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2 February 2008

Launch of QatarDebate

Dear all,

We are delighted to formally announce the creation of QatarDebate (http://www.qatardebate.org/), the national student debating organisation for Qatar. QatarDebate was established in September 2007 with the aim of developing, supporting and raising the standard of open discussion and debate among students in Qatar and across the Arab World, shaping the Global Citizens of today and the intellectual leaders of tomorrow.

In the 4 months since its inception, QatarDebate has already worked with over 1000 students (from every nation in the Middle East) in Qatar to develop their debating and critical thinking skills through a series of regular workshops and to build social networks between schools and universities in Qatar and institutions around the world. Over the next 12 months, the Program will publish 4 debating training DVDs of workshops, show debates and expert seminars in both English and Arabic, organize a nationwide debate league and national competitions and send teams to both the World Schools’ and World Universities Debating Championships. Overall, we hope to create a world-class Program which will drive resurgence in debate, critical thinking and discussion of public policy issues in the Arab World.

The QatarDebate website http://www.qatardebate.org/ has just launched and includes information about debating in Qatar, QatarDebate coaching resources and links to the international debating community. Over the next month, a forum, blog and media streaming system will be added to the site, hopefully creating a debate and discussion hub open to students across the Middle East.

QatarDebate is a member of Qatar Foundation, a non-profit organisation based in Qatar and Chaired by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, the consort to the Emir of Qatar, which aims to develop the potential of Qatar’s people through progressive education. The program is also supported by the Arab Democracy Foundation and enjoys a close relationship with the Doha Debates (http://www.thedohadebates.com/), Qatar’s unique forum for free speech in the Arab World.

We hope that you will have a look at the website and be involved in the QatarDebate program in some way over the next 12 months.

Best wishes,
Andrew Goodman & Alex Just
Program Directors, QatarDebate
Andrew@qatardebate.org alex@qatardebate.org

31 January 2008

LA Times: How to win a war of words

My Google Reader on "Debate" and "Debating" has been full in recent months with articles on the US presidential debates. Normally I don't even add them to my share list.

However this morning an interesting article came up from the Los Angeles Times. It is a review of what the candidates need to do in a one-to-one debate which is a style we rarely come across except in election debates. As I'm sure many of us will be watching the debates to try and get a better understanding of the attributes of the next leader of the only current superpower (or just because we're debate nerds) I thought I would post the article to help people understand what to look for.


  • How to win a war of words
  • Political communications experts offer Clinton and Obama advice for tonight's debate.
  • By Stuart Silverstein, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer January 31, 2008
  • Tonight's presidential debate in Hollywood between the two remaining major Democratic contenders, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, will mark their first one-on-one faceoff of the 2008 campaign.
  • With the debate participants reduced to two, the dynamics have changed. For one thing, the exchanges can take on a more personal edge.
  • The candidates "have to be very cautious to keep their emotions in check," said Thomas Hollihan, a professor at USC's Annenberg School for Communication who has written about presidential debates. "The public doesn't like nasty."
  • At the same time, he said, viewers will get the opportunity "to focus on the differences between these candidates" -- as well as on how the two Democratic contenders distinguish themselves from the Republicans on issues such as the war in Iraq.

  • What does each candidate need to do to win? To pick up some tips, The Times talked to Hollihan and another political communication expert, Craig Smith, a Cal State Long Beach professor and Republican political consultant.

  • This is some of their advice:
    For Clinton
    Dress to convey authority: "She's been coming in with a scarf around her neck; she's been wearing pearls. That's all nice, but it doesn't convey the kind of authority that a suit does for a woman," Smith said.

  • Don't get mean: In the Democrats' South Carolina debate, "when she made the comment about him working for a slumlord, it really came off as mean-spirited," Smith said. "It's something a man can get away with easier than a woman can. That's unfair, but that's the way things are. If a woman does it, it seems bitchy. If a man does it, it seems masculine."

