely. Until these barriers are addressed, and residents are empowered to
control these obstacles, they may be unable to accumulate the necessary resources to move into unsubsidized housing. Hence, public housing may be able to
prevent homelessness in some cases, but will not be able to transition residents into an unsubsidized housing situation. This
such as childcare or addiction counseling, come into play.
is where social services,
Social services can’t be distinguished from public housing
Cassandra Netzke , Fall 2001, Hamline Journal of Public Law & Policy, “Rethinking Revitalization: Social Services in Segregation and Concentrations of
Poverty,” p. 157
It is increasingly difficult to distinguish social services from public housing. Comprehensive discussion of one
inescapably implicates the other. The following illustration of the Hollman Consent Decree of 1995, an ambitious attempt to control rampant
segregation caused by public housing programs, is an insightful model into resident action against catalysts of concentrated poverty.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
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Definitions: Social Services 2/
Social Service includes efforts to advance human welfare
AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, 08. Retrieved Jan. 6, 2009 from
www.thefreedictionary.com.
Social service: Organized efforts to advance human welfare; social work.
Social service include an organized activities to improve human welfare
WORD REFERENCE.COM, 08. Retrieved 6 Jan. 2009 from www.wordreference.com.
Social services: an organized activity to improve the condition of disadvantaged people in society.
Many examples of social services
Michele Estrin Gilman, Associate Professor of Law and Director, Civil Advocacy Clinic, University of Baltimore School of Law, 2005, University of
Pittsburgh Law Review, “Poverty and communitarianism: toward a community-based welfare system,” p. 741-3
After all, TANF's express purposes are to foster family formation by increasing marriage in order to improve the well-being of children, who constitute the majority
of welfare recipients. Accordingly,
in addition to the work requirements, TANF allows states to provide a variety of social
services to low-income families (a group broader than welfare recipients), including job training, child care, and
transportation, as well as services related to mental health and substance abuse, family planning, parenting
education, and domestic violence
Social service include an organized activities to improve human welfare
WORD WEB.COM, 08. Retrieved 6 Jan. 2009 from www.wordwebonline.com.
Social services: An organized activity to improve the condition of disadvantaged people in society.
Social Services are services provided by governments to people with needs
Carol-June Cassidy, (Editor), CAMBRIDGE
DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN ENGLISH, 2nd Ed., 2008, 825.
Social Services: any of the services provided by governments or other organizations to people with particular needs.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
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Definitions: Social Services 3/
Social services include job training, childcare, and immigration assistance.
BALTIMORE SUN, Sept. 30, 2008, 12A.
In 1963, [Dionicio] Morales created the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation to provide social services such
as job training and child care. Today, the foundation serves more than 100,000 people, most of them of low or
moderate income, with a range of social services, including immigration assistance and English classes.
Social services include foster care, child abuse, shelter, and group homes
Betsy Williams, (Staff), SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE, Aug. 17, 2007, C4.
The Children's Home Society is the oldest Florida-based nonprofit provider of family services. Founded in 1902,
CHS now has 14 divisions providing a wide array of social services that include foster care, adoption, prevention of
child abuse, emergency shelter, group homes, case management, treatment for developmentally disabled children
and more.
Social services are services provided for the benefit of community
Christine Lindberg, (Editor), OXFORD
COLLEGE DICTIONARY, 2nd Ed., 2007, 1301.
Social service: Government services provided for the benefit of the community, such as education, medical care, and
housing.
Social Services include drug rehabilitation, disaster relief, and food
Alexander MacInnes, (Staff), HERALD NEWS (NJ), Nov. 29, 2008, A1.
The Salvation Army has grown to become a multiservice nonprofit agency throughout the world. Although the
group is best known for street volunteers soliciting red-kettle donations during the holiday season, the organization
offers a broad range of social services, including drug rehabilitation, disaster relief, food pantries and after-school
programs.
Social services include free school lunches
AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, 08. Retrieved Jan. 6, 2009 from
www.thefreedictionary.com.
Social service: Services, such as free school lunches, provided by a government for its disadvantaged citizens.
Social services include services to advance human welfare
Christopher Leonesio, (Managing Editor), AMERICAN HERITAGE HIGH SCHOOL DICTIONARY, 4th Ed., 2007, 1314.
Social Services: Organized efforts to advance human welfare; social work.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
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Definitions: Social Services 4/
Social services are provided by the government for the community
Maurice Waite, (Editor), OXFORD
DICTIONARY & THESAURUS, 2007, 984.
Social services: services provided by the state for the community, such as education and medical care.
Social services include day care, health education, and meal programs
Andrew Becker, (Staff), CONTRA COSTA TIMES (CA), June 30, 2007. Retrieved Jan. 25, 2009 from Nexis.
While county officials negotiate a lease agreement with preschool administrators, students will be relocated to sites
in Antioch and Bay Point. The preschool offers nearly three dozen social services, including daycare, health
education and meal programs.
Social Services include unemployment benefits
ASSOCIATED PRESS STATE AND LOCAL WIRE, Dec. 12, 2008. Retrieved Jan. 25, 2009 from Nexis.
State economist Tom Potiowsky said he expected overall job losses both this year and next, and a slight net gain
come 2010. Beyond that, both he and economist Joe Cortright of Impresa, a consulting firm, said it was too soon to
say when the state might recover. "We're literally, in economic terms, in uncharted territory," Cortright said.
