Blog moved to IDEA

Just a reminder that this blog has moved from blogger to the new http://www.idebate.org/.  You can also find it via http://www.debating.ie/.

I am switching off coments etc on this site but please visit http://www.idebate.org/ to keep up to date on the latest news from around the debating world.

Australs 2012 DCAs - feedback welcomed on applicants

[On behalf of the Vic Australs Orgcomm]

Victoria University Australs 2012 had received 4 DCA applications.  The applications we have received are from:

Ely Zosa, Ateneo de Manila University;
Ravi Dutta, Monash University;
Seb Templeton, Victoria University of Wellington; and
Steph D'Souza, Sydney University

We have up to three slots remaining on the Adjudication Core.  It would be good if you can send any feedback about any of the applicants to Stephen Whittington (whittington.stephen@gmail.com) by Friday 4 May.  Please feel free to indicate whether you are supportive of having an adjudication core of 5 people, or would prefer 4.

Regards,

Steve Whittington
CA, Vic Australs 2012

Berlin Worlds registration update III

From http://berlinworlds.blogspot.com/

Phase 2 of the institutional registration process has begun. As contact person named in the registration, you should have received an email with detailed information regarding payment and adjudicator registration. Please note that you are required to open your FastRego account by May 2nd.

If you think you should have received that email but did not, please check your spam folder. If we have not reached your institution, please email our Participant Affairs Officers Dessislava and John.

As for independent adjudicators, the questionnaire you will be asked to fill in is being finalized. We should be able to start the application period within the next couple of days. It will last until June 25th.

NALSAR Inter-Varsity Debate

NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad successfully organised the 2nd edition of the NALSAR Inter-Varsity Debate from 5th to 8th April, 2011. The team from National Law School, Bangalore comprising Badrinarayanan Seetharaman and Sounak Sarkar emerged the champions, while Lucas Li and Ashish Kumar of University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, were declared runners-up. Vipul Nanda from National Law School, Bangalore, was adjudged the Best Speaker of the tournament, and Aditya Shetty from Sardar Patel Institute of Technology, Bombay, won the Best Adjudicator prize. The debate saw attendance of 64 teams and participants from different parts of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Munich and the United Kingdom, making it one of the most widely attended debates in India. The final round witnessed a nail-biting finish as National Law School, Bangalore, Cambridge University, IIT Bombay and a cross team between IIT Bombay and the Technical University of Munich debated the motion, “This House believes that grave economic inequality justifies violent revolution.”

The first edition of the debate was a pioneering effort in introducing to Indian shores the format of British Parliamentary debating, the default format for parliamentary debating around the world and the style followed at the debating World Cup – the World Universities Debating Championships. The debate continues to be one of only two tournaments in India that follow this format.

The debate boasted a stellar adjudication core comprising internationally renowned debaters Sharmila Paramanand (Chief Adjudicator at the Berlin World Universities Debating Championship, 2013) and Harish Natarajan (champion of the British inter-varsity debating circuit and semi-finalist at the World Universities Debating Championship, 2010 and top 10 speaker at the World Universities Debating Championship, 2009), along with two national debating stalwarts who have made their mark in debating internationally – Aashay Sahay(Breaking debater at the Asian British Parliamentary Debating Championship and Best Adjudicator at several national tournaments) and Pranay Bhatia (Semi-Finalist and 2nd Best Speaker at Asian British Parliamentary Championship).

Vishwajith Sadananda, Convener of NALSAR’s Literary and Debating Committee, said that he was heartened by the drastic improvement in the quality of debating and the uniformly positive reviews that the debate received this year. However, he noted that the next edition of the debate could happen in October of 2012 itself, so as to serve as a preparatory ground for the Asian British Parliamentary Championship and the World Universities Debating Championship, that follow immediately after.

2012 US UDC Results & Finals Video

Tournament Winners: UCD L&H (Christine Simpson & Michael O'Dwyer)

US National Champions: HWS (Buzz Klinger & Will McConnell)

Finalists: St. John's (Chandra & Mahajan); Yale (Dovala & Falkenstien)

VIDEO OF THE FINAL ROUND: http://vimeo.com/40593217

"THBT coming cuts in US military spending will make the world a better place."

