Global Debate

Chester Gibson: Debate Coach for Young Gingrich

2012-01-28T08:03:00.002-05:00

( David Goldman / Associated Press ) - In this photo taken, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, Chester Gibson, a former professor who ran one of the nation’s top-ranked competitive debating programs from the middle of rural Georgia, is photographed in Horton’s Bookstore in Carrollton, Ga. As a young college professor running for Congress, Newt Gingrich wanted to sharpen his debating skills. Admirers say the Republican was always a dynamic speaker, but he had flaws. He frowned. He titled his head oddly and fell back repeatedly on the same words. He went for the rhetorical jugular. His supporters worried that TV cameras magnified those delivery problems. Gingrich didn’t need to look far to find help. In the building next to the one where Gingrich taught history at West Georgia College, professor Chester Gibson coached students whose ranks now include a former Georgia governor, high-powered Atlanta attorneys, judges and preachers. He gave Gingrich free help as a new candidate.

Debate coach honed Gingrich’s public speaking skills when he was a young prof seeking office

By Associated Press, Published: January 27

ATLANTA — As a young college professor running for Congress, Newt Gingrich wanted to sharpen his debating skills.

Admirers say the Republican was always a dynamic speaker, but with flaws. He frowned. He tilted his head oddly and fell back repeatedly on the same words. He went for the rhetorical jugular. Supporters worried that TV cameras magnified those delivery problems.

Gingrich didn’t need to look far for help. In the building next to the one where Gingrich taught history at West Georgia College, professor Chester Gibson coached students whose ranks now include a former Georgia governor, high-powered Atlanta attorneys, judges and preachers. He gave Gingrich free help as a new candidate.

Strong debate performances have kept alive Gingrich’s candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination after a bleak period last summer when his staff quit and his campaign fell into debt. After a commanding performance in a pair of South Carolina debates, Gingrich has not performed as strong lately. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was considerably more aggressive in a Florida debate on Thursday, repeatedly putting Gingrich on the defensive.

Now retired, Gibson said he still sees Gingrich’s old habits — good and bad — in the presidential debates.

“Gingrich is clearly the best debater in the final four,” said Gibson, who communicates by email because doctors removed his voice box in 2010 during cancer treatment. “No contest. A Gingrich-Obama debate would be one of the great moments in American political history.”

The pair met in 1970 when they started teaching at West Georgia College, now called the University of West Georgia. Gibson coached Gingrich before his first unsuccessful run for the House in 1974 and kept working with him until Gingrich won four years later. Gibson said the coaching continued into Gingrich’s early years in office. A Gingrich spokesman did not respond to requests for information for this report.

Gibson, 70, said Gingrich’s problem was delivery, not substance.

“He was poised, confident, quick on his feet and well versed in both U.S. and world history,” Gibson said. “He read everything that he could get his hands on. His greatest asset was his incredible memory.”

In their coaching sessions, Gibson said he filmed Gingrich speaking so he could see his mistakes. The students on Gibson’s debate team — one was Randy Evans, now Gingrich’s longtime attorney — listened and critiqued Gingrich’s speeches. They researched the positions of his political opponents and constructed arguments. Gibson traveled with Gingrich to debates so they could practice in the car.

Gibson pushed his students to win.

“He just worked endlessly and worked us very hard because he was as competitive as all get-out,” said trial lawyer Paul Weathington, one of Gibson’s debaters and a nationally ranked debater in college.

Gibson told Gingrich to work on his body language. When listening intently to another speaker, he tended to frown — a bad habit that Gibson said the Republican candidate has not fully stopped. In fact, Gingrich recently told reporters that his granddaughter told him to smile more and that she counts his grins during debates.

“I am always pleased when I see a grin because I know that he is ready to launch into a great answer to the question,” Gibson said.

Years ago, Gibson encouraged Gingrich to tone down grandiose statements, saying they distract the audience from the message.

Then, as now, Gingrich would occasionally cock his head oddly to the right, Gibson said. When he latched onto a word, he’d use it repeatedly.

“Listen to the number of times that he uses the word ‘frankly,’” Gibson said. “You will lose count.”

Gingrich understands how to exploit TV debates and has avoided any major gaffes, said Mitchell McKinney, a communications professor at the University of Missouri who studies presidential debates. When his campaign was lagging, Gingrich baited the front-runners to engage him during debates, which helped him get airtime. He also picks messages that are sure to be replayed on TV. It adds up to free publicity.

“These moments get captured and played over and over,” McKinney said.

One such moment came last week in the South Carolina. CNN debate moderator John King started the broadcast by asking Gingrich to respond to his second ex-wife’s accusation that he asked her for an open marriage.

“I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office,” said Gingrich, on his way to gaining a standing ovation from the audience. “And I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that.”

He won the primary two days later.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/debate-coach-honed-gingrichs-public-speaking-skills-when-he-was-a-young-prof-seeking-office/2012/01/27/gIQANFQTVQ_story.html

USA National Debate Tournament 2012 Invitation

2012-01-27T19:46:00.001-05:00

66th NATIONAL DEBATE TOURNAMENT, 2012

January, 2012

Dear Colleague:

Plans are nearing completion for the 66th National Debate Tournament to be hosted by Emory University and the Barkley Forum. Registration for the tournament will take place on THURSDAY, March 29. Competition will take place on Friday, March 30, through Monday, April 2. All competition will take place at the Atlanta Marriott Gwinnett Place, the tournament hotel.

This brief letter will provide information on the tournament location, qualifying processes, eligibility certification, and entry for the tournament

TOURNAMENT HOTEL. The tournament hotel is:

Atlanta Marriott Gwinnett Place, 1775 Pleasant Hill Road, Duluth GA 30096

Registration, banquets, preliminary debates, and elimination rounds will be held at the tournament hotel. We would recommend that you reserve rooms as soon as your teams have qualified. We have secured a tournament rate of $99 per night for up to 4 people per room, which includes Internet access and self-parking. Reservations must be made before March 15, 2012 to obtain the rate. You can make your reservations now by clicking onhttp://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/atlgp?groupCode=debdeba&app=resvlink&fromDate=3/27/12&toDate=4/4/12 or copying and pasting this link into your browser. If you prefer making reservations by phone call: 1-866-339-3132. Make sure to identify yourself as attending the National Debate Tournament.

IMPORTANT CHANGES FOR THE 2012 NDT

1. Please examine the dates for first and second round applications. The dates in relation to the NDT have been changed relative to last year.

2. The 2012 NDT is the second year hybrid teams may qualify for the tournament. In order to be eligible, hybrid teams must comply with all appropriate rules. Please see the NDT Standing Rules. In addition, notification must be provided to Tim O’Donnell, chair of the NDT Committee, no later than February 1.

3. The following rule change is effective for the 2012 NDT. The NDT Committee passed the following amendment to the qualifying procedures. “Districts choosing to select representatives for the NDT in a manner other than a qualifying debate tournament will be allowed to submit only those teams over a 40% win-loss record for the purposes of bid allocation. If a district makes a good faith attempt (evidence of planning or economic commitments) to host a tournament, but cancels the tournament because weather would make travel unsafe, that district shall not lose allocated bids due to this rule. In this event, the District Chair must notify the Bid Allocation Committee, who will confirm that the situation appears to be a good faith cancellation. The decision of the Bid Allocation committee is final, but must be publicized to the broader community. If a member of the Bid Allocation committee is from the district, the NDT chair will appoint a replacement member for any deliberations.”

RULE REMINDERS.

1. All debates are governed by the rules of the National Debate Tournament and the American Forensics Association. The documents governing the administration of the National Debate Tournament may be found athttp://groups.wfu.edu/NDT/Documents/goveringdocs.html.

2. Effective with the 2007 NDT, teams qualifying for the tournament must provide 13 rounds of judging.

3. Individuals in attendance at the National Debate Tournament who provide significant coaching to, or argument production for, any team participating in the NDT should be required to enter the judging pool on a supplemental strike sheet for at least four debates or, if it is more appropriate, provide a significant equivalent contribution to the tournament as defined by the tournament host or director.

QUALIFICATION PROCESS. The selection process, altered before the 1994 NDT and 1999 NDT remains in place for the 2012 NDT. A complete set of the NDT rules and procedures may be found at www.wfu.edu/organizations/NDT/.

AT LARGE APPLICATION PROCESS. The process for first and second round at large bids will be the same as that established in 2004. The number of preliminary rounds required for a team to count toward bid allocations is 18. All teams selected through the Second Round At-Large process must have a 50% or greater preliminary round win-loss record in rounds on the fall CEDA topic or its NDT topic parallel immediately prior to the District tournament or at the time of submission for second round bids. Those subscribing schools wishing to nominate their teams for At-Large consideration must submit copies of their completed electronic Official NDT At-Large Application (without covering letters or other supplementary materials). Applications must be received by the dates listed below. Schools submitting at-large applications must have paid their NDT subscription fee prior to submitting their application for the bid to be considered. In addition, all teams wishing to be considered for an at-large bid must pay $50.00 to the treasurer of the NDT Board of Trustees. A system has been set up to pay using Paypal at www.americanforensics.org, or the treasurer also will accept a check or money order made out to the NDT, RECEIVED BY THE APPLICATION DEADLINE, sent to the following address:

Sherry Hall
324 Franklin Street
Cambridge, MA 02139

The electronic at-large bid form may be found at: www.debateresults.com. The bid forms may be found under the Account Management link.

ENTERING THE TOURNAMENT. ENTRIES ARE DUE MONDAY, MARCH 19, 2012. Online entries will be accepted using the web site and methods used for many invitational tournaments during the year. The web site may be found atwww.debateresults.com
.
JUDGING PHILOSOPHIES. Judging philosophies should be posted to www.debateresults.com no later than MARCH 19, 2012. Judging philosophies may be edited at the same site by clicking on the "Enter, edit, and remove the names of judges and competitors (and enter or edit judge philosophies)" link in the account management box in the top-left.

The NDT may impose a $50 fine on institutions which have not supplied judging philosophies by MARCH 19. The NDT may impose an additional $50 fine if judging philosophies are not available at the time of registration.

FEES. The Board of Trustees has set the fees for the 2012 NDT. The fees are $100.00 per team. Participant fees for debaters and judges—four people for each team in the tournament will be no more than $50. The fees for observers (all other persons with your group over the four per team that count as participants) will be $135.00. Persons traveling with the team will be charged for the banquets and other meal functions.

Attached you will find a tentative tournament schedule, contact information for the Chair of the NDT Tournament Committee, and a copy of the NDT judge philosophy form.

Please join us in Atlanta for the 66th National Debate Tournament.

Sincerely,

John Fritch
Director, National Debate Tournament

TENTATIVE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Thursday, March 29
9:00-11:00 Registration
11:00 - 2:00 NDT Board of Trustees Meeting
1:00-4:00 NDT Committee Meeting
4:00-5:00 Late Registration
6:30 Reception and Pre-Tournament Awards

Friday, March 30
7:45 AM Continental Breakfast
8:00 Announcement of Round I
11:45 Announcement of Round II
2:00 PM Lunch
4:15 Announcement of Round III

Saturday, March 31

7:45 AM Continental Breakfast
8:00 Announcement of Round IV
11:15 Lunch
12:30 PM Announcement of Round V
5:00 Announcement of Round VI

Sunday, April 1

7:45 AM Continental Breakfast
8:00 Announcement of Round VII
11:15 Lunch
12:30 PM Announcement of Round VIII
4:45 Announcement of First Elimination Round
9:30 Awards Banquet

Monday, April 2

7:15 AM Drawing of Octofinal judges
7:30 Announcement of Octofinals
8:00 Octofinal round begins
(Rounds continue throughout the day)

FIRST ROUND AT LARGE BIDS

Must be received by
Committee Members February 16 (5PM CST)
Committee calls or e-mail to Director February 17-19
Director Announces February 20

DISTRICT PROCEDURES

Declaration of intent to attend District February 21
Announcement of preliminary district bids February 22

SECOND ROUND AT LARGE BIDS

Must be received by
Committee Members March 8 (5 PM CST)
Committee calls or e-mail to Director March 9-11
Director announces March 12

CHAIR OF THE NDT COMMITTEE CONTACT INFORMATION:

Dr. Timothy O’Donnell, NDT Chair
University of Mary Washington
Department of English, Linguistics, and Communication
1301 College Ave.
Fredericksburg, VA 22401

Office Phone: 540-654-1252
2012 JUDGE PHILOSPHY FORM
Revised 2-16-94

NAME _______________________ INSTITUTION _____________________________

POSITION _______________________ YEARS OF COACHING _______________

NUMBER OF TOURNAMENTS THIS YEAR _______________________

The following questions represent some of the issues you may want to discuss in your judge philosophy. They serve as a guideline. Please try to make the philosophy relevant AS APPLICABLE to the current topic. It is understood that many of your positions may be altered by specific situations. Please limit yourself to ONE photocopy ready page. The left hand margin should be one (1) inch.

Theory: 1. What decision making paradigm do you use? 2. What are your standards for the evaluation of T? 3. What are your standards for counterplans (especially topical Cps, conditionally, international fiat, Agent of Action, and permutations)? 4. How do you react to new cases at the NDT?

Topic Specific Arguments: 1. Which T violations do you like/dislike? How is T evaluated? 2. What are your preferences for disads? Counterplans?

Critiques/Deontology: 1. Do you like them? 2. What standards do you use to evaluate them? 3. How do they weigh against other impacts?

Evidence: 1. Do you read evidence after a round? 2. What are your standards of evaluation? 3. Do you require full cites to be read? How does that affect your evaluation of evidence? 4. What are your standards for an evidence challenge?

Style: 1. What, if anything, do you do to encourage comprehensible speaking? 2. What constitutes an argument? 3. Do you find tag-team CX objectionable? 4. What behavior or mannerisms do you find objectionable?

Miscellaneous:

America's Cup Roster Updated - 4 Teams Added

2012-01-27T19:33:00.000-05:00

New teams have been added to the tournament.

Andrew Connery & Max Dovala (Yale University)
Kaleb Brooks & John Denzler (Regis University)
Tejeswara Reddy & Rafael Baptista (Willamette)
Josiah Peterson & Burk Ohbayaski (King’s College)

We have three more slots left and teams who have requested are on the waiting list, but we want to make sure the best teams get in. Send in your application today!

We are also seeking excellent judges. We can promise a lunch and some fabulous debates to judge.

alfred.snider@uvm.edu

Current roster
In no particular order:
Josh Martin & Buzz Klinger (Tennis & HWS)
Paul Gross & Drew Adamczyk (Vermont)
Travis Steele & Austin Thoma (Colgate)
Colin Etnire & Ian Malamud (Bates)
Colin Murphy & Aaron Baker (Cal-Davis & Portland State)
Brian Farnham & Michael Wilson (Michigan)
John Patrick & Ryan Mansell (LaVerne)
Rohan Grey & Agnes Nam (Columbia)
Emily Ravenscroft & Courtney Pickard (Loyola Marymount)
Andrew Connery & Max Dovala (Yale University)
Kaleb Brooks & John Denzler (Regis University)
Tejeswara Reddy & Rafael Baptista (Willamette)
Josiah Peterson & Burk Ohbayaski (King’s College)

Three more needed. Apply soon. Others are on the waiting list but we would prefer to have the best teams possible.

