Travel Forms Due

Travel Forms and information for the start of the 2007 season. I have sent out an email with details regarding travel. If you have missed the email or need the information, I've posted it online. The deadline for this paperwork is July 1st, but I'll give a short extension until I come back from vacation in a week.

2007 Debate Travel Form
http://www.scribd.com/doc/131802/07-travel-form

Lakeville Debate News
http://www.scribd.com/doc/131803/Lakeville-Debate-News

I have forms from these people:
Pat Arnold
Bryant Au
Mike Berger
Michelle Bradley
Jackie Caston
Catherine Eichmann
Steven Elliott
Courtney Erickson
Tim Jennings
Jessica Kanuit
Christian Keil
Lindsay Kubina
Sarah Lund
Alexandra Nelson
Julie Schmidt
Tyler Traub
Elisabeth White
Karen Zhou

These folks have not turned in travel forms:
Abbie Barrett
Kailey Benson
Kelsey Beuehrer
Tom Caruso
Alex Dahm
Kori Fideler
Luke Gunderson
Joe Julik
Brianna Lauer
Molly Makarchuk
Shawn Nelson
Sara Starita
Carissa Van Slooten

2007-08 Topics Released

We don't know which of these topics we'll debate, but we know they'll come from this list:

The topics are available here.

1. Resolved: It is just for the United States to use military force to prevent the acquisition of nuclear weapons by nations that pose a military threat.

2. Resolved: Governments ought to make economic reparations for their country's historical injustices.

3. Resolved: Limiting economic inequality ought to be a more important social goal than maximizing economic freedom.

4. Resolved: It is morally permissible to kill one innocent person to save the lives of more innocent people.

5. Resolved: In the United States, jury nullification is a legitimate check on government.

6. Resolved: Successor governments ought to pursue transitional justice through truth and reconciliation commissions rather than through criminal prosecution.

7. Resolved: International lenders ought to cancel the debt of highly indebted poor countries.

8. Resolved: In the United States, plea bargaining in exchange for testimony is unjust.

9. Resolved: Hate crime enhancements are unjust in the United States.

10. Resolved: Public health concerns justify government violation of pharmaceutical patents.

Game Theory Dinner Photos

Thanks very much to Christian's family for organizing and hosting this informative and fun night.

Game Theory at Christian's House

All Lakeville debaters are welcome to attend a cookout and dinner with an Economics professor from Macalester College. The big thing we're hoping to do is get a better understanding of Game Theory and how its used to explain choices that people make. We used this in some of Karen's cases last year and it's what Tommy C lost to in semis of Glenbrook last year. Translation: You need to start thinking about Game Theory.

Details are these:

Christian's family is providing the meal.
Thursday, June 14th @ 5PM
His address is 16577 Klamath Terrace

Here is a little more information on Game Theory:

Game theory is often described as a branch of applied mathematics and economics that studies situations where multiple players make decisions in an attempt to maximize their returns. The essential feature is that it provides a formal modelling approach to social situations in which decision makers interact with other agents. Game theory extends the simpler optimisation approach developed in neoclassical economics.

The field of game theory came into being with the 1944 classic Theory of Games and Economic Behavior by John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern. A major center for the development of game theory was RAND Corporation where it helped to define nuclear strategies.

Game theory has played, and continues to play a large role in the social sciences, and is now also used in many diverse academic fields. Beginning in the 1970s, game theory has been applied to animal behaviour, including evolutionary theory . Many games, especially the prisoner's dilemma, are used to illustrate ideas in political science and ethics.