WSDC 09 Athens Draw

Get the complete draw at http://debate.uvm.edu/dcpdf/wsdc09draw.pdf

From Claire Ryan:

Greetings everyone.

I enclose the draw for WSDC 2009.

Chief Adjudicator James Probert the CAP have worked phrenetically to get this out today. They have indicated to me that by tomorrow, they'd like to post the whole excel spreadsheet, a detailed description of how they arrived at the draw and what were the working mechanisms behind it. However, the most important thing was to get the draw to you today and the details later.

So.....enjoy!!!! And please distribute it far and wide to all you think should know about it.

Oh and Effie says to remind everyone that she needs Team photos and short bios of the participants for the preparation of this year's WSDC brochure. The bios should be about 50 words. The deadline for the photos and bios is 31 January 2009 and everything should be send to wsdc2009@googlemail.com.

Kind regards,

Claire

National Public Policy Forum 09 Reaches Sweet Sixteen

See the bracket at http://www.bickelbrewer.com/fileadmin/template/main/pdf/NPPF_2008-09_Bracket.pdf

From Sarah Marshala:

The 2008-09 National Public Policy Forum is going very well. We have narrowed the tournament down to the Sweet 16 (please see the attached bracket). It is interesting to note that the three international teams from last round have all advanced. This should make for a very exciting competition, as well as help us in promoting the competition internationally next year.

Speaking of exciting, please join me in welcoming our two newest members to the Advisory Board-Tara L. Tate (President of the National Debate Coaches Association, Director of Debate at Glenbrook South High School) and Noel S. Selegzi (President of the Board of Directors for the International Debate Education Association). Their reputation in the debate world is stellar, and we will certainly benefit from their knowledge and wisdom. Sadly, Jenny Heidt has stepped down due to other coaching obligations, but remains a strong supporter of the competition.

This year's keynote speaker will be Nadine Strossen, a Professor of Law at NYU Law School, but more widely known as the former President of the ACLU (1991-2008). Not only is Ms. Strossen a former debater, she still debates-Pat Buchanan, Antonin Scalia and others have recently debated her. Her CV is attached.

One last thing-I wanted to bring to your attention all of the media coverage that we have received this year. I believe this is due to the fact that the NPPF is now an international competition. Please visit the "Press" section of our website at www.nppf.net to view these stories and feel free to pass along to your colleagues. We will continue to update the website as we receive new coverage after each round, so please check back periodically.

Student and Teacher Workshops in Thailand

Vermont group with USA ambassador Eric John

Through the sponsorship of the USA embassy and the Thailand Commission on Higher Education, a contingent of Americans from the University of Vermont staged two workshops in Bangkok. The overall context of the program is the Thai-USA Friendship Debates which celebrates the 175 anniversary of cordial diplomatic relations between the USA and Thailand.

The first event was a high school debate workshop held at the American University Alumni Language Center hosted by director Adul Pinsuvana. USA ambassador Eric John welcomed all the students and the trainers for the event, Dr. Alfred Snider along with three student debaters, Lucas Caress, Allison Hamlin and Sam Natale, all from the University of Vermont. The three hour session covered basic principles of argumentation, specific skills involved in dynamic speaking, and points of information. The USA student debaters illustrated the points made to the Thai students.

Trainers with organizers at teacher workshop

After a great Thai lunch at Chulalongkorn University the group was off to a training vent for 39 English teachers about using debate to teach English. Th event discussed the basics of debate, how debate fits in to language instruction, empirical results from using debate in the non-debate classroom, formats, topics and evaluation. Specific attention was paid to adapting this method to the English language classroom. Then the Vermont students staged a short debate in a classroom format, and a discussion took place about how to evaluate and give comments on a classroom debate. The event was excellently staged and managed and the teachers showed strong interest.

In the evening there was a dinner on a boat sailing down the river which was one of the most magical experiences imaginable.

More to come.

Many thanks to Piyanart Faktorngpan of Chulalongkorn University for being the lead organizer of this event.

One Thousand High School Debaters Struggle for State Title - in Kansas

Taylor Nichols, 18, a senior at Blue Vally High School, pulls a red Radio Flyer wagon loaded with evidence Friday at the state debate tournament at Washburn Rural High School.
This year's topic — increasing alternative energy incentives in the United States.

Kansas is not a big state, and the population is distributed widely. Yet, over 1000 students qualify for the state debate tournament. Kansas is doing something right.

From http://cjonline.com/stories/012409/loc_380937402.shtml

About 1,000 students compete in state debate tournament
By Taylor Atkins
The Capital-Journal
Published Saturday, January 24, 2009

It was a parent's worst nightmare Friday as 1,000 teenagers from across Kansas descended on Washburn Rural High School to do one thing: argue.

The state high school debate tournament began Friday as debaters from Class 1A through 6A schools arrived in Topeka with boxes, cases, tubs and even wagons full of research.

"I think it's a good topic because it's easy to find evidence on both sides," said 15-year-old Sam Teeter, a sophomore at Topeka High. "I also enjoy how passionate people are on the topic by this time in the season."

The debate season began in September, with some team members having been researching as early as June.

To qualify for the state tournament, teams must either have a 50 percent win ratio through at least four tournaments during the season or qualify during a regional round.

Cindy Burgett, debate coach at Washburn Rural and the host of this year's state competition, said most of Shawnee County's high schools had students qualify.

"It's a good group of students this year, as it is every year," Burgett said. "It's an honor to host."

With the number of participants continuing to grow, Burgett said fewer and fewer high schools can have hosting duties. It has to be a 6A high school because smaller buildings can't house all of the participants, coaches and judges.

And if it is a strain on the host school, it is even more of a strain on the teenagers, who traveled sometimes as long as eight hours to argue at least 10 rounds throughout the two-day tournament. And the days are long — rounds were to at 9 a.m. Friday and continue until 9 p.m. tonight.

So is it worth it?

"I think so. We like the topic. We like to learn about the topic," said Joel Billinger, a 16-year-old sophomore from Topeka High. "But really it's the arguing. At the heart of every debater is someone who just loves to argue."
Geography Bowl

"Great Debaters" Back in Action with Win at Wiley

Coach Shannon Labove

See video linked at the site below.

From http://www.ktbs.com/news/Wiley-College-holds-first-debate-in-decades-24254/#

Wiley College holds first debate in decades
Created: January 23, 2009 09:07 PM
Modified: January 23, 2009 11:29 PM

Its been nearly 80 years since there has been a debate team at Wiley College. Thanks to the movie, The Great Debaters, starring Denzel Washington, the colleges debate team has revived itself and competed in its first debate tonight.

The debaters have been preparing for this historical night. The debate coach, Dr. Shannon Labove, says she was more nervous for tonight than her students were. The debaters say they are proud to be a part of history at Wiley College.

Two of Wileys debaters took the stage tonight against two debate members from Southern Methodist University. Currently, there are eleven debate team members and Coach Lebove says she hopes that will grow to about thirty in the next two years. She says this team, which is mostly freshmen and some sophomores, has a busy schedule ahead of them this season.

Not only are most of the debaters new to Wiley, but Coach Lebove just started there in august. Her grandfather is an alum of Wiley and she was thrilled when she was asked to be the team's coach.

And by a unanimous vote, Wiley College won the debate, and recieved a standing ovation.

Public Debate Held on Gaza Incursion

This public debate was held 22 January 2009 at the University of Vermont. Sponsored by the Lawrence Debate Union, the debate took place in the WUDC format.

The motion was: This House believes that the Israeli military incursion into the Gaza strip was justified.

Proposition team:
Danielle Goldschneider, senior debate
Taylor Lalemand, senior debater
Joshua Miller, senior debater
Jan Feldman, professor of political science

Opposition team:
Sam Natale, sophomore debater
John Voight, professor of mathematics
Tom Dionesotes, sophomore debater
Allison Hamlin, sophomore debater

A large podcast video is located at:
http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/pubdebgazauvm0109.M4V

A medium-sized podcast is at:
http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/pubdebgazauvm0109/pubdebgazauvm0109-desktop.m4v

A smaller .mov file is at:
http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/pubdebgazauvm0109.MOV

News from IDEA 23 January 2009

From cphillip@idebate.org

Note from the editor
This week marked a historic moment in United States history. On Tuesday, 54 years after Brown v. Board, 43 years since the Voting Rights Act, and days since the last reported hate crime here, the United States inaugurated an African American president. In the event that you were in a cave this Tuesday, and the cave lacked TV and Internet access, we've got the speech right here. Watch or read President Barack Obama’s inaugural address!
In this issue, we have news from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Thailand, China, and New Orleans and Vermont, USA. Please read on!

Forum trainer apps are in, registration begins soon!
We've received 89 applications for International Trainer positions at the upcoming 2009 IDEA Youth Forum, held in Bosnia and Herzegovina, July 23rd to August 5th, at the Jahorina Olympic Center! The Curriculum Committee will carefully select 20 trainers from the 89 applicants. For more information about the Forum, and to prepare for registration — which is coming soon — visit the site!
Veronika Vlckova, Forum Coordinator, IDEA Netherlands

IDEA Thailand hits ground running
New IDEA representative Alisa Keetanitinun will be in Bangkok from January 28th to 31st for the 175-year-old Thai-US Relations Debating Championship, where she was invited to be an adjudicator in the tournament.
She is also busy in Chiangmai, starting a debate project there and teaching junior classes at Prince Royal's School, starting February 4th. She’s hoping that students will be interested enough to form a debate club and train during their free time. The school may let IDEA use some space for cross-training between different schools.
On February 5th, Alisa will meet with faculty members at Chiangmai University to make a formal presentation about a debate program. Go Alisa!

New Orleans workshop to encourage future debaters
Students of New Orleans are sensitive to the changes they’ve seen in their city since Katrina hit, and those participating in IDEA’s free workshop, January 30th and 31st, will learn to express their opinions about these changes — as well as ongoing problems — through debate. During the workshop, they’ll have a chance to research and construct a debate about a topic that’s important to them, such as crime, school uniforms, disaster tourism, and education. IDEA hopes students and teachers will leave the workshop motivated to compete in city-wide tournaments planned for spring. It’s not too late to register!

Registration begins for US Universities Debating Championships!
The University of Vermont will host the 2009 United States Universities Debating Championship, sponsored by IDEA, April 3rd to 5th.
It all started in 1899 when Edwin Lawrence met with his brother and a friend and decided to form a debating program at the University of Vermont. As the 21st Century dawns, the program is expanding beyond national and into international competition.
America is coming to accept and embrace the WUDC format. It is in the spirit of support for the expansion of this global debate effort and in the hopes of creating opportunities for high levels of competition, that you are invited to be a guest of the Lawrence Debate Union at the 2009 United States Universities Debating Championships. Visit the site for more information
Registration will close on March 25, 2009.
Contact Alfred C. Snider aka Tuna: alfred.snider@uvm.edu

In Korea, IDEA teaches BP at EWHA
IDEA helped with a British Parliamentary Debate training at the EWHA Women's Tournament in Seoul on Thursday, January 22nd. Students from nine universities across Seoul were expected to attend. After hearing lectures on the basics of British Parliamentary Debate, students will tried out the format on their own with several practice rounds.
The training at EWHA and next week's training at Seoul National University are lead-ins to February's DebateFest. Next month brings the Korean national debate tournament for high school students, an international debate tournament for university students, and a week-long "debate institute" for high school and university-level debaters from across Asia. IDEA is sponsoring several trainers to help with these back-to-back events and is looking forward to a jam-packed month of debate!
Elizabeth Humphrey, IDEA Program Coordinator, Korea

Virtual Debate Scheduled in Second Life

PHOTO: Professor Steve Llano of St. John’s University and Professor Alfred C. Snider of the University of Vermont discuss the logistics of the upcoming debate while in Second Life.

