Sunday, November 06, 2005

The First Debate—051105

Welcome to the 21st Century, where the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy becomes the reality of ‘debate’.

I had the distinct privilege, along with the pleasure, of judging my first debate tournament in Colorado, yesterday.

A fine time was had by all, except, perhaps, those that were doing their first oral presentations before total strangers in a competitive environment….

There was one young lass sitting on a chair in the hall with a dejected expression on her pretty face as I came steaming out of the judges ‘lounge’ on my way to another Lincoln-Douglas event to be evaluated.

Seeing her forlorn expression I beamed and proclaimed, “Cheer up. It’ll all be over soon,” as I determinedly moved down the hall to the appointed place where acrimony was to be heard once again. Albeit polite and civil discourse, it is still acrimony; introverts beware, here there be tigers.

I had not done this sort of stuff in almost 40 years, when I was in high school and participated in Cross-X myself. At that time, the subject was, as usual, topical. The Viet Nam war was going on. Along with the {horror!} draft. The resolution revolved around whether or not the United States should, in order to end the odious draft, adopt a system of Universal Military Service. Hey! It ends the draft. It can’t be all THAT bad. Eh?

But that’s another story and one bearing further attention…..later.

This year’s topic, again, quite topical to the issues of the day, addresses the (in)famous Patriot Act. Should its powers be increased or decreased? That’s the Cross-X. Then we have the Lincoln-Douglas issues, of the moment, which involves the ‘value’ of “Judicial Activism”. Talk about a ‘mouthful’! Not to mention blowing ones ‘mind’.

All in all, I was pretty much impressed with all the students who participated, one way or another. Sometimes on the negative side.

Based on my experiences with the 1st Maneuver Training Command in the 80s and 90s. And having to write polite reports to general officers about how their staff was ‘FUBAR” (Fouled-Up Beyond All Recognition), I applied all the tact incumbent upon a general staff officer to couch my ‘advice’ in the most effective manner possible, to both sides of the topic under discussion.

I will relate that I had to reproach two teams from, as it turned out, one particular school on proper etiquette of a formal debate; making unexpected noises while the other team is speaking is ‘impolite’. I had a chat with a coach from that school after the competition was over. I hope there will be no repeats of such comportment in the future. We’ll see….

I will say that I AM impressed with some of the skills all of the students I saw in action have. They WERE superior to those I had seen so long ago. That could just be a function of my failing memory. After all, I’ve slept since ‘68.

There is so much to be said about this. At all levels; CHSAA, tournament management, evaluations, timekeeping, etc., etc., etc. I could take up a lot of space and time. But, time is something I do not have a lot of today. I’ve got to try out a soup and an appetizer recipe. Not to mention plan the amount of aircraft necessary to overwhelm the defenses at Pearl Harbor, prior to the Imperial Japanese invasion of Oahu (1941) and change the course of history for all time. But that’s another story…..

...along with how a Cross-X round can put you in the mind that you’ve been hijacked by the cast and crew of Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Less...