This Blog has now moved to idebate.org/worlddebating - all future posts will be made there!

16 January 2009

US Universities Nationals Registration is Open‏

Registration information and comprehensive data about the tournament are now available at:

http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/usu/Register.html

As of January 15 2009 registration is open. Registration will close on March 25 2009.

Basic Data:
Team Cap: None until we reach 150 teams. N-1 judging. Consensus adjudication, oral adjudication. Special discounts for teams from beyond North America. Non-USA teams can win the tournament but only a USA team can be crowned USA National Champion.

Fees: $85 per team. Bulk discounts (10 or more) available with negotiation. A limited number of judges are available at $100 each. All checks payable to “UVM Debate.”

You get: Debate briefing, judge training by Neill Harvey-Smith, six debates, two breakfasts, two lunches, awesome trophies, Saturday break night social, Sunday night survivor party, coach business/dinner, SWAG bag of freebies, shuttles from tournament hotel to campus & socials, restaurant coupons for town, snacks and surprises.

Email your entry to: alfred.snider@uvm.edu
Include:
1.Contact name, email, telephone.
2.Number of teams, complete names for each.
3.Judges, complete names, short experience explanation.

GET ROOMS EARLY AT THE WINDJAMMER. SPECIAL RATES AND SHUTTLES FROM OTHER THAN THE WINDJAMMER CANNOT BE PROVIDED. Reservations can be made toll free at 1-800-371-1125. Please refer to Group # 405086. Please contact Doug McSweeney, Sales Manager, at 802-651-0638 or via email at doug@windjammergroup.com.

YOU MUST BE IN BURLINGTON AND REGISTERED BY NOON FRIDAY APRIL 3 2009.

Also, several new invitations to other tournaments in this format are now available at:

http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/usu/Invites/Invites.html

Let me know if you have questions or issues.

Alfred C. Snider aka Tuna

14 January 2009

ADI 2009 registration open

Dearest Debate Community,

I am please to announce that you can now register online for the 6th Asian Debate Institute, which will be held at EWHA Womens University, Seoul, from the 13th to 20th February.

Don't miss this opportunity to learn and experience debate with some of the most professional and accomplished coaches in the field, and have an awesome time in Seoul (Soul of Asia)!!

The ADI is open to everyone, of all skill levels. It is truly a global event, which in the past has seen participation from China, Taiwan, Japan,Kenya, Kurdistan, Czech, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, the USA and many other countries!

Our faculty this year includes (but is not limited to)
- Jason Jarvis - CA Asians, DCA AUDC, DCA Australs 2009
- Logan - Asian Champion & Best Speaker, CA Australs, CA Worlds
- Sayeqa Islam - Australs Best Speaker, DCA Australs 2009
- Sharmila Parmanand - Asian Champion and Best Speaker, DCA AUDC 2009
- Nurliana Kamaruddin - Australs Finals Judge, DCA NEAO
- Peter Kipp - CA KHSDC, Coached EFL Worlds Finalists
- Annushia Balavijendran - coached debate in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore,Botswana; judged Asians, Worlds, Australs
- Pong Yu Wern - Australs ESL Finalists, Asians Quarterfinalist
- Rhydian Morgan - Coached current Worlds ESL & EFL Champions

Visit the www.asiandebateinstitute.com to get more information about ourfaculty, the preliminary ADI schedule and see pictures from the last 5 ADIs.

Registration is 250,000 won for domestic participants and 150,000 won forinternational participants. Registration does not include accommodation, butdoes include full tuition, a special t-shirt and the legendary ADI Banquet.

To register, please fill in the online form at http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pfFoE0bkTi51n6iklyD1Fcg&hl=en_GB.Visithttp://asiandebateinstitute.com/registration_and_fees for more registrationand payment information.

Registration ends on the 30th of January and places are limited so hurry upand register!
See you in Seoul (Soul of Asia!)
Cheers
Logan
Director / Winter ADI 2009

13 January 2009

The HWS / IDEA Round Robin Debate

The HWS / IDEA Round Robin Debate
16 top teams from around the world, invited to New York
> Applications due January 31!
{Follow this link for application details.}
> Tournament dates: April 10-11

Debate all 15 other teams in 5 BP rounds
> Pre-paired rounds, so completely fair pairings and no tab delays
> Break to finals, with $1700 (cash) at stake, plus awesome trophies
> Superior international judging headed by Neill Harvey-Smith

Worth a trip halfway around the world> Compete in the US BP Championships (open to all) April 3 - 5
> Spend 2 days with the Yale Debating Society on April 6 & 7
> Attend an International Debate Gala in NYC on April 8
> Dinner at the home of HWS President Mark Gearan on April 9 (Bill Clinton's Deputy Chief of Staff & Peace Corps Director)> Great food and lakefront hotel at the Round Robin April 10 - 11

http://workserver.idebate.org/hwsroundrobin/
Convenor: Eric Barnes (Barnes@hws.edu)
> Direct your questions about the RR here first.
******************************
Eric Barnes
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Philosophy Department
Public Policy Program
Debate Coach
(315) 781-0390
barnes@hws.edu

AUDC bid for Asian Unity

Dear Friends,
Last year, the Asian Universities Debating Union (AUDU) passed a resolution inviting ALL Asian institutions to come to AUDC in the name of Asian Unity. In that same tournament, participants from institutions traditionally allied with the All Asians received adjudication subsidy, and broke fair and square as adjudicators and debaters. The request of All Asian representatives to be heard was also granted--with copies of the proposed Asian Debate Federation constitution being given to all union reps in advance, for their deliberation.

