Lunar Eclipse, Quotes, Practice Trial

So the big news is that tonight is the first time in 456 years that a total lunar eclipse also falls on the Winter Solstice. If you happen to be awake between one and three this morning, take a peek. Of course, it's cloudy tonight, so you may have to use some imagination. Which is always a good idea anyway.

Also, the 2011 quotes slideshow has now grown to 77 slides. Impressive, right? We've also instituted comments--just add a text box in a corner and share how it actually happened... ;-)

Lastly, get yourselves psyched up for our first full-out practice trial tomorrow! It'll be awesome, don't worry. Well, do worry. Just worry productively!

That's all, folks!
Sarah

Conversation Starters

Does anyone else keep typing "Brian" instead of "brain"? O.o

Are there any facts that strike you as being really funny in the case? Personally, I love the testimony in Henlacks that Sean was a member of "the 4-H club"--do they only have one in Buckeye County? Must be some kinda weird place!

What gadgets would be helpful for the sidebar? I'm thinking about a homework summary box; would anyone be interested in making sure we all come out with the same assignment, or is that superfluous? Also, when our roles are more differentiated, we'll have very individualized work between meetings; the gadget would only be there for a couple of weeks tops.

Does anyone know about whether Athens has a team this year? I heard from an inside source that they "might not" be having one, but Mrs. Robe thought they had a class for it this year. Informants appreciated.

Quotes to Remember

Hello all!

The official "Quotes to Remember, Mock Trial 2011" is now on GoogleDocs!

I'd rather not make the link public, but I'll send it to you if you post a comment. Then you may edit it at will--it's still under construction!  :-)

Laura

Writing Tips

Hi Mock Trial people,


First, enjoy your Thanksgiving tomorrow! Between bites of ham, remember to thank God for all our blessings.


Second, in light of your statement-writing activities, I've compiled some writing tips from my English book--they're simple but quite powerful if you put them into practice.

Use a variety of

• sentence lengths
• sentence beginnings
• adverb
• prepositional phrases
• other phrases (participial, gerund, infinitive, appositive, absolute)
• dependent clauses
• sentence patterns

Emphasize information by placing important information

• in brief sentences that contrast with their context
• at end of sentences
• in unusual sentences
• inverted order (verb before subject, as in a question)
• periodic sentences (subject separated from predicate by several phrases or a clause)
• rehtorical question (use cautiously!)

Make your sentences "energetic" by using

• action verbs
• specific details
• accurate
• words (with very specific meanings)
• phrases (make sure you're using legal terms correctly)
• connotation (check meanings)
• pauses for breath (commas)
• figurative language (use cautiously!)

Don't let that overwhelm you--just jump in and start revising! :)

But not tomorrow. Tomorrow we eat ham. Happy Thanksgiving!

Sarah

2010-2011 Case Synopsis

It's that time of year again--OCLRE has released this year's case capsule! It looks like the topic is more interesting than the last couple of years, but it's about due process. You can't have it all, I guess!


Also, after some thought, I've realized that there is a good use for this blog after all: rather than an email list, we can simply post homework (it's been a recurring problem that absentees don't know what to work on) and upcoming meeting dates to one central blog.


Over the summer, Office Live changed to Windows Skydrive, which has some advantages and some disadvantages. I'll just run it up the flagpole and see who salutes it. Even if only my co-counsel does, it'll be worth it!


Finally, the case capsule itself--drum roll, please!

From http://www.oclre.org/OhioMockTrial/default.htm,
2011 Ohio High School Mock Trial Case Capsule
The 2011 competition analyzes an individual’s rights to the body parts of a deceased family member. When an individual dies suddenly in a car accident, the family's consents to an autopsy to determine the cause of death.  During the course of the autopsy, a section of the brain is removed and sent to pathology where it is discovered that the brain cells are regenerative (or "immortal").  The decedent’s family has filed a lawsuit against the County Coroner alleging that the coroner has violated the family’s due process rights by sending the regenerative cells to a research lab instead of returning them to the body.


Enjoy your summer!
Sarah

More Data!

Across the state, there were seven schools that (a) had more than one team in a district and (b) had 100% of their teams advance. Oddly enough, except for Sylvania, these aren't the "powerhouse" teams (e.g. Marysville, Archbishop Hoban, Indian Hill, Oak Hills, etc.) we've come to know and love. Regardless, here they are...