For complete information, go to:
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/americascup/

NPDA Nationals 2012 Invitation

2012-01-27T15:58:00.000-05:00

http://www.parlidebate.org/pdf/2012invite.pdf

On behalf of President Marty Birkholt, the Executive Council, and the membership of the National Parliamentary Debate Association, I am pleased to invite you to attend the seventeenth annual NPDA National Championship Tournament, Wednesday, March 21st through Saturday, March 24th, 2012 at Western Washington University. We anticipate a fine weekend of education and competition, culminating with the awarding of the 2012 National Championship.

For the NPDA,

Glenn Prince

National Championship Tournament Director

News from IDEA January 27

2012-01-27T11:22:00.000-05:00

Obviously, the date should be 2012. - Global Debate Editor

Complete WSDC 2012 Results

2012-01-27T08:18:00.000-05:00

Champion:
Scotland (Alfie Hinchliffe, Ruth Cameron, Josh Richards, April Shepherd, Charlie Holmes)

Runners-up:
Wales (Amy Jones, David Wigley, Pearce Digby, David Wigley)

Top 10 Speakers:
(Source: Revaldi N. Wirabuana)
1. Teoh Renjie (Singapore)
2. Sam Collier (England)
3. Alfie (Scot)4th Michael Macklin (South Africa)
5. Natasha Rachman (England)
6. Akshay Karia (England)
7. Ned Lis-Clarke (Australia)
8. Ben Goldstein (England)
9. Darion (Singapore)
10. Bo Seo (Australia)

Top ESL Team: Greece

Top EFL Team: Lithuania

Best New Nation: Swaziland.

Breaking Teams and Prelim Results:

Prelims Results: Click here.
Team Bangladesh Results: Click here.

Motions:

Round 1: THW Ban Alcohol.
Round 2: This house believes that newly democratised Arab nations should not allow religious parties to participate in elections. [Prep]
Round 3: THW allow single parents in prison to raise their children behind bars.
Round 4: This house believes that developing nations should place limits on internal rural-urban migration. [Prep]
Round 5: This house believes that the police should use racial profiling to fight crime.
Round 6: This house believes that the feminist movement should seek a ban on pornography. [Prep]
Round 8: This house believes that states should enshrine legally actionable socio-economic rights
Octo-Final: THBT governments should create schools which teach in endangered indigenous languages.
Quarters: THBT Gay rights organizations should out gay public figures.
Semi-Finals: THS a 100% tax on inherited wealth.
Grand Final: This house regrets South Africa's decision to use the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
rather than prosecuting perpetrators of crimes committed under Apartheid.

From Bangladesh Debate http://bddebate.blogspot.com/2012/01/wsdc-2012-results.html

Wiley & Southern California Restage 1935 "Great Debaters" Event

2012-01-27T08:04:00.003-05:00

This photo provided Thursday, Jan. 25, 2012, by Wiley College shows Melvin B. Tolson, center, and members of the 1935 Wiley College debate team that prevailed over the nationally known University of Southern California during a debate in California. A rematch of the memorable debate will be held Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas. The accomplishments of Wiley's debate team under the leadership of noted poet Tolson inspired "The Great Debaters," a 2007 movie starring Denzel Washington. (AP Photo/courtesy Wiley College)

Wiley, USC have rematch of memorable 1935 debate

By Jamie Stengle
Associated Press / January 26, 2012

DALLAS—Teams from Wiley College and the University of Southern California will have a rematch Friday of the memorable 1935 debate that saw the small, historically black school prevail over the nationally known, mostly white powerhouse.

The exhibition will be held at Wiley in the small town of Marshall, near Texas' border with Louisiana. The 1935 debate at USC took place when the nation was heavily segregated and helped inspire "The Great Debaters," a 2007 movie starring Denzel Washington. The movie climaxes with a fictional debate against Harvard that was modeled on the real match in California.

"Before the civil rights movement, before Dr. King, Malcolm X, before Rosa Parks, it was Wiley and USC: This little bitty African-American school and this ... predominantly Caucasian school that came together in 1935 when things were still racist in America," said Cary Chavis, Wiley's debate captain, adding that with the event, the two schools "stood firm that racial tension had nothing on the power of speech."

Wiley's teams traveled the nation throughout the 1930s under the leadership of noted poet Melvin B. Tolson, accumulating an impressive string of victories against black and white opponents. Tolson's teams included several students who went on to distinguish themselves, including James Farmer Jr., the civil rights leader who formed the Congress of Racial Equality.

Those participating in Friday's debate say it's a chance to celebrate the connection between the two schools. Two students from each school will face off in a competition that combines features of the two different debate styles practiced by the schools.

"I think it's an incredible opportunity for the two teams to get together once again," said Chris Medina, Wiley's director of forensics. "We owe a debt of gratitude to USC for being ground-breakers in allowing us, an HBCU (historically black colleges and universities), to really, at that point, achieve legitimacy. They were one of the few white colleges that would debate with us."

Though experts say there wasn't a structure for a national debate championship until the late 1940s, USC was known as a nationally competitive debate team, said Gordon Stables, USC's director of debate and forensics. And Wiley debaters referred to USC as national champions.

News coverage of the debate shows it attracted much attention. It's a debate that seems to have also stood out in Tolson's mind. In the journal of the debate society Pi Kappa Delta, he described the excitement surrounding the event, which took place while Wiley was "on an interracial goodwill tour covering 5,000 miles," and noted that 2,000 people attended.

Stables said that although there's no official record, accounts from the time have it as a win for Wiley. The winning team could have been determined by audience applause or judges, he said.

"I've never heard anyone contest that Wiley wasn't the better team in that competition," Stables said.

Wiley had ceased to have a debate team by the time "The Great Debaters" rekindled interest in its legacy. With the help of donations that included $1 million from Washington, the school resurrected its debate team in 2008.

Medina said "The Great Debaters" legacy is very much present in the minds of students on the team.

"They really have a sense of history and carrying on of the history of the school," Medina said. "They take it very personally and they take it to heart and really work hard in order to continue that legacy of excellence."

Wiley, a primarily liberal arts college founded in 1873, has seen its enrollment grow since the release of the movie, from 520 a decade ago to 1,356 this school year, said Joseph Morale, Wiley's vice president for student affairs and enrollment services.

Morale expects about 3,000 people to attend Friday's rematch, filling the site of the debate and a room in an adjacent building where the event will be simulcast.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2012/01/26/wiley_usc_have_rematch_of_memorable_1935_debate/

WSDC Champion - Scotland Defeats Wales 8-1

2012-01-26T12:09:00.004-05:00

http://paullau.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/results-wsdc-2012-grand-final-results/

Motion: TH regrets South Africa’s decision to use the Truth and Reconciliation Commission rather than prosecuting perpetrators of crimes committed under Apartheid

Proposition: Team Wales ~ Amy Jones, David Wigley, Pearce Digby, David Wigley
Opposition: Team Scotland ~ Alfie Hinchliffe, Charlie Holmes, Ruth Cameron, Charlie Holmes

This is Scotland’s fourth Championship following 1990, 1999 and 2007. They were previously Runners-up in 1992, 1993, 1995, 1998 and 2001. Team Scotland included three returning members (Alfie Hinchliffe, Charlie Holmes and Ruth Cameron) from WSDC 2011, who were joined by Josh Richards and April Shepherd. It was the three veterns who represented Scotland in the Grand Finals. Scotland broke 5th, with 7 wins and just one loss against South Korea. They had unanimous wins over Greece and 2010 Champions Australia in the octo and quarter finals. Scotland beat this years surprise package, Philippines, 6-2 to progress to the finals.

Team Wales had just one returning member, David Wigley, although this was his 3 return, after attending WSDC 2009, 2010 and 2011. He was joined this year by Helen Price, Amy Jones and Piers Digby. Together, the team broke 7th, with 6 wins and 2 split losses to New Zealand and South Africa, who both won all 8 preliminary rounds. Wales progressed to the semifinals at the expense of India and Ireland. In a reverse of the semifinals of WSDC 2010, Wales beat England to reach the Grand Finals of WSDC 2012. This is Wales’s first ever Grand Final apperance, WSDC 2010′s semifinal apperance, of which David was a part of, being their previous highest ranking.

The Grand Finals was held in St George’s Cathedral, a stunning location and quite a fitting one given the motion. Here are some of the images of the venue that were tweeted:

Massive thanks to Sayeqa Islam, Paidamwoyo Mangondo and Sydney Atkins for live-tweeting the Grand Finals.

Info about Wales team:
http://www.wales.com/en/content/cms/Blog/Grand_Final_260112/Grand_Final_260112.aspx

Wales reach Grand Final at global schools debate

Wales has achieved its best ever result at the World Schools Debating Championships, reaching the Grand Final in a competition between 48 nations taking place in Cape Town, South Africa.

In the final, Wales faced Scotland, debating the motion “This house regrets South Africa's decision to use the Truth and Reconciliation Commission rather than prosecuting perpetrators of crimes committed under Apartheid”. The Welsh team comprises Amy Jones, 18, of Y Pant Comprehensive School, Pontyclun; Helen Price, 17, of Haberdashers’ Monmouth School for Girls; David Wigley, 17, of Bishop of Llandaff High School, Cardiff; and Piers Digby, 17, of Monmouth School. The team has been coached by Harry Thomas.

Wales won 6 of its 8 initial debates, achieving a ranking of 7th place after the preliminary rounds. They then defeated India and Ireland in the first two knock-out rounds. Wales then met England in the semi-final, defeating them by 6 judges to 1 on the topic “This House supports a 100% tax on inherited wealth”.

The World Schools Debating Championships is an annual event, first organised in Australia in 1988. Teams debate a mixture of prepared topics (provided several weeks in advance) and impromptu topics with only one hour’s preparation. The Welsh team is selected from outstanding competitors in the Wales Schools Debating Championships, organised by the Welsh Centre for International Affairs with support from the British Council.

Martin Pollard, Chief Executive of the Welsh Centre for International Affairs, said: “This is a fantastic achievement by four dedicated young debaters. We’ve been taking part in the World Schools Debating Championships for nearly 20 years and this is the first time we’ve reached the Final, so everyone is very excited. This competition is all about communication and bright ideas, and it’s great that we can show off the skills of young Welsh people to so many other countries.”

Information on the World Schools Debating Championships: www.schoolsdebate.com

Joe McGrade About Winning Public Speaking Title in Manila

2012-01-26T06:19:00.000-05:00

http://publications.mcgill.ca/reporter/2012/01/making-the-mcgrade-in-manila/

Making the McGrade in Manila

Posted on Wednesday, January 25, 2012

McGill Debating Union member Joe McGrade continued his hot streak after his return home from the World Championships. He and his partner, CEGEP student Ariel Shapiro, won the McGill-hosted Laurier Cup debating contest (in French) January 13-15. / Photo: Owen Egan

Debating Union member takes Top Speaker award at world championships

By Jim Hynes

Joe McGrade is a man of many words. And his verbosity served him well indeed at the recent World Universities Debating Championship in Manila, Philippines, where the member of the McGill Debating Union (MDU) was crowned Top Public Speaker.

McGill has a long history of strong showings in the “Worlds” public speaking category. MDU member Riva Gold took home first place in 2010, following up on wins by Andrew Zadel in 2001 and Adrianne Thomas in 1994.

That said, calling McGrade a dark horse winner this year would be a major understatement. The 20-year-old Toronto native and third-year Economics major wasn’t initially picked to be part of the eight-person (four teams of two) MDU contingent that participated in the event that brought the world’s finest university debaters to Manila’s De La Salle University Dec. 27 to Jan. 4. McGrade applied to be a participating debater, but didn’t make the cut, even after two more spots opened up when a McGill pair dropped out of the long and expensive trip. He was slated to go to Manila as one of three McGill judges until the MDU was eventually offered a spot for a fourth team.

In Manila, McGrade was one of approximately 70 debaters who signed up for the event’s Public Speaking competition, where the goal, he said “is to be a good speaker, to win hearts and minds.”

In his first speech, about “the difference between First World problems and real problems,” he combined his cutting sense of humour, love of righteous indignation and his experiences and observations of Manila.

“The university we were in was very nice and the hotel was beautiful. And then you’d go around the corner to get a coffee and it was completely different,” says McGrade, who has been a public speaker since his elementary school days and started organized debating in Grade 7. “People were living in abject poverty. And I felt terrible standing there in my dress shoes and shirt with my latté.

“During the tournament, everybody was complaining about the silliest things: the coffee was terrible, the elevators lines were too long, the writing pads that they gave us were too small. And so my first speech was about the main contribution that the debaters were bringing to Manila being a lowering of the bar of what a problem is.”

His speech resonated with the judges, who sent him and nine other finalists along to the next round, this time on a big stage. There, he answered the question “Why do you debate?” with a winning speech about being addicted to it – “Hi, my name is Joe and I have a debating problem.”

Meanwhile, back at the main debating event, McGrade and partner Emma O’Rourke-Friel were creating a pleasant surprise of their own. After nine rounds of debating topics like private health care, the free movement of labour, and defamation laws in academic discourse, they finished in 47th place out of approximately 350 teams, making them they highest placing Canadian team.

“That was surprising. I mean we were ‘McGill D’. They weren’t going to take me!” McGrade laughs. “It felt good. I thought that I was good enough to go. And I’m glad that I showed I was.”

McGrade and his MDU teammates will participate in the North American Debating Championships at the University of Toronto this coming weekend. The Canadian national championships, which McGill captured as recently as 2010, take place at York University, March 16-18.

To learn more about the McGill Debating Union, visit: http://ssmu.mcgill.ca/debate/

North Americans to Webcast Final from Toronto

2012-01-25T20:33:00.003-05:00

NorthAmerican Debating Championships, 2012

HartHouse, University of Toronto

Updateon live webcasting of the finals

The CUSID-APDA North American Championshipsis coming up this weekend, January 27– 29, 2012. We will be livestreaming the final round of the tournament on Sunday, January 29^thstarting at 2:30pm. The link and information are below.

The URL for the webcast is:

http://mediacast.ic.utoronto.ca/20120129-HHDC/index.htm

(The link is dead right now but I will makeit active by the end of the day.)

BASIC VIEWING INSTRUCTIONS

ForWidows Vista and XP users

-Windows Media Player must be installed.

-Internet Explorer is the preferred browserto access the URL. Other browsers may have problems.

