Amsterdam Open motions analysis

Dear all,
After a while of radio silence, we are proud to present the statistical analysis of the Amsterdam Open (AO) 2009. This is an initiative from last year's AO CA-team and we are happy to continue it as we believe it increases transparency of judging results and hopefully helps fighting the good fight against the infamous motion-bias.

We are happy to inform you that there was no significant bias in this year's Amsterdam Open as a whole, although some motions showed an inclination to bias. The full analysis can be found here in a google doc. We hope you'll enjoy reading it.

With kind regards,
The Amsterdam Open 2009 CA team
Leela Koenig, Jonathan Leader Maynard, Kirsty Russel, Ross Reid McGuire and Anne Valkering

Iraq Debate Appeal for Funding

Iraq Debate wishes to continue spreading debate in Iraq as a positive initiative in this country during a transition period of instability.

We are starting from the north and our destination is the farthest South of Iraq but the nature of our situation is currently somewhat difficult. There is a lack of understanding of the role debate can play in creating and stabilizing a complex and multi-ethnic society. In a time of many challenges it is difficult for people to accept the need for training Iraqi youth for a better tomorrow -- a time when disagreement can be used constructively to solve problems and not just to divide people.

Now, we are facing a problem of a lack of funding as the income of students in Iraq is very low. We are seeking funds to partially cover our trip to Turkey for the World Universities Debating Championship. Each student who can attend the World Universities Debating Championships can return as an ambassador for debating and have a huge impact training and sharing with others.

Iraq Debate has several teams now registered to attend the World Universities Debating Championships to be held in December-January in Antalya, Turkey. We have teams and enthusiasm and some financial support, but we are just a bit short and the time draws near to pay up or drop out.

Please help us improve Iraqi Society through making people familiar with tolerance and understand the power of diversity, love of free speech, and appreciate the value of fair dialogue and informed decision-making procedures.

Help us improve the lives of Iraqi citizens by supporting our efforts to instill passion for learning in the hearts of Iraqi students. Students will go further in life with the ability to think logically, the ability to present complex ideas clearly, a keen ear to listen well to the words of others, a wide but deep knowledge of the Iraqi society, a proactive desire to solve both Iraqi and world problems, and confidence to do all that, and keep on moving ahead. Students of debate find new reasons to make the most of their education and strive to become better, more informed people in an imperfect world.

Please help us to replace conflict with constructive debate. The lives of debaters, the people in their lives and the future of Iraqi leadership and of Iraqi society will only benefit from any financial help you can give now .

If you could help Iraq Debate students debaters it would be greatly appreciated.

For donation please visit this page www.iraqdebate.org/donate.htm

Thank you for your cooperation.

Muhammad Duhoki

Director, Iraq Debate

Note: please send an email to donate@iraqdebate.org when you are donating to save your name in our database and keep it.

JoziSpeak 2009 results

Results from JoziSpeak 2009 (South African Universities Champs), hosted by Wits University last week, from Richard Stupart's blog:

Winners of the EFL (English First Language) category:
Chris McConnachie and Michael Anderson from Rhodes University
Winners of the ESL (English Second Language) category:
Ayanda Siyuyu and Bonga Malewa from the University of Cape Town
Best EFL Speaker:
Daniel de Kadt from the UNiversity of KwaZulu Natal
Best ESL Speaker:
Albert Titus from the University of Namibia
Best New EFL Speaker:
Michael Anderson from Rhodes University. Incorrectly announced originally as Razina Thokan from Wits University, as the committee – in great excitement – never thought to consider that the winning team might have a first-year debater in it.
Best New ESL Speaker:
Mhlanganisi Madlongolwai from the University of the Free State
Best Public Speaker:
Leon Jamaine Mithi from Wits University
Best New Adjudicator:
Nezi Ndamasa from the University of the Free State
Best Adjudicator:
Deborah Nixon from The University of Pretoria

Australs 2009 Full Results

2009 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Champions: Monash University 1(Amit Golder, Tim Jeffrie, Fiona Prowse)

Runners-Up: Victoria University of Wellington 1 (Polly Higbee, StephenWhittington, Ella Edginton)

Grand Final Topic: "That Palestine should accept demilitarisation inreturn for a guaranteed sovereign state"

Martin Sorensen Cup for Best Speaker: Amit Golder

Jock Faneslow Cup for Best Speaker in the Grand Final: Amit Golder

The Top 10 Speakers:
1. Amit Golder (Monash University)
2. Claudia Newman-Martin (Australian National University)
3. Tim Jeffrie (Monash University)
4. Chris Croke (University of Sydney Union)
5. Fiona Prowse (Monash University)
6. Sam Greenland (University of Sydney Union)
7. Max Harris (University of Auckland)
7. Viv Jones (Monash University)
9. Su-Min Lim (University of New South Wales)
9. Steve Hind (University of Sydney Union)
9. Tim Mooney (University of Sydney Union)

Grand Final Adjudicators:
Leloy Claudio (Ateneo de Manila) (DCA) (Chair)
Suthen "Tate" Thomas (Multimedia University Cyberjaya)
Sharmila Parmanand (Ateneo de Manila)
Logan Balavijendran (Chung Ang University)
Art Ward (University College, Cork)
Harish Natarajan (Cambridge University)
Julia Bowes (University of Sydney)
Jason Jarvis (Korea Development Institute) (DCA)
Sadhana Rai (National University of Singapore)

Defeated Semi-Finalists: University of Sydney Union 1 (Tim Mooney, Steve Hind, Chris Croke) and Monash University 4 (Viv Jones, Ravi Dutta, Nita Rao)

