Archives:  information concerning our beginnings and history as a club

  1. Minutes from Parents' Meetings:

    A.  Jan. 5, 2007 meeting

    B.  Oct. 21, 2006 meeting

    C.  June 20, 2006 meeting

    D.  April 14, 2006 meeting

  1. Austin Invitational Tournament, Feb. 3. 2006 (last updated:  Jan. 10, 2006)

  2. Austin Open Tournament Registration Information, Nov. 18-19, 2005 (last updated:  Nov. 16, 2005)

  3. Host Housing Coordinator's Report, Joanne Rodgers, November 11, 2005 (last updated Nov. 11, 2005)

  4. Oct. 26-29, 2005, CFC Conference (last updated:  Oct. 19, 2005)

  5. Our Debate Topic from a Christian Perspective Seminar, Oct. 22, 2005 (last updated:  Oct. 19, 2005)

  6. Economic Thinking Workshop, September 30, 2005 2-9PM (last updated:  Sept. 27, 2005)

  7. Aug. 20, 2005, Saturday Debate Workshop (last updated:  Aug 17, 2005)

  8. Tournament Information (last updated:   July 12, 2005)

  9. Communicators For Christ 2004 (last updated:  Sept. 10, 2004)

  10. Help Us Come Up With a New Name of Our Club (last updated:  Sept. 10, 2004)

  11. NCFCA Nat'l Tournament, Thoughts  (last updated:  July 15, 2004)

  12. Advice from Corpus for Austin Rhetoric Club  (last updated:  Sept. 10, 2004)

  13. Advice from New Mexico for Austin Rhetoric Club  (last updated:  July 15, 2004)

  14. Beginning Debate Workshop 9-11-04, sponsored by ARC (last updated:  Sept. 10, 2004)

  15. Some Historical Archives, early classes (last updated:  Jan. 15, 2005)

  16. Syllabus from 2004-2005  (last updated:  July 15, 2005)

  17. Syllabus from 2005-2006 (last updated:  July 13, 2006)

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October 21, 2006 ARC Parents Meeting

  The meeting's minutes have not yet been electronically submitted as of 1-1-07.  However, according to secretary, Joanne Rodgers there is nothing in them about ARC hosting or not hosting any tournaments.  

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June 20, 2006 AUSTIN RHETORIC CLUB PARENT MEETING

 

Where:  Home of John & Sylvia Snodgrass

When: Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Attendance: Tom & Ginger Umstattd , Jeff & Joanne Rodgers, Mr., Joanne and Justin Louis; Liz & Brian Morgan; Mr. & Mrs. Maisano; Cheri Miller; Mr. & Monica Alford; Ganya Hastings; Sherry Garia; David & Emily Lill;

Topics Discussed

Saturday, August 26 Debate Workshop

Tom Umstattd stated that the day-long workshop would likely (95% certain) be hosted again this year at Hope Chapel.

Communicators for Christ Conference

Joanne Louis, Conference Coordinator,  spoke of the upcoming CFC Conference to be held at Crestview Baptist on Wed-Sat. Nov 15-18, 2006.  Emily Lill volunteered to be the Host Housing Coordinator for the event. Corpus Christi Debate Club has also volunteered to provide the food for the event and Mr. Louis will be the Facility Coordinator. Because he needs to work during some of the conference, he needs someone to volunteer to help with this position.

Hosting Tournaments

ARC parents had previously voted at the April 14, 2006, Parent Meeting to host only one major event per school year, due to parental burnout and students getting really behind in their academic work. They also voted that parents as a group, should be consulted  before decisions are made so that the parental work base can be accurately determined. The parents then voted to not have CFC be their one major event because they preferred hosting a tournament this year. At the June 20 meeting, Tom Umstattd brought up the possibility of ARC being involved in hosting the National Tournament, up at University of Mary Hardin Baylor in Belton , Tx . It is a six day national event. Although the National Committee would bring in the structure and food for the event, ARC is the nearest club geographically to UMHB, and would therefore be required to be heavily involved in this.Tom had already contacted UMHB about the possibility of them hosting Nats, and it looked favorable. NCFCA State Rep, Sarah Singleton, of Houston , was also involved in discussing this location with the National Committee. No further information was available at this time.

Tom Umstattd then brought up the possibility of ARC hosting another tournament Thursday, January 4-Sat. Jan 6, 2007, in addition to ARC hosting Nationals. Discussion centered on ARC not hosting any more events this year because CFC will be in town in November and Nationals is a week long event in June! Parents expressed concern again about burnout and having our students get behind again academically. The specific dates of Jan. 4-6 were felt by several parents to be too close to the holidays. Due to Christmas get-togethers, travel, parents being out of town the previous two weeks and general busyness during the holidays, the general consensus of the parents was that there would be NO time to properly prepare for the tournament! Parents would not yet be ready to host families in their homes on Wed. Jan. 3 from out of town; nor would they be available to help prepare for the tournament; nor would the students have time to preparing for the debates, do research  or memorize speeches. Joanne Rodgers had spoken with several debate clubs in Texas about the possibility of their attending a tournament so close to Christmas, and the other clubs felt they would have low student participation due to the proximity of the holiday.

ARC Funds

There is currently $1800 in the Club Treasury.  Possibilities of uses of these monies were discussed:

Brisa and Carlos Calderon are responsible for allocating the funds, as Brisa is currently the Treasurer of ARC.

Nonprofit Status

The possibility of ARC becoming a nonprofit organization was briefly discussed. It is a very time consuming and expensive process, according to Tom Umstattd, who has experience in this area. An LLC would be less expensive and quicker, approximately $300-500.

 

Size of Board

Tom Umstattd brought up the size of the board with the possiblity of decreasing the current 13 members: Tom, Ginger and Thomas Umstattd; Liz & Bill Morgan; Carlos and Lorena Calderon; Jeff & Joanne Rodgers; Kate & John Sullivan and

 

Fundraising and Scholarships

Liz  Morgan made a motion to form a committee to discuss recommendations for scholarship funds. Jeff Rodgers seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Jeff and Liz both volunteered to be on a committee to explore possibilities of scholarships and fundraising.

 

CHEACT Conference

The upcoming CHEACT home school conference was discussed. ARC will be hosting two workshops: one on speech for an hour on Friday, June 23, and the second will be on debate for an hour on Sat. June 24. Various ARC speakers will demonstrate IE’s while Thomas Umstattd will explain debate.

 

Accountability Checklist

The accountability checklist will be revised and updated to be used again this year. One person will be in charge of it, and it will be briefly mentioned weekly so that parents and students alike will be made aware of it.

 

Evidence Ring

The evidence ring rules are currently being revised. To participate, students need to submit a particular amount of evidence in order to obtain evidence. Last year, one student did 95% of the work on the evidence ring with everyone else just taking the evidence!! There will be a special training session led by Brian Morgan on Saturday, July 29 from 1-4 pm to teach ARCers HOW to obtain evidence and prepare it in briefs for the ring.

 

Weekly meetings and times

From the results of the extensive parent survey, the ARC meetings will remain at Hope Chapel every Friday. The times will change: 4:30 – 6 pm Speech 6-6:30 quick sack lunch or pizza; 6:30-8:30 Debate . This will enable the students to not only LEARN, but also have time to PRACTICE regular speeches as well as debating skills; researching evidence; brainstorming about debate strategies etc.

 

Parent Facilitators

To ease the workload of Tom and Ginger Umstattd , parents have volunteered for various categories to teach/lead/organize and guide the Team Policy Debate: Lincoln Douglas Debate and the various IE’s. The parent will choose the sophomore to teach, explain and demonstrate a particular event. The parent will take notes on it, and give a summary at the end of that day. The goal is to get the students to teach and participate as much as possible, while having an adult organize and structure the event to make sure the event is properly covered. Much more time will be devoted this year, for example, in team policy debate to: actual debate rounds; brainstorming in small groups about different cases; strategies to use in actual debating.