Potiowsky was able to lay out some of Oregon's strengths. So far the financial sector, an area in which Oregon is not
heavily invested, has been the hardest hit by the downturn. Though Oregon's housing bubble has burst, the effects
have not been as jarring as those in Florida, Arizona, California and Nevada. Potiowsky also pointed out that salestax states were worse off than income-tax states such as Oregon. Still, he cautioned that if the recession becomes
"full blown," that is it permeates several different economic sectors, Oregon would be hard hit. Both economists said
the state should appeal to the federal government for money to help fully support social services, including
unemployment benefits. The federal government would need to play a key role, Cortright said, because "the state is
hamstrung. It's limited by the requirement it balance its budget."
Social services are designed to promote social well-being
MERRIAM WEBSTER ONLINE, 09. Retrieved 6 Jan. 2009 from www.merriam-webster.com.
Social Service: An activity designed to promote social well-being; specifically : organized philanthropic assistance (as
of the disabled or disadvantaged).
Social are services provided by the government, including education, health, and
housing
Elizabeth Jewell, (Editor), THE OXFORD DESK DICTIONARY AND THESAURUS, 2nd Ed., 2007, 792.
Social Services: Services provided by the government, esp. education, health, and housing.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
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Definitions: Social Services 4/
Social services include caseworkers assistance and home buying assistance
BUSINESS WIRE, Aug. 25, 2008. Retrieved Jan. 25, 2009 from Nexis.
Through the program, the HCHA secures down-payment assistance and a significant portion of closing costs, in
addition to a broad spectrum of social services, including caseworker assistance to help guide prospective
homebuyers through the process of finding a realtor and a mortgage company willing to work with a non-traditional
buyer. The program ensures success by requiring families to go through post-purchase counseling, credit counseling
and other services.
Social services are welfare activities
COLLINS ENGLISH DICTIONARY, 06, 1530.
Social Services: welfare activities organized by the state or a local authority and carried out by trained personnel
Social services are services provided by the state that improve the quality of life.
David Jary
in 1991, (Prof., Social Policy, U. Birmingham), THE HARPER COLLINS DICTIONARY OF SOCIOLOGY, 91, 461.
Social services: Any state-provided services that have a bearing on the quality of life of all citizens. 2. more narrowly,
the organization and delivery of local authority SOCIAL WORK services in relation to children, the elderly, the
disabled, and the mentally ill. In Britain, in addition to state provision, Councils of Social Services are to be found within most localities. They are
umbrella organizations to assist and coordinate voluntary social welfare provision. Both voluntary and statutory services are to be distinguished from the recent
new and growing private sector.
Social services include efforts to advance human welfare & social work.
Joseph Pickett
in 2006, (Editor), AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, 4TH ED., 06, 1650.
Social service: Organized efforts to advance human welfare; social work.
Social services include free lunches
Joseph Pickett
in 2006, (Editor), AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, 4TH ED., 06, 1650.
Social Services: Services, such as free school lunches, provided by a government for its disadvantaged citizens.
Often used in the plural.
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Definitions: Social Services 5/
Social Services include prisons
LANCASTER (PA) NEW ERA, Mar. 8, 2007, A6.
We pay far less in taxes to educate a poor child than to try to remediate or incarcerate him/her later as an adult.
Social services, including prisons, are paid for in taxes at the county and state level; thus, reducing such costs should
be the concern of taxpayers everywhere. School-funding system Karl E. Moyer Lancaster Township
Social services include prisons
SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, Aug. 11, 2006. Retrieved Feb. 17, 2009 from Nexis.
Dropout rates for Hispanic and other minority students already are around 50 percent. Faced with tougher
requirements for getting a diploma, even more of these disadvantaged students could leave school without
graduating. Putting more undereducated young people on the streets will only foster a need for more expensive
social services, including prisons, and multiply the cost in human hopelessness . Hoops without hope: Tougher
standards could raise dropout rate
Social services include prisons
LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR, Oct. 19, 2006, X28.
"This is really about the long-term well-being of a lot of our future citizens, their education and their well-being,"
said Omaha Sen. Kermit Brashear, sponsor of the plan. It also would help avoid government expenses for social
services, including possible prison costs, later in life, he said. TIF, nonprofits, gambling among amendment topics
Social services include mental health and child welfare programs
STATES NEWS SERVICE, May 24, 2007. Retrieved Jan. 25, 2009 from Nexis.
SSBG [Social Services Block Grant] funding provides critically needed social services including programs for mental
health, child welfare, and the treatment of addictive disorders.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
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Definitions: Social Services 6/
Social services include good, shelter, domestic violence prevention, and health
insurance programs
Michelle Klampe, (Staff), THE PRESS ENTERPRISE (Riverside, CA), July 24, 2008, C1.
Bradberry and the foundation were honored recently by the Corona-Norco school board for their work in the
community. "The community that utilizes our services comes here because they know it's safe," Bradberry said. "We
give them hope." Kids often walk out with a backpack full of clothes, shoes, toiletries or school supplies, a book or a
stuffed animal. Parents can get referrals for a host of social services, including food and shelter, domestic violence
services and health insurance programs.
Social services include domestic violence prevention
Norman Daniels, (Prof., Ethics, Harvard School of Public Health), JUST HEALTH: MEETING HEALTH NEEDS
FAIRLY, 2008, 43.
The promotion of healthy lifestyles requires appropriate and effective education, as well as the right incentives and
disincentives. Measures to protect against domestic and other kinds of violence fall in to this category as well as into
the broader category of the social determinants of health. The nonmedical personal and social support services can
also comprise broad features of the legal structure that aim to include people with disabilities in the mainstream of
productive, cooperative activity.