  • Stay upbeat: "The only time she's not been effective is when she seems to get defensive or when she has permitted herself to come across as a little bit whiny," Hollihan said, adding: "She gained from the use of a feminine style."

  • Emphasize competence: "When she says she's going to be ready on Day One, we know what she's saying -- she's saying, 'He isn't going to be ready on Day One, and I am, therefore I'm more competent.' . . . She makes a mistake when she tries to swing over to the change side -- it fuzzes up her message," Smith said.

  • Talk to the audience: "John Kennedy did that so well against Richard Nixon in 1960. Richard Nixon was a trained college debater, and he kept going after Kennedy. Kennedy just ignored Nixon and went for the audience. She's got to do the same thing. She's spending much too much time pointing her finger at Barack Obama, getting in his face. It just doesn't look nice," Smith said.

  • For Obama

  • Attack Bill, not Hillary: "Go after Bill Clinton, the man who is not in the room, because it indicates that by electing Hillary, you're not making a change. What you're doing is returning to the old days with Bill Clinton, and a lot of people don't want that," Smith said. "He needs to be careful about attacking a woman. That's seen as an unmanly thing to do."

  • Turn Clinton's experience into a liability: Obama should emphasize that "Hillary voted for this war, Hillary voted for the Patriot Act, and you can't trust her to change it. We really need a new form of politics," Hollihan said.

  • Get to the point: Although Obama's debate performance has gotten much sharper, Hollihan said, "He tends to make these platitudinous statements rather than the direct, explicit short arguments. He's great in a stump speech where he can be motivational, but he hasn't been quite as strong on the quick turnaround or the quick responses."

  • Keep cool: To offset questions about his lack of experience and relative youth, Hollihan said, Obama "has to come across as collected, calm and confident."

  • stuart.silverstein
    @latimes.com
    SOURCE: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-experts31jan31,1,7040275.story

Nominated for Irish Blog Awards

This site has made it onto the long (in some cases VERY long) list for consideration in the Irish Blog Awards.
We have been nominated for Best Blog

We have been nominated for Best Specialist Blog

As you may recall we got nominated last year but didn't make it to the final short list. Fingers crossed this year that the intelligent, good looking and extremely talented judges will put us through this year.

Some of my favourite blogs that I have on my Google Reader also made it onto their long lists. While they are not strictly debate related I'll make an exception and post some of them.

Italian Foodies (My favourite Italian take away. They have put up lots of excellent recepies. Anyone coming to Limerick for the IV at the end of February should check this place out as it is a 5 minute walk from the front gate of the University.)
Ice Cream Ireland (Well after all that Italian food.....)

30 January 2008

Trinity IV recordings

The annual Trinity InterVarsity took place over the last weekend in January. The IV consists of an "Kingsmill-Moore Invitational" (held on Thursday) and the "Dean Swift IV" held on Friday and Saturday.

The Final motion for the Dean Swift was "That Dueling Should be Legalised". Photos and audio recordings of this final can be found here


The Hist website is actually a good source for audio podcast type recordings of their debates.

"Rocket Science"


While much focus this year has been on Denzel Washington's recent movie about a Debate team there was another movie about debating earlier in the year (who would have thought our hobby would ever attract that level of attention).


"Rocket Science" is now available on DVD. I haven't seen it myself (I don't think it was in my local cinema in Limerick) but will try to rent it in the next few weeks.

It is available on Amazon.

Call for Applications for Expansion of Cork Worlds Organising Committee

The following has been posted on a number of message boards:



It is with great pleasure that I announce the opening of applications for positions on the Organising Committee of Cork Worlds 2009.



Applications are being sought for the following Departments:

1. Transport & Hospitality
2. Registration & Communications
3. Finance & Procurement
4. Tournament & Event Management
5. Social
6. Equality




The Application Form can be download here: and further information is available at: http://www.corkworlds2009.com/


Completed applications along with a CV must be emailed to applications@corkworlds2009.com by 6pm on Wednesday February 13th and the applicants themselves must complete applications.


