I remember there used to be a cycle of some kind. A college debater had a reasonable expectation of debating foreign policy, domestic policy, and legal policy during their undergraduate career. If you examine all previous resolutions in four year chunks, you should find that type of diversity. If we consider our students and their experiences, it may be worth it to figure out how we as educators can provide the best experience for our students while they are in college. We want them to be challenged. We want them to explore new (to them) bodies of literature. We want them to learn about things they haven't already learned last year. We want them to feel compelled to conduct new and original research, not figure out how their argument from last year will apply to this year's topic. Regardless of the topic area and/or wording, there will be generics, kritiks, counterplans, and so on. We will be able to find the stock issues (for those who still value them). Hester raises a very good point and one that the community should consider seriously when proposing and/or voting for topics. We are not experts. We cannot possibly read over every aspect of every topic and pick the perfect topic. And as Gordon has shown us, topic areas do not go away, and if one topic loses the vote one year it may very well make it the next year. And the education debate will probably be better this year because of what has happened recently in the field. Many of the people on the discussion board were awesome debaters who could figure out how to tackle any topic. We know that the Framers were not part of the Information Age, yet the topics were provocative and they helped to raise some fantastic debaters who are now amazing educators and coaches. What are the criteria for providing an excellent experience for our students? I'd love to read about how a certain topic can provide a rich experience for the student and why the student will benefit from learning about the topic and how research and debating on the topic can help propel the student to the next level after graduation. Many debaters want to go to law school, but if they go through four years of debate and have not done the legal research, then our community has somewhat failed to provide them with that opportunity. Same thing for grad. school. Good luck, and thank you for all of the work you are doing!