 

 The following parents have volunteered:

Team Policy Debate: Joanne Rodgers; Sylvia Snodgrass; Thomas Umstattd, Jr.

Lincoln Douglas Values Debate: Kate Sullivan; Monica Alford; Cynthia Umstattd

 

Limited Preparation Speech Events;

Apologetics: Jeff Rodgers & John Snodgrass

Extemporaneous: Bill Morgan & ( Tom Umstattd)

Impromptu:  ?

Platform Speech Events:

Expository: Joanne Rodgers

Persuasive: ?

Original Oratory: ?

Interpretive Events:

Ginger Umstattd will supervise over all events, but would also like other volunteers to help

Original Interp ?

Dramatic Interp?

Humorous Interp?

Duo ?

Junior Track: Emilly Lill; Monica Alford

 

New Club?

Due to conflicting schedules, Joanne Louis will not be able to attend ARC meetings during the football season, and has graciously volunteered to host meetings for beginning debaters on a different night. This could possibly lead to a beginning branch of ARC in the Cedar Park area.

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Hi Tom ,

Here’s the minutes from the Parents Meeting of April 14, 2006. My sincerest apologies for taking so long. Thank you for your patience.

Blessings,
Joanne  J

Austin Rhetoric Club Parents Meeting

April 14, 2006

 

Attendance

  Tom Umstattd; Jim & Linda Randall; Joanne Rodgers; Lorena Calderon; Pat & Ganya Hastings; John & Kate Sullivan; Liz Morgan; Sylvia Snodgrass; Thomas Umstattd, Jr.; Tim & Lily Bradberry

 

New Business

Secretary for Current Meeting

Joanne Rodgers was nominated by Linda Randall to be the secretary for the April 14, 2006 meeting for the purpose of note taking. The nomination was seconded by Jim Randall.  The vote was unanimous.

 

CHEACT Conference

The upcoming home schooling CHEACT Conference on June 23-24, 2006 was discussed. Tom Umstattd is in communication with the Coordinators of CHEACT to secure a workshop time for both Friday, June 23 and Saturday, June 24 for the purposes of introducing both Speech and Debate to interested home schoolers. This will be similar to the workshops done in the previous year. The Randalls, Sullivans and Calderons will not be in town for this conference.

 

August Day-Long Workshop

An All-Day Workshop was discussed to be held in late August (the 19th or 26th) on a Saturday to introduce potential new members to speech and debate. This would run in a similar manner to the workshop held in August, 2005. Having a video made was also discussed.

 

Webmaster

The need for updating the ARC Website (www.austinrhetoricclub.org) was discussed. Thomas Umstattd made a motion to form a committee to update the website. Jim Randall seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. David Alford has generously volunteered to be the official Chairman of the ARC Website. John Sullivan and Thomas Umstattd volunteered to be on the committee as well, to help with ideas for editing and improving the website. Thomas Umstattd made a motion to have a student from ARC be on the committee. The motion was seconded by Linda Randall and the motion was passed unanimously. A student will need to be picked to be on this committee.

 

NCFCA State Representative

The possibility was discussed of Tom Umstattd being the NCFCA State Representative for Texas for the coming year. No adults present were supportive of Tom being the State Rep, as it was strongly felt that as a new rhetoric club, we still very much need Tom ’s leadership in our group weekly! A possible conflict of interest was mentioned if a coach was also the state rep.

 

ARC Weekly Club Meetings

There was an open general discussion on the structure of the weekly club meetings for the upcoming school year. Many possibilities were mentioned:

Team Policy                                         Original Oratory

Lincoln-Douglas                                   Persuasive

Extemporaneous                                   Duo Interpretation

Expository                                            Dramatic Interpretation

Apologetics                                          Humorous Interpretation

Impromptu                                           Original Interpretation

*Certain events, such as Extemporaneous, might be better suited by having a separate club meeting because of the intense homework and continual updating of the information. WHSDC does this separately twice a month.  SONT has speech every other week.

            * We considered having Team Policy under a separate parent/leader.

            * We considered having Lincoln-Douglas under a separate parent/leader.

            * We considered having Extemporaneous under a separate parent/leader.

* We considered grouping some of the above speech events under the same parent/leader, such as

a.  Apologetics & Impromptu

b.  Original Oratory,  Persuasive & Expository

c.  All 4 of the interpretive events (Duo, DI , HI & OI)

            * We discussed having a more organized beginning public speech & novice Team Policy Debate program for the younger students, under 12 years-old.

[TU1] * Kate Sullivan mentioned the possibility of teaching a 6 week Introduction to LD during this summer, but not as a regular LD coach throughout the school year, due to her younger children.

*There are at least 4 ARCers who are definitely committed to LD for the upcoming year.

* Joanne Rodgers passed out a Parents Survey to gather information from each family regarding their level/ability of commitment and their goals for the club for next year. This was also sent out by email.

 

2006-07 Calendar Year for ARC

A tentative planning calendar was discussed for the upcoming year to help with planning and to prevent burnout:

August 19 or 26: Day Workshop: Intro to ARC

Late October or early November: Weatherford 2 Day Tournament

Nov. 15-18: CFC 4 day Conference, Austin

Jan. 4-6?, 2007  Houston Practice Tournament, 3 day,

Jan. 10-18, 2007 CFC Masters, Location, TBD

Late Jan. or Early Feb:  StatePractice Tournament, 2 or 3 day, Corpus Christi ?

Late Feb, or early March, State Tournament, Houston ?

Late March: Bedford Open Tournament, 3 day

Late April: Houston Regional Tournament, 3 day

Early June: Nats

ARC Sponsored Tournaments/Communicators for Christ Workshop, Nov, 2006, Austin

An open discussion was held regarding the commitment level of the active ARC parents, specifically in regards to how many events ARC is willing and capable of hosting for the upcoming year. Several parents expressed serious concern about burning out; having their academic school years seriously disrupted; and how to be an active part of ARC without a repeat of these consequences. A major factor in upcoming planning is that Liz Morgan will no longer be able to serve as much as she did in the past. Joanne Rodgers made a motion that ARC would only host one major event per year (Major event defined as a 2 or more day event). John Sullivan seconded the motion. Eleven out of twelve adults voted to sponsor just one major event per year.

CFC was brought up for discussion. Joanne Lewis, acting on her own, felt strongly led by the Lord to sponsor a CFC 4 day event in Austin from Nov. 15-18, 2006 (the week immediately before Thanksgiving). Crestview Baptist Church was secured again as a place to host the event. Two major points of discussion were held:

  1. Parents want to be informed and given an opportunity as a group to discuss any major events ARC will sponsor in the future, including CFC, before a commitment is made.
  2. Discussion was held as to whether this particular CFC event would be the ONE event sponsored by ARC for the upcoming year, or whether ARC parents would prefer to sponsor a tournament instead.

Thomas Umstattd, Jr. made a motion that we vote on whether or not CFC would be our one major event to be hosted by ARC in the 2006-07 school year. Tim Bradberry seconded the motion. The majority ruled that ARC would NOT sponsor CFC Nov. 15-18, 2006 as their one major event, with two people abstaining.

