Koc Worlds Team Cap Extension

To the global debating community,

Ever since the vast over-subcription to compete at this year's World Universities Debating Championships, we at Koç have been trying to come up with solutions to ensure that more teams could compete at Worlds without jeopardising the quality of the adjudication that every team competing is entitled to expect. We believe we have finally identified a way in which everyone that wants to compete can compete.

Our initiail limitation was to do with adjudication as we do not believe we can extend the team cap without being certain that we could find sufficient judges from around the globe. Our work with independent and n+1 judges has gone very well and we now believe we can find well over 100 chairs through the n-1 and additional adjudication pools. We will announce to independents and institutions asking for more than n-1 in the coming two days as we finalise our budgets for each region.

Our second limitation was the contract we had agreed with our hotel (where most other costs are also accrued, including food and drink). Our contract states that we can bring 1,100 people (including OrgComm) to the Championships. This breaks down as 720 debaters, 310 adjudicators and 70 OrgComm. Any additional person above the 1,100 will cost us 55 EUR per night according to the provisions of our contract, which means we would pay 440 EUR for any additional person who comes. We will also need to find around 3.2 addiitonal judges for every four teams, with the associated additional cost as well as take on some limited extra variable costs that we have not budgeted.

After the prepayment phase, we saw that over 60 institutions are still on the waitlist and so we have decided to come up with an offer. We have also discussed its suitability with a number of teams on the waitlist as well as the Chair of Worlds Council and all have agreed that it is a viable solution to what is a problem that faces large swathes of our friends in debating.

In short, we have extended our team cap to 400 teams, which means we can accept a further 40 teams to debate at this year's tournament. Given the financial realities explained above, we will need to increase the registration fee to 490 EUR per person for each institution we invite. We will initially only accept one team per institution still on the waiting list and if you want to send a judge, you will need to contact the registration team, who will pass that information onto the relevant DCA - all adjudication spots at this stage will need to go through the adjudication team to ensure that the pool remains as strong as possible.

If you receive an invitation to join us as one of the extra 40 teams, we would ask that you respond to the mail saying either yes or no over the coming week. If you say no, your place will be offered to the next team on the waiting list outside of the current next 40. If you say yes, you will be required to pay the balance of 980 EUR for your team in phase 3 of registration which runs from August 31st 2009 to September 25th 2009. If we cannot find 40 teams from the current waitlist of 60 institutions because teams decline, we will offer additional places to institutions from the waitlist (both those who are already in and those who will be in through this policy) who were previously limited to one team.

We want to stress that this should not be viewed as a precedent for the utility or otherwise of differential levels of registration at Worlds. We view this move as a sensible way to offer people the opportunity to debate which at the moment they cannot. Whilst we realise that they will be paying more for what is essentially the same tournament, it is the only way that we can be flexible and still offer the opportunity to debate at Worlds to as many people as possible.

As always, if you have any questions about this, please do not hesitate to contact Hasan Sadik Arik, h.s.arik@kocworlds2010.com, our tireless Registration Officer. If you have queries regarding adjudication, do contact Can Okar, c.okar@kocworlds2010.com , who will get back to you as quickly as he can.

Before signing off, we want to remind you of something unrelated but very important. We have received a number of queries from competitors which have made it clear that they think the Championships are going to be held in Istanbul. We want to reiterate, this is not the case! Worlds will be held close to Antalya this year and all relevant details about transport and the local area can be found at our trasportation page, http://kocworlds2010.com/index.php?page=56 .

We look forward, as ever, to seeing you all soon. We are hopeful that you agree with us that this is a good solution to a subobtimal situation.

Warm regards,

Fatih Mehmet inal

Co-Convenor

EUDC Tab file

This post is just to add the tab from the recent European Debating Championships.  I was away from a computer last week when it was released so I'm only getting to add it to the blog now.

Pan Pacific Championship 2009

Aloha Colleagues,
Stuck on the waiting list for Worlds or just looking for a great tournament in a terrific location? Fall will be here any minute and so it is time to think about escaping to Hawaii for some sun, sand, surf and of course—debate! Hawaii Pacific University invites you to participate in the Pan Pacific Championship Debate Tournament, on October 16-18, 2009. The tournament is open to U.S. and international colleges and universities providing an excellent opportunity for teams to prepare for the Northeast Asian Open, the Oxford IV, and the World Championship.


