Preparing for Worlds 3 (First Principles)

Preparing for Worlds Post 3: Debating on First Principles

This comes from the same handout I took the "debating on first principles" post from. I used it for a quick prep with some worlds teams a couple of years ago but now I am not sure where I pulled all the info from. I'm sure I didn't write most of it but I don't know where it came from. Probably a mailing list somewhere. Apologies to the person who did write it for not crediting them. UPDATE: After some comments and e-mails I think the bulk of this came from Dan Neidle's guide from the British Debate mailing list. Dan was a Worlds finalist so he knows what he is talking about.

Arguing on first Principles
Don’t be overwhelmed by the number of issues, organisations, nations and topics there are to prepare for. As Kim Little (World Champion, Australasian Champion, Australasian Best Speaker 2000) says, there are only really half a dozen debates - they just have different actors. The issues stay the same.

For example Napster, Hate Speech and Porn are separate debates with their own distinctive matter requirements (which you could be an expert on) but the issue is still the role of government regulation and the merits of censorship. Learn the theory and then all you need is a little specific jargon to add credibility and you’re all set.

Don't be daunted and frightened by a motion on a specific topic you know little or nothing about. EVERY debate will have an underlining principle at its heart and the rest is packaging. Look at the general principles expressed in the original motion. What is the basic argument here

When the motion is announced at Worlds ask yourself don't panic: What is this debate really about. You will have debated the subject many times before. Just step back and don't get lost in the initial detail.

Ask yourself some questions during the debate:
What is this Debate really about
What is usually required to win this debate
What can we add to the debate that hasn’t already been said?
Are our arguments convincing? Are our examples good & getting to the heart of the issue or simply taking up time.

Examples of motions and some basic arguments are:

This house supports domestic content quotas in broadcasting
This house would bail out failing industries.
Basic Principle: Role of the government regulation & spending public money

This house believes that making Yassar Arrafat a partner in peace was a mistake
Basic Principle: Democracy and Negotiating with terrorists.

This house believes that the west should treat state sponsored sexism as apartheid
Basic Principle: Western culture versus other cultures. “Western Imperialism”

This house believes that civil liberties must be restricted in the interests of security
This house would force feed anorexics
Basic Principle: Rights of the individual versus responsibility of state/society

This house believes that the sexual history of rape victims should be admissible in court
Basic Principle: Rights of the individual versus responsibility of state/society and balancing rights between individuals.

Important e-mail from Dublin

Hi all,

With 21 days to go to Worlds, preparation is hotting up and we need everything sorted out as early as possible. If you are an institutional rep, please make sure your house is in order, and if you are travelling to Worlds, hassle your rep until this is settled, or you may suffer delays and annoyance on arrival. I'm sure you are as eager as we are to keep everything moving smoothly.

It is essential that we receive the following details from you within this week. If we have not received them by Monday morning when we make our final collation of information, there will be various negative consequences as outlined below.

1. Names of delegates. When we hand the rooming lists to our hotels, they must contain the correct names. If this is not done, the hotel will impose a EUR 35 surcharge on us for each name that must be changed. This is not a surcharge which we are willing to bear, so ensure that those details are correct, or you will have to pay up.

2. If you're arriving early or late, or leaving early or late, this needs to be specified under Other Information. If you don't do this, you probably won't have a room.

3. Arrival times and flight numbers. The optimum form for us is to insert your flight number and departure airport under Transport Details. Insert the arrival time in Dublin under Arrival Time. If this is not done, we will not be able to guarantee you an airport transfer. Naturally we will make every
effort to provide a transfer, but you may have a long wait, or no bus at all. In this case, you will have to provide your own transport to the Burlington Hotel to register.

Please also remember that every room will need someone to swipe a credit card for the purposes of a security deposit. The same card can be used for multiple institutions, and no money will be removed from the card unless damage is caused.

Remember to take into account our wintry weather. The average temperature at this time of year is 4 C, but this is expected to be the coldest winter in a decade, so it will be even colder. Make sure your shoes are waterproof, have a warm winter coat, some kind of hat or umbrella, and generally be ready to
wrap up warm.

In terms of how much money to bring - this is what we're giving you.

The hotel will provide you with breakfast every day, there will be lunch on the 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st and the 2nd. In terms of evening meals, there'll be some food at the socials on the 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st and a full dinner on the 3rd. Depending on your appetite, the food at the socials could be counted as anything from a snack to dinner. We should have dietary requirements for everyone by now. Transport to all WUDC events is free of charge, and there'll generally be plenty of free drink going around. Everything else you'll have to manage yourself.

Dress codes: The Championship dinner on the 3rd is a black tie event, as is the ESL final on the night of the 2nd. Everything else is pretty relaxed.

If you have any further queries, just get in touch. We don't want you to turn up unprepared and not have a good time, so just ask.

Look forward to seeing you all on the 27th, and finally getting this show on the road.

Regards,

John Harvey,
Deputy Convenor,
P&G Careers WUDC,
Hosted by the Literary & Historical Society,
University College Dublin.

UNSW win Sydney Mini 2005

Australian Parliamentary Debating Championship 2005 ("Sydney Mini Series 2005")

Winners: UNSW1 (Gill White and Alex Grey)

Grand Final teams:
OG- Sydney 5 (Chris Croke & Phil Senior)
OO- Sydney 7 (Brad Lanken & Hamish White)
CG- Melbourne 1 (Daniel Kinsey & Elizabeth Sheargold)
CO- UNSW 1 (Gill White and Alex Grey)

Best speaker: Phil Senior
Best novice: Chris Croke

Motions:
(Rd 1) TTHW use martial law to control the rioters
(Rd 2) THHW provide universal child care to working mothers
(Rd 3) TTHW give New Europe freedom of labour movement
(Rd 4) TTHW prosecute the home computer music pirates
(Rd 5) TTHW require migrants to pass an exam before granting them citizenship
(Rd 6) TTHW apply Equal Opportunity Legislation to the Church
(Semi Final) TTHS citizen initiated referenda
(Grand Final) TTHW try Saddam in private

Note from Michael Zelas, CA of the Sydney MINI:
This tournament took place over the past weekend with the following results I'm gobsmacked that we had a similar finals topic to Cork!!! Rounds 3, 6, semi and grand worked best.

Sydney Win Cork IV

Cork IV results:

Winners: Sydney A (Ivan Ah Sam & Dominic Thurbon)

Top Team tab: UCD L&H H (Margurite Carter & Loisa Ni Eideain)

Best Speaker Tab: Loisa Ni Eideain (UCD L&H H)

Best Speaker Final: Ivan Ah Sam (Sydney A)

Motions1) TTHW Remove Religion From Education

2) TTHW Tie Human Rights to the olympic games

3) TTHW Force priests to testify as to the content of confessions

4) TTHW remove all tax privileges from artists.

5) TTH Supports 24hr drinking licences

QF: TTBT Britain should destroy its nukes

Semi: THW Ban international adoption Novice:

TTHW Pay surrogate mothers Final:

TTHW Ban any further televisation of the Saddam Hussein Trial