1. Olivia Davidson Washington Mock Trial Club (2)   : )
2. Mason High School (2)
3. Shaw High School Leadership Academy (2)
4. Willoughby South High School (2)
5. Sylvania Southview High School (3)
6. Danville High School (2)
7. Warren High School (3)

I've calculated the percent of teams that advanced from each district. Since I know no one wants to read the whole list, here are the highlights:
Highest percentage of teams advancing: Athens, Medina, Union, Washington (50%)
Lowest percentage of teams  advancing: Fairfield (0%)
Lowest nonzero percentage of teams advancing: Montgomery (19%)


Sarah
Sarah

Actual District Schedule

So it turns out that my last prediction was actually pretty close. Here's the way it turned out (winning teams are in bold):

MORNING
ODW Booker (P) v. Federal Hocking (D) 
ODW Douglass (P) v. River Valley Silver (D) 
River Valley Raider (P) v. Athens HS (D) 

AFTERNOON
Federal Hocking (P) v. ODW Douglass (D) 
Athens HS (P) v. River Valley Silver (D) 
River Valley Raider (P) v. ODW Booker (D)

Congratulations to district representatives ODW Booker, ODW Douglass, and Athens HS!

Now I have to sit around and twiddle my thumbs until they post region assignments...

New District Schedule

With the drop of Athens High's Team Green, I felt the need to create a new plausible schedule. Here it is:

MORNING
Federal Hocking HS 1 (P) v. ODWMTC Booker (D)
River Valley HS Silver (P) v. ODWMTC Douglass (D)
Athens HS Gold (P) v. River Valley HS Raider (D)

AFTERNOON
ODWMTC Booker (P) v. River Valley HS Silver (D)
ODWMTC Douglass (P) v. Athens HS Gold (D)
River Valley HS Raider (P) v. Federal Hocking HS 1 (D)


Sarah

Analysis of Athens District

After Wednesday's meeting, I sat down and worked out a possible trial schedule. I determined that it is possible for the no team to play another team from the same school. Since they try to avoid that, and since it is possible to avoid it, I don't think we will have to play each other. 
Because of the uneven number of teams, one team will have to do concurrent trials. However, we don't have to worry about it since we don't have enough people on either team to do two trials at once. In my proposed schedule, I used Federal Hocking as the concurrent team since they have only one team and are thus most likely to have a roster of at least 10.
(Drum roll please...) Here's my possible trial schedule for districts.

MORNING TRIALS
Athens HS Green (P) vs. River Valley HS Silver (D)

ODWMTC Douglass (P) vs. Federal Hocking HS 1 (D)

Federal Hocking HS 1 (P) vs. River Valley HS Raider (D)
ODWMTC Booker (P) vs. Athens HS Gold (D)

AFTERNOON TRIALS
Athens HS Gold (P) vs. ODWMTC Douglass (D)
River Valley HS Silver (P) vs. ODWMTC Booker (D)
River Valley HS Raider (P) vs. Athens HS Green (D)

There you have it: not terribly pretty, but it works! There are, of course, a multitude of other ways to do it, but I wouldn't care to try to find them. It took me forever to come up with this, but I was glad to know that we don't have to play each other. Perhaps if we have two teams next year we could volunteer to travel to another district to once-for-all assure ourselves that we won't play each other.

Sarah

New Features

I've added a couple of new widgets to the blog:
1) just below the title is a brief description, including a list of team members
2) there are useful links over to the right. I recommend Office Live over Google Docs because it's easier to edit and print documents from it, but it's sometimes fickle and does require Windows.
3) there's more information about the people our team was named after in the other link collection. Enjoy.
4) There's a list of scheduled meetings. Once we schedule some more, I'll post them there.


Enjoy the links, but go work on your assignments!
Sarah

Stardate 01111010.44

Analysis of Districts Data

Data

Districts: 30

Teams: 361

Schools: 184

Maximum number of students involved (361 teams @ 11 students/team): 3971

Minimum number of students involved (361 teams @ 5 students/team): 1805

Maximum number of teams at regionals (if each team that wins a trial wins two trials): 180

Analysis

Average number of teams per district: 12.03

   Most teams in a district: 46 (Hamilton)

   Fewest teams in a district: 4 (Putnam)

Average number of schools per district: 6.13

   Most schools in a district: 21 (Hamilton)

   Fewest schools in a district: 2 (Medina, Delaware)

Average number of teams per school: 1.96

   Most teams per school in a district: 4 (Delaware)

   Fewest teams per school in a district: 1.33 (Putnam)