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2 May 2008

WUPID 2008

Update on WUPID 2008 from MLYSN

The website will be up by May - guaranteed, as my website designer is getting married on the 31st, hence he needs to get his job done before his long long break. However, you would still be able to get the latest news regarding the event’s progress from MLYSN starting from today. So here are some updates:

(1) CIMB Group has once again agreed to become our title sponsor. We are looking for other additional sponsors, so if any of you have any ideas and contacts, I am more than happy to listen to them.

(2) This year, the event would have a media partner - The Star, a local English newspaper. We are currently in talks with Astro (satelite TV) but they required us to get some international BIG name before they decide to come in and give hell loads of coverage. We were all thinking of contacting Angelina Jolie, but she’s kinda pregnant with twins and expecting at the end of this year. So now, we’re thinking of Zinedine Zidane or Roger Federer. Any other ideas?

(3) The official hotel is Impiana KLCC Hotel and Spa. If you love last years hotel, you’ll cry to this one … it’s heaven! It’s situated just across the street to KL Convention Centre (venue of the finals). Click here to check it out. Plus, they have internet access in all the rooms!

(4) The chief adjudicator is still definitely be Dr. Omar Sallahudin Abdullah. DCAs are Fiona Prowse and Neill Harvey Smith. We’re looking for two more DCAs. One will be announced soon while another one will be announced after the Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships 2008 @ Ateneo De Manila. We’ve also a dedicated tab director’s post which would be filled in by Colm Flynn.

(5) Venue for the opening/championship dinner and break night party has not been decided yet. But we assure you, that it’ll blow your underwear clean till next week.
Keep reading this blog for more daily updates (I hope) on the behind the scenes of CIMB Group World Universities Peace Invitational Debate (CIMB WUPID) 2008.

Keio bid for Australs 2009

To the International Debating Community:
Keio University, Japan is proud to announce the bid for Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championship 2009.

Keio University¡Çs Debating Team has been a keen member in the International Debating Community and we can not be more excited to have finally had the chance to bid for this Tournament, as it has never visited Northeast Asian region. We hope to provide you with as much information as we can and we look forward to hearing your comments, opinion, or inquiries.

We were very fortunate to have the full support from the Japan Parliamentary Debate Union(JPDU), the Japan Debate Association (JDA), and the National Olympic Memorial Youth Center, our primary accommodation in central Tokyo. For this reason, we were able to drive down the registration cost to USD386, but the Keio staffs are enthusiastically working on further potential sponsors.

The bid website is stuffed with information and we greatly recommend youto take a look at it. The Keio Australs website is as follows: http://web.sfc.keio.ac.jp/~s06563mt/australs09/

Our Bid Chief Adjudicator will be Masako Suzuki. With an outstanding credential of having participated in 7 Australs and adjudicated in the finals including the Grand Final of 2007, we can rely heavily on her leadership. (More information concerning her Debate experience is listed in the website.) Also, in this tournament, we plan to receive the support of four external adjudication core members, in which we can possibly ask one adjudicator to become the external Co-Chief Adjudicator.

If there are any questions or inquiries concerning the tournament, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,
Miku Hagihara
Co-Convenor

Ryu Takikawa
Co- Convenor

Masako Suzuki
Bid Chief Adjudicator

AUDC registration closes in 3 days

The IIU AUDC 2008 registration will close midnight 12pm 5th May 2008. Last payment should arrive to us by 11.59pm 14th May 2008 Kuala Lumpur time. The org.comm WILL NOT accept any other payments beyond this date unless you have spoken to them prior to the closing date.

We shall close registration in 3 days. IIU will not accept teams after this date. For now the total registered teams stand at 87 teams and 98 adjudicators. Click here to see the total number of teams and confirm with the org com if there are any corrections.

Reminder, IIU AUDC 2008 places a cap of 100 teams.

30 April 2008

Baltic Championships Results

Team Tallinn B (Maria Kesa and Mihhail Jevdokimov) were the winners of the Borenius Group Baltic Debate Championships 2008, in Helsinki on the 25-26th of April. They defeated Estonia A (Iivika Kalden and Anna Karolin), Vilnius University (Aiste Dumbryte and Eugenija Golubova) and SSE Riga MV (Martins Vaivars and Vaidotas Lasas) in the Final, with the motion "THW Ban the Use of Landmines".