From Steve Llano:

ST JOHNS DEBATE SOCIETY TO PARTICIPATE IN SECOND LIFE VIRTUAL DEBATE
The St. John’s University Debate Society will be participating in the first formal academic debate conducted in a virtual online environment.

In cooperation with the University of Vermont’s Lawrence Debate Union, St. John’s Debate Society members will debate in the online environment Second Life on February 4th at 8:00PM ET-USA. This is the first competitive academic debate conducted between two university debate programs within the Second Life environment.

The debate will be held on Emgeetee Island, a series of virtual classrooms created and maintained by Dr. Charles Wankel, Associate Professor of Management in the Tobin College of Business at St. John’s University.

The debate will feature four debaters and will be on the topic of limiting tenure for University faculty. At the end of the debate, judgment and critique by debating experts will follow, and then the floor will be open for comments and questions from the virtual audience.

Attending the debate is as easy as establishing an account and downloading the Second Life software, which is available at http://www.secondlife.com. Those unfamiliar with the Second Life environment are encouraged to spend time becoming familiar with the program before the date of the debate.

For those already established in Second Life, the SURL for the debate is http://slurl.com/secondlife/Emgeetee/110/154/24. Clicking on the link will transport you to the debate venue where you will be able to see and hear the debate live if you have the Second Life software installed.

The St. John’s University Debate Society is an academic organization focused on promoting quality debate and argumentation opportunities for the university community. Membership is open to any and all registered St. John’s University students.

For more information please call Professor Steve Llano at x5606 or email him at llanos@stjohns.edu

USA Parents and Students Fight Debate Program Cuts

This sort of scenario is playing itself out all over America as entrenched debate programs are the targets of cuts.

Here is one school's story.

Make sure to read the comments section as well.

From http://madvilletimes.blogspot.com/2009/01/rc-stevens-debate-program-threatened-by.html

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2009
RC Stevens Debate Program Threatened by Budget Cuts

As Madison High School continues to scale back its support for speech activities by ending its 40+ years of hosting the Karl E. Mundt Debate Tournament, our neighbors in Rapid City are preparing to scuttle the Stevens High School debate program. To eke out a 5% in the district budget, Rapid City administrators are considering a 50% cut in the Stevens debate budget. The cut would eliminate a teaching position and the beginning and advanced debate classes from the curriculum.

I highly recommend reading the comments section to the RC Journal story. A number of Stevens debate alums have joined parents and other interested parties to state their support for a strong, vigorous debate program. There appears to be a general recognition that debate provides one of the most challenging and profitable educational experiences that our kids can get in high school. When effective communication skills are critical to almost every good job in every field, it defies explanation that school administrators continue to treat debate as an expendable frill (and debate tournaments as an "overwhelming" bother).

For years Stevens debate was a powerhouse. in the late 1980s and 1990s, coaches like Kim Maass, Ron Grimsley, and Steve Bartholomew led Stevens debaters on grand marches across the state to come beat up on us East River debaters. But in the past few years, rapid coaching turnover (three coaches in three years, and one this year who resigned two months in) has left the team in decline.

A strong debate team requires a strong coach. Without lots of home games and arena spectacles to give the activity prominence, debate teams require a vocal, dedicated coach to be their advocate before the administration and school board. Without such a voice, the debate program becomes an easy target for budget cuts by administrators who fail to grasp how vital debate and debate tournaments are to the best education possible.

The Stevens debate program has already done its part to save money, making significant cuts in travel to East River tournaments (thus reducing its competitive advantage at big tournaments against its rivals from Sioux Falls et al.). Asking Stevens debate to shoulder another 50% cut and eliminating the curricular component of the program is unfair and unwise.
Posted by caheidelberger at 06:14

Labels: communication, debate, education, Rapid City, South Dakota

6 comments:

Anonymous said...
It sounds like people are more important than money to make a program successful. Without a great coach, the debate program faltered.

I suspect that many cuts are coming very soon to a school near you.

1/16/2009 9:43 AM
Anonymous said...
As much as I like debate; its academic nature, nevertheless I'll be true to my dogma -- all extracirricular activities should be done in clubs and removed from school. School is for scholars and scholarship. All extracirricular stuff must be similarly treated and removed from school. It's done in world class secondary schools - we need to catch up. Then we'll have funds for education.

1/16/2009 5:20 PM
MustBeKidding said...
Someboday call Stan Adelstein. He'll write a check for anything for the publicity.

1/16/2009 9:33 PM
caheidelberger said...
Anon 5:20: There is a reasonable argument to be made for placing all extracurriculars on club status, as is common in Europe. That's how soccer and hockey developed here in South Dakota, and those activities have flourished.

However, debate so strognly supports the academic mission of the school, there is a very strong case to make that more schools should sponsor the activity, include it in the curriculum, and give students academic credit for it. When a student can gain more speech experience in one weekend tournament than in an entire semester in the classroom, why not make it a class (if not a general requirement)?

mbk, Stan is doing a valuable public service by supporting music in Rapid City (unlike you, whose snide comments offer little value to the conversation or the community). Similar support from donors for debate would be welcome and praiseworthy.

1/17/2009 5:40 AM
MustBeKidding said...
Fair enough. The problem is that Adelstein makes sure everybody knows about it. He could have bailed out the music program without broadcasting it at public meeting to get votes. That's all I'm saying.

1/17/2009 9:19 AM
BuyGiveGo said...
I, like Cory, was a LD debater in high school, two years of it the same time he was and have judged alongside of him and coordinated the Karl Mundt for years with him. I have used EVERY skill learned in debate - nearly every day. My thinking, writing, speaking and negotiation skills are bolstered by a keen confidence that make me stand out in the crowd. If there is another activity at school that is deemed better, I'd like to have a non-debater in the school fight for it with the school's top LD or Trad team. Maybe next year's LD topic should be "It is morally wrong to cut the debate team from a school." Neg would have a tough time, though, I guess....
Rebecca (Glynn) Adams, proud MHS Debater, 1988 - 1991

1/19/2009 5:05 PM

WSDC Field Announced, Draw Coming

Dear All,

I’m happy to announce that the following countries will participate in the 21st WSDC to be held in Athens, Greece.

1 ARGENTINA 21 NETHERLANDS
2 AUSTRALIA 22 NEW ZEALAND
3 BANGLADESH 23 PAKISTAN
4 BERMUDA 24 PERU
5 CANADA 25 PHILIPPINES
6 CHILE 26 QATAR
7 CZECH REPUBLIC 27 ROMANIA
8 ENGLAND 28 SCOTLAND
9 ESTONIA 29 SINGAPORE
10 GERMANY 30 SLOVAKIA
11 GREECE 31 SLOVENIA
12 INDIA 32 SOUTH AFRICA
13 INDONESIA 33 SOUTH KOREA
14 IRELAND 34 SRI LANKA
15 ISRAEL 35 SWEDEN
16 JAPAN 36 THAILAND
17 KUWAIT 37 TURKEY
18 LITHUANIA 38 U.S.A.
19 MEXICO 39 WALES
20 NAMIBIA


The draw will be announced on Monday the 26th. It will be released to the Netpals site, the WSDC blogsite and to all team managers (who have confirmed their contact details as requested by Claire).

Please, if you have any concerns about the participation of your country, contact the organizers at wsdc2009@googlemail.com now!

Looking forward to seeing you all!

Respectfully,

Effie Giannakouri

ESU Scotland Develops Debating in the Classroom Website

There are lots of great materials for teachers here about using debate in the classroom to teach other subjects. Goes well with the debate across the curriculum efforts that Maxwell Schnurer and I have been involved with for some some years now. You can get our second edition of Many Sides - debate across the curriculum at http://www.amazon.com/Many-Sides-Debate-Across-Curriculum/dp/1932716173/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232539281&sr=1-2

ESU Scotland materials at http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/debatinginschools/

Why use debating in schools?
This resource will help teachers to:

use speech and debate techniques in the classroom
set up debating societies within schools
get involved in competitive debating.
Debate captures the spirit of Curriculum for Excellence and can play a significant part in a schools' citizenship and Determined To Succeed activities. It is a unique way of promoting critical thinking, communication, research and enquiry skills.

The innate structure of debating means that young people build effective communication skills, which enhances their confidence, their ability to communicate and persuade a group of people, and allows them to discover their voice.

High School Debate on the Rise in California

From http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-debate20-2009jan20,0,4447271.story

No argument: High school debate is popular once again

Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times
Fernando Morones, 14, preps for a debate at Elizabeth Learning Center. Debate “sets a level of fairness that we might not otherwise have,” he says.
Literacy and graduation rates are improving for teens in debate programs. Students hope to put to rest the stereotype of debaters as geeks with pocket protectors.
By Yvonne Villarreal
January 20, 2009
Crowds of Lincoln High School students flooded the sidewalks along Broadway recently as another school day came to an end. But 16-year-old Tania Navarro wasn't in the crowd. She sat inside one of the school's bungalow classrooms, tapping her pencil against the sheet of paper in front of her.

"I love to argue," she said.

But her penchant for verbal confrontation hadn't landed her in detention hall.

She and nine of her classmates are part of the back-in-vogue world of high school debate, long a staple of American high schools until falling out of fashion in the 1980s. Educators and others are hoping the art of forceful and reasoned argument will once again sweep into many of Los Angeles' high schools.

"For many of our students, English is a second language, and many of them are poor . . . and debate has nothing to do with that," said Supt. Ramon C. Cortines, who was a member of his college debate team. "They learn, in the end, that they can succeed with their words even when society tells them they can't."

Some schools have individual debate teams, but their numbers are spotty and they frequently depend on the dedication of one teacher.

The National Assn. of Urban Debate Leagues, which includes the Los Angeles chapter, is a nonprofit network of policy debate teams made up mainly of minority students from urban high schools in 24 large cities, including New York, Boston and Chicago.

"Too often students are inactive, passive recipients of the educational system and its process," said Brett Flater, director of Los Angeles Urban Debate League, which was launched in the fall. "When they understand they have a voice, a drastic change occurs: they're suddenly engaged. You don't have to train students to get up and express an opinion -- they're full of them."

In 1999, the Southern California Urban Debate League was established to support economically underserved schools in Orange County. Debate teams are relatively scarce in other urban districts, where dropout rates are high, test scores are low and a large majority of students qualify for reduced-price lunches.

The Los Angeles debate league serves more than 80 students -- a number organizers hope to increase to 300 students in 30 schools in the next three years. The L.A. chapter's $326,000 budget comes mostly from Los Angeles Unified School District funds and donations from members of a local advisory board.

"Our mission is more debate for more kids," said Lenny Gail, chairman of the Chicago-based national debate organization, who belonged to his high school and college debate teams. "We felt almost as if there was a moral imperative to try and get something going in L.A. because of the number of kids who might not be exposed to the benefits of debating."

And recruiting them isn't difficult, Flater said. The stereotype of debaters as suburban geeks wearing pocket protectors isn't a barrier for participating students, but it's an image they hope to change.

"It's telling kids like us, who might not live in the nicest areas or have access to all the resources kids in other neighborhoods do, that we have worth," said Fernando Morones, 14, who is part of the 26-member Elizabeth Learning Center debate team in Cudahy. "This sets a level of fairness that we might not otherwise have. . . . It's showing others that we're capable."

But being capable only goes so far. Like the topics they argue, debate itself takes research and strategy. Students receive nearly 600 pages of high-level research organized into specific topics that they craft into an argument.