-It may help to pre-install Silverlightsoftware from Microsoft to access the Windows Media stream. (http://www.microsft.com/getsilverlight/Get-Started/Install/Default.aspx)

-Windows 7 has not been tested as yet.

MacOS X users

-Use Safari as the browser to access theURL.

-Select the Real Media link on the browserinterface. Mac users should install Real Player from http://www.real.com.

-Microsoft does not directly support WindowsMedia in OS X. Do not use the Windows Media link unless you have installed thesoftware called Flip4Mac which may work but we cannot guarantee success withit.

-You can also pre-install the Mac OS XSilverlight software from Microsoft to access the Windows Media stream. (http://www.microsft.com/getsilverlight/Get-Started/Install/Default.aspx)

Registration for US Universities Now Open

2012-01-25T14:21:00.002-05:00

There may be limited space, so I suggest you register soon.

There is a limit of 200 teams, but we had 192 last year, and this format of debate is growing. I also expect a number of (very welcome) NPDA and policy schools to give it a try.

http://www.forensictournament.net/home

Alfred Snider
University of Vermont
Chief Adjudicator

List of Tournaments for World Universities Sweepstakes

2012-01-25T08:35:00.000-05:00

I suspect that all of these tournaments, especially the smaller ones, will benefit substantially from this listing, as teams trying to rise in the sweepstakes will target those tournaments.

I received this list from Colm Flynn, sweepstakes coordinator.

Africa
Pan African PAUDC
South Africa NUDC

Asia
Malaysia Open
Philippine Intercollegiate Debating Championship PIDC
Philippine NDC
SMU Hammers
HK Open
UADC
Bangladesh NDDC
BIND 2011
WUPID
Asians BP
Taiwan NEAO

Oceania
Easters
Sydney Mini
Melbourne Mini
Australian Women's Championships
Victoria Wellington IV

Austral Asians
Austral Asians

Europe
Israel Nats
Koc Istanbul
Berlin
Sciences PO Paris
Athens
Kiev
Belgrade Open
Utrecht
Vienna IV

UK/Ire
English Mace
Cambridge
Oxford
LSE IV
Oxford Womens
Warwick IV
SOAS
Durham IV
Glasgow Ancients
TCD
Cork

Euros
Euros

N Amer
Cusid BP
CUSID Nats
Guindon
Huber Debates, Vermont
Queens Chancellors Cup
North Americans
US Open
US Universities USU
Yale IV
Hart House IV

S Amer
Spanish Worlds CMUDE

Worlds
Worlds

WSDC Capetown Quarters Results, Semis Matches

2012-01-25T07:25:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Paul Lau, on the spot as usual!

http://paullau.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/results-wsdc-2012-qf-results-and-sf-match-up/

Quarterfinal Results
Motion: THBT Gay rights organizations should out gay public figures {Impromptu}
QF1: Singapore (1) vs. Philippines (8) ~~~ 5-0 Philippines (Opposition)
== Judging Panel: Christopher Bishop (C), Taiumur Bandey, Seham Areff, Iqbal Gafiedz, Eirianna Kouri
QF2: Australia (4) vs. Scotland (5) ~~~ 5-0 Scotland (Opposition)
== Judging Panel: Tracey Lee (C), Beth James, TJ Senamngern, Desley Horton, Tom McLennan
== Australia: Emma, Bo, Tyrone, Bo
QF3: England (6) vs. New Zealand (3) ~~~ 3-2 England (Opposition)
== Judging Panel: Daniel de Kadt (C), Stephanie Dick, Chris Sanchez, Chris Hibbard, Mehvesh Mumtaz Ahmed
== New Zealand: James, Thomas, Nick, Thomas
== England: Akshay, Ben, Sam, Akshay
QF4: Wales (7) vs. Ireland (15) ~~~ 3-2 Wales (Proposition)
== Judging Panel: Joshua Park (C), Kip Oebanda, Irene McGrath, Thng Yi Ren, Kristen Price

3 of the 4 debates were won by the opposition. Not quite an opposition sweep but interesting, especially given that it led to the downfall of a number of traditionally top teams.
3 of the 4 semifinalists are from Great Britain, meaning there is a 50 percent chance the Grand Final will be an all British affair.

Semifinal Match-up
SF1: Philippines (8) vs. Scotland (5)
SF2: England (6) vs. Wales (7)

Semifinal Match-up by Total Speaker Points Ranking
SF1: Philippines (17) vs. Scotland (6)
SF2: England (1) vs. Wales (9)

DEBATE-Kansas City Fights for Survival

2012-01-24T19:35:00.000-05:00

From: http://savedebatekansascity.com/about/

DEBATE-Kansas City is an Urban Debate League that provides middle and high school students debate workshops & tournaments, scholarships, resources, mentoring and general team support. DEBATE-Kansas City participants have achieved academic success and assumed leadership roles in high school, college and beyond. We encourage you to read through these materials to better understand the powerful impact that DEBATE-Kansas City can have on each student.

Open Letter from President of the Board of DEBATE-Kansas City
Success by the Numbers
Testimonials
About DEBATE-Kansas City

Open Letter
Are you are tired of reading headlines about suffering schools and troubled teens in the Kansas City area? Are you concerned by budget cuts “in this economy” that dismantle programs essential to the development of our city’s students? If so, DEBATE-Kansas City (DKC) needs your financial help.

DEBATE-Kansas City is an Urban Debate League that provides middle and high school students debate workshops & tournaments, scholarships, resources, mentoring and general team support. DKC seniors graduate over 95% of the time; the academic studies supporting debate’s ability to improve test scores are almost too countless to name. Debate is good. Ironically there is little debate over this point.

Kansas City has an incredible debate legacy. Melvin B. Tolson, the greatest African American debate coach in our nation’s history, received his early speech training at Lincoln High. His success inspired the film The Great Debaters, where he was played by Denzel Washington. More recently, Joe Miller’s award winning book, Cross-X, detailed the journey and success of the Kansas City Central debate team.

Before the creation of DEBATE-Kansas City in 1998, only two schools in the city had debate teams. At DKC’s peak, 40 middle and high schools had teams. Unfortunately, as The Kansas City Star recently reported, debate programs in Kansas City recently suffered from significant financial cutbacks, ultimately resulting in an 82% decline in students who can participate in KCMO. Nobody knows the exact moment when successful programs like debate die in inner cities; they just slowly fade out of consciousness.

We can avoid this fate, we can keep a legacy alive and empower the next generation of great debaters to write new stories of success. Our goal is raise $50,000 so that we can continue to provide these essential debate opportunities to students in the Kansas City area. With your generous support, we can save DEBATE in Kansas City.

Sincerely,
Jeffrey E. Thomas
President of the DEBATE-Kansas City Board of Directors

Success by the Numbers

Research consistently confirms that debate is an effective pedagogical tool to increase academic achievement, leadership, and self-image. Below are some highlights from our experience and from large research projects designed to measure the effect of debate on a student.

Deja Davis - Enthusiastic Debater Murdered in Kansas City

2012-01-24T18:59:00.000-05:00

Ruskin’s debate team remembers Deja Davis’ ‘open and giving heart’

BY DONALD BRADLEY
The Kansas City Star

Deja Davis started out shy in debate.

But the Ruskin High School student was smart and as her confidence grew so did her love for public speaking.

No doubt she would have been primed for this weekend’s Golden Eagle Speech and Debate Tournament at Ruskin High in south Kansas City.

But Deja will be there only in the thoughts of her teammates and in the warmth of the coats that students from other schools bring.

The 16-year-old student was murdered Thanksgiving night.

“The entire squad took it hard,” said Paul Hackenberger, Ruskin’s debate coach.

Soon after the killing, he assembled the team so they could talk about a way to honor their fallen colleague.

“She was passionate and enthusiastic,” Hackenberger said. “There was not a time she came into class without a question to ask about the topic we were discussing or about how to formulate arguments.

“The students were full of wonderful ideas. Time after time, they recalled she had such an open and giving heart, so we thought it only appropriate to work with a charitable organization in her honor.”

The team collaborated with the Community Assistance Council (CAC), to hold a winter coat drive during this week’s debate tournament. Schools participating are being asked to bring new or gently used winter-weather coats, gloves, hats and other warm clothing. Schools will compete to see who brings in the most.

The team also came up with “Deja’s Donations” to benefit Wayside Waifs.

About 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving, when police arrived on a burglary call to a house in the 6600 block of Bellefontaine Avenue, someone fired at officers. Police shot back, hitting the suspect who died at the scene.

Thinking more people could be involved, police called an Operation 100 and tactical units entered the house. They found two people dead, Deja Davis and her godmother, Loretta Petty, 53.

The dead suspect was identified as the older woman’s husband, Jerry Petty.

Deja’s mother, Stephanie Davis, said she couldn’t find a single photograph of her daughter in which the girl was not smiling. Deja wanted to be a nurse practitioner, she said.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/17/3389060/ruskins-debate-team-remembers.html#storylink=cpy

WSDC Capetown Octafinal Results, Quarterfinal Matches

2012-01-24T17:27:00.001-05:00

From
http://paullau.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/results-wsdc-2012-of-results-and-qf-match-up/

Octofinal Results
Motion: THBT the government should create special schools that teach in endangered indigenous languages
OF1: Singapore (1) vs. South Korea (16) ~~~ 2-1 Singapore (Opposition)
OF2: Philippines (8) vs. Canada (9) ~~~ 2-1 Philippines (Proposition)
OF3: Australia (4) vs. Malaysia (13) ~~~ 3-0 Australia (Proposition)
OF4: Scotland (5) vs. Greece (12) ~~~ 3-0 Scotland (Proposition)
OF5: Lithuania (11) vs. England (6) ~~~ 3-0 England (Opposition)
OF6: Hong Kong (14) vs. New Zealand (3) ~~~ 2-1 New Zealand (Opposition)
OF7: India (10) vs. Wales (7) ~~~ 3-0 Wales (Opposition)
OF8: Ireland (15) vs. South Africa (2) ~~~ 2-1 Ireland (Opposition)

All wins were by the team that broke higher, except for Octofinal 8 where Ireland, who broke 15th, defeated hosts South Africa, who broke 2nd.

Quarterfinal Match-up
QF1: Singapore (1) vs. Philippines (8)
QF2: Australia (4) vs. Scotland (5)
QF3: England (6) vs. New Zealand (3)
QF4: Wales (7) vs. Ireland (15)

Quarterfinal Match-up by Total Speaker Points Ranking
QF1: Singapore (2) vs. Philippines (17)
QF2: Australia (4) vs. Scotland (6)
QF3: England (1) vs. New Zealand (7)
QF4: Wales (9) vs. Ireland (13)

Interesting thought, might this change the perception of how difficult or easy a debate might or might not be?

From https://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/WSDC and http://schoolsdebate.com/years/2012/

Shengwu Li on Setting Motions, a Must Read

2012-01-24T17:21:00.000-05:00

There is an excellent piece by Shengwu Li, formerly of Oxford now of Stanford. Everyone who is involved in setting motions can learn something from this.

http://trolleyproblem.blogspot.com/2012/01/advice-for-new-cas-setting-motions.html

I asked him for his judging CV, and he said:

I've been Chief Adjudicator at almost every major British IV. These include the Manchester IV, the Oxford IV, and the Cambridge IV. I was also CA at the Trinity IV, which is Ireland's largest competition. I've judged out-rounds, finals, etc, pretty much to the degree you'd expect. I'm also the CA for this year's LSE Open.
Internationally, I've judged at the European Universities Debating Championships twice, and been on the CA team once (for Galway Euros 2011). I've also judged at Worlds 2012 (Open-break quarterfinal and ESL Final). I've also judged at two World Schools Debating Championships (Cardiff 2006, Dundee 2011).

Former Liberty Debate Coach Joins Romney Campaign

2012-01-23T19:36:00.001-05:00

Brett O'Donnell listens to then-Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), on Sept. 19, 2011, in Sheffield, Iowa. (Charlie Neibergall - Associated Press)“Brett’s been working with us for some time, since Michele Bachmann got out of the race,” said Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul. Bachmann ended her presidential bid earlier this month after a disappointing finish in the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa.

Mitt Romney taps former Bachmann strategist for debate prep
By Felicia Sonmez and Amy Gardner

(Joe Raedle - Getty Images)Former Massachusetts governorMitt Romney (R) is turning to a former strategist for Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-Minn.) presidential bid to help him with debate prep as the GOP presidential race heads into the key primary state of Florida.

Brett O’Donnell, a former top Bachmann strategist and debate coach, confirmed via e-mail Monday that he is informally assisting Romney’s camp.

“I actually haven’t signed on formally, but I’ve been helping for some time after Michele got out,” O’Donnell wrote. “I am still very focused on helping her move forward as well.”

A Romney spokeswoman also confirmed that O’Donnell is aiding the campaign.

O’Donnell, who was seen talking with several other Romney advisers at campaign events Monday, is well-known in GOP political circles for working with candidates’ natural abilities, as the Post’s Amy Gardner noted in her September profile of the adviser.

Once a legendary debate coach at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University, O’Donnell went on to coach George W. Bush in his 2004 re-election bid. In 2008, he played a key role in helping Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) prepare for his debates against then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

The O’Donnell news comes as the four remaining GOP contenders — Romney, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and former senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) — prepare to face off at 9 p.m. Monday night for their 17th debate of the primary season.

Staff writer Philip Rucker contributed to this report.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/post/mitt-romney-taps-former-bachmann-strategist-for-debate-prep/2012/01/23/gIQAzcbkLQ_blog.html

The Break! - WSDC Capetown Octafinal Pairings

2012-01-23T17:00:00.000-05:00

WSDC 2012: THE KNOCKOUT ROUNDS

Singapore (1)

Korea (16)

Philippines (8)

Canada (9)

Australia (4)

Malaysia (13)

Scotland (5)

Greece (12)

Lithuania (11)

England (6)

Hong Kong (14)

New Zealand (3)

India (10)

Wales (7)

Ireland (15)

South Africa (2)

World Debate Institute Programs for 2012 Announced

2012-01-23T16:54:00.003-05:00

2012 Events Announced - a Lot of Them!

2012 is shaping up to be a very active year for the World Debate Institute as it promotes debating all around the world, in many formats and in a variety of languages. The World Debate Institute is not a funding agent, we don’t pay for things, but we do supply expertise, personnel, curriculum and planning for events people want to offer, as well as supporting a number of well-established events.

In January we will be announcing the 4th Thinking and Speaking a Better World conference which will take place in Doha, Qatar in January 2013. Lots of details coming after the launch.

WDI will be assisting at a University debate tournament and workshop taking place in Bosnia Hercgovina March 12-18 2012. It will be the first major university debate event in the country and is arranged through cooperation with WDI partner ZIP Slovenia along with local organizers.