Social services include job placement eligibility and outreach
PR NEWSWIRE, Oct. 24, 2008. Retrieved Jan. 25, 2009 from Nexis.
Clients of La Maestra can receive a full range of primary medical services for all ages. Additionally clients can
receive dental, behavioral health, vision and geriatric care. Social services including job placement, eligibility,
outreach, transportation, translation, housing assistance and a food pantry are also available.
Social services include health & education programs
STATES NEWS SERVICE, Feb. 15, 2008. Retrieved Jan. 25, 2008 from Nexis.
The government's emphasis on reorienting the budget toward improving social services including health and
education programs can also help both to reduce disparities and rebalance growth.
Social services include food stamps and Medicaid
STATES NEWS SERVICE, July 31, 2008. Retrieved Jan. 25, 2009 from Nexis.
Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3) issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Agriculture
announcement urging Indiana to suspend its effort to privatize its social services, including food stamps and
Medicaid.
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Definitions: For 1/
For is to the benefit of
Elizabeth Jewell, (Editor), THE OXFORD DESK DICTIONARY AND THESAURUS, 2nd Ed., 2007, 312.
For: In the interest of or to the benefit of.
For is intended to go to
Elizabeth Jewell, (Editor), THE OXFORD DESK DICTIONARY AND THESAURUS, 2nd Ed., 2007, 312.
For: Intended to go to.
For is to reach toward
Elizabeth Jewell, (Editor), THE OXFORD DESK DICTIONARY AND THESAURUS, 2nd Ed., 2007, 312.
For: To reach; toward.
For is for the sake of
Elizabeth Jewell, (Editor), THE OXFORD DESK DICTIONARY AND THESAURUS, 2nd Ed., 2007, 312.
For: For the sake of, on or in behalf of.
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Definitions: Persons 1/
‘Persons’ includes individuals, corporations, even the state.
U.S. CODE, January 19, 2004, p. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/ts_search.pl?title=15&sec=1127)
The term "person" and any other word or term used to designate the applicant or other entitled to a benefit or privilege or rendered liable under the
provisions of this chapter includes a juristic person as well as a natural person. The term "juristic person" includes a firm, corporation, union,
association, or other organization capable of suing and being sued in a court of law. The term "person" also includes the United States, any
agency or instrumentality thereof, or any individual, firm, or corporation acting for the United States and with the
authorization and consent of the United States. The United States, any agency or instrumentality thereof, and any individual, firm, or corporation
acting for the United States and with the authorization and consent of the United States, shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter in the same manner and
to the same extent as any nongovernmental entity. The
term "person" also includes any State, any instrumentality of a State, and
any officer or employee of a State or instrumentality of a State acting in his or her official capacity. Any State, and any such
instrumentality, officer, or employee, shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter in the same manner and to the same extent as any nongovernmental entity.
A PERSON IS A LEGAL ENTITY
DICTIONARY.COM, http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=person
Law. A human or organization with legal rights and duties.
Persons is a legal condition and doesn’t refer to a physical individual.
AMERICAN LAW AND PROCEDURE, 1910, p. http://famguardian.org/TaxFreedom/CitesByTopic/person.htm
"This word `person' and its scope and bearing in the law, involving, as it does, legal fictions and also apparently
natural beings, it is difficult to understand; but it is absolutely necessary to grasp, at whatever cost, a true and proper
understanding to the word in all the phases of its proper use ... A person is here not a physical or individual person,
but the status or condition with which he is invested... not an individual or physical person, but the status, condition or
character borne by physical persons... The law of persons is the law of status or condition."
PERSON REFERS TO INDIVIDUALS OR ORGANIZATIONS
Ballantine’s Law Dictionary, 1969, p. 54
TERM: person. TEXT: 1. An individual or an organization. UCC § 1-201(30). An individual man, woman, or child or, as a general rule, a corporation. 18 Am J2d
Corp § 20. Inclusive of bodies politic and corporate. Waterbury v Board of Com. 10 Mont 515, 26 P 1002. As used in the Bankruptcy Act, inclusive of
corporations, officers, partnerships, and women, except where otherwise specified. Bankruptcy Act § 1(23); 11 USC § 1(23). Under the negotiable Instruments
Law, an individual or a body of persons whether incorporated or not. Uniform Negotiable Instruments Law § 191. As used in the anti-trust laws, inclusive of
corporations and associations. 36 Am J1st Monop etc § 186. Inclusive of corporations where used in a statute imposing a license tax. 33 Am J1st Lic § 49.
Usually inclusive of corporations in a tax statute, 51 Am J1st Tax § 318. Inclusive of corporations where used in a statute relating to the sale of commodities by
weight or measure. 56 Am J1st W & L § 5. Inclusive of corporations in a pure food law. State v Belle Springs Creamery Co. 83 Kan 389, 111 P 474. For the
purposes of the due process clause, either a citizen or an alien. 3 Am J2d Aliens § 8. For the purposes of extradition, either a citizen or an alien.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
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Definitions: Persons 2/
‘Persons’ are living human bodies.
Dictionary.com, American Heritage Dictionary, 2000,
[per·son (pûrsn) n. 2) The
living body of a human: searched the prisoner's person.]
PERSON – HUMAN BEING
Law.com, The People’s Law Dictionary by Gerald and Kathleen Hill, No date, date accessed 6/26/06 [
person n. 1) a human being.]
A person is a human being
Christine Lindberg, (Editor), OXFORD COLLEGE DICTIONARY, 2nd Ed., 2007, 1023.