The Pan Pacific Championship (PPC) will feature six preliminary debates and elimination rounds determined by the number of participants. All rounds will be debated in the British Parliamentary (Worlds Style) format. A workshop will be held on Friday for individuals new to this format. The event features the lush setting of Oahu, the welcoming atmosphere of Hawaii Pacific University (HPU), and challenging competition from around the world. Highlights from last year's tournament included fantastic debate, hula performances, Waikiki nightlife and a final round held at one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

Registration for the tournament is now open! View photos from the 2008 PPC at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21544&id=1496864603&l=4686c42d4c

If you have any questions or would like additional information regarding the tournament, travel, or HPU, please do not hesitate to contact me and visit http://www.hpu.edu/debate. We look forward to seeing you in October at the Pan Pacific Championship.
Mahalo,

Rose

Rose Helens-Hart  
Director of Debate
Undergraduate Program Chair
Department of Communication
Hawaii Pacific University
1188 Fort Street, Suite 333
Honolulu HI, 96813

Registration Fees:
$125 per debate team and $30 per judge, coach and/or observer for the extended amenities package (includes select meals, beverages and cultural receptions throughout the tournament, etc.)The N-1 rule is enforced. The hired judging fee is $250 per team.  All checks are payable to Hawaii Pacific University. All fees are due no later than event registration on Saturday, October 17.

To register, please contact Rose Helens-Hart with team and adjudicator/observer numbers.

Tentative Schedule:

**Special Note: Please indicate whether or not your teams/coaches/judges/observers are interested in attending the workshop.

Friday, October 16th
Optional Parliamentary Training Session
HPU Downtown Campus
Evening            Social TBA

Saturday, October 17th
8:15am             Financial Registration
9:00am             Adjudicator Meeting
9:30am             Round 1
11:30am           Round 2
1:00pm             Lunch
2:30pm             Round 3
4:45pm             Round 4
Evening            Social TBA

Sunday, October 18th
8:15am             Check-in
9:00am             Round 5
11:15am           Round 6
1:00pm            Lunch
2:15pm            Semifinal Debate
4:00              Grand Final Debate and Award Ceremony Social

LUMS IV 2009 Update

Dear All,

This is regarding the previous notification put up on this site regarding the LUMS IV 2009 Debating Competition. Due to certain organizational constraints we have to had to push the date slightly forward. The revised competition dates are 2nd-5th October 2009 and it promises to be bigger and better with grand social events and more teams participating than ever before. We really look forward to your presence here. Attached to this mail you will find an invite for LUMS IV 2009 Debating Competition. The LUMS campus is categorized as the best and most modern university campus of Pakistan.

The rules of the competition are available at http://www.debating.ie/ under the worlds style training section.

Accommodation will be provided inside the university; social events and other miscellaneous details are communicated in the invite.

Kindly respond at the earliest to confirm your institutes participation. The deadline for registration in 5th September!

Feel free to forward any queries you may have to us.

Looking forward to seeing you at LUMS,
Haider Naqvi
Director Events
DRUMS.

WUDC 2010 Main List Update - Phase II

As you may recall registration for the 2010 World Championships was hugely oversubscribed.  This meant many teams were on the waiting list while there was a suspicion that many of the teams on the confirmed list were only panic grabbing of slots and would not materialise once money had to be paid.  The organisers are now in the process of coming up with a genuine list of teams.  E-mails are being sent out to all teams so if you registered for Worlds you should look out for a mail to confirm your participation.

From Facebook:

Dear Debaters,
We started to take teams off the waiting list again. We are planning to finalize the main list at the end of this stage. Please check your emails (including your spam box). So, stay tuned!

Cheers
Fatih
Co-Convenor

Iraq Debate trains Iraqi Government Officials

From Iraq Debate

Government Officials Involved in Debating in the City of Duhok

Government Officials Involved in Debating in the City of Duhok as one of Iraq Debate Programs

August 13 2009

The city of Duhok with its peaceful people and safest city in many aspects. Debating is getting promoted.