2009 Australasian Intervasrsity Debating Champions – ESL DIVISION: University of Indonesia 1 (Tirza Reinata, Intan Hadidjah, Freida Siregar)

ESL Runner-up: The Chinese University of Hong Kong 1 (Doriane Lau, Dominic Yang, Mary Jean Chan)

ESL Grand Final Topic: "That ASEAN should establish a Human Rights Court"

The Top 5 ESL Speakers:
1. Tirza Reinata (University of Indonesia)
2. Melanie Tedja (Monash University)
3. Aishwarya Nair (Assumption University)
4. JiSoo Kim (Korea University)
5. Freida Siregar (University of Indonesia)
5. Minjae Matthias (Underwood International College)

ESL Grand Final Adjudicators:
Jacob Clifton (Monash University) (CA)
Duncan Campbell (University of Melbourne)
Chanelle Carr-Janif (Australian National University)
Masako Suzuki (Kanagawa University)
Mabroor Wassey (Bangladesh Debating Council)
Clodagh O'Connor-McKenna (Victoria University of Wellington)
Zid Niel Mancenido (Australian National University)
Pam Chan (Ateneo de Manila)
Brad Ward (University of Auckland)

Defeated ESL Semi-Finalists: University of Tokyo (Dai Oba, Ryotaro Tanaka, Atsushi Inutsuka) and International Christian University 1 (Miyuki Nozu, Ayana Shimizu, Keiichi Ishiwata)

Adjudication team:
Chief Adjudicator: Jacob Clifton (Monash University)
Deputy Chief Adjudicator: Jason Jarvis (Korea Development Institute)
Deputy Chief Adjudicator: Leloy Caludio (Ateneo de Manila)
Deputy Chief Adjudicator: Sayeqa Islam (Victoria University ofWellington)

Tab Director: Michael Ciesielski (University of Melbourne)

TOPICS:

Round 1: Education
That extra fees or donations above the actual cost of education should not be used to gain admission into university.
That talented students should be taught separately from their peers.
That indigenous people should have free and unqualified access touniversity

Round 2: Global Financial Crisis
That Governments should bail out homeowners directly.
That trade unions should have their power restricted during times of economic crisis.
That Governments should obtain a majority stake in companies that they bail out.

Round 3: Sexuality
That the gay rights movement should not support the institution ofmarriage.
That we should recognise the right of religious groups to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.
That sexual education classes at school should include, but not be limited to: sexual orientation, anal sex, mutual gratification andmasturbation.

Round 4: The Environment
That population control should be part of any global approach to tackle climate change.
That protection of the environment should be considered a mitigating factor when sentencing eco-terrorists.
That the developed world should not sell contaminated material to the developing world for processing.

Round 5: Borders
That soliders who have fought for foreign countries should be granted citizenship within the country that they fought for.
That this house would open all borders.
That the US should grant citizenship to all Guantanamo detainees regardless of guilt.

Round 6: Latin America
That the United States should stop funding the Columbian Government.
That Latin American countries should take action against countries whose leaders took power through military coups.
That the United States should stop buying Hugo Chavez's oil.

Round 7: Law
That single parents in prison should be provided special treatment to allow them to raise their young children from behind bars.
That parliamentarians should receive no compensation beyond their base salary.
That employees of the United States Government who authorised or carried out "enhanced interrogation techniques" during the Bush administration should be prosecuted.

Round 8: The "STOP" round
That we should ban celebrities from participating in political campaigns.
That we should ban mail-order brides.
That we should ban the use and development of all unmanned offensive military weaponry.

Quarter Finals
That businesses should refuse to comply with China's internet restrictions.
That the hiring and firing by employers should not be influenced by information found on social networking sites.
That the Government should subsidise print journalism.

Semi-finals (wording TBC)
That we should not privatise water
This House supports a global free market in drugs
This House supports buying babies

Grand Final
That Palestine should accept demilitarisation in return for a guaranteed sovereign state.
That we should grant the Roma (Gypsies) a sovereign state.
That we should divide Sudan.

Australasians tab

The speaker tab, team tab and debate results from Monash Australs 2009 can be found at: http://muds.whypsloven.net/australs/

A more formal summary and along with the results will appear at http://www.monashaustrals.com/ later today or tomorrow.

Monash Win Australs

From Chris Bishop's Facebook page.

Australasian Debating Champions 2009: Monash (on a 5-4 split)

Best speaker in Grand Final: Amit Golder (Monash)
ESL Winners: University of Indonesia

Top 10 speakers:
1. Amit Golder (Monash)
2. Claudia Newman Martin (ANU)
3. Tim Jeffrie
4. Chris Croke
5. Fiona Prowse
6. Sam Greenland (Sydney)
7= Max Harris (Auckland)
7= Viv Jones (Monash)
9= Tim Mooney
9= Steve Hind
9= Su Min Lim (unsw)

Austral's Final Motion and positions

From Chris Bishop's face book page.

Australs Grand Final topic (unconfirmed) THBT the Palestinians should accept demilitarisation in exchange for a sovereign state. Monash affirming, Victoria neg.

Australs semi results

Victoria University of Wellington One defeated Monash University Four in a 4-3 split decision.

Monash University One defeated the University of Sydney Union One in a 6-1 decision.

The final is therefore Victoria v Monash.

Grand Final starts at 6pm, Melbourne time.

--
From Chris Bishop

Australs quarters and semi draw

Quarter Final Results
Monash 1 defeat UNSW 1 by 5-0
Sydney 1 defeat ANU1 by 5-0
Victoria Wellington 1 defeat Ateneo 1 