Discussion followed regarding the one major event ARC will sponsor this coming year. Tom Umstattd brought up the possibility of hosting a tournament, such as one of Houston ’s tournaments, for example the 3 day Practice Tournament in January, instead of the Houston club. Possible dates revolved around the CFC Masters Conference in January. If the dates were Jan. 4-6, 2007, the tournament would be held before CFC Masters, helping attendees of CFC earn more credit toward Masters. The parents however, strongly felt that due to the holidays, there would not be adequate time to prepare for the tournament! Many families are out of town until January 1st and unable to prepare in any manner! Social gatherings and recovery times from the holidays were also mentioned as most families in town are just as busy. Also, high attendance from other out of town debate clubs was questioned as many people would not be able to turn around and travel immediately after the holidays. Possible late January dates, such as Jan. 25-27 were mentioned as better preparation time to host an event. No conclusions were forthcoming. 

Daniel Maximus Ping Bradberry Award

A discussion was held regarding voting for the Daniel Bradberry Award. Joanne Rodgers passed out voting ballots and also emailed all parents to cast their vote for the student exhibiting godly character and energy for the Lord for the 2005-06 school year. Liz Morgan volunteered to get two plaques for the award: one for the recipient and one for the club. This will be given at the potluck on Friday, May 12, 2006.May 5, 2006 (later changed)

ARC Banquet, May 26, 2006

The annual ARC Banquet will be held Friday, May 26, 2006. It will be an Italian  potluck with ARCers (going on to Nationals) demonstrating their talents from 4:30-6, with the potluck beginning at 6 pm. Various awards and recognitions will be given out at the time. A sign up sheet for help was passed around.

 [TU1] Added by Tom

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Meeting with Sue Butler & Benjamin Butler, Tom, Ginger, Thomas, Cynthia, David, William & John Umstattd in Corpus Christi, TX July 22, 2004

  Mrs. Sue Butler is the facilitator of the Way South Debate Club , a student run, parent sponsored debate club that she established 3 years ago, and has coached with her 20 year-old daughter, Jennifer, and others ever since.  Benjamin Butler, her 15 year-old, 10th grade son, placed high enough to make it to nationals in team policy debate and original oratory this past debate season. 

  Who is Sue?  Sue is a Christian believer, bubbly, energetic go-getter who makes friends easily, and formerly, a great pioneer in the Texas home school movement.  3 years ago, she felt like that she was mostly done with home schooling.  Jennifer was in college, she had already taught Benjamin how to read, he was conveniently enrolled in a 2 day per week home school co-op, and her garden was beckoning.  But her persistent home schooling sister from Arkansas talked her into starting her son in debate at age 12.  So, she started her first year with about 24 students, about half remaining into that spring, and similar numbers the next year. 

  What did she do?  Sue started off with Christi Shipe’s An Introduction to Argumentation and Debate, (IAD) using It Takes a Parent (ITAP) by Deanna Stollar, as a guide to teaching IAD.  She got through about 3 chapters of ITAP, finding that the “teach and test” methodology employed by the book did not function well with her students or her teaching style.  She found herself talking and teaching much more that she wanted, and the students speaking less than they could if they did not have so many tests or lectures.  Also, their grades on exams were substandard.  Perhaps using this curriculum in a public or private school setting would work better.  So, she scrubbed the use of ITAP and used IAD as the only text.

   Sue’s advice.  The best way to teach and learn debate is the “KONOs” type, unit study approach, to integrate, encompass, incorporate it into the teaching of all your other subjects, and the subjects into it:  government, English, composition, history, reading, research, computer skills, interpersonal skills, team building skills, Constitutional law, our country’s founding documents, national and international public policy, current events, logic, and world politics; everything except math, physical education, foreign language and fine arts like music.  She went on to refer to Terry, Deanna and Ryan Stollar’s article “The Value of Debate and How to Fit It In.”  Since we had already read and agreed wholeheartedly with this article, we went on.

  She added all sorts of fun speech games, utilizing individual events (IE) into learning team policy debate, and using playing cards, which she concocted herself, to learn the topic or various matters of debate.  She might have a student whose affirmative case (1AC) might be on some aspect of Puerto Rico ’s rights as a US protectorate, prepare a humorous interpretation (HI) about a crazy American tourist visiting Puerto Rico . 

  She facilitated weekly meetings on Monday from 1-3 pm .  Now she has IE workshops every other week following the class for 1 ½ hours. 

   How does she run her debate club?  In using Shipe’s IAD, she starts off with chapter 8, then 1, then 3-7, finally 9, one each week.  The second chapter about the Toulmin model of logic, she deletes altogether.  My family found that part of that chapter hard to understand, too.  She teaches the logical fallacies in chapter 2, throughout the course.  She feels like that she is just another home school mom, not the typical co-op teacher who looks for their monthly payments per child and rarely would go to a convention, workshop or tournament.  She feels that the parents in her club, instead of paying $40 per month per child, should save their money for the actual costs of debate:  tournament, conference travel costs, computer and supplies expenses.  She suggested that each family sign up as affiliates of NCFCA, for $25.00, as soon as possible, so they can get the early bird discount, and Texas can have more qualified spots in the national tournament, which is based partly on the number of affiliates.

  In teaching she uses the Communicators for Christ (CFC) and Boy Scouts (BSA) models of student lead organization.  I have 1 son in BSA, and another who has completed his Eagle in BSA.  Benjamin is currently a Life Scout in BSA.  So, we had this in common.  Students that excel in speech and debate will lead those who are still beginners.  “The podium is an earned privilege,” Mrs. Butler affirms, “the size of your audience comes from the speaker’s experience and preparation.  When Aaron and Alicia Watson speak ( Texas ’ tournament winners), they have packed crowds because of their reputation.  When students present a prepared topic for a class, they find that they have to really understand the material to teach it.  If Jennifer (Sue Butler’s daughter) asks one of her beginning debate students to give a report on one of the 4 stock issues, or a particular affirmative case next week, they typically find themselves positively challenged in research, preparation and public speaking.” 

  Jennifer Butler was currently taking the same Brian College , 2 week intensive World Views Course, in Bryan , Tennessee that my son, Thomas, is taking in Manitou Springs , Colorado a few days later.  After that she is joined with her brother and mom in Tennessee to coach and attend the 1 week Hiwassee debate camp.

  This last year, Sue Butler wrote the 10 volume book, Let’s Debate the National Topic, or “the Green Book,” a topic-specific book for only last year’s debate topic.  The Way South, as well as about 20 other clubs, about 170 debaters nationwide, used this as their textbook.  She is currently not considering writing another book for this year, but hoping that someone else will come forward to do so.

  We discussed how to start a club, and what scope of events we should incorporate.  Extemporaneous (Extemp) and Lincoln Douglas (LD) debate have not yet shown up in Texas tournaments.  She suggested that we center on team policy, and do not try to have Extemp the first year.  “Extemp is almost a full time deal, a great commitment,” she declares.

   How do you pick teams?  Sue continued, “We let the students themselves pick their own debate partners.  I would ask the students and their parents how much time and resources they want to invest in debate:  how many debate tournaments, workshops, and conventions they want to attend, if they want to set their goal to go to nationals, etc.  Then based on this commitment, as well as compatibility and geographical convenience, the teams will slowly form themselves sometime during the year.”

  We discussed having a one day workshop in Austin .  Sue is interested in helping Austin start an NCFCA debate club by supplying perhaps ½ dozen interns to teach in some of the sessions in a beginning speech and debate workshop in Austin , patterned after a CFC workshop.  This is where we in Austin , hope to pick up some more club members, and officially kick off our club.

  Tournament Anyone?  The Way South round-robin debate and speech tournament that Sue Butler and 17 other helpers hosted in February, 2004, lasted 2 days, Friday and Saturday.  It had 30 debate teams, 4 preliminary rounds, then 3 out rounds (quarter, semi and finals).  At this tournament, my son, Thomas, first competed in a required individual event (IE); he picked Duo Humorous Interpretation, which was last year’s wild card event.  Yes, this tournament required all debate contestants to compete in at least 1 IE.  This was one of the best things that ever happened to my son, opening up the world of IE to him.  At first, I thought that this was rather presumptuous, but upon later reflection, I realized that the requirement helped the entire experience be more fun, less specialized, and helped to inspire more well-rounded communication skills.  Personally, I think the way the Way South debate tournament last February was structured was exemplary. 