Students who participate show improved academic achievement, according to the national urban debate league.

Literacy scores among debaters have increased by an average of 25%. High school graduation rates among regular participants are nearly 100%, and more than 75% of urban debaters attend four-year colleges.

For Tania, the statistics aren't merely abstract figures. The freshman has overcome a few roadblocks in her journey. A native of Mexico, she said she repeated kindergarten and second grade when her English skills weren't up to par.

Today, Tania said she has a 3.5 grade-point average and dreams of attending Harvard Law School.

"Debate has helped me so much with my studies," Tania said. "My writing isn't perfect. I mispronounce big words sometimes . . . but I'm learning and I'm doing better. Now, when I see a word I don't understand in the research materials, I look it up instead of skipping over it."

yvonne.villarreal@latimes.com

Debating Gains Acceptance in Broader Curriculum

From http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6007299

Hearing both sides of the story
News | Published in TESS on 16 January, 2009 | By: Tom Drake

Section:
News
As the benefits of debating receive wider recognition in the curriculum, new resources and training are available for primary and secondary. Tom Drake lends them his ears

Take an S1 student who is terrified of speaking in public. Give her a one-day debating workshop, in a group mixing pupils from several schools. Involve her actively in thinking through both sides of an issue, explain how to structure a speech and an argument and mix this up with plenty of fun and games. Then let her rip in a live debate, and see the transformation.

These are the results which the English-Speaking Union has achieved across Scotland over the last few years through its hugely successful debates out-reach programme.

Working directly with more than 2,000 pupils from 70 schools, the ESU has had a real impact on the lives of young people from Aberdeen to North Lanarkshire, and has made speech and debate a core part of the culture of schools up and down the land. Recent funding from the Robertson Trust will help secure the future of this work over the next three years, starting with schools in the Drumchapel area of Glasgow.

Secondary schools such as Abronhill and St Maurice's in North Lanarkshire, Bathgate and Deans Community High in West Lothian and Braes and Bo'ness in Falkirk have benefited from these programmes, and in many cases gone on to make a real impression in competitive debating.

Largely because of the ESU's pioneering work, the value of speech and debate activities has been generally recognised throughout the Scottish education system over the past few years. Once seen as an exclusive and elitist activity, the benefits of debating have seen more and more schools taking part in competitions, setting up debating clubs or using debating as a way to explore the curriculum.

Debating instils a number of key values which chime directly with the four capacities of A Curriculum for Excellence - it increases self-confidence and the powers of expression, while encouraging critical thinking, teamwork, research skills and respect for other points of view. It also develops young people's awareness of contemporary issues.

Since 2006, the union has been working closely with Learning and Teaching Scotland to develop comprehensive online learning resources to support teachers interested in debating or wishing to find out about it. Now, in the second phase of the collaboration, it is running a massive programme of continuing professional development courses for primary and secondary teachers throughout 2009.

What does the future hold? The CPD programme should have a major impact in spreading speech and debate to all parts of the country over the next year. Meanwhile, the English-Speaking Union is exploring with LTS ways in which it can work more intensively with primary schools through 2009 and 2010.

One thing is certain - Scottish school debating is on the up and up.

Further information about ESU Scotland's services to authorities, teachers and schools - Rob Marrs: T 0131 229 1528 E debates@esuscotland.org.uk

www.ltscotland.org.uk/debatinginschools

CAROL MCPHERSON, TEACHER, ST MAURICE'S HIGH, CUMBERNAULD

At St Maurice's we have a long association with the ESU, with Rob Marrs regularly visiting as a judge and delivering workshops to pupils. Our headteacher, Laurie Byrne, was keen to encourage staff to increase confidence in public speaking. The CPD became invaluable. Uptake was impressive. The course was presented in an open and humorous way, with plenty of interactive tasks and strategies and topics we could take back to the classroom. In terms of A Curriculum for Excellence, the CPD had the bonus of bringing together staff from a variety of subjects in the realisation that these skills can be employed by any subject for any topic.

ALISON MACDONALD, PRIMARY LITERACY AND ENGLISH DEVELOPMENT OFFICER, WEST LOTHIAN

As a novice to formal debating, I found the "How-to guides" useful. They formed the basic structure of the teacher and pupil workshops I organised in the run-up to our "West Lothian Speaks" debating competition. The games on the website were a fun way to introduce debating skills, such as points of information and rebuttal.

ALEXIS VISWANATHAN, LITERACY DEVELOPMENT OFFICER, LEARNING AND TEACHING SCOTLAND

The ESU online resources and CPD training days have been devised for practitioners at different levels in their debating expertise, and the training days can be adapted to suit individual schools and clusters. LTS is keen to encourage primary schools to participate in the training days.

HAZEL RITCHIE, DEPUTE HEADTEACHER, WALLACE HIGH, STIRLING

Since Rob Marrs and Johon Duncan from ESU visited the school, we have had senior and junior teams competing in competitions. Debating meets the criteria for ACfE - pupils become successful learners because they research the topics, responsible citizens because the debates are often of a political nature, and confident individuals because they speak in front of an audience and a panel of judges. It will also help them to be effective contributors for the rest of their lives.

Huge Viewing Audience for WUDC Finals Video

The Final Round at WUDC 2009 in Cork was videotaped and put on the Debate Video Blog as well as the Global Debate Blog. The video is above if you are interested.

It has now been watched almost 19,000 times in two weeks.

That is a lot of viewing from all over the world.

Thanks to Art Ward and the WUDC crew who made it possible and easy for me to video the debate. They gave me a prime spot for my camera and all the cooperation they could.

As a result, thousands of people all over the world have been able to watch this video.

New World Debate Rankings Out for 2009

Colm Flynn has done all the hard work, and all you need to do is interpret the data.

Great job, as usual, by Colm.

See the list at http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pRPFMu18xvz8HOsL9QLKtOw

Here are the top 20:

2009 rank-2008 rank-school-country-last 5 WUDC scores-total-teams-average points

1 1 Sydney Australia 62 101 150 111 106 530 28 18.9285714285714
.
2 2 Oxford Union England 61 99 121 103 93 477 25 19.08
.
3 3 Cambridge England 54 77 94 101 95 421 23 18.304347826087
.
4 7 Yale US 53 91 100 109 37 390 22 17.7272727272727
.
5 4 Monash Australia 57 87 59 50 103 356 21 16.952380952381
.
6 12 Queensland Australia 52 90 98 78 28 346 21 16.4761904761905
.
7 13 Toronto (Hart House) Canada 55 56 82 76 52 321 18 17.8333333333333
.
8 5 Ateneo de Manila University Philippines 46 76 48 49 77 296 19 15.5789473684211
.
9 18 Nanyang (NTU) Singapore 45 77 27 31 89 269 18 14.9444444444444
.
10 30 Hong Kong Uni Hong Kong 41 65 70 25 59 260 21 12.3809523809524
.
11 Split UC Dublin L & H A Ireland 50 53 52 0 68 34 257 15 17.1333333333333
.
12 14 International Islamic Uni Malaysia Malaysia 15 74 42 43 77 251 18 13.9444444444444
.
13 9 Melbourne Australia 15 83 18 53 75 244 15 16.2666666666667
.
14 25 Queens Canada 52 49 49 62 31 243 15 16.2
.
15 16 La Verne US 37 51 49 59 41 237 19 12.4736842105263
.
16 63 Colgate US 47 45 55 52 33 232 17 13.6470588235294
.
17 11 New South Wales Uni of (UNSW) Australia 41 45 49 44 51 230 15 15.3333333333333
.
18 Split TCD Hist Ireland 43 35 35 81 33 227 14 16.2142857142857
.
19 34 MARA, Uni Teknologi Malaysia 15 60 38 16 93 222 16 13.875
.
20 24 Alberta Canada 39 62 64 38 18 221 16 13.8125

King's Legacy Evoked at Debate Tournament

From http://www.citizensvoice.com/articles/2009/01/18/news/wb_voice.20090118.a.pg3.cv18cddebate_s1.2237860_top7.txt

High school students evoke King’s legacy in debate tournament
WILKES-BARRE — The halls and classrooms of Meyers High School and Kistler Elementary were swarming with students this Saturday — and many of them had never been in the Wilkes-Barre Area school district before.
BY ELIZABETH SKRAPITS
STAFF WRITER
Published: Sunday, January 18, 2009 4:06 AM EST
WILKES-BARRE — The halls and classrooms of Meyers High School and Kistler Elementary were swarming with students this Saturday — and many of them had never been in the Wilkes-Barre Area school district before.

They were from high schools throughout the state, come to compete in the 10th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. open speech and debate tournament.

The tournament, which The Citizens’ Voice sponsors, is held as a tribute to the legendary civil rights leader “because he was an amazing speaker,” said Sarah Borland, the event’s director. She’s also a veteran of the tournament, having won the Dr. Martin Luther King Original Oratory award when she was a student at Myers in 2000.

The tournament is distinctive in that some of the approximately 16 categories are unique to it, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Extemporaneous Commentary, Borland said. Students are given a word or quote related to a civil rights event, on which they come up with an off-the-cuff speech, having done research beforehand, she said.

Another is the Dr. Martin Luther King Original Poetry category, in which Jennifer Momenzadeh, a student at Crestwood High School, and Sarah Van Sise of Pocono Mountain West competed.

They focused on the tragedy of hate crimes in their poems. Momenzadeh’s, titled “A Conversation with Death,” was about a girl who was fatally beaten by a gang of boys who disapproved of her Wiccan beliefs. The girl meets Death in the form of a handsome young man, who volunteers to take her attackers, but she says, “Let them live. Let them atone for what they’ve done.”

Van Sise’s “Southern Scenes” was set in the segregated South, telling of a young white girl’s heartbreak and anger when her black boyfriend is lynched by a mob led by her father.

“Nobody ever thought a white girl from Tennessee was going to disagree with what she was forced to see,” Van Sise recited.

Both poems drew spontaneous applause from judge Michael Shimko. The contestants are judged on criteria such as body language, use of voice, and how often they looked at their prompt books — they were supposed to memorize the poems, he said.

Shimko volunteered as a judge because his son Mark, a student at Notre Dame in Easton, was competing — and he found he enjoyed it.

“It’s a lot of fun,” he said.

In addition to awards for students who do best in each category, there is an annual Rosa Parks Award bestowed on a member of the community who most exemplifies her character.

This year’s recipient is Sister Miriam Stadulis, director of the McGlynn Learning Center, which provides after-school programs for more than 100 children a year at the low-income Wilkes-Barre Boulevard townhomes. Stadulis has also served on the boards for the Greater Nanticoke Area Drug Task Force and the Children’s Service Center.

US Universities Registration is Open

University of Vermont & IDEA bring you US Universities Debating Championships, 3-5 April 2009.

Registration information and comprehensive data about the tournament are now available at:

http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/usu/Register.html

As of January 15 2009 registration is open. Registration will close on March 25 2009.

Basic Data:

Team Cap: None until we reach 150 teams. N-1 judging. Consensus adjudication, oral adjudication. Special discounts for teams from beyond North America. Non-USA teams can win the tournament but only a USA team can be crowned USA National Champion.

Fees: $85 per team. Bulk discounts (10 or more) available with negotiation. A limited number of judges are available at $100 each. All checks payable to “UVM Debate.”

You get: Debate briefing, judge training by Neill Harvey-Smith, six debates, two breakfasts, two lunches, awesome trophies, Saturday break night social, Sunday night survivor party, coach business/dinner, SWAG bag of freebies, shuttles from tournament hotel to campus & socials, restaurant coupons for town, snacks and surprises.