All information received will be treated as confidential and all applicants will receive confirmation of receipt of their application.


If there are any queries about either the application process or regarding the Championships, please email: applications@corkworlds2009.com




Thanking you,


Mark Collins
Director of Registration & Communications
on behalf of the Organising Committee of Cork Worlds 2009

29 January 2008

Motion fairness


I should have posted this a few days ago but it slipped down my inbox and out of sight.

Klass from Smoothtournament has published the Worlds Results per motion per role in the debate.

By the same token, the results of the WUPID are available, though the first two motions were not been put into the system as we ran the tab. If you want to see them check the posts from WUPID:

Ateneo 2008 Australs Pre-Reg


Pre-registration has begun for Ateneo 2008 Australs.

For more information please visit the website:http://ateneoaustrals.com/

The pre-registration period runs until Feb 29.

28 January 2008

Hart House win 2008 North Americans

Finals: Hart House, Uni of Toronto (Jason Rogers & Jon Laxer, Gov) have won the 2008 North American Championships in the final they defeated Harvard (Mark Samburg & Kyle Bean)

Results Summary
(Team member initials used to distinguish teams)
Winners: Hart House RL Finalists: Harvard SB
Semi-finalists: MIT, Hart House SD
Qtr Finalists: Hart House LK, Yale MK, McGill GS, McGill SE
Octo Finalists: Hart House AP, Princeton SS, Yale BR, Amherst LN

Top Speaker: Josh Bone (Yale)
Top Novice: Zayn Siddique (Princeton)
Top Public Speaker: Vinay Kumar Mysore (McGill)

The Break
1 Harvard (Mark Samburg & Kyle Bean)
2 Hart House (Jason Rogers & Jon Laxer)
3 MIT (Dan Greco & Adam Goldstein)
4 Hart House (Nick Shkordoff & Dash)
5 Hart House (Alex Levy & Laura Kusisto)
6 Yale (Grant May & Steve Krieger)
7 McGill (Leon Grek & Padraic Scanlan)
8 McGill (Saro Setrakian & Catherine Evans)
9 Hart House (John Ashbourne & Raj Pattani)
10 Princeton B (Mike Shih & Zayn Siddique)
11 Yale (Josh Bone & Andrew Rohrbach)
12 Amherst A (Lily & Nic)

Motions:
Final - THB in an obligation to remain plugged in to the violinist.
Semis - Even if it is effective, THB torture is not acceptable.
Quarters - THW not distinguish between the freedom of belief and the freedom of religion.
Octos - THB a just state would be libertarian

Preliminary Rounds:
TH opposes the registration of sex offenders
TH prefers a draft to stop-loss
THW ban Kidnap & Rescue insurance.
TH supports Jury Nullification
THBT holocaust denial is not hate speech. Assuming no racial bias,
THS capital punishment.

Source: http://apdaweb.org/ and http://www.cusid.ca/

2008 U.S. Universities National Championship Tournament

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

On behalf of the Portland State Debate Team, I would like to invite you to the 2008 U.S. Universities National Championship Tournament, to be hosted on the Portland State Campus in downtown Portland, Oregon April 11-13, 2008. This tournament will feature 6 rounds of preliminary debate competition, with the appropriate number of elimination rounds, based on entries. The tournament will also offer 2 preliminary rounds of public speaking, with a break to finals.

The tournament will include a common briefing for all judges and competitors, as well as break-out sessions to provide training to debaters and judges new to the British Parliamentary Debate format.

This tournament is open to any school that would like to participate. International teams are particularly encouraged to join us! The registration deadline for this tournament is 5:00pm on Wednesday April 2, 2008.

I hope you will join us for this fantastic event!