Person: A human being regarded as an individual.
PERSONS EXCLUDES THE UNBORN
WORDS AND PHRASES, 2005, p. 329
U.S.Tex. 1973. Word “person” as used in the Fourteenth Amendment does not include the un-born. U.S.C.A.Const. Amend. 14.—
Roe v. Wade, 93 S.Ct. 705, 410 U.S. 113, 35 L.Ed.2d 147, concurring opinion 93 S. Ct. 755, 410 U.S. 179, 35 L.Ed.2d 147, concurring opinion 93 S. Ct. 756, 410
U.S. 179, 35 L.Ed.2d 147, dissenting opinion 93 S. Ct. 762, 410 U.S. 179, 35 L.Ed.2d 147, rehearing denied 93 S. Ct. 1409, 410 U.S. 959, 35 L.Ed.2d 694.—
Const Law 210(1), 252.
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Definitions: Persons 3/
A PERSON IS NOT AN AGENCY OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
NESAEA Institute, DICTIONARY, http://nesara.org/main/dictionary.htm
Person: Any individual, firm, partnership, joint adventure, corporation, estate, or trust, or any group or combination
acting as a unit, but not a governmental unit, and the plural as well as the singular number.
‘Persons’ excludes sovereign governments.
Vinson, 47 (Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, 330 U.S. 258, UNITED STATES ?v. ?UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA,
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=case&court=us&vol=330&page=258)
If we examine 4 and 13, on which defendants rely, we note that they do not purport to strip completely from the federal courts all
their pre-existing powers to issue injunctions, that they withdraw this power only in a speci- [330 U.S. 258, 275] fied type of
case, and that this type is a case 'involving or growing out of any labor dispute.' Section 13, in the first instance, declares a case
to be of this type when it 'involves persons' or 'involves any conflicting or competing interests' in a labor dispute of 'persons' who
stand in any one of several defined economic relationships. And 'persons' must be involved on both sides of the case, or
the conflicting interests of 'persons' on both sides of the dispute. The Act does not define 'persons'. In common usage
that term does not include the sovereign, and statutes employing it will ordinarily not be construed to do so.25
Congress made express provision, R.S. 1, 1 U.S.C. 1, 1 U.S.C.A. 1, for the term to extend to partnerships and
corporations, and in 13 of the Act itself for it to extend to associations. The absence of any comparable provision
extending the term to sovereign governments implies that Congress did not desire the term to extend to them.
PERSONS IS ANY INDIVIDUAL, CORPORATION, ASSOCIATION,
STATE, FOREIGN GOVERNMENT OR SUBDIVISION OF THAT
GOVERNMENT
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, DEFINITIONS, May 27, 2005, p. http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/part040/part0400004.html
Persons means: (1) Any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, trust, estate, public or private
institution, group, Government agency other than the Commission or the Department of Energy except that the Department of Energy shall be
considered a person within the meaning of the regulations in this part to the extent that its facilities and activities are subject to the licensing and related
regulatory authority of the Commission pursuant to section 202 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 1244) and the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation
Control Act of 1978 (92 Stat. 3021), any State or any political subdivision of, or any political entity within a State, any foreign government or nation or any
subdivision of any such government or nation, or other entity; and (2) any legal successor, representative, agent or agency of the foregoing.
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Definitions: Persons 4/
Non-human animals can and should be included as “persons”
Katherine Burke
However, the
in 2004, JD Candidate, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO LAW REVIEW, Spring 2004, p. 6545
issue of personhood need not foreclose the possibility of an animal-suit provision and the representation of animals
Law Dictionary acknowledges that statutes can define "person" to include entities that are not
under Rule 17(c). Black's
human. Indeed, many non-human entities are regularly represented by human proxies. While many of these entities are associations of humans corporations, municipalities, and the like - this need not always be the case. Sea-going ships have been qualified as legal persons. At a
time when African slaves were not considered legal persons, they were often allowed access to court through white representatives. In
fact, the Cases and Controversies clause of the Constitution does not mention the term "person." It should not be terribly surprising that the
legal concept of personhood has proven to be flexible and not necessarily coextensive with the phrase "human
being." As Steven Wise noted, objections to defining animals as persons run much deeper than linguistic or legal technicalities. Even if animals may
technically be defined as persons for specific purposes by statute, an animal-suit provision faces the physical, economic, political, religious, historical, legal, and
psychological problems associated with expanding the legal status of animals. The psychological problem can be especially acute in regards to the distinctions
between humans and animals, and any implications of equality of status can be deeply troubling. Ultimately, however, our
legal system allows for
statutory expansion of the term "person," and the Constitution does not limit the judicial power to cases involving human beings, so it is within
Congress's power to define animals as incompetent persons in an animal-suit amendment to the ESA.
A PERSON INCLUDES A CORPORATION
State of Texas, OIL AND GAS TERMS, no date, http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/divisions/og/glossary.html
Person - Any natural person, corporation, association, partnership, receiver, trustee, guardian, executor,
administrator, and a fiduciary or representative of any kind. Includes an individual, sole proprietorship, co-partnership, Limited Liability
Company, corporation, political subdivision, government agency, or municipality.
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Definitions: Living 1/
Living is to be alive
Carol-June Cassidy, (Editor), CAMBRIDGE
DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN ENGLISH, 2nd Ed., 2008, 507.
Living: to be alive or have life, or to continue in this state.
