IDEA News July 30 2008

From Arminda Lathrop:

IDEA Network News
July 30th, 2008

Dear INN Readers, The 14th Annual IDEA Youth Forum is underway in Smolyan, Bulgaria. The Karl Popper Debate Championship is over; the Mixed Teams Tournament will begin soon! To see the latest from the Youth Forum, you can visit the IDEA Blog and also watch live coverage on IDEA's new blip.tv channel. Tune in for the latest IDEA news! Cheers, Arminda



IDEA Announces Open Registration for TPS 2008
You Can Register Your School Now!
The 2008-09 TPS Global Debates campaign will run from October 1st-31st fall of 2008 and March 1st-31st fall of 2009! The topic for fall is: "The world should adopt our plan to significantly combat climate change." You can register to participate in the Global Debates now at www.thepeoplespeak.org/register and begin planning your debate and activities. For the 2007-08 Global Debates, 16 schools won a trip to the UNF Youth Leadership Summit in New York City. Begin preparing now to win a trip for a team from your school to the 2009 UNF Youth Leadership Summit! Debate resources will be posted soon at www.thepeoplespeak.org. IDEA's BP Track at the Youth Forum
IDEA Introduces a new Forum Track for University Students IDEA is pleased to introduce the BP track to the Youth Forum. As BP debating gains popularity in Europe (indeed, the next two World Universities Debating Championships will be held in Ireland and Turkey), IDEA believes that the BP track at this year's Youth Forum will be beneficial for those students finishing secondary school and moving on to a university. This year's BP track is taught by Professor Steve Johnson from University of Alaska, Logan Balavijendran, and Christopher Richter. To learn more about this track, visit www.idebate.org/ideaforum SYDHR Youth Forum to Be Held in August
IDEA, ACCD, and Willamette University Partner For the past year, IDEA, Willamette University and Association for Creative Communication and Debate (ACCD) have partnered on the Serbia Youth Debate Human Rights (SYDHR) Project. As part of this project, ACCD has conducted human rights and debate workshops, run debate tournaments, and held teacher and coach trainings throughout Serbia. The project will continue August 16th-23rd with the SYHDR Regional Youth Forum, to be held in Mataruska Banja, Serbia. Students and teachers from Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Kosovo will attend the week-long event, which will include human rights, leadership, and debate training along with a final debate tournament. For more information, visit www.idebate.org/sydhr.

WUPID Registration Open

From Muhammad Yunus:

Dear All,
Just a quick reminder: Registration for CIMB WUPID 2008 has opened (last Monday, 28 July 2008).
All registrations will run online: (1) email, (2) blogand, (3) Facebook. Just leave your full name, institution'

s name and email address. You will be contacted via email within 24 hours.
Info regarding the entire registration procedure can be read here. Or simply keep on scrolling down.
If anyone require further info regarding the championship, feel free to email me at yunus@hngsc.comor mlysn@hngsc.comand we will get back to you within 24 hours.
Cheers!
Muhammad Yunus
Operations Director
H&G Strategic Communications
( organizers of CIMB WUPID 2008 )
----------------------------------------------------------
The team cap is 60 teams while the institutional cap is 2 teams (n-1 rule applies). Registration closes on the 28th of November 2008.
REGISTRATION FOR INVITED UNIVERSITIES
To find out whether your respective institution is invited or not, kindly visit the team page here.
The protected registration period for invited institutions (only) opens on the 28th of July 2008 to the 26h of September 2008. During this period, invited institutions would have to confirm their participation by sending us their interest via email to yunus@hngsc.comor by simply leaving your name, institution name, email address in the comment space below.
You will then be contacted by any member of our organizing committee within 24 hours and receive a registration e-parcel for your perusal. Confirmation of your participation is when you submit the completed registration form (which will be in the e-parcel) to yunus@hngsc.com
Please be reminded that there is NO registration fee whatsoever. Just get yourself to the hotel on your own (we do not provide pick-up services) to verify your details, get the keys to your room(s) and relax.

Institutions that are not in the invited list (not the top 30 debating institutions), are still allowed to express their interest but will be placed in the waiting list until the registration is opened to all other universities.
REGISTRATION FOR OTHER UNIVERSITIES
Interested institutions that are not in the invited list (not the top 30 debating institutions), can start registering by securing themselves a spot at the waiting list by the 28th of July 2008. To do so, contact me at yunus@hngsc.comor leave your name, institutions name and email address in the comment space below.
The registration will only be opened when the protected period of registration for invited universities is expired (26th September 2008 ) and there are more available spaces left to be filled.
Institution(s) in the waiting list will be contacted on the 26th of September 2008 and will receive a registration e-parcel for their perusal. Confirmation of your institution's participation is when you submit the completed registration form (which will be in the e-parcel) to yunus@hngsc.com
Please be notified that there is a fee of MYR370-00 (UDS100) PER TEAM for the participation of other universities**.
REGISTRATION FOR OBSERVERS / INDEPENDENT ADJUDICATORS
Independent adjudicators = judges that are not affiliated to any tertiary education institution.
There will be a minimum fee of MYR370-00 (USD100-00) to any interested observer / independent adjudicator interested in being part of the event. Each participant will receive a tag that entitles them to all social functions during CIMB WUPID, selected number of meals and accommodaton (5 nights) at Impiana KLCC Hotel & Spa.
To register, drop an email to yunus@hngsc.comor leave your name and email address in the comment space below.

IMPORTANT NOTES
Registration can also be made via Facebook. By leaving your name, institution's name and email address on the wall. Click hereto go to the CIMB WUPID 2008 Facebook page.
*If you have any enquiries regarding registration, please do not hesitate to email Yunus at yunus@hngsc.com or go to the FAQ page and drop a question by clicking here. He will get back to you as soon as he can.
**Subjected to teams from Asia Pacific ONLY. No registration fee policy applies to teams from Europe, Middle East, Africa and America.

2008 World Schools in Washington to be Biggest Ever

I had a meeting this last weekend with Phyllis Hirth, WSDC Washington convenor, about the upcoming tournament. I have agreed to become the Director of Operations to help Phyllis. She will need some help as this looks to be the biggest WSDC ever, with 41 countries slated to compete.

More news coming soon, but here is the list:

NATIONS AT WORLD SCHOOLS DEBATING CHAMPIONSHIP IN WASHINGTON, DC SEPTEMBER 2008

Argentina
Australia
Barbados
Bangladesh
Bermuda
Botswana
Canada
Czech Republic
England
Estonia
Germany
Greece
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Israel
Ireland
Japan
Kuwait
Lithuania
Mexico
Mongolia
Montenegro
Namibia
Netherlands
New Zealand
Pakistan
Peru
Philippines
Qatar
Romania
Scotland
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Sri Lanka
South Africa
South Korea
Wales
United States
Zimbabwe

whereIstand.com Invites Debate on the Web

From http://whereistand.com/

About whereIstand.com
whereIstand.com is a Web 2.0, social networking community that lets members define who they are by their opinions. Members can take a stand on issues important to them, compare themselves with people in their network, or with people they are considering adding to their network. They can see and comment on the latest opinions of their contacts - as other networks let them comment on the latest pictures.

whereIstand.com's mission is to present everyone's opinion on any issue and in any language from user-generated and verified content.

Searching the Web for opinions (i.e., searches that include both a person or organization and a subject) or comparisons (e.g., "mccain politics") often return whereIstand.com as the top result or among the top results - in many diverse topics (e.g., "jordan athletes overpaid", "angelina jolie writers guild"). This continuously drives new traffic to the site because of the unique content and structure.

Anyone interested in finding the opinions of anyone else, expressing his own opinions, comparing his opinions to friends or public figures, or searching the Internet by opinion - regardless of demographics or interests, and across language barriers - is a candidate to use whereIstand.com.

Based in New York City, whereIstand.com recently launched in beta. Today on whereIstand.com, there are over 54,000 opinions of members and public figures posted on 1,100 issues, which are currently available in Arabic, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Hebrew.

Houston Youth Study Debating as New Urban Debate League Looms

Renaul Long, 14, runs through his impromptu presentation.

From http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5909409.html

July 26, 2008, 9:33PM
Urban debaters finding their voice
A Houston educator helps to lead inner-city youths in the art of oratory
By JEMIMAH NOONOO
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Prairie View debate camp
The four teens sat in pairs on each side of the podium Saturday. All feverishly took notes, their faces a mixture of concentration and anguish. The audience in the packed classroom watched silently.

"Death is one penalty which makes error irreversible," said 14-year-old Jakira Lewis, stating her contention against the death penalty. "And the chance of error is inescapable when based on human judgment."

Her opponent, Chandra Jones, 17, saw things differently.

"Prison compared to death?" Jones asked, pausing for emphasis. "That is heaven compared to hell."

The debaters were among 20 black youths who participated in a weeklong debate camp that ended Saturday at Prairie View A&M University. Most came from Houston's poorest neighborhoods and had earned scholarships to participate. All were trying parliamentary debate for the first time.

Organized by Houstonian Rodney Mays, the Urban Debate Camp was inspired by the film The Great Debaters.

In the movie, Wiley College's black debate team overcomes racism and lack of opportunity in the Jim Crow South to defeat Harvard.

While today's high schools devote more resources to teaching core subjects such as reading, math and science, extracurricular programs on many campuses have suffered.

But in a movement that is gaining traction, educators are bringing debate to inner-city youths across the country, with the hope of getting young people engaged in public policy and forming critical-thinking skills.

The Houston school board this year set aside $151,000 to create the Houston Urban Debate League. The National Association for Urban Debate Leagues and the Houston league's advisory board donated an additional $200,000. Fifteen schools have committed to the program.

The league will hold a free weeklong workshop at the University of Houston in August and six tournaments during the school year.

Urban debaters tend to have higher grade-point averages, graduate on time and perform better on reading tests, according to the national association.

The Atlanta chapter documented a 50 percent reduction in disciplinary referrals for at-risk middle students, and one study found that urban debaters are less likely to get pregnant or engage in alcohol or drug use.

But a lack of funding hampers access for many urban youths, leaving high school debate tournaments dominated by mostly suburban and private schools.

Domain of the wealthy

High school and college debate flourished throughout Houston in the 1970s, and historically black schools such as Yates High had strong debate teams. But by the early 1980s, the popularity of debate in the inner city began declining nationwide.
Some educators have cited a lack of federal and state funding for extracurricular programs; others have blamed a mandated testing requirement for graduation that forced teachers to relegate speech and debate to the back burner.

High school debate has become largely the domain of wealthy parents and well-funded suburban school districts, said Michael Fain, director of University Interscholastic League activities for the Houston Independent School District.

Those groups are able to send youths to private debate camps, some of which can last as long as three weeks and cost up to $5,000 per student. In contrast, Mays' weeklong Urban Debate Camp costs $450.

Mays, a former Texas Southern University debater who has taught for HISD, picked up the costs along with business partner Steve Phelan.

Of the 256 Texas students in divisions 4A and 5A who competed in state-level debate competitions last year, Fain estimated about 15 were black.

Camper Britney Merritte-Walker, 17, a state finalist last year in dramatic interpretation at the Texas Forensic Association, noticed that the majority of people who participated in the debate contests didn't look like her.

"I guess I did, in a way, think it was for white people," said Merritte-Walker, a student at Nimitz High School in Aldine.

Lewis, the death penalty opponent last week, participated in speech contests last year while attending Olle Middle School in Southwest Houston. She recalled a competition between her school's speech team and students from the suburbs.

Lewis' team wore the same uniform during the entire competition, she said, while their suburban counterparts changed into elaborate costumes for the humor and acting contests. Lewis said some of her friends were intimidated. But the tactic didn't faze her.

"They're not the only ones who can dress up and speak well," said Lewis, now an incoming freshman at Hastings Ninth Grade Center.

Building confidence

Mays first hosted a weeklong debate camp last summer in his Third Ward clothing store. Five students attended.
At last week's camp, Mays sometimes acted like a strict parent. "It's time for bed," he'd say.

In other instances, he was a comedian: Campers who didn't obey the rules, he often said, would be "shipped back to Houston with a magazine and an apple so they wouldn't be bored on the ride."

He grilled the students about current events — Who is your councilman? State representative? What about speaker of the House?

Some of his questions were met with silence.

"Some people like to do teenage stuff, like watch Baldwin Hills and music videos. ... They might glance at something in the newspaper, but they don't watch the news," one student said, seeking to explain the silence.

"That's what debate brings us out of," Mays countered. "It's all right to talk about videos, but you need to know current events."

As students learned the jargon of parliamentary debate, verbal blunders were inevitable.

During a practice round, one 17-year-old began by thanking the "peanut judges" instead of the peanut gallery. One young man asked midway through a debate which side he was arguing.

The goofs provoked animated reactions from the teen campers, prompting Mays to rap his knuckles against the desk for order.

As the debaters gained confidence, some let their personalities shine.

Aspiring actor Ausar Moore, a student at Lamar Consolidated High School, shifted his weight from side to side as if in a boxing ring before approaching the podium.

During one practice round in the classroom, Lewis lost her train of thought while rebutting an argument.

"Point of information," an opponent shouted, hoping to capitalize on her silence.

"Denied," Lewis snapped, with an animated roll of her neck. "You're definitely denied."

Ready for next year

After camp ended Saturday, one teen asked Mays which side had won the death penalty debate.
Both sides, May said, had presented convincing arguments. He and his three assistants had decided that the debate was a draw.

That didn't matter to many of the campers. They triumphed, the teens said, by overcoming their fears of public speaking and proving to themselves that they, too, as black urban youths, can debate.

"I'm going to debate next year," said Merritte-Walker. "I can do it. I can do anything."

Debate Coach Teaches About "Desire" in the Classroom

Graduate teaching assistant and assistant debate coach Donald Peters, presenting his argument in favor of desire in a classroom. Peters believes that all college campuses, including WSU, suffer from a lack of desire between their teachers and students.

From http://media.www.thesouthendnews.com/media/storage/paper1243/news/2008/06/25/Features/Managing.Desire-3385240.shtml

Managing Desire

Teaching assistant encourages classroom relationships but also encourages caution

By: Isaac Elster

Posted: 6/25/08

Some students and teachers may consider desire in the classroom to be a taboo issue, but one graduate teaching assistant is attempting to change that. Donny Peters, also an assistant debate coach, presented "Proceed with Caution: Managing Desire in the Classroom" on Wednesday, June 18 as part of the Gender & Sexuality Resource Community's Summer Seminar Series.

Peters summarized several of the theories of desire from noted doctors. These doctors included Sigmund Freud (who defined desire as a primal instinct), Jacques Lacan (who suggested that desire existed through the feeling of lack that every human experiences), Michel Foucault (who stated that desire is directly related to bodily pleasure) and Elizabeth Grosz (who described desire as a force of positive production). Peters also summarized the perspectives of feminists who saw sex as a tool of empowerment and feminists who saw sex as a tool of enslavement, and then he revealed how those viewpoints related to desire.

Peters continued by detailing the dangers of desire in the classroom, highlighting sexual harassment.

"Although we should think about the idea of desire in the classroom, we also need to keep in mind there are a lot of problems with it as well," Peters said.

Peters said that sexual harassment can create a hostile environment for both the teacher and the student, depending on who initiates the unwelcome action.

Peters encouraged desire in all forms for the classroom, though on a limited scale. Peters showed a clip from the comedy "Back to School," in which a female professor recited a poem to her class, exciting one of her students (played by Rodney Dangerfield).

"She's not trying to hit on the students," Peter said. "She figured that she could use her sexuality in a way to spark interest in a poem that they might not be interested in…and obviously with Rodney Dangerfield's character, it worked."

Peters stressed that there were other types of desires, not just those of a sexual nature. These included the desire of some students to impress their professors with their schoolwork and the desire of some teachers to excite their favorite pupils by being energetic.

Peters believed that all college campuses, including WSU, have suffered from a lack of desire.

"I feel from my undergraduate experiences and the experiences I have heard from other undergraduates that the learning environment at many universities fall prey to Freire's notion of the banking model of education," Peters said. "This is an environment where the teacher is expected to fill the students with knowledge and the student is passively involved, simply obtaining information.

"Education can be one of the most enjoyable aspects of our lives, but I feel at times we simply go through the motions so we can get to some end goal without appreciating our time learning."

Peters believes that the WSU community can benefit from changing its perspective on education "from something that is based on an end goal."

"Instead, we should see education and the classroom as more relational," Peters said, stressing that desire is "something we can share with each other to help develop our knowledge base and become better citizens."

Peters first became interested in desire during his enrollment in a Communication Studies class that encouraged him to think critically about educational issues. Two of these educational issues were pedagogy-the act of educating-and desire.

"When I researched pedagogy and desire, I found interesting literature involving the nature of desire within the classroom," Peters said. "This literature discussed both the benefits and pitfalls of desire."

Peters had already given a presentation on desire for that class when he was directed to the Summer Series by one of his former professors, who suggested that he present a seminar on an issue in which he was greatly interested. Peters decided to present another seminar about desire, and he found encouragement from members of the GSRC.

One of those members was Philip McDonald, the assistant director of the organization and one of the organizers of the Summer Series. McDonald believed that desire in school is a pertinent issue on all college campuses. He also agreed with Peters' assertion that desire between students and teachers takes many forms, not just one that is sexual in nature.

"The issue of desire is no more emphasized at WSU than at any other university," McDonald said. "Mr. Peters' presentation, however, was a unique asset to the campus community in that it could serve as a metacognitive prompt for students and faculty to reflect upon their own attitudes and personal interactions."

McDonald believes that upon further reflection, there could be a reduction in incidents of misconduct between teachers and students, and also more self-actualization being achieved by both parties.

Debate a Central Part of Political Simulation

From http://blogs.bftf.org/blog/2008/07/25/multi-media-political-debate-outstanding/

The Ben Franklin Diplomats continued their week of political simulation today with a public debate designed to educate voters in advance of the important vote to determine Loudenia’s Leader of Parliament. Five candidates, each representing one of Loudenia’s major political parties gave speeches and answered questions during the debate, hosted by Loudenia Crier Editor-in-chief Flandra Syla.

The debate provided a fascinating exercise in multimedia “convergence,” with real-time polling, live blogging, and YouTube video questions submitted by Loudenian citizens prior to the event. The rich media environment yielded several intriguing twists. For example, the final straw poll showed LFTP candidate Uche Esonu leading the field with 43% of the vote, but in a result that illustrated the fickle nature of political polls, Ms. Esonu was ultimately bested in a second-ballot runoff by LFD candidate Alexandrea Datii. Ms. Datii will preside over sessions of parliament scheduled for next Monday and Tuesday, when Loudenia’s assembly will consider a slate of legislation currently being refined in parliamentary committees.

Debate participants received high marks from citizens for their keen questions, concise and informative answers, as well as for keeping their poise in the face of distractions. Early in the debate, a group of demonstrators stormed the stage to protest “junk media” coverage of political affairs in the country. In fact, the performance of Loudenia’s main news outlet, LC Media, has stirred controversia in the fictitious country, with discontent even spawning Loudenian Times a maverick, underground publication carrying sharp critiques and independent news coverage and analysis.

This entry was written by gordon and posted on July 25, 2008 at 7:53 pm and filed under Events, Classes. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

NDCA Leads National Effort to Share Topic Evidence

From Tara Tate:

Greetings, debate coaches!

I just wanted to update everyone about the progress of our Open Access Evidence Project.  We will be unveiling the project in a few weeks after the conclusion of the second session institutes.  We are excited to report some improvements!


1 - Expanded file base - we have more institutes participating this year, including a vast increase in LD institutes.  We are thrilled that we will exceed the number of files from last year - we are looking at numbers around 1250+.


2 - Ease of site navigation - a huge thanks to Mike Bietz!  We will have one simple url where all of the files can be accessed.  The files will be categorized by institute as well as argument.  So, if you want all of Michigan State's files, you can click on the Spartan Debate Institute link.  If you want all of the States CP/Federalism files, you can click on that link and find files from Michigan, Northwestern, UNT, UTD, etc. pertaining to that specific argument. This will make accessing the files so much easier.


There will also be an RSS feed that you or your students can opt in if you want updates sent to your email when new files are posted.


3 - No password needed...one simple url to hundreds of files.  

Here are the institutes that are participating.  If your institute is completed and you want to send me your files, please do so.  If you are an institute director and you want to participate, please let me know.  I hope I have not forgotten anyone!


Michigan State University - Spartan Debate Institute (policy)

University of North Texas - Mean Green Workshops (policy and LD)

Victory Briefs (Lincoln-Douglas)

Emory National Debate Institute (policy)

University of Michigan - 7 weeks, MNDI and Classic (policy)

Whitman National Debate Institute (policy and LD)

University of Iowa (policy and LD)

Northwestern University - Zarefsky Scholars (policy)

Miami University - Redhawk and Scholars (policy)

Dartmouth College - Dartmouth Debate Institutes and Dartmouth Juniors Workshop (policy)

Samford Debate Institute (policy and LD)

Stanford National Forensic Institute (LD)

University of Missouri-Kansas City - SDI (policy)

Colloquium for Academic Debate (LD)

University of Richmond National Debate Institute (policy and LD)

University of California - Berkeley National Debate Institute (policy)

University of Texas National Institute for Forensics (policy and LD)

Baylor Debate Institute (policy)

Comet Debate Institute - University of Texas-Dallas (policy)


Hope you are having a safe and restful summer!


Best,
Tara L. Tate
Director of Debate, Glenbrook South (IL)
President, National Debate Coaches Association
Co-director, The 2007 Glenbrooks
4000 West Lake Avenue
Glenview, IL 60026

(847) 486-4746

South Asian Students at World Debate Institute Do Television

Islamophobia program

The US Department of State, the Study United States Institute and the World Debate Institute at the University of Vermont have been working with 18 students from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan on debating skills and public communication this last week.