Sincerely,

Christopher Richter

Director of Forensics – Portland State University
richter.christopher@gmail.com
503-490-9619

Tournament Information

Schedule

Friday, April 11
10:00 – Registration/Check-in
11:00 – Common Briefing
12:00 - Lunch
1:00 – Judging/Debating Break-Out Sessions (Required for Judges)
3:00 – Round 1 Public Speaking
4:00 – Round 1 Debate
6:00 – Round 2 Debate

Saturday, April 12
8:30 – Breakfast
9:00 – Round 3
11:00 – Round 4
1:00 – Lunch
1:00 – Coaches Meeting (Lunch Provided)
2:00 – Round 5
4:00 – Round 6
6:00 – Round 2 Public Speaking
9:00 – Tournament Social and Break Announcement

Sunday, April 13
9:00 - Breakfast
10:00 – Main Break Elimination Round 1
12:00 - Lunch
1:00 – Main Break Elimination Round 2, Novice Final Round
3:00 – Elimination Round 3
4:00 – Public Speaking Finals
5:00 - Awards

Registration
All entries must be submitted via e-mail to richter.christopher@gmail.com. Please include the number of teams, team member names, and names of adjudicators. Also, please indicate which debaters/teams are to be considered novice for awards purposes. You will receive confirmation of your registration within 48 hours. Please make all checks payable to Portland State University Forensics.

Fees
School Fee - $25
Team Fee - $60
Uncovered Team Fee - $100 (N-1 Rule Enforced)

Registration and Uncovered judge fees will be waived for all international teams. Any U.S. team that can demonstrate financial hardship may have their fees or judging requirements waived at the discretion of the tournament director.

If you happen to have any extra judges that would like to attend, we will likely be able to hire them. Please inquire when you send in entries.

Eligibility
This tournament is open to any undergraduate or graduate student seeking a degree from an accredited academic institution. Hybrids will only be allowed when an additional debater from that institution cannot be found, and a hybrid is necessary in order to compete.

For the purposes of this tournament, “Novice” will be defined as someone who has competed in fewer than 3 British Parliamentary Debate tournaments, and less than two years of competition on other collegiate debate formats.

Debate Rules
We will be following the WUDC rules, which can be found at www.debating.net/wudc.

Pairings
This tournament will feature 6 preliminary rounds of competition, and the appropriate number of out-rounds, based on the number of entries. As is common in international debate formats, it is likely that teams may face other teams from the same school in any given round, and to hit the same teams multiple times.

The tournament will be utilizing Smooth Tournament Software to produce the pairings. This is the same software that has been successfully used at Assumption worlds, as well as many local and regional tournaments.

Awards
Awards will be given to all elimination-round participants, as well as the top 10 speakers. If there are sufficient novice entries, there will be a separate final round for novice teams (that did not make the main break). The top 5 Novice speakers will also be recognized.

Travel Information
For those of you arriving by plane, you will want to fly into Portland International Airport (PDX). It is approximately 15 minutes from downtown Portland. A taxi will cost approximately $25-$35, or you can ride our light-rail system (The Max) for $1.65, which will take you into the heart of downtown.

Portland State University is an urban campus, located in downtown Portland, and is spread out over several city blocks. We will try to keep the tournament confined to three main buildings. The registration and general meeting area will be in the Smith Center, which is located at 1825 SW Broadway. Look for signs to guide you to registration.

To get to PSU (from the airport): take I-205 South to I-84 West. From I-84, merge onto I-5 Southbound. From there, merge onto the I-405 Northbound and take the 6th Ave. exit. Proceed three blocks, and turn left on Harrison Street. There you will see Parking Structure #1 on your left.

Unfortunately, because we are an urban campus, parking can be difficult. We will do our best to provide guest parking passes to tournament attendees, but we cannot guarantee sufficient supply to cover all attendees. You can pay to park in Parking Structure #1 located at 1872 SW Broadway, which is directly across the street from the Smith Center. Prices vary depending on the time of day. University Place Hotel (see below) also offers guest overnight parking for $12 a night or you can always try to find parking on the street.

