Photo: Shana Bryce judges a debate

 

Posted by: Alfred Snider

 

Students had a chance this morning to meet in their small groups and handle some issues that still concerned them,  issues of skill (“How can I improve my notes to indicate cross examination questions to consider”), theory (“How many ways can I permute the counterplan?”), and argument (“How about a counterplan that drafts people after college?”) were all brought up at the small group meetings.

 

Students had some time on their own because the end of the program tournament was about to start and there can never be enough preparation before a debate tournament. Thursday will involve two full debates as rounds one and two of the four round tournament. Each team was ranked either an A or a B based on their perceived quality, and then in the first two debates every team will meet one A opponent and one B opponent. Starting tomorrow in rounds three and four teams will meet opponents with similar records.

 

While each debate will conclude with a lengthy critique by the judge, this time the judges will also be filling out ballots to indicate winners and losers and also point rankings between one and thirty for each speaker.

 

The debates will take up the whole afternoon. After dinner students will be going to the university pool for a swim before returning to the dorm for some additional preparation for the debates tomorrow.