On Thursday afternoon the students composed, practiced, arranged and taped three television discussion programs for broadcast in Vermont and to offer online. The topics of the discussions were:

• Islamophobia
• Global Food Crisis
• World War Three Happening Now

All three can be seen starting later today at http://flashpointtv.blogspot.com/

The first of the three programs is linked above.

Dialogue 08 Workshop Concludes in Serbia

An affiliate of the World Debate Institute, WDI faculty David Register and Steve Llano were faculty there. Here is Steve's report.

From http://progymna.blogspot.com/2008/07/belgrade-serbia-dialogue-08.html

Belgrade, Serbia - Dialogue 08

We've just completed the week or so long workshop in World's debate here in Belgrade, and I must say that I was very impressed with the whole event.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but if I did have any expectations, they would have been crushed by the amazing quality of the debates, the students, the food, the entertainment, and the things that I've learned.

I highly recommend for anyone interested in a very good summer opportunity to improve your debate skills to plan to attend it next year.

The tournament was fantastic. Twelve teams participated, and the levels were mixed. Some were very raw beginners, and some were well-seasoned teams. The tournament was highly competitive, and the rounds I watched were quite good.

I didn't get to watch all of the debates because my stomach was having its own debate over something that I ate, but I'm much better now.

I should post a video of the finals to google video sometime soon, and after I complete the list of motions, I'll post that as well. For now, a bit of time to catch up on some correspondence and reading the news - no matter where you are the day after a tournament is one that is best spent in decompression!

I return to the U.S. on Saturday, and back to Vermont on Sunday for the World's Workshop at the World Debate Institute. I'm looking forward to seeing what the students are like.

IDEA Youth Forum Begins

I just checked the video page to embed one and it says the video is no longer available. Check back, I am sure new videos will appear.

From Alex Dukalskis:

The Youth Forum begins this morning and there are lots of ways that we'll be keeping in touch with you:

1) The blog. We'll post photos, results, videos, and other things on http://idebate.blogspot.com

2) IDEA Radio. From www.idebate.org you can access IDEA Radio - we'll be putting audio debates from this year's Forum up as they happen.

3) IDEA YouTube. Videos of debates will be up just as soon as we can upload them to YouTube. You can find our group on YouTube here: http://kr.youtube.com/user/idebate

Check back to find out what we're up to.

Alex.

Alex Dukalskis
IDEA Program Coordinator
adukalskis@idebate.org
www.idebate.org
phone from Korea: 02.2648.7611
phone from outside Korea: (+82) 2.2648.7611

South Africa Debate Emphasizes Multilingualism

From http://www.thetimes.co.za/Entertainment/Article.aspx?id=807582

English must not stifle 10 other tongues
Published:Jul 24, 2008

Pandor calls for promotion of all SA’s languages, writes Andrea Hart

Languages die without use; languages can disappear,” said Minister of Education Naledi Pandor , as she spoke to hundreds of pupils and teachers at the second National Schools’ Language Festival.
Pandor was the keynote speaker earlier this month at the event which honoured more than 200 students around the country for their skills in poetry and debating. The two-day festival was held in Pretoria.
With young people from different provinces, the festival reflected South Africa’s language diversity .
Kaya FM’ s talk-show host Masechaba Moshoeshoe was the master of ceremonies . Like the other speakers, Moshoeshoe shared intimate moments of growing up in a household where code- switching (using more than one language) was common and bonds were strengthened through understanding languages.
For students, it was a time to showcase how South Africa’s future is keeping the nation’s 11 languages alive.
“We as pupils regard the language festival as a great opportunity to give the outside world a glimpse of the exciting and enriching activities that are happening in our classrooms,” said Gary Witbooi, a Paarl Boys High School student who spoke on behalf of all pupils at the festival.
“Our poetry speaks of our personal hurts, but most of all of the joys that we as youngsters experience in our daily lives,” he said.
For Witbooi’s fellow pupils , their poems reaffirmed both their academic skills and their dreams.
“My parents always tell me that I must focus on education and achieve my goals — and I want to achieve my goals,” said Emmanuel Ngcobo, a 13- year-old pupil from KwaZulu- Natal.
“My ultimate goal is to be the president of South Africa,” said Ngcobo, who got an award in the Dramatised Poetry category.
Preparation for the event involved intense dedication and practice by both the pupils and their teachers.
“Language is a tricky issue and all the students are from a disadvantaged background, so to be able to deliver a speech to more than 200 students and to be applauded did wonders for their abilities of public speaking,” said Warwick Brown, a teacher and debate coach for Willowmoore High School in Gauteng.
According to Brown, each debate team had two weeks to review Pandor’s 2008 speech and select provincial-specific issues for debate.
“They gained consciousness from the debates .”
Learning multiple languages and then developing them through speech has positive, long-lasting outcomes for children, according to linguistic studies.
“There’s huge advantages to multilingualism: it helps cognitive development, it creates a certain flexibility and biculturalism,” said Ana Deumert, an associate professor in social linguistics at the University of Cape Town .
For the pupils , the sharing of cultural experiences during the festival helped their learning .
“The friends that they made goes beyond the festival; there was a cross-pollination among various provinces, and they all promised to keep into contact with one another,” said Michele Thackwray, who co- ordinated the event.
But the English language’s dominance can sometimes threaten the indigenous languages.
“Prestige pushes people to aspire speaking the language, and can sometimes move people away from speaking their heritage language,” said Deumert, referring to the appeal of English over indigenous languages .
Though the event largely focused on the pupil s’ achievements in multi-lingualism, it also looked at the dangers of multilingual extinction in South Africa.
Pandor told the audience to be champions of all of South Africa’s languages.
“ If you only learned English, then you aren’t educated enough. In my opinion you are very disadvantaged,” she said.
“In the future let’s encourage multi-lingual presentations so that all of our languages enjoy a presence in our festival, ” she concluded.

Future South Asian Leaders Get WDI Debate Training

Eighteen students from South Asia (Pakistan, India and Bangladesh) are attending a one-week session at the World Debate Institute at the University of Vermont as part of a US Department of State month-long program centering an the Study of US Institutions (SUSI for short).

The debate session involves public speaking training, argumentation and refutation drills, debating in the WUDC format and is then finished as students tape three television programs of discussions they have researched and implemented on selected topics. The taping will be Thursday, and the topics are: Islamophobia, 21st Century as a New Age of Conflict and the Crisis of Rising Food Prices.

The program is taught by Alfred Snider of Vermont and Rhydian Morgan of the UK. "These students are immensely talented," said Snider, "and I think it is a great idea to also help them sharpen their oral communication and critical thinking skills."

In other parts of the program students learned about US political institutions, worked with community groups to develop an appreciation for service learning, engaged in sporting events designed for the disabled, attended fireworks and a small-town 4th of July parade and will be visiting Boston and Washington DC.

For more WDI news go to http://worlddebateinstitute.blogspot.com/

World Schools Workshop Concludes at World Debate Institute

Top four speakers: Becker, Lee, Hayes and Fuentes

The World Schools Debate workshop at the World Debate Institute at the University of Vermont came to a close on Monday and students departed on Tuesday. The session ended with a tournament, a final round, speaker awards and certificates presented to the attendees. The final night involved dinner downtown and a supervised taste of Burlington night life.

Students and faculty from six nations (Korea, Slovakia, Mexico, UK, Slovenia & USA) made the two week session intense from a debating perspective but also gave people an opportunity to make international contacts and learn from each other.

The final round was won by the team called "Slomerica" consisting of Jacob Klein, Sebastian Becker and Katarina Krasulova, although Katarina had to catch her plane for Europe and missed the final round itself. They triumphed in a 3-2 decision over the team called "Electric Pleasure Trio" consisting of In Hyok Lee, Andrew Hayes and Willis Danielson.

The top four speakers, pictured above, were:

1. Andrew Hayes, USA
2. In Hyok Lee, Korea
3. Aurea Fuentes, Mexico
4. Sebastian Becker, USA

The workshop was directed by Bojana Skrt of Slovenia, with the assistance of Rhydian Morgan of the UK. Other faculty involved were Jackie Massey of Oklahoma, Alfred Snider of Vermont and Mandy Frank of Vermont.

For more WDI news go to http://worlddebateinstitute.blogspot.com/

Doha Debates Creating New Debate Traditions

This is not a new piece but it is a good story about the events and experiences of participating. This is a major debating initiative and the sponsors should be proud of what they have accomplished. For those of you who have never seen this program, it is an excellent experience.

The debate that is discussed here can be seen at
http://clients.mediaondemand.net/thedohadebates/index.aspx?sessionid=33&bandwidth=hi

Thanks to Juan Cole of the Global Americana Institute for this piece.

From http://www.juancole.com/2008/05/cole-bbc-doha-debates.html

Thursday, May 15, 2008
Cole & the BBC Doha Debates

As I was setting off for some conferences in the UK last April, I got an invitation from Tim Sebastian to come participate in the Doha Debates on April 29. Sebastian for years ran a hard hitting interview program on the BBC. More recently, he has hosted the Doha Debates in Qatar. The debates are sponsored jointly by BBC World, which carries them the following weekend, and by the Qatar Foundation.

The Doha Debates have a local audience and a big student following. They also sponsor a Qatari student debating team.

Among the aims of the enterprise is to foster a tradition of Oxford-style debating in the Gulf and the Arab world. Given that Qatar is emerging as a major educational hub in the region, with its innovative Education City Complex the Doha Debates have taken on an important pedagogical role.

The question put to us was whether Sunni-Shiite fighting had damaged the reputation of Islam as a religion of peace. I have to say that I did not particularly like the question, which seemed to me to lack analytical rigor. It did not specify when and where, nor the audience for Islam's reputation, and the last part begged a question. I think the way it was posed, as a matter of the reputation of Islam, tended to make a Muslim audience defensive and concerned to defend the honor of their faith. That is, if the point was to foster reasoned, dispassionate debate, then this question was ill suited to the purpose in the context of an Arab Muslim audience.

My fellow debaters were Gen. Ali Shukri of Jordan, a former adviser to the late King Hussein (who argued for the motion, as did I); Hisham Hellyer, a UK Muslim intellectual; and Imam Hassan Qazwini, who runs an impressive Shiite mosque in Deaborn, Michigan and who is originally from Karbala in Iraq. I knew Hillyer and Imam Qazwini and we had usually been on the same side in debates about Islam, so it was a little odd to be ranged against one another.

I arrived in Doha from London on the evening of the 28th of April.

By the time I got settled in the hotel, it was late. I asked the concierge about taking a walk, and he recommended the Corniche, which was near the hotel. So I walked along the seaside (Qatar is a peninsula sticking up into the Persian Gulf). There were others out, including families. There was a little kiosk serving coffee and ice cream, and people seemed to be drinking coffee at midnight.

The population is polyglot, so you could see Qataris, Egyptians, Filipinos, Pakistanis, Indians, Nepalis, Sri Lankans, Chinese, etc. Qatar's population is officially about one million, but it may be half again that in reality. There are differing estimations of the number of native citizens, usually put at 150,000. The rest are guest workers, most on 2-year renewable visas. Only 20 percent of the guest workers are Arabs. Qatar may have six or seven million people in a decade or two, raising questions about its ultimate identity, since a large part of the population seems likely to be non-Muslims from the Indian Ocean region.

Qatar is the only other Wahhabi state besides Saudi Arabia, but its tone is very different. One Qatari friend told me it was the difference between Wahhabism of the sea and Wahhabism of the desert. Qatari merchants plied dhows in the old days to India and were always more cosmopolitan. Although the Sunni mosques, which are licensed by the Pious Endowments ministry, are all of the conservative Hanbali school, the government is now allowing a Catholic church to be built. (Not something you'd see in Saudi Arabia). Although my hotel was thankfully quiet, apparently some have night clubs for the expatriates, and serve alcohol. Again, not a Wahhabi set of policies. And, Sheikh Hamad Al Thani, the current emir, has an interest in promoting open intellectual exchange; hence Aljazeera and the Doha Debates. In these ways, Qatar is starting to resemble the United Arab Emirates to the south more than it does Riyadh.

On Tuesday morning, Mr. Sebastian met with Gen. Shukri and myself to discuss the mechanics of the debate and strategy. They stressed that the opening statement is key to persuading people. Gen. Shukri and I had lunch later on to talk more about what kinds of arguments and anecdotes might be persuasive.

Despite the draw for me of the hotel beach, I dutifully stayed in my room that afternoon working on my opening statement and my main arguments.

I thought this statement by former Senate majority leader Trent Lott pretty persuasive that the Sunni-Shiite strife has damaged Islam's image. Alas, as things transpired it became clear to me that most of the studio audience had no idea who Trent Lott was and so could not gauge the significance of the quote.

The debate itself, you can see at the link above. It was collegial and maybe suffered from us all liking each other too much.

I got both bouquets and brickbats from the studio audience, but it seemed clear to me that for some of them, the way the question was phrased put them on the defensive.

It was a great experience, and I greatly enjoyed the back and forth with the other debaters and with the audience. Mr. Sebastian took us out for a nice dinner afterwards (Italian), and the hosting throughout the trip was among the best I've ever experienced.

The debates were broadcast on BBC World that weekend. Unfortunately I don't think you can get it in the United States. My DISH network just gives me this awful "BBC America" which replicates in a British accent the worst features of American television. Apparently we are not considered grown up enough for real news.

On Wednesday I went to Aljazeera to do some interviewing,

which ended up as a Salon article. The Doha Debates staff very kindly set up those interviews.

On Thursday and Friday I was shown around Education City and then hooked up with old friends, who showed me around the rest of the city, which has grown enormously since I was last there in 1988.

Not everything has changed. The Emir has tried to preserve the old souq or traditional market.

And a good time was had by all!

Update on Chesterton Reunion

It is a huge event and the kind of thing many, many debate programs should organize.

From http://www.post-trib.com/news/1065549,chdebate.article

Debate team alumni reunite
(http://www.post-trib.com/news/1065549,chdebate.article)
July 21, 2008

BY CHARLES M. BARTHOLOMEW Post-Tribune correspondent

CHESTERTON -- With an estimated 400 teachers, attorneys, information technicians, and housewives coming home from the four corners of the nation, the 40th anniversary of the Chesterton High School Speech and Debate Program was much more than just a reunion.

To put together the invitation list of over 1,330 alumni who had participated in the championship-caliber program since it began in 1967-68, organizers had to assemble a history that was spread in disconnected pieces among file cards, notebooks, spreadsheets, and computer disks.

"We had an absurdly short period of time," said 1988 graduate Jeff Lanter, an info tech professional from Terre Haute who chaired the reunion's Detective Committee.

Other groups worked on publications, T-shirts, decorations, and gifts for the three-day series of events that brought the graduates to Chesterton High School, Trinity Hall at St. Patrick's Church, and Coffee Creek Center, according to Cassie Dommer Radabaugh, Class of 1993, former speech team member and now a pre-school teacher and homemaker in Fishers, Ind.

"These kids became successful professionals in careers where they have to interact with people, making use of what they learned," Lanter said.

At the Saturday open house in the school auditorium, Lanter asked attendees to tour the new facilities and review the years of team photographs and results of his committee's research into records that were fragmentary and, before 1970, nonexistent, so the exact total of program participants is not known.

At the head of the guest list was Glen Percifeld, now a Munster High School teacher, who founded the program in 1967 at the urging of current Duneland School Board attorney Mike Harris, according to Robert Kelly, co-director of Speech and Debate with Jim Cavallo, two of the six men who have headed the program.

"Please, if you can put names to the faces or notice any mistakes, let me know and I'll put it in the database," Lanter said.

"Holy cow! Look at that!" said Trojan alum Karen Maguire from Boston when she saw herself in the 1975 team picture. On display at the Saturday night gala in Trinity Hall were six quilts, made out of T-shirts from the summer Speech and Debate camps that students had attended in all parts of the country.

"They look awesome. It totally brings back the memories," said 1992 grad Anthony Nabham, a biotech financier from San Francisco.

The quilts were stitched together by Pauline Gotch of Chesterton, mother of graduates Mike (1988) and Paul (1992).

"What a cool idea to bring everybody back. This is a program of tradition. It's been a way for me to come back and say 'I love you' to everyone," Radabaugh said.

The Chesterton Speech and Debate Program is asking alumni to keep in touch and help with the continuing task of assembling a history at www.chsthelegacy.myevent.com

Website Remembers James Unger

James Unger passed away a little while back, and his friends and admirers have put together a website to salute his life. It is well worth a look and a read.

The website is at http://www.jimunger.org/

The pictures are excellent and the tributes given by so many debating giants are extremely interesting.

David Zarefsky wrote:

David Zarefsky (Northwestern ’68)

Jim Unger made inestimable contributions to the theory and practice of debate and I join with friends of debate everywhere in mourning his passing. It is something of an urban legend that Jim and I were hostile competitors as coaches at Georgetown and Northwestern during the 1970's. Nothing could be further from the truth. We were friends and colleagues who enjoyed each other's company and respected each other's work. The rivalry between our teams was real, but it was friendly and good-natured. I have always enjoyed pointing out that, although Jim and I had some very different theories of debate, when we judged together on panels we agreed with each other over 90 percent of the time. All of us who knew Jim are better for it. I want to extend condolences especially to his debaters who were closest to him and who feel most profoundly the sense of loss that we all share.

New South Africa University Debate Website

Now up and running at http://www.debating.org.za/

Not much there yet but the set-up looks good.

Colm Flynn said:

The South African debating website, www.debating.org.za - the online home of the South African National Debating Council - has been relaunched with a new look and a new team. The site will carry all South African debating news, as well as hosting forums and a university debating wiki for South Africa. International users, visitors and friends are welcome to join in the fun.

100,000 Japanese Middle School Students in Speech Contest

2007 Champions

From http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/culture/20080715TDY01301.htm

60th speech contest finals set for Nov. 22
The Yomiuri Shimbun

The final round of the 60th All-Japan Inter-Middle School English Oratorical Contest will be held on Nov. 22 at Yomiuri Hall in Yurakucho, Tokyo, with 27 finalists competing for the H.I.H. Prince Takamado Trophy.

The finalists will be selected from about 100,000 middle school students, competing at prefectural and regional levels.

A winner and two runners-up will be awarded high school and college scholarships.

The schools of the top three speakers also will receive a prize from IBM Japan, Ltd., and three finalists will be invited to Britain next summer by HSBC Group.

This year, more than 20 prefectures will hold a recitation division in their local rounds.

The annual contest is sponsored by The Yomiuri Shimbun, The Daily Yomiuri and the Japan National Student Association Fund. It is supported by the Foreign Ministry, the Education, Science and Technology Ministry, NHK, prefectural boards of education, prefectural associations of English-language teachers and Coca-Cola.

Further information on the event is provided on Page 18 in today's Language Connection section.

(Jul. 15, 2008)

Indiana High School Celebrates 40 Years of Debate Success

From http://www.post-trib.com/news/1062431,chdebate.article

Debate teams celebrate 40 years of excellence
(http://www.post-trib.com/news/1062431,chdebate.article)
July 18, 2008
By Diane Kubiak Post-Tribune correspondent

CHESTERTON -- Former members of Chesterton High School's speech and debate teams will celebrate 40 years of excellence this weekend in a reunion that kicks off tonight with a social hour at Trinity Hall and Banquet Center.

Alumnae have been logging in their excitement over the three-day event at www.thechslegacy.myevent.com. where they have been sharing memories of 4 a.m. bus rides, witticisms from former coach Joe Wycoff and their "before and after" pictures.

They also have been sharing their successes and linking them directly to lessons learned in the state and nationally recognized program.

"My success today as a career public school administrator is due, in no small part, to my public speaking training under Mr. (Glenn) Percifield and the confidence he gave me in my ability to persuade and dissuade based on fact," writes Jane Pruitt Wells from Maryland on the Web site.

Similar comments have come from former teammates who are now professors, lawyers, national-level consultants and retired military leaders as well as stay-at-home mothers and local community leaders.

Over the years the CHS teams have logged 22 state speech championships and 17 state debate championships. At the national level, the program has qualified 38 policy debate teams and four public forum debate teams to the the National Forensic League tournament. Individually, 38 Lincoln-Douglas and 29 Congress debaters have also qualified. The program has also sent 193 speech students to the tournament.

Those students brought back five consecutive National Forensic League team national championships, eight consecutive 400 Club (top 1 percent) titles, two National CatholicForensic League national championships and three forensic league School of Excellence Awards, the current top honor for a program.

The program also boasts nine national champions in speech and debate individual events, including four in Original Oratory.

Understandably, the theme for the weekend is "40 Years of Pride, Tradition and Excellence."

"We're expecting about 400 guests at all four activities," said current coach Jim Cavallo, who joined the staff in 1971.

While tickets are sold out for Friday's social hour and Saturday night's banquet, the public is invited to join team members for Saturday's slide show and tour of Chesterton High School which begins at noon in the school's auditorium, said Cavallo.

Former team members and their families and friends also are gathering for a picnic at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Pavilion at the Coffee Creek Center.

Cavallo said organizers have contacted 1,300 people representing all 40 years.

Debate in Indonesia Promotes Critical Thinking and Tolerance

From http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/07/18/debate-clubs-develop-critical-thinking-and-tolerance.html

Debate clubs develop critical thinking and tolerance

Jeanette Tamara , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Fri, 07/18/2008 11:17 AM | City

Whereas most teenagers might choose to gossip or hang out at malls, some high school students choose to get together for formal debates on global issues such as the environment, politics or the economy.

Natalia Rialucky, a former high school debater from Santa Ursula High School, Central Jakarta, said debating had increased her level of critical thinking and tolerance.

"Debating really fires up your thoughts and puts you in someone else's shoes," she said.