The best speaker on the tab was Anna Karolin, of Estonia A and the panel for the final was Neill Harvey-Smith, Richard Penny, Uve Poom, Helina Loor and Zeshan Qureshi.

World Schools Instructor Opening

Dear friends,
International Debate Education Association (IDEA) announces an open position for a Worlds Schools Debate Instructor for the 2008 Debate and Citizen Journalism Institute in Dikili Town, Turkey June 29th-July 19th. The Institute is college-accredited from Bloomfield College in New Jersey, U.S. and endorsed by the National Forensics League in the U.S. The Institute offers courses in Advanced, Beginning, and Coaching Debate in addition to Media and Journalism training.

This year, IDEA is adding British Parliamentary and World Schools Debate emphases to its lineup and seeks an experienced Worlds Schools debate coach to teach two classes. Instructors are compensated and reimbursed for airfare. The position begins immediately, and the selected instructor would need to be in Dikili Town, Turkey from June 28th-July 19th.

This Debate and CJ Institute draws enthusiastic and dynamic students from throughout the world and is a unique and fun activity for participants and instructors alike. If you are interested in applying for the open Worlds Schools instructor position, please email alathrop@idebate.org.

To learn more about the Debate and Citizen Journalism Institute, please visit www.idebate.org/institute.

Thank you.
Arminda Lathrop

IDEA Communications/Projects

Willamette University

Source WSDC Mailing List

MSAL Open 2008 results

Moscow State Academy of Law (MSAL) hosted their 5th Open on 26-27 April 2008. This AP format tournament was won by a composite team of Eugene Akulich (MGIMO) and David Powell (Oxford). MSAL Open is run in Russian language, and David was the first ever RSL-speaker (Russian as Second Language) to compete. Speakers from ex-USSR don’t count as RSL:)

20 teams from more than 10 cities of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus participated in the Open. Eugene Akulich also became the best speaker on the tab. Best judge (according to feedbacks) was Maxim Shmakotin (Novosibirsk, Russia).

The motions were (translated from Russian and some are Russia-specific):
  • Round 1. THBT the US should lift the economic sanctions against Cuba
  • Round 2. THW give equal rights to the football legionnaires in the EU
  • Round 3. THW grant the barristers the right to deny execution of a commission at any stage of criminal process
  • Round 4. THBT international community should fight with visa regime usage as an instrument of external politics
  • Round 5. THBT state bears liability for breakage when its actions lead to an economic crisis
  • ¼ final. THW demonopolize the railway market
  • ½ final. THW allow default judgment on criminal cases
  • Final. THW boycott Beijing Olympics.

MSAL Open 2008 results

Moscow State Academy of Law (MSAL) hosted their 5th Open on 26-27 April 2008. This AP format tournament was won by a composite team of Eugene Akulich (MGIMO) and David Powell (Oxford). MSAL Open is run in Russian language, and David was the first ever RSL-speaker (Russian as Second Language) to compete. Speakers from ex-USSR don’t count as RSL:)


20 teams from more than 10 cities of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus participated in the Open. Eugene Akulich also became the best speaker on the tab. Best judge (according to feedbacks) was Maxim Shmakotin (Novosibirsk, Russia).

The motions were (translated from Russian and some are Russia-specific):


  • Round 1. THBT the US should lift the economic sanctions against Cuba

  • Round 2. THW give equal rights to the football legionnaires in the EU

  • Round 3. THW grant the barristers the right to deny execution of a commission at any stage of criminal process

  • Round 4. THBT international community should fight with visa regime usage as an instrument of external politics

  • Round 5. THBT state bears liability for breakage when its actions lead to an economic crisis

  • ¼ final. THW demonopolize the railway market

  • ½ final. THW allow default judgment on criminal cases

  • Final. THW boycott Beijing Olympics.

Results of Korean National Debate Championships

Korea University 2 won a tense final against EDiS (Ewha Division of International Studies) 4 on a 4-3 split decision.