AGEF, The German Association of Experts in the Fields of Cooperation and Development hosted debate lecture and seminar in its building in Duhok. June 1st 2009 to August 13 2009, thirty Government Officials from seven ministries involved in English Training Course in the organization and In the final two days Muhammad A. Ahmad and Jwan Hussein delivered a seminar and lecture for those officials to introduce the basics of debating and its importance to the nation ,followed by forming a debate between two teams in the next day and before the graduation from the course.

The motion was ''THBT Education Should not be free'' the motion was interesting and debatable as its one of the current issues of many people concerns of the quality of education and relating that to the economic situation in the country.

This event is the 2nd feasible event in Duhok on Debating as the first one was in the University of Duhok for 22 students from college of Arts.

The debating in the city of Duhok day by day is become more interesting. As I see that Duhok will become a capital of debating and the ground of diplomacy in Kurdistan and Iraq in future.

The participant from the government side are:
1st speaker: Dezheen Sh. Tayib – Presidency of Municipality , Duhok
2nd speaker: Mahoomd A. Yousif – Duhok Governorate
3rd speaker: Resan M. Salih – Mapping and Information Directorate, Duhok
Reply speech: Mahmood A. Yousif

The Opposition side:
1st speaker: Dilshad K. Ibraheen – Ministry of Education
2nd speaker: Noha Andrios – Presidency of Municipality
3rd speaker: Naima S. Salih - Mapping and Information Directorate
Reply speech: Noha Andrios

The Judges: Muhammad A. Ahmad and Jwan Hussein

The opposition side won the debate as they came with constructive arguments and evidence. And the majority of audience voted for their interest.

This was the first time for government officials to perform debate in this country and we are looking to continue this endeavors for further debating programs and sharing more people with diverse ideas to exercise the rights of freedom of speech.

After the debating the participants granted their certificates for their participation in the course.

Mr. Salam Ali the English Trainer in the Organization, said: If we don't want to live in a dictatorship, we must be vigilant to preserve our freedoms. If we wish to preserve our freedoms, we must be informed on the issues. Being informed on the issues requires that we become acquainted with alternative points of view. The history of the development of civilization can be seen as the history of debates on issues. In democratic societies, there must be public debating.

Mr. Azad M. Salih,The coordinatior of AEGF in Duhok:  He sees that as the purpose of their organization is English capacity building for the certain course and he added; Debate in the good motivation for the participants to develop their communication and English.in all regards we have a special thanks to Mr. Azad M. Salih for his cooperation and kind hospitality.

Reported By Muhammad

Pan- African Universities Debating Championship 2009

To African debaters and debaters everywhere


The much talked about and eagerly anticipated Pan- African Universities Debating Championship is back for its second season. The (PAUDC) Organizing Committee is once again very proud to organize the second annual Pan- African Universities Debating Championships to be held in Botswana, Gaborone from December 12th to 18th 2009. The inaugural tournament was won by the University of the Free State from South Africa, in a final that also comprised Namibia and Lesotho. The next PAUDC host will either be Namibia or Nigeria, this will be decided by the PAUDC board meeting in Gaborone.

Registration opens on August 15th 2009 and will take place until November 20th 2009. Early registration which runs for 2 months from August 15th to October 15th is set at P650 per person (around 90 USD, R680, 65 POUNDS, 70 EURO). The registration form and due registration fees should have been sent before the deadline to qualify for early registration.

Late registration runs for 1 month from October 20th to November 20th and is set at P800 (around 110 USD, R830, 80 POUNDS, 85 EURO). Both the registration forms and due fees should have been received before the closing date to qualify for late registration.

