Today the battle for the galaxy began. The young Jedi knights of the Wright-Miller-McGough lab powered up their lightsabers and charged into conflict. The dark siths of the other labs were fierce competitors, but we are quite confident that our kids’ knowledge of the force will overcome the darkside in the end. We took a break to go on a lab lunch to the far away restaurant-planet of Subway and devoured mediocre food. We’d like to give a huge shout-out to the entire Rebel force. We, the Jedi masters, are so proud of each of you for all your hard work and the progress you’ve all made over these grueling weeks. Great job!

Rest and preparation.

Sunday was, in part, a day of rest for the Rebel Army, code name WMM. Padawans were encouraged to rest so that they would be adequately prepared for the upcoming week. They were reminded that battle starts in the next few days, and their rest will be imperative to the army's success. Each Padawan was encouraged to select and attend electives that focused on the Padawan's individual weaknesses. Electives were taught by Jedi Masters, though not necessarily by commanders of the WMM tactical force. The remainder of the day was spent practicing tactical moves with WMM's sister unit, RDK. Padawans were excited to debate fellow Padawans from a different unit. The Rebel Army is ripe with anticipation about the upcoming battle.

The Rebel Army Disagrees Over Trade Agreements; Padawans Spar

On Saturday, the Rebel Forces spent all of their time with the Jedi Masters David, Kris, and Jennifer for hands on training in dismantling Storm Trooper armor with their light sabers (offensive responses on the AC) as well as deflecting oncoming barrages of Imperial fire by skillfully wielding said sabers with the aid of the Force (deconstructing their opponents' offense). The padawans learned that when in battle, retreat is only an option to reallocate X-wings to more vulnerable areas in the Imperial Fleet (perhaps to where the pilots had forgotten to mount extra plating on their tie-fighters). Later on in the evening, padawans Fianah McMillan and Patrick Humes got into a disagreement as to whether on balance, in its trade agreements, the US ought to value workers' welfare in developing nations over its economic gains. Padawan Fianah affirmed the statement in front of the other rebels, while padawan Humes publicly disagreed. The crowd of eager young rebels gathered around the fight to watch, while Jedi Masters Kris, Jen, and Yoda (David) interrupted the sparring periodically to correct their stances or grip on their light sabers. They took the two padawans pitched in battle through the various stages of attack, making sure that they knew how to parry, thrust and yes, even compound-riposte. Exhausted, the rebels retired to their quarters with an assignment to examine and tweak their weapons as necessary. The next day, they will be released to other Jedi Masters who will hone their specific skills as necessary. The Imperial Army is a formidable opponent. Rest is for the weak.

Debriefing

Hello fellow humanoids,

On Friday the Rebel Force regrouped after their first debate battle with the Imperial Fleet (i.e., Thursday's mini-round).  As the kids made their first offensive against the Imperial Death Star, the lab's Jedi Masters were critiquing how well the padawans truly understood rebuttal strategies.  They were truly one with the Force that day, but there's always room for improvement.  So today David "My real name is Yoda" McGough led the young Jedis in training on another analysis of rebuttals based on their mini-round to improve on the difficulties that were experienced in their first strike.  After a most enlightening discussion of weighing and the need to generate as much offensive as possible in rebuttals by "Yoda" McGough, the padawans and their Jedi trainers traveled through the UNT galaxy to the distant planet "Library."  On planet Library, the kids read through books containing the wisdom of past Jedis and received one-on-one help on their cases with Master Jenn, David, or Kris.  With this latest strategic debriefing and further search for enlightenment in the Library, the padawans are that much closer to truly being one with the Debate Force.  After putting forth tremendous effort in their Jedi training, the padawans were rewarded with free time to meditate and work on cases at their leisure.

Check back for updates on the Rebel Force's next assault on the Death Star--remember same time, same intergalactic channel.