   In short, I was highly encouraged that the limited vision that I am getting has been successfully operating in Corpus Christie for years, and they are interested in helping Austin start an NCFCA sponsored debate and speech club.

 

                                                            Written by:  Tom Umstattd, July 26, 2004

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Advice from Judy Harris, New Mexico State Representative of NCFCA.  July 11, 2004

-----Original Message-----
From: Harris Mike [mailto:harriseight@earthlink.net]
Sent: Sunday, July 11, 2004 8:37 PM
To: Tom Umstattd
Subject: RE: New debate club in Austin forming

Dear Tom:

I'm glad to hear you are starting a club.  It sounds to me like you are off to a great start.  PHC debate camp! 

I am not sure what you mean by advice, direction, etc., but I can list some of the decisions you will have to make at some time.  You can make them before you begin or  as you go, depending on how many families you have and how flexible you like to be. 

Will you charge money?  (We don't , but some people say it makes the families more committed.) 

What ages will you include?  (We include 6-18 and love it.  The younger kids can get over their nervousness earlier and are really ready when they hit competition age.  We all love listening to the younger kids.) 

Will you require everyone to compete?  (We don't because each child has a different timetable for when they are ready, and we think parents are best equipped to make that decision.)

Will you require parents to attend meetings?  (We do and it has made a tremendous difference.  We have no behavior problems, the parents are able to determine how far to push an individual child, and parents get a vision for what we are doing as they see all the kids progress.) 

Will you use a curriculum?  (Teresa Moon has a speech event curriculum and Stollars have a debate curriculum.)  

Will you combine speech and debate in the same group?  at the same  meeting?  (I think most people have a hard time teaching both together and also find that every other week is not enough to teach debate basics and the topic for the year.  On the other hand the two skills complement each other well-- good speakers are good debaters.)

Consider attending a Communicator for Christ conference, and taking all the kids you can.  The closest one this year is in Kansas August 11-14.  The conference is a crash course for both students and parents.  Parent go free.  You will learn a great deal and get to talk to some people who know what they are doing  likeTeresa Moon and staff, as well as experienced coaches.  Info can be found at www.commforchrist.com.

Do  you have contact info for Daniel Broadius?  I don't think I know his family, but would like to know how to get in touch with them.

I don't know if this is what you had in mind, so let me know if there are specific questions you would like my opinion on.

Seeking to serve Him,

Judy Harris

 

 

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ARC sponsored a free seminar  Saturday, October 22, morning and afternoon from 9:30-2:00 at trial attorney, Bill Malone's house on looking at this debate topic from a distinctly Christian perspective.  A rough outline of the seminar is below. 
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Our time together on October 22, 2005 was a structured one-day college-level seminar in Christian theology in which students will examine this year’s debate topic by wrestling with the broader Biblical question upon which it rests: how a Christian is to live in a fallen, sin-soaked world.  To help students begin answering this question, they will study Holy Scripture, followed by some major theologians who have offered differing interpretations of these Scripture passages throughout church history.  They will conclude by discussing their findings in light of this year’s debate topic.

Students will attend brief lectures punctuated by periods in which they will separate into smaller groups to read short selections from primary source material and then will return to present, critique, and discuss their reactions to the material with the whole group.  Students are asked to bring their Bibles, a notebook, and a pen.

We’ll begin by looking at Scripture:

The Gospel
• The (always) starting point: What does God do for us?  (start with Rom
5.8)
• How would a disciple who is a doctor respond to someone he has wronged?
(start with Mt 5.38-42)
• How would a disciple who has been wronged by a doctor respond? (start with Mt 18.23ff)

The Law
• But key question:  How would we live out our public vocations to love our neighbors when other neighbors around them are not disciples?  How can we protect our neighbor-as-patient from sinful doctors and our neighbor-as-doctor from sinful patients?  (start with Rom 13) 

Five ways Christians have tried to interpret those Scripture passages throughout church history:

Monastic (early medieval)
• Augustine, City of God
• Adolf von Harnack, Monasticism: It’s Ideals & History • Contemporary monastic responses to a sinful world • How would a monastic understanding of Scripture deal with medical malpractice?

Regnant (high medieval)
• Thomas Aquinas, Summa
• Contemporary regnant responses to a sinful world • How would a regnant understanding of Scripture deal with medical malpractice?

Vocational (Reformation)
• Martin Luther, Temporal Authority: The Extent to Which It Should Be Obeyed, Part 1 • Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations • The vocational foundation of early modern Western culture • How would a vocational understanding of Scripture deal with medical malpractice?

Decadent (Enlightenment onward)
• Friederich Schliermacher, Christian Faith • Soren Kierkegaard, “Everyone is a Christian…”
• J. Gresham Machen, Christianity & Liberalism • How would a decadent understanding of Scripture deal with medical malpractice?

Way of the Cross
• Martin Luther, Temporal Authority (cont.) • Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship • How would a Christocentric understanding of Scripture deal with medical malpractice?

Theological Conclusion:  Law (vocation) & Gospel (way of the cross) as applied to public vocation.

Group Discussion and Brainstorming:  How can we look at medical malpractice through the eyes of law and gospel?

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Last Year's Home School Debate Workshop

September 11, 2004

Interested in public speaking and debate?  Have a young person in your house age 11-18 that needs to know how to speak with respect, analytical thought, and proper logic?  Want to learn how to speak with grace, confidence, and poise.  Then this workshop is for you.

In one day we will cover the basics of both debate and speaking effectively.

In this debate workshop you will learn:

  • The educational value of debate

  • Critical reasoning

  • To think and speak effectively under pressure

  • To refute arguments without attacking individuals

  • To defend ideas when challenged

  • Overcome shyness

When: September 11, 2004 , Saturday, 8:30am – 5pm

How much:  $20 per person, and no extra charge for extra members of the same family.  Home school parents are encouraged to attend so much that they are free, and there will be special optional meetings for them about 1/2 of the time.   The rest of the time, they can attend the student sessions, watch their younger children, or just rest.

Where:  Hope Chapel's Lighthouse as well as other rooms (6701 Arroyo Seco).  Register at 8:30am sharp at the Lighthouse, located on the cross street just to the right of the church, 1508 Ruth, Austin, TX 78757.  http://www.hope.org/whoweare/directions.htm  If you have problems finding it on Saturday morning, call 825-1040.

Contact Ginger Umstattd (338-1422) with any questions.
Visit our web site:  www.taxmantom.com/debate

Coaches Sue & Jennifer Butler and about 9 interns from the Way South Debate Club, Debate Coach Rachel Horton from the DFW area, are traveling in to help teach this debate workshop.  These clubs share our vision for a Christ-centered, student run, parent sponsored, speech and debate club.  Cynthia Umstattd, leader of Austin's No-Name-Yet Debate Club the will also be teaching.  Sue Butler established the home school debate club in Corpus Christi about 3 years ago with her daughter, Jennifer, who now is in college.  Benjamin Butler, a third year debater, who qualified to go to nationals last year, will join his sister, mom and others to help conduct debate workshops.   If you are coming from out of town and would like to request host housing, please email Tom@taxmantom.com 

There will be six 45 minute class sessions with a break for lunch, and from 3:15-5:00 the students will divide up into groups and have some team policy debates.