The values that are taught in debating give student debaters greater empathy and tolerance and teach them to be more open-minded, she said.

"I gained a different perspective on things from debating," said Taufik Ramadhan Indrakesuma, an Indonesian coach for the World Schools Debating Championship (WSDC).

Formal debates are a fairly new concept in Indonesia, but they have an increasing number of participants. The very first community was established among university students in 1997 and expanded to high school students in 2000.

"For high school kids, debating has become something that is kind of cool to join, which is a good incentive for students," said Sherria Ayuandini, another WSDC coach.

Indonesia's debate clubs have been taking part in the WSDC since 2001. The country's best achievement so far was to make it to the round of eight in 2004.

The Association of Critical Thinking (ACT) and the Education Ministry are now preparing the best five high school debaters to compete in this year's WSDC, where they will face competitors from more than 30 countries.

The ACT is an nonprofit organization that coaches school and university debate clubs.

The challenge that Indonesian debaters face is that the concept of formal debates is still not fully accepted here, especially in high schools.

Rivandra Royono, ACT executive director, said arguing -- the very essence of formal debates -- was not common among Indonesians, so school and university debate clubs remain exclusive.

"When you start debating, you challenge yourself a lot and many people aren't comfortable with that," Rivandra said.

Sherria said Indonesians found it hard to accept differences and still stay friends.

"It's hard for people to get that you can have an opinion and argue, and stay friends," said Sherria.

Support for debate programs in Indonesia is also lacking.

Sherria said many coaches and students complained about how hard it is to keep debating going in their schools.

"The WSDC is still not seen as being on the same level as other olympiads such as math or science," she said.

Taufik said it was really hard to get support from schools.

"There's a really big gap between the schools' attention toward other extracurricular activities and toward debating," said Taufik, who has coached debate teams at high schools such as State School No. 8 Jakarta and State School No.1 Depok.

Natalia said her school did not really think about debating much.

"It is belittled," she said.

Only after she took part in the WSDC did her school start paying attention.

Rivandra said some schools believe it is not appropriate in Indonesian culture for students to argue.

"Many teachers have protested to coaches because the students became more argumentative," Rivandra said.

Debaters use the excuse that debating is a way to study English in an effort to promote it, he said.

Debating focuses a lot on developing critical thinking. Students are expected to debate on several topics, demonstrating sophisticated arguments and the ability to elaborate on those arguments.

Rivandra said Indonesian high school children are not used to thinking logically as the Indonesian education system does not teach them to do so.

"They never question things and just take everything as given," Rivandra said.

Lincoln Financial Group Awards 22 Debate & Speech Scholarships

Winners gather on stage in Las Vegas

From http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/200807161129PR_NEWS_USPR_____NEW088.htm

Lincoln Financial Group(R)/National Forensic League National Speech Tournament Announces 22 Scholarship Winners

July 16, 2008: 11:29 AM EST


PHILADELPHIA, July 16 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 3,200 students from across the nation competed in the week-long Lincoln Financial Group(R)/National Forensic League National Speech Tournament from June 16-20 in Las Vegas. These students qualified for the national tournament after a rigorous season of competition amongst students from across the U.S.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050830/LFLOGO )

National Champions

A $5,000 Scholarship was awarded to the National Champion in each of the following events:

-- Student Congress Senate
-- Kevin Eaton from Duncanville High School; Duncanville, TX
-- Student Congress House
-- Nathan Blevins from Gilmour Academy; Cleveland, OH
-- Ted Turner Public Forum Debate
-- Caleb Frye and Meredith Potter from Pinecrest HS; Southern Pines, NC
-- Policy Debate
-- Evan Defilippis and James Hamraie from Colleyville Heritage HS;
Colleyville, TX
-- US Extemporaneous Speaking
-- Rebecca Goldstein from Newton South HS; Newton Centre, MA
-- International Extemporaneous Speaking
-- Akshar Rambachan from Eastview HS; Apple Valley, MN
-- Original Oratory
-- Hoang Nugyen from Plano Senior HS; Plano, TX
-- Humorous Interpretation
-- Alex Wozencraft from Mannford HS; Mannford, OK
-- Dramatic Interpretation
-- Stephen Elrod from Bellarmine College Prep; San Jose, CA
-- Duo Interpretation
-- Greta Besser and Adam Bouchareb from Lakeville North HS; Lakeville,
MN
-- Lincoln-Douglas Debate
-- Todd Liipfert from Houston Jesuit HS; Houston, TX

Lincoln-Douglas Debate Runners-Up

Lincoln Financial Group also awarded scholarship prizes to the runners-up in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates competition. Recipients include:

-- 2nd Place - $2000 Scholarship
-- Joan Gass from Hockaday School; Dallas, TX
-- 3rd Place - $1000 Scholarship
-- Corey Metzman from Montgomery Bell Academy; Nashville, TN
-- 4th Place - $500 Scholarship
-- Arjun Chandran from Cary Academy; Cary, NC

In addition, five Student Participants of the Year were randomly chosen and awarded $1,000 individual scholarships. One National Forensic League participant won a Donovan McNabb autographed Philadelphia Eagle’s football jersey and a trip for four to Lincoln Financial Field(R) in Philadelphia to attend a Philadelphia Eagles football game.

"Being able to communicate effectively is a key to success in any career endeavor," noted Garry Spence, a Vice President of Lincoln Financial Group who attended the event. "Lincoln Financial Group supports the National Forensic League because it encourages these students, this group of future leaders, to develop communications skills they will carry with them their entire lives."

These stellar orators were treated to a piece of history during the competition. Abraham Lincoln, portrayed by Richard "Fritz" Klein, one of the foremost Lincoln actors of today, spoke prior to the final round of the Lincoln-Douglas Debate. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates take their name from the senatorial campaign debates of 1858, when respected orator and U.S. Senator Stephen Douglas (D-Ill.) went head-to-head with Republican challenger Abraham Lincoln during a series of seven debates on the subject of slavery and states’ sovereignty.

The Lincoln Financial Group(R)/National Forensic League National Speech Tournament is an annual competition organized and run by the National Forensic League and sponsored by Lincoln Financial Group. The National Forensic League is a non-partisan, not-for-profit educational honorary society based in Ripon, Wis. Alumni include Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Supreme Court Justice Steven Breyer, Attorney General Janet Reno, Senators Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and William Frist (R-Tenn.), television journalist Jane Pauley, media executive Ted Turner, C-SPAN president Brian Lamb, and entertainment personalities Oprah Winfrey, Kelsey Grammer, James Dean, Bette Midler, and Shelley Long.

Lincoln Financial Group is the national sponsor of the National Forensic League’s national tournament and the Lincoln Financial Group(R) Refreshers at many of the NFL district tournaments across the country. Lincoln Financial Group has been a sponsor of the National Forensic League since 1994.

About Lincoln Financial Group

Lincoln Financial Group is the marketing name for Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE: LNC) and its affiliates. With headquarters in Philadelphia, the companies of Lincoln Financial Group had assets under management of $225 billion as of March 31, 2008. Through its affiliated companies, Lincoln Financial Group offers: annuities; life, group life and disability insurance; 401(k) and 403(b) plans; savings plans; mutual funds; managed accounts; institutional investments; and comprehensive financial planning and advisory services. Affiliates also include: Delaware Investments, the marketing name for Delaware Management Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries; and Lincoln UK. For more information, including a copy of our most recent SEC reports containing our balance sheets, please visit www.LincolnFinancial.com.

SOURCE Lincoln Financial Group

Legendary Oklahoma Coach Retires from Academia

Left to Right: Randy Stickney, Chris Stickney, Dean C.W. Mangrum, Dr. Faye Mangrum, and Veronica Garrity at the Tom Houston Debate Reunion during Homecoming 2004

From http://www.ntxe-news.com/artman/publish/article_47462.shtml

C.W. Mangrum announces retirement; Dr. Scoufos named Interim Dean of Arts & Sciences at Southeastern Oklahoma State University

Jul 18, 2008

DURANT, Okla. -- Dr. C.W. Mangrum will retire July 31, 2008, as Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Southeastern Oklahoma State University after a career that has spanned 45 years as student, debate coach, faculty member and administrator.

Mangrum began his Southeastern Oklahoma State University duties as the debate coach and adjunct instructor in 1970. He joined the faculty in1972.

He is a graduate of Healdton High School and earned his bachelor’s degree at Southeastern in 1966. He received his master’s degree at the University of Central Oklahoma and his doctorate from the University of North Texas.

His wife, Dr. Faye Mangrum, teaches in Southeastern’s Department of Communication and Theatre.

“I plan to play a little golf and we’re planning a trip to New Mexico,” Mangrum said. “We’ve just put in a new yard and that will take up most of my time. It will keep me busy while Faye teaches another two or three years.”

The Regional University System of Oklahoma has bestowed upon Dr. Mangrum the honorary title of “Dean Emeritus, School of Arts and Sciences,’’ and “Professor of Communication and Theatre Emeritus.’’

Dr. Lucretia Scoufos has been named Interim Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Southeastern. Dr. Scoufos joined the Department of Communication and Theatre in fall 2001, teaching Organizational and Strategic Communication. She has also served as department chair since 2003.

IDEA News July 17 2008

From Arminda Lathrop:

IDEA Youth Forum Begins Next Week
Students, Staff, and Coaches Travel to Smolyan
IDEA's annual Youth Forum will begin July 23rd at Hotel Smolyan in Smolyan, Bulgaria. To see the latest news about this year's Youth Forum, visit the newsletter from Forum Coordinator Veronika Vlckova at www.idebate.org/ideaforum

Debate and CJ Institute Wraps Up in Turkey
Students Continute Blogging and Debating
The participants of the 2008 Debate and Citizen Journalism Institute have created some excellent journalistic materials and have had some heated debates! You can visit the Institute Portal at http://wiki.idebate.org/index.php/Institute to see these materials from the Institute.

How Much Do You Know About the MDG's?
IDEA Has New MDG Site
IDEA has a new site at www.idebate.org that focuses on teaching and realizing the UN's Millenium Development Goals? Visit www.idebate.org/mdg to learn the goals and how you can share them!

CEDA Announces New Communications Strategy

From Gordon Stables:

Greetings all. I hope you are enjoying a safe and healthy and summer.

The impending topic announcement (the deadline for voting is almost here) reminds us all that the new season is almost upon us. In order to make the transition to a new year easier, CEDA has decided to produce a beginning of the year e-newsletter that will contain news, job announcements, updates on CEDA rules and policies and a comprehensive (and regionally organized) tournament calendar.

To make this newsletter work we need your contributions. Please email me if you have any items that you would like included, such as:

- Announcements about new faculty or staff for the 08-09 season

- Upcoming job announcements

- Call for papers

- Graduate school information for 09-10

- Other matters of professional interest to our community

And don’t forget to check Dave Steinberg’s incredibly helpful tournament calendar at If your tournament isn’t listed there, but you still intend to host and earn CEDA points you should let us know ASAP.

Even if a tournament is tentatively planned, we still want to list it so folks can consider their plans. We will make specific notations for any tournament that isn’t 100% finalized (i.e., hotel contract not signed, date could move, etc.), but we still want to have all options listed. In our current economic climate and with skyrocketing travel costs we all need to do what we can to streamline our travel planning. Dave has done a tremendous volunteer service with this calendar and now we all need to work together to make our organizational calendar as comprehensive as possible.

Thanks. Let me know if you have any questions. The e-newsletter will be produced in a few weeks and will be linked with content on the new CEDA site http://www.cedadebate.org/

Gordon

CEDA 1^st VP

Gordon Stables, Ph.D.
Director of Debate and Forensics
Annenberg School for Communication
University of Southern California
Office: 213 740 2759 Fax: 213 740 3913
http://usctrojandebate.com

University of Pacific Debate Coach Does Online Interview

From http://web.pacific.edu/x24579.xml

Interview is at http://web.pacific.edu/media/school-college/Marlin_Bates_Speech_Debate.mp3

News Release

Dr. Marlin Bates, speech and debate coach, discusses his team, debate and the history of the program

(July 16, 2008) -

This could be the year that Pacific's Speech and Debate Team takes home a national championship. Besides having some of the top debaters and speakers on the team, Pacific will host the largest parliamentary debate tournament in the nation. It will be the first time in 40 years that Pacific will host the event.

Marlin Bates sat down and discussed what types of speech and debate his team competes in, the pro's and con's of each type and the challenges the team faces in the coming year.

Arabic Language Debate Tournament in Malaysia

Group photo with the Brunei contingent prior to their departure yesterday at Brunei International Airport.

Brunei students are on the way!

From http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/thu/jul17h7.htm

Four undergraduates from Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA) left the country yesterday to compete in the Arabic Language Debate Championship (Higher Education Institutions Level) in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.

The competition is being organised by Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM).

The Brunei contingent is made up of undergraduates Awg Hj Abdul Rashid bin Hj Damit, Awg Ramlee bin Hj Kassim, Dyg Roseanita bte Hj Timbang and Dyg Nurul Asmaa bte Hj Johari.

They are being accompanied by a lecturer from UNISSA, Dr Hassan Maksoud. Dr Maksoud is one of the judges invited for the competition.

Bidding them farewell at Brunei International Airport yesterday was UNISSA's Dean of Student Affairs, Pengiran Hj Saiful Bahrin bin Pengiran Hj Kula.

Qatar Bids for World Schools 2010

From Alex Just:

Dear Friends,

QatarDebate, the national debating organisation for Qatar and a member of Qatar Foundation, is delighted to announce its intention to bid in Washington D.C for the 2010 World Schools Debating Championships.

Below is an outline of how far debating has come in Qatar in recent years, what we think we can offer as hosts and the benefits WSDC 2010 could have for debate across the Arab World.

Qatar: A vibrant debating community

• Debating in Qatar is thriving, with QatarDebate training over 1500 students and teachers from over 30 high-schools and universities.

• The inaugural Qatari National Championships was attended by over 400 students.

• WSDC 2010 would be Co-Convened by Dr Hayat Maarafi (Executive Director of QatarDebate) and Alex Just (Program Manager of QatarDebate)

Qatar 2010: A tournament like no other

• Free registration for all national teams (this includes all accommodation, transport, food and activities for an 8 member national delegation)

• Subsidized flights for all new entrant countries (we hope to welcome Jordan, Bahrain, the U.A.E, Morocco, and many others into the WSDC community)

• Accommodation in the Marriott Doha – a hotel that has experience of hosting large international student conferences with students from the USA, China, Israel and Belize among others.

Beyond 2010: Developing debate in the Arab World

• WSDC 2010 would be the first time World Schools has been hosted in the Arabian Gulf or in a Muslim country.

• The debates at WSDC 2010 will be seen by over 2000 Qatari school children and will attract significant interest in the regional English and Arabic language press.

• Just as Southern African debating benefited from Johannesburg hosting WSDC in 2001 we are confident that hosting the tournament in Doha in 2010 will provide a superb boost to debate in the Gulf region and the wider Middle East.

We look forward to seeing you all in Washington in a few weeks time. If you have any questions please have a look at our website – www.qatardebate.org - or send an email to doha2010@qatardebate.org

Best wishes,

Dr Hayat Maarafi, Alex Just and Andrew Goodman
QatarDebate WSDC 2010 Bid Committee
--
Alex Just
Program Manager, QatarDebate
Qatar Foundation, Doha
www.qatardebate.org

+974 699 1461 (Qatar)
+447866666436 (UK)

National Association for Urban Debate Leagues Documents Huge Progress

Check out the Colbert debate video linked below.

From Scott Deatherage scott@urbandebate.org:

Urban Debate NewsBlast

July 2008 Volume: III, Number: 1

In this Urban Debate NewsBlast you will read about:

The updated status of the NAUDL from Executive Director, Scott Deatherage...

The results of the first Chase Urban Debate National Championship, hosted by the NAUDL in April...

Sean Eastwood, from Central High School in Kansas City, who was named the Top Speaker at the Chase National Championship...

The inaugural NAUDL Annual Dinner, held on April 5 at the University Club of Chicago, which over 300 supporters of urban debate attended...

The launching of two Urban Debate Leagues in Los Angeles and the Oakland Bay Area...

The kickoff of the new Urban Debate League in Tampa...

Quick News Notes about the NAUDL and Urban Debate...

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Letter from Executive Director, Scott Deatherage

Greetings friends,

We have reached an exceptionally exciting, challenging and promising time not only for our organization and its mission, but also for the urban debate network more broadly.

As most of you know, the NAUDL recently hosted two "first-ever" events in Chicago. In conjunction with the generous sponsorship of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, we held the Chase Urban Debate National Championship. Eighteen UDLs, from cities spanning the United States, were represented in the competition. During the Championship weekend we hosted the NAUDL Annual Dinner at the University Club of Chicago. Over 300 guests and supporters of urban debate from across the nation attended. We were extremely pleased with these two events and are already in the process of planning the 2009 editions.

The NAUDL is also pivoting to turn our attention to the launching of several new Urban Debate Leagues in 2008. We have written to you in previous NewsBlasts about the positive developments in St. Louis, Denver, Memphis and Houston. Here we happily report the kickoff of leagues in Los Angeles, Oakland and Tampa, each of which will begin this fall. In addition, we continue to work towards the launch of UDLs in Las Vegas, New Orleans, Phoenix and Philadelphia in 2009.

This growth in urban debate exceeds even the most ambitious vision contemplated in the NAUDL three-year Expansion Plan developed by my predecessor Leonard A. ("Lenny") Gail and the NAUDL staff. Lenny and the NAUDL professional staff, which includes Anthony Jardina, Les Lynn, Holly Reiss, and Eric Tucker, have worked tirelessly to achieve these dramatic results. We eagerly look forward to working with the respective cities' Advisory Boards and League Directors further to expand the urban debate network and thereby spread the potentially life-changing opportunity of policy debate participation to thousands more of America's students.

The NAUDL strives to ensure that rigorous performance measurement and evaluation fundamentally shape how the we do business. To facilitate that effort a research team at the University of Michigan, led by Dr. Briana Mezuk will produce a 10-year retrospective evaluation of the educational outcomes of student participation in an Urban Debate League. Dr. Mezuk's team has received the crucial support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to investigate the impact of policy debate participation on such factors as high school academic achievement, on-time graduation, and college matriculation in an urban public school population. The NAUDL, the Chicago Debate Commission and the team at Michigan are collaborating with the Chicago Public Schools and the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago to conduct the study.

As I reach the conclusion of my first few months as the organization's Executive Director, I cannot help but be optimistic about the NAUDL's promising trajectory toward the fulfillment of its mission. The staff and I look forward with great enthusiasm to the upcoming months and the opportunities that await.

Best,

Scott Deatherage

Executive Director

NAUDL

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First Chase Urban Debate National Champion Crowned

Congratulations to the Lane Tech High School team, from Chicago, who won the first Chase Urban Debate National Championship, defeating Grady High School of Atlanta in the final round. The Championship was hosted by the NAUDL at Northwestern University’s downtown campus and was made possible through the generous sponsorship of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation.

Lane Tech’s team of Andrew Hobaugh and Nick Locke defeated the team of Minh Lam and John Holland from Grady. Each member of the First Place team received a college scholarship in the amount of $2,500, and each member of the Second Place team received a $1,000 award. All awards were donated by Holland & Knight LLP.

The Championship's final round was held in the historic Abraham Lincoln Courtroom at the Northwestern University School of Law. Urban Debate League directors and coaches served as members of the final round judge panel, yielding a 5-0 decision for Lane Tech.

The Chase Urban Debate National Championship brought together 34 urban debate teams and their coaches for a weekend of competition, conferencing and friendship. Teams from the following UDLs participated in the Championship: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Seattle/Tacoma, St. Louis and Washington D.C.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley welcomed the competitors to the Windy City: “I commend the students who have traveled here from around the country. Every one of you deserves to be congratulated for the hard work and commitment that you have demonstrated to qualify for this prestigious event. You have already accomplished a great deal.”

Professor Ross Smith, the highly accomplished Director of Debate from Wake Forest University, graciously served as the director of the tournament tab room. Professor Smith’s college team had won the National Debate Tournament the previous weekend. We are extremely grateful for his invaluable service.

During the course of the Chase National Championship participants visited several of Chicago’s premier cultural and entertainment centers, including the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, the National Museum of Mexican Art and the Navy Pier.

At the conclusion of the Championship, the NAUDL's Executive Director, Scott Deatherage, stated: “We were absolutely thrilled to be able to host this event. The participating students, coaches and administrators showed great enthusiasm not only for the tournament competition, but also for its pedagogical and cultural aspects. The NAUDL is already planning for and eagerly looking forward to hosting the 2009 National Championship.”

---

Sean Easterwood from Kansas City Wins Top Speaker Award

Central High School Senior Sean Easterwood of Kansas City won the Top Speaker award at the first Chase Urban Debate National Championship. In the process he earned a $2,500 scholarship that he will use to attend the University of Missouri-Kansas City in the fall. The scholarship was provided through the generosity of Holland & Knight LLP.

Sean said after the tournament, “It was cool and exciting. The scholarship is going to be a big help and I like being the first-ever top speaker at the Urban Debate Championship.” Sean’s coach, Jane Rinehart, added, “Sean has worked so hard to come this far. To see him win this honor was one of the season’s biggest thrills.” Sean’s partner, Dashawnta Brunson noted, “He deserved it. We have fun debating together, we’ve learned a lot and this weekend was a great experience.”

Andrew Brokos, the Boston UDL's Director, judged Sean at the tournament and commented on his dominating style, “He was charismatic and principled. He had all the skills.”

Sean’s accomplishment at the Chase National Championship evoked enthusiastic recognition of his abilities, his coach's mentorship, and his school's support from the Kansas City Mayor and City Council who passed a resolution in their honor: “Resolved: That the Mayor and Council hereby congratulate the Central High School Debate Team and Sean Easterwood on their success at the first annual National Association for Urban Debate Leagues national tournament.”