Email your entry to: alfred.snider@uvm.edu

Include:
1.Contact name, email, telephone.
2.Number of teams, complete names for each.
3.Judges, complete names, short experience explanation.

GET ROOMS EARLY AT THE WINDJAMMER. SPECIAL RATES AND SHUTTLES FROM OTHER THAN THE WINDJAMMER CANNOT BE PROVIDED. Reservations can be made toll free at 1-800-371-1125. Please refer to Group # 405086. Please contact Doug McSweeney, Sales Manager, at 802-651-0638 or via email at doug@windjammergroup.com.

YOU MUST BE IN BURLINGTON AND REGISTERED BY NOON FRIDAY APRIL 3 2009.

Also, several new invitations to other tournaments in this format are now available at:

http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/usu/Invites/Invites.html

Let me know if yopu have questions or issues.

Debate Teaches Lessons for Life

From http://wlrjr.blogspot.com/2009/01/most-important-thing-i-learned-in.html

FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 2009

The Most Important Thing I Learned from Debate

I was a debater in high school, a debater in college, and a debate coach and judge after college. I don't know any other extracurricular activity that teaches students more about more.

Debate teaches substantive material. I debated topics like space exploration, national educational reform, First Amendment case law, hazardous waste responsibility, U.S. arms sales, consumer product safety, and foreign trade policy. I had to learn about all these topics as well as implications flowing from them, ranging from policy issues like government spending and federalism and military strategy to the philophies and deontological constructs of John Stuart Mill and John Rawls and Thomas Malthus.

Debate also, as you would expect, teaches public speaking skills. I do not contend that the uninitiated wants to listen to a debate per se - the speed of the speeches and the technical jargon used in the "game" of debate will confuse most first timers. But the skills learned - clarity, explanation, confidence, organization - are transferable to many other public speaking opportunities that audiences will enjoy hearing.

More important, to me, than either of these first two benefits is that debate teaches how to think on one's feet. The number of unexpected twists and turns in any given debate round are multiple, and the debater who best understands and reacts to the unforeseen will win.

But there is something more basic than any of those things, and it is that something that came home to me again today. Debate reinforces - if it does not teach for the first time - that there are at least two reasonable sides to virtually every topic. One does not spend long in competitive debate and retain the idea that there are many absolutes that face us in daily life. Note: I do not at all mean that there are not certain moral, religious, and scientific absolutes - there clearly are - but I do mean to say that quantitatively the number of absolutes is relatively few compared to the number of subjects with which we deal - personally, professionally, ethically, politically - on a daily basis.

I had lunch today with one of the ministers from my church. Our purpose was to discuss a question on which we disagree. We both value discussion, and rather than simply disagreeing, we both wanted to know the reasons behind the other's position and to see what common ground we have.

Neither of us convinced the other. While my natural instincts are disappointed that I did not "win her over" with my charm and rhetoric, my debate sense tells me that what was accomplished was greater understanding - by both of us - about both sides of the matter. The truth is that we agree on most things, including many aspects of this particular concern. Our point of departure is narrow - in this case an honest disagreement in interpreting certain scripture verses - but our underlying doctrinal and ethical beliefs are virtually identical.

It is instructive to discuss. That is not news to any of you, but it is worth remembering. When we find someone whom we respect who disagrees with us about some particular issue or another, it is worthwhile to build on that respect and discover where the disagreement really lies. Maybe the key is that "whom we respect" part - maybe we need to remind ourselves that people on the other side of topics are still worthy of respect.

Just because I voted for one candidate and you voted for another does not mean that we are categorically opposed - there may be, and probably are, simply a few distinct questions on which our interpretations differ.

Today's political, religious, cultural, and economic discourse seems to be polluted by underlying suspicions of motive. We hear certain positions espoused by another - positions with which we genuinely disagree - and tend to ascribe to that other person a world view that embodies far more than the particular matter of debate. (Assumptions are largely out of place in these kinds of discussions. I like Peter Paul & Mary, Simon & Garfunkel, and The Mamas & the Papas, but if you assume from that something about my politics, you might well be wrong.) Just because, for example, someone disagrees with me on some aspect of American foreign policy does not mean that that person and I disagree on underlying principles on which America is based. Just because you and I have a radical disagreement on whether a certain action is sin does not necessarily mean that we differ on the importance of scripture or the necessity for repentance. Just because we may disagree on whether "Abbey Road" or "Revolver" is a better album than "Born in the USA" or "Born to Run" does not mean that we don't agree on whether the Beatles are generally better than Springsteen or whether solo acts are better than quartets. (I would draw examples from rock music from the last decade if I actually knew any!)

As is becoming usual with my blogs, I am not plowing new ground here. I am not, I expect, saying anything profound. That there are two sides to most important questions is hardly earthshaking.

But it is worth remembering. If we can lessen a little of the suspicion of the underlying world views that may or may not give rise to the specific concern up for consideration, we might get along a little better.

And where there are honest disagreements in world view, departures in basic philosophy, and disputes over the absolutes, we must address those where appropriate. But let's not trivialize the real fundamental arguments by finding phantom ones in every specific disagreement. Let's not demonize the opposition every single time there is a dispute. Let's not assume that saying X means one's entire belief system is founded on any particular "ism". Let's not declare that those who disagree with us are unreasonable because they take a position different from ours.

Of course, some people's argumentation makes it clear that they have not thought things through. Some positions - even sincerely held ones - are not respectable (although the people espousing those beliefs are certainly worthy of respect) because they have been reached only because of fad or personal agenda or happenstance. Such an unsupportable differing opinion is equivalent to what the rhetoric scholars call a "straw man," something easily dispensed with. That is not what I am discussing here - I am talking about the positions staked out after thought, prayer, research, debate, education, experience, and honest-to-goodness conviction. Let's disagree honestly and isolate our disagreement without attributing a parade of horribles to the other.

We do not diminish the sincerity of our belief, the potential correctness of our position, or our own standing when we admit that the other side has a reasonable (albeit wrong in our opinion) position. In fact, as I learned from debate, it is often only when we see the strength of the opposing position that we best are able to debate it.

I enjoyed my lunch. I am glad for people who can disagree with me, discuss the question on the table, and still respect me. I am especially glad when they can still be my friend.

Antigua & Barbuda Rev Up Debating Activities

Proponents Samori Joseph and Shawn Thomas in the first debate on renewable energy.

From http://www.antiguasun.com/paper/?as=view&sun=145415036301142009&an=374239037001142009&ac=Local

ASC debate team gets support from Environment Division

Wednesday January 14 2009

This Friday, the Environment Division and the second year A-level students of the Antigua State College will host the second of a series of national debates on the environment.

The ASC team is expected to represent the nation in the Leeward Island competitions to be held next month.

The topics are centred mainly on the environment. The college, therefore, approached the Environment Division for help and the result is three practice debates.

The purpose of the debates is to raise funds and prepare the team of debaters.

The first debate was held in December at the Multi-Purpose Cultural and Exhibition Centre on the topic, “Should Antigua and Barbuda invest in renewable energy”. It was declared a success.

The second debate will be held on 16 Jan., at the previous venue from 2 p.m. on the topic, “Is Antigua and Barbuda contributing to the effects of climate change?’.

The third will be on 6 Feb., but the topic has not as yet been determined.

Environment Education and Information Officer Carol Faye George is asking students to support this activity as it not only provides useful information on the environment but also helps the debaters to prepare for their upcoming competition. Members of the audience might be asked to comment on the debate during the intermission prior to the rebuttal segment interviews.

The organisers are asking for a contribution of $2 from each student. The funds raised will go toward travelling expenses for the national debate team that will be vying in the regional competition in February.

"Political Islam" Public Debate in Qatar

From Qatar Debate:

QatarDebate is delighted to invite you to a special public debate in English this Saturday from 6pm - 9pm at Recreation Centre Ain Al-Qut, Education City.

The event is being held to mark the arrival in Doha of a delegation of student debaters from Saudi Arabia.

The event will be attended by His Excellency the Saudi Ambassador to Qatar.

The dress code for the debate is formal.

A buffet dinner will follow the debate.


Ain Al-Qut, Recreation Centre
Education City

PUBLIC DEBATE


Saturday 17th January: 6pm-9pm

'This House Believes that political islam is a threat to the west'



Come along to the Recreation Centre and watch a team from Al Yamamah College in Saudi Arabia debating against a team from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar!

We strongly recommend these sessions for any students or faculty who are interested in judging at future QatarDebate events or want to grow the Debate Club at their School or University...


STUDENTS/FACULTY
As there are limited seats for this event please register by emailing:

haldhawadi@qf.org.qa
The QatarDebate Team look forward to seeing you on Saturday!

Best wishes,


Dr Hayat Maarafi
Executive Director
QatarDebate

Asian Debate Institute 2009 Registration Open

Logan himself...

From Logan:

Dearest Debate Community,

I am please to announce that you can now register online for the 6th Asian Debate Institute, which will be held at EWHA Womens University, Seoul, from the 13th to 20th February.

Don't miss this opportunity to learn and experience debate with some of the most professional and accomplished coaches in the field, and have an awesome time in Seoul (Soul of Asia)!!

The ADI is open to everyone, of all skill levels. It is truly a global event, which in the past has seen participation from China, Taiwan, Japan, Kenya, Kurdistan, Czech, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, the USA and many other countries!

Our faculty this year includes (but is not limited to)
- Jason Jarvis - CA Asians, DCA AUDC, DCA Australs 2009
- Logan - Asian Champion & Best Speaker, CA Australs, CA Worlds
- Sayeqa Islam - Australs Best Speaker, DCA Australs 2009
- Sharmila Parmanand - Asian Champion and Best Speaker, DCA AUDC 2009
- Nurliana Kamaruddin - Australs Finals Judge, DCA NEAO
- Peter Kipp - CA KHSDC, Coached EFL Worlds Finalists
- Annushia Balavijendran - coached debate in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Botswana; judged Asians, Worlds, Australs
- Pong Yu Wern - Australs ESL Finalists, Asians Quarterfinalist
- Rhydian Morgan - Coached current Worlds ESL & EFL Champions

Visit the www.asiandebateinstitute.com to get more information about our faculty, the preliminary ADI schedule and see pictures from the last 5 ADIs.

Registration is 250,000 won for domestic participants and 150,000 won for international participants. Registration does not include accommodation, but does include full tuition, a special t-shirt and the legendary ADI Banquet.

To register, please fill in the online form at http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pfFoE0bkTi51n6iklyD1Fcg&hl=en_GB . Visit http://asiandebateinstitute.com/registration_and_fees for more registration and payment information.

Registration ends on the 30th of January and places are limited so hurry up and register!

See you in Seoul (Soul of Asia!)

Cheers
Logan
Director / Winter ADI 2009

Moves to Unify Asian Debate

From Estelle Osorio:

Dear Friends,

Last year, the Asian Universities Debating Union
(AUDU) passed a resolution inviting ALL Asian
institutions to come to AUDC in the name of Asian
Unity. In that same tournament, participants from
institutions traditionally allied with the All Asians
received adjudication subsidy, and broke fair and
square as adjudicators and debaters. The request of
All Asian representatives to be heard was also
granted--with copies of the proposed Asian Debate
Federation constitution being given to all union reps
in advance, for their deliberation.

Last year, both sides tried their best and yet failed
to reach a compromise. This year, the possibility of a
unified Asian Debate Community looks a lot more
promising, thanks to reasonable and clear-cut requests
from both sides.

At Cork Worlds, AUDC Exco members sat down with All
Asian representatives (from MMU, UiTM, Chula, NLSIU
and other institutions) to discuss the prospect of
unifying the Asian Debate Community. In that meeting,
All Asian delegates had expressed certain
requests--which the AUDC Exco, upon consultation, has
agreed to in the name of Asian Unity.