Living is to have sufficient income
Christine Lindberg, (Editor), OXFORD
COLLEGE DICTIONARY, 2nd Ed., 2007, 796.
Living: An income sufficient to live on or the means of earning it.
Living is to spend life in a particular way.
Christine Lindberg, (Editor), OXFORD
COLLEGE DICTIONARY, 2nd Ed., 2007, 796.
Living: Spend ones life in a particular way or under particular circumstances; Example: Living in fear in the wake of
the shooting.
Living is to spend ones life.
Christopher Leonesio, (Managing Editor), AMERICAN
HERITAGE HIGH SCHOOL DICTIONARY, 4th Ed., 2007, 809.
Living: To spend or pass ones life.
Living is to reside.
Christopher Leonesio, (Managing Editor), AMERICAN
HERITAGE HIGH SCHOOL DICTIONARY, 4th Ed., 2007, 809.
Living: The reside, dwell.
Living is a way of life.
Maurice Waite, (Editor), OXFORD
DICTIONARY & THESAURUS, 2007, 608.
Living: A way or style of life.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
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Definitions: In 1/
Lots of definitions of in
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 06
(www.Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006, accessed June 21)
In: preposition, adverb, adjective, noun, verb, inned, inqning. –preposition
used to indicate inclusion within space, a place, or limits
used to indicate inclusion within something abstract or immaterial
used to indicate inclusion within or occurrence during a period or limit of time
used to indicate limitation or qualification, as of situation, condition, relation, manner, action, etc.
used to indicate means
used to indicate motion or direction from outside to a point within
used to indicate transition from one state to another
used to indicate object or purpose
in or into some place, position, state, relation, etc
on the inside; within
in possession or occupancy
on good terms; in favor
located or situated within; inner; internal: the in part of a mechanism
In means within the bounds of
American Heritage 06
(The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. 2006, www.dictionary.com accessed June 21)
prep: Within the limits, bounds, or area of:
From the outside to a point within; into:
Having the activity, occupation, or function of: a life in politics;
During the act or process of:
With the arrangement or order of:
In means at a place.
Cambridge Dictionary Online 08 http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=in*19+0&dict=A
in (AT PLACE) [Show phonetics] adverb at a place, esp. at home or a place of work Why is it that whenever I call, you are never in? Danielle was out sick
last week -- do you know if she'll be in today?
In means within the limits of
Merriam Webster Online Dictionary, 2006, p. http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=in
Main Entry: 1in Pronunciation: 'in, &n, &n Function: preposition Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old High German in in, Latin in, Greek en 1
a -- used
summer>
as a function word to indicate inclusion, location, or position within limits <in the lake> <wounded in the leg> <in the
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Definitions: Poverty 1/
Poverty is defined as being below the federal poverty level
Steve Hobbs, Tom Bevill Chairholder of Law, University of Alabama School of Law, Winter 2006, Boston College Third World Law Journal, “Tending To
The Spirit: A Proposal For Healing The Hearts Of Black Children In Poverty,” p. 110
Quite obviously, children live in poverty because their parents or guardians live
incomes are below the federal poverty level.
in poverty, which means that children are in households whose
Poverty does not equal poor.
Steve Hobbs, Tom Bevill Chairholder of Law, University of Alabama School of Law, Winter 2006, Boston College Third World Law Journal, “Tending To The
Spirit: A Proposal For Healing The Hearts Of Black Children In Poverty,” p. 110
Recent statistics indicate that approximately 12 million children live in poverty and 26 million children are poor, defined
as households with total income between 100% and 200% of the federal poverty level.
Poverty is to be below a minimum federal income standard
Cherry Lei Hunsaker, (Journalist), CLASS IN AMERICA: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA, Vol. 2, 2007, 631.
There are many methods to measure poverty. The most common method in the United States is to calculate a
federally established threshold and compare income with this threshold. When a family's income fails to meet the
federally established standard, the family is considered to be in poverty.
Poverty is being below a minimum income level
Marion Crain in 2007, (Dir., Center on Poverty, Work & Opportunity, U. North Carolina School of Law), ENDING POVERTY IN AMERICA: HOW TO
RESTORE THE AMERICAN DREAM, 2007, 3.
What is poverty? Who are the poor? Statisticians and government define poverty according to income and wealth. In
2005, 37 million Americans -- about one in eight people -- lived below the income poverty level, defined as $19,874 for a
family of four. Almost 13 million were children under 18. A disproportionate number are African American and Hispanic: about a quarter of
African American families and about a fifth of Hispanic families are poor.
Poverty is being below a minimum income level
D. Stanley Eitzen in 2009, (Prof., Emeritus, Sociology, Colorado State U.), SOLUTIONS TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS: LESSONS FROM STATE AND
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, 2009, 102.
Americans with income and assets below the poverty threshold are said to be living in poverty, meaning they are
living below a subsistence level. In a nation known as the richest country in the world, and sometimes said to have streets paved with gold, it is
shocking to find that over 36 million Americans lived below the poverty threshold in 2006. That is roughly 12.3 percent of the U.S. population
and is the highest percentage among industrialized nations. The percentage of children living in poverty is even higher-18 percent.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
58
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
Definitions: Poverty 2/
Many important factors are not considered in the federal definition of poverty
Andrew Cherlin in 2009 is Benjamin H. Griswold III Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at Johns Hopkins University, The Annals of The American
Academy of Political and Social Science, January, 2009, :Welfare Reform in the Mid-2000s: How African American and Hispanic Families in Three Cities Are
Faring,” p. 188-9
Many poverty analysts argue, nevertheless, that the restricted definition of what counts as income has made the official
poverty line increasingly unrealistic as a measure of household income. For instance, the expansion of the EITC program since its
inception in 1975 is not reflected in the poverty line, and it now costs the federal treasury more than TANF. Nor is the value of food stamps counted. In addition,
leaving welfare could have improved the economic circumstances of some poor families by raising them closer to the
federal poverty line without pushing them across the line, and this kind of progress cannot be assessed in analyses
that simply look at the percentage above and below the line.