The final between Korea University 2 (Jisoo Kang, Jaeyong Shin, and Minkyong Cho) and EdiS 4 (Hanna Ko, Yulan Kim, and Selim
Choi) were judged by Sophie Lee (Chief Adjudicator: Debate Association of Ewha), Mikyung Kim (DCA:Kyunghee Int'l Studies),
Jayhyun Lee(DCA:Kyunghee Int'l Studies), Logan(Chungang), Hyesoo Monica Jang(Debate Association of Ewha), Taekwan An(Hanyang), and Jingzhi Ye(Debate Association of Ewha).

EFL Division
Debate Association of Ewha 5 def. CUDS (3-0)
Best Speaker: Yoon Hyo Jung (DAE 4)

Rookie Division
Seoul National University 2 def. Seoul National University 1 (3-0)
Best Speaker: Rose Chang (Hanyang)

Quarters:
Edis 4 def. Hanyang 2 (2-1)
Yonsei 1 def. Yonsei 2 (2-1)
KU 2 def. Yonsei 3 (3-0)
KU 1 def. Edis 1 (2-1)

Semis
Edis 4 defeated KU1
KU 2 Defeated Yon 1

Best Speakers

1st: (tied)
Hannah Ko (Edis 4)
Yulan Kim (Edis 4)

3: Suhyun Yuoo (Hufs)
4: Wonjun Jang (Yonsei 3)
5: Min Young Kim (Edis 3)
6: Bokyeong Kwon (KU 4)
7: Hyewon Rho (KU 1)
8: Nayoung Song (Yonsei 2)
9: Tied-
Hoyoon You (Edis 1)
Kyungeun Park (HUFS)

Demo debate
THW not confiscate land from descendants of collaborators with Japan during its colonial rule.

Round 1 : Korea
THBT Korea should priortize China over the US in diplomatic relations.
THW nationalize the tele-communications industry.
THW exclude Soju from the list of essential items announced by the Korean government to monitor inflation.

Round 2 : Social Contract
1. THBT all democratic governments should abandon laws which allow prosecution of citizens for insulting their nations.
2. THBT government should not financially profit from its citizens' sins.
3. THW limit civilian use of guns in America.

Round 3 : Human Body
1. THW allow commercial surrogate motherhood.
2. THW give prisoners with a life sentence the right to choose the death penalty.
3. THW chemically castrate pedophiles.

Round 4 : Ideology
1. THBT socialism in Latin America has done more harm than good.
2. THBT authoritarian regimes are justifiable in developing nations.
3. THBT feminism has not contributed to the well-being of women in the world.

Round 5 : International Institutions
1. THW limit the number of times United Nations Security Council members can veto.
2. THBT democracy should be the condition for debt relief for African nations.
3. THBT it is legitimate to use aid to buy votes in international organizations.

(Rookie Final) : Cute Animals
1. THW ban fur imports from developing nations. (debated)
2. THBT zoos bring more benefits than harms to society.
3. THW allow the police to shoot poachers.

(EFL Final) : Celebrities’ on the spotlight!!!
1. THBT paparazzi are beneficial for celebrities.
2. TH supports celebrities entering politics.
3. THBT celebrities should not adopt children from developing nations. (debated)

Quarter : Elections
1. THW repudiate the democratic election in Bhutan.
2. THW discourage women in Pakistan from casting ballots in order to protect their lives.
3. THW place a cap on the spending of candidates during election campaigns.

Semis : Greater Asia
1. THBT China's quest for raw materials from developing nations/rogue regimes is detrimental to the world.
2. THW pressure India to open its border to accept Tibetan exiles.
3. THBT the Kurds are better off without a Kurdish state.

Final : Law and Justice
1. THBT civil disobedience is essential to democracy. (debated)
2. THW abolish the use of insanity as a legal defense.
3. THW require doctors to report minors with HIV to their parents regardless of patients' consent.

29 April 2008

Sydney win 2008 Easters

The University of Sydney 2 team defeated the University of Queensland 2 team in the final of the 2008 Australian Intervarsity Debating Championships (aka Easters) hosted by Macquarie University.

Claudia Newman-Martin from ANU was the best speaker.