Sean pursued debate for its transformative intellectual benefits. He commented, “You see the walls of this school. Debate is the place to reach outside these walls. There are no limits. You can gain the knowledge to do the stuff of CEO’s, policymakers, doctors and lawyers,” adding, “My motivation is not success. We [the debaters] share how we feel. We go in with our will and our ideas, and we come out with respect.”

Sean's coach, Jane Reinhart, said of Sean. “He’s so focused. Students here are very competitive. It becomes personal.”

Both teams from DEBATE-Kansas City reached the quarter-finals of the championship, and each of the other three debaters also received speaker awards.

---

Fitzgerald Keynotes NAUDL Annual Dinner and Reception Gala

On April 5, over 300 enthusiastic supporters and guests joined the NAUDL for our inaugural Annual Dinner, held at the historic University Club of Chicago.

Participants were entertained by a short video from Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert, who recorded a special welcome for our event. He offered the following tips for debaters: Always Be Right, Yell Everything, Don't Be Afraid to Cry, Constantly Change the Subject, and Defeat Builds Character. Finally, as for career counseling to the debaters he urged: "Please, promise me this, don't throw away your lives on careers in Congress. There are far more honorable ways to get free golf trips."

Nate Parker, who starred in the film The Great Debaters and watched debate rounds at the Chase National Championship earlier in the day, addressed the audience: "What I saw today fascinated and amazed me. All you students, you inspire me, you really do. What I do for a living is fun, but what you guys do for a living makes leaders."

Emory University's Melissa Wade was honored as the first "Urban Debate Champion." Professor Wade has truly been a pioneer of urban debate, beginning her work with the Atlanta UDL in 1985. Diana Dunker, supervising attorney for Legal Services of New Jersey, was recognized as the NAUDL's "Alumnus of the Year." Ms. Dunker has argued in front of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, securing important advances in the protection of family bonds for urban and/or poor children.

Leonard A. ("Lenny") Gail, Chairman of the NAUDL Board, commented on the honorees: "The enthusiasm was evident. Our presenters spoke eloquently about both our mission and our wonderful collection of honorees. In particular, Urban Debate Champion Melissa Wade and Alum of the Year Diana Dunker, who we and the audience honored for their tremendous contributions, provided inspirational and insightful words about the past, present and exciting future of Urban Debate."

The Keynote Speaker for the event was United States Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald, one of the nation's leading attorneys and public servants. He offered valuable advice not only to the student debaters, but to the rest of the audience as well, stating: "I try to tell students they should find out what it is that motivates them. It could be medicine. It could be social work. It could be teaching. But they ought to make an affirmative choice about what they want to do in their life, and doing good is a very rewarding option, not just doing well. I'll find the time, I'll find the energy, I'll find the resources to help out a cause I believe in. And I know I'm preaching to the choir here, because the people in this room are the people who give up their time to be coaches or administrators or people who find other ways to make sure debate exists.

Board Chair Lenny Gail concluded, "The NAUDL was delighted with our Inaugural Dinner. We feel a tremendous sense of gratitude, witnessing the heartfelt outpouring of support from across the country, not only for this event in particular, but also for the NAUDL's mission of providing urban debate opportunities for as many students as possible. The great success of this event will substantially facilitate that reality."

---

Two California School Systems Embrace Urban Debate

The NAUDL is very pleased to report that two major school systems in California have agreed to launch Urban Debate Leagues in the fall of 2008. Leaders of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) have formed partnerships with local Advisory Boards and the NAUDL.

In the context of California’s unprecedented state financial crisis and education budget cuts, these developments provide encouraging evidence that school systems see Urban Debate Leagues as a well-leveraged, mission-aligned investment that advances their fundamental priorities.

In Los Angeles, Superintendent David Brewer III embraced the League as fully aligned with the district’s secondary instruction program. He deemed it an important part of the efforts to support its High Priority Schools Plan. At a February screening of The Great Debaters, attended by 135 community, district and business leaders, Superintendent Brewer publicly committed to the UDL launch and subsequently wrote: “LAUSD welcomes the enrichment provided to students through NAUDL programs. NAUDL’s focus on using academic policy debate to bolster the core academic skills of reading comprehension, critical thinking, research, building arguments and demonstrating effective communications is one that we value.”

Brad Stam, the Chief Academic Officer of Oakland Unified, similarly signed an agreement with the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues to establish an Urban Debate League within the district this fall.

In Los Angeles, Advisory Board Co-chairs Sandra Seville-Jones and Bart Williams share a passion for the UDL mission and possess the skill and determination necessary to serve as the catalysts for a UDL in the nation’s second largest school system. Both are Partners at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP (Mr. Williams is the former Managing Partner).

The Chair of the Bay Area Urban Debate League Advisory Board is Darin Snyder, a former Managing Partner of the San Francisco office of O’Melveny and Myers LLP and former Georgetown debater. He leads a group committed to restoring debate opportunities throughout the Bay Area.

---

Urban Debate Launches in Tampa

The NAUDL is working with the School District of Hillsborough County to launch an Urban Debate League in the Tampa Bay area in the fall of 2008.

Inspired by the recent Denzel Washington film The Great Debaters, prominent Tampa attorney Barry Cohen is providing the crucial leadership for establishing debate programs in Tampa’s urban schools.

On May 15, Mr. Cohen sponsored a select viewing of the film for 250 Tampa students. A special guest at the viewing was actress Jurnee Smollett, who won the 2008 NAACP Image Award for her female lead performance in the film and is a passionate advocate for the NAUDL's mission.

Mr. Cohen cites the powerful benefits that participants will derive from debating: “[The debaters will] learn to communicate, learn to articulate, learn to be educated. [They will] learn to turn knowledge into power and to be able to deal with violence and bigotry.”

Tampa resident Doug Williams, the first African-American quarterback to win the Super Bowl, has thrown his support behind the project, as well: “I don’t think there are too many jobs out there that if you’re not able to debate that you can do the job.”

---

Quick News Notes...

• The NAUDL is pleased to announce that James Q. Wilson, the Ronald Reagan Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine University, has agreed to serve on our Honorary Board of Directors. As a student at Redlands University, Dr. Wilson completed an extremely successful debate career by winning the 1952 National Debate Tournament and the NDT Top Speaker award.

• The NAUDL web page has recently been updated with a collection of videos and links to recent urban debate news items.

• Les Lynn, NAUDL Senior Program Consultant, has recently returned to Chicago after successfully directing a one-week summer workshop in Memphis, a city that kicks off its new UDL this fall. (Read the local press report here.) Nearly 40 students and over a dozen new teachers/coaches took part. The participants received instruction from Les and Chicago-based teacher LaTonya Starks. NAUDL Executive Director, Scott Deatherage, commented: "I'm thrilled about the tremendous early success in Memphis. Congratulations to the Memphis City Schools, particularly the new Superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash and administrators James Bacchus and Michae! l Smith, for hosting and organizing this city-wide kick-off of the Memphis UDL. Also congratulations to the growing private partner in this mid-South capital, the Memphis UDL Advisory Board, under the determined leadership of James Sdoia."

• A recent issue of Education Week discussed the NAUDL's league development strategy and reported a classroom teacher's insight regarding debate's impact: "Mary J. Thomas calls her experience coaching debate 'transformative.' On her team at multiethnic Charlestown High School in Boston, she's had students with bad attitudes, speech impediments, second-language challenges, poor grades, and top grades. To get any of them started, she hands over a binder of propositions and evidence, gives them a run-through, and coaxes them into a tournament. 'Every single child has amazed me,' the 30-year-old English teacher testified. 'They suddenly become articulate, capable, mature. Part of it is the competition, but I think it's more: It's so difficult, it makes them feel smart.'

• HBO has recently started running Greg Whiteley's documentary on high school debate, Resolved. The film, which won an Audience Award at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival, features urban debaters from Long Beach.

NAACP Debate Final Seen by 20,000

From http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080715/A_NEWS/807150334/-1/A_NEWS

S.J. TEAM WINS IN NAACP DEBATE

By Keith Reid
July 15, 2008
Record Staff Writer
CINCINNATI - A team of three San Joaquin County teenagers argued the merits of universal health care in front of 20,000 people Monday night, winning a national debate competition that served as an opening act for a historic speech from presumed Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama.

Michael Tubbs, 17; Matthew Miller, 18; and Ty-Licia Hooker, 17, teamed up for the Stockton Youth Council, sponsored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and won the association's inaugural competition, the Great Debate of 2008. The competition called for youth throughout the nation to debate the same topics Obama and Sen. John McCain will argue leading up to the November election.

"It was down to five teams: Florida, New York, Cleveland, Detroit and Stockton," said La Juana Bivens, a representative of the Stockton NAACP. "We beat Cleveland in the preliminary and Detroit in the final. It's so exciting."

The Stockton team opted to argue in favor of universal health care, a strategy they thought beneficial in front of a crowd of Obama supporters.

After the debate, the teens had a chance to shake Obama's hand and exchange brief pleasantries. The NAACP convention provided the senator the first opportunity for a black presidential nominee to address the civil rights organization as the chosen candidate for a major political party.

He spoke about a "responsibility deficit" in the way Americans raise their children.

"I looked at him, shook his hand and told him 'I'm next,' " said Tubbs, a Franklin High School graduate who will attend Stanford University in the fall. "He said 'OK.' "

Miller, who graduated from West High in Tracy and will join Tubbs at Stanford, said he was new to speech and debate but wanted to represent the community in a leadership role. He was recruited to join the team and does not regret that decision.

"This is great for the Central Valley, great for Stockton," he said.

Hooker is a graduate of Chavez High School and will attend University of the Pacific in the fall.

Stockton NAACP President Bobby Bivens said he was extremely proud of the students.

"My smile could fill up this auditorium," Bivens said. "This is outstanding. We are No. 1 in the nation and a great representation of youth leadership in this country."

Vermonster Spirit

Written by one of the 18 students from south Asia (Bangladesh, India and Pakistan) attending the SUSI program in Vermont and who will be also be attending the World Debate Institute in Vermont.

From http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2008/07/02/perspective.htm

Perspective

Vermonsters

Nader Rahman

The one good thing about long plane journeys is that I can watch a movie or two. On my first trip to the United States I decided to watch a movie I had heard a lot about, yet could not find the time to see in Dhaka. The unimaginatively named pseudo epic was “I am Legend.” For those who have not seen the movie this is a spoiler warning, don't waste your time. A weak story with unbelievable computer generated images seems to be the recipe for success in Hollywood, and in a way movies like this are part of the opinion I had formed about America, a lot of hype with very little substance. The only thing of interest I could take out of the movie was a personal anecdote. The cure for the killer virus that had potentially wiped out the world lay in the state of Vermont, which as fate would have it was my destination in the US. Over 30 hours of travelling, more than a few bad in-flight movies and finally something to smile about.

Vermont is a state like none other and its identity is hard to pin down, which I suppose is a good thing. A little known fact is that up till 1792 it remained an independent country and that sense of independence can still be felt to this day. There are still people who argue for secessionism and apparently at any given point in time up to 12% of the population agree with them. But simply being secessionist is not a true gauge of the independent spirit of Vermont. Possibly the most interesting tid-bit about the state is that in the eight years Dubya has been president of the world (it's the truth, whether we choose to accept it or not), he has been all over the world and to every state in America except Vermont. The reasons are simple, he is not welcome and it would be wholly embarrassing if he showed up and got booed from pillar to post. Aside from that I am told by a reliable source that if he were to set foot in Vermont he could be arrested for war crimes.


Vermonters for Obama rallying

Vermont may be part of America, but it is definitely not part of Dubya's America. It seems to be the single state that has stood in unison against his war mongering ways. Other states may have larger numbers of people who denounce Dubya, but the uniqueness of Vermont is that they stand united against his megalomaniacal ways. Their response to eight years of Bush was to choose Barack Obama as their democratic nominee and to the outsider it would seem an interesting move, as over 95% of the population is white. While I am not insinuating that white people will only vote for a fellow Caucasian, one must admit the choice of Obama was intriguing in such a white majority state. And that is the essence of the spirit of independence in Vermont, the people chose the person they believed to be the best man for the job and in doing so left everything else out of the picture, race religion and colour.

The progressive state of Vermont can also claim to be a state that was not swayed by the Obama tsunami that took off a year and a half ago. Long before he was even thinking of the presidency, in early 2006 he came down to Vermont to speak on behalf of Peter Welch and Bernie Sanders and spoke at the University of Vermont. People lined up for over half a mile to catch a glimpse of him speaking, and those who managed to get into the Ira Allen chapel were not disappointed. Philip Baruth, a well known novelist and political commentator, wrote of the experience, “And that conversation ranges over poverty, war, and the fraying of the American dream. It is by turns impassioned, and ironic, and heartfelt, and it is impossible not to be moved by the simplicity of the man's vision: “It turns out that the American people's expectations are extraordinarily modest. They know that government can't do everything for them. They know they have to work hard. But government can help, and that's all they're asking.”


Howard Dean, a former governor of Vermont, was always vocal about a planned invasion in Iraq
As the audience applauds, the students glued to the windows outside begin to drum again on the glass, with both hands, and as the volume rises, I'm really worried that the glass will shatter and one or more of them will come crashing down into the pews below.

Only then do I truly understand the Obama effect: I realise how hungry we are, all of us gathered inside and outside this consecrated place, to hear someone in a position of authority say something that makes some sort of sense, any sort of sense at all.”

While Obama seems like the only possible choice now, Vermont's support for him and his progressive change has been around much longer than the 15 minute hoopla which has surrounded his current campaign. But Vermont and politics cannot be talked about without one Howard Dean. We currently know him better as the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and a one time front runner for the Democratic nomination in 2004 but his political roots are firmly planted in Vermont where he was their second longest running Governor. While people now talk of Obama and his stance against the Iraq war, it is easily forgotten that Dean was the loudest and most vocal of the Democrats against a planned invasion of Iraq. While it's “cool” for a politician to have that historically retrospective stance now, he spoke from the heart, and sensibly well before the Muppets in Washington even thought about the mess they were getting themselves into. If Barack Obama is elected in November then he will have a huge debt to pay to Dean, who was the person that revolutionised small donors and the internet and tapped them for their fundraising capabilities, a strategy that has proved very successful for Obama.

Vermont is progressive, close knit and constantly looking towards the future. They can proudly say they voted Blue in 2000 and 2004 and that Dubya has never stepped foot in the state. As I sat by the waterfront in downtown Burlington, Vermont on the 3rd of July and saw the fireworks which seemingly recreated the start of the universe, rather than celebrating American independence, a friend poked me and said, “these vermonsters really know how to celebrate independence.” I chuckled at his gaffe and remembered the movie I was watching while up in the skies. There the monsters were to be defeated in Vermont and it would be the start of the new world. And with that I thought maybe the next generation of independent free thinkers anywhere in the world could be called vermonsters. They need not come from Vermont as long as they have the same spirit.

World Debate Institute in Full Swing in Vermont

Follow daily news at the blogsite at
http://worlddebateinstitute.blogspot.com/

Three programs are now in session: World Schools Debate workshop, Public Forum Debate workshop and Teacher/Coach workshop.

Below is a lecture on an introduction to argumentation delivered by faculty member Rhydian Morgan of the UK.

Full information about the program is at http://learn.uvm.edu/wdi/

IDEA Debate & Citizen Journalism Workshop Underway

Video from a debate in the BP format.

From IDEA Newsletter 10 July:

Debate and Citizen Journalism Institute Update

The Citizen Journalism students at this summer’s Institute in Turkey have been working on blogs and photojournalism stories thus far. To connect to their blogs, visit the Institute Portal on Debatepedia at: http://wiki.idebate.org/index.php/Institute. The blogs are diverse and quite fascinating! Of course, you can see videos of classes and activities at the Institute on the IDEA Blog: http://idebate.blogspot.com and the new 2008 Institute Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=16668069398. There is big news about tomorrow night’s featured activity, BorFest 2008!

Debatewise Website - Promote Debate and Charity

Received by us from Betony Lloyd:

Dear Lawrence Debate Union,

My name is Betony Lloyd and I work for a web site called Debatewise. Our aim is to become the Wikipedia for debate. We work much like Wikipedia does – anyone can create a debate on any subject they like and anyone can edit or strengthen this debate. We present both points of view side-by-side so that neutrals can make up their mind and vote on which side they think is right.

We want to become a resource debaters can use to hone their debating skills and a place which enables people to get both sides of an argument. We want to promote the benefits of debating and introduce new people to the art. Not only is debating a useful life skill - encouraging and promoting confidence and communication abilities - it also provides a medium for frank and open discussion of topical issues, something we are in danger of losing in climates of prejudice and media hype. The added benefit of online debating is that it can be done anonymously, thus people may contribute without fear of retribution for their views.

We are also a new kind of social enterprise, a not-for-profit which generates money for good causes. We'll generate this revenue as and when we reach critical mass and will put all our profits into a pool. We'll then use the mechanism of the site to allow our stakeholders to decide which charities we support. This will hopefully create a virtuous circle where people feel more reason to visit and create content, which leads to more revenue, and more reason to visit.

Of course, none of this is possible unless we reach critical mass. Which is why we're contacting you. We really admire your organisation and hope you'd be willing to help us reach out to other debaters, educate the public and move us forward in our grand aim of becoming a revenue stream for charities.

Our idea is for you to sponsor a debate, figuratively speaking. You would submit a motion and even put points for one side of the debate if you so wished. This would become the official LDU debate and the public would be encouraged to join in. We'd provide you with links back to your site and a brief description of your aims and objectives.

Our site is at www.debatewise.com and more info about our aims can be found on our blog: www.debatewise.info.

I hope this is something you would be interested in. I'd be delighted to answer any questions you may have, please feel free to contact me by email or by phone (+44 20 7324 7555 / +44 7949 458 265)

Best regards,

Betony Lloyd

--
Miss Betony Lloyd BA (hons) Cantab
Head of PR and Marketing
Debatewise Ltd
77 Leonard Street
London
EC2A 4QS
UK

Bangladesh - Call to Build Enlightened Society Through Debate

Debaters pose with the guests at the inaugural ceremony of The Mutual Trust Bank-The Daily Star Debate Contest 2008 at the Theatre Institute auditorium in Chittagong yesterday. Sitting from right are Saif Chowdhury, Shah Muhammad Akhter Uddin, Abul Momen, Mahfuz Anam, Mohammad Nazrul Islam and Masud Bakul.

From http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=45205

MTB-Daily Star Debate Contest Begins

Call to build enlightened society thru' practice of logic

Staff Correspondent, Ctg

The Mutual Trust Bank-The Daily Star Debate Contest 2008 began in Chittagong yesterday with a call to build an enlightened society through practice of logic and free thinking.

It is high time to move forward by setting the thinking on the right track with the help of logic and knowledge, speakers at the opening ceremony said.

Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, inaugurated the 10-day competition as the chief guest at the Theatre Institute, Chittagong (TIC) auditorium.

Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Shah Muhammad Akhter Uddin, Prothom Alo Resident Editor in Chittagong Abul Momen and Mutual Trust Bank Senior Vice-President Mohammad Nazrul Islam were present as the special guests.

Drishty Chittagong organised the debate in association with CDA. Mutual Trust Bank (MTB) and The Daily Star sponsored the event.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mahfuz Anam called on the students to practise debate as a means of acquiring the skill of thinking and making judgments in a logical way.

Debate also helps students develop their skill of crafting language to bring clarity and accuracy into their thoughts, he said.

The absence of logic is strongly felt everywhere in our daily life nowadays, Anam said and called for practising debate to present any issue in a most acceptable way and establish it with logic.

Speaking as the special guest, CDA Chairman Akhter Uddin said debate can make one conscious and aware of their social responsibilities.

He also said that the practice of logic in daily life can also help prevent one from indulging in activities that damage the environment such as hill cutting and filling up rivers and canals.

Akhter Uddin thanked The Daily Star for its initiatives to hold debate and other activities which contribute to the process of building an enlightened society and developing future leadership.

Prothom Alo Resident Editor Abul Momen said practice of logic can help find out solutions to various problems facing the nation.

"Absence of the practice of logic makes us dependent on others. As a result, we fail to take decision on our own," he said.

Mutual Trust Bank Senior Vice-President Nazrul Islam said his bank is always keen to sponsor programmes like debate competition as part of its social corporate responsibility.

Such debates would help develop future leadership with logical minds, he said.

Drishty Chittagong President Masud Bakul presided over the inaugural ceremony and General Secretary Saif Chowdhury and Joint Secretary Adnan Mannan also spoke.

Thirty schools and seven universities are taking part in the debate competition.

Six debates were held on the first day and the winners are Collegiate School, Silver Bells Girls' High School, Chittagong Government High School, Dr Khastagir (Government) Girls' High School, Agrabad Girls' High School and Chittagong Residential School and College.

UK Moves to Create Lifelong Debate about Environment

From http://www.tes.co.uk/2644137

Green light for student debate on environment

Steve Hook
Published: 11 July 2008

Inquiry says sustainable development should be included in curriculum

Members of a national inquiry into the future of further education are trawling for ideas about how to promote the environment.

While colleges have led the way in incorporating energy-saving designs in the architecture of new campus buildings, the Inquiry into the Future of Lifelong Learning is seeking ideas about how green issues can be included in the curriculum to encourage student debate. Sustainable development is just one of several themes being examined.

The inquiry has been set up by Niace, the adult education body, to provide an alternative perspective to the 2006 Leitch Review of Skills, which examined FE in relation to economic productivity. Lord Leitch said the UK should be a world leader by 2020. While skills training is a well- established principle behind college funding, Niace believes some of the less easily measurable benefits of post-19 education – much of which does not lead to qualifications – have been lost because priorities have been changed.