Federal poverty standards underestimate poverty
Sarah H. Ramsey in 2007, Professor of Law, Syracuse, University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, Fall 2007, “Looking ahead to the next 30 years of
child advocacy symposium: presentation: child well-being: a beneficial advocacy framework for improving the child welfare system?,” p. 12-13
The federal poverty measures have been substantially criticized on a number of bases. These include understating
the level of poverty for some families by not counting, for example, work-related expenses, as well as overstating the
level of poverty for some families by not counting, for example, in-kind support such as food stamps. Commentators
have also raised other concerns, such as how to update the poverty thresholds over time and whether to use a
relative, rather than an absolute, measure of poverty. Even when the poverty measures were first introduced, the
developer of the poverty measures viewed them as a "measure of income inadequacy, not of income adequacy." In
describing them, she wrote that "if it is not possible to state unequivocally "how much is enough,' it should be possible to assert with confidence how much, on
an average, is too little."
Income standard ignores many measurements of poverty
Cherry Lei Hunsaker, (Journalist), CLASS IN AMERICA: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA, Vol. 2, 2007, 631-632.
Income poverty is not the only dimension of poverty that concerns the United States. Life is not valued only in
material terms, and hence, poverty is not isolated to economic measures only. Poverty includes more than solely a lack
of material goods; it includes the inability to achieve a healthy, innovative life, have a positive self-image, and benefit
from the respect of others. Because of these emotional needs, other indices were created to measure additional aspects of poverty. One of
the alternate poverty measurements includes the physical quality of life index (PQLI), which takes into consideration life
expectancy, infant mortality, and literacy to evaluate the quality of life. The human development index ( HDI) is a supplementary method used to
determine poverty. It uses calculations based on life expectancy, education, and gross domestic product. To further break down aspects of
poverty, the gender development index (GDI)
poverty.
and the gender empowerment measure (GEM) are used. These look at the gender analysis of
U.S. poverty standard and index is flawed
Sheila D. Collins, (Prof., Social Policy, William Patterson U.), ENCYLOPEDIA OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS, VOL.
2, 2008, 699.
Critics of the U.S. poverty index point to numerous flaws in its formulation. For one thing, the ratio of expenditures on food
compared with other consumption items has changed over time. For example, families now spend more of their income on housing than on food, and more
women are in the workforce, requiring greater expenditures for child care. Second, the formula does not recognize changes in regional
living standards. Third, it does not take into account changes in household configuration -- for example, the growth of singleparent and nonfamily households -- and finally differences in out-of-pocket health care costs borne by different population segments.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
59
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
Definitions: Poverty 3/
There is a difference between absolute & relative poverty
Sheila D. Collins in 2008, (Prof., Social Policy, William Patterson U.), ENCYLOPEDIA OF SOCIAL
PROBLEMS, VOL. 2, 2008, 698.
Social scientists generally define poverty in two ways. Absolute poverty is the condition in which people are unable to
achieve the basic necessities of life, such as food, clothing, and shelter. Relative poverty refers to some socially
constructed norm of well-being in comparison to some proportion of a society thought to be lacking. The "poor" in the
rich industrialized countries are not, for the most part, materially deprived in the absolute sense.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
60
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
Theological Definitions
Poverty is the renunciation of property
Christine Lindberg, (Editor), OXFORD COLLEGE DICTIONARY, 2nd Ed., 2007, 1071.
Poverty: The renunciation of the right to individual ownership of property as part of a religious vow.
PERSON – ANY OF THE THREE INDIVIDUALS IN THE HOLY TRINITY
Dictionary.com, American
Heritage Dictionary, 2000, date accessed: 6/25/2006 (PDNSS4715)
[per·son (pûrsn) n. Any
of the three separate individualities of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as distinguished from the
essence of the Godhead that unites them. ]
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
61
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
Topicality is a Voter
1. competitive equity - in order for us to have a competitive debate and for the
negative to have equal ground the judge must be able to vote on topicality, why
would hundreds of teams win on topicality every year if it wasn't a voter?
2. fairness - we can't allow blatantly non topical cases to be run throughout the year,
this explodes our research burden and prevents an educational debate
3. we all know that topicality is a debate of competing interpretations, as long as we
can prove that our interpretation is better for debate and they don't meet this
interpretation then they should lose the round
4. potential abuse - they will continue to run this case the entire year, your ballet acts
as a means to stop future abuse by this team, your ballet could not only improve
education in this round but in dozens of rounds in the future
5. jurisdiction - the judge acts as a policy maker in round, in accordance with that the
judge is given a certain jurisdiction in which they can render decisions, for our
community that jurisdiction is the resolution, if the affirmative falls outside of the
resolution then you can not vote for that case no matter how good it is
6. predictability - everything found under our interpretation of the resolution is a
predictable case, everything which is outside of our interpretation is not, not having a
predictable case destroys education as we can not have indepth debates, allowing
any case would make policy debate into a public forum where there are only people
preaching thier ideas and nobody has the ability to respond
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
62
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
Extra T Bad
Extra topical advantages do not warrant an affirmative ballot
Bennett '89 (William; Pragmatic Debate; p. 6)
If' an advantage a harm solution stems from an extratopical plan plank, the affirmative has not, in that area, shown
that the topic should be adopted.