The requests, granted by the AUDC Exco in the name of
Asian Unity, are as follows:

1. A SEPARATE union meeting/forum on Asian Unity, to
be held at EWU AUDC. This will ensure enough time for
discussions on important issues such as a possible
change in tournament name--an important request of All
Asian Delegates.

2. A DCA representative of AUT/All Asians to EWU AUDC.
- To achieve this end in accordance with the AUDC
Constitution, Luang P (DCA, Thailand) is graciously
willing to relinquish his spot in the adj core for an
AUT/All Asians DCA. This will satisfy the
constitutional limit of 5 members for the adjudication
core.

The AUDC Exco guarantees that the DCA representative
is solely the choice of AUT/All Asian delegates and
that no AUDC candidate will be nominated in Luang P's
stead. Constitutional requirements will apply to
AUT/All Asian candidates for DCA though. These
eligibility requirements include (a) main break as an
adjudicator/debater in AUDC, Australs or WUDC at least
once in their career, (b) active participation as a
debater/adjudicator in AUDC, Australs or WUDC in the
last two years, and (c) representing a country other
than Bangladesh, Philippines, Singapore and
Malaysia--all of which are already represented in the
adjudication core. Upon nomination, the chosen AUT/All
Asians candidate will be ratified by AUDC union
members through an online vote. These reasonable
requirements ensures both competence and
representation, resulting in a fairer and better
tournament for all.

These things are conditional on AUT/All Asian
Delegates granting our requests: which is to respect
and honor AUDC's core principles and to make EWU AUDC
*the* unifying tournament of Asia. After all, if our
goal is unity, it makes no sense to prolong the split
further by making universities choose between two
well-organized tournaments.

Last year, the AUDC Union passed a resolution stating
our commitment to Asian Unity and inviting ALL Asian
institutions to come join us at EWU AUDC and help make
the tournament better. Last year, we proved our
commitment to Asian Unity by welcoming participants
from All Asians with open arms, even extending
adjudication subsidy to deserving All Asian
candidates. This year, we are taking it a step
further-- by offering not only a forum, not only the
possibility of a change in tournament name, but also a
DCA slot--made possible only through Luang P's noble
sacrifice.

Now it is your turn to prove your commitment to Asian
Unity. Join us at EWU AUDC and cancel AUT. A single
Asian tournament is the only path to a unified Asia.

Friends, we keep on reminiscing about the good old
days when the Asian Debating Community was
united--now, we are being given the rare opportunity
to be the generation that succeeds in making it
happen. Let's not waste this chance--it may be our
only opportunity to make things right.

Once again, wishing everyone a happy new year and
hoping to see each and every one of you at EWU AUDC
2009.

Sincerely,

Estelle Ople Osorio
Chair, Asian Universities Debating Union Executive
Committee

Now Debate This - Alternative Energy Debate Contest

From http://sev.prnewswire.com/education/20090108/PH5667808012009-1.html

$250,000 debate scholarship program announces new energy independence competition to coincide with Pres-Elect Obama's first 100 days in office

Calling all High School Students to determine your community's biggest energy challenge, and do something about it!

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Now Debate This, America's only national online educational debate and $250,000 high school scholarship contest, announced a new, exciting competition to the 2009 program year to coincide with President-Elect Obama's first 100 days in the White House: "The 100-Day Presidential Challenge." This competition will ask high school students from across America to research their communities' biggest energy problems, and develop Energy Solution Proposals they can implement at the local level. The winners will earn a $5,000 clean technology prize for their school or organization, and an opportunity to share ideas with national experts, such as members of President Obama's cabinet, Congress, and the energy industry.

"In selecting the 2009 Now Debate This topic, 'U.S. Energy Independence,' we see a new opportunity to galvanize the power of America's youth to solve the country's most pressing problems," said Mary L. Hagy, Founder and Executive Producer of Now Debate This, based in Philadelphia. "We challenge all high school students to first, understand the history and context of their community's energy issues, and second, to propose viable solutions to their local problems."

Now Debate This (www.nowdebatethis.com), in partnership with the National Forensic League Speech and Debate Honor Society (NFL), presents "The 100-Day Presidential Challenge" as part of its 2009 program theme, "How can the U.S. achieve energy independence?"

"The timing of the 100-Day Presidential Challenge could not be better," said J. Scott Wunn, Executive Director of the NFL, based in Ripon, WI. Established in 1925, NFL is the nation's oldest and largest high school speech and debate organization. "The 2009 national tournament topic is alternative energy, so students, teachers and coaches are already studying and debating the issue all over the country. The 100-Day Challenge focuses that existing effort on creating viable solutions."

Students will identify and research their communities' most pressing energy problems through the creation of a timeline with background information and develop actionable plans to resolve the problems, including an economic and feasibility assessment. The contest will begin at 12:00:01 Eastern Standard Time on January 20, 2009 and close at 12:00:01 Eastern Standard Time, April 30, 2009.

Entries will be judged on creativity, historical research and analysis, the written proposal and accompanying video, documentation and feasibility. Judging panels will be convened by Now Debate This, comprised of representatives from education, non-profit, business, industry, technology and/or government sectors. Winners will be announced in May 2009.

In order to be eligible for "The 100-Day Presidential Challenge," high school student groups must:

Create a project web page on the Now Debate This Confab site. The students will use this page to communicate their work through blog entries, photos, videos, news articles and other appropriate presentations. Judging will include evaluation of the content generated on the group's page.
Research the history of energy usage in their communities, and develop a timeline that includes the key actors and actions in their community's energy use, as well as an explanation of the scope of the problem today. Students must upload the timeline on their Now Debate This Confab web page.
Create a SMART Energy Solution Proposal detailing the project and how it will be accomplished. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented, and Time frame. Student groups will use these five categories to analyze the feasibility and economic efficacy of the Energy Solution Proposal. The written proposal should be accompanied by a video presentation of no more than 90 seconds, which describes the problem and demonstrates why the students' idea poses the best solution. Video presentations will be uploaded to YouTube.com and SchoolTube.com.
Now Debate This launched its 2009 program on November 14, 2008 at the National Social Studies Conference in Houston. The 2009 program will consist of three competitions: "The 100-Day Presidential Challenge," "President Prep Time Essay Contest," which prompts students to write the new President about the issues they consider most important, and the "Now Debate This Scholarship Program" for high school juniors to compete for $250,000 in college scholarship money. The scholarship program will issue a call for video entry submissions to be posted to YouTube.com and SchoolTube.com in late February, 2009. The 16 semi-finalists are scheduled to be announced in May, with a summer travel study program beginning in late June, ending with the debate tournament in August.

Now Debate This is made possible through the generous support of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Forensic League, National History Day, the National Park Service and institutional and private partners including the United Nations Foundation.

For more information, please visit www.nowdebatethis.com.

Website: http://nowdebatethis.com//

IDEA Newsletter January 2009

From: cphillip@idebate.org

Letter from the editor
Happy 2009! IDEA is gearing up for another debate jam-packed year. We’re all over the map, and increasing our presence in Asia with our new representative in Thailand, Alisa Keetanitinun. Planning for the Youth Forum in Bosnia and Herzegovina is coming along; Veronika Vlckova in the Netherlands office has extended the deadline for trainers. We’re busy here in the Willamette/Oregon office planning the New Orleans workshop.
There’s so much more to report… please read on!
Crystal Phillips, Communication Director, IDEA Willamette University

Application deadline for Youth Forum trainers extended to January 15th
Although we have received over 40 fully submitted applications for Youth Forum trainers, I am extending the deadline to January 15. We have received a considerable amount of draft applications, and people have asked that I extend the deadline for them individually, so I have decided to prolong the application period for all. Please note though that none of the applications submitted after January 15th will be accepted. Good luck!
Veronika Vlckova, Forum Coordinator, IDEA Netherlands

New Orleans workshops to spark enthusiasm in beginning debaters
As New Orleans works to repair its broken school system, IDEA is contributing to the effort in our way, by getting middle and high school students interested in debate. Free workshops for beginning debaters and coaches begin on January 30th, the first of many debate events in the works for New Orleans schools.
Thursday, January 30th is an all-day workshop for teachers interested in forming debate teams. Students then join their teachers in an all-day workshop on Saturday, January 31st. Everyone will leave the workshop prepared to form a club, and to practice and then compete in several city-wide tournaments planned for spring.
Workshop participants can see excellent high school debate teams in action at a debate showcase the evening before the workshop.
As we all know, debate is an excellent confidence builder, and a great way to enhance critical thinking and communication skills. We’re hoping the workshop has kids excited and eager to lead the promising future of New Orleans.
Know anyone who might be interested in this free workshop? Find more information and register here.

Bosnia and Herzegovina topics published on Debatepedia
Amid rising tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Debatepedia has launched a series of comprehensive debate articles at the heart of the future of the Balkan republic.
BiH is the home of the 2009 Youth Forum as well as the home of participants of the BiH Youth Leadership Program, and it is struggling through significant questions regarding its future. Many fear that the state could fall back into civil war similar to the one between 1992 and 1995, which claimed 100,000 lives and questioned the resolve of Europe and the international community to respond. The Debatepedia debates are: 1. Should the Bosnian Serb Republika Srpska secede from BiH? 2. Should BiH continue under the Dayton Agreement or abandon it? 3. Should BiH accede to the European Union?
Read more at Debatepedia!
Brooks Lindsay, Debatepedia

New representative in Thailand reaching out
I’m Alisa Keetanitinun, IDEA's new hire in Thailand. For the next six months, I'll be working on projects to promote debate in Thailand, starting from the northern part of the country, and working elsewhere in southeast Asia. Debating has been a big part of my life and has given me so much. Since my first year in college, I have been actively competing in and organizing debate competitions/events both domestically and internationally.
Unfortunately, most students in Thailand are not taught debate. Despite being an activity that teaches so many valuable skills, debate is known to and participated by only a very small group of people in Thailand. For this reason, I am very excited to be part of an organization that reaches out to people and promotes debate.
Alisa Keetanitinun, IDEA Program Coordinator, Thailand

IDEA launches online debate adjudication journal
Deliberation, an online, peer-reviewed academic journal focused on adjudication of competitive academic debates, was launched this December. Deliberation solicits and publishes the critical analysis of academic debating rounds in the format of the World Universities Debating Championships that present interesting, unusual or compelling circumstances and from which may be drawn useful insights and generalizations about the best practices of debating and adjudication. The journal intends to publish quarterly editions, depending on the quantity and quality of submissions received. Submissions are welcome from adjudicators who served as chairs or panelists, concerning debates from preliminary or elimination round competition at any tournament.
Each year, Deliberation will publish a special issue featuring the reflections of adjudicators on the panel for the Grand Final of the World Universities Debating Championships.
Upcoming Debate Workshop at Seoul National University
On January 28th, IDEA will be leading a free interactive workshop for university students introducing debate and the British Parliamentary Debate format. Topics covered will include the components of an argument, refutation, case construction and motion interpretation. The workshop will be held at Seoul National University, one of the leading universities in Korea, and is a lead-in to Seoul's DebateFest in February.
Elizabeth Humphrey, IDEA Program Coordinator, Korea

Dates announced for NFL International Qualifier Tournaments
For the third consecutive year, IDEA is partnering up with the National Forensics League (NFL), the largest and most prestigious debate honor society in the US, to run NFL Qualifier Tournaments for students in Asia. This year we are hosting qualifier tournaments in Singapore on April 4th and 5th, and in Korea on April 11th and 12th. Depending on the number of entries in each event, either 1 or 2 students (or teams) from each event with qualify for the NFL US National Tournament from June 14 to June 19! in Birmingham, Alabama.
Elizabeth Humphrey, IDEA Program Coordinator, Korea