FULL TAB:

http://debate.uvm.edu/neudc/USU%202012tab/Round%206%20-%20main/Team%20Tab%20After%20Round%206.html

Debate Twitter list

Having noticed that my twitter account was getting a bit swamped I spent some time over the weekend putting together a "List" of debate related Twitter accounts.  It is mainly debating societies and competitions but I'm hoping that I can use lists to better isolate the news segment I am interested in following (e.g. debating news  from friends news from Irish news etc).

The list is public so if anyone is interested in seeing who is on it and following some or all of it go to https://twitter.com/#!/colmflynn/debate

If you want to add to the list e-mail me or put a comment below.

NZ Impromptu Debating Champs results

The New Zealand Universities' Impromptu Debating Champs were held recently in Wellington.

Officers' Cup Winners: Victoria University of Wellington A (Asher Emanuel & Udayan Mukherjee)

Runners-Up: University of Auckland A (Stephanie Thompson & Ben Milsom)

Dame Cath Tizard Cup for Best Speaker: Stephanie Thompson (Auckland)

NZU Debating Team: Stephanie Thompson (Auckland) and Udayan Mukherjee (Victoria)

Reserves to the NZU Debating Team: Asher Emanuel (Victoria) and Ben Milsom (Auckland)

Highly Commended awards: Nick Gavey (Otago), Jodie O'Neill (Victoria)

Russell McVeagh Cup for Most Promising Speaker: Lucy Harrison (Auckland)

Centennial Cup for Best Adjudicator: Seb Templeton (Victoria)

The IPPF Finals live online

LIVE From New York... The IPPF Finals   By the end of tomorrow, there will be a new "IPPF World Champion!" On Saturday, you can watch as the "Elite Eight" teams in the 11th Annual Bickel & Brewer/New York University International Public Policy Forum (IPPF) compete in oral debates in New York City. Simply visit www.bickelbrewer.com/ippf to see the following events LIVE! IPPF Finals LIVE Viewing Schedule: Saturday, April 14 Semifinal #1 - 10:15 a.m. ET Semifinal #2 - 11:45 p.m. ET Final Debate - 3:30 p.m. ET Awards Ceremony - 8 p.m. ET During the Final Debate, you can vote online for the winning team! Your vote will help decide which team takes home the $10,000 grand prize!

The 2011-12 IPPF "Elite Eight"  Brooklyn Technical High School Brooklyn, New York Lakewood High School Lakewood, Colorado Notre Dame High School Sherman Oaks, California Peak to Peak Charter School Lafayette, Colorado St. Mark's School of Texas Dallas, Texas Team Czech Republic Prague, Czech Republic Team Singapore Singapore The Home Educator's Outsourcing Solution Plano, Texas

La Verne 100 Years Debate Tournament

Recently, the University of La Verne held its 1^st Annual 100 Years Debate Tournament. Rob Ruiz, the Director of Forensics at the University of La Verne, wanted to create a tournament that would carry a tradition for 100 years with a unique twist on the implementation as well as granting much of the logistical powers to ULV students. The CA who came up with the motions and carried out the majority of the functions for tournament was Ari Lamb. Will Reilley was the Tab Director for the 20 team tournament. This was the first tournament Ari has been a CA as well as Will tabbing, and they both did an amazing job.

            The twist at this tournament that will last for the next 99 years was mirrored from the AustralAsian style of debate. Each of the 5 preliminary rounds had TWO motions based on a theme. The rooms were announced and the respective teams had to find each team that were in their respective rooms. The CA announced two motions and the four teams voted on the motion they wanted to debate. If there was a tie, the Opening Government had tie-breaking authority and the round would debate that particular motion. In order to best prepare for finding the teams and then vote on a motion, prep time was 20 minutes long. There were 4 preliminary rounds on Saturday, one preliminary round on Sunday, and then a break to Semis and then to Finals. All break rounds also had two motions. The feedback was extraordinaire. The tournament was a fun, relaxing time, with top competition to prepare for US NATS.

            The trophy was built by ULV alumni and participant in the tournament, Nick McGrail. The trophy is large enough to carry 100 plaques that will include the names of those who made the Final, the year it was held, and the Winning Team names. At the end of the 100 years, the University or College that wins the tournament will be able to keep this historic piece of artwork.