Alfred Snider, WDI director, has been named to be the Chief Adjudicator at the US Universities Debating Championship to take place at Willamette University in Oregon 13-15 April, where 200 teams are expected to compete for the USA national title. For more information go tohttp://www.willamette.edu/cla/debate/events/2011_2012/USU2012.html .

The Faculty of Organizaional Sciences at the University of Belgrade is planning a workshop on ecological advocacy to take place in Belgrade, Serbia 18-22 June 2012. The faculty has partnered with WDI previously on several events, including a very successful summer training program in persuasion. More details coming.

WDI will again partner with ZIP Slovenia in sponsoring the World Schools Debate Academy to be held in Slovenia 29 July-7 August 2012. This successful program brings high school students from all over the globe to learn and develop in a week long workshop that concludes with a tournament, For more information, to go tohttp://debateacademy.net/Debate_Academy/WSDA_Slovenia.html . This time we are expecting over 100 students.

WDI will cooperate with the Lawrence Debate Union at the University of Vermont to host a workshop for Vermont school students 25-30 June 2012. The focus will be on at-risk students who do not usually have such beneficial summer programs. A website will go up soon.

Romanian debate organization ARGO is holding an international schools invitational tournament 26-30 July 2012 and WDI director Snider has been invited to be the Chief Adjudicator. Plans are to attend this event, but details are still in the process of becoming. Their website is athttp://www.argodebate.ro/ .

WDI will once again be an important part of sponsoring the 2012 Spanish language university world debate championship, the Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate to be held 5-11 August in Santiago Chile at Universidad Andres Bello. Last year’s first ever event was a huge success and this one should be bigger and better than ever.

WDI will be sponsoring the North American Debate Academy (formerly East Debate Institute) 19-24 August 2012. This FREE top quality debate workshop has been growing each year and attracting excellent faculty. See more details athttp://debateacademy.net/Debate_Academy/EDI_Vermont.html .

There are many other plans in the works, so keep checking back for news!

http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/wdi/WDI_Blog/Entries/2012/1/23_2012_Events_Announced_-_a_Lot_of_Them!.html

WSDC Capetown Records at the End of Prelims

2012-01-23T10:08:00.001-05:00

PROVISIONAL AGGREGATES AFTER ROUND 8

Note: The Chief Adjudicators do not yet guarantee the accuracy of these results.

The full team tab will follow the announcement of The Break.

TEAM WINS JUDGES

Argentina 4 12

Australia 7 20

Bangladesh 2 12

Bermuda 1 3

Botswana 2 6

Canada 6 17

China 3 10

Czech Republic 3 10

Denmark 1 5

England 6 20

Estonia 5 14

Germany 3 7

Greece 6 16

Hong Kong 5 16

India 6 17

Indonesia 4 13

Ireland 5 16

Israel 5 15

Japan 0 1

Korea 5 15

Kuwait 0 2

Lithuania 6 17

Malaysia 6 15

Mexico 4 12

Moldova 0 2

Mongolia 0 0

Netherlands 4 13

New Zealand 8 21

Nigeria 0 0

Pakistan 5 15

Peru 3 8

Philippines 6 18

Qatar 2 4

Romania 3 10

Scotland 7 19

Singapore 8 23

Slovakia 4 13

Slovenia 4 14

South Africa 8 21

Sri Lanka 5 14

Swaziland 4 12

Sweden 1 5

Thailand 5 14

Turkey 4 11

UAE 5 12

USA 2 8

Wales 6 18

Zimbabwe 3 10

WSDC Capetown Round 8 Results

2012-01-23T10:01:00.003-05:00

PROVISIONAL RESULTS : ROUND 8

Note: Numbers in parentheses refer to the number of judges won.

The Chief Adjudicators do not yet guarantee the accuracy of these results.

Australia Prop (2) defeated England Opp (1)

Bermuda Prop (2) defeated Romania Opp (1)

China Opp (3) defeated Qatar Prop (0)

Denmark Prop (2) defeated Moldova Opp (1)

Estonia Opp (2) defeated Bangladesh Prop (1)

Germany Prop (2) defeated Czech Republic Opp (1)

India Opp (3) defeated UAE Prop (0)

Indonesia Opp (3) defeated Botswana Prop (0)

Ireland Prop (3) defeated Korea Opp (0)

Israel Prop (2) defeated Sri Lanka Opp (1)

Lithuania Prop (3) defeated Mongolia Opp (0)

Malaysia Opp (3) defeated USA Prop (0)

Mexico Opp (3) defeated Peru Prop (0)

New Zealand Opp (3) defeated Greece Prop (0)

Pakistan Opp (2) defeated Netherlands Prop (1)

Philippines Opp (2) defeated Hong Kong Prop (1)

Scotland Prop (2) defeated Slovenia Opp (1)

Singapore Opp (3) defeated Canada Prop (0)

Slovakia Opp (3) defeated Kuwait Prop (0)

South Africa Prop (2) defeated Wales Opp (1)

Swaziland Prop (3) defeated Nigeria Opp (0)

Thailand Opp (3) defeated Argentina Prop (0)

Turkey Prop (2) defeated Sweden Opp (1)

Zimbabwe Opp (3) defeated Japan Prop (0)

Global Debate Times January 21 2012

2012-01-23T08:07:00.000-05:00

http://paper.li/asnider/1314018022

GLOBAL DEBATE TIMES

Follow the world of international debating in one convenient space. Stories are gathered from Global Debate Blog as well as Debate Video Blog for your enjoyment. This format may be easier for you to deal with than those blogspot blogs, and it happens here automatically.

http://globaldebateblog.blogspot.com
http://debatevideoblog/blogspot.com

Also thanks to Colm Flynn, Paul Lau and other debate information champions we link to.
http://worlddebating.blogspot.com

alfred.snider@uvm.edu

Verbattle Contest in India Moves Ahead

2012-01-23T07:43:00.001-05:00

HYDERABAD: The battle of the words did finish off with a dramatic end. The final selection round for Verbattle South, an inter-state debate competition, which was held at the Sundarayaa Vignan Bhavan saw a good response from the students.

Six teams which have been zeroed in from Hyderabad for the next round include four teams from Chirec Public School, one team each from Jubilee Hills Public School and P Obul Reddy Public School and the students were from classes 7 to 10 and in the age group of 12 to 16 years.

A few topics on which the teams debated in the selection round were, “There is no culture without civic sense”, “Privatization is the root of all economic problems”, “Tolerance is a weakness” and a topic given by PETA “Animals do not have rights like human beings” among others. Deepak Thimaya, supervised the debates and was also the moderator.

The next round will be held in Bangalore on January 23, where teams from Hyderabad, Karnataka, Chenna i , Kochi and Pondicherry will compete against each other.

The finals of Verbattle South will also be held in Bangalore on January 24.

The final winning team will be awarded a cash prize of `1,00,000, the last two finalist teams will get `20,000 each and the best state team will get `5,000 and there is also a prize of `10,000 for the mentor of the winning team.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/six-teams-in-verbattles-next-round/223395-60-121.html

High School Debate at 350 wpm

2012-01-23T07:34:00.001-05:00

High School Debate at 350 wpm

By Jay Caspian Kang
January 20, 2012 |
3:09 pm |
Wired February 2012

From left: Erin Sielaff, 17, is a senior at Edina High School in Edina, Minnesota, and Liam Hancock, 17, is a senior at Iowa City West High School in Coralville, Iowa.
Photo: Bruce Gilden

It is the double-octafinal round at the Greenhill Fall Classic Debate Tournament in suburban Dallas, and the team from Lexington High School in Massachusetts has just flipped affirmative. That’s debate talk. In English, it means that because of a coin flip, the Lexington duo—Bennett Clifford and James Fraser—is now tasked with arguing in favor of this year’s resolution, which reads: “The United States federal government should substantially increase its exploration and/or development of space beyond the Earth’s mesosphere.” Their opponents, a pair of students from the Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, Tennessee, are charged with negating the resolution.

Julian Manasse-Boetani, 17, is a senior at Lowell High School in San Francisco.
Photo: Bruce Gilden

Clifford and Fraser huddle with their coach and start assembling their arguments. Just a few years ago, they would have rifled through several 14-gallon Rubbermaid tubs filled with photocopied documents sorted into hanging files, manila folders, and accordion files. Now, they head straight to their laptops, tapping into a program called Debate Synergy that stores, organizes, and excerpts tens of thousands of pages of arguments. Their opponents, just 5 feet away, are doing much the same. The preparations are solemn and covert. Almost all discussion of strategy takes place via Google Chat.

After about 20 minutes, the judges call for the round to start. Fraser walks to the front of the room. With his square-rimmed glasses, high-cuffed jeans, and delicate features, he looks exactly like what he is in his free time: the lead singer for a fledgling indie-rock band. He sits, straight-backed, in his chair—keeping his diaphragm unencumbered throughout his presentation. He asks if everyone is ready. The audience grunts. Fraser begins:

“THE UNITED STATES FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD—GASP—ESTABLISH LUNAR PROPERTY RIGHTS—FOR HELIUM-3 MINING! MOON RACE IS HAPP—GASP—MOONRACEISHAPPENING! A LEGAL—GASP—GASP—FRAMEWORKFORLANDDISTRIBUTION ISREQUIRED!”

The sentences fly out of Fraser’s mouth at about 350 words per minute, a good 100 words faster than a well-trained auctioneer, and they will keep flying out at that rate for eight straight minutes. His voice, normally slow and thoughtful, has jumped two octaves. He sounds a bit like Aaron Neville if Aaron Neville had swallowed a cat that had swallowed five pounds of Adderall.

James Fraser, 17, is a senior at Lexington High School in Lexington, Massachussetts.
Photo: Bruce Gilden

Welcome to the esoteric world of Policy Debate. While high school debate comes in many varieties—the elevated discussion of Lincoln-Douglas debate, the quick-witted improvisation of Extemporaneous Speaking—Policy Debate attracts a uniquely intense breed. The event requires one team to argue in favor of a specific government policy, while the other team must point out the flaws in the plan. Each assertion must be supported by a piece of published evidence, and any argument that goes unchallenged, no matter how ridiculous on its face, is accepted as fact.

From left: Joseph Nelson, 18, is a senior at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, and Amelia Sadler, 15, is a sophomore at Dexter High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Photo: Bruce Gilden

Policy debaters started talking fast in the 1960s, when a team from the University of Houston figured out that speed allowed them to cram more arguments into a timed speech than their opponents would physically be able to negate. Soon, students were talking like this at hundreds of competitions across the country every year. The innovation increased the demand for source material, the scholarly texts that support debaters’ arguments. That demand quickly outpaced supply—debaters had to track down their evidence in libraries, then photocopy and cut and paste it (with scissors and tape!) onto sheets of paper, which would in turn be tagged and filed away in tubs or banker boxes. When my high school debate career ended in 1998, “information technology” meant figuring out a way to sneak into a nearby college library, where, under the eye of a willfully blind old lady, I would steal access to LexisNexis.

Daniel Schexnayder, 17, is a senior at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Photo: Bruce Gilden

The Internet has changed all that. Today’s debaters no longer have to painstakingly hunt through books and law reviews for new material. They enjoy instant access to a seemingly infinite number of published sources—not just articles and essays, but blog posts and even tweets. High school debaters are no longer hunters and foragers but highly efficient, thoroughly optimized information processors.

Jay Caspian Kang (jaycaspiankang@gmail.com) is an editor at Grantland. His debut novel, The Dead Do Not Improve, will be published by Hogarth/Random House in August 2012.

WSDC Capetown Round 7 Results

2012-01-23T07:01:00.001-05:00

PROVISIONAL RESULTS : ROUND 7

Note: Numbers in parentheses refer to the number of judges won.

The Chief Adjudicators do not yet guarantee the accuracy of these results.

Argentina Opp (2) defeated Slovenia Prop (1)

Australia Opp (3) defeated Moldova Prop (0)

Canada Opp (3) defeated Zimbabwe Prop (0)

China Prop (2) defeated Bangladesh Opp (1)

England Prop (3) defeated Denmark Opp (0)

Estonia Prop (3) defeated Qatar Opp (0)

Germany Opp (2) defeated India Prop (1)

Greece Opp (3) defeated Nigeria Prop (0)

Hong Kong Opp (3) defeated Romania Prop (0)

Ireland Opp (3) defeated Mongolia Prop (0)

Israel Opp (3) defeated Indonesia Prop (0)

Lithuania Opp (3) defeated Korea Prop (0)

Malaysia Prop (2) defeated Peru Opp (1)

Mexico Prop (2) defeated USA Opp (1)

Netherlands Opp (3) defeated Slovakia Prop (0)

New Zealand Prop (2) defeated Swaziland Opp (1)

Pakistan Prop (3) defeated Kuwait Opp (0)

Philippines Prop (3) defeated Bermuda Opp (0)

Scotland Opp (3) defeated Thailand Prop (0)

Singapore Prop (3) defeated Japan Opp (0)

South Africa Opp (3) defeated Sweden Prop (0)

Sri Lanka Prop (3) defeated Botswana Opp (0)

UAE Opp (2) defeated Czech Republic Prop (1)

Wales Prop (2) defeated Turkey Opp (1)

WSDC Capetown Results After 6 Rounds

2012-01-22T22:57:00.002-05:00

PROVISIONAL AGGREGATES AFTER ROUND 6

Note: The Chief Adjudicators do not yet guarantee the accuracy of these results.

Note that one judge retired through illness during Round 4, but the debate was allowed to continue.

This result is still to be conﬁrmed in due course.

Note that the India v. Mexico debate for Round 5 has been postponed until this evening.

TEAM WINS JUDGES

Argentina 3 10

Australia 5 15

Bangladesh 2 10

Bermuda 0 1

Botswana 2 6

Canada 5 14

China 1 5

Czech Republic 3 8

Denmark 0 3

England 5 16

Estonia 3 9

Germany 1 3

Greece 5 13

Hong Kong 4 12

India 4 11

Indonesia 3 10

Ireland 3 9

Israel 3 10

Japan 0 1

Korea 5 15

Kuwait 0 2

Lithuania 4 11

Malaysia 4 10

Mexico 2 6

Moldova 0 1

Mongolia 0 0

Netherlands 3 9

New Zealand 6 16

Nigeria 0 0

Pakistan 3 10

Peru 3 7

Philippines 4 13

Qatar 2 4

Romania 3 9

Scotland 5 14

Singapore 6 17

Slovakia 3 10

Slovenia 4 12

South Africa 6 16

Sri Lanka 4 10

Swaziland 3 8

Sweden 1 4

Thailand 4 11

Turkey 3 8

UAE 4 10

USA 2 7

Wales 5 15

Zimbabwe 2 7

Follow the World of Debate on Twitter

2012-01-21T06:21:00.003-05:00

More and more people are doing it. Try it and see how it works for you. Get it on your phone or use the webfeed, or both. There are many feeds to follow the world of debating.