The Niace inquiry is being led by Tom Schuller, an academic and former adviser to the Scottish Government, who left the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to take up the post, and is expected to publish an interim report later this year.

Mr Schuller admits the challenge will be winning a fair hearing for the inquiry’s findings after the Leitch report. The difference is that his inquiry is giving particular emphasis to 19-plus adult education. It is an area to which, Mr Schuller says, governments have traditionally paid too little attention.

“As citizens, almost all of us are aware that sustainable development poses huge challenges. However, many of us are baffled by the complexities of the issues,” he said. “This is an absolutely crucial area where lifelong learning can counter people’s feelings of powerlessness.

“But there remain many questions about how such learning opportunities should be developed and delivered, as well as their content. We need a lot of work quickly to establish who should have responsibility for what, and this is exactly what the inquiry will address.”

The part of the inquiry concentrating on sustainable development will examine the specific skills that are needed to help the environment as well as encouraging students to contribute to the debate.

Niace believes the Government and media have succeeded in putting the environment on the agenda but argues that education has an important role to play in turning public interest in the subject into a better practical understanding of it.

A Niace spokesman said: “In spite of the growing public and political awareness of the challenge posed by climate change in recent years, there is still a huge amount to be done if this awareness is to be translated into meaningful action.”

Namibia Schools Debating Body Comes of Age

From http://allafrica.com/stories/200807100446.html

Schools' Debating Body Comes of Age

New Era (Windhoek)


NEWS
10 July 2008
Posted to the web 10 July 2008

By Frederick Philander
Windhoek
The Namibian Schools' Debating Association (NSDA) will celebrate its fifth anniversary today amidst many educational highlights and achievements over the years.

The NSDA was established on 10 July, 2003.


"The association's existence became essential because previously schools' debating activities were taking place at schools primarily in the central region of the country.

"The association was created to nurture and develop young people to confidently and freely express themselves in public and anywhere else," said the secretary-general, Kapaki Kavari, in an interview.

According to him, the NSDA's aims and objectives are to develop a culture of critical thinking and to foster an interest in current affairs as part of Vision 2030.

"Our main aim over the past five years has been to initiate, facilitate, organize and coordinate a spirit of debating at all Namibian schools through workshops. Our main event presently is the national debating championships, which annually takes place in August. We have also participated in debating competitions in neighbouring countries and further afield," he said.

NSDA is scheduled to undertake a trip to Washington to take part in the World Schools Debating Championships from 5 to 15 September.

The topics for debating and discussion include education, sciences, culture, health, environment, social, economics and politics.

"We will not rest until debating is fully entrenched and imbedded in all Namibian schools. The NSDA remains committed to unlock the natural debating talents of reasoning and argumentation of Namibian learners.

Therefore, the debating events are so designed to produce enthusiasm and impart skills such as rational and logical argumentation as well as persuasive speaking," Kapaki said.

The long term aims of the organization is to recruit more local teachers to get involved and develop debating as a force to be reckoned with continentally.

The next national schools debating championships are to be held on 24 to 29 August at Keetmanshoop.

Speech Contest Promotes Urdu Language

From http://www.asianpacificpost.com/portal2/c1ee8c441b09bf01011b09cdd6ea0012_Speech_contest_promotes_Urdu.do.html

Speech contest promotes Urdu
Wed, July 09 2008
The Canada Urdu Association is holding its Annual Urdu Speech Contest on Sunday, July 27, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The association serves as a platform to promote the Urdu language and to promote peace, harmony, mutual understanding and respect through Urdu literature. The speech contest, for students aged 13 to19, is part of the young speakers’ development program. Competition is in two age groups: 13 to 15 and 16 to 19.

The contest is open to the South- Asian community, to provide youth an opportunity to experience the Urdu language and develop leadership skills by facing an audience.

The speech topic is Mayholeyat Ki Aloodge Kay Asraat (The Effects of Environmental Pollution). Speeches are given in Urdu, and must be five to seven minutes long.

A panel of judges will decide the three winners in each age group. The awards will be presented to the winners at the CUA’s annual Jashn-e-Azadi Mushaira & Celebrations event scheduled for Aug. 30.

All eligible youth are encouraged to take part in this contest. Parents are requested to motivate and encourage their children for the contest. Registration deadline is July 22.

For more information call program co-ordinators Muhammad Afzal Malik, 604.518.4459, Raminder Pal Singh Kang, 604.729.0406, Imtiaz Popat, 604.715.4816 or Muhammad Suleman Mahtab, 778-908-1250 or visit www.CanadaUrdu.com.

Dutch-Anglo Saxon Parliamentary Debate Institute

From Abulhassan Al-Jaberi

Dear all,

I’d like to inform you about the 20th edition of the Dutch Anglo-Saxon
Parliamentary Debating Institute (DAPDI) hosted at the Erasmus
University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

DAPDI has a nice tradition to build on: our yearly five day summer
course featuring 3 days of top level debating workshops and a 2 day
tournament (the serious bit), topped with amazing evening programmes
including: BBQ, Baja Beach Club and more (the fun bit).

We will fly in tutors from the Oxford and Cambridge Unions in the UK.
They give the workshops and judge the tournament. All debaters are
placed in a group of 8-12 people with similar debating experience to
ensure workshops of the right level. So whether you’ve already won a few
IV’s, or never debated before: DAPDI has something for you to learn.

The tutors of this year’s DAPDI are among the finest debaters Oxford and
Cambridge have to offer. Being finalists and even winners of the
European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC) and World
Universities Debating Championships (WUDC), there are none better able
to teach you the art of debating.

From oxford:
Lewis Iwu (current world champion)
Steven Goodman (upcoming fresher)
Neil Dewar (worlds Quarterfinalist)

From Cambridge:
Jo Box (director of debating at Cambridge)
Daniel Warents (worlds Finalist, European Finalist)
Giles Robertson (European Champion 2007)

The DAPDI 2008 will be held from 25th – 29th august. For more
information and registration send an e-mail to dapdi@hotmail.com

You can also join DAPDI on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10848834884
and visit our website: www.dapdi.nl

Thanks for reading!

Abulhassan Al-Jaberi,
DAPDI promotion
dapdi@hotmail.com

Top Ten Speakers at Australs

From Colm Flynn:

Top 10 speakers:

1, Naomi Oreb (Sydney 1)
2. Julia Bowes (Sydney 1)
3. Charisse Borromeo (Ateneo 1)
4. Sharmila Parmanand (Ateneo 1)
5 = Lauren Humphrey (Uni Queensland 1) & Jack Wright (Sydney 2)
7. Tim Mooney (Sydney 2)
8 = Lucia Pietropaoli (Melbourne 1) & Christopher Bishop (Victoria Wellington 1)
10. Stephen Whittington (Victoria Wellington 1)

Memphis Urban Debate League Ramps Up

Danielle Fields (left) gives her opponent, Bridgette Goodman, a high-five after debating the use of coal versus nuclear power during the new Urban Debate League's summer workshop at Overton High on Thursday afternoon. The league will officially start at 14 city high schools this fall.

From http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/jul/11/talking-02/

Debate workshop previews league coming to 14 Memphis schools

By Dakarai I. Aarons / aarons@commercialappeal.com
Friday, July 11, 2008

"It's not personal, it's business."

With that mantra in mind, more than three dozen high school students sharpened their analytical and speaking skills at a weeklong debate workshop at Overton High.

Derrick Sanders gets advice on how to structure his argument from debate coach Quintina Merriweather during the debate league's summer workshop on Thursday.

The Memphis Urban Debate League, approved in May by the Memphis Board of Education though a partnership with the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues, will start at 14 city high schools this fall.

The teams will debate in monthly matches from September to January, with a championship in

February, said Michael Smith, a principal on special assignment for student support services.

Memphis marks the 20th of 25 such urban debate leagues to be established in the nation, said Les Lynn, senior program consultant for the national association. The first such modern leagues started in New York, Atlanta and Chicago in the late 1990s.

Debate among students in U.S. cities has been promoted though the release of the Denzel Washington film "The Great Debaters" last fall.

The topic for debate this year: "Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase alternative energy incentives in the United States."

That topic, a hot button issue during the presidential campaign, required students to spend the week learning about biofuels, nuclear power and alternatives to using fossil fuels.

A heady policy debate for high school students, but Lynn said that is precisely the point.

"The real magic quality that it has is the students are debating and all the learning is high quality, but they are having fun doing it." he said.

Academic debates allows schools "to increase academic achievement in a way that brings together the excitement and pleasure of sports competition with very rigorous, research-based critical-thinking exercises."

C.L. Baugh, a history and economics teacher at Memphis Health Careers Academy, said he was drawn to coaching students because of his own experience in debate.

"I know the value of it, and I know it enriches the lives of students in addition to the fact it promotes reading and overall interest in educational achievement," he said.

Teenagers have a lot of creative energy, and debate gives them an outlet for it, Baugh said.

Oakhaven High senior Danielle Fields said she was excited there's finally a debate program in Memphis.

"I'm competitive, so it's another thing to get good at," she said.

Fields said she hopes her debate skills will help translate into a scholarship.

"After you get past the logic, it is so much fun," she said. "You get to express yourself."

-- Dakarai I. Aarons: 529-6515

--------------------

Debate League

The Memphis Urban Debate League, the 20th league to come online across the nation, begins in the following 14 city high schools this fall:

Carver High, East High, Fairley High, Kingsbury High, Kirby High, Middle College High, Oakhaven High, Memphis Health Careers Academy, Overton High, Raleigh-Egypt High, Treadwell High, Trezevant High, Westwood High and Whitehaven High.

Sydney Wins Australs, Naomi Oreb Top Speaker

Colm Flynn has that news, although unofficial, and we will have more complete posting later.

Serbia Hosts International Debate Training

Smiling faces from 2006 debate training in Belgrade

From Vesna Ceranic vesnaceranic@gmail.com

Dear fellow debaters, students, speakers of the world!


We are proudly inviting you to a specific and unusual debating programme – a five days debating & communication school in Belgrade! Whether you are an excellent world class debater, or just an individual wishing to gain remarkable skill of communicating – you will have a chance to learn something you can really use later!


DIALOGUE 08 – PRACTICAL SCHOOL OF DEBATE

July 19-25, 2008, Belgrade, Serbia
Come and join DIALOGUE08 – practical school of debate.
Come and visit Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, on July 19-25, 2008.
Come and learn from those who know – our lecturers are Jens Fischer, David Register and Stephen Llano.
Come and debate at the international debating tournament during the last two days – on July 24-25.

Please find attached more detailed info and application form!
Please pass this info widely!

Best regards,

Debate Club FOS
University of Belgrade

Sydney vs. Monash in Australs Final

From Colm Flynn:

Sydney-1 (Julia Bowes, Naomi Oreb, Steve Hind)
and
Monash-1 (Victor Finkel, Sashi Balaraman, Kiran Iyer)
will contest the 2008 grand final of the Australasian Debating Championships.

Monash to host Australs 2009

Monash University have won the right to host the 2009 Austral-Asian Debating Championships. They won the vote at council ahead of a rival bid from Keio.

Canadian Debate Coach to Star in Horror Thriller

From http://www.filmstew.com/showArticle.aspx?ContentID=17397

The Psychotic Professor
A Canadian university debate team coach is hoping to get an “A” for his upcoming performance in a cheesy B movie send-up.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008 at 8:40 AM
By FilmStew Staff

For the past 15 years, Assistant Professor Michael McDonald has been a faculty member of the Communication Department of Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton University, coaching a debate society and teaching argumentation and debate, among other topics. But later this summer, he will be taking on a very different role when he plays the lead lunatic in a micro low-budget horror film spoof entitled The Legend of the Psychotic Forest Ranger.
The project is the brainchild of the Sydney, NS brother-and-sister team of Brad and Jacquelyn Mills, who will be co-directing and have raised some of the funds through Facebook. Earlier this year, Jacquelyn – a recent graduate of Montreal’s Concordia University film program – won top prize at her school and a Best Cinematography Award from the Toronto International Film Festival’s 2008 Student Film Showcase competition for her short For Wendy.
“You go back and you watch a movie now that you thought was scary in the ’80s or the ’90s and you realize how bad it actually is - and it becomes really funny, even though they were trying to make it really scary,” Brad tells the Cape Breton Post. “Our film is a comedy send-up of those ’80s horror movies. A group of teens take a wrong turn on a dirt road and end up at a cabin in the woods where they get chopped up by the psychotic forest ranger.”
This is not the first time brother Mills has thrown his weight behind a wacky professorial cinematic enterprise shot in Cape Breton. Back in 2003, he starred in the comedy feature Toilet Love, which encompassed the efforts of a love guidance counselor by the name of Professor Sweatnuts. Production on Psychotic Forest Ranger is scheduled for August.

Semis at Australs

From Colm Flynn (quarters) and Anonymous (Semis):

The top 8 teams all made it through the Octo-finals. The Australs 2008 Qtr Finalists are

Sydney-1 (1)
Melbourne-1 (2)
Ateneo-1 (3)
Sydney-2 (4)
Uni of Queensland-1 (5)
Victoria-1 (6)
Monash-1 (7)
Victoria Wellington-2 (8)
This means the Qtr Final lineup is

QF 1 Sydney-1 (1) vs Victoria Wellington-2 (8)
QF 4 Sydney-2 (4) vs University of Queensland-1 (5)
QF 2 Melbourne-1 (2) vs Monash-1 (7)
QF 3 Ateneo-1 (3) vs Victoria Wellington-1 (6)

Semis:

Sydney 1 v Sydney 2
Ateneo 1 v Monash 1

Debate Recognized as Top Success Building Skill

From http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/jul/09/little-argument-over-the-true-merits-of-debate/

Little argument over the true merits of debate

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

What do broadcast journalist Jane Pauley, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and Congress of Racial Equality founder James Farmer Jr. have in common?

They are all former debaters.

Debate, like no other extracurricular activity, hones skills in research, analysis, logic and the ability to weigh both sides of an issue.

In fact, at the end of a forensic season, if you were to ask which side of a resolution a debater actually supports, you'd probably get a shrug. Once forced to examine all the evidence on any topic, he or she can't help but conclude that the truth lurks in the gray netherworld between black and white.

According to Timothy M. O'Donnell, chairman of the National Debate Tournament, "Compared to intercollegiate athletics and other costly endeavors, debate is, dollar for dollar an inexpensive, educational and effective way to both promote schools and enhance the quality of the academic experience."

Recently, a documentary ("Resolved") and a feature film ("The Great Debaters") glimpsed the dark side of debate as well.

The "Resolved" trailer (http://www.debatemovie.com/) begins with four young men apparently speaking in tongues, as they intersperse undefined jargon (flow, topicality, kritik) with an alphabet soup of federal agencies.

Then the real shocker grabs your attention. A speaker named Sam rears back and starts literally spitting out words — at the totally unintelligible rate of 400 per minute. His auctioneer-like delivery is only interrupted by audible gulps for air. There is nobody in the audience, save the judge.

No wonder intercollegiate debate is on the decline. In fact, only one in 10 schools now support the once de rigueur academic pursuit.

Assisted by stop-motion animation, "Resolved" chronicles the advent of "the spread," a technique originally instigated by a national champion wannabe during the early '60s.

Instead of leisurely issuing a few well fleshed-out arguments in a 10-minute constructive, he would spew as many points as possible (quality giving way to quantity) to propel his opponent into attempting to "cover" or respond to each during a five-minute rebuttal.

Most teams competing before the spread became established, carted evidence around in a recipe card box. Today, refrigerator dollies are required to lug five or six oversized Rubbermaid tubs bursting with cards.

If you'd rather view debate's golden years, rent Denzel Washington's "The Great Debaters." The film follows a team from historically black Wiley College (Marshall, Texas), that packed auditoriums by amassing a string of Jim Crow South-stunning victories over white competitors. Renowned poet Melvin B. Tolson was the coach. Farmer, Wiley's most famous alum, told American Legacy: "I debated Malcolm X four times and beat him. I'd think, come off it Malcolm, you can't win. You didn't come up under Tolson."

While Tolson insisted only he was capable of constructing arguments for his students, as conquests boosted confidence, the debaters started substituting their own thoughtful analyses — peppered with vivid personal anecdotes.

Only once was the playing field between black and white debaters actually level, however — when both teams, armed with a stack of the same books and only a day to prepare, argued civil disobedience without their coaches in Cambridge, Mass. Actually, the film fudged. In real life, Wiley faced-off against USC on April 1, 1935. Harvard wasn't the reigning debate power at that time.

When "Resolved" shifts to Louis Blackwell and Richard Funches, who came out of nowhere — namely Long Beach Jordan High School — to become state champions, there are echoes of the golden years. Even though their inner-city school lacked travel funds and subscription databases, their hard work paid off.

In 2006, however, the dynamic duo felt led by Paolo Friere's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" to debate the structure of debate itself. "We decided to throw out all the evidence," Funches explains in the film, "and (conversationally) talk about why debate wasn't educational for us."

This approach, although it won the ballots of many "fed-up-with-spread-debate" judges, didn't result in a second championship. Reform, like virtue, is its own punishment.

Is there a lesson here for either Barack Obama, who recently reneged on his promise to restrict himself to public funds, or John McCain, whose name is eponymous, if not synonymous, with campaign finance reform?

Like the first debater to exploit the spread to his advantage, Obama, according to experts, will spread $300 million in television ads throughout all 50 states before Election Day. McCain, however, who opted to honor his pledge, may well realize the cost, like young Funches and Blackwell, of standing on principle.

Besides Pauley, Alito and Farmer, Karl Rove also claims to be a former debater. We would be wise to remember the principles-challenged political operative's parting words upon vacating the West Wing on August 31, 2007: "You all had something to do with keeping me employed."

— Beverly Kelley, Ph.D., who writes a biweekly column for The Star, is an author and acting chair of the Communication Department at California Lutheran University. Visit http://beverlykelley.typepad.com/my_weblog. Her e-mail address is kelley@clunet.edu.

Joe Jackson, Famous Debate Coach and Oklahoma Educator

From http://www.edmondsun.com/local/local_story_190211206.html

UCO's Joe Jackson dies at age 97

By Patty Miller and James Coburn
The Edmond Sun
EDMOND July 08, 2008 09:32 pm

— University of Central Oklahoma Vice President Emeritus Joe C. Jackson, 97, of Edmond, died Monday of natural causes.
Jackson worked at UCO for more than 50 years, serving 25 of them as vice president of Academic Affairs and Dean of Students, creating several graduate programs, recruiting faculty and improving academic standards.
Jackson spent more than 70 years in education, first as a high school and junior college teacher. He joined Central State College in 1948.
“When I enrolled in college I took a history class with Dr. Jackson as my instructor,” said Georgia Sparks, retired teacher from Orvis Risner Elementary.
“I love history and Dr. Joe had the most interesting class in college,” Sparks said. “Dr. Joe knew just about everybody in Edmond at one time. Edmond was a small town when Dr. Joe came here.”
Retired art professor Kathryn Kunc was counted in Jackson’s circle of friends.
“He was the greatest in everything that we accomplished at UCO when he was on the staff,” Kunc said. “In fact, I think he made the graduate program a success. He instigated the graduate programs.”
Kunc said Jackson was a leader from the beginning as well as a kind, nice, perfect gentlemen.
“He was one of the finest at UCO, and a marvelous leader,” Kunc said. “The greatest, greatest. I just wish we could have 100 Joe Jacksons on our faculty.
“I believe he was the greatest educator in Oklahoma history.”
From 1951 to 1976, he was Central’s vice president of academic affairs and dean of students.
He was instrumental in the push to move what was then Central State College to Central State University, often saying that the biggest moment in his tenure was when Gov. David Hall approved the name change in 1971.
“With his leadership, Central created graduate programs, recruited faculty and raised the educational standards,” said UCO President W. Roger Webb. “He prepared Central for its change to university status in 1971, then did the work afterward to make it more than a university name.
“Jackson loved to teach,” Webb said, “and even after his retirement from administration, he continued to do what he loved best — teaching part-time at Central; at his church, St. Luke’s United Methodist; and at Epworth Villa, the retirement village where he lived the last few years,” Webb said.
“When he taught his final class at Central in 2004, he had more than 90 students come to hear him speak about the Five Civilized Tribes. Such was the love and respect for this man who gave so much to those he most enjoyed leading — his students.”
The UCO community was saddened to hear of Jackson’s death, with Webb calling him a respected educator and a valued university leader.
“Dr. Jackson’s life exemplified so much of this university’s life, its call to make learning a lifelong passion and to teach through example and leadership,” Webb said. “He certainly contributed in a major way to making this university what it is today, and all of our lives are richer because of him.”
In 1999, Jackson established the Enid L. Jackson Graduate Scholarship in Elementary Education at the UCO Foundation in honor of his wife, Enid. A Central graduate herself, she taught elementary school for 29 years. She died in 2002 and was married to Jackson for 68 years.
At the time, Jackson said he thought elementary teachers were the most important part of the school system. “That’s where students learn to read and to get along with each other — where children learn how to learn.”
In recognition of Jackson’s contributions, UCO named the Joe C. Jackson College of Graduate Studies and Research in 2002 after the educator.
He fully retired from UCO in 2004 as an adjunct professor, having retired from administration in 1976.
Of his father, Vic Jackson said, “He was a great guy. He was a marvelous individual, historian and a debate coach.
“He enjoyed most of all helping students pursue their education, pursue their goals. He was a wonderful father, grandfather and good friend.”
Services for Jackson will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Baggerley Funeral Home in Edmond with burial to follow at Memorial Park.
Webb extended thoughts and prayers to Jackson’s family on behalf of the entire UCO community and expressed appreciation for their allowing Jackson to share his life with UCO.

