of speech and debate, including Extemporaneous Speaking, Student Congress, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and Public Forum Debate. Students at WHS most heavily participate in Public Forum and Lincoln Douglas Debate. Public Forum Debate Public Forum Debate was the first competitive event offered by WHS. Public Forum Debate consists of two two-person teams facing off within a given debate round, one arguing in support of a given resolution that articulates some issue in public policy, and the other against it. This resolution is announced for all regular and post-season Carroll County Debate League, National Catholic Forensics League, and National Forensic League tournaments one month before the tournament in which that resolution will be debated. During a typical regular season tournament, every PF team will argue for the resolution once, and against the resolution once. The third round of a given tournament typically features a coin toss that determines which sides each PF team will argue for. Public Forum typically addresses public policy issues that are related to international relations, public administration, social issues, and economics. A sample PF topic might be, "Resolved, On Balance, the Rise of BRIC Nations is a threat to US Hegemony." Students research and articulate arguments in a series of speeches, and live "cross-fire sessions" that typically last one hour in duration. The outcome of a round is determined by a single judge, or in the case of a playoff round, a tribunal of three judges. Lincoln Douglas Debate Lincoln Douglas Debate was first started at WHS in 2009. Lincoln Douglas features two individuals pitted against each other over a given topic. The resolution that is debated in Lincoln Douglas Debate, in contrast to Public Forum Debate, typically concerns not only public policy issues, but also incorporates a philosophical/values based component. Within a typical regular season tournament, each LD debater will argue in one round against the resolution, and in one round for it. The third round typically uses a coin toss to decide which side each debater within a given round will argue for. While PF debaters typically make empirically based arguments, LD debaters must articulate their arguments as superior to their opponents not only along empirical lines, but also along the contours of logical reasoning, in their reconciling their arguments to a given criterion (typically some sort of philosophy, or philosophically informed paradigm) that achieves a given value. For example, the NCFL Lincoln Douglas Nationals topic/resolution for