Blargh

Minor update: Working in Python has kind of been put on hold. Java is the language of the day in my Comp Sci sequence, and blargh.

Debate-wise, I'm heading to the Phi Rho Pi forensics nationals in Portland here in a couple weeks. College forensics still seems very surreal, but hopefully things will be more developed next year.

Worlds

Just had my first tournament of the term last Saturday. It was up at OSU. I ended up doing Worlds debate for the first time, which was interesting. It's a panel debate of 4 teams of 2. We found out the rules about 10 minutes before the first round, but by the end of the night we were crushing our foes. It's a rather fun event, but it precluded doing anything else at this tournament, so I'm a little wary of doing it again.
Speaking of other tournaments, I really should be doing more towards preparing a memorized event. I feel almost guilty for not doing so, but the bar for college debate feels so low. At least I'm creating my own social group in it next term.

Muahahaha. That is all.

Entering College Forensics

Woo! That aside, I'm starting to settle into the land of college debate for now.
We meet weekly (from 6 pm to 8pm, blargh), and our first tournament is either in November or December.

My first impression: College debate is far more systemically ruthless. Apparently a standard tactic for the Negation (or opposition, since there is no negation any more...) is to refute the Affirmation (or Proposition, for the same reason)'s case in the first speech, and to hold off on the counter-case until the second speech.

Now, this may not sound completely evil, but realize that this forces the Affirmation (I refuse to become the Prop. and Opp.) to refute an entire case in their rebuttal. And this is accepted as being standard fare. Bah. Whatever happened to debate being about communication and sharing of ideas? I, for one, refuse to degrade myself with these tactics. I hold myself to be an ethical debater, and I will not compromise myself for material gain.

Besides that, I'm going to be doing an oratory on the American Dream. I'll talk more about that when I finish writing it.

Finally, apparently we get food stipends for tournaments. Woot!

LD Sept. - Oct. 2008 Topic: Woot!

Resolved: It is morally permissible to kill one innocent person to save the lives of more innocent people.

Yeah. Freaking awesome topic, and I don't get to do it. Beh. This is perhaps one of the most distilled 'value' topics I've ever seen. Why the NFL didn't use it for NatQuals or Nationals is completely beyond me. There is no crack for policy or statistics to enter. There is no odd loophole such as "Justice" to frame it oddly. It is just "morally permissible".

Even though I don't actually compete with this topic, I'll post various bits about it to help any new or seasoned LDers to victory.

First of all is a breakdown of the topic and some first-look musings as to potential problems or ideas.

1. "Morally permissible": This is the big frame which the entire round hangs upon. Key things to remember is that this is not justice, or legal, or constitutional. This is 'permissible'. Is it allowed within your moral framework, and why is your framework best?

2. Utilitarianism: There's more to it, but that's effectively what it is. It ought to be straightforward, but there'll always be some ex-CXer with a bone to pick who will attempt to screw this topic up by defining everything to hell and back.
Remember, definitions are like salt. Use them wisely and to taste. Don't let your opponent define your case for you. You don't need a strict definition of what and how the killing will be. LD is about abstractions and values. Don't muddle a topic this good with statistics and plans.


Ideas:

Aff: Pretty much, you have the default easy ground. It isn't the high ground, but it's going to be many debaters' strongest cases. I'm not going to give away some secret case idea, (that goes to my team), but pretty standard and pretty strong cases will come off of utility and practicality. Don't use hypothetical examples. Judges are like tigers. Poke them with knives, and you'll get your arm mauled off by an angry tiger.
As an Aff, answer me this: Why is murder morally acceptable because you feel you have a good reason? Murder is the killing of an innocent person. Why is it acceptable?

Neg: You've got the fun part. You're going to have to delve deeply into Deontological systems to figure this one out. Remember, don't let your opponent use flashy examples. Latch onto the inherent value of a person. If the Aff tries to bring up the dirty bomb scenerio or some sort, ask where the bright line is. If they bring up the value of a certain person (family, politicians, and the like) figure out the subjectivity of human value.


Anyways, I'll post more later. I'm tired.

Nationals Results

The results are in, and I got 34 points in 5 speeches, and we were on base 4.
Da Goose got 35, but he was in a different chamber. It's nice to know that we were virtually tied, given his godliness in public speaking.

I think the barrier was about 40-41, as that's where some people who broke were at. It was top 8, so it wasn't a strict point scale.

Oh well. That's how life goes I guess.

Back from Nationals

Well, I'm back from Nationals. I spent 1 week in Las Vegas with Da Goose, King Combover, and Madmouth. We visited Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, and partook of the strip all week. The competition was fierce (as one could expect from Nationals Senate), and nobody ended up breaking. The disappointment of failure was greatly offset by the fact that A: We were in Las Vegas, and B: We got to see the Grand Canyon.

I felt that we all got much closer over the course of the trip, and that it was a fitting 'last hurrah' for us graduating seniors. It was all former seniors, and there was an air of frivolity and trust that was great.

Aah. I'll post with exactly how I did, as soon as I find out myself. (accursed slow NFL people)

Eve of Nationals

Wow. It's the night before King Combover, Da Goose, and I fly to Vegas for the National Forensic League 2008 National Competition. (Amazing how imposing that sounds) It's been a busy day of preparation and packing. Even with assistance, the costs of this are becoming very real, and very staggering. I've discovered a nifty invention: Visa Cash cards. They work like a Visa card, but are effectively gift cards. They are replaceable if stolen or lost, so they provide much more peace of mind than cash. (No pickpockets this time...) We're going to be staying at the Sunset Station casino.

One thing I can't seem to get over so far is the scale of everything. The casino is huge, the prices are huge, the everything is huge. I'll post more when I get back as it's rather hard to post about something which has not happened yet.