Class A        Order of Speeches/Debate Round – Cynthia Umstattd and Garrett Inkster

Class B         Logical Fallacies and Why Debate - Brittany Hardy and Adam Hardy

Class C         How to Research and Using Evidence - Ben Butler and Justin Goodwin

Class D        History of Oil and Case Topics - Nic Williams and Rachel Horton

Class E         Stock Issues and Judges' Paradigm - Jennifer Butler and Amy Inkster

Class PT       Parent Track – Mrs. Butler, Mrs. Hardy, Mr. Umstattd and Mrs. Umstattd

Lunch:  If you would like to order lunch, we will "take up a collection" for pizza.  Or you could bring your own food and eat in our lunchroom.  Either way we can all eat together.

 

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2004-2005 Syllabus

9/10/04     Prepare for all day workshop, present Individual Events (IEs) & for homework, read Shipe's Chapter 8

9/11/04     All Day Debate Workshop (videos available for club members who missed it)

9/17/04     Homework, read Shipe's Chapter 1-2, Impromptu teaching & present IEs

9/24/04     Homework, read Shipe's Chapter 3, Interpretation Event teaching, Part I of II

10/01/04   Prep. for first debate, and break into groups to prepare for and compete in intra-club team policy debate rounds

10/08/04   Homework, read Shipe's Chapter 4, discussion on chapter, research the debate topic, work on your cases, and we break into groups to compete in intra-club team policy debate rounds

10/15/04   Interpretation Event teaching, Part II of II, break into groups to perform interpretative events and impromptus

10/22/04   Change:  we will not begin 30 minutes early, but at our regular time:  4:30 pm.  We will have one round of individual events followed by on round of team policy debate, against ourselves.

10/29/04   Homework, read Shipe's Chapter 5, discussion on chapter, research the debate topic, and work on your cases.   We will have an open demonstration debate round with continual judge interruptions from a panel of experienced judges and debaters:  Joe Hootman, Thomas Umstattd, Jr., and perhaps, Tom Umstattd, too.  This should be a very, very helpful and instructional time for all debaters, and quite challenging for the 2 debate teams which will be scrutinized by the judges.  Pot luck supper will be following.

11/05/04   No club meeting

November 5-6th            Weatherford Speech and Debate Tournament, Weatherford, TX

11/12/04   Platform Speech teaching, and break into groups to perform interpretative events, platform events and impromptus

11/19/04   Homework, read Shipe's Chapter 6, discussion on chapter, and break into groups to compete in intra-club team policy debate rounds, or work with your partner to prepare for the tournament the next day.  NO POT LUCK

11/20/04  Local debate tournament 8:30 am to 7:30pm, 3 debate rounds, semi-finals & finals, more information later.  We need parents to judge!!!  Tom & Ginger Umstattd will be on their 25th wedding anniversary, and will not be at this tournament.  So, the more parents, the better.  Location:  __?__ Baptist Church in Southwest Austin.

11/26/04    No Club meeting, Thanksgiving and Tom & Ginger Umstattd's 25th wedding  anniversary

12/03/04   Homework, Read Shipe's Chapter 6, discussion on chapter by David and Cynthia Umstattd, Brian and Jonathan Morgan leads Bible study, impromptu readings by students, Thomas Umstattd demonstrates the apologetics event.

12/10/04   Homework, Read Shipe's Chapter 7 & 9, discussion on chapter by Paul Hastings.  Finish Chapter 6 by Cynthia and David.

12/17/04   Discussions about the apologetics event, upcoming debate tournaments, CFC Masters, present any IEs to club, and Christmas "party."

12/24/04   No Club meeting, Merry Christmas!

12/31/04    No Club meeting, Happy New Year!

01/07/05    Probably the first club meeting for the new year

01/15/05    No club meeting

01/ 13-15 / 2005 Houston Practice Speech and Debate Tournament

01/21/05 Regular club meeting 4:30-7:00 pm, peruse Houston ballots, Mr. Umstattd's short economics class, Thomas' teaching on negative philosophy

01/24/05 - 01/29/05 CFC Masters Debate Conference and Tournament

02/04/05    Regular Club meeting, or possible debate "tournament" with Bluebonnet Country Christian Home Educators (BCCHE) Debate Club in Columbus or Brenham

02/11/05    Regular Club meeting

02/17/05 - 02/19/05    Way South Debate Club Tournament, Corpus Christi, TX

02/18/05    No Club Meeting

02/25/05  Regular Club meeting

03/03/05 - 03/05/05    Texas State Tournament, Dallas, TX

03/11/05    Regular Club meeting

03/18/05    Spring Break

03/25/05    Regular Club meeting

Mar 30 - Apr 2, 2005  Texas State Tournament, Houston, TX           

04/08/05    Regular Club meeting

04/15/05    IEs only

04/22/05    Regular Club meeting

04/29/05    Year-end Banquet

May 5-7, 2005    The Region IV Tournament

05/13/05    No club meeting

05/20/05    Regular Club meeting for those going to nationals

05/27/05    Regular Club meeting for those going to nationals

June 6-9, 2005    National NCFCA Tournament, Point Loma Nazarene University

06/24/05   3:45-5PM at Palmer Auditorium, presentations of IEs for CHEACT book fair

06/25/05   3:45-5PM at Palmer Auditorium, Thomas & Cynthia Umstattd about the value of debate

07/01/05   6:00-8:00 Planning for Aug. 20th, discussion about CFC Oct. 26-29 conference, general planning for next year

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2005-2006 Syllabus

        06/24/05   3:45-5PM at Palmer Auditorium, presentations of IEs for CHEACT book fair

        06/25/05    3:45-5PM at Palmer Auditorium, Thomas & Cynthia Umstattd about the value of debate

        07/01/05    6:00-8:00 Planning for Aug. 20th, discussion about CFC Oct. 26-29 conference, general planning for next year

 

1.      8-19-05, 4:30-6:30  ARC meeting Hope Chapel with other teachers of Saturday's classes, NOT for first year club members

2.      8-20-05, 8:00AM - 5:00PM, Beginning Debate Workshop, $30 per family, lunch extra.  Homework Assignment for the next class:  read Christy Shipe's An Introduction to Argumentation and Debate, Chapters 1 & 2 (pp. 5-6 & 9-11 only), Thane Rehn's As I Was Saying, pages 5-9 & 79-88

3.      8-26-05, 4:30-6:30PM ARC meeting Hope Chapel, teachings on Shipe's Chapters 1 & 2 (pp. 5-6 & 9-11 only), & Impromptu/Apologetics teaching (Thane Rehn's As I Was Saying, pages 5-9 & 79-88), Economics & POT LUCK Following 6:30-7:30, Homework Assignment for the next class:  Homework, read Shipe's Chapter 3, & Rehn's pages 91-113, pick a piece of literature, prose, poetry (no movies or TV shows!) for your interpretive individual event.

4.      9-02-05  Rehn's pages 91-113, Interpretation Event teaching, Part I of II & Brian Morgan & Monica Calderon teaching on Shipe's Chapter 3, Debate Evidence, 20 Minutes of Economics by Thomas Umstattd, Jr., Homework Assignment for the next class:  write an election speech to run for a club office, if desired.  Read Shipe's Chapter 5 (skipping Chapter 4 for now), Affirmative Case Construction, post one negative brief as described at club today by Brian Morgan on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/austindebate/

5.      9-09-05  Brian Morgan & Brisa Calderon teaching on Shipe's Chapter 3, Debate Evidence, Part II, (Cynthia & David Umstattd's teaching on Shipe's Chapter 5, Affirmative Case Construction, postponed), research debate topic, work on cases, the Club Coaches/Officers will partner up a sophomore with a freshman debater for one week, and each team will meet for the rest of the club time to decide on an affirmative case and go over negative briefs.  6:30-7:30  Meeting with those assisting with the Communicators For Christ Workshop October 26-29.  Homework Assignment for the next class:  work on your affirmative case and negative briefs with your sophomore/freshman debate partner (e.g. on the phone).

