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8 June 2007

Flashpoint Television and some Debating Video Links

Dear all,

Debating in Television is a years old concept; But a 360 “Total Debate” solution program is rarely seen. Flashpoint Television is the modern reality to answer this exception. Lawrence Debate Union at the University of Vermont, USA started this venture 10 year back which has become now a destination for young Debating Minds.

The programs can be downloaded or viewed depending on whether they are in the QuickTime or the RealPlayer format. The program now has over 320 shows to its credit. Flashpoint is a program of issues and ideas. Debaters and coaches pick a topic and research it intensively before the program. The program consists of a fast-paced discussion of the topic and its related issues. Experts are not sought for the program, because it attempts to show that intelligent citizens can learn about an issue for themselves and then have informed and logical opinions -- which is what citizens should do.

Some Debating Video Links

- Topic: Democrats for President in US
- Topic: Republicans for President in US
- Topic: Media Copyright
- Topic: Organ Donation
- Topic: Student Debt
- Topic: Free Speech & Dissent in America
- Topic: Lake Baikal
- Topic: China and Taiwan
- Topic: Pentagon Exemption from Freedom of Information Act
- Topic: High Tech Congo Genocide
- Topic: World Oceans in Jeopardy

Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin
Source: Flashpointtv

Israeli Nationals' results

Hello All

I'd like to congratulate IDC B (Avihu Tamir and Ran Eliassaf) for winning the Israeli National Championship in debating.

Other finalists were: Haifa B (Lotem Rotbain Sher and Masha Yudashkin), IDC H (Lior Hadas and Era Segev) and IDC C (Michal Halbersham and Yossi Orevi).

Best Speaker on the Tab: Shahar Ronen (Haifa A).
Top team on the Tab: Haifa A (Shahar Ronen and Reut Rubinstein).

hope to see you all in Istanbul...

Anatg.

5 June 2007

Newsletter & waiver form



From www.schoolsdebate.com

The latest newsletter from the Korea Championships has been released. Note that the organisers are asking all under-18s attending the tournament to bring with them a "Consent and Acknowledgement of Risk" form, signed by parents, which is available for download from the WSDC 2007 website (http://www.wsdc-seoul.com/).

This form is prepared by the organisers of the 2007 competition in accordance with local law (Alberta, Canada). If you have any questions about it, the Executive recommends you take your own legal advice to check its effect on your rights.

Ateneo to bid for Australs 2008

Dear all,

'Proud to announce the launch of the 2008 Ateneo Australs bid website.

Point your browsers to http://www.ateneoaustrals.com

Stay 'tuned for updates and feel free to contact us with any questions,
suggestions, or comments.

Cheers,

Bobby Benedicto
CA

3 June 2007

Proposal to incorporate WSDC as a charity in the United Kingdom

The Executive Committee of the World Schools Debating Council – on the advice of its Finance Working Group, which is chaired by Trevor Sather – would like to propose the following:

1. Incorporating the World Schools Debating Championships as a limited company, based in the United Kingdom.

2. That we apply for charitable status for that company.

3. That, once this is done, elections be held for nine Trustees to oversee the charity, and ensure that it is well-run and meets its financial obligations.

4. That a ‘Development Board’, including certain Trustees and co-opted others with relevant professional experience, also be created to handle the day-to-day running of the charity.

5. That we define the voting members of the charity as the existing and future voting delegates of the World Schools Debating Council, who elect the Trustees


These initial moves do not require changes to existing Rules of the World Schools Debating Championships. But we would like the support of the World Schools Debating Council before proceeding and so we are now asking World Council delegates to vote in a ‘ratification ballot’.

If a decision is taken to go ahead with the incorporation, the Finance Working Group will then propose amendments to the Rules concerning the election of Trustees, which will be presented to the Council in time to be voted on at the World Council meeting in Seoul. We may also aim to hold the first elections of Trustees then (depending on the speed with which charitable status can be obtained from the UK Charities Commission).

Voting in the postal ballot to approve this incorporation initiative opens now and will remain open until Sunday 17 June.

The World Council representatives from the 31 countries which have entered a team in at least two of the last three World Schools Debating Championships are eligible to vote in this ballot. According to my records, the current voting delegate from each of these countries is as follows:

1. Argentina - Magdalena Benvenuto

2. Australia - Todd Golding

3. Bermuda - Trevor Leitch

4. Canada - Janet Webster

5. Czech Republic - John Wickham

6. England - Alastair Endersby

7. Estonia - Ragnar Siil

8. Germany - Raka Gutzeit

9. Greece - Effie Giannakouri

10. Hong Kong - Sam Greenland

11. Hungary - Szilvia Mandli

12. Indonesia - Ria Nuri Dharmawan

13. Ireland - Dick Wafer

14. Israel - Hayah Goldlist

15. Kuwait - Andrew Kenning

16. Lithuania - Virginija Paksiene

17. Netherlands - Jeannette Baljeau

18. New Zealand - Claire Ryan

19. Pakistan - Ahmad Siddiqi

20. Peru - Sixto Ramos

21. Philippines - Fabian Mangahas

22. Romania - Simona Mazilu

23. Scotland - Diana Gotts

24. Singapore - Mark Gabriel

25. Slovakia - Andrej Schulcz

26. Slovenia - Bojana Skrt

27. South Africa - Garikai Nyaruwata

28. South Korea - Joshua Park

29. Sri Lanka - Ashan Walpita

30. USA - Phyllis Hirth

31. Wales - Martin Pollard

Unless I am informed otherwise, each country’s voting delegate in this ballot will be the person named above. If your country wishes to change its voting delegate, please send me an e-mail informing me of this BEFORE submitting your ballot form.

Members of the WSDC community are welcome to circulate their opinions regarding the issues being voted on in this postal ballot for others to consider. The most effective way to do this is probably to send an e-mail containing your thoughts to the WSDC Listserve address: wsdc@netpals.lsoft.com

If you have any questions regarding this proposal, you may want to e-mail Trevor Sather at trevor@squareeye.com

If you have any questions regarding the procedures for voting in this postal ballot, please feel free to e-mail me at mark.gabriel@iname.com

I look forward to receiving the ballot forms from the voting delegates.

Regards,
Mark Gabriel
Secretary
World Schools Debating Council Executive Committee