We suggest:

@DebateTourney where Jozef Thenu is covering as many debate events as possible and doing a good job. Now 908 followers.

@asnider is my humble feed for news, debate gossip, and debate stuff. Also news about the Lawrence Debate Union at the University of Vermont, Flashpoint television program, and other infobits. I try to not Tweet too much, just a couple a day unless there is a major event. Now 820 followers.

WSDC 2012 Capetown Results after Four Rounds

2012-01-20T09:42:00.000-05:00

WSDC 2012

PROVISIONAL AGGREGATES AFTER ROUND 4

Note: The Chief Adjudicators do not yet guarantee the accuracy of these results.

TEAM WINS JUDGES

Argentina 2 6

Australia 3 9

Bangladesh 2 8

Bermuda 0 0

Botswana 1 3

Canada 3 8

China 1 4

Note: Only two adjudicators were able to deliver results in China’s Round 4 debate. This result is therefore still to be conﬁrmed.

Czech Republic 2 5

Denmark 0 3

England 4 12

Estonia 2 6

Germany 1 2

Greece 3 8

Hong Kong 2 7

India 3 8

Indonesia 2 7

Ireland 2 6

Note: Only two adjudicators were able to deliver results in Irelands’s Round 4 debate. This result is therefore still to be conﬁrmed.

Israel 2 7

Japan 0 1

Korea 4 11

Kuwait 0 1

Lithuania 3 8

Malaysia 3 7

Mexico 2 6

Moldova 0 0

Mongolia 0 0

Netherlands 3 7

New Zealand 4 11

Nigeria 0 0

Pakistan 2 7

Peru 2 5

Philippines 2 7

Qatar 2 4

Romania 2 7

Scotland 3 9

Singapore 4 12

Slovakia 2 7

Slovenia 2 7

South Africa 4 11

Sri Lanka 2 5

Swaziland 1 4

Sweden 0 1

Thailand 2 6

Turkey 2 6

UAE 3 7

USA 2 6

Wales 4 11

Zimbabwe 1 4

ESU & Claremont Colleges Foster Middle School Debate in New Jersey

2012-01-20T05:44:00.002-05:00

English-Speaking Union Hosts Garden State Debate League Tournament for Middle School Students

THURSDAY, 19 JANUARY 2012 12:33

New York, NY—The English-Speaking Union of the United States, in collaboration with Claremont McKenna College, is holding a Garden State Debate League tournament for middle school students on Saturday, January 28th, 9 am-4:30 pm, at Red Bank Charter School in Red Bank, NJ (59 Oakland Street, Red Bank).

The Garden State Debate League is part of a national network of middle school debate programs established ten years ago by Claremont McKenna College to integrate public speaking and debating into the school curriculum for young adolescents.

Competing for trophies in the categories of Best Speaker, Top Team and Best Overall School, more than 70 students from Stone Bridge Middle School (Upper Freehold Regional Schools), Red Bank Charter School, Mother Teresa Regional School (Atlantic Highlands), Our Lady of Sorrows School (Hamilton), Bolger Middle School (Keansburg), and Barkalow Middle School (Freehold) will pose well-researched arguments on topics: Schools should be peanut free; New Jersey's bullying laws do more harm than good; the United States should increase its use of solar power; the European Union should drop the Euro; and the Occupy Wall Street movement is good for America.

Established this school year, the Garden State Debate League promotes sophisticated public speaking, critical thinking, research, argumentation and refutation skills through school classes and inter-school competitions. Public, charter, independent and parochial middle schools in Monmouth County are invited to participate.

Coach Judi Hoffman from Stone Bridge Middle School explains the power of debate: “Teaching has many rewarding moments, but when you witness a Middle School Debate you will be truly amazed. A must see event for all educators and parents. A learning lab where young adolescents enter informed and leave empowered. They are a force to be reckoned with.”

The English-Speaking Union is a non-profit, non-political educational organization whose mission is to celebrate English as a shared language to foster global understanding and good will by providing educational and cultural opportunities for students, educators, and members. The ESU carries out its work through a network of 70 Branches across the United States, sponsoring a variety of language and international education programs.

Through middle school debate leagues, the English-Speaking Union teaches the art of public speaking and debate, and improves the state of civil discourse among our country’s younger citizens.

DLSU WUDC 2012 Evaluation

2012-01-20T05:03:00.000-05:00

Again, we would like to thank you for allowing us to take you to Manila. It has been our pleasure to host you last December 27, 2011 - January 4, 2012. We would appreciate your help by completing this short evaluation form so that we can further improve on our hosting and provide constructive feedback to all parties involved in the preparations.

Please visit www.dlsuworlds.com or directly to this link to be able to answer our online evaluation form. For those who cannot access google docs, please send us your feedback by sending us an email to info@dlsuworlds.com.

Thank you very much!

Missing you guys dearly, ;)

Gabriel Romeo Ferriols Pavico
Project Coordinator
De La Salle Worlds 2012

James Taylor - Debate Changes Lives, Like His

2012-01-19T21:50:00.002-05:00

Debate coach plays important role, mentors K-State forensics program

By Jakki Thompson

Published: Thursday, January 19, 2012
Updated: Thursday, January 19, 2012 09:01

On a campus with many student activities and organizations, the K-State forensics team plays a prominent role for the people who are interested in speech-related hobbies.

One of the newest coaches to the debate side of forensics is William Taylor, graduate student in communication studies and graduate teaching assistant for public speaking courses here on campus.

"I have debated for the better majority of my life," Taylor said. "I debated all four years of high school, three years in college and then went into coaching."

Taylor debated at Missouri State University for a year then transferred to Truman State University and debated there for two years. After three years of debate, he decided to go into coaching. His first coaching job was at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. After this, Taylor moved to Kansas and coached at Emporia State University for 12 years before coming to K-State.

"I knew the director and the assistant directors of debate here at K-State," Taylor said. "They were and are still really good friends of mine. This is a very welcoming and supportive environment. A lot of other schools don't have this kind of environment when it comes to debate and other forensics."

He went on to further explain that K-State was ideal for his graduate school option in communications studies. Taylor said the graduate program has a lot of flexibility with the scheduling of classes he needs to take for his graduate program and for the classes he needs to teach.

"Now that I'm in Manhattan, I have realized something very odd about Emporia," Taylor said. "I realized that there are no grocery stores in Emporia that have salad bars. The first time I ever went to Hy-Vee here in Manhattan, I felt like I was in heaven. But even with that, I do miss all of the genuine authentic Mexican restaurants in Emporia."

Taylor said one of the most important things he had accomplished since joining debate many years ago was learning how to research. Because of his debate research, Taylor said he was exposed to different theories about social justice and different thoughts of philosophers.

"When I was debating in college, Taylor actually judged me in debated rounds," said Sarah Green, assistant director for the K-State debate program and professor of communication studies. "I looked up to him and he was always one of my favorite people."

Green said that it is a wonderful experience to be able to work with Taylor as he has amazing evidence production and is always the go-to person when it comes to how to support an argument or to block a different argument.

"He is familiar with so many different types of arguments because of all of his years of debating and coaching," Green said. "He works well with all sorts of different people. He can help all sorts of debaters find places to get citations and to fill research gaps in their cases and arguments."

Taylor said that he thinks people who are not involved in debate don't understand how debaters are so committed to the activity. He said that each semester, the debaters do a lot of research and that the work load is comparable to the work involved with producing a graduate-level thesis.

"I have seen people grow, both as people and as debaters," Taylor said. "I used to coach at a high school level debate camp at the University of Kansas in the summer. I would later see these students go through high school, then judge them in college and watch them go on and coach at the collegiate level and find their own program."

Most graduate teaching assistants are usually in their early 20s or straight out of their undergraduate degree. Taylor, on the other hand, was able to gain more than a decade of experience before coming to K-State. Green said that the K-State debate team is very lucky to have Taylor as a coach.

"It is clear to me that the experience of debate fundamentally changes lives," Green said. "People think that I believe that because I am a debate coach, but I hear this all the time from people — that debate has changed their lives."

WSDC 2012 Capetown Results After Two Debates

2012-01-19T13:59:00.000-05:00

TEAM WINS JUDGES

Argentina 1 3

Australia 1 3

Bangladesh 0 2

Bermuda 0 0

Botswana 1 3

Canada 2 5

China 1 3

Czech Republic 1 3

Denmark 0 1

England 2 6

Estonia 1 3

Germany 0 0

Greece 2 5

Hong Kong 1 4

India 1 2

Indonesia 1 3

Ireland 1 3

Israel 1 4

Japan 0 1

Korea 2 6

Kuwait 0 0

Lithuania 1 4

Malaysia 2 4

Mexico 1 4

Moldova 0 0

Mongolia 0 0

Netherlands 2 4

New Zealand 2 5

Nigeria 0 0

Pakistan 1 3

Peru 1 2

Philippines 1 4

Qatar 1 2

Romania 1 4

Scotland 1 3

Singapore 2 6

Slovakia 1 4

Slovenia 1 4

South Africa 2 5

Sri Lanka 1 2

Swaziland 1 3

Sweden 0 0

Thailand 1 3

Turkey 1 3

UAE 2 5

USA 1 4

Wales 2 5

Zimbabwe 0 1

Follow WSDC 2012 Capetown Results Online

2012-01-19T07:47:00.002-05:00

Hello all – good luck to the competitors in WSDC 2012 which is now underway. Just a reminder you can follow the results of the debates in a number of places, including:

· Official WSDC Twitter feed: http://www.twitter.com/SchoolsDebate

· WSDC 2012 feed: https://twitter.com/#!/WSDC2012

· WSDC on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/World-Schools-Debating-Championships/340591412990

· WSDC website: http://www.schoolsdebate.com/years/2012/

· WSDC 2012 website: http://www.sa-debating.co.za/wsdc/

· And the WSDC blog: http://blog.schoolsdebate.com/

Overwhelmed by choice? Follow @SchoolsDebate and @WSDC2012 on Twitter, or keep visiting the WSDC blog. We’ll post the results as soon as the adjudication team are done with them.

All the best

Trevor Sather

(WSDC Development Committee)

USU 2012 Seeks Judges & Overseas Teams

2012-01-19T07:35:00.002-05:00

Greetings,

I am the Chief Adjudicator at the US Universities Debating Championship 2012 that will take place at WIllamette University in Salem, Oregon 13-15 April 2012. I am working closely with Robert Trapp, the convener.

The website is up and running at http://www.willamette.edu/cla/debate/events/2011_2012/USU2012.html and will grow.

The purpose of this note is to talk about our recruitment efforts for guest judges and teams from abroad.

In terms of judges, we seek to attract outstanding judges to come and help us select the new USA national champion. Judges with excellent qualifications are invited to to apply to attend. All judges with WUDC experience are invited to attend at no fee. For those who need support, we would ask you to:

Send a brief judging CV and an expression of interest.
If you need subsidy, please indicate the minimum amount of subsidy that you will need. Funds are limited, as the tournament has no major sponsor and operates on entry fees and must break even. Asking for small amounts increases the likelihood that you will receive subsidy.
We will examine applications on a regular basis and submit requests to Robert Trapp for the final decision, as he is in charge of funding for this event.
If you receive a subsidy, we would like to arrange reimbursement of travel expenses. You just retain all receipts AND boarding passes and submit them at the tournament for reimbursement of the agreed on sum. USA regulations are fairly strict here, but we will be glad to help you comply with these.
We may be able to offer housing in complementary hotel rooms we are negotiating. Nothing fancy, and there will be no single rooms, but it should be comfortable. Housing is limited to those who apply early.
We will try to reply quickly so that you can make travel arrangements at low cost.
Those judges who may already be in the USA at other events, such as the HWS Round Robin or the Colgate IV, should consider adding this tournament to their itinerary.

In terms of teams from beyond North America, we urge you to attend what will be a large and highly competitive tournament. Fees will be waived but there are no travel subsidies available. While non-USA teams can win the tournament, they cannot be the USA national champion as that is reserved for the highest ranking team from a school in the USA. No hybrid teams can be entered. As with judges, if you are in the USA for other vents, you are welcome at USU2012.

Judges and teams should also consider attending the America's Cup 2012, also at Willamette, taking place the day before USU, especially judges. Teams should also consider applying for this exciting event. http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/americascup/Welcome.html

Let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to hearing from many of you and greeting you at USU.

Best wishes,

Alfred "Tuna" Snider

alfred.snider@uvm.edu

Ten Teams Announced for America's Cup

2012-01-18T12:22:00.000-05:00

Participate in the Race for the America's Cup!

Teams composed of any two individuals from any nation may apply for a space in the America’s Cup Debates, to be held 12 April 2012 on the campus of Willamette University in Oregon, the day before the US Universities Debating Championship. Sixteen teams will be chosen for the contest, a seeding round, a quarterfinal, semifinal and then a final round to occur in the evening as a major public debate. The format is WUDC.

Here are the teams so far accepted into the America’s Cup competition for 2012.

In no particular order:

Josh Martin & Buzz Klinger (Tennis & HWS)
Paul Gross & Drew Adamczyk (Vermont)
Travis Steele & Austin Thoma (Colgate)
Colin Etnire & Ian Malamud (Bates)
Colin Murphy & Aaron Baker (Cal-Davis & Portland State)
Brian Farnham & Michael Wilson (Michigan)
John Patrick & Ryan Mansell (LaVerne)
Rohan Grey & Agnes Nam (Columbia)
Emily Ravenscroft & Courtney Pickard (Loyola Marymount)
Kaleb Brooks & Jon Denzler (Regis University)

Six more needed.

Judges so far:

Bojana Skrt, Slovenia
Marcus Paroske, Michigan
Rob Ruiz, LaVerne
JJ Rodriguez or James Kilcup, Loyola Marymount
Alfred Snider, Vermont
Rob Margesson, Regis

MORE JUDGES NEEDED! PLEASE CONTACT US IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO JUDGE!