Last year, both sides tried their best and yet failed to reach a compromise. This year, the possibility of a unified Asian Debate Community looks a lot more promising, thanks to reasonable and clear-cut requests from both sides.

At Cork Worlds, AUDC Exco members sat down with All Asian representatives (from MMU, UiTM, Chula, NLSIU and other institutions) to discuss the prospect of unifying the Asian Debate Community. In that meeting, All Asian delegates had expressed certain requests--which the AUDC Exco, upon consultation, has agreed to in the name of Asian Unity.

The requests, granted by the AUDC Exco in the name of Asian Unity, are as follows:
1. A SEPARATE union meeting/forum on Asian Unity, to be held at EWU AUDC. This will ensure enough time for discussions on important issues such as a possible change in tournament name--an important request of All Asian Delegates.
2. A DCA representative of AUT/All Asians to EWU AUDC. - To achieve this end in accordance with the AUDC Constitution, Luang P (DCA, Thailand) is graciously willing to relinquish his spot in the adj core for an AUT/All Asians DCA. This will satisfy the constitutional limit of 5 members for the adjudication core.

The AUDC Exco guarantees that the DCA representative is solely the choice of AUT/All Asian delegates and that no AUDC candidate will be nominated in Luang P's stead. Constitutional requirements will apply to AUT/All Asian candidates for DCA though. These eligibility requirements include (a) main break as an adjudicator/ debater in AUDC, Australs or WUDC at least once in their career, (b) active participation as a debater/adjudicator in AUDC, Australs or WUDC in the last two years, and (c) representing a country other than Bangladesh, Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia--all of which are already represented in the adjudication core. Upon nomination, the chosen AUT/All Asians candidate will be ratified by AUDC union members through an online vote. These reasonable requirements ensures both competence and representation, resulting in a fairer and better tournament for all.

These things are conditional on AUT/All Asian Delegates granting our requests: which is to respect and honor AUDC's core principles and to make EWU AUDC *the* unifying tournament of Asia. After all, if our goal is unity, it makes no sense to prolong the split further by making universities choose between two well-organized tournaments.

Last year, the AUDC Union passed a resolution stating our commitment to Asian Unity and inviting ALL Asian institutions to come join us at EWU AUDC and help make the tournament better. Last year, we proved our commitment to Asian Unity by welcoming participants from All Asians with open arms, even extending adjudication subsidy to deserving All Asian candidates.

This year, we are taking it a step further-- by offering not only a forum, not only the possibility of a change in tournament name, but also a DCA slot--made possible only through Luang P's noble sacrifice.

Now it is your turn to prove your commitment to Asian Unity. Join us at EWU AUDC and cancel AUT. A single Asian tournament is the only path to a unified Asia.

Friends, we keep on reminiscing about the good old days when the Asian Debating Community wasunited--now, we are being given the rare opportunityto be the generation that succeeds in making it happen. Let's not waste this chance--it may be our only opportunity to make things right.

Once again, wishing everyone a happy new year and hoping to see each and every one of you at EWU AUDC 2009.

Sincerely,
Estelle Ople Osorio
Chair,
Asian Universities Debating Union
Executive Committee

UPDATE

Dear All,
I initially did not want to involve myself in discussions regarding reunification. As I am no longer a member of the AUDC execo, I didn't want to be perceived as intervening in its affairs. However, I feel a few things must be said regarding the way the issue of unity has been approached. As a former Chair of the AUDC union and as someone who saw the split happen, I feel a deep loyalty to the principles of AUDC. Still, I can't help but feel that, at times, loyalty has been equated with closed-mindedness.

In the spirit of negotiation and compromise, nobody should try to cling to certain fixed positions. Both sides will be disappointed to a certain extent; nobody gets everything they want in a negotiation. Being stubborn and passing off this stubbornness as "sticking to one's principles" is what fundamentalists do. Most of those involved in the negotiations understand this and, based on what I've heard, that's why the talks in Cork got us somewhere.

Unfortunately, statements like Estelle's do nothing to strengthen the cause of unity. I was most concerned about the following lines:

  • "Last year, we proved ourcommitment to Asian Unity by welcoming participantsfrom All Asians with open arms, even extendingadjudication subsidy to deserving All Asiancandidates. This year, we are taking it a stepfurther-- by offering not only a forum, not only thepossibility of a change in tournament name, but also aDCA slot--made possible only through Luang P's noblesacrifice.
    Now it is your turn to prove your commitment to AsianUnity. Join us at EWU AUDC and cancel AUT. A singleAsian tournament is the only path to a unified Asia. "
Based on this, it seems like AUDC has already proven its commitment to unity while All Asians has yet to do so (as Estelle says, it's "your turn to prove your commitment to Asian Unity"). It's as if AUDC is simply waiting for All-Asians to follow suit. With all due respect to Estelle, her framing of the situation is inaccurate. Many of us within AUDC recognize that All Asians institutions have compromised a lot (more than AUDC at times) and have shown a tremendous amount of good faith. We recognize that All Asians institutions have put that tournament on hold precisely for the sake of unity. We also recognize that, in the spirit of friendship, organizers of previous All Asians have invited people from AUDC to join their adjudication cores.

Having said that, I do agree with Estelle that it is infeasible for many AUDC institutions to attend the AUT. I'm sure people understand the costs involved. In light of this, I appeal to my friends from All Asians to consider making the Bangladesh tournament the unity tournament (I have intentionally refrained from calling it the next AUDC). I am certain that negotiations can produce an arrangement that is acceptable to all. We can make this happen.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again.
Sincerely,
Leloy Claudio
Former AUDC Chair