Tuesday, June 26

On Tuesday, the students in Neil and Babb's lab enjoyed a variety of discussions in preparation for the case positions they must turn in on Wednesday and Thursday. The morning began with analysis of a case used at the TOC, with particular emphasis on how that case used a "framework." In addition, the lab debriefed regarding Monday night's demonstration debate between Liz Mullins and Shane O'Niel. Our afternoon session featured Babb continuing a talk about the intricacies of frameworks, followed by Neil's seminar on standards for advanced debaters. The day was capped off by a group dialogue about various negative positions and, of course, by the endless, godforsaken rain. Never have I (Babb) felt like such a sponge. For Tuesday, we wanted to acknowledge and thank Ryan Bennett for setting the bar in terms of lab participation. Ryan continues to contribute strong ideas, excellent answers to questions, and insightful analysis. Thus far, Neil and I feel very fortunate and excited to have such an engaged group of students. They make our job easy. We also appreciate the "chalkboard portraits" of us... sort of. The beat goes on!