From Debater to Coach to University President

From http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2008/jul/08/new-western-president-hopes-take-root/

New Western president hopes to take root
Vartabedian has climbed ladder in Midwest
by Jimmy Myers
Tuesday, July 8, 2008

When asked what advice he had for the incoming president of Missouri Western State University, a retiring Dr. Jim Scanlon said a couple of weeks ago that “Bob doesn’t need any advice from me.”

Dr. Scanlon and Dr. Bob Vartabedian spent about 10 days together, a few of them taking in the College World Series in Omaha, and a couple in Jefferson City. Dr. Vartabedian, who just completed his first week as the president of Western, must have made a good impression.

Dr. Vartabedian, 55, ends a tradition of Irish-blooded presidents at Western. A third-generation American, he’s of Armenian and Lebanese descent. He grew up in Fresno, Calif., a town that attracted many Armenian immigrants, including his ancestors.

The West Coast boy became a Midwesterner after his first four years of college. Dr. Vartabedian’s debate coach at Fresno State University convinced him to join a graduate program at Wichita State University. He took his mentor up on the offer and hasn’t looked west in 30 years.

He met his wife, Laurel, a playwright, at Wichita State. They married a year after meeting and went off to the University of Oklahoma, where they each earned their doctorates, his in communications.

They spent the bulk of the 1980s back at Wichita State, where Dr. Vartabedian became the university’s director of debate and forensics and eventually the assistant dean of the graduate school.

“I always thought of myself as a teacher,” said the former high school teacher turned professor. “Not until the early ’80s when I was at Wichita State ... did I even think about administration.”

With two kids in tow, Sarah, and Rob (now in their mid to late 20s), the Vartabedians moved to Canyon, Texas, where he assumed the position of head of the art, communications and theater department at West Texas A&M University.

After 11 years in Texas, Dr. Vartabedian took another move up the administrative ladder as the dean of arts and science at Western Carolina University. And for the past three years, Dr. Vartabedian has been the vice president for academic affairs at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, N.M.

“I liked the sorts of things you could do by being in a leadership position,” he said, “having a sense of vision and acting upon it and rallying the troops. I kind of liked it.”

A presidential search committee was formed shortly after Dr. Scanlon announced his intention to retire a year ago. A search firm was hired, and by December of last year, three candidates were chosen to visit Western and St. Joseph for a series of public appearances and forums.

Dr. Vartabedian said when asked how long he would consider staying at Western, that he would like to “make this my last stay.” He said being president of a university is what he has hoped for since starting his administrative climb.

“I’d love to put in a good career here and do all I can to move the university and community forward,” he said. “I have no aspirations for larger schools and larger cities. In the last 20 years of my career, these are the sorts of universities I’ve been most interested in.”

Walking into an investigation

Last Monday was Dr. Vartabedian’s first day on the job and his first meeting with his cabinet. He went around the table to ask what was on everyone’s mind. The recent situation with the NCAA violation came up first.

Dr. Vartabedian, and several new cabinet members, are walking into a mess that started when coaches for the women’s basketball team allegedly gave a total of more than $1,000 to three players. He plans to do some fact finding first and then walk the “fine line” of establishing a clean athletic program and “making sure you’re not devastating the program.”

“Now I’m trying to unravel things in terms of what happened and how we’re going to deal with the punishment,” he said.

Dr. Vartabedian said that even though he feels he and the new cabinet members (including a new athletic director) are starting with a “clean slate,” he thinks it’s important that he communicates to Western personnel that “we cannot tolerate this.”

“These are the consequences of not abiding by the rules,” he said. “In some ways, it’s a concern. But in some ways, it’s a time of opportunity.”

Leaving an imprint

Dr. Scanlon’s vision for what he called a New American Regional University hinged on applied learning for students and outreach into the community. Dr. Vartabedian wants to enhance that ideal to include financial literacy programs to ensure that Western graduates have a grasp on money matters.

None of these ideas are etched in stone, he is quick to remind, but Dr. Vartabedian also would like to develop international study programs with universities overseas.

“An important aspect of being an American and being a New American Regional University is understanding that we’re in a global community,” he said, mentioning that Eastern New Mexico University had a successful degree program with a university in China.

Dr. Vartabedian said that college communities also have a “wonderful resource of retired faculty” and that he’d like to get them more involved in day-to-day university activities.

And though he wanted to keep it under his hat until the idea can develop more solidly, Dr. Vartabedian, who like his predecessor is a huge fan of Shakespeare, would like to see an enhanced Shakespeare studies program in the name of Dr. Scanlon. However, the initiative would take a funding push that will need some looking into, he said, making no promises that it would happen given the current economy.

Breaks from Australs

From http://worlddebating.blogspot.com/2008/07/australs-break.html

From comments on this site and posts on other boards the break at Australs is:

1. Sydney-1 (8 wins)
2. Melbourne-1 (7 wins)
3. Ateneo-1 (6 wins)
4. Sydney-2 (6 wins)
5. University of Queensland-1 (6 wins)
6. Victoria Wellington-1 (6 wins)
7. Monash-1 (6 wins)
8. Victoria Wellington-2 (6 wins)
9. Sydney-3 (6 wins Vic 2 faces in octo)
10. Ateneo-2 (5 wins)
11. Monash-2 (5 wins Vic 1 faces in octo)
12. NUS-1 (5 wins)
13. MMU-1 (5 wins)
14. Ateneo-3 (5 wins)
15. UTS-1 (5 wins)
16. DLSU-1 (5 wins)

Note: Only three teams may break from the same institution. If this cap did not exist Sydney would have broken three additional teams and Ateneo two additional teams.

The Octo finals are
Sydney-1 (1) vs DLSU-1 (16)
Melbourne-1 (2) vs UTS-1 (15)
Ateneo-1 (3) vs Ateneo-3 (14)
Sydney-2 (4) vs MMU-1 (13)
University of Queensland-1 (5) vs NUS-1 (12)
Victoria Wellington-1 (6) vs Monash-2 (11)
Monash-1 (7) vs Ateneo-2 (10)
Victoria Wellington-2 (8) vs Sydney-3 (9)

Former Debate Coach Works on McCain's Style

From http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/johnmccain/2258579/John-McCain-works-with-speech-coach.html

John McCain works with speech coach
By Alex Spillius in Washington
Last Updated: 8:44PM BST 06/07/2008
Senator John McCain is working with advisers on improving his public speaking, which suffers in comparison to his rival Senator Barack Obama’s soaring oratory, according to reports.

John McCain's new advisors are insisting on a much tighter focus on the message of the day.
Despite 24 years in politics, Mr McCain is by his own admission not at his strongest in front of a teleprompter, preferring off-the-cuff exchanges with voters and journalists at town hall meetings and press conferences.

Some aides fear his speaking style will cost him votes in November’s election. He currently trails the Democrat in every opinion poll, by an average of 5.8 percentage points.

The Republican presidential candidate is being counseled on how to improve his delivery, and how to avoid the side of the mouth manner and sarcasm that can turn off voters, according to The New York Times.

Article continues
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Mr McCain’s reading of prepared speeches is often punctuated by awkward smiles and sniggers, and can sound as if he is seeing the words for the first time.

Stephen Colbert, host of the satirical television show The Colbert Report, said Mr McCain’s rhetorical style “can best be described as 'tired mayonnaise', ".

The New York Times said that Brett O’Donnell, his Director of Messaging who was a former debate consultant to President George W Bush, is working with Mr McCain on his speeches. The senator has recently decreased the use of the catchphrase “my friend” which was often deployed as a put down.

He has also apparently abandoned caustic remarks towards Mr Obama. For several weeks until recently Mr McCain regularly said of his younger rival: “For a young man with very little experience, he’s done very well.”

Aware that Mr McCain is up against perhaps the best speech-giver in a political generation in Mr Obama, the campaign last week recruited Greg Jenkins, a former White House official and Fox News producer, to oversee the producing and staging of McCain's events, which have also come in for criticism inside and outside the campaign.

Last month he appeared in New Orleans in front of an unpleasant green backdrop with boos from boorish supporters at times drowning him out.

His appointment is part of a shake-up announced last week, which saw Steve Schmidt, who worked on the 2004 Bush campaign and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s election as California governor, take charge of the day-to-day running of the campaign.

He is insisting on a much tighter focus on the message of the day, which will be delivered in pre-written speeches.

Tucker Bounds, spokesman for the McCain campaign, said of Mr O’Donnell: “He continues to work closely with Senator McCain on public appearances but the lion’s share of his work is based on message and the way the senator goes about making his points in the speeches and at town halls.”

USA CEDA Topics Up for Vote

Schools will vote for which of these topics will be debated the entire 2008-09 school year.

From http://cedadebate.org/?q=pending_topic

ROM GORDON STABLES, as posted on www.cedatopic.com

Resolution 1a: Resolved: that the United States Federal Government should substantially reduce its agricultural support, through the elimination of all or nearly all the domestic support, export subsidies and/or market access barriers, for biofuels, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, corn, cotton, dairy, fisheries, rice, soybeans, sugar and/or wheat.

Resolution 1b: Resolved: that the United States Federal Government should substantially reduce its agricultural support, through the elimination of all or nearly all the domestic support, export subsidies and/or market access barriers, for biofuels, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, fisheries and/or one or more commodities in Title I of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008.

Resolution 1c: Resolved: that the United States Federal Government should substantially reduce its agricultural support, through the elimination of all or nearly all the domestic support, export subsidies and/or market access barriers, for biofuels and/or one or more commodities in Title I of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008.

Resolution 2a: Resolved: that the United States Federal Government should substantially reduce its agricultural support, at least eliminating nearly all of the domestic subsidies, for biofuels, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, corn, cotton, dairy, fisheries, rice, soybeans, sugar and/or wheat.

Resolution 2b: Resolved: that the United States Federal Government should substantially reduce its agricultural support, at least eliminating nearly all of the domestic subsidies, for biofuels, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, fisheries and/or one or more commodities in Title I of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008.

Resolution 2c: Resolved: that the United States Federal Government should substantially reduce its agricultural support, at least eliminating nearly all of the domestic subsidies, for biofuels and/or one or more commodities in Title I of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008.

The process can be examined at http://www.cedatopic.com/

Based on community vote, the 2008-09 CEDA topic controversy is "Decrease agricultural subsidies in the United States." This controversy is based on the paper, "Reforming U.S. Agricultural Policy" submitted by the Vanderbilt University Debate Team, specifically Bryan Grayson, Nick Brown, Cameron Norris & Phil Rappmund. Congratulations to all of these folks for a very well-written paper.

The CEDA Topic Selection Committee, in coordination with community volunteers, will be preparing a list of wording options that will appear on the next community ballot.

We have many ways to have members of the community help with the topic process. We are very much seeking community input. To lend your voice you can:

1) Leave a comment on the CEDA Blog. - These comments are regularly read and it allows us to keep an organized collection of comments, suggestions, links, etc. Please provide your perspective on

2) Volunteer to help with the committee groups - In the next few days working groups will be organized to help review each element of the topic. We need more help with each area and we need volunteers to assist. As these groups are formalized I will be adding contact information for each group.

3) Write a wording paper - We have invited any member of the community to submit a proposal calling for specific wording to be used on the upcoming ballot. Any complete papers that provide a germane option to decreasing agricultural subsidies in the United States controversy need to be submitted by Wednesday, May 28th. Any such papers will be placed on the agenda by the committee and voted on during the summer meetings.

In the coming days I will be posting the agenda and schedule for the topic committee meetings. The topic selection committee will meet on the University of Texas-Dallas campus from June 2-4. The committee meetings will begin after the CEDA summer business meetings conclude on the morning of June 2nd. We are using the The Westin Park Central, Dallas as the official hotel for the meetings. You can contact them at 12720 Merit Drive. Dallas, Texas 75251, United States Phone: (972) 385-3000. All meetings will be webcasted.

Kyiv Open in September

From http://eypby.org/?p=74

International Debate Tournament Kyiv Open
Dear all,

we’re glad to announce that on September 26–28, 2008 in the beautiful city of Kyiv (Ukraine) International Debate Tournament KYIV OPEN will take place. It is held by UYNGO “Debate Academy”
Just imagine: sun, blossom, greenery and… debates! =)

The tournament will be held in British Parliamentary style.
Language – English.
Team cap – 32 teams.
Participation fee €10 per debater, no charge for adjudicators. Participants are provided with accommodation, food and transfer round our beautiful city.
We do not insist on N-1 rule, for we don’t mind composite teams to enter the Tournament.

Chief Adjudicator – G. Rhydian Morgan (CA at numerous UK and European tournaments: Euros Warm-Up, Belgrade Open 2008 and Tilbury House 2008, DCA at Ankara Open, European Open winner, well known and highly appreciated lecturer on debates and rhetoric).
DCA’s: Uve Poom (EUDC 2007 ESL winner), Sergei Naumoff (Member of IDEA Board) and… a new EUDC 2008 star

During the three days of the Tournament participants will face 5 preliminary, semi-final and final rounds, training on rules, debate party with some r-r-real surprise; have an opportunity to communicate with extraordinary people; and feel the unique atmosphere of one of the oldest cities of Europe.

Registration will be opened on July 26 and closed on September 12. Don’t miss your chance to debate in one of the greenest, most picturesque and ancient cities of Europe!

Details are aviable here.
Our group in Facebook.

World Schools Debating Championship Releases Prepared Motions

From Claire Ryan:

Kia ora and greetings.

On behalf of the host of this year's World Schools Debating Championships to be held in Washington DC in September 2008, I hereby advise you of the motions for the preliminary prepared rounds and final.

PRELIMINARY ROUND PREPARED MOTIONS

That this house supports military intervention to deliver emergency aid in humanitarian crises

That this house believes that governments have a duty to bail out failing financial institutions.

That this house would ban the use of unethically obtained data in scientific research

That this house would make the directors of multinational companies personally liable for environmental abuses committed by their companies in the developing world

GRAND FINAL MOTION
That this house would expand the permanent membership of the UN Security Council

NOTE:

All teams should arrive in Washington DC prepared to debate both the Proposition and Opposition sides for each of the four preliminary round prepared motions.

The draw (the document listing which teams will be debating each other in each round, which teams will be in proposition and opposition for each debate, and the order in which the prepared motions will be debated) will only be released shortly before the start of the Championship.

Whilst preparing for the debates, teams are strongly advised to read and be familiar with the WSDC Guidelines on Defining Motions & Constructing Cases.

OTHER ROUNDS

All teams involved in the championships will participate in eight preliminary round debates - four of which will be prepared debates on the motions listed above, and four of which will be impromptu debates for which the motions will be released only one hour in advance.

Please note that if the total number of participating teams is an odd number, one team will sit out each preliminary round and instead participate in a 'bye-round' so four teams will debate only three of the prepared motions if that is the case.

The octo-finals, quarter-finals and semi-finals will also be impromptu debates.

For impromptu debates, the team members will be kept in preparation rooms during the hour leading up to the debate. They will not be allowed to consult with their coaches during that hour.

Under the WSDC Rules, teams may not bring any published or handwritten materials into their preparation rooms for impromptu debates, except for one English Language dictionary, one bilingual dictionary, and one single-volume encyclopaedia or almanac. They are also not allowed to bring in any devices that are potentially capable of accessing information from outside the preparation room, such as mobile phones, laptop computers, pagers, PDAs, BlackBerries, and so on.

Motions Committee

Motions for all rounds of the competition are selected by the Motions Selection Committee, which consists of five members elected by the World Schools Debating Council and two members selected by the host organising committee. For 2008, the members of the Motions Selection Committee are: Ria Nuri Dharmawan (Indonesia) Hayah Eichler, (Israel), Albert Fornis (Greece), Noel McGrath (Ireland), Aaron Maniam (Singapore), Ian Lising (USA) and Justin Rodriguez (USA).

If you have any questions regarding the rules or format for debates at the championships, please feel free to email me for clarification.

Best wishes and good luck for your team's preparations for the competition.

Kind regards,

Claire Ryan
Secretary, World Schools Debating Council Executive Committee

Students Violate Dorm Rules - To Debate!

From the Ben Franklin Transatlantic Fellows Initiative.

From http://founders.blogs.bftf.org/2008/07/04/12-am-–-do-you-know-what-your-kid-is-doing/#more-224

12 a.m. – Do You Know What Your Kid Is Doing?
Steven Staszewski and Nasser Siadat sit side-by-side in warm comraderie. At first appearance, it would not occur in anyone’s mind that two nights ago they were loudly yelling at each other and breaking BFTF rules. That’s right Mrs. Siadat and Mrs. Staszewski – your sons have been trouble.
12 a.m. means that the Founders have to be in their rooms for bed. However, when the R.A. on duty approached the boys’ wing to check that everyone was in their rooms, the R.A. came across a group of excited Fellows listening and videotaping as Steven and Nasser hotly debated about the 2006 33 Day War between Lebanon and Israel. Did I mention that the debate was not an assignment?
I approached Steven and Nasser today in order to verify that I understood the story correctly. Instead of interviewing two teenagers who understood Middle Eastern politics in a shallow way, both had an impressive understanding of the facts to justify their viewpoints. “It’s Hezbollah’s fault that there were as many civilian casualties… Hezbollah was garrisoning buildings that civilians lived in,” says Steven. Steven is a proud political Zionist who plans on studying in a boarding school in Israel for three years starting this August. The inspiration for his political views has been his upset over Israel bashing from other countries and the media.
Nasser, on the other hand, would not call himself a Zionist. “I am not even sure that Israel originally had a right to exist,” he admits. Nasser is unsure what he would like to do in the future. That fact has not held him back from reading and speaking out about Middle Eastern issues though. In his own words, “Israel should not have aimed and shot at buildings with civilians in them! Israel reacted disproportionately to the threat.”
The sharp divide in opinion between these two remarkable young men has not left them bitter with each other. “Nasser is going to visit me when I am in Israel next year,” Steven excitedly says. “Plus he invited me to go out to Indiana!” The key to their strong friendship despite their different opinions was best articulated by Nasser’s profound statement, “There is so much more we share that is alike than different.”
In the past Fellows have tried to break the curfew in order to visit friends’ rooms or to take a shower past bedtime. Steven and Nasser were the first to successfully persuade a staff member to bend the curfew rules.

Indian Politicians Challenged to Embrace Debating

From http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=137053

Debate shows: Necessary for a healthy democracy
Debates are the articles of electronic media. It must be an anodyne experience for democracy when it sees a viewpoint being dissected to reach at a righteous conclusion. What stops our politicians from appearing on debate programmes on TV?.
CJ: Pramod Khilery

DEBATES AND democracy are twins. They just can’t be separated. When noted economist and Noble laureate Dr Amartya Sen raised some fundamental issues confronting democracy in his book, he couldn’t help giving it the title ‘The Argumentative Indian’. Dr Sen couldn’t have titled the book more aptly, for Indians have been argumentative since aeons.

Politics and current state of affairs have been amongst the favourite topics for a vast majority of Indians to ramble on. Even now, in this purported fast age, these discussions rule the roost in hinterlands. In villages and mofussils, as the evening begins to set in, people too find themselves rushing towards chaupals (an assembly place) to be part of common discussion. Even in the case of quarrels or petty crimes the tradition has been to arrive at a compromise or solution through discussion keeping law at bay. These debates may not play any significant role in national affairs but they at least are illustrative of a fact that the essential ingredient of democracy had always been inherent in the Indian psyche.

Now let me divert your attention to another kind of debates. I call them television debates. With the knowledge that television has become inexpensive and ingrained into our society coupled with the fact that politics interests most people, especially in rustic India than in metros, I believe these television debates deserve more viewership and greater respect from possible participants. A serious question, which comes to my mind is how many of our nation-pullers think of these debates as an ideal platform to hard sell their ideas to public? And how many of us viewers, who might be news limpets in strict sense of word, do care to watch debates?

With the deluge of news channels, both in Hindi and English, we have some worthwhile choices to make. At the risk of being labelled didactic, I would dare say that even those, who don’t have satellite channels can switch over to DD1, DD News and Lok Sabha channel to watch and listen to a variety of debates including political debates. To be very true, I haven’t seen many people, at least around me, taking any keen interest in debates. This fact becomes a matter of concern as well as amazement when I see simple villagers with zilch literacy levels always ready to listen to their leaders in person or on television.

What purpose do debates serve and why I want more debates to be telecast on television? For me, debates are the articles of electronic media. As newspapers would lose their soul and become light and enervated if they are not fed on the healthy diet of trenchant and question-raising articles and editorials, electronic media, too, would fall to the levels of being nothing short of cheap entertainment channels if they choose to ignore the importance of debates.

Doing away with debates or not trying to improve their quality are some of the traits already being exhibited by some channels of late. Perhaps, more business oriented and less journalistic ethoed minds find it more prudent to capitulate before ‘market pressure’ and spare more air time for ‘breaking news’ and ‘special shows’ than debates. It must be an anodyne experience for democracy when it sees a viewpoint being dissected and analysis being formed to reach at a righteous conclusion most perfectly fit in the given situation. In the wake of this fact, it would be a huge service to the cause of democracy as well as value and class of their own channels if news channels expend a bit of their energy to produce world class debate programmes with the necessary promotion.

Now, we veer our gaze from news channels and focus at democracy. As I stated earlier, these are the debates, which lie at the crux of any form of governmental system, which calls itself democratic. And just like the idol of a deity is placed in a temple and bhajans (devotional songs) are sung around by devotees, idol of goddess of democracy rests in a temple, we call Parliament. I believe this deity, too, deserves her own bhajans by her die hard devotees.