Extratopical advantages destroy negative ground: extratopical advantages stem from areas of
ground which compose the non-resolution. Since this is where negative counterplan ground
comes from, permitting ex-tratopical planks is highly destructive of counterplan ground.
Extratopical plan planks destroy debate: Affirmative can utilize exaatopical planks to spike
out any disadvantage which the negative team can run. Thus, fair clash is eliminated and
debaters will leave the activity.
Extratopical plans eliminate resolutional education: The purpose of the debate resolution is to
define an area in which education for the year will take place. Affirmative's advocacy of
extratopical planks decreases the amount resolutional education which we receive.
Extratopical plans destroy resolutional clash: Clash is supposed to revolve around the
resolution. However, the &rmative chooses to advocate exmtopical ground Thus, meaningful
resolutional clash is subverted.
Extratopicality negates fair warning: The resolution serves to warn all parties to the round of
the issues which will be dealt with. When affirmative advocates extratopical ground, fair
warning is eliminated and the negative team is unfairly disadvantaged.
Policymaking paradigm supports rejection of extratopical cases: When the President is
presented with a bill, sthe does not have the option to veto only portions of i t Thus, the critic
should not reject only the extratopical planks. Instead, the critic should reject the plan in its
entirety.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
63
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
Effects (FX) T Bad
1. Effects Unlimit the Resolution - Numerous policies or cases could have the effect of bringing
about topical action circuitously. This kills all predictability and competitive equity in the debate
2. Effects Undercut Negative Ground - I f the Affirmative team gets all indirect and probabilistic
means to a topical outcome, very little Negative ground is left in the debate. This kills all
competitive equity, education, and clash in the debate
3. Effects Make Topicality and Solvency Unnecessary - Effectually topical cases mix burdens and
force the judge to assess solvency first, destroying all possible education and clash in the debate
round. This violates the principle that prima facie issues should be kept conceptually separate
4. Effects are Inherently Problematic - Topicality is a yes or no stock issue. I f probabilities are
evaluated in this manner, at least the Affirmative team should have to prove a greater than 50%
chance that topical action will result from plan
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
64
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
A2: “Only our case is topical”
1. This argument is ridiculous, their interpretation is neither definitionally or
contextually based which means there is no limit on the resolution
2. If every aff defined their case as topical, each recursive round would do the same,
establishing an infinite limit on the resolution
3. Justifies "only your case is untopical" allowing for idnite abuse by the neg.
4. This interpretation moots the resolution from debate, this has several negative
connotations
a. destroys predictability, the negative already has a difficult job preparing for
such a broad resolution, it would be impossible for the negative to win if their
were no constraints on the affirmative team
b. destroys topic education, avoiding the resolution diminishes our focus on
the UN, preventing any form of in depth knowledge
5. Even if this interpretation increases ground, it doesn't increase predictable ground
which is critical to negative strategic calculations, this destroys fairness and thus
education
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
65
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
Competing Interpretations Good
1. It’s the only non-arbitrary standard, abuse and reasonability are inherently
subjective and beg for judge intervention, which destroys debate and education
2. All research claims should be based on the best interpretation of the topic
3. The best interpretation can actually be determined, via evaluating a certain set of
standards, it’s just like a disad debate
4. Competing interpretation produces real world education, discussing the effects of
interpretations is a skill used in law and other professions
5. Competing interpretations is key to ground, predicting cases requires voting for
the best interpretation of the topic to give negatives stable boundaries to research
within
6. Any other way to evaluate topicality would moot the resolution, killing all
predictability
7. Reasonability and abuse aren’t predictable, it creates bad debate by allowing a
subjective judge to vote for non-topical cases, it also kills education by being a fluid
standard that destroys predictability and preparation.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
66
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
Topicality Outweighs Theory
1. Topicality is a-priori – it has to be determined before you can access other flows,
which is where theory is – they can’t access theory args until they prove they’re
topical
2. This isn’t offense – even if they win all their theory arguments that just means the
abuse claims from both sides moot out and you vote neg on predictability and
competing interpretations
3. Their abuse happened first – the unpredictable and unlimited nature of the aff
forced us to run an abusive strategy – they closed off other options
4. If we win they’re untopical, the round never should’ve happened in the first place –
everything that happened after the 1AC, including the 1AC and the 2AC theory is
moot if the debate shouldn’t have occurred.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
67
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
AT: K of T 1 / 2
1. Turn – predictable ground is key to clash and preparedness – predictability is a
gateway to activism
2. Exclusion is inevitable – time limits, speaking, flowing, speed are all examples of
specialized skills debate requires.
3. We aren’t exclusionary, this argument is out of context - There is no limit on them
being involved in the activity, just a request they follow certain predetermined rules
4. We aren’t saying that _____________ isn’t an important discussion to have –
there’s a time and place for everything, and debate isn’t always it. In this setting,
their aff is uniquely unfair, even if it should be embraced outside the debate.
5. Predictability outweighs the K – it’s the only way to preserve any neg ground and
clash ability – if their advocacy isn’t topical then we can’t answer it which destroys
clash and our ability to test their ideas, this subsumes all their activism claims and is
also a reason fairness outweighs, under their interpretation the aff could read 8
minutes of “racism bad judge” and sit down, we’d always lose.