Unity in Action project in works
We are happy to announce that Youth Educational Forum in Macedonia and IDEA have received a grant from the European Commission (European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights) to implement a project aimed at promoting inter-ethnic harmony and understanding among young people. The project will be implemented in inter-ethnic communities in Struga, Skopje, Kumanovo and Kicevo.
The main purpose of the proposed project is to develop a network of youth clubs, in and outside schools, that will have groups of young people from ethnically mixed high schools thinking critically and creatively about different aspects of their lives. Students will discuss topics such as culture and multiculturalism, values and human rights, stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination, to engage each other in broader community actions.
Youth Education Forum is the lead grantee and will coordinate the implementation of the project in identified locations. IDEA will assist with curriculum development and training.
Marcin Zaleski, Executive Director, IDEA Netherlands

Third IDEA-BFSU tournament a success!
In cooperation with the School of English and International Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University, IDEA held the third annual IDEA-BFSU four-team parliamentary debate tournament from December 5th to the 7th. 250 students from provinces across China joined to debate topics ranging from curbing Somali piracy to policies in student dormitories.
Unlike previous tournaments that IDEA has sponsored in the PRC, this tournament included a Chinese-language division as well as the English-language division. Many participants had been at BFSU just a month earlier for the IDEA Mandarin and English debate workshop. 84 teams participated in the English division and 40 teams participated in the Mandarin division. The English division broke to octafinals, with students weighing the pros and cons of abolishing veto power in the United Nations’ Security Council. The Mandarin division broke to quarterfinals, where both divisions debated the motion “This house would not allow foreigners to own a controlling interest in Chinese companies.” Semifinals saw rousing debates on if and how China should support for “DINK” (Dual-Income, No Kids) families. For the final round, both divisions debated different motions on environment policy.
First place in the Mandarin division went to Xi’an International Studies University and second place was won by Peking University. First place in the English division was captured by a team combined of one student from Beijing Foreign Studies University and another from Willamette University. Capitol Normal University won second place in the Mandarin division.
Many thanks to Jason Jarvis for donating his time to run tab, and to Karen, Effie, Yang Ge, Cecily, Jingkai and others at BFSU for their help.
Elizabeth Humphrey, IDEA Program Coordinator, Korea

Pause for Travel

I leave Europe today on my way back to Vermont. It usually is a simple trip, with only one connection.

Today may be different beecause of snow in NYC. I may get stuck there. Hopefully I can weather it out with colleague Steve Llano, but I really want to get home.

Stranger things have happened.

Hope for me.

Smithsonian Institution Salutes Inauguration with Debate Series

From http://www.si.edu/events/20090119.asp

Monday, January 19

9 AM-4 PM
First Inaugural College Debates on Issues of National Concern
Three Collegiate Debates

Six college debate teams, in three 75-minute debates, argue the priorities of the new Obama administration. Celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Inauguration Day. Presented by the National Museum of African American History and Culture in cooperation with the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
• 9-9:30 AM: Introductory Remarks: Speakers TBA.

• 9:30 AM: Energy and Climate Change: Michigan State University vs. Wake Forest University: These two schools represent the pinnacle of intercollegiate debate, both having won the National Debate Tournament (NDT) -- America's most historic and prestigious national debate championship -- in the last three years.

• 11:30 AM: Health Care and the Economy: University of Mary Washington vs. the University of Southern California: These two institutions have long traditions of excellence in intercollegiate debate.

• 2 PM: Foreign Policy: Fayetteville State University vs. Voorhees College These two HBCUs are committed to making debate education central to their educational mission. This debate marks the 100th anniversary of the first intercollegiate debates between HBCUs.

• 3:30-4 PM: Closing Remarks: Speakers TBA
Free

National Museum of African American History and Culture
Location: Natural History Museum Baird Auditorium

USA 2009-10 High School Policy Debate Topic Announced

From Angela Hays 01/08/09 2:41 PM

Following are the final results for the 2009-2010 national high school debate topic balloting. Ballots were first sent to states, the District of Columbia, the National Forensic League, National Debate Coaches Association and the National Catholic Forensic League last August. After a period of discussion of the two final topic areas, states conducted balloting in December and January. Results were sent to NFHS headquarters by January 5, 2009.

Poverty was chosen with 23 of the 39 votes cast for the topic.

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.

The 2009 Topic Selection Meeting will be held in Grand Island, New York, August 6-9. Specific information regarding lodging, travel arrangements and daily schedules will be sent to your office at a later date. You may also check our Web site at: http://www.nfhs.org/web/2006/08/speech_debate_theater_association.aspx

2009-2010 NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL DEBATE TOPIC

POVERTY

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.

Unfortunately, more than four decades after Michael Harrington identified those living in poverty as "The Other America," poverty is still an endemic problem in the United States. In 2005, close to 13 percent of the total U.S. population - about 37 million people - were counted as living below the poverty line, a number that essentially remained unchanged from 2004. Of these, 12.3 million were children. Poverty is associated with many harmful outcomes, including poor health, crime, educational difficulties and other social problems. Poverty continues to plague our society despite over four decades of national effort and trillions of dollars in federal spending to combat it. In a nation as wealthy as the United States, such a high level of poverty is certainly appropriate for the examination and reflection provided by a variety of debates on the topic. Affirmatives advocating this topic will be able to defend a wide range of social services designed to both ameliorate the harms of poverty and to reduce the number of people living in poverty. These services would include expanding child care, health care, Food Stamps, housing assistance, mental health care, educational assistance, early Head Start and job training, among others. Negatives would be able debate against the harms of poverty, the ability of various plans to solve the problems identified and many disadvantages, including spending, politics, federalism and net widening. They would also be able to counterplan many of the affirmative plans with the state counterplan. The negative would also have several critical options, including objectivism, statism, dependency and even critiquing the use of the term poverty.

Athens World Schools Newsletter - One Month to Go

From wsdc2009@googlemail.com

Dear All,

In a month from now we will organize the 21st WSDC in Athens! We’re very excited about this and working extremely hard towards that direction. This Newsletter is to inform you of where we’re standing right now and what we have prepared for our guests.

1. Organizing Committee
• We have the backing of the Panhellenic Forensics Association, which has been organizing the national debate tournament since the 1970s. Members of the PFA are both schools and individuals. The organization of the tournament is the effort of the WSDC committee of this Association, primarily of Effie Giannakouri, Helen Koliais, Eirianna Kouri, Albert Fornis and Kallina Basli.
• The Organizing Committee is supported by many WSDC alumni, to name some, Eleni Gatis, Pennie Douligeris, George Katritsis, Alex Daskayiannis, Elena Georgatzis, Roxanne Krystalli. Several of our alumni are going to be present during the competition to help us with everyday requirements.
• Our Chief Adjudicator is James Probert, Head of the Centre for Speech and Debate at the English-Speaking Union in London.
• Our representatives for the Motions Committee are Russell Courts from Greece and Cameron Wyllie from Scotland. Our representatives for the Complaints Committee are Helen Koliais from Greece and Sixto Ramos from Peru.

2. Accommodation:
• We will be staying at the Stanley hotel in the centre of Athens. It’s a 4star hotel, renovated for the Athens Olympics (you can check it out at www.hotelstanley.gr ), which presents the following advantages- firstly, it’s in the center of Athens, one stop from Omonia square and three stops from Syntagma square, which means that it’s as centrally as you can get. Secondly, there is a metro station right outside the entrance of the hotel- from there the participants can go anywhere if they wish to, and the metro is probably the safest way of transportation in Athens. Our Organizing Committee has secured free passes for all public transport for all participants for the whole duration of the tournament and we’re very happy that the Ministry of Transport became one of our sponsors. Thirdly, the hotel is extremely close to local amenities.
• We’re going to provide the same breakfast to the participants as to the rest of the guests in the hotel, including continental and cooked breakfast.
• We will have Office facilities for the Chief Adjudicator and the Organizing Committee in the hotel.
• The registration desk will be located in the entrance of the lobby, to make arrivals day as easy and comfortable .
• All rooms will be serviced daily.
• There is internet and laundry facilities available- wireless internet connection is possible if you bring your laptops along and there are 2 computers in the entrance of the hotel.

3. Meals:
• All breakfasts are included.
• All lunches are included during the preliminary rounds.
• At least three dinners will be included.
• Paying for as many meals as possible is our top priority- we know how important that is to all delegations, and we’re trying to find sponsors that will cover these expenses.
• In general, food in Athens is very cheap- we will provide a guide with cheap, convenient options for times when meals are not provided, many of which have a staff that speaks English. A general guide to Athens is also currently prepared.
• We’ll try to accommodate all dietary requirements.
• The Hotel has a restaurant and two bars that we can use.

4. Transportation:
• All transportation to and from the schools where we’ll have the debates will be provided by the schools themselves. The quarters and semis will take place in venues in the center of Athens and no coach transportation will be needed. We will, however, provide guides to walk you there.
• Transportation to the hotel from the airport is extremely easy- there is a direct line from the airport to the hotel with the metro. We will have guides at the airport waiting for the delegations to arrive to take them to the metro or to the hotel. If you arrive before the 9th of February, we will send you information on how to get to the center of Athens and to the hotel. If you arrive after the metro closes, we will try to accommodate that as well and we’ll contact you for further details.

5. Debate Venues:
• All preliminary rounds will take place in schools, in front of an audience of students. All the schools are very excited to host these rounds!
• The schools are ready and eager to provide a welcoming ceremony, timekeepers, preparation rooms, volunteers for the teams, appropriate rooms, lunch, coffee and cookies for the judges and water during the debates.
• We would like to go to as many schools as possible in order for as many Greek students as possible to get a chance to watch debates. For that reason we would like to organize some workshops which will take place during the preparation for the impromptu debate.
• For the Octo- finals we’re all going to Delphi! The Octos are sponsored by the European and Cultural Center of Delphi and the rounds will take place in the Center itself. Our organization will take care of transportation to and from the venues.
• For the quarter and semi finals we will use venues in the center of Athens that are appropriate for the event- such as the Old Parliament and the Cycladic Art Museum, which are both sponsors of these rounds.
• The final debate will take place in a school theater that can accommodate 800 people.


6. Schedule:
• A brief presentation of the schedule (you can find a more detailed version on our website)
• Monday, 9/2 ‡ Arrivals
• Tuesday, 10/2 ‡ Judges Briefing, Activities for Debaters, Opening Ceremony
• Wednesday, 11/2 ‡ Rounds 1, 2
• Thursday, 12/2 ‡ Rounds 3, 4
• Friday, 13/2 ‡ Rounds 5, 6
• Saturday, 14/2 ‡ Tour option, round 0 (if needed)
• Sunday, 15/2 ‡ Rounds 7, 8, Break night party
• Monday, 16/2 ‡ Octo- Finals (Delphi)
• Tuesday, 17/2 ‡ Quarter- Finals, Semi- Finals
• Wednesday, 18/2 ‡ Council Meeting, Finals, Dinner
• Thursday, 19-2 ‡ Departures

7. Budget:
• A detailed budget will be published by the end of the tournament- most of it at the council meeting and the rest of the details within 10 days of the end of the tournament.


8. And a couple of other things…
• Language: It’s worth mentioning that Athens, and in particular the centre of the city) is a very popular tourist destination, and so it’s very tourist-friendly. Signs, menus, and maps can all be found in English (and possibly in other languages as well) and everyone working at a shop or a station will speak at least basic, conversational English (enough to answer any queries, give directions, and serve you). Also anyone working in emergency services will be able to address any queries in English.