Same holds true for all such small temples built across the country. Now it is up to these devotees to visit their temples and sing saccharine bhajans steeped in utmost devotion to the deity if they so claim to be. If one calls oneself devotee, then his craving for darshan (sight) of his god must outweigh his other wishes and yearnings. But sadly, to the consternation of temple and goddess alike, these devotees seem more interested in being a corrupt and venal pujari(priest) than mere devotees. More than the idol it is the religious offering by common people that they have their eyes on.

When was the last time we had seen, or they had allowed us to be witness to their arduous debates about any one problem plaguing millions in this country. Last time when I tuned into Lok Sabha channel to see the proceedings of the Parliament, all that I got to see was scant presence and bland questions and answers. May be, they don’t want us to be a party to their more intense and effulgent demeanor when they indulge in ignominious squabbles (which turns physical sometimes) and hastened and irresponsible walk outs.

When Western observers heap encomiums and label India, along with China, as a rising superpower, our politicians lap it up because it suits them. A stamp of approval and a sweet lolly pop to be offered to general public, that too from the West, what else can rival it?

I take respite in the fact that those, whose memories have been labeled too short and too weak are not that twerp as they are made out or thought to be by their own leaders. In the last general elections, when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) tried to offer this lolly pop of ’India Shining’, they paid the price by losing power.

Coming to television debates again, one factor that I couldn’t help noticing was the appearance of same political faces, mostly crafted leaders, emphasising their party’s viewpoints on different channels. It seems that this might be the one reason that they are indispensable to their respective parties.

What is amazing, in a democratic country like India, is that we don’t see many politicians, especially, who claim to have large mass followings and being in the thick of the things using television debates as a medium to connect to masses. Their obvious retort must be: Why debate when there are rallies?

I may be utterly wrong but from what I have seen in these rallies, I can vouch for the fact that these rallies are nothing short of pretentious hogwash of the highest level. People are brought packed in trucks and tractors to kranti maidans and then are unpacked like belongings. This constitutes some 60 per cent of the crowd. Rest includes curious natives and onlookers of the place and party workers themselves. A political leader be labours about his virtues and vices of his adversary. A large swathe of party workers make sure a grand applause at regular intervals with rants of zindabad (long live) interspersed spasmodically. In this imbroglio, our political leader, the only saviour of his people, prefers to turn a blind eye to those fainting in excruciating sun and his drivel continues. Of course, these rallies can’t fill in for debates because there one runs the risk of being stopped and exposed to incisiveness of questions.

We have just seen the victory of presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama and have witnessed the torrent of countless debates he had had with his rival candidate to win the nomination, bringing to the fore almost every facet of their whole being. John McCain, too, won his nomination after being through inexorable debates.

We also saw that all the candidates, who were in the fray, did not see it beneath their dignity to appear on television shows and indulging in not only debate but in banter as well. On several occasions, we had hosts like Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel making fun of candidates contending for most important job in the world. We saw Jon Stewart and Stephan Colbert taking cudgels on behalf of the public to grope and sound out candidates aspiring to be their next president.

We are aware that India is not America but we also know that debate is a debate whether India or America. I bemuse when I try to find out what stops our politicians, especially those, who play a more crucial role in running the country and remain at the helm, from appearing on debate programmes on television or arranging for live telecast of internal debates of their parties. If they can demand support from a voter it is an obligation on their part to tell voter who they are and how they work.

Will we ever get to see a Mulayam Singh Yadav debating with Prakash Karat on his decision to support the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on the issue of nuclear deal? Will a Prakash Singh Badal ever take part in a debate to tell us about the bottlenecks in electoral politics? Will a Mayawati ever decide to stand among her political bete noires on the same platform for answering questions straight either from them or from public? Will a Om Prakash Chautala ever deem television debates and their audience worthy enough to spare few hours from his busy life to ponder upon whether corruption or corrupted are like termites or not? Will a Jayalalitha ever feel like an ordinary mortal human being to have us believe that she doesn’t resent questions no matter however sharp they are and from whoever they are? Will a Sonia Gandhi hold a debate if someone dares to challenge Rahul Gandhi’s direct accession to the top post or the challenger will simply see himself getting punished on disciplinarian account? Will a Manmohan Singh dare say, "Why this politics about nuclear deal, let us debate what is good or what is bad in full view of the country, whose interests I claim to serve by having this deal done?"

We often hear politicians whining about sting operations and sensationalism, the two evils electronic media is besotted with, and proposing regulation of media. Definitely evil and provocative sting operations and sensationalism must be checked but it would make us equally happier if they also inspire media in making quality debate programmes, arranging for their own debates and doing their bit to serve the goddess of democracy in addition to what they are already doing.

As we see and read, impression comes that our politicians, our ‘representatives’, who appear proud of our diversity and secularism don’t think it fit enough to ask us, every time they change their side or for that matter even views,. Will they ever be concerned to show us a display of what lies at the very crux of their favourite monologues ie, democracy and secularism, by agreeing to appear on debate shows more regularly and in utter sincerity. I am sure no reality show will be like this.

Kuwait Medical Students Debate Future of Health Sector

From http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MTEyMzc1NzE2Nw==

Medical students hold debate on privatizing health sector in Kuwait
Published Date: July 05, 2008

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt: Students of the Faculty of Medicine at Kuwait University yesterday held a debate between supporters and contesters of the privatization of the health care sector in Kuwait. The debate, which was held on the sidelines of the annual International Conference for the Management of Medical Care under the title (Privatization of the Medical Sector-a Strategic Vision for the year 2025), received admiration from participants at the conference as it was the first of its kind to be run by stu
dents and discussed by doctors and officials from the government and the private sector. The conference, which kicked off yesterday, is organized by Sama International Company.

In a statement, KU faculty member Dr Manal Mansour Bouhaimad commended the level of the student-run debate, pointing out that the students have presented research and studies on the privatization of the health care sector with both the supporting team and its rival contributing in enriching substance of the conference in a "stunningly-unique" manner.

On her part, medicine student Nouf Al-Enzi expressed deep content over here participation in the debate. She said that the debate mainly dealt with the pros and cons of privatizing the health sector in Kuwait, pointing out that the students stressed on the importance of the private sector on that regard as well as the government's support.

Sara Al-Jazzaf, another student, said that encouraging Kuwaiti youth to exploit their potential and developing their professional capabilities was one of the objectives of participating in the conference. "Participating in these debates help students sharpen their medical expertise that would qualify them to work in many medical centers, whether government or private sector centers," she said.

Al-Jazzaf noted noted the coming period would witness more student-run conferences, either at local or Arab levels. The hosts of the conference concluded by expressing deep thanks for the support provided to students from the Faculty of Medicine at Kuwait University, especially the efforts exerted by faculty member Dr Manal Bouhaimad, who greatly contributed in preparing students for this conference. --- KUNA

IDEA News for July 2 2008

From Arminda Lathrop:

Dear INN Readers,

It’s hard to believe that it’s already July and IDEA’s summer events are well underway.  In fact, the IDEA NJFL National Tournament ended last weekend, and the Debate and Citizen Journalism Institute is in progress right now in Turkey! This week’s news includes highlights from these events along with Youth Forum news and information about the Serbia Youth Debate Human Rights Forum, which will take place in August.  As always, if you’re attending any of these events, an article about your experience is always appreciated.  And, if you’re attending other debate events, IDEA would love to hear about those.  Enjoy! ~Arminda

Debate and Citizen Journalism Institute Creates Media

If you would like to see what’s going on at the Debate and CJ Institute in Turkey, there are a lot of ways to watch the action!  You can visit the Citizen Journalism Track’s blog at http://cjlearning.blogspot.com, the IDEA blog at http://idebate.blogspot.com , or visit the 2008 Debate and Citizen Journalism Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=16668069398. IDEA Radio will be up and running soon with our own Nat Towsen broadcasting live from Decemko Holiday Resort.

2008 Youth Forum News

Registration has closed for the 2008 Youth Forum in Smolyan, Bulgaria.  Who’s coming?  Your closest friends from 35 different countries and five different continents.  The Forum will take place at Hotel Smolyan; you can see more information about the location at: http://hotelsmolyan.com/eng. This year’s KPDC topics are: “Governments should permit the displan of religious symbols in public institutions,” and, “Censoring expression that promotes violence is just.”  The extended preparation mixed teams topic is, “This house would promote bio fuels.”  For more forum details, visit the Forum website at www.idebate.org/ideaforum.  See you in Bulgaria!

IDEA-NJFL National Tournament Results

IDEA would like to thank the NFL and all volunteers and participants who took part in the National Junior Forensic League National Tournament held last weekend in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  The competition was great, and we had a great time with all of the debate and speech event participants.  To see the results of the tournament, visit the IDEA blog. 

IDEA, Willamette University, and ACCD to Hold SYDHR Regional Youth Forum

For the past year, IDEA has been working with ACCD in Belgrade and Willamette University to administer the Serbian Youth Debate Human Rights (SYDHR) Project, sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of State.  The SYDHR Project is a project that aims to expand human rights and debate education among youth and teachers of Serbia.  As part of this project, the three project partners are holding a Regional Youth Forum in Belgrade August 16^th-23^rd.  IDEA, Willamette, and ACCD have extended invitations to debate associations in all countries of the former Yugoslavia.  The project partners are looking forward to a fun and productive youth event in Serbia!  

Visit our New Millenium Development Goal Webpage at http://idebate.org/mdg for information about the MDG’s and ways you can increase awareness about them!

Northeast Asian Open Website Up

 Jason Jarvis & Loke Wing Fatt in Korea

From Jason Jarvis:

I am pleased to announce that the website for the Northeast Asian Open 2008 is now open. NEAO 2008 will be held at Nihon University from November 7-9, 2008.

The website is still a work in progress and significant updates will, no doubt, follow.

http://neao2008.googlepages.com/

This is a significant event, as it represents the first major regional tournament to be held in Japan. Additionally, this marks the beginning of the rotation of the tournament out of Korea and into other parts of Northeast Asia. The tournament is open to anyone (regardless of the location of your institution).

I hope that you will consider supporting debate in Japan and Northeast Asia as a whole by attending this historic competition!

kind regards,

Jason Jarvis
Korea Development Institute School of Public Policy and Management

Asian Debate Institute 2008
http://asiandebateinstitute.com

Statewide Education Debate in Connecticut

From http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=23474

Connecticut Residents Tune in to Debate about School Funding and Taxes

Author: Mary F. Crean
Published by: The Heartland Institute
Published in: Budget & Tax News
Publication date: July 2008

More than 1 million households across Connecticut state tuned in to a lively debate over why public school costs keep rising and what can be done to stop the increases, making it clear they're very concerned about property tax increases.

"Debate '08--Balancing the Cost of Education with Property Taxes" was broadcast statewide May 15 on The Talk of Connecticut's four-station radio network and Connecticut Network (CT-N), which provides television and Webcast coverage of Connecticut state government and public policy. The Yankee Institute for Public Policy, a nonpartisan education and research organization based in Connecticut, and The Talk of Connecticut radio network sponsored the forum.

Panelists representing a cross-section of Connecticut legislators and town leaders were joined by a national expert on education funding and property taxes.


Waste Reduction, Local Control

"The main point of the debate was how the municipalities are getting saddled with unfunded federal and state mandates," said Dan Lovallo, radio host on The Talk of Connecticut and a co-moderator of the debate. "What disappointed me during the debate was the call by many municipal leaders for more money from the state to help defray education expenditures at the local level.

"I believe the conversation should center around ways to reduce waste in the budget and how to return more of education to local control, instead of asking for more state assistance," Lovallo said. "The forum itself was a great idea. People need to understand how their taxes are being spent, and a presentation of this kind helps to illuminate the issue."

The panel agreed rising energy costs, state and federal unfunded mandates, and binding arbitration for school employees are main challenges to controlling school budgets.


Unfunded Mandates Criticized

While there is little the state can do to control energy costs, unfunded mandates are another matter, panelists said. The legislature enacts mandates without providing funding for compliance, leaving the problem to the towns and cities. The solution usually is to raise property taxes to pay for the mandates.

Barbara Henry, Roxbury's first selectman, briefly mentioned the effects of rising fuel costs on her town's school budget, but she laid most of the blame on "unfunded mandates, especially for special education. The unfunded mandates keep coming down. ... Until those things get lifted, I don't see the cost changing."

House Leader Lawrence Cafero (R-Norwalk) disagreed, saying, "Though there's no purposeful waste, there [are] efficiencies [to be found]." He shared cost-cutting examples from his own experience on boards of education, such as reducing bloated administrative staffs and overuse of outside contractors.

Barbara Carpenter, president of the West Hartford Education Association, voiced a strong concern regarding burdens the federal "No Child Left Behind" law places on teachers and administrators.

Binding arbitration was cited by most panel members as another source of rising school budgets. Initially designed to prevent teacher strikes, binding arbitration now limits flexibility in negotiating teacher contracts that could lead to greater efficiency, better educational results, and lower costs to taxpayers, many panelists agreed.


Could Save $58 Million

One outside-the-box idea that received some attention was the Yankee Institute's "Free College for High School Students" proposal, introduced in 2007. It would give high school students who meet their graduation requirements in three years a full community college scholarship. Most panelists said they had trouble envisioning its benefits.

A Yankee Institute study discussing the proposal described how much Connecticut towns could save by paying their students to graduate in three years. Per-pupil costs for high school in Connecticut range from a low of $9,000 in distressed cities such as Bridgeport to nearly $18,000 in wealthier suburbs.

According to the study, if 25 percent of the state's secondary students received a full community college scholarship (or $5,000 cash equivalent) for finishing high school early, more than $58 million would be left over annually to reduce property taxes.

"While Connecticut taxpayers are spending more than $13,000 per year on every child in public school--well above the national average--many kids continue to slip through the state's public schools without receiving a quality education," said panelist Dan Lips, an education analyst at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC.

"State and local policymakers need to implement reforms to encourage innovation in our public schools and give children the opportunity to attend an effective school. Across the country, reforms like teacher merit pay and school choice are attracting greater bipartisan support because they are working in the classroom."

Yankee Institute member Gerald Mayfield of Greenwich was impressed by the broadcast debate. "Although unable to listen to the debate live, I was able to download and listen on my iPod. I was particularly impressed with several aspects of the debate: The wide range of viewpoints and competence of the participants, the ability to keep the level of discussion respectful and on an informative level, the willingness to address difficult and potentially divisive issues, and the moderators' skills [in] managing the debate," he said.

Mary F. Crean (mfcrean@comcast.net) is chief development officer at the Yankee Institute for Public Policy.

National Middle School Tournament Results

From http://idebate.blogspot.com/2008/07/njfl-tournament-results.html

NJFL Tournament Results
The IDEA NJFL National Tournament was held at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky June 26th-29th. IDEA would like to thank all participants and volunteers involved for their help in holding a successful middle school debate tournament. Here are the results:

PUBLIC FORUM DEBATEQuarterfinalists:

AD103 – Capital Debate – Deep Singh & Niran Lakhanpal
AZ101 – Sidney Lanier – Reid Geissen & Noah Morrison
AZ106 – Sidney Lanier – Linda Oyolu & Lisa Oyolu
AZ108 – Sidney Lanier – Lavanya Sunder & Janice Maliakkal

Semifinalists:

AH101 – Fort Scott – Reed Ramsey & Baker Weilert
AZ104 – Sidney Lanier – Conrad Fuller & Brian Whitehouse


2nd Place:
AZ102 – Sidney Lanier – Gregory Ross & Joshua Coronado

1st Place:
AZ109 – Sidney Lanier – Robin Go & Jake Wheeler

PROSE
Quarterfinalists:
Ockerman – Erica Gunther - AP112
Saint Edward – Janika Raynes – AV107
Saint Mary’s Hall – Jared Naylor – AW107
Sydney Lanier – Elizabeth Zhang – AZ116
Saint Mary’s Hall – Michael Johnson – AW103
Rowan County – Cassidy Teager – AT105
Sydney Lanier – Lucy Chen – AZ115
Saint Mary’s Hall – Sam Blow – AW104
Sydney Lanier – Christine Dang – AZ117
John’s Creek – William Coleman – AJ103
Ockerman – Kristen Coomer – AP111
St. Edward – Ashley Lance (AV109)

Semifinalists:
From Sydney Lanier – Jessica Bolynn (AZ119)
From John’s Creek – Paige Thaker (AJ105)
From Russell – Fay Kanagy (AU109)
From Pike – Kell Yang Sammataro (AQ103)
From Saint Mary’s Hall – Kent Healy (AW108)
From Lee’s Summit CCS – Andi Fantauzzi (AK101)
From Bronx Prep – Antonio Brown (AC109)

PROSE Finalist:
From Ockerman Meridith Thronton
From Moreland Ridge Ryan McCrary
From St. Edward Sarah DeHarde

3rd Place:
From Bronx Prep Matt Alston
2nd Place:
From Ockerman Emily Watson
1st Place:
From Bowling Green Christian Taylor Boswell

POETRYQuarterfinalists:
From Bronx Prep - Antonio Brown (AC109)
From Bronx Prep - Jekia Brockman (AC102)
From Ockerman - Olivia McMillian (AP101)
From Woodland – Rachel Hanon (AY110)
From Pike – Sydney Bagley (AQ112)
From Bronx Prep – Marco Cunquiero (AC104)
From John’s Creek – Jill Hale (AJ111)
From Sydney Lanier – Libby Brudner (AZ120)
From John’s Creek – Rickayla Newsome (AJ110)
From St. Edward – Ashley Lance (AV109)
Semifinalists:
From Pike –Angela Lei (AQ115)
From Pike- Louisa Dallett (AQ113)
From Pike – James Hamilton (AQ114)
From Gramling Home School – Amelia Gramling (AF101)
From Ockerman – Jay Drayton (AP117)
From Ockerman – Tiffany Robinson(AP118)
From Lees Summit Community Christian School – Andi Fantauzzi (AK101)
From East Hardin – Jasmine Jones (AG108)

POETRYFinalists:
From Ockerman Gabby Cahill
From John’s Creek – P.J. Sowards
From Sydney Lanier – Drew Barkley
From Sydney Lanier – Gina Toumajian

3rd Place:From Bowling Green Christian Taylor Boswell
2nd Place:From Rowan County – Christa Iwu
1st Place:From Bronx Prep – Antonio Brown

HUMOROUSQuarterfinalists:
From Ockerman – Clay Edwards (AP107)
From John’s Creek – Mary Beth Hall (AJ102)
From Saint Edwards – Sarah DeHarde (AV102)
From John’s Creek – William Coleman (AJ103)
From St. Mary’s Hall – Kent Healy (AW108)
From Pike – Kell Yang Sammataro (AQ103)
From John’s Creek – Adda Coleman (AJ101)
From Sydney Lanier – Erik Rowley (AZ108)
From Pike – Max McGillvrary (AQ101)
From Ockerman – Gabby Cahill (AP105)
From St. Mary’s Hall – Bianca Lopez (AW110)
From St. Mary’s Hall – Ben Kellogg (AW101)

Semifinalists:
From Ockerman – Conner Moulton(AP108)
From Ockerman – Colin Waters(AP106)
From St. Mary’s Hall – Jared Naylor (AW107)
From St. Mary’s Hall – Kevin Healy (AW106)
From St. Mary’s Hall – Jonathon Broker (AW105)
From Pike – Harry Wood (AQ102)

HUMOROUS Finalists:
From St. Mary’s Jacob Fox
From Rowan County Nathan Stevens
From Sydney Lanier Drew Barkley
3rd Place:
From Brentwood Academy Bryce Prior
2nd Place:
From St. Mary’s Michael Johnson
1st. Place:
From St. Mary’s Sam Blow

Dramatic interp.Semifinalist
From Sydney Lanier – Olivia Arena (AZ111)
From Sydney Lanier – Kathy Zho (AZ114)
From St. Edwards – Sarah Powers (AV104)
From John’s Creek – Adda Coleman (AJ101)
From Pike – Max McGillivray (AQ101)
From Pike – Harry Wood (AQ102)

Finalist
From St Mary - Bianca Lopez (AW110)
From Ribet Academy Philip Dunn (AS102)
From St Mary Ben Kellogg (AW101)
3rd Place Rickayla Newsome from Johns Creek
2nd Place Rowan County Christa IWU (AT102)
1st Rowan County Luke Thaxton (AT103)

EXTEMPSemifinalists:
East Hardin – Ryan Nichols – AG101
Rowan Country – Katie Caric – AT107
Ockerman – Colin Waters – AP106
Russell – Danny Rosen – AU117
Sydney Lanier – Noah Morrison – AZ124
Sydney Lanier – Konrad Fuller – AZ126

Finalist
From Sydney Lanier – Sherri Hong
Lucy Chen
Olivia Arena

Third Place –
From Sydney Lanier – Janice Maliakkial
Second Place –
From Ockerman –Lori Lovell
First Place –
From Sydney Lanier – Reid Geissen

IMPROMPTU
Semifinals:
Pike – Mike Ippolito – AQ117
St. Edward – Sarah DeHarde – AV102
Saipan – Doyi Lee – AX106
Saipan – Anastasia Rose Schweiger – AX101
Sydney Lanier – Reid Geissen – AZ123
Sydney Lanier – Brennen Lanier – AZ133

Finalist
From Ockerman – Kristen Coomer
From Ockerman – Colin Waters
From Sydney Lanier – Gina Toumajian

Third Place –
From Ockerman – Lori Lovell
Second Place –
From Sydney Lanier – Lavanya Sunder

First Place –
From Pike – John French

ORATORY
Semifinalists:
Bronx Prep – Amber Quiones – AC108
Capital Debate – Brianna Richardson – AD103
John’s Creek – Adda Coleman – AJ101
St. Edward – Janika Raynes – AV107
Sydney Lanier – Lavanya Sunder – AZ129
Sydney Lanier – Olivia Arena – AZ110

Finalist –
From Sydney Lanier – Janice Maliakkial
From Ockerman – Olivia McMillian
From Sydney Lanier – Robin Go

Third Place -
From Ockerman – Allison Brannon
Second Place –
From Pike – Julie Moon
First Place –
Gramling Home School – Amelia Gramling

DUO
Semifinalsists:
Bronx Prep – Matt Alston & Mario Cunquiero – AC103-104
Fort Scott – Reid Ramsey & Baker Weilert – AH101-102
John’s Creek – William Coleman & PJ Sowards – AJ103-109
John’s Creek – Rikayla Newsome & Paige Thacker – AJ110-105
Pike School – Nick Gates & Harry Wood – AQ110-102
St. Mary’s Hall – Jonathan Broker & Kevin Healy – AW105-106

FINALIST
From Bronx Prep Dann’l Bowen and Manny Lindsey
From St. Mary’s Hall – Michael Johnson and Sam Blow
From Ockerman – Clay Edwards and Brianna Berry

Third Place –
From St. Mary’s Hall – Ben Kellogg and Jacob Fox
Second Place –
From St Mary’s Hall – Jared Naylor and Kent Healy
First Place –
Rowan County – Nathan Stevens and Christa Iwu

Schools of Excellence
Schools of Excellence in DebateCapitol Debate
Fort Scott
Sydney Linear

Schools of Excellence in SpeechJohn’s Creek
Ockerman
Pike
Rowan County
Saint Mary’s Hall
Sydney Lanier

Overall Schools of ExcellenceBronx Prep
Ockerman
Sydney Lanier

** All schools are listed in Alphabetical order – not in rank order.

Campus Debate Societies Now Active in Libya

Photo of 2007 debate: Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, second left holds a copy of the Green Book during a debate that was moderated by David Frost, left and is to be aired by the British Broadcast Corp. and hosted also American political theorist Benjamin Barber, second right and British social scientist Anthony Giddens, right, on the sidelines of celebrations marking the 30-year anniversary of the declaration of the "jamahiriya," or "rule of the masses, in Sabha, Libya Friday, March 2, 2007

From http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnAMA755746.html

Libyan media, campus clubs start governance debate
Thu 26 Jun 2008, 8:14 GMT

By Lamine Ghanmi

TRIPOLI, June 26 (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi has peeled back another layer of state control in Libya, for the first time tolerating cautious public debate about how the OPEC member country should be governed as it rebuilds after sanctions.