For more information, go to
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/americascup/

Qatar Schools Debating League Grows and Glows

2012-01-17T05:07:00.000-05:00

Qatar Academy tops in schools debating league

More than 120 students from 22 schools recently participated in the third Qatar Schools Debating League, organised by QatarDebate and hosted at the Tareq Bin Ziyad Independent Secondary School for boys.
Qatar Academy’s team finished first in the competition, followed by DPS Modern Indian School and the Amna Bint Wahab Independent Secondary School for Girls in second and third respectively.
Member of Team Qatar 2011, Yousif Fakhroo welcomed the students to the event, and provided them with advice and a number of debating tips, stating that comprehensive preparation is the most important aspect of a debate. The tournament centred around four motions: ‘This House Believes (THB) that newly democratised Arab nations should not allow religious parties to participate in elections,’ ‘THB that developing nations should place limits on migration from the countryside into cities,’ ‘This House would punish parents who smoke in the home,’ and ‘This House would ban the trade and sale of animal fur.’
The award for best speaker was presented to Doha College’s Mustafa el-Mumin, with Jonathan Coutinho, Abdullah al-Shackarchi, P Vainatheya, Shima Abdulla, Paul Illori, Leen Walid, Anton Paulson, Wessam Kanes and Vane Swetah comprising the top ten individuals of the day.
Head of the English programme at QatarDebate, Kelley Bieringer expressed her pleasure at the success of the league and the introduction of a number of new schools to debating.
Officials from host school, Tareq Bin Ziyad Independent Secondary School for boys said they were pleased to host the event, and explained that most of their students have been learning about debating, highlighting the positive impact that it has had on their schoolwork.
“The school is very concerned about the art of debate and believes in its great importance for the educational process,” they said, expressing their commitment to support future activities organised by QatarDebate.
Some 63 judges took part in the tournament, including Khalid al-Khulaifi, who highlighted the impact of debate on students’ educational, practical and personal lives.
He said: “The most important characteristic of the third league is significant participation by schools’ students, pointing out that the level of the participants is in continuous progress and improving the great efforts of QatarDebate Centre.”
Students, Mariam al-Manaai and Leen Walid expressed their happiness at the strong performance of their Amna Bint Wahab team in the competition, noting that participating in debating has helped improve their studies.
Fellow student Nada Nabil said: “The debates give students a space to be creative, and grow their minds in order to be updated with the education revolution through the development of the art of debate culture and dialogue, and to accept others’ opinions and to listen to others.”
The schools which participated in the competition included the Al Arqam Academy, Al Resala ISSG, Al Wakra ISSB, Ali Bin Jassim ISSB, Al Sailiyyah ISSG, Amna Bint Wahab ISSG, Arwa Bint Abdul Muttalib ISSG, Birla Public School, Cambridge International School for Girls, Doha College, DPS-Modern Indian School, Khalifa ISSB, MES Indian School , Mosab Bin Omair ISSB, Omar Bin Abdul Aziz ISSB, Omar Bin Khattab ISSB, Park House, Pakistan Education Centre, Qatar Academy, Raba’a Al Adawiya ISSG, Rauda Bint Jassim ISSG and Tareq Bin Ziyad ISSB.

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=481317&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

US Universities 2012 Willamette, Oregon

2012-01-16T11:48:00.001-05:00

http://www.willamette.edu/cla/debate/events/2011_2012/USU2012.html

United States Universities Debate Championships

Willamette University
April 13 - 15, 2012

Invitation

On behalf of the staff and students of the Willamette University Debate Union and the Philomathean Society, I am happy to invite you and your best British Parliamentary debating teams attend the United States Universities Debate Championships. The USU debates will be held on our campus on April 13 - 15, 2012.

The tournament will host an open competition in British Parliamentary debate based on the model of the World Universities Debate Championships. The tournament will consist of six preliminary and four elimination debates. The tournament will use tight motions and concensus judging with decisions revealed at the conclusion of each debate.

Because of space limitations, we will limit the tournament to 200 teams and will initially limit each institution to six teams. Registration will be conducted using forensictournament.net. Registration will open on January 20, 2012. On February 15, we will close registration and calculate the number of teams and judges entered. After February 15, we will ask all schools to confirm the number of teams and judges. After we have a good idea of the number of teams and judges entered, we will then allow schools to request to bring additional teams beyond the initial maximum of six.

Each institution is expected to bring a minimum of one judge. The total number of judges required for every school is the number of of entered teams minus 1 (N - 1). If you are unable to bring enough judges to cover your teams we will do our best to hire one for you at a cost of $250 per uncovered team. All judges are required to attend the judge training on Friday morning and all those wishing to be considered as a panel chair are required to attend the chair's training.

Participation fees are $120 per team and $60 per judge. Fees will be waived for any schools from Europe, Asia, or any continent other than North America. Checks for tournament fees should be made to Willamette University. Tournament fees are due on the first day the tournament and schools who have not paid fees will not be allowed to participate.

Teams traveling from a distance will wish to fly to Portland International Airport (PDX), approximately 1 hour drive to Salem. The airport contains a number of rental car facilities and a shuttle service called the Hut (http://www.hutshuttle.com/) is available for a $64 round trip.

We hope you are able to join us for the US Universities Debate Championships in April.

For the Willamette University Debate Union,

Robert Trapp

DLSU 2012 WUDC Briefing Document Now Available

2012-01-16T11:36:00.001-05:00

This is a useful document for those new to the activity as well as for those considering debater and judge briefings at their own tournaments.

This document reflects the views and preferences of the specific adjudication group at DLSU Worlds, and does not represent a set of "rules" but one approach to this format of debate.

http://debate.uvm.edu/dcpdf/dlsu_wudc_2012_briefing.pdf

Dutch Open 2012

2012-01-16T07:06:00.000-05:00

On the 30th and 31st of March the Erasmus Debating Society and the Leiden Debating Union will bring you the very first Dutch Open!

Registration:
Teams: € 50-
Judges: Free
Team cap is 52 teams
N-1 will apply for domestic institutions. There is no judging rule for non-domestic institutions, but we welcome and encourage them to send judges.
An institutional cap of 3 will apply to Dutch institutions

At this moment crash is only guaranteed for non-domestic institutions and those having to travel far (e.g. Groningen/Middelburg)

Reg is open now!https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGpnUzYwM0NtNjg5dFBJNlZhOVhwSkE6MQ
Registration will be open till the 1st of March, more information concerning payment will be sent after registration.

The IV:
5 preliminary rounds
7 min speeches
Break to semi’s
Novice final!
All meals provided on Friday and Saturday
Two Socials!

CA-Team:
Will soon be announced!

Location:
The Dutch Open takes place at the Kamerlingh Onnes Gebouw in Leiden

Leiden is only a 20 min train ride away from Schiphol Airport(Amsterdam). But has good public transport connections to Rotterdam and Eindhoven Airport as well. If you are traveling from Germany or France the train would also be a good option to consider.

From Leiden central station it is only a short walk to the university

address:
Kamerlingh Onnes Gebouw (KOG)
Steenschuur 25
2311 ES Leiden

Time Table:
Friday
14.00 reg
15.30 Welcome and announcements
16.30 Dinner
18.30 round 1
20.30 Round 2
22.00 Social

Saturday:
10.00 reg
11.15 round 3
13.00 lunch
13.45 round 4
15.30 round 5
17.30 semi finals
19.30 dinner
21.30 finals
23.30 Social + results

More info:dutchdebatingopen@gmail.com

China Open 2012

2012-01-15T23:48:00.001-05:00

http://willamette.edu/cla/debate/events/2011_2012/ChinaOpen2012.html

China Open 2012
Willamette University, the International Debate Education Association, and Shanghai University of Finance and Economics proudly announce the Third Annual China Open to be held on May 25 - 27, 2011. The tournament will feature competition in three divisions: English and Mandarin divisions of British Parliamentary debate and an English division of Moot Court.

Invitation
Schedule
Registration Information

Huge California Schools Tournament Empowers Youth Through Speech and Debate

2012-01-15T06:59:00.003-05:00

Logan to Host National Speech and Debate Tournament

The Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational tournament begins Friday and runs through Sunday

January 10, 2012

The James Logan High School Forensics team will welcome high school speech and debate competitors from across the country this weekend for the 16th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational.

Logan’s campus will be filled with over 1,600 high school students from 77 different schools. While the majority of teams competing are from California, the tournament will also welcome teams from as far as Wyoming and Mississippi.

The director of the James Logan Forensics Team, Tommie Lindsey, is excited this tournament continues to bring many competitors together from a wide array of locations as they compete and refine their public speaking skills.

“The competitors are able to mingle with others interested in the activity and live out the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. through speech and debate,” Lindsey said.

This is the largest speech and debate tournament hosted by Logan during the year and is a great opportunity for members of the community to see the talents of Logan students.

“I want people to know that James Logan Forensics is regarded and respected throughout the state for being one of the top public school programs,” Lindsey said.

Lindsey notes the importance the tournament has on the local community and encourages members of the community to participate in the program.

“Economically, it brings in a lot of revenue for local restaurants, hotels and other establishments,” Lindsey said. “Culturally, it fosters the diversity that this community so strongly represents.”

Lindsey emphasizes this tournament provides students the opportunity to have a voice and express themselves – something that has become increasingly difficult in tough economic times.

“It’s extremely difficult seeing how a lot of students are unable to pay for competitions. We try our best to hold everything together, and it’s not easy,” Lindsey said.

Despite the economic difficulties, Lindsey is excited about the tournament and encourages members of the community to join in welcoming the high school competitors and share in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

For more information about the James Logan Forensics program and the Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational, visit jlhsforensics.org.

Additional Information

Who: James Logan High School Forensics (Speech and Debate)

What: Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational

Where: James Logan High School, Union City, CA

When: Friday, January 13, (last afternoon and evening), Saturday, January 14 (all day) and Sunday, January 15 (all day)

Why: The tournament is a positive community event that embraces public speaking. Many competitors at this tournament will go to the California State Tournament and the National Tournament. Members of the community are encouraged to watch and judge. Anyone over 18 can judge.

There are numerous acting events ranging from humorous interpretation, dramatic interpretation, thematic interpretation and original prose and poetry.

There are a range of debate events including Lincoln – Douglas Debate, Policy Debate, and Parliamentary Debate.

There are “platform” events including Expository, Original Advocacy, and Extemporaneous speaking.

How: Those who want to judge can meet in the James Logan Old Gym where they can sign up.

Global Debate Times January 14 2012

2012-01-15T00:21:00.000-05:00

http://paper.li/asnider/1314018022

GLOBAL DEBATE TIMES
Follow the world of international debating in one convenient space. Stories are gathered from Global Debate Blog as well as Debate Video Blog for your enjoyment. This format may be easier for you to deal with than those blogspot blogs, and it happens here automatically.

http://globaldebateblog.blogspot.com
http://debatevideoblog/blogspot.com

Also thanks to Colm Flynn, Paul Lau and other debate information champions we link to.
http://worlddebating.blogspot.com

alfred.snider@uvm.edu

Peru Bids for WSDC 2014

2012-01-13T10:02:00.000-05:00

See the bid document at http://debate.uvm.edu/dcpdf/peru_wsdc_bid_2014.pdf

Dear all

Please find attached the bid from the Peruvian delegation to host WSDC 2014. Sixto Ramos will make a short presentation about this bid at the start of the Tournament Committee meeting on 24 January and there will be an opportunity for delegates to ask questions afterwards.

Best wishes

Beth James

--
Chair, WSDC Ltd Tournament Executive Committee

UC Berkeley & Diversity of Jewish Debate

2012-01-13T09:34:00.004-05:00

Debate among all Jewish groups belongs at U.C. Berkeley

by Noah Stern

Thursday, January 12, 2012

In the secular press, U.C. Berkeley is portrayed as a diverse, vibrant, intellectual environment where award-winning faculty receive accolades for their research, and students engage in lively political and ethical discourse.

In the Jewish press, U.C. Berkeley is a dark, foreboding institution rife with anti-Semitism that is hostile to Jews and Israel while being the focal point for anti-Zionist agitation in the country, if not the world.

As the former student body president, and a senior at Cal who has been intimately involved in most of the issues that have garnered headlines in the Jewish press, I want to set the record straight.

In November, U.C. Berkeley’s Jewish Student Union (JSU) voted to bar a J Street U chapter from gaining membership and, predictably, the Jewish press was awash with articles and opinion pieces claiming that J Street U and other progressive Jewish organizations at Berkeley are symptomatic of the anti-Israel sentiments that pervade the campus.

Those who decry the lively debate about Israel taking place at U.C. Berkeley among the Jewish students are wrong, and those who declare it “anti-Israel” could not be further from the truth.

First, it must be revealed that despite its misleadingly inclusive name, the Jewish Student Union is not necessarily representative of the broader Jewish community at U.C. Berkeley.

The JSU does a fantastic job of distributing student government funds to JSU member organizations. It is an assembly of some of the more active members of Jewish student groups, but “active” should not be confused with “majority opinion.” If asked to weigh in on the recent decision by the JSU, most Jewish students at Berkeley would probably have responded with a perplexed “the JS- who?”

The two groups that have been the focus of the recent round of articles and editorials are J Street U and the progressive Jewish group Kesher Enoshi. There is no doubt that these groups support left-leaning causes. They are not unlike thousands of Jews throughout this country and in Israel who, to quote journalist-author Peter Beinart, choose not to “check their liberalism at Zionism’s door.” In fact, their views are not out of sync with Israeli political parties such as Kadima or Meretz.

On a campus where students are thirsty to learn about progressive issues, Kesher Enoshi has hosted programs discussing Bedouin rights, Muslim-Jewish dialogue and peace-building initiatives in Israel. Many of these programs drew rapt audiences.

Because of their important work in presenting Israel in new ways, and their right to their own beliefs on Israeli politics, I reject assertions that these left-leading Jewish student organizations are not worthy of recognition by the larger U.C. Berkeley Jewish community. In an era when the very participation of the next Jewish generation is in question, can we afford to shut the doors on these passionate students?

During a BDS campaign (boycott, divestment and sanctions) at U.C. Berkeley in 2010, a bill went before the student senate asking the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) to divest from several companies doing business with Israel. Few outsiders realized that the most compelling points made to the non-Jewish student senators were those that reflected less dogmatic, more balanced opinions. Jewish students who stood up and could articulate a cohesive pro-Israel argument that acknowledged the criticisms and even the blemishes on Israel’s record were the ones who carried the day.

If young Israel advocates are to succeed in the work the Jewish community demands of them, they must be able to engage all opinions and be challenged even within the Jewish community. I witnessed their effectiveness because I was one of the ASUC senators who spent countless hours lobbying votes, coordinating with Hillel staff, scheduling meetings with the Israeli consul general and ensuring that the divestment legislation failed on the Berkeley campus.

Even in the midst of high-profile Israel-related political activity, and contrary to popular belief, Jewish students at U.C. Berkeley do not feel threatened, under attack or marginalized.

A recent study sponsored by the U.C. Berkeley Office of Planning and Analysis — titled “University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey” and sent to all U.C. Berkeley students — showed that of students who self-identified as Jewish, 91 percent responded, “I feel I belong on this campus,” a full 4 percentage points higher than the university average.

Furthermore, 90 percent of Jewish students at U.C. Berkeley said, “Knowing what I know now, I would choose to re-enroll on this campus.”

I hope prospective Jewish students read these numbers and realize Berkeley is a safe campus for Jewish students. While the scaremongering of right-leaning Israel advocacy organizations may make for effective fundraising, it is an inaccurate portrayal of Jewish life at Berkeley and undermines the potential of the campus to recruit effective Israel advocates that can actively engage the real detractors of Israel that are indeed present on this campus.