Registration Fees for institutions must be deposited in the below account:

UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA- DEBATE MASTERS ASSOCIATION
ACCOUNT NO: 0020025780131
BANK CODE: 800267
BRANCH CODE: 80-02-67
SWIFT CODE: CAPLBWGAXXX

Proof of registration should be sent to debatemasters@yahoo.com or convenorpaudc@gmail.com

The tournament will
• be held in World Universities style also known as BP at the University of Botswana main campus in Gaborone
• will have a team cap of 4 teams per university with strict compliance with the N-1 rule
• Each African country can only enter up to seven universities
• be from the 12th to the 18th of December 2009
• cost P650 per person for early registration (about 90 USD) - this is inclusive of accommodation for 7 days, meals, events (Opening and Break night parties, Cultural Expo night, Championship dinner AND a visit to the Mokolodi nature reserve to experience Africa's Big 5!)
• include a speaker and coach training workshop for 2 days and adjudication tests
• bring together universities from 15 African Countries and interested universities from around the world The countries expected to attend are From West Africa are Nigeria, Ghana and Liberia, from east Africa Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania from Southern Africa Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Africa and Swaziland.
• Six rounds of debating with a break to octo- finals, quarterfinals, semifinals and grand finals
• feature a board meeting with representatives from all African debate institutions, to build a cooperative framework to promote debate and to vote for the next PAUDC host between Namibia and Nigeria
• would feature 40 Botswana secondary schools and 10 invited schools across Africa and the world who will be having their own parallel tournament
• comprise debate trainers and adjudicators from the United States of America, United Kingdom, South Korea and Malaysia

We are very grateful for the support of The Youth Initiative and the African Regional Office of the Open Society Institute who sponsored the inaugural championship last year, our organizing partners, the University of Botswana, Books Botswana and Phakalane Golf resort and all the others who have supported us in the past and continue to give us strength.

For more information, visit our website at http://www.botsdebating.com/, or email us at the addresses below.

Convenor, Justice Motlhabani - debatemasters@yahoo.com

Deputy Convenor & Registration, Graham Sowa - convenorpaudc@gmail.com

Chief Adjudicator, Logan - loganimal@gmail.com

We are looking forward to seeing you in Botswana this December! :) If you have any questions feel free to email us back at convenorpaudc@gmail.com or debatemasters@yahoo.com and loganimal@gmail.com

Kindest Regards,
Justice Motlhabani on behalf of PAUDC Organizing Committee
http://www.botsdebating.com/
+26772467417

Kyiv Open 2009

Dear all,

We are glad to announce that on September 24–27, 2009 in the beautiful city of Kyiv (Ukraine) UYNGO “Debate Academy” will hold the Second Annual International Debate Tournament KYIV OPEN.

All the details and regforms are available at http://debate.org.ua/category/KYIV-OPEN/

Hope to welcome you in Kiev,

co-convenors
Kira Shymanska & Anton Dvorienkov

A new website and facebook groupp for EUDC Council‏

Dear debaters in Europe,

admittedly, EUDC Council may not be the most exciting topic to most of you. I would still like to draw your attention to the fact that following the Championships at Newcastle, there are now three new sources of information for those interested in Council activity or the Championships as such:

1. A new website at http://eudc.wikidot.com: Obviously, this project has just started, but it aims at providing comprehensive information about the Council and previous Championships at a central location. We have already put together tabs, motions etc. of previous championships, but a lot of information is still missing (see point 3).

2. A facebook group named "EUDC Council" at http://www.tinyurl.com/eudcfacebook: This is the place where ideally the debate would take place. Specifically country representatives are invited to join. For now, the list requires application, but we won't turn down anyone. The debate there has already started, and there are quite a few issues to be discussed, such as eligibility, ESL and sponsorship. An overview can also be found at http://eudc.wikidot.com/reform

3. A Google doc to gather information on previous Championships at http://www.tinyurl.com/eudclist. This document is open to editing, and we would be very grateful if you could help us to fill the gaps. Information entered here will be eventually used on the website.

Amongst the things that we are missing are:
- The team tab from Ljubljana / Portoroz Euros 2001
- The speaker tab from Aberdeen Euros 2000
- The Motions for Aberdeen Euros 2000 and Rotterdam Euros 1999
- Information on breaking judges from almost all Championships
- Links to websites from National Debating Societies

If anyone out there has that information or any other documents of interest slumbering on their computers such as old Council records etc., please email them to jhbfischer [at] gmail [dot] com.

Finally, please forward this email to anyone who might be interested. There are a lot of countries we don't know the representatives of (or if debating is taking place there), and it would be fantastic if this would be a way to get in contact.

All the best, I hope we will have a productive year!

Jens Fischer
Council President
Berlin, Germany