In a system that criminalises dissent and bans political parties, only the economy had been up for genuine public discussion in recent years.

Political change in the north African state of six million is firmly off the agenda, and no one doubts the underlying levers of control remain firmly in the hands of Gaddafi, now just over a year away from his 40th anniversary in power.

But in plush offices in a middle class suburb of Tripoli, journalists working for a new newspaper started by a prominent reformist son of Gaddafi are writing of ideas directly relevant to politics, such as tolerance, free speech and good governance.

Aicha al Tawargui, a Tripoli university teacher, sees a new boldness in many newspapers, including Oea, which was started last year by Gaddafi's influential son Saif al-Islam.

"The press is reporting extensively about social issues ranging from corruption, drugs and lack of culture and entertainment opportunities for youth, to abuses of children and violence in prisons," said Tawargui, who also writes in Oea.

Oea's appearance is one of a string of reformist measures in the last year that have stirred interest among Libyans long used to the idea that the economy is the only arena for reform.

In April Libya freed 90 al Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels from prison, and over the past year has allowed the return of several liberal opponents from exile in Europe and the United States.

"STRAY DOGS"

Also, debating societies on governance have sprung up at universities, some attended by former Islamist or secular dissidents once reviled as "stray dogs" or "heretics".

The state has allowed rights activists to set up groups with names like Democracy Centre and Justice Association -- something that would have been impossible not long ago due to the official dogma that Libya's rule-by-the-masses system makes no mistakes.

The media is the most generally visible sign of change. For years, only two men were allowed to wonder out loud about the political implications of Libya's opening to the world after years of Western sanctions - Gaddafi and his son Saif al-Islam.

Now others can, albeit cautiously, join in the discussion, a huge change in a society where civic and voluntary associations of all kinds have been stunted by years of heavy-handed statism.

Oea editor-in-chief Mahmoud Bousifi said the Oea experience was part of a broader vision to reform Libya.

"Our press work is different from the state media which sides with the state and could not help cure the state's flaws and failures," he said, speaking in an office equipped with gleaming state-of-the-art computers.

"Oea was born to expand freedom of expression and opinion, to fight corruption -- and there is a lot of corruption in Libya," said Bousifi, a leading writer.

Oea, together with another newspaper, a television station and a radio station, are published by Tomorrow Company, sponsored by Saif al Islam.

It tackles a range of themes - corruption, mismanagement, violence in prisons, abuses of teenage workers and other social woes. Amine al Cherif, another Oea journalist, said several managers at state firms and bodies were fired while others were under investigation due to Oea reports.

"The hands of officials which had been used to crack down on freedom have been neutralised," he said.

Not everyone is happy. Asmaa Ben Said, a veteran journalist who joined Oea, said it was hardly a beacon of independence.

"The symbols of the old press joined Oea. There is no difference with other Libyan press groups, only journalist salaries are more than 80 percent higher in Oea," she said.

"WE HAVE TO BE COURAGEOUS"

Ismail Bouaichi, an independent journalist, sees the press opening as timid, with no guarantees it will last.

"The situation is not clear yet. The vision is not clear yet either for the media or the economy or politics," he said.

The campus debating societies are also stirring up ideas.

A frequent topic is Saif al-Islam's 2007 call for a written constitution enshrining an independent media, central bank and high court in order to build a stable, tolerant society.

He says the current Jamahiriya system of rule by popular committees, set up in 1977 and mixing Islamic ideas with socialism, was good on paper but had flaws in practice.

Independent analysts say Saif al-Islam's targets include corrupt apparatchiks who have thrived under statist policies and have a record of opposing greater state accountability.

At one recent debate at Tripoli university debating club, participants heard a stirring defence of Jamahiriya and the 1969 coup that brought Gaddafi to power.

"We will take up weapons to defend the gains people won under the revolution," said a top official from the Revolutionary Committees, Libya's de facto ruling organisation of hardline Gaddafi enthusiasts, alarming reformers who want more individual rights for Libyans.

The next meeting proved to be a pleasant surprise for the reformers, when another Committees man blamed the organisation for unspecified failings he said now required correction.

"Who made the constitution an urgent demand today? The Revolutionary Committees are the cause," this official told the meeting, attendees who declined to be identified said.

"We have to be courageous and criticise ourselves and tell the truth." (Editing by William Maclean edited by Richard Meares)

Interstate Oratorical Association Announcement

From Larry Schnoor:

INTERSTATE ORATORICAL ASSOCIATION

Larry Schnoor, Executive Secretary
107 Agency Road
Mankato, MN 56001
January 20, 2002



Dear Speech Coach,

It gives me great pleasure to announce the 136th contest of the Interstate Oratorical Association to be hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, on April 24-26, 2008. The Contest will be held in Madison, Wisconsin, with the final round being held at the State Capitol. Arrangements are being made to provide you with an outstanding educational and rewarding experience. Our hosts, Professor Karen Morris and her student assistants, Jake Johnson and Christine Zani are working hard on making this a memorable experience for everyone that attends.

The tournament will begin with registration at the Best Western Inn on the Park in Madison, the tournament headquarters. All preliminary rounds will be held at the Best Western while semifinal rounds will be held inside the State Capitol in the Grand Army of Republic Room. The final round will be held in the State Assembly Chambers in the capitol. The schedule for the contest has been arranged to provide ample time to enjoy the culture of Madison and the beautiful Wisconsin countryside.

We shall also be confirming the site of the 2009 contest and acting on bids for 2010 at our annual business meeting. If you are interested in hosting the Interstate, information has been included with this invitation. You may also call for additional information if it is needed. Bids should be in the hands of the Executive Secretary by April 1st.

On behalf of the Executive Committee, I look forward to seeing you in Madison, Wisconsin. Should you not be able to attend, please pass this information on to those from your state that may be interested in participating in this historic annual event.

Yours truly,
Larry Schnoor
Executive Secretary
507-387-3010 (Home)
FAX: 507-387-3068
E-mail: Lgene9535@aol.com

INTERSTATE ORATORICAL ASSOCIATION
Tournament Information

LODGING: The tournament hotel will be the Best Western Inn on the Park (across the street from the State Capitol). A block of rooms has been reserved under “Interstate Oratorical Contest”, and will be held until March 24th. Please make your reservations as early as possible.

The room rate is $99.00 flat (1-4 in a room) plus tax or $129.00 plus tax for a suite. We recommend calling the hotel directly at 800-279-8811 or 608-285-8000. Please indicate that you are participating in the Interstate Oratory when making your reservations. If you are willing to share rooms, please make arrangements to do so on your own.

Best Western Inn on the Park
22 South Carroll Street
Madison, Wisconsin 53703
608-285-8000
www.innonthepark.net


TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION: Madison, Wisconsin is located in Southern Wisconsin – on Interstate 94.

Dane County Regional Airport (14 minutes to Hotel and Capitol) http://www.msnairport.com/flight/destinations.aspx
Airlines who service the Dane Country Airport
NWA http://www.nwa.com/
American http://www.aa.com/index_us.jhtml
Delta http://www.delta.com/home/index.jsp
United http://www.united.com/

Rental car agencies include Avis (608) 242-2442, Budget (608) 249-5544, Dollar (608) 661-4941, Enterprise (608) 661-4900, Hertz (608) 241-3803,National (608) 249-1614, and Thrifty (608) 661-4940.

**The Best Western Inn on the Park does have shuttle service to and from the airport.

Chicago O’Hare Airport (2 hours and 21 minutes from Madison, WI)
http://www.ohare.com/


DINING AND RECEPTION: A reception for coaches and students will be held on Thursday night at the Top of the Park (top floor of the Best Western Inn), hosted by the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, at the time of registration at the Best Western. The two breakfasts and the luncheons will also be held at the hotel in the Top of the Park Dining Hall .


FEES: Each State Association should pay the annual dues at least 30 days before the contest. If this is not possible, dues may be paid at registration. The sum of $50.00 shall be paid if two orators are to be sent from a state. The sum of $40.00 shall be paid if one orator is sent from a state. REGISTRATION FEES FOR THE TOURNAMENT ARE IN ADDITION TO THE STATE DUES, AND WILL BE $50.00 for each contestant and for each coach. This fee covers the cost of the amenities as well as luncheons that are provided.

LOCATION EXTRAS: Madison, Wisconsin has a variety of fun activities to partake in on both Friday afternoon and Saturday. In addition, there are several things to do within 15-45 minutes driving distance from the capitol. We encourage you to enjoy the state of Wisconsin.

Wollersheim Winery www.wollersheim.com/ (free wine tasting…and tours for 3.00)
Taliesin www.taliesinpreservation.org/ (tours available for 15.00 per person)
Kalahari Resort www.kalahariresort.com/ (one of the world’s largest indoor water park)
The Comedy Club on State www.madisoncomedy.com (2 blocks from hotel)
State Street District www.state-st.com/ (amazing shopping and dining—2 blocks from hotel)
Monona Terrace www.mononaterrace.com (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright—3 blocks from hotel)
Museum of Contemporary Arts www.mmoca.org/ (3 blocks from hotel)
Chazen Museum of Art www.chazen.wisc.edu/home.htm (at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire)
Olbrich Botanical Gardens www.olbrich.org/ (10 minute drive and beautiful to see)
Capital Brewery www.capital-brewery.com/ (15 minute drive)
Apocalypse Paintball www.apocalypsepaintball.com/ (18 minute drive)


JUDGES:
Coaches attending the tournament will judge the preliminary contest rounds. EACH STATE ASSOCIATION OR MEMBER SCHOOL SHALL SEND THE ORATORY COACH OF EACH STUDENT PARTICIPATING IN THE ANNUAL CONTEST TO ACT AS A JUDGE IN THE PRELIMINARY ROUNDS OR HIRE A JUDGE BEFORE THE STUDENT IS ALLOWED TO COMPETE.

IF THERE ARE TWO CONTESTANTS FROM A STATE, TWO JUDGES MUST BE PROVIDED, EVEN IF THE TWO CONTESTANTS ARE FROM THE SAME SCHOOL. The cost of a hired judge will be $75.00. If a school has a problem supplying necessary judge or judges for their entry, please notify the Executive Secretary as soon as possible for arrangements. It is expected that coaches attending will be available to judge through the semifinal round.

RULES:
1. The oration must be delivered without the aid of notes or manuscript.
2. No oration shall contain more than 1800 words. (Although no minimum word limit is established, a 1500 word minimum is suggested.)
3. For purposes of definition, quoted words are those written or spoken by a person other than the orator. Such quoted matter shall be limited to 20% of the total number of words in the oration. Direct discourse, dialogue, or other stylistic devices within quotation marks created by the orator SHALL NOT be included in the 20% total.
4. All quoted material shall be documented.
5. A copy of each contestant’s oration should be sent at least two weeks before the Interstate Contest. All manuscripts should be typed, double spaced and checked for spelling and grammatical errors. Please comply with this request, as it will enable the 2008 edition of Winning Orations to be available at an earlier date. If it is possible, please submit a disk with the script. See additional details as given below. **
6. ALL ORATIONS PRESENTED AT THE INTERSTATE ORATORICAL CONTEST BECOME THE PROPERTY OF THE ASSOCIATION. Please bring this rule to the attention of your students.
7. Copies of the oration should included footnote/endnotes and source material identification.
8. In order to make it easier to complete the publication of Winning Orations it would help if the speech on the disk would have the following: No headers/footers; no page numbers; Have footnotes and references as a separate document; please italicize or underline sources in the text; provide the title if there is one; identify who coached the speech; please use no alternative type size; and provide an email address so if anything needs to be checked, it will be possible to reach you. Thank you very much.


TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:
Thursday, April 24th , 2008
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Registration, (Top of the Park)
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Reception for coaches and students ---Top of the Park (Reception Hall)

Friday, April 25 th, 2008
7:00-7:45 a.m. Breakfast –Top of the Park
8:30-9:45 a.m. Rd 1, Best Western Conference Rooms
9:45-11:00 a.m. Rd 2, Best Western Conference Rooms
11:00-12:15 p.m. Rd 3, Best Western Conference Rooms
12:30-1:30 p.m. Luncheon – announcements of semi finalists Top of the Park
1:30 p.m. Business meeting with coaches Top of the Park
Afternoon is free to enjoy the area, events and sites around Madison.
Saturday, April 26 th, 2008
7:00-7:45 a.m. Breakfast –Top of the Park
8:00- 9:30 a.m. Section A Semifinal Grand Army of the Republic Room (State Capitol )www.wisconsin.gov
10:00 - 11:30 a.m. Section B Semifinal Grand Army of the Republic Room (State Capitol) www.wisconsin.gov
12:00 – 1:15 p.m. Luncheon announcements of finalists -- Best Western Top of the Park
1:30 – 4:00 p.m. Final round, followed by awards -- State Assembly Chambers

Entries should be sent to the Executive Secretary by March 24th. The Executive Secretary will be at the AFA-NIET tournament at University of Texas at Austin and then the NFA tournament at Tennessee State University and will go directly to Madison, Wisconsin following the tournament. If you have not sent your entry to Ex. Secretary by March 24th, or will not see the Executive Secretary at the NIET or the NFA, entry should be sent to the Ex. Secretary via. E-mail: Lgene9535@aol.com

Five Thousand Students Compete in Pakistan

From http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C07%5C01%5Cstory_1-7-2008_pg7_54

5,000 students participate in essay, speech competition

LAHORE: Five thousand students from 105 schools took part in an inter-provincial essay writing and speech competition, the final of which was held on June 28.

The participating students wrote essays and delivered speeches on: How to form a terrorism-free society, how to end child labour, and how religious freedom and harmony can be promoted in the Pakistani society.

In the first round of the competition, every school was represented by three children in a district-level competition. The winners proceeded to the final round. Muhammad Tahir won the speech competition, followed by Nida Ashfaq (second), and Aqeel Ahmad (third). The essay competition was won by Haqia Hassan (first), Kashf Raza (second) and Iqra Riaz (third).

New CEDA Website Launched

http://cedadebate.org

From Jeff Jarman:

This is the first official announcement about the new CEDA website. The address is the same, but the form and content have changed. We are attempting to bring CEDA into the 21st century. The website will serve as the first place to look for new information. Members can find new information on the front page, with blog-style posting of current events by members of the Executive Council. Plus, a new forum provides a place for all registered users to post and reply to pertinent topics. Most all of the archival information has been transfered to the site, too.

What should you do: REGISTER. This is essential, especially if you want to vote for the 2008-2009 topic and pending amendments. How? Go to www.cedadebate.org, click on the link for "create new account," and be sure to use the correct registration code: CeDaWeB.

After you register, you'll be able to immediately post in the forum and reply to posts. After a few days, I'll confirm your registration and you'll be able to vote.

In the next few days I'll post a brief written tutorial about the site, along with a video, to demonstrate the site.

I'm sure there will be some problems with the site in the short-term, so please be patient. But, as always, send me your feedback about changes that will benefit everyone.

Jeff

From the CEDA website:

Founded in 1971 as the Southwest Cross Examination Debate Association, CEDA is now the primary national association promoting policy topic intercollegiate academic debate.
In cooperation with the National Debate Tournament Committee and the American Debate Association, CEDA formulates the annual intercollegiate policy debate topic used in tournament competition throughout the nation.

CEDA acts as a tournament sanctioning agent, providing through its Constitution and By-Laws a framework for normalizing tournament practices and procedures. Throughout the tournament season, CEDA calculates the National Sweepstakes Standings, the national and regional rankings of member institutions based on compiled tournament results.
The association also hosts an annual National Championship Tournament that brings together over 200 individual debate teams from across the nation to compete for a national team championship.

One of CEDA's most important functions is to serve as a professional association for scholars and teachers in the field of applied argumentation and debate. In addition to sponsoring scholarly programs on issues of interest to association members at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, CEDA has organized two indigenous scholarly assessment conferences: The 1991 St. Paul 20th Anniversary Assessment Conference, and the 2001 Tahoe Conference on Academic Debate. CEDA also publishes Contemporary Argumentation and Debate: The Journal of the Cross Examination Debate Association, a refereed scholarly journal that serves as the primary outlet for monographs and essays addressing issues related to the theory and practice of academic debate.

Bellarmine is Top USA Forensics High School

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From http://www.ad-hoc-news.de/Aktie/12717570/News/17856005/NATIONAL+GRID.html

Bellarmine College Prep Takes Top National Speech and Debate Honors

SAN JOSE, Calif.CA-BELLARMINE

A team of 15 students from Bellarmine College Preparatory competed in the National Speech and Debate Tournament and brought home the top Team Award of Excellence in both Speech and Debate, the only school in the nation to do so. Bellarmine also received the School of Excellence Award in Debate. The final competition took place on the campus of University of Nevada Las Vegas in Henderson, Nevada June 16-20.

Forty rounds are required for the School of Excellence Award in Debate, and Bellarmine clocked-in at 111 rounds in the debate events alone. A total of 250 students competed in each event.

'These results represent hours of work every day, all year long, sometimes for four years,' said Bellarmine's head Speech and Debate coach, Kim Jones. 'The secret is that our guys coach each other, share all research, and have to compete against other champions from Leland and James Logan all of the time.
Every member of the Bellarmine team understands that the team always comes first; I think this performance reflects that.'

Individually, four-time national attendee Stephen Elrod went 13 rounds and took the national title and a $5,000 scholarship in Dramatic Interpretation. Georgi Dimitrov was named top debate speaker, and junior Evan Larson too third place in U.S. Extemporaneous.

In addition to coach Kim Jones, Bellarmine's Speech and Debate coaches included Chris Wolf, Bill Healy, Dee Dee Sullivan, and Marty McKenzie.

Bellarmine has won the California State Speech and Debate Championship 12 times in the past 20 years and last spring did so for the third consecutive year. Last summer its Speech and Debate program was recognized as one of only three programs in the nation to demonstrate 'Excellence in Speech and Debate.' In 2006, Bellarmine won the National Championship in policy debate, the first team west of the Mississippi to achieve this in several decades. In addition to recognition bestowed upon Bellarmine students over the years, two of Bellarmine's Speech and Debate coaches, Kim Jones and Jim Harville, are in the California Coaches Hall of Fame.

Complete Bellarmine results as follows:

Dramatic Interpretation

National Champion: Stephen Elrod (also winner of the Wayne Brown
Award, $1,000 scholarship for four year attendance at the national
championships)

National Extemporaneous

Third Place: Evan Larson

Policy Debate

Fifth Place: Joe Grimes and Will Rafey

Octafinals: Georgi Dimitrov and Carl Rice
Octafinals: Nate Wong and Nick Simmons
Policy Debate Top Speaker Award

Top Speaker: Georgi Dimitrov
Fifth Place: Carl Rice

Public Forum Debate

Fourth Place: Vijay Sridharan and Parijat Chakrabarti

Lincoln Douglas Debate

Double Octas (Top 60): Chip (Matt) Morton

Humorous Interpretation

Double Octas: Ryan Vasquez

Original Oratory

Double Octas: Kyle Vandenberg

Congress-Senate

Semifinalist: Anthony Paranzino
About Bellarmine:

Bellarmine College Preparatory, a Jesuit secondary school, was founded in 1851. Located in San Jose, Bellarmine is a community committed to a comprehensive education that results in a lifelong search for truth. The curricular program, through its single college preparatory track and extensive co-curricular program, is designed to develop an openness to growth, experiences in leadership, the pursuit of intellectual activity, and the integration of spirituality in all aspects of the student's life.