Friends and colleagues, I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know all of you this year, and especially during the State Championship. I’m overjoyed to find myself in a state with such a vibrant speech and debate culture. Your students are brilliant and hardworking. I look forward to seeing all the successes I’m certain your students will achieve at NSDA Nationals. However, I do think that there are a few rules in Wyoming debate that are creating roadblocks to the magnitude of success that Wyoming could enjoy. I've attached a file with the rules change proposals here.
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Author: Matt Liu, University of Wyoming Director of Debate
I believe that in nearly all aspects of debate, more transparency translates to stronger competitors and more educational benefits from debate. The clearest instance of this is argument disclosure. Once an argument is read, competitors should not seek to hide it from each other. In-depth interrogation of arguments is the very best that debate has to offer, and arguments that cannot stand up to the scrutiny of a rigorous challenge are not arguments that deserve to win. I embrace the mentality that debaters should “tack their cases to the wall.” Registration for the 2020 Wyoming Forensics Institute is now available! We will offer a 1 week camp, July 13th-20th, with 3 different lab options: Policy/CX, Lincoln-Douglas, or Public Forum.
Check out the WFI and our staff here: https://wyodebateroundup.weebly.com/wfi.html This summer the WFI will be held entirely online. You are in good hands with the University of Wyoming debate team, which has been at the vanguard of online debate well before COVID-19. The WFI is open to students from across the country, but geared toward students from the Mountain West. We offer one of the best values and lowest tuition rates in the country, with discounts available for Wyoming students and early registering participants. Author: Riley Talamantes, University of Wyoming debater
The NSDA PF topic is: Resolved: On balance, charter schools are beneficial to the quality of education in the United States. Charter schools and their educational value are truly a controversial debate subject. Because charter schools operate independently from school districts, they have the opportunity to build their own curriculum and cater to students learning styles. However, charter schools in the past have posed issues with adequately teaching students and can be known for posing structural barriers to entry. Here I have written up some thoughts on pro ground, con ground and other strategies that PF debaters can use to make their debating efficient and strategic on this topic. Below the fold is my analysis. Author: Matt Liu, University of Wyoming director of debate
The LD resolution for the NSDA national championship is: Resolved: The intergenerational accumulation of wealth is antithetical to democracy. This is a great topic, with a twist. The ethics of intergenerational accumulation of wealth have long been debated by philosophers. In 1960 Friedrich Hayek argued in The Constitution of Liberty: “Once we agree that it is desirable to harness the natural instincts of parents to equip the new generation as well as they can, there seems no sensible ground for limiting this to non-material benefits. The family’s function of passing on standards and traditions is closely tied up with the possibility of transmitting material goods. And it is difficult to see how it would serve the true interest of society to limit the gain in material conditions to one generation.” In Justice as Fairness John Rawls disagreed, stating: “If we ignore the inequalities in people’s prospects in life arising from these contingencies and let those inequalities work themselves out while failing to institute the regulations necessary to preserve background justice, we would not be taking seriously the idea of society as a fair system of co-operation between citizens as free and equal.” However, it is important to note this topic is not intergenerational accumulation of wealth good/bad. It’s also not inheritance or estate taxes good/bad (a practical way to discuss change vis-à-vis the topic). The topic is whether intergenerational accumulation of wealth is opposed to or incompatible with democracy. Keeping your arguments tightly bound to that relationship will be key to winning rounds. This article is our off-the-cuff reactions to the topic: our first take. Our hope is to have a follow-up pending a new announcement, but more on that later… For now, check out our 7 quick tips for debating intergenerational wealth and democracy below the fold. Author: Bradon Bryngelson, University of Wyoming debater I have spent nearly a decade in the debate community in one form or another. Nowhere near as much time as some that I consider mentors or peers, but enough for me to feel like I can identify with the community thoroughly. Throughout my time I’ve had wonderful experiences and… not so wonderful experiences. One of my least favorite experiences has been the times I’ve had when I tell someone I debate and they respond with, “Schools actually have debate clubs still?” I think this is a pervasive idea not just among the scholastic community, but even within the debate realm as well. The assumption often is that the debate community holds no real-world impacts and is secluded to its own room in the House of Extracurricular Activities. The truth is, the things we do today are built off the foundation of the past and will stretch into the future in ways we can’t imagine. [click read more to continue below the fold]
We needed to hibernate a bit after States, but WDR will be back soon with content to help you improve at debate!
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