• Weather: Greece is supposed to be a summer destination but we should mention here that it gets quite cold during the winter time- so bring your winter clothes, hats, gloves etc. Having said that, it can get up to 18-20 C, so you might want to bring your hats and sunglasses along as well. We’ll get back to you with a more detailed weather forecast.

Please contact us with any comments or questions,
Respectfully,

Effie Giannakouri

WUDC EFL Final Video

This House would prohibit all private health care.

English as a foreign language winners:
Vilnius A (Aiste Dumbryte & Eugenija Golubova)

Other teams:
Zagreb Law A
Zagred Law B
Bucharest A

Thanks to Steve Llano of St John's University for the video.

Bay Area Urban Debate League on the Radio

Listen to the story to be found at

http://www.crosscurrentsradio.org/features.php?story_id=903

6 minutes.

Bay Area Urban Debate League Prospering

From: http://baudl.org/?p=205

BAUDL Winter Debates Wrap-Up
Published by on December 27, 2008 in Uncategorized.
Winter Debates Wrap-Up

This Saturday, the Bay Area Urban Debate League hosted its third seasonal tournament and the final one of the first semester. Nine Oakland schools were represented in BAUDL’s Winter Debates and, with many of our students now sporting considerable debate experience, the competition was more intense than ever. This tournament was our first to host separate novice and varsity divisions, meaning that many of our students were celebrating their graduation into a community of high-level competitors where evidence and arguments fly at great speed. For several others, it was the first debate competition of their lives! Fremont Federation was the gracious host to our event. A few stories from the day:

Cecilia Lopez, from Oakland High, came to the tournament with plans to compete with her regular partner and good friend. Unfortunately, this friend woke up sick on Saturday morning and was unable to make it. Cecilia eagerly agreed to debate with another student for the day, but her new partner was also forced to leave after the first round to attend to family matters. Though this left Cecilia the only debater at the tournament without a partner, she competed anyway. She bravely debated “maverick” for an entire round, facing down the competition alone and winning! Cecilia was presented with the Third Place Individual Speaker Award at the end of the day.

Lonnie Wafer, from Leadership Prep, has been one of the most committed debaters in the BAUDL since he first attended our Summer Institute in August. Recently, Lonnie moved from his mother’s home in East Oakland to live with his aunt in Antioch. Lonnie was devastated to learn that, because BAUDL is not yet operating there, his school had no debate team. But Lonnie would not be kept from exercising his passion for speaking his mind. He traveled all the way from Antioch to Fremont Federation and debated on Saturday, racking up enough wins to finish in the top ten!

These and other displays of courage and dedication on the part of our amazing students made Saturday’s the most memorable tournament to date for the BAUDL. To top it off, our debaters and coaches from Fremont were the most terrific hosts a debate tournament could hope for. Students got up extra early to bake cookies and prepare other treats for our Hospitality Lounge, which was made available to the judges, coaches, and parents in attendance. They made and hung signs to direct competitors and visitors to the right places. On top of all this, they still competed in the tournament and performed quite impressively!

Congratulations to Street Academy’s Jessica Winsley and Daemiion Yaphet, Champions of the Winter Debates, who narrowly beat Skyline High’s Kayla Wheatfall and Zach Seidl, last month’s champs, in the Finals Round. Zach was also the Top Individual Speaker at the tournament, so his trophy case must be getting crowded! Leadership PrepFinally, Cal Prep was the winner of the Winter Debates Sweepstakes Award, given to the school who performs the best as a whole.

Special thanks to everyone who made it out to watch a debate this weekend and lend some support. Our volunteers are truly heroic in their dedication to Oakland students.

For full results, click more.

Top 12 Varsity Teams

1. Street WY
2. Skyline SW
3. Cal Prep JT
4. Media GS
5. Street/Skyline BW
6. Cal Prep BE
7. O High NP
8. EXCEL/Leadership CW
9. Robeson/Media AH
10. O High/Leadership LW
11. Cal Prep RT
12. Media RS

Top 20 Varsity Speakers

1. Zach Seidl (Skyline)
2. Boris Aguilar (Media)
3. Cecilia Lopez (O High)
4. Nattasija Jordan (Cal Prep)
5. Mya Whitaker (Skyline)
6. Alana Banks (Cal Prep)
7. Tommy Nguyen (O High)
8. Jessica Winsley (Skyline)
9. Tanesha Walker (EXCEL)
10. Jackie Rouse (Cal Prep)
11. Daryl Hardy (Robeson)
12. Emely Srimoukda (Media)
13. Kayla Wheatfall (Skyline)
14. Brandon Sneed (Media)
15. Elizabeth Rodriguez (Media)
16. Jonathan Turner (Cal Prep)
17. David Benoit (Street)
18. Crystal Gomez (Media)
19. Carleen Ervin (Cal Prep)
20. Chris Pulu (O High)
Top 5 Novice Teams

1. Leadership BC
2. Cal Prep AB
3. Media LL
4. Robeson AB
5. EXCEL/Robeson MG

Top 10 Novice Speakers

1. Zachariah Clevelend (Leadership Prep)
2. Vaughn Arterberry (Cal Prep)
3. Marcina Brown (Leadership Prep)
4. David McNeal (EXCEL)
5. Sheila Blandon (Robeson)
6. Jose Aburto (Robeson)
7. Stephanie Lopez (Media)
8. Lamar Brown (Cal Prep)
9. Jennifer Lopez (Media)
10. Carolina Gomez (Robeson)

Monash Debating Review Seeks Sub Editors

The Monash Association of Debaters is opening up applications for Sub-Editor positions for its journal, the Monash Debating Review (MDR). The MDR is a prestigious, inter-disciplinary journal containing articles on debating policy, tactics, argumentation strategy and other information relevant for debaters. It has a wide international readership, being sold at major international tournaments such as Australs and Worlds. The Editor-in-Chief will based in Melbourne, Australia (the home of Monash), however Sub-Editors may reside anywhere in the world.

For more information about the MDR and the Sub-Editor role, please see the Position Description. The application deadline is 28 February 2009. If you have any questions please contact Damien Bruckard at monash.debaters.president@gmail.com.

Text-only version of the word document:
Sub-Editor of the Monash Debating Review: Call for Applications

DEADLINE: February 28, 2009

The Monash Association of Debaters (MAD) is currently soliciting applicants for Sub-Editors of Monash Debating Review (MDR).

About the MDR
First published in 2002, the MDR is an annual publication that aims to both inform readers and provide a forum for discussion of issues as they relate to debating and adjudicating. The MDR draws on theopinions and experiences of some of the best debaters, adjudicators and coaches from around the world.

The MDR is the world's only international debating journal. It is a scholarly, interdisciplinary journal that has featured articles from Australia, Russia, New Zealand and the United States, as well as interviews with prominent public intellectuals and policy-makers. For instance, previous editions have contained articles on British
Parliamentary strategy, argumentation strategy, debating policy, global debating styles, the role of affirmative action in debating and backgrounders to contemporary debating topics.

Position Description
The Sub-Editors source and edit articles for the Monash Debating Review.

There are four Sub-Editor positions. This year, the MDR is expanding its worldwide appeal and is looking to appoint at least one Sub-Editor each from Europe, North America and the Australasia region. The Editor-in-Chief will be based in Melbourne, Australia (the home of Monash University).

A Sub-Editor will:

* Encourage the submission of manuscripts from the worldwide debating
* community
* Proofread and edit submitted articles
* Report regularly to the Editor-in-Chief


Selection Criteria
Applications will be judged based on the best combination of

* Previous editorial and/or publication experience
* Debating and/or adjudicating experience
* Vision for the MDR and an understanding of its importance
* A cover letter detailing reasons for wanting to serve


Compensation
The Sub-Editor role is a volunteer position.

Application Procedure
The deadline for submitting applications is February 28, 2009.
Applications should be emailed to Damien Bruckard, President, Monash
Association of Debaters at monash.debaters.president@gmail.com

WUDC Tab Now Available

Download the xls document at
http://debate.uvm.edu/usudc/WUDC2009Fulltabs.xls

Stand By for WUDC Tab

Derek Lande has assured me that the tab for WUDC will be posted on the Cork Worlds website very soon.

WUDC Finals 2009 - Ban Abortions at all Stages of Pregnancy

This House would ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy

University College Cork, Ireland, January 2009
Held in Cork City Hall Auditorium

Finalists:
1G Monash B (Ravi Dutta & Victor Finkel)
1O Oxford A (James Dray & Will Jones)
2G Harvard A (Cormac Early & Lewis Bollard)
2O Oxford C (Jonathan Leader-Maynard & Alex Worsnip)

After many votes, it was Oxford A 5-4, and rumor has it that Harvard was second.

WUDC Summary

Colm is better at taking notes than I am. I have the videos, though. We all do what we can. Special salute to him and I love working with him on events like this.

From Colm Flynn at http://worlddebating.blogspot.com/2009/01/world-debating-championships-2009.html

2009 World Debating Champions:
Oxford A (James Dray & Will Jones)

Finalists:
Monash B (Ravi Dutta & Victor Finkel)
Oxford C (Jonathan Leader-Maynard & Alex Worsnip)
Harvard A (Cormac Early & Lewis Bollard)

English as a second language competition winners:
BBU A

English as a foreign language winners:
Vilnius A (Aistė Dumbrytė & ?)

Top Speaker
Naomi Oreb (Sydney B)

Top ESL Speaker:
Leela Koenig (Leiden A)

Top EFL Speaker:
Aistė Dumbrytė (Villinus A)

World Masters
Team: Ireland (Ross McGuire & Gregg O'Neill)
Individual: Barry Glynn (Ireland)

World Public Speaking Champion:
Patrick Bateman (Sydney)

World Comic Public Speaking Competition:
Willard Foxton

Top Team on the Tab:
Sydney B (Naomi Oreb & Steve Hind)

Worlds 2011 hosts: Botswana

Motions:
Final : That this house would allow abortion at all stages of pregnancy
Semi Final: This house believes governments should subsidise private home ownership.
Qtr Final: This house believes that the international criminal court should prosecute crimes against the democratic process.
Octo Final: This house would arm local militia to fight the taliban in Afghanistan.
ESL Final: This house would implement quotas for domestic players in national football leagues.
EFL Final: This house would prohibit all private health care.
Round 9: This house would ban the publication of political opinion polls.
Round 8: This house would apply a lower rate of income tax to women.
Round 7: This house believes that the west should recognise the independence of Abkhazia.
Round 6: This house would criminalise adultery.
Round 5: This house believes that China and India should bear the same obligations as the West in fighting climate change
Round 4: This house would force the religious desegregation of Northern Irish schools.
Round 3: This house would allow soldiers to sue their government for negligence.
Round 2: This house would fire the senior managements of all corporations which receive government bailouts.
Round 1: This house would ban all forms of gambling.
Womens Debate: This house would ban all forms of religious gender discrimination.
Adj Test: This house would allow insurance companies to view genetic test results in assessing potential customers.

WUDC Semifinals - Subsidize Private Home Ownership

This House believes governments should subsidize private home ownership.

Vic Wellington A 1G
Oxford C 2G advances
Harvard A 1O advances
Queensland A 2O

WUDC Quarterfinals - ICC Prosecute Crimes Against Democracy Room 3

TH believes that the ICC should prosecute crimes against the democratic process.

Monash B 2O Advances
Manchester A 2G Advances
Princeton A 1G
TCD Phil B 1O

WUDC Quarterfinals - ICC Prosecute Crimes Against Democracy Room 4

TH believes that the ICC should prosecute crimes against the democratic process.