6.      9-16-05   (Thomas Umstattd's famous teaching on:  The Ladder of Abstraction, postponed).  Break into groups to compete in intra-club Sophomore/Freshman Teams, policy debate rounds, the freshman will be the leader on each team, the sophomore will support their partner's arguments and the direction that their freshman partner takes the debate round, POT LUCK supper will be following 6:30-7:30,  Homework Assignment for the next class:  Rehn's pages 115-130, about Interpretive Individual Events, chose and edit an interpretive piece and perhaps a platform piece as well, for performance before the group.  Interview possible debate partners in ARC, consider these criteria to govern your choice:  what does Mom and Dad think, what do the ARC officers think, the commitment level of both debaters need to be similar, geographic location, compatible experience level, parental concerns about debate partnering with the opposite sex, sibling partners, complementing different analytical skills, communication styles, and personalities, amiable compatibility.

7.      9-23-05  Hurricane Rita Day, prayed for Thomas and Nathan in Houston.  Discussed the Economics Seminar, CFC Seminar, the ASAP & ARC Tournaments in November, David Umstattd's and Tim Randall's duo presentation about why we should all buy the Blue Book, and Brian Morgan explained how to upload debate research and apologetics cards onto our Yahoo Group. Break into groups and present apologetics, impromptus, and any individual events (IEs) that maybe ready.  Homework Assignment for the next class:  read Shipe's Ch. 4, continue writing IEs and debate briefs.

8.      9-30-05  Economics Thinking Seminar, Greg Remke, from 2PM - 9PM, open to all home schoolers.

9.      10-07-05 Teaching on Rehn's pages 115-130, Interpretation Individual Event teaching, Part II of II, decide on possible future debate partners, Club Elections for 2005-2006 Officers.  For a list of Officer Qualifications click here.  Thomas Umstattd's famous teaching on:  The 3 essential ingredients of every effective communication:  Ethos, Logos & Pathos and some economics.  Break into groups to perform interpretative events, impromptus, apologetics and platform events, Homework Assignment for the next class:  work with your new possible permanent partner on affirmative case and negative briefs, begin reading Rehn's How to Write a Speech, pp. 13-40 and begin writing a platform (persuasive, original oratory or expository) speech POT LUCK supper will be following 6:30-7:30

10.  10-14-05  Danger Will Robinson!  This class is not be meeting at Hope Chapel (there is a wedding scheduled)!!  We are meeting at Crestview Baptist Church.   The rest of officer candidate speeches and elections.  Break out into groups and do apologetics, impromptus, and other IEs.  Homework Assignment for the next class:  read Rehn's How to Write a Speech, pp. 13-40, Platform Speech teaching, write an original oratory, persuasive or expository

11.  10-21-05   Teaching on Rehn's How to Write a Speech, pp. 13-40, Platform Speech teaching, and break into groups to perform interpretative events, platform & impromptus, and if time permits, Thomas' economics.  Homework Assignment for the next class:  read Shipe's Chapter 6

12.  10-26-05 to 10-29-05, Communicators For Christ 4-Day, Speech & Debate Workshop, At Crestview Baptist Church, 7600 Woodrow, Austin, TX. www.CommunicatorsForChrist.Com

13.  11-4 to 11-5-05(?)  ASAP Weatherford, TX Tournament,  Homework Assignment for the next class: Shipe's Chap. 7 & 9

14.  11-11-05    Teaching Shipe's Chapter 6, discuss chapter, discuss tasks & assignments, POT LUCK supper will be following 6:30-7:30,  Homework Assignment for the tournament:  rewrite your 1AC, read out loud with persuasiveness, clarity and assurance, say every affirmative and negative brief, and apologetics card until they roll right off your tongue, post at least 1 extra brief on  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/austindebate/.

15.  11-18 to 11-19-05  ARC Tournament, Hope Chapel, Homework Assignment for the next class: Shipe's Chap. 7 & 9

16.  11-25-05  Thanksgiving, no club meeting

17.  12-02-05   Teachings on Shipe's Chap. 7 & 9, discuss & econ., discuss, assign and allocate tasks to make the ARC tournament function like a well oiled machine.  Homework Assignment for the next class:  read Shipe's Chap. 8

18.  12-09-05   Teaching on Shipe's Chap. 8, and Teaching on the 4 Point Refutation, and Rebuttal Speeches, & econ.,   Homework Assignment for the next class:  rewrite one or more of your IEs and be prepared to give it at the Christmas party

19.  12-16-05  Christmas party and POT LUCK supper! 

20.  12-23-05  Christmas break (pray for Cynthia's mouth surgery)  Homework Assignment for the next class:  read Rehn pp. 41-53 (Original Oratory & Persuasive)

21.  12-30-05  Christmas break,  Homework Assignment for the next class:  rewrite one or more of your IEs and read out loud everyone of your apologetics cards until they are your little friends in your apologetics card box.

22.  01-06-06    Ladder of Abstraction teaching, Apologetics, Present IEs, POT LUCK supper will be following 6:30-7:30, Homework Assignment for the tournament:  rewrite your 1AC, read out loud with persuasiveness, clarity and assurance, every single affirmative and negative brief, and apologetics card until they roll right off your tongue, post at least 1 extra brief on  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/austindebate/.  And read Rehn pp. 41-53 (Original Oratory & Persuasive) if you have not already done so.

23.  01-13-06  Using 4 Point Refutation in Apologetics and Sharing Your Faith in Jesus, or some such magnanimous topic & Teaching on Rehn pp. 41-53 (Original Oratory & Persuasive)

24.  01-20-06  No Club meeting, Communicators For Christ Masters, Hammond, LA & Houston Tournament, Homework Assignment for the next class:  Research, and post briefs

25.  01-27-06  Prepare for Practice Tournament, 1ACs, Apologetics

26.  02-03-06  Invitational with Brenham Club, etc., Austin, Homework Assignment for the next class:  Read Rehn's Pages 55-62, on Expository

27.  02-10-06  Expository & Present IEs, share research, Brian Morgan will teach about finding research and posting it to our yahoo group.

28.  02-17-06  Debate critiques.  We will intra-club pair ups and have stop/start critiques with interrupting judges/coaches for all 2 hours of the class time.  POT LUCK supper will be following 6:30-7:30

29.  02-24-06  Intra-club regular debate rounds (not start/stop like last week) & IEs 5-7 different rooms, all adults needed as judges

30.  03-04 to 3-06-06 Texas State Tournament, Houston, Homework Assignment for the next class:  will be passed out or emailed.

31.  03-10-06  Debaters present critiques on all affirmative cases encountered at the State Tournament and/or Class on Medical Malpractice Law Reform with Dr. Bob Umstattd, and the 1AR:  Killing the Dragon teaching, POT LUCK supper will be following 6:30-7:30

32a.  03-16 3-18-06 Tennessee National Open Qualifier, Carson-Neuman College, Jefferson City, TN

32b.  03-17-06  Spring Break, no Club meeting, Homework Assignment for the next class:  will be passed out or emailed, rework & rewrite your IEs

33.  03-24-06  Present individual events as a Club to each other

34.  03-31-06  Intra/inter club debates, POT LUCK supper will be following 6:30-7:30

35.  04-06 to 4-08-06 North Texas Region IV Open Qualifying Tournament, Bedford, TX, Homework Assignment for the next class:  will be passed out or emailed

36.  04-14-06  Regular club meeting, submission for club approval of the "Club Letter Committee" to see what the club letter will look like.  Go over Bedford ballots, Officers' meeting concerning criteria for letter, next year's goals, and other things.