6. Turn – they exclude us by ignoring the resolution, which isn’t predictable or fair to
us and prevents us from being able to have responsive voices against their argument
7. Turn – Strict legal rule according to definitions and laws like topicality is key to
preserve freedom, their interpretation allows for arbitrary decisions by those in
power which is what caused their harms in the first place
Hornberger, Aug. 1992. (Jacob G. Founder and President of “the Future of Freedom Foundation.) The
constitution and the Rule of Law, http://www.fff.org/freedom/0892a.asp
Equally important, the legal concept of “the rule of law” was incorporated into our judicial system. As
Hayek explains: “the rule of law means that people do not have to answer to the arbitrary decisions
of governmental officials; instead they guide their actions by what is prohibited by a clearly
defined law. Freedom, therefore, means answering only to a well-defined, previously established
law, rather than to the arbitrary and discretionary edicts of some.
8. Our T arguments outweigh the K – if the K preceeded T there would be no incentive
for a team to research a new topic because they could always argue that their case or K
from last year outweighs defending the resolution, killing predictability, clash, and
education
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
68
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
AT: K of T 2 / 2
9. Turn – failure to adhere to linguistic rules is exclusionary
Richard Mitchell professor of English at Glassboro State College, Less than Words Can Say, 2000.
If you could ask a Jiukiukwe why he takes such pains to address his mother’s only brother’s eldest daughter
in just that way, he would probably have to say that he does it because it’s "right." He’s right. That’s why we
do things like that too. They’re right. They are "right," however, entirely in a social sense. Language is
arbitrary, but it’s not anarchic. Although there’s no reason why this or that in a language should be "right? and
something else "wrong," it does not follow that you can do whatever you please in it. At some point, of course,
when you wander too far from what is "right" you’ll cease to be intelligible. But long before you reach that point
you will send out the news that you are not a member in good standing around here.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
69
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
A2: Effects (FX) T
Case does not violate effects: All affirmative advantages stem directly from the plan mandates.
Only one step is necessary for solvency.
Effects arguments are infinitely regressive: Any advantage can be argued to involve multiple
steps ad infiniturn. If the steps are direct and supported by evidence, there is no reason to reject
the affirmative.
Counterplan ground is sufficient to check abuse: Cases which claim effects topical advantages
are extremely susceptible to counterplans which suck up the effects topical advantages. Thus,
counterplans are a sufiicient test of aflirmative abuse.
Effects topicality involves contradictory theoretical arguments: Topicality is a ground
preservation issue for the negative. Effects topical cases expand negative disadvantage ground
since the disadvantage can link off the effects topical portion of plan. Thus, there is no unique
ground infringement
Operationalizing takes out the effects violation: The afiimative operationally dehnes the
terms of the resolution. Thus, the focus of the round becomes our plan and not the general
resolutional statement. Any questions of resolutional meaning become irrelevant to the round.
Case provides sufficient ground to dejustify effects topicality: The case provides ample
disadvantage and counterplan ground such that the negative's complaint about effects topicality
is unwarranted.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
70
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
A2: A-spec
1. Counter interpretation - the affirmative has until after the first cross-x to specify their
agent, this solves back all of their offense and ground arguments
2. Counter interpretation and reasons to prefer - we must specify the United States Federal
government
Definition - the United States federal government means all three branches
Wordnet 1997
United States - .the executive and legislative and judicial branches of the federal government of the US
a. resolutional basis - the resolution calls for the United States Federal Government
b. limits - specifying one of the three branches triples the negatives research burden,
our interpretation checks topic explosion by preventing the affirmative from using
any one of the hundreds of agencies in the executive branch
c. predictability -the resolution calls for the United States Federal Government not
one of the branches
d. ground - they can spike out of all our disads and case turns by arguing that they
don't apply to the specific way their agency operates
3. Their interpretation is infinitely regressive - if we specified one of the branches they
would just want us to specify further
4. Agent specification justifies counterplans which pic out of our specific agent, pics are
bad
a. argumentative irresponsibility - plan inclusive counterplans steal all aff ground affirmatives are forced to debate their own plan text
b. intersectionality - the intersections of dispositionality and pics make the
counterplan uniquely abusive - not only is it a moving target, but it also steals all
aff ground. This destroys any offense we get.
c. Pics are unpredictable - there are infinite alterations that could be made to an
affirmative's plan, the affirmative would never be able to predict these inclusive
plans and would force the affirmative to debate themselves
d. Moots the lac - the affirmative loses 8 min of speech time when the negative
disregards topical concerns
e. Pics are a voting issue for fairness, ground and debatability
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
71
SCFI 2009
Topicality
A Drip City Hit
___ of ___
Competing Interpretations Bad
1. Every round the negative will run a different topicality violation just to eliminate
our case without any warrant as to how our case uniquely abuses them. Additionally,
arbitrary interpretations destroy predictability because every round will generate a
different case list which claims to be "the most predictable and educational."
2. Justifies the interpretation "only our case is topical;" this solves back any offense
they can generate from a limits standard.
3. Justifies the interpretation "use the negative's case list plus our case;" this proves
the arbitrary nature of their interpretation and solves back their limits and education
standards.
4. Our interpretation of the resolution is reasonable, and allows for a fair case list as
well as an educational and predictable debate.
5. Literature and clash in ths round check back their predictability standard, which is
their key internal link into their terminal impacts of education and fairness. Even if
they win that their interpretation limits the resolution to a more predictable case list,
we will win that our case in this round was predictable enough to turn their education
and fairness standards.
The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
72