Hotel
We recommend staying at the University Place Hotel located at 310 SW Lincoln Street, Portland, OR 97201, just a few blocks from campus. Rooms are furnished with 2 double beds or 1 King bed at a rate of $89 per room, per night. To make reservations call 503-221-0140 or toll free at 1-866-845-4647. There isn’t a specific “block” of rooms, just mention when reserving that you are going to be “visiting Portland State” for the $89 rate. More information about the University Place Hotel can be found at http://www.uplace.pdx.edu/.

Crash
There will be a limited amount of crash available with Portland State debaters. Preference will be given to international teams, but is open to all competitors. Please indicate whether you will need crash in your registration.

Food
Portland State has several low-cost food choices close to campus, Breakfast, including pastries, bagels, coffee, tea, and juice will be provided by the tournament on both Saturday and Sunday morning.

Recreation
Should you find the time, Portland has a variety of activities to suit any interest. Whether it is the Portland Art Museum, Powells City of Books, or Saturday Market, there’s something for everyone to do. We hope you will take the time to enjoy our great city.

Trinity IV 2008 Results

The Dean Swift Trinity IV was won by Ross McGuire and Marguerite Carter of UCD Law Society. They defeated King's Inns (Luke Ryder & Brendan Bruen), UCC Philosoph (Ross Frenett & Derek Doyle), and Cambridge (Sam Block & Mhairi Murdoch) in the final on the motion "That This House would legalise duelling to the death". Ross Frenett was best speaker in the final, while he and Will Jones of Oxford were joint best speakers on the tab. The competition was Chief Adjudicated by pCiaran Denny & Michael Clark, and the motions are listed below:

R1: This House would legalise drugs in sport
R2: This House would vote Republican in the US Presidential Election
R3: This House believes if you can pay for school, you should pay for college
R4: This House would invite Mahmoud Ahmedinajad to speak in the GMB
R5: This House would make everyone pass a civics test in order to vote
QF: This House would legalise the distribution of simulated child pornography
SF: This House regrets the creation of the State of Israel
Final: This House would legalise duelling to the death

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped out with the running and organisation of the competition, along with all those who came to judge.

Christopher Kissane
Co-Convenor
Trinity IV 2008

27 January 2008

ABS-CBN’s Square Off Championship

The ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) has always believed in the value of critical thought and free speech, especially emanating from the Filipino youth. The second season of Square Off: The Philippine Debate Championships, that will begin airing every Wednesday at 8:00-9:00 pm beginning January 30, 2008.

Last season, sixteen teams from all over the Philippines (selected due to their participation in the recent Philippine Intercollegiate Debate Championships) competed for the championship and an all-expense paid trip to represent their university at the the World Universities Debating Championships in Bangkok, Thailand. The next season will also have 16 schools squaring off, this time for the chance to represent their university in the Asian Universities Debating Championships in Malaysia on May 2008 .

To improve the quality of the tournament, and to give opportunities to new universities, challengers have been invited to participate. The qualifying rounds have already begun, with lower-seeded schools defending their slots. The qualifiers end on the 23rd, and will decide who stays in three of the sixteen slots. Square Off’s Season 2, which will begin its Octofinals on January 30.

Leeds International IV

Friday 15th and Saturday 16th February, 4pm registration on Friday, 4 rounds (5 minute speeches) to semi-final, 7 minute speeches in the final.

Chief Adjudicator: Neill Harvey-Smith, DCAs: Daniel Riley and Uve Poom.

Free reg to all international teams (including Ireland). Crash on a first come first served basis (we are limited, I'm afraid), with priority for international teams. Otherwise, reg is £30 a team (NAMDA arrangements apply), n-1 applies to all.

To register a team or judge please email leedsiv@googlemail.com or z.alnasser@gmail.com