37a.  4-20 to 4-22-06 Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO, National Open Qualifier

37b.  4-21-06  Debaters present critiques on all affirmative cases encountered at the Bedford Tournament in Austin

38.    4-27-06 to 4-29-06 Region IV Tournament, Houston, TX

39.   5-5-06  We will present a series of our IEs,  Madeleine Sullivan will deliver her Nationally Qualifying Expos, various folks will deliver apologetics speeches, have elections for Next year's President (other officers will be elected in September 2006),  announce the winner of the Daniel M. Bradberry Award, and have a pot luck

40.  05-12-06  Debate between our 2 teams going to nationals:  Calderon/Calderon (affirmative) and Umstattd/Louis (negative), all club members who show up will be allowed to judge, fill out a ballot, write critiques on the ballot, reason for decision, and vote who wins.  No pot luck following.

41.  05-19-06  Possible Club meeting primarily for those going to Nationals in Virginia

42. 05-20-06  Cynthia Umstattd's high school graduation at Hope Chapel 5:30-6:30, reception following

43. 05-24-06  2 Round Debate in Columbus, TX Louis/Umstattd vs. Reynolds/Schlaudraff 4-9PM.

44.  05-26-06  Year-end Banquet, representative speeches from our 10 Nationally bound speakers, pass out "fun" awards, award Club Letters, and a speech from our key-note speaker, Thomas Umstattd, Jr., ARC co-founder.

45.   06-02-06   No more Regular Club meetings; Calderons plan on leaving 5-30-06, Umstattds 5-31-06, Morgans 6-1-06, Louis's 6-3-04, etc.

46.   6-5 to 6-9-06 NCFCA, National Tournament, Purcellville, VA

47.  6-20-06 Parents' meeting 5:00-6:30PM, at the Snodgrasses home.

48.  6-23-06 at 3:45-4:45 ARC's 1 hour of Speech presentations at CHEACT book fair

49.  6-24-06 at 3:45-4:45 ARC's 1 hour discussion about Debate at CHEACT book fair

50.  7-26-06, 1:00 pm - 7:30 pm, Beginning Speech and Debate Workshop, Bayshore Bible Church, 901 Brawner Pkwy, Corpus Christi, TX 78411, (the Umstattds are helping teach this)

51.  8-18-06 4:15 pm - 7 pm, with potluck 6-7pm.ARC club meeting only for the teachers (ARC'ers who were in the club last year) of the 8-26-06 Workshop

52.  8-26-06, 8:30 am - 5pm, Beginning Debate Workshop for everyone, Hope Chapel, 6701 Arroyo Seco, Austin
 

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Historical Archives:

Jan. 21, 2005:  Our Next Regular Club Meeting.  

Club's agenda.  Hope Chapel, 6701 Arroyo Seco, 4:30-6:30 pm:

  1. Discussion about Houston practice tournament Thursday to Saturday, January 13-15, 2005

  2. Go over judges sheets

  3. Discussion about CFC Masters conference in Memphis, TN January 19-27

  4. Tom's lesson on economics.

  5. Pot luck supper 6:30

  6. Pray for for:  Ward's mom, Sheree Rogers who is ill, your partner, God's favor on ARC, Tom Umstattd, his family, the Houston Practice Tournament, CFC Masters, and that we all would grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  

  7. Dismiss

  1. The debate topic is, "Resolved:  that the United States will change its energy policy to substantially changed its energy policy to substantially reduce its dependence on foreign oil."    This will continue to be our topic until mid June 2005.

  2. Use the disk passed out to choose a case to run, if you have not already done so, such as drilling in ANWR, national parks, increase offshore drilling, alternative fuel sources, CAFE, etc.  Choose ONLY 1 case to run.  You could simply read 1 of the affirmative cases, or a modified version of 1, or make up your own, and be prepared to refute attacks on your case by the negative team.  GET EVIDENCE.

  3. Now for the answer of last month's logical fallacy mind bender.  It was:  "Bush and Kerry are great people.  They debate.  We debate, therefore, we are great people."  (Is this a logical fallacy?  If so, which one?) 

    Answer:  think of it this way.  Change a few nouns around and you can see that this is indeed a fallacy.  For example, change "Bush & Kerry" and "great people" to "Bruno & Krusher" and "dogs."  Change "debates" to "water", and now this illogical statement is what we would have.  

          "Bruno and Krusher are dogs.  They drink water.  We drink water.  Therefore we are dogs."  Now, this is an obvious fallacy.  This is what my UT philosophy class calls an illogical hypothetical syllogism.  An example of a logical hypothetical syllogism would be:  "Bruno is a dog.  Dogs are mammals.  Therefore Bruno is a mammal."  This is a logical statement, in the format of:  "All B is D.  All D is M.  Therefore all B is M."  See how mathematical and "left-brained" logic can be? 

     

“Under my opponents’ plan, gasoline will be $10 per gallon by next Christmas.  And that is wrong, …that…is…just…wrong.” :-)

Other information:

  1. Take notes, for the rest of the semester of our Sunday sermons from our respective churches.  Many of you do this already, great!

  2. Order our textbook, if you have not already, Christie Shipe’s, An Introduction to Argumentation and Debate.  If you have not yet ordered the textbook, do so at: http://www.hslda.org/bookstore/items/DEBATE.asp?PID=7249938216  

  3. We will have elections for officers other than president.  If you are running for an office, please give a persuasive election speech.  (We certainly have seen some speeches lately of candidates running for public offices.)  

  4. The Book, As I Was Saying, by Thane Rend, is our Individual Event (IE) textbook.  Order it from http://commforchrist.com/cgi-local/shop.pl/page=product3.htm  It is the 5th item down on that page.  Cost is $18.95 plus shipping.

  5. As you read the great literature, poems, prose, novels and other books, in your regular curriculum, consider how you might be able to reduce them into a less than 10 minute competitive interpretive speech or performance.      

  6. The Blue Book, U.S. Energy Policy, Debating the 2004-2005 Home School Resolution  Order from www.trainingminds.org $40.00

  7. Uber-Plethora, Refining Energy Policy www.thedebatesite.org/plethora/main.html 

HOT's regular weekly club meetings are on Fridays, from 4:30-6:30 pm, at Hope Chapel, 6701 Arroyo Seco, for directions click http://www.hope.org/whoweare/directions.htm .  We will meet in Hope Chapel's Family Room.  Sometimes we will be having a "potluck" supper after the debate class at 6:30 pm.  (There is a playground available for little ones, but we will need at least one parent out there when children are present.)

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  During the year, please watch, or listen to and follow along with, good speeches:  both current and historical great ones.  