Michael Falk and Paul Karp (both Sydney) were the top Novice speakers.

Source Australs list

WSDC Motions Committee

An election was held to decide the World Schools 2008 motions committee. This results of the election are as follows:

- Ria Nuri Dharmawan (Indonesia) 24 votes
- Hayah Eichler (Israel) 25 votes
- Albert Fornis (Greece) 24 votes
- Jumin Lee (South Korea) 15 votes
- Aaron Maniam (Singapore) 27 votes
- Noel McGrath (Ireland) 21 votes

Accordingly, Ria Nuri Dharmawan, Hayah Eichler, Albert Fornis, Aaron Maniam and Noel McGrath are the elected members of the 2008 Motions Select Committee.

The rules provide that the host nation can nominate up to two people to join that Committee. The United States of America's nominees are J.J. Rodriguez and Ian Lising.

Source: WSDC mailing list

World Schools incorporation

The April 2008 postal ballot on incorporation of the World Schools Debating Council has concluded. 31 nations were eligible to vote. 29 nations voted.

In order for the proposals to be passed, two-thirds of the eligible nations had to vote for them. Two-thirds of 31 = 20.66 or 21.

The result of this ballot is as follows:

VOTING FOR THE PROPOSALS TO INCORPORATE: 29
VOTING AGAINST: 0

Congratulations to James Probert and his team who have worked very hard on the incorporation proposals, the documents and the explanatory material.

The following proposals have therefore been passed:

(a) That a company named the World Schools Debating Championships Limited be created, as described in the Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association.

(b) That this company shall assume the duties currently carried out by informal bodies called the World Schools Debating Council and the Executive Committee of the World Schools Debating Council, and that the company shall assume the ownership of the name and logo of the current World Schools Debating Championships.

(c) That the Directors of the newly established company shall adopt such rules for the company as are described in the documents ‘The Charity Rules’ and ‘The Debating Rules’, shall apply for the company to be given charitable status, and shall make such appointments and take such actions as are necessary to begin the work of the Charity.

Source WSDC mailing list

28 April 2008

AUDC sponsored judges

You may remember some time ago there was an announcement that IIUM would be sponsoring some quality judges to go to AUDC this year in order to boost the judging pool. In case anyone is interested here is the result of that:

Dear All,
I have received the names recommended by the AUDU Excom for adjudicators' subsidy sponsored by the IIUM.

The names are as follows:
1) Leloy
2) Sharmila
3) Tate
4) Vikram
5) Anirudh Baliga
6) Bernard Guerrero
Note: Charise was also recommended. However, she withdrew her application.

The above six persons please take note:
1) Your registration fees will be fully paid the IIUM.
2) You need to arrange your own travel plans. Your university maysponsor your travel and you can be part of the university's n=1 requirement,as approved in the last AUD Union meeting in Bandung.

Thanks.
Congrats and see you soon in the IIUM.
Latif
International Islamic University Malaysia

source AUDC mailing list

27 April 2008

African Schools Debating Championships



The second Annual African Schools Debating Championships begin in Johannesburg, South Africa, this week. The event will involve teams from Botswana, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa (open and development), Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as teams from some of South Africa's top schools. The South African team are the defending champions.

As well as high-level competitive debate between the teams, the event will expose students to panel discussions and presentations by prominent guest speakers. Some of the highlights will include:
- Obenewa Amponsah of the Steve Biko Foundation discussing "What does it mean to be an Africa?"
- The ANC Youth League, Young Communists League, Freedom Front Plus Youth discussing Transformation at Tertiary Institutions
- Danzel van Zyl from the SA Human Rights Commission discussing "South Africa's role in international human rights advocacy"
- Prof Mike Ward (Graduate School of Management, University of Pretoria & Gordon Institute of Business Science) - "Capitalism: Shareholder or Stakeholder Societies"
- Eusebius McKaiser (PhD Philosophy, Oxford and Analyst at McKinsey) "Why Richard Dawkins and Christians are in the same irrational boat”

The final of this event will be held on Saturday, 3 May 2008 and will be hosted by the Pan African Parliament in Midrand, Johannesburg.

For more information and to keep track of the results (which will hopefully be updated daily), please visit the ASDC website