UCD L&H A 1O
Nottingham A 2G
Oxford A Advances
Oxford B Advances

Debate Coach W. Scott Nobles dies at 85

Semi-Finals participants from the 1947 West Point National Tournament. John Lowry and George Dell from the United States Military Academy and Scott Nobles and Jerry Sanders from Southeastern State College (OK). Nobles and Sanders won the tournament.

From http://www.twincities.com/ci_11352243?source=most_emailed

Popular Macalester professor W. Scott Nobles dies at 85
By Jeremy Olson
jolson@pioneerpress.com
Updated: 01/01/2009 09:27:49 PM CST

W. Scott Nobles, a renowned debater and professor at Macalester College, died Dec. 24 after prolonged complications from a series of strokes. He was 85.

Friends and loved ones described Nobles as an elegant and brilliant man, whether he was playing bridge, teaching students, dancing in a ballroom or — as was often the case — winning debates or coaching winning teams. Nobles' wife, Judy, said he was persuasive and won arguments, whether he had superior information or not, by connecting with the judges or the audience.

"He sized people up, and he didn't have to manipulate them like some sort of oily salesman," she said. "He could genuinely find common ground."

Nobles taught speech communications for 23 years at Macalester, retiring in 1993, and served at different times as faculty president and director of the pre-law program.

The college debate teams he coached were frequently ranked in the top 10 in the nation and twice won national championships. Nobles himself won the first-ever national collegiate debate tournament in 1947, when he was earning his bachelor's degree from Southeastern Oklahoma State College before going on to earn a doctorate.

Born in Paris, Texas, Nobles enrolled in the Navy at age 18 and served in World War II and the Korean War.

Before arriving at Macalester in 1969, Nobles interviewed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1960s as part of a grant to study black rhetoric.

Nobles' classes in persuasion and politics were popular at Macalester. He was often quoted by newspapers and featured by television stations for his critiques of presidential debates.
In 1984, Nobles took a debate team of college students to the Soviet Union, where prior U.S. teams had been frustrated by a lack of success. Those teams, he believed, made the mistake of thinking of freedom as desirable.

"That is not a given in the Soviet mind," he told his debaters, according to his wife. "That is something you also have to prove in the debate."

Nobles had four children from a first marriage, including a daughter he coached in debate while he taught at the University of Oregon before his Macalester career.

Judy Nobles has many fond memories of her husband beyond his academic image. He loved the Twins, was terrible at golf and was a doting grandfather, or "Pooh-Bah," to Judy's two granddaughters.

Nobles' memory and cognitive skills started to decline in 1998. His wife said that perhaps the hardest time was when her husband still had the wherewithal to know what was happening to him. He spent the past several years in a West St. Paul nursing home.

Judy Nobles found solace in a framed Dr. Seuss quote she found in a little shop on Grand Avenue: "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."

It helped during her husband's mental decline and now as she comes to grips with his loss, she said.

No public service is being scheduled. Memorials can be sent to a scholarship in Nobles' name at Macalester.

Judy Nobles also encourages people to honor him by visiting someone they care about in a nursing home.

Jeremy Olson can be reached at 651-228-5583.

Oxford Wins WUDC Again

Oxford A Dray and Jones triumph.

"It's coming home, it's coming home, it's coming home..."

I am off to the airport, and will have a full update with lot of pictures and videos when I get to Ljubljana, Slovenia, which is my next stop.

Farewell Cork.

WUDC Quarterfinals -

Monash B 2O Advances
Manchester A 2G Advances
Princeton A 1G
TCD Phil B 1O

TH believes that the ICC should prosecute crimes against the democratic process.

EFL-ESL Final Motions

ESL

This House would establish a limit for foreign players on teams in national football leagues.

EFL

This House would prohibit all private health care.

WUDC Semifinal Results

This House believes governments should subsidize private home ownership.

Oxford B 1G
Manchester A 2 G
Monash B 1O advances
Oxford A 2O advances

Welliston A 1G
Oxford C 2G advances
Harvard A 1O advances
Quensland A 2O

WUDC Octafinals - Arm Militias against Taliban - Room 1

Seattle A
Helsinki A advances
Victoria Wellington A advances
Auckland A

This House would arm militias to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan.

WUDC Octafinals - Arm Militias against Taliban - Room 4

Monash A
UCD L&H B advances
Brandeis A
Nottingham A advances

This House would arm militias to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan.

WUDC Semifinals Tomorrow

WUDC Quarterfinals, EFL Semifinals

VIDEOS COMING SOON, PERHAPS LATER TONIGHT.

QUARTERFINALS

#3
Monash B 2O Advances
Manchester A 2G Advances
Princeton A 1G
TCD Phil B 1O

#4
UCD L&H A 1O
Nottingham A 2G
Oxford A Advances
Oxford B Advances

#1
Harvard A 1O Advances
Loyola A 1G
Helsinki A 2G
Vic Wellington A 2O Advances

#2
Hart House B 2O
MIT A 2G
Oxford C 1O Advances
Queensland A 1G Advances

ESL SEMIFINALS

KANE 7
Leiden A 2O Advances
Bonaparte B 1O Advances
Tallinn A 2G
Galatasaray A 1G

AURA MAXIMA
Tel Aviv A 2O
Babes Bolyai A 1O Advances
HSG A 2G Advances
Haifa A 1G

TH believes that the ICC should prosecute crimes against the democratic process.

WUDC Octafinals

OCTAFINALS AT WUDC 2009

Sydney B
Monash B advances
Manchester A advances
Stanford A

Princeton A advances
TCD Phil B advances
Queens A
Yale A

Monash A
UCD L&H B advances
Brandeis A
Notingham A advances

Oxford A advances
Oxford B advances
Swathmore A
Yale B

Cambridge C
Hart House B advances
MIT A advances
McGill A

Oxford C advances
Canterbury A
Queensland A advances
Sydney C

Sydney A
Harvard A advances
Hart House A
Loyola A advances

Seattle A
Helsinki A advances
Victoria Wellington A advances
Auckland A

This House would arm militias to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan.

WUDC - A Few Photos

From my cheap camera.

New Year's Eve gets going

In the judge room

At the podium of power

Some of the many volunteers who received a huge applause

Sam Nelson of Cornell and Colm Flynn of World Debating website, chairs who budge from their one

Speech Mesmerizes Pan African Debaters

From http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=1&aid=15&dir=2008/December/Tuesday16

WEBSITE: www.mmegi.bw
DATE: Tuesday, 16 December 2008 (Vol. 25, No. 186)

Motswaledi mesmerises debaters
LAWRENCE OOKEDITSE
Correspondent

Botswana Democratic Party's Gaborone Central parliamentary candidate Gomolemo Motswaledi kept debaters on their toes at the just-ended Pan African Universities Debating Championships at the University of Botswana (UB).

Motswaledi, giving a speech reminiscent of his 'We are at the cross-roads' played with words the Obama way, captivating the young Africans who could not help but shout the Obama line 'Yes We can' as he closed by arguing that it is now Africa's time to shine. His speech saw him detained for at least 45 minutes as various young people took turns congratulating and seeking inspiration from him.

Motswaledi began his speech with trademark modesty as he humorously belittled his choice to be the guest speaker, noting that there are 'other bigger people who could be doing it'. Without a written speech, he first sought to link the art of debate to democracy and in particular its relevance to the African continent.

In a lesson to the debaters on speech, he equated it to musical notes; 'in order to have harmony you need the notes to each be in synchrony. That is why the choir master needs to be gifted with listening to ensure all are in tune'.

"We are a continent that has been ravaged by dictators but dictators are made by the people. By being silent and not doing what they can do to avert dictatorships the people are creating them. It is for this reason that I will not sympathise with anybody who have been given the opportunity to change things chose not to, thus paving a way for dictatorships," he said.

Silence fell in the University of Botswana Business faculty auditorium as he melodiously went about his speech. His speech suggested he is either a gifted speaker or has been taking some speech lessons. His speech's flow was reminiscent of those of the leaders of the American Civil Rights movement, in particular the Reverend Martin Luther King Junior, and Barack Obama, among today's leaders. "Change and economic prosperity began in Europe, went on to America and from there to Asia. What is next is for change to come to Africa. Africa has to be and is the next continent of economic prosperity and it is upon me and you to make it happen", Motswaledi said to ignite shouts of 'Yes we can' from a crowd that had gotten so silent you could hear a pin drop.

The usual outspoken maverick in him could not be hidden as he argued that he is who he is and having a different view as to how to do things is not necessarily a bad thing.

"Democracy dictates that we accept each others views no matter what we think of them. I do not have to like you to allow you your freedom of expression. It is the very basis of democracy." As if poking him and to test his resolve to speak his mind and freely express his views, a debater from the floor asked what he thought of democracy if he can be 'barred from contesting a constituency he wanted to make way for another person'. In response, he still maintained his interest in that constituency, saying: I, as a rural boy having grown up in Gammangwato, I had felt that it would greatly benefit me and my community to reunite with the soil in which I was born to advance its cause. I only came to Gaborone to obtain University education and as such I am still very much a rural boy, so I feel it would have made me happier if had gone there, I am still happy here though I would have been much happier there.'

Responding to yet another question on Zimbabwe, Motswaledi still spoke his mind. "If Botswana's stand on Zimbabwe is informed by our leaders' genuine interest in the good of the people of Zimbabwe, then I support it fully. However, if this is a foreign policy initiative based on pushing the agendas of some foreign powers, then I will not support it at all."

At the end of his speech, he got a standing ovation that would have made even government ministers green with envy.

The majority of the participants were neither Batswana nor Gaborone Central voters but if they were then one would say incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) Dumelang Saleshando, better have his combat machinery in top gear if he is to stave off the challenge. Yet again, it points out to the tough choice ahead for the Gaborone Central voter.

Botswana Wins WUDC Bid

Council has approved the Botswana Bid for WUDC after next year's event in Turkey.

Visit http://www.botswanaworlds.com

Some mention was also made of a warm-up tournament in Qatar before Koc Turkey WUDC.

Comment Viewpoint at WUDC Cork

Most blogs present the opinions of individual writers. This series from Cork has not been that way.

I thought the "rumors" cartoon made this point.

I have been reporting what other people are saying, not me. Someone proposed a regional judge quota, not me. Someone said feedback data was being leaked, not me.

Please realize that I am trying to tell you the story of what people are saying here. When I find data that disproves what people are saying (like the hotel story from the first day) I report that as well.

But, if you want to ignore that and send me hate mail anyway, go for it.

Analyzing the Break

Kissing the Blarney Stone

NOW WITH CORRECTED TEAM NUMBERS...

It certainly was a good tournament for North America. 14 teams, 10 teams from the USA and 4 from Canada. IONA was next with 8 teams, 6 from the UK and 2 from Ireland. Oceania had 9, with 6 from Australia and 3 from New Zealand. The only other team in the break is Helsinki. No other teams.

I think we can now reflect on the charges of bias that so many people were making during the tournament and which upset many of my readers. It is clear that there is no bias against the USA, as they had more teams than the UK and finished top in the region race. The huge number of IONA judges here did not have a problem voting for North American or Australian teams, and seemed to like New Zealand teams quite a bit.

But every team in the main break are native speakers, as I understand that the Helsinki team is composed of 1 native speaker (and a talented Finn). The idea of bias against non-native speakers needs to be explored in more detail. This is all the more important since of the 77 ESL teams only 8 were allowed to advance. There is a lot of unhappiness about this and will probably be taken up at council today.

I am resting today. I assume Botswana will have their bid ratified. Perhaps more news later today.

Right, one hell of a party.