The truth about Jewish life at U.C. Berkeley is that passionate student leadership has created a vibrant community. These students engage in heated political debates regarding Israeli politics, but also support spirited Jewish life that includes holiday celebrations and service projects.

Berkeley Hillel is at the center of Jewish activity for the U.C. Berkeley campus and has shown incredible fortitude in the way it supports diverse politics and strong pro-Israel programming.

I hope that, in the future, my peers have the strength to rise above the example being set by some in the broader Jewish community — and strive to be more welcoming of differing viewpoints.

Noah Stern is a fourth-year student at U.C. Berkeley majoring in political economy. He was the 2010-11 president of ASUC and is currently a member of the Berkeley Hillel board of directors.

http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/63918/debate-among-all-jewish-groups-belongs-at-u.c.-berkeley/

University of Sydney Debaters have Fearsome Global Reputation

2012-01-13T08:30:00.003-05:00

Battling with peers for argument's sake
January 14, 2012

University of Sydney debaters have a fearsome global reputation, says Michael Koziol.

Many would kill to be as comfortable behind the microphone as Eleanor Jones. An arts and law student at the University of Sydney, the 22-year-old is already a remarkable intellect and speaker and able to weave original aphorisms off the cuff while eliciting rapturous applause for each devastating blow landed against the opposition.

Her skills have been honed in the highly competitive arena of university debating. She and her teammate Daniel Swain returned this week from the 2012 World Universities Debating Championship in Manila, after reaching the grand final, which was narrowly won by a team from Monash University in Melbourne.

''There's always a lot of controversy in the worlds grand final,'' Jones says. ''I would say we were probably the crowd favourite. But that never made me feel comfortable because, as tradition goes, it is never the crowd favourite which wins.''

The deciding motion, ''This house supports nationalism'', was unusually brief and non-specific, with competing definitions of nationalism adding complexity to the debate.

Debating is a troublesomely subjective sport and in grand finals, with panels of seven or nine adjudicators, a unanimous verdict - as was the case this year - is rare.

''As a competitive activity it is quite arbitrary,'' says Jones, the incumbent Australasian Best Speaker. ''Ultimately, when you get to that really high level, good people will and should disagree on debates which are that close.''

Debate in Manila adhered to the British parliamentary format of four teams: two defended the proposition while two opposed.

Like watching Roger Federer in his prime, it is said that hearing debating at its elite level is to witness an art form. Students are given 15 minutes to prepare for topics as diverse as invading Zimbabwe, forcing fathers to take paternity leave and banning all private healthcare. They speak for seven minutes each, often at bewildering speed. The format allows opposing teams to raise ''points of information'' mid-speech, often turning a civilised stage into a flurry of raised hands and impatient interjections, not unlike a real parliament.

It is a far cry from high school debating where staccato speeches on uniforms or junk food are delivered to a restless and malicious class only too ready to laugh at the slightest stumble.

The University of Sydney has been ranked the best in the world at debating since 2007. It led the unofficial ratings last year with 506 points to Oxford's 458. Yale placed third on 394.

That year, Sydney students Julia Bowes and Anna Garsia were last minute starters in the world competition at Canada's University of British Columbia. In a tale which has entered debating folklore, they won the tournament, defeating teams from Oxford, Cambridge and the University of Queensland in the grand final. They were only the second all-female duo to win the championship.

Since then Sydney has appeared in the grand final every year except 2008, bringing home the trophy again in 2010. At the most recent championship, students Paul Karp and Patrick Caldwell were respectively named the fourth and seventh best speakers in the world.

The university enters the annual Australian University Debating Championships each year as the most-feared institution and presumptive favourite.

The success is in large part due to the commitment of the University of Sydney Union, the largest student union in Australia, which was founded as a debating society in 1874. The director of student and community programs, Alistair Cowie, says debating is part of the union's DNA. ''We do invest quite heavily in debating: it's our football team, if you will,'' he says.

Such expenditure includes subsidies to attend interstate and overseas tournaments: up to $3000 per student for worlds, and $2000 for the Australian championship. It sent 10 debaters to this year's worlds and 21 to last year's domestic tournament.

But unlike American universities, Sydney does not hire professional coaches for its teams. Weekly training sessions are conducted by senior debaters, who are also appointed to advise younger teams preparing for novice tournaments.

''It is all done peer-to-peer, and I think that is one of its strengths,'' says Cowie. ''Good students foster good students, they recognise talent and skills in others and nurture those, because they see that as their legacy when they leave the university.''

Graduates of the debating program are peppered across public life. Past competitors include the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, the Environment Minister, Tony Burke, the former prime minister John Howard, the federal MP Bronwyn Bishop and the former High Court Justice Michael Kirby. Adam Spencer, breakfast announcer for 702 ABC Sydney, won the worlds' ''best speaker'' prize in 1994 and frequently returns for debating events.

Despite the impression that they are destined for parliamentary dispatch boxes or the courts, Jones says most debaters eschew the limelight, preferring behind the scenes work.

''I think debaters would find politics quite frustrating, because it would be so one-eyed, to one side of an argument,'' she says. ''There is a very significant tendency for debaters to go into public service as opposed to more notable careers … not that being in the public service isn't a notable career.''

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/tertiary-education/battling-with-peers-for-arguments-sake-20120113-1pz29.html#ixzz1jLQFOVph

WSDC 2012 Capetown Tournament Committee Agenda

2012-01-13T06:14:00.000-05:00

SEE CORRECTIONS AT THE BOTTOM

NOTICE OF WSDC LTD TOURNAMENT COMMITTEE

Notice is hereby giventhat the annual meeting of the Tournament Committee of the World SchoolsDebating Championships Limited shall be held in Cape Town, South Africa on themorning of 24 January 2012 andcontinuing on 26 January 2012.

Business of the meeting:

Part 1: 24 January 2012: 9.00 – 12.00

1. Welcome.

2. Future Championships:

a) Bids to host the 2013 Championship.

b) Appointment of ChiefAdjudicator(s) for approved bid.

c) Indications of intentto bid beyond 2014.

3. Report of the 2013World Schools Debating Championships.

a) Appointment ofComplaints Officers.

4. Elections for the2012-2013 Tournament Executive Committee.

a) Chairperson

b) Vice Chairperson

c) Secretary

d) Executive generalmembers.

5. Election of 2013Motions Committee.

6. Election of 2013Complaints Committee.

Part 2: 26 January 2012: 08.30 – 12.30

7. Report of the 2011-2012Tournament Executive Committee

8. Report of the 2012World Schools Debating Championships Organising Committee.

9. Report of the 2012World Schools Debating Championships Chief Adjudicator(s)

10. 2012 awards includingESL, EFL and best new nation.

11. Ratification ofredrafted Tournament Committee and Debate rules.

12. Proposed changes to theTournament Committee and Debate rules.

13. General business

Notes: Each nationsending a team to this year's World Schools Debating Championships shall beentitled to send one official delegate to the meeting, and may send a fewadditional observers if they choose. Both delegates and observers will havespeaking rights at the meeting, though delegates will have voting rights (asdescribed below).

Those delegates representing a nationwhose teamhas attended at least two of the previous three World Schools DebatingChampionships can vote on all matters.

Those delegates whose nation’s teamshave not attended at least two of the previous three World Schools DebatingChampionships (for example, new nations or nations who have been absent frommore than two previous Championships) can vote in elections for sub-committeesand on procedural matters, but may not vote on changes to the Rules.

Proposed substantive rule changes should be sent toBeth James, Chair of the Tournament Executive Committee at WSDCexec@gmail.com by midday SAST onTuesday 17 January 2012. All proposals must be nominated by the delegate of onenation empowered to vote on rules changes and seconded by the delegate of anothersuch nation. Rule amendments or additions should be drafted in the form thatare to be adopted and it is recommended that anyone submitting a proposal alsoprovide a brief accompanying explanation.

Due to the changes brought about by thee-AGM, the Tournament Committee and Debate rules have been redrafted and needto be ratified by the Tournament Committee at the meeting in Cape Town.(Substantive change has not otherwise been made unless previously approved) Copiesof the proposed redrafted rules and any submitted additions will be circulatedto all delegates by the first day of the tournament.

A guide to the electedsub-committees of the WSDC Tournament Committee

TournamentExecutive Committee

The Tournament Executive Committeeis the on-going, working arm of the Tournament Committee, which represents allthe currently competing nations in the championships. Unlike the Tournament Committee,which is large and can meet for only a short time, the members of the Executiveare able to continue discussions throughout the year, between competitions, andspend more time drafting new rules of administrative systems, giving advice tohosts and news teams on the WSDC tournament rules and logistics, and co-ordinatingworking groups to consider important debate-related issues. It regularlyanswers queries about the championships from all over the world.

The Executive’s tasks are notonerous but they do increase as a tournament approaches, especially in the threeor four months beforehand. The roles of the executive are as follows:

The role of theChairperson is to:

(a) Convene Executive and Tournament Committee meetings;

(b) Chair, or arrange for a chairperson of, Committee meetings,to decide who may speak and when;

Therole of the Vice Chairperson is to:

(a) Assist the Chairperson to perform of the tasksoutlined above;

(b) Perform the above tasks in the event of thedefault, absence or inability of the Chairperson.

Therole of the Secretary is to:

(a) Record the minutes of Committee meetings

(b) Receive and reply to correspondence as required bythe Executive;

(c) Forward all notices and accompanying documentation to Executive andTournament Committee members including notices of meetings

(d) Maintain records as required

(d) Arrange postal ballots where required

The roleof the Tournament Executive Committee general member (there are six of them to be elected) is to:

(a) AttendExecutive meetings between championships (usually held by Skype);

(b) Facilitatea working group (usually two Executive members are assigned to one group);

(d) Supportthe host in preparing and carrying out the tournament.

Please DO consider standing if –you want to becomemore involved in the administrative and organising side of WSDC, you believeyou have something to offer, you are a team player and you enjoy meeting andworking with other members of the debating community, as well as participatingin robust discussion where necessary.

Please DO NOT stand if – you are unable or unwilling to make the necessarytime and work commitment or if you are likely to be unavailable forparticipating in email and Skype communications.

Nominating:

(a) Feel freeto email/ask any current Executive member about serving on the executive. Thecurrent members are: Beth James, (Wales, Chair), Taimur Bandey (Pakistan,Vice-chair), Roger Hatridge (Korea, Secretary), Irene McGrath (Scotland), JoshuaPark (Korea), Derek Lande (Ireland), Thepparith (TJ) TJ Senamngern (Thailand), BenWoolgar (England) and Hayah Eichler (Israel)

(b) The formneeds to be completed by 3 people: someone to nominate, someone to second andthe nominee to confirm

(c) Theperson nominated does not have to be present at the tournament at which s/he isnominated - there are many reasons why a candidate may not be able to attend aparticular tournament because of work or other commitments but may nonethelessmake an excellent Executive member throughout the following year

(d) There are9 positions: Chairperson, Vice chairperson, Secretary, 6 executive members

MotionsSub-Committee

This committee selectsthe topics for debate at each World Championships. The topics include the 8preliminary rounds, a Round zero topic in case it is required, octo final,quarter final, semi final and final together with a few spare in case they areneeded. There are 5 Motions Committee members elected by the TournamentCommittee and 2 chosen by the host for the championship at which the topicswill be debated.

The Motions Committeestarts to work at least 4 months prior to a championship and is required torelease the prepared round topics and final no later than 8 weeks before thestart of a championship.

Please DO consider standing if – you are someone whois familiar with WSDC, and who has the time, energy and interest to work with agroup of 6 others (communicating by e-mail and Skype) to carefully discussideas; decide on a varied, balanced and appropriate set of topics; and verycarefully consider and fine-tune the wording of motions.

Please DO NOT stand if - you will be in any way involved in helping to coach or prepare a teamthat will be participating in the championships in Turkey, either as the team'sofficial coach or in any other official or unofficial supporting capacity.

The committee should reflect the geographic, cultural and linguistic diversityof the participants at the championships.Appropriate candidates from various regions and from ESL / EFL nations are encouragedto stand.

Nominating:

(a) The formneeds to be completed by 3 people: someone to nominate, someone to second andthe nominee to confirm;

(b) Theperson nominated does not have to be present at the tournament at which s/he isnominated – there are many reasons why a candidate may not be able to attend aparticular tournament because of work or other commitments but may nonethelessmake an excellent Motions Committee for the two or so months required.

ComplaintsCommittee

Unlike the work of the Executive, which ebbs andflows from tournament to tournament, and the work of Motions Committee, whichtakes place from about the fourth to the second month prior to the tournament,the Complaints Committee’s work takes place mainly during the tournamentitself.

The function of the Complaints Committee is to hearand determine formal written complaints made by anyone at the tournamentincluding by the Complaints Officers. The committee’s powers and duties are setout in the Code of Conduct. It may decide to take no action, or determine acomplaint without a hearing or hold a hearing at which the person complainedabout may have to attend. Its decision making power ranges from dismissing thecomplaint or upholding it but taking no further action to suspending orexpelling someone. However, the Code and its support by the Complaints Committeeis more a system ofguidance, assistance and positive resolution of difficulties than a threat ofpunishment.

The committee must have a minimum of 3people, at least one of each gender and at least 1 but no more than 2 from thehost nation. The current practice is to vote for up to 5 members of theComplaints sub-committee.

Please DO considerstanding if – you are familiarwith WSDC, you understand or are familiar with meetings and/or otherprocedures, you enjoy or have experience in guiding, assisting and resolving,you are prepared to meet and work with other like minded people during thetournament, even at short notice, and you have an ability for decision-making andachieving outcomes.

PleaseDO NOT stand if– you are unable to attend WSDC Turkey.

Nominating:

(a) Theform needs to be completed by 3 people: someone to nominate, someone to secondand the nominee to confirm;

(b) The person nominated does not have to be present atthe tournament at which s/he is nominated – there are many reasons why acandidate may not be able to attend a particular tournament because of work orother commitments. However, the person elected will need to attend thetournament at which s/he is to serve as a member of the Complaints Committee,which will be the tournament following his or her election.

Thank you for reading this brief guide. Happy nominating and good luck!

WSDC Ltd, Tournament Executive Committee.

January 2012

CORRECTIONS

Sorry to clog up your inboxes but I have a few quick additional notices:

1. On the notice for the TC meeting, point 2a currently reads 'Bids to host 2013 championships'' this should be 'Bids to host 2014 championships' Please excuse this small error which will be corrected on the agendas distributed in the delegate packs.

2. Another numerical correction; the Peruvians have asked me to mention that on page 6 of their bid document, it currently reads 'Why the WSDC 2914 in Peru?' but it should say: 'Why the WSDC 2014 in Peru?'