Jack Kennedy would put a slip of paper on each of his 4 sons and daughter’s dinner plates, 30 minutes before dinner.  (You know, the Umstattds have 4 sons and 1 daughter, too).  For ½ hour each child would research in periodicals and encyclopedias to prepare a 7 minute extemporaneous speech about the topic they were given.  Although, we frequently do not agree with their politics, this family has long been held as some of the best rhetorical orators in the world.  It does not come from natural talent, as much as it comes from study and practice.  Here is one link to Robert Kennedy's University of Capetown speech, 6-6-1966, 2 years before he ran for President and was assassinated.  http://www.jfklibrary.org/r060666.htm   the speech became well known around the world when his brother excerpted it for his eulogy:  http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ekennedytributetorfk.html

Ginger Umstattd will give a short teaching on how to prepare and deliver an interpretive speech, part II.  This will take place on October 15, 2004.  (See As I Was Saying p. 89 and following).  We will then break up into groups and deliver some interpretive speeches and/or other IEs.  If you have worked up an IE to present to the group, memorization is preferred, but not required, and you do not have to work up an IE, if you do not want to.  If you have added some extra “creativity” to one you did previously, you may repeat, this improved version.  You may do more than one.  Everyone in each group will critique each IE speaker.  For a list of IEs, see:  http://www.taxmantom.com/debate/IE%20Explainations.htm  

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  Some Early "ARC" History: 

 Our First Official Organizational Club Meeting Was August 14, 2004

  What an absolutely wonderful turnout and participation for our first official debate club meeting on Saturday morning, August 14!  Even some who only came to watch, found themselves debating, speaking and introducing.  Cynthia and Thomas Umstattd did a GREAT job leading the meeting.  We covered a tremendous amount of ground.  15 different individual event (IE) speakers presented a total of 18 different splendid performances.  11 different debaters, demonstrating team policy debate, all argued in 2 different debate rounds, about (1) whether cats were better than dogs, or (2) Taco Bell is better than McDonalds.  Also, about 15 others delivered introductions of each IE speaker, after being properly trained how to do so, by Thomas.  We passed out over 60 logical fallacy cards as prizes to the various speakers.  I was truly amazed by the talent in our group.

  At the meeting, I stated that I would give the ordering information for Christie Shipe’s textbook, An Introduction to Argumentation & Debate, so here is the link:

http://www.hslda.org/bookstore/items/DEBATE.asp?PID=7249938216

   You can order just the book for $11, or the book and the video tapes for $26.  Shipping is $5 extra.  All such reasonable prices!  This assumes that you are a member of HSLDA.  If not the prices are $13 and $30.  I ordered both the book and the tapes, even though I already have 1 copy of the book.  I have not listened to the tapes, yet, so I cannot submit any creditable evidence as to their helpfulness, except to say that I think they are worth the price.

  Excited about the future of the club,

Tom Umstattd

 

  In short, this our first official meeting was on August 14, 2004 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm at Tom and Ginger Umstattd’s house, 4311 Flagstaff Circle (we have a big back yard where little ones can play).  Afterwards, we ate a potluck lunch & fellowshipped.  

  To get to the Umstattd's home, take the Balcones Woods exit off of Highway 183.  Go east on Balcones Woods Drive.  (If you are coming from the south, turn right on Balcones Woods Drive).  Pass 2 stop signs.  Then take your 2nd left on Flagstaff Drive.  Take your 2nd left (again) on Flagstaff Circle.  We are the 2nd to last house on the left, 4311 Flagstaff Circle.

  What we did  and are doing:
  1. Pray and seek God’s will for us in regard to our involvement in a speech and debate club.
  2. Short Class:  how to give a proper introduction of, for example, a keynote speaker, taught by Thomas Umstattd, Jr.
  3. Break up into small groups, learn enough about someone else to introduce them as if they were going to give a speech, and have a few youth give their introductions of someone else in their group.
  4. Listen to / participate in 5-10 minute individual events, such as an impromptu speaking event and a prepared dramatic interpretation of a passage of scripture, poetry or prose.  As folks had one already prepared, let Cynthia Umstattd know, so they presented them to the rest of the group.  Younger students, under 12, had the opportunity to tell / act out a favorite joke or tell a short story (2 minute limit, please), or scripture, poetry or prose.  
  5. Discussed going to the Communicators for Christ Conference in  Ruston, LA
  6. Discussed our club’s mission statement and statement of faith.  Monitor website for possibilities.
  7. Conducted 2 short mock team-policy debate rounds by youth.
  8. Discussed possible names of our club.
  9. Discussed hosting a one day beginning speech and debate mini-conference in mid-September, perhaps, September 11 or 25th.  Youth in our club may have many opportunities to introduce the various speakers and lead discussions during this mini-conference.
  10. Briefly discussed hosting a 2 day speech and debate round-robin tournament towards the end of the first semester, perhaps November 5-6th or 12-13th.
  11. What kind of things do we want on this web site?
  12. Had lunch, fun and fellowshipped together.

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Host Housing Coordinator Tips     By Joanne Rodgers, Austin Rhetoric Club

  1. When receiving requests for host housing, I get the following information from the guests:

* Name, ages of children, # of adults/boys/girls

* Home phone/cell phone

* Email address

* What speech club they’re from

* How many nights they need a home (some only come for either speech or debate)

* Preferences: some need a bed and/or private bathroom/some will gladly bring sleeping bags!

* Need level: some simply can’t come without host housing/others prefer it, but could afford a motel

 

2.  When requesting hosts for host housing, I make sure I  know:

            * Number of guests the hosts can take in

* Any preferences hosts have: VERY IMPORTANT: Some hosts want ONLY girls; some ONLY 2 people etc. If I find this out at the beginning, it is MUCH easier to match people up!!!!

            * Sleeping arrangements (some put guests on floor/some have separate living areas for guests)

            * If air mattresses/sleeping bags should be brought to home

            * Home phone/cell phone

            * Address complete with zip code

* Level of convenience/inconvenience host is going through (some people have 5-10 children and it is more of a hardship, while others have 1-2 and spare bedrooms and bathrooms)

* If they’re willing to provide a simple breakfast

When matching up homes, I try to be as thoughtful as possible. Happy hosts will likely be willing to host again in the future! Unhappy hosts will NOT! I firmly believe the Lord will provide the right guests for the right hosts!  J

  1. Once matchups are made, I email BOTH the host and the guests. For the guests, I make SURE they know:
    1. Phone/cell of host
    2. it’s THEIR responsibility to contact the hosts and get directions to the host’s home
    3. what time exactly they will be expected to arrive at the host’s home (for ex, AFTER dinner on a given night)
    4. IF the host is willing to provide a simple breakfast or not
    5. If they need to bring bedding, sleeping bags and/or air mattresses
    6. When they are to leave the host’s home (morning of last day of conference)
    7. That the host will NOT be providing dinner at all
    8. It’s good etiquette to bring a small gift to say “thank you.”
    9. This is NOT a gurarantee of housing, because there are often last minute changes!
    10. If they read their email regularly (if they don’t, ask them to for this event)
    11. To respond to my email to make sure I know they received it
  1. For the host, I make sure they know:
    1. Phone/cell of guest
    2. To contact the guest to give them directions to their home
    3. What time the guests will be arriving (AFTER dinner on a given night)
    4. What time the guests will be leaving their home (morning of last day of conference)
    5. To provide a simple breakfast, if willing
    6. They are NOT required to provide dinner for the guests, ever
    7. Sometimes there are last minute changes in housing
    8. How much we appreciate them doing this wonderful Christian service!!
    9. If they read their email regularly (if they don’t, ask them to for this event)
    10. To respond to my email to make sure I know they received it

COMMUNICATION is extremely important, so I request an answer to the matchups that I email  the host and also the guests. If I do NOT hear back from them (that they received the info) through email in a reasonable amount of time, I CALL them. We never know when computers break down, and  people tend to assume messages have been received. This is a grave error as it leads to a lot of unnecessary stress!

 I also keep a file on the computer and a spiral that I carry with me everywhere. I keep names/phones/preferences and matchups for each family, host and guest. I mark in my spiral the date and important information regarding hosts/guests since everything is subject to change. Sometimes there are so many emails that it is difficult to quickly go back and find out specific info. Then when I have lots of last minute changes, I can easily find the info and record it. I also inform Tom Umstattd of any important questions/problems/concerns, as he is great with advice and readily available to help out.

At the conference, I make it a specific point to personally introduce myself to every family and ask them if everything’s going alright with them. I encourage them to come to me if they have any concerns or questions.

Prayer and relying on the Lord is most important in  finding homes for the guests. He really is the most reliable help we could ever want!

Joanne Rodgers

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