The top 5 Speakers of the tournament were:

1.      JJ Rodriguez

2.      Rob Ruiz

3.      Emily Ravenscroft

4.      Ryan Mansell

5.      Thomas Allison

The Finals included:

Opening Government: The Vagina Monologues (Ryan Mansell & Corey Teter)

Opening Opposition: WTFWJD? (Josh Martin & Carl Decker)

Closing Government: Old Hacks for Sack (JJ Rodriguez & Ernie Minner)

Closing Opposition: Lubed by Liquor (Emily Ravenscroft and Rob Ruiz)

Winners: Lubed by Liquid (Emily Ravenscroft and Rob Ruiz)

 Judging Panel: Chair: Ari Lamb

 Panelists: Ian Lising, Tanya Alsheikh, Nikkia Williams, Will Reilley, Dafne  Gokcen,  Mica Anderson,

                                                           

Final Motion (Chosen): THW teach Fetish Classes in High School

                             Other:   THBT Sex Ed should broaden its teaching to pleasure.

Semis: (Chosen): THW allow for gay adoption

             (Chosen): THBT transgendered individuals should be able to participate in

                                beauty pageants.

Preliminaries:

Round 1: THBT the EU should have a standing army

               TH supports sending aid to North Korea

Round 2: THW drill in National Parks

                THW release animals back into their natural habitat

Round 3: THW require zombie apocalypse training for the military

                 THW force all superheroes to register their true identity to the

                  Government

Round 4: THW rescue child soldiers

                 THW use death row inmates for medical testing

Round 5: THW encourage the creation of Islamic Courts inside the United States

                 TH supports the military burning of the Koran in Afghanistan

Video of Colgate IV Final

From John Adams:

Berlin Worlds list of allocations

From http://berlinworlds.blogspot.com

 

We have now allocated 380 team slots to 380 institutions. During the next days we are going to post further information concerning payment and adjudicators.

Traditionally,institutions move up very quickly on Worlds waiting lists. Particularly afterthe first payment deadline on May 22nd we expect to see a lot of movement.

If you have any questions, please email our Participant Affairs Officers John and Dessislava.

Update on debating in Ghana.‏

Hi Debate Community,

 

 I'm please to contact you. I mail you on behalf of Debate Ghana Association as it hope to establish ties with an experience Institution like your  Society. the Association is committed to youth development in Ghana through debate education by granting them "intellectual freedom beyond limits". It is poised to develop the youth of Ghana through debate and public speak and hope our Organisation could partner with your to help young talents grow in this arts and be a player on the continent. we are yet to engage in international partnership to help our students get experience  especially at Pan. The interest of Ghanaian students postulates us to seek such a parnership and be part of such community.

 

To tell you briefly about the Association is:

 

The Association is set up under the Laws of Ghana as an NGO and is an Educational Honor Society poised to wholly promote amongst Ghanaian debate and literary arts in order to create the platform for ‘‘consolidating the voice of the youth through intellectual freedom’’ and a proud member of West African Debate Board  The organization is based in Accra Ghana and its mission is to creates and supports an extended community of established schools, institutions or individuals by providing literary arts education as well as nurture, cultivate and grow the community of debate practitioners, including students, coaches, judges, teachers, and organizations to foster a healthy climate for student debate in Ghana since 2010.

 

Mentorship Conferences (started in 2010), a yearly programme that brings youth and high achievers together, have so far attracted over 1,000 youth. The 2011 event is scheduled for October, and it is expected to attract over 1,000 young people from the high schools and general walks of life.

 

Internship/Volunteerism is an integral programme incorporated into our leadership models. This is gear to attract students and deploy them into volunteerism while they grant education to high schools and Middle schools affiliated to the Association as in the year we grant 39 weeks of volunteerism to public, private and chartered schools. This concept is also to attract exchange programme from international organizations with the Association to grant transfer of knowledge to young people.

 

Collaborative project: the Association is currently under partnership with United Force for Development an NGO based in Northern Ghana steer the affairs of youth development in the youth and UN Foundation on the Global Initiative in Ghana and International Debate Education Association. The Association renders materials to the NGO to assist with debate and public speaking in the area in order to fine tune schools for the Ghana Junior Forensic League.And currently working partnership with OSI to hold the maiden edition of the Ghana University Debating Championship  2012 project.