Rebel Force Rising

In a galaxy far, far away…

 

The Rebel Army, code name WMM, continues its preparation for an all out civil war. The focus of today's tactical meetings was on rebuttal strategy. The first in the series of meetings opened with a top secret debriefing of a senior officer of the evil Galatic Empire's affirmative case, the DEATH STAR. Jedi master, Jenn Miller, led the Padawan learners through the enemy's logic. The conclusion was that the Rebel Army could model these strategies and use them in the upcoming battle with the Empire.

 

The discussion naturally progressed with Jenn's explanation of the difference between offense and defense. The wise Jedi suggested to the students that the ideal battle strategy would be an onslaught of 100% pure offense. Jedi Masters Kris Wright and David Mcgough then led a discussion on basic battle strategies. The bulk of the discussion centered around attacking the enemy's infrastructure, or, in Jedi speak, the framework. The young Padawans were advised on 5 different types of attacks which they could employ to destroy the framework. Strategies for all out contentional warfare were also discussed.

 

Students were then accompanied to the library to fill in the gaps in their understanding of the arguments they were planning to bring into battle. Padawan Casey Powers was particularly impressive in her ability to quickly learn and apply argumentation. The Jedi Masters all agree that the Force is strong with this one.

 

For the latter part of the day's lessons, Padawans were divided into groups and put the newly learned battle tactics into practice. The Jedi Masters called this drill "mini-rounds" which basically is a debate round which is cut off after the 1AR. Time was used most efficiently and every Padawan got to get behind the wheel of their spaceship and perform the maneuvers known as a rebuttal. The students then returned to their dorms located in the hidden base with whispers of excitement about the battles which begin on Sunday.

Wednesday in the Jedi Knight Training School (aka Wright-Miller-McGough lab)

Hello Glorious Fans,

So in lab today Jenn explained the importance of perception in CX (appearing confident and commanding, while not being rude) and the value of CX as a tool for finding tricky stuff in their opponents cases.  Kris interjected a brief explanation of how CX should be a process of prodding your opponents case in search of weakness that can then be attacked in rebuttals.  And David contributed by explaining how CX can be used to set up a complicated case that you plan on running against your opponent.  Though the lab is full of bright minds and great contributors, Max and Jack (great job in Article group) were particularly on their game today.

After lunch, the lab went to the library and continued their diligent pursuit of knowledge and awesome evidence for several hours while Jenn, David, and Kris looked over the lab's first batch of cases and briefed evidence.  The day concluded with a final lab that focused on case writing fundamentals, like how to choose a value, standard, and contention arguments.  Finally, we finished off the day with an exciting CX drill about sniffing out the weaknesses in cases, which transformed the once timid and unsure lab into CX wrecking machines.

Tuesday lab in the always-amazing WMM lab

On Tuesday, the kids in the Wright-Miller-McGough lab did their daily flowing drill, which consisted of lab leader and semi-professional orator Jenn Miller reading an AC with an advanced framework. The kids then worked to figure out the strategy of the framework as if they were going to debate against it.

The kids then were split into three groups, which were each assigned a lab leader. In these mini-groups the kids explained their case ideas and collectively worked to improve those ideas. Max Rothstein had a particularly creative and advanced idea for an NC. After their group discussions were completed, each kid told the lab about their own favorite case idea so that everyone could benefit from the brainstorming of everyone else. This led into a very interesting discussion about an unusual interpretation of "ought" and possible cases that can be run with this interpretation conducted by lab leader and Jedi Master David McGough.

The kids then suffered the pains of dorm food for lunch and worked hard to finish researching for their case evidence.

The last lab of the night was taken up with a lengthy (and unfunny) lecture about advanced casing by lab leader and failed comedian Kris Wright. The discussion focused on analyzing how to construct strategic and substantive frameworks for Affirmative cases. The kids were led through an in-depth discussion of the Affirmative case that had been read by Shane O'Neil in the
instructor demo round. The kids left lab for the night and diligently worked on their cases for next day's lab. And after a long day of good work, the kids went to sleep dreaming of beautiful affirmative cases and ideal debate rounds.