3. A few people have asked if Peru is the only nation bidding for 2014. At present I have not received any other bids and am unaware of any other nations wishing to submit a bid but if there is another nation wishing to present their bid in Cape Town, i would ask them to contact me ASAP.

With thanks

Beth

Transportation Infrastructure is Schools USA Policy Topic for 2012-13

2012-01-12T10:11:00.002-05:00

From the National Forensic League at http://nflonline.org

2012-2013 Policy Debate Topic Announced

The 2012-2013 Policy Debate Topic is Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its transportation infrastructure investment in the United States.

One Million Visitors Since Moving to Blogspot!

2012-01-12T06:19:00.000-05:00

One million page views since GLOBAL DEBATE BLOG moved to blogspot. That is a lot of views. Of course, GDB has a lot more than that, given that it began on 2 March 2006 as an iWeb blog hosted at my university. I had hundreds and hundreds of posts during 2006 and 2007, and then it moved to blogspot on 4 July 2007. But, a million since the middle of 2007.

Here it is, it just happened:

Pageviews today
948
Pageviews yesterday
3,857
Pageviews last month
106,124
Pageviews all time history
1,000,001

I originally moved to blogspot because it was just easier to do, and easier to do from remote locations. Little did I know that blogspot would keep on improving, now with an amazing design and lay out that is my favorite.

It happened in a small way. Readership during the 2006-2007 era was quite low. It was new, I was not known and promotion was a bit weak. Even Google had a hard time finding the iWeb blogs. Moving to blogspot made the postings a lot easier to find and growth began to happen.

There was a steady growth. Big growth spurts followed the World Championships as more people found out about the blog. But, people found out about it in other important ways. Over 150,000 page views since 2007 have been referred to by Google search. People are looking for something and Google sends them here. Then, they see something that interests them and then they come back. Facebook has helped as well, with a lot of people coming to the blog from links there. Colm Flynn’s World Debating has been a big help sending us lots of page views. The switch to the new “magazine” blog format has helped, as people can easily see previous blog posts that they might want to also look at. But, I must admit, the majority of references come from other much smaller sources. Individual debate programs have links, people suggest it to each other, recently Twitter has sent a lot of people (and even Bing). The growth and the way the word spreads has been organic, and that is good and to be expected.

I expect the next million to be achieved much sooner. For one thing, many of the older pages are still found through searches and links, and this will only increase. As well, traffic is at an all time high (104,000 page views last month) so the next million will happen during 2012 unless I stop posting or remove the blog.

Some things do not seem to be factors. After 3143 I only have 39 followers. After 3143 posts there are only 1343 published comments (and I publish all that are not spam). These are artifacts and do not rally concern me.

I think one aspect of the blog’s popularity is my stubbornness. I start doing something and if I think it has value I keep on doing it. I know that growth and change comes incrementally through time and that keeps me focused.

My original purpose behind starting this blog was not just to get the news out, but to show that there was a rapidly developing and expanding global debate community. It was those in the USA who seemed to be aware of this the least, and so I have always tried to report on both USA and international debating news, because the first is a part of the second, and I want Americans to know that. I think that this has been accomplished somewhat, as the USA has been the biggest locale of those viewing these pages.

Many of you might be aware of my track record in terms of applying new ideas to debating. I built my first debating website in 1994, staged the first full Internet debate in 1999, and did the first simulcast of a major event (National Forensic League Nationals in Portland, Oregon) in June of 2000. In many ways I offer my services to introduce a use for technology and then when the people I am helping sees how valuable it is they take it over and do it themselves. Thus, the National Forensic League’s first website was built by a few volunteers and myself and now they have a beautiful website at http://nflonline.org. I simulcast their national finals and now they do it very nicely themselves. I made the first Cross Examination Debate Association website and now they have one of their own. I like this model; as soon as someone else will do it I can stop and move on to something else.

Will I do that with the GLOBAL DEBATE BLOG? I am not sure. But there are new up and coming global debate information services, and I might just stop at some point when the point is made and the function is well served by others. For now, though, it is forward as ever.

I am not shy about doing new things. Several years ago I led an effort by several Eastern USA schools to move into WUDC format debate, and now through their hard work five of them are in the world’s top 60 programs. Change can come and change will come.

Yes, change can and will come, even when you are in your 50th year of debating, even with you are in your 40th year of coaching debate, and even when you are 61 years of age, like I am.

There are too many people to thank for me to even start listing them. Well, perhaps Nancy Ogden, who told a middle school student that debate was not or him (reverse psychology works), and Ray Benoit who told a young high school student not to give up. But, those are enough names for now. People have been encouraging in my efforts, have supplied me with stories and feedback, and encouraged me when I am discouraged. People have offered criticism that has been cogent as well as silly, and I thank all of them for their time and effort. People who have threatened me and tried to bully me can take a flying leap. People who have said this effort was meaningless and foolish are probably not correct.

However, if you want to buy it out, make me an offer. I could use some cash for my next debate technological adventure. ::smirk:: Hell, it worked for the Huffington Post!

As I am sure you know, GLOBAL DEBATE BLOG is a part of a family of websites, anchored by DEBATE CENTRAL (http://debate.uvm.edu) where it all began in 1994. Our many other websites and blogs are all linked from the main DEBATE CENTRAL webpage. Check it out.

Again, thanks to everyone for their support, their patience with my foolishness, their tolerance of my excesses and their understanding of my many errors. I cannot promise to be more than a little bit better, but I will try to do my best with that.

Alfred C. Snider aka Tuna
University of Vermont, Lawrence Debate Union, World Debate Institute

Here is the 2007 iWeb archive:
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/Archive.html
Here is the 2006 iWeb archive:
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog2006/Archive.html

LSE Open 18-19 February 2012

2012-01-12T05:24:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Paul Lau for this.

http://paullau.wordpress.com/2012/01/12/lse-open-2012/

Dear All,

Registration for the largest and most prestigious open debate tournament in the UK is now open, so be sure to register early to guarantee yourself a spot before we fill our team cap!

This year, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch LSE Open will be taking place on the 18th and 19th of February 2012.

Registration Details:
Please register on our website starting January 1st 2012. Click here to register.
The registration fee will be £50 for IONA teams, and £40 for international teams.
The team cap is set at 100 (there will be no institutional cap). The N-1 judges rule applies.

This year, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch LSE Open will be bigger and better than ever:
5 Preliminary Rounds of Closed Motions, 7 minute speeches. Open break to Quarter-Finals, ESL break to Semi-Finals.
Our distinguished CA team will include:
Chief Adjudicator Shengwu Li (WUDC Finalist, EUDC & Cambridge IV Winner)
Chief Adjudicator Ruth Faller (EUDC Semi-Finalist, EUDC CA 2011, Durham IV & Galway IV Winner)
Deputy Chief Adjudicator Koen van Schie (Oxford IV ESL Winner, EUDC ESL Semifinalist & Cambridge IV ESL Finalist)
We will be having amazing socials on Friday (for early arrivals), Saturday and Sunday nights!

For more information, please contact our Organising Committee at lsedebate@gmail.com. Join us on our Facebook event page today!

We look forward to seeing you come February!

Best wishes,
John Lee

Convenor | Bank of America Merrill Lynch LSE Open 2012
LSE SU Debate Society | London School of Economics & Political Science

The Schools Tournament They Call "Big Lex" in USA

2012-01-12T02:26:00.003-05:00

By Ana Hebra Flaster
Wicked Local Lexington
Posted Jan 10, 2012 @ 08:00 AM

Nearly 800 high school debaters from across the country will attend the annual Lexington Winter Invitational, one of the largest school-run tournaments in the country and the major fundraising event for the Lexington High School debate team.

The competition, known in debate circles as Big Lex, runs from Friday through Monday of Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, Jan. 13-16, and encompasses the three styles of high school debate: Lincoln-Douglas, public forum and policy. Students from at least 92 schools representing 16 states and the District of Columbia have already registered for the event.

Although none of the 126 members of Lexington's nationally competitive program debate at the tournament, the entire team works hard to organize and run it, from selling snacks at concession stands to judging some of the novice events. Each LHS debater is expected to work at least 20 hours during the weekend in addition to the many hours of planning and reporting required ahead of and after the competition. LHS parents also work countless hours during Big Lex, volunteering to judge, feed and in some instances house the visiting debaters. This year, approximately 300 debaters will stay with Lexington families over the weekend.

Traditionally, area businesses also contribute to the event by donating food, beverages and other services to help make Big Lex a successful fundraiser. With close to 40 tournaments each year, the team’s travel and registration expenses require an extensive range of student-run fundraisers including car washes, raffles, and phone-a-thons throughout the school year. The Big Lex tournament remains the main source of non-parent generated funds for the team.

The public is invited to watch the debates at LHS. The best rounds to watch will be the public forum elimination rounds on Saturday afternoon.

Ana Hebra Flaster is a freelance writer and Lexington resident. She plans to host 15 students over Big Lex weekend.

Read more: Lexington High School to host national debate tournament - Lexington, MA - Lexington Minuteman http://www.wickedlocal.com/lexington/news/x1312981774/Lexington-High-School-to-host-national-debate-tournament#ixzz1jE6Sp8PW

4th World Schools Debate Academy, Slovenia 29 June-7 July 2012

2012-01-11T13:23:00.000-05:00

THE 4TH WORLD SCHOOLS DEBATE ACADEMY

SUMMER 2012:
29 June-7 July 2012, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia!
Registration Opens on this site 12 January 2012
http://debateacademy.net/Debate_Academy/WSDA_Slovenia.html

WATCH 2011 THE VIDEOS AT http://vimeo.com/channels/230313
SEE PHOTOS OF 2011AT http://debateacademy.net/Debate_Academy/Photos.html
SEE 2011 RESULTS AT http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/wdi/WDI_Blog/Entries/2011/7/9_WSDA_2011_Results.html

Hotel Kompas, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia,
29 June-7 July 2012
OUR HOST AND SPONSOR:

http://www.hitholidays-kg.si/

Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga Slovenia,www.zainproti.com and World Debate Institute, USA,debate.uvm.edu kindly invite you to participate at the International Worlds Schools Debate Academy Slovenia, June 29 – 7 July 2012.

The training program starts on Saturday at Noon 30 June 2012 with lunch and departure on Saturday, 7 July in the morning.

High school students, teachers, coaches and trainers are invited. At the training part the participants will be divided into three different groups based on their experience and expertise - beginners, intermediate and advanced. There will be small groups with a 1 to 6 student trainer ratio, meaning lots of individual attention.

There will be a special course for trainers, coaches and judges.

Participants will be staying in Hotel Kompas, Kranjska Gora.http://www.hitholidays-kg.si/Accommodation/Hotel-Kompas

WSDA 2012 STAFF:

ORGANIZERS
Simona Klasinc, ZIP, social co-director
Peter Mesarec, ZIP, operations manager
Aljosa Polsak, ZIP, pairing and tab
Bojana Skrt, ZIP, director
Alfred Snider, WDI, curriculum coordinator
Andrea Sut, ZIP, social co-director

FACULTY WILL BE ANNOUNCED, 2011 INCLUDED:
Miha Andric, ZIP, trainer
Stephen Boyle, renowned international trainer & judge
Filip Dobranic, WSDC 2 time EFL Champion, WSDC EFL Top Speaker
Branka Josimov, ACCD, Serbia
Anna Kerr, WSDC EFL champion, coach & trainer
Bojan Marjanovic, Croatia, WSDC coach & trainer
Peter Mesarec, ZIP
Rhydian Morgan, UK CONFIRMED FOR 2012
David Moscovici, Romania, ARGO
Serban Pitic, Romania, ARGO
Jernej Podgornik, ZIP, trainer & coach
Aljosa Polsak, ZIP, coach & trainer
Anja Serc, ZIP, trainer
Bojana Skrt, ZIP, 4 time WSDC world EFL/ESL champion coach
Alfred Snider, World Debate Institute, Vermont, curriculum coordinator
Monica Sobocan, WSDC ESL Champion, trainer & coach
Matej Vucko, ZIP, trainer & coach
Zan Zveplan, WSDC 3 time ESL/EFL Champion, trainer

Attend the entire event: Arrival on Friday afternoon, June 29
Departure on Saturday morning, July 7
Participation fee: 340 EURO covers all instructions, accommodation and food for eight nights, trainers, materials and tournament.
Application form at http://debate.uvm.edu/wsda

The participants should apply individually.

LIMITED SPACE, FIRST REGISTERED AND PAID, FIRST ADMITTED.

Payment instructions will be sent to you after registration, but we will expect you to pay by end of May. Please, send the application forms to debata@siol.net as soon as possible but not later than May 1 2012.

Instruction will be 30 June-July 4, tournament July 5-6.

TRAVEL FROM ABROAD:

Fly to Ljubljana, take bus or train to Kranjska Gora.
Fly to Venice, Zagreb, Graz, Vienna, Klagenfurt take bus or train to Kranjska Gora, ask for details.

Debate Tournament Software Archive

2012-01-11T01:54:00.001-05:00

We have created a starter archive of debate tournament software for tabulation, pairing and results and often registration at http://debate.uvm.edu/software.html

If you know of other programs please let us know and suggest more! Right now it is TRPC, Tournaman, Tabbie, MSDP, PlusTab and Joy of Tournaments. Tell us what you use!

Although we can provide you with links we cannot operate as support for these programs.

Trinity IV 2012 Registration

2012-01-11T01:48:00.000-05:00

The deadline for payment of Registration Fee for the Trinity IV 2012 is fast approaching. Please take note below of the reg fee charges and the available methods of payment. Please note that the deadline for payment is the 22nd of January 2012 and that failure to meet this deadline may incur additional charges.

Registration Fees Per Team

€75 for Irish teams per team
£30/€35 for IONA teams per team
Free for international teams (non-IONA)

Methods of Payment

1. Pay by Cheque

Cheques to be made out to D U IV DEBATING COMPETITION and addressed to GMB, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland

2. Pay by bank transfer - details for bank transfer are as below

IBAN: IE80 AIBK 9333 8486 1642 98 (BIC: AIBKIE2D)
Account name: D U IV DEBATING COMPETITION
Account address: GMB, Trinity College, Dublin 2
Branch Address: 40/41 westmoreland St

3. Pay by credit card/PayPal - payment can be made by clicking on the 'make a donation' tab on the following link.http://tcdphil.com/

NB - If using this option immediately email trinityiv2012@gmail.com with a log of your action including institution name, number of teams paid for and the time at which payment was made. Please check you have entered the correct details when using this facility. The Phil takes no responsibility for errors made by paying institutions. For purposes of IV registration payment this payment should not be considered or treated as a 'donation' and funds will be directed to the DU IV and not The Phil.

Institutions requiring an invoice

E-receipts will be made available on payment. Institutions which require an invoice to make payment should email with the number and status of teams sent and their institution name.

Thats all folks!

Dave Byrne

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