 

Subsequently, this has helped the Association to begin creating debate and literary societies on the various campuses. It is also to integrate them into the inaugural edition of the Ghana Universities Debating Championships 2012 under the British Parliamentary Format so student from the country can begin representing the country at the Pan African Universities Debating Championship and the World Universities Debating Championships. The project muted for this is the Ghana University Debating Championship project 2011 since there is more to be done with education done a mere competition.

 

Ghana Junior Forensic League Project

The Ghana Junior Forensic League 2011 project has identified 1000 students from its pilot phase in the Gt. Accra region and have inaugurated debate/ literary societies in 16 basic school ie. Private and Public schools with much endorsement from Ghana Education Service and now runs on a national level with representative identified in zones. This is aimed at graduating the middle schools into a national event Ghana Junior Forensic League which we working hard to come on television by the fall of September 2011. Our well tailored debate education workshops/seminars have benefited coaches, educators and teachers of the various schools of whom are affiliated to the Association. This would steadily annex the Eastern corridors of the country by the fall of the year.

 

Ghana University Debating Championships/Affiliation

preceding this event is the Ghana University Debating Project to grant nationwide training to universities on the British Parliamentary format to be used and the argumentation literacy amongst others. The Ghana University Debating Championships is an annual advance debate competition organised by the Association and involves debate, public speaking and interpretation of critical issues for tertiary institutions. This affords students to acquire considerable strides in research competence, argumentation literacy, reading comprehension, evidence evaluation, public speaking and civility skills, abstract thinking, cross examination/questioning, and distinguishing facts from opinions. It would come off in November and serves as the right to join the West African Debating Champs; Pan African Debating Champs & Worlds. the Association would out fare this project to precede the Ghana University Debating Championships, the only and first university championships to take place in Ghana.

 

The Association has worked with student groups in the past and is still committed to that as much our our activities involves direct lineage with the schools and student groups of which the Association forms some on campuses.

 

The model considered carefully by the Association to grant our students includes: middle schools debate format( junior tournaments), karl popper (senior high), British Parliamentary Debate format, G20,and Model UN.

 

furthermore, the Association will be more than willing to participate in any youth development related event on the continent for Ghana. We also look at areas of youth exchange for volunteerism in the various schools for youth education as per our tailored programmes.

 

Counting on your cooperation and feedback.

 

 follow the link below for more videos and pictures on projects and initiatives.

Best Regards

 

CHRISTIAN LEBRECHT MALM-HESSE
------------------------------------
CEO
Debate Ghana Association
F460/Gbatsunaa
Road Nyaniba Estates
Osu-Accra

HWS / IDEA Round Robin Results

Champions: Stanford University (Michael Baer & Shengwu Li)

2nd Place: Oxford Union (Will Jones & Ben Woolgar)

Finalist: Sydney Union (Dom Bowes & Paul Karp)

Finalist: Yale University (Nick Cugini & Ben Kornfeld)

-------------

TOP SPEAKERS

1) Ben Woolgar (Oxford)

2) Michael Baer (Stanford)

3) Shengwu Li (Stanford)

4) Will Jones (Oxford)

5) Nick Cugini (Yale)

6) Ben Kornfeld (Yale)

7) Paul Karp (Sydney)

8) Kate Falkenstien (Yale)

9) Romeo Maione (Carleton)

10) Christine Simpson (UCD L&H)

-------------

FULL TAB at: http://people.hws.edu/barnes/rr/2012-RR-tab.pdf

Eurasian Schools Debating Championship 2012

_The first Eurasian Schools Debating Championship was held last year, in prestigious schools and universities of the magnificent city of Istanbul. Eurasian Schools Debating Championship 2012 will take place between the 13-20 June, with the attendance of high school teams and schools from all around the world. The tournament will again be in the format of World Schools Debating Championship, to increase the number of international participants. The tournament will have world-famous judges.

What is special about ESDC?

·    First international debating championship to take place in Turkey
·    First Eurasian Championship ever organized in the world
·    First student-run tournament

Aims of ESDC

• To achieve excellence in debating
• To encourage debating throughout the world
• To promote international understanding
• To promote free speech

Visit http://www.esdc2012.org for more information

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The final registration date has been postponed to May 4th. And in accordance, the final payment deadline has been postponed to May 20th.  All applications so far have been accepted. Also, from now on we switch to a first come first served registration system.

Yayasan Orator Confirms The Takeover Of The World Universities Peace Invitational Debate

From http://thedebatingnews.com

More than 5 years of WUPID history will draw to a close later this month when the debating event is for the last time until at least 2016 will no longer be organized by H & G Strategic Communications Sdn Bhd.

Yayasan Orator confirmed last Monday that it has secured exclusive rights to WUPID from 2012, including the WUPID in Bahasa Melayu, in a four-year deal believed to be worth at USD$1m.

Debating has been an important portfolio of H & G’s speech communication business since 2006, with WUPID in particular bringing both the nation and the world’s top university debaters to Malaysia. First sponsored by CIMB in 2007, WUPID attracted a domestic audience of up to 500 and, according to The Debating News, an estimated global viewing figure of 10 thousand.

CIMB WUPID 2008 were among the many outstanding moments to have been organized by H & G, and though the sponsor has ceased it’s sponsorship to concentrate on squash, many in global debating will find it difficult to forget CIMB's connection with global debating.

The exact value of the deal with Yayasan Orator remains secret due to "commercial sensitivity", but a report in The Debating News mid last month reported that it would be worth around USD$1m for four years.
Announcing the deal, Shamsul Azhar Ismail, the managing director of H & G, which conducted the negotiations, said that Yayasan Orator had "shown a total commitment to debating and WUPID", adding that "the new deal will not only deliver increased benefits for Malaysian debating, but with debating at large. Yayasan Orator offers a compelling vision to innovate the way debating is organized.

"They have also committed to expand the event and to promote WUPID more widely. This is a great opportunity for global debating in the long term."

Saiful Amin Jalun, the lead advisor for WUPID, said that the contract is "a huge boost for debating", and that "the vision and nature of this new arrangement will help to make a step change in the way we organize debating events".
---
Yayasan Orator

Yayasan Orator supports the development and empowerment of communities. Yayasan Orator is committed to improving the quality of life of communities and promoting sustainable development through the promotion of debate and oratory excercise. Yayasan Orator itself, and in strategic partnerships, aims to improve the lives of communities and individuals by responding to needs and opportunities in the areas of Community Development, Events and Education.
The objectives of Yayasan Orator are:
Support the empowerment and development of communities through but not limited to the development of educational programmes and further develop strategies and programme to promote public speaking through the foundation, public agencies, private bodies and other organizations.
Build meaningful relationships and strategic partnerships with other institutions and organizations, locally and internationally on matters associated with but not limited to good educational practices and good practices of public speaking.
Identify and undertake projects that will promote understanding and the good educational practices and good practices of public speaking locally and internationally and to disseminate information on good practices of education and good practices of public speaking through various media to public, schools, community centres and other target groups.

Berlin Worlds list of registrations (updated)

From http://berlinworlds.blogspot.com

We are publishing this clean list of registrations of the first three days to ask you for feedback on it. Please contact Participant Affairs Officer Dessislava if you find any flaws, particularly institution doubles or accidentally deleted registrations.

Please note: this list does not represent an allocation of slots.The final result will be up shortly after registration has closed on April 7th and all feedback has been processed.

Update in bids for Worlds 2014

All,

As you know, April 1 has now come and gone, and while we're currently occupied with who will attend the 2013 World Championships, we still have not resolved the question of the host for the 2014 Worlds.  While we previously had been optimistic that an extension of the originally-agreed-upon March 1 deadline would produce a definite bid for the 2014 World Championships, and despite the sincere efforts of the prospective bidders who had requested the extension, it now seems that neither of potential bids that were being investigated will materialize.

I want to be clear: I have nothing but the highest regard for both the Bangladesh and the London groups who stepped forward in January to indicate their interest in bidding for the 2014 Worlds.  Both were motivated by a genuine desire to contribute to their community and both pursued with due diligence the question of feasibility for the 2014 event.  In the end, both groups were unwilling to proceed for different yet very similar reasons: they could not go forward with the certainty that they would be able to produce the event they envisioned.  For their efforts and willingness to even investigate the possibility (which, by itself, is a significant undertaking), they have my most sincere appreciation.

There exists, however, renewed cause for optimism.  I have recently been contacted by Harish Nataranjan of Cambridge University who, on behalf of Rajalakshmi Engineering College of Chennai, India, has indicated an interest in hosting our 2014 tournament.  At this point, they have secured permissions from REC and have had initial conversations with a hotel facility that would house delegates.  Harish will travel to Chennai in early April to CA a tournament; while there, he will have an opportunity to meet with the proposed OrgComm and various authorities and partners who would support the event.  Following that, I believe he and REC will be in a better position to decide whether to bid.

I'm writing, therefore, to inform you that Eoin, Coulter and I have discussed how to proceed from here.  Our intention is to give REC the time they need to assemble a bid (should they choose to proceed) while expediting the determination of a host.  We are also open to any other last-minute proposals that may arise in the interim.  To that end, we have not settled on a firm deadline for REC's bid to be submitted but have suggested late April as a target.  We intend to work with REC--and any other potential bidder--to offer what assistance we can in that time.  Should REC proceed with the formal submission of a bid, or should another potential bidder emerge, the schedule of consideration we worked out in January will be adjusted as needed.

I will do all I can to keep you informed of our progress toward the ultimate goal of securing a host for 2014.  I appreciate your patience and, as usual, welcome any questions or suggestions you have about how best to proceed.

Sincerely,

Steve

Steven Johnson, Chair

World Universities Debating Council

Win a scholarship/stipend by participating in the Global Debate & Public Policy Challenge!‏

Win a scholarship and trip to Budapest!

We want to let you know that you can still participate in the Global Debate and Public Policy Challenge, win a free trip to Budapest and one of several scholarship and stipend awards available. We hope you’ll accept the Challenge! What is the GDPPC? The Global Debate and Public Policy Challenge is a new annual competition designed to engage undergraduates in on-going public debate and reflection on issues affecting the global community. This year’s theme explores the relationship between security and human rights. The Challenge offers undergraduates across disciplines and continents an opportunity to explore issues of global importance from different points of view. We hope to attract as wide a range of students into this competition as possible and you still have a very good chance to win. If you are an undergraduate student of any age, you are eligible for this Challenge! What Do I Need To Do To Enter The Challenge and Become Eligible to Win? Register for the competition. Then, prepare and submit your policy brief by 16 April. That’s it! What is the New Way to Participate and What Can You Win? Wehave established a new category of entry for students like you who would like to participate in this third and final round but haven’t been involved yet. If you participate in this new category by submitting a policy brief, you will become eligible to win a trip to Budapest, Hungary for the Global Debate and Public Policy Forum at Central European University in June 2012. Up to 50 finalists will be selected to go to Budapest with the cost of travel and accommodation paid by IDEA. Finalists will attend workshops to hone their public-speaking and advocacy skills as well as compete to determine up to top 10 finalists from both entry groups to compete for the scholarship / stipend prizes by presenting their policy briefs to the audience gathered at the Global Debate & Public Policy Forum. The top winners will be awarded the scholarship / stipend prizes. How Much Are the Scholarships & Stipends and What Can They Be Used For? We have established additional scholarship and stipend opportunities for students who still wish to participate but haven’t entered the previous rounds. From the participants who are chosen to participate at the Forum in Budapest, there will be up to three final winners in this category. Each winner will receive either a scholarship payable to a Graduate School of the winner’s choice for study in a field related to Public Policy or a grant payable to a non-profit institution of the winner’s choice for an internship or placement in a field related to Public Policy. The winners get to choose the option they prefer. The scholarship levels for new participants are (in US Dollars): First place: $2500, Second Place: $1500, Third place: $1000. Please see the Prizes page for more information. The rules of the competition are available here. Where and When Will the Forum Take Place? The inaugural Forum will take place at the School of Public Policy and International Affairs at Central European University and is a great opportunity to interact with your peers from around the world as well as gain valuable public policy and advocacy experience. The event brings together academics and policy experts on this year´s theme: ‘Securing Liberty: Balancing Security and Freedom’. It’s also a real world opportunity to contribute to the debate about important issues of our time and gain valuable feedback from those who work in this field! You can read more about the event details here. How Do I Write My Policy Brief?Your task is to write a policy brief of 1250-1500 words which is designed to bring ideas and contribute to the global debate and public policy Forum “Security, Terrorism and Human Rights: Towards a Global Picture” which will take place 15-16 June in Budapest, Hungary. A summary of the task is available on the Challenge website here: Overview of Policy Brief. Please also refer to these three documents (with links) to help you through the process: 1.      Guidelines for Writing Your Policy Brief. All of the details of the task are outlined in the guidelines. Please ready this thoroughly. 2.      Writing for Specific Target Audiences – An Introduction to Policy Advocacy. This is a resource guide to support the production of your policy brief and get you thinking about advocacy. We recommend you read it before beginning to prepare your brief. 3.      Worksheet for Planning your Policy Brief. This document is a space to organise your thinking and prepare an outline before writing. Before you prepare your policy brief, it may be helpful for you to refer to the previous tasks of the Challenge including the Policy Position Paper and the Alternate Position Paper.Listed here are links to background reading materials on the topic of Securing Liberty. Each registered participant will receive by 18 April 2012 information describing the next rounds of selection to take place at the pre-Forum and Forum in Budapest in June 2012. This information will also be posted by the same date on the Challenge website. When Is The Submission Deadline? Your policy brief must be submitted by 23:59 on 16 April 2012. Finalists will be announced on 4 May. Who Do I Contact For More Information? If you don’t find your answer on the Challenge website, please send an e-mail to Catherine Janson: cjanson@idebate.be. Don’t forget to also follow our Facebook, Twitter and discussion boards for updates and frequently asked questions about this task. We look forward to your participation! Good Luck!

follow on Twitter  | forward to a friend  Copyright © 2012 International Debate Education Association, All rights reserved. You are receiving this e-mail because you either signed up to receive our newsletter through our website or you have registered for or participated in an event organized by the International Debate Education Association. Our mailing address is: International Debate Education Association 96a Curtain Road London, EC2A 3AA United Kingdom

Berlin Registration update

Registration for Berlin is ongoing.  There is a complicated, but fairer, system of allocating slots this year so the current stage is really just about getting onto the list for at least one team at the championships.

That said the raw data list is interesting reading.  It seems many colleges had teams of people logging on to try and grab slots (multiple entries for the same institution just 1 or 2 seconds apart means there must have been several people entering the data).  The end result is over 770 institutions on the latest list with 1985 teams. However when you strip out simple duplicates that comes down to around 440 and a quick check of other duplicates (e.g. University of XXX and XXX University) brings it down to 368 institutions and 879 teams.  There are not that many obvious false entries although one twat thought it would be funny to register as "Hogwarts". 

Of these 368 institutions 214 registered the maximum 3 teams but I wonder how many of those were just grabbing the max possible without really knowing how many teams they will send.  It is also likely that some institutions won't be able to come but the majority will.

The new registration process means all institutions registered in the first 3 days will get at least one slot.  After that institutions are allocated second and then third slots (based on past participation) as detailed on http://wudcberlin.com/time/#A.  Based on the current registration data it looks like there will be very few second teams and no third teams.

Here is the official post on the tournament website:

Berlin Worlds list of registrations

We are publishing this raw list of registrations (up to about 11 p.m.) so that institutions can see when their data was received and make sure their information is correct.

As contact person named in the registration, you should have received an email from our Participant Affairs Officers John and Dessislava with a modified version of this list. If you think you should have received that email but did not, please check your spam folder. If we seem to have received an incorrect email address, please contact Dessislava.

Please note: this list does not represent an allocation of slots. Due to doubles and rules regarding country representation, for instance, it is not guaranteed that the first x teams registered will be on the final list. The final result will be up shortly after registration closes on April 7th.

Israeli ASA (Academic Sports Association) Debating Competition 2012

This is the third year this 4 days event is taking place in the lovely sunny vacation town of Eilat in southern Israel.

The Winners: Uri Feldman and Keren Kuralander (IDC Herzliya)

Best Speaker: Uri Feldman (IDC Herzliya)

Best Junior Speaker: Yael Goren (MTA)

Motions:

1. THW allow people given life imprisonment to be able to choose the death penalty

2. THBT the state should only fund sports that bring achievements

3. THW allow families to check their relatives into rehab for treat drug and alcohol addiction

4. THW cancel the State Witness agreement

Semi-Finals: THW ban donations from abroad to local political associations
Final: THW prohibit all media statements made by senior Israeli officials on the subject of a military attack on Iran

CA – Rinat Gershfeld

DCA – Lior Hadas

Convener – Amitai Itzkovitch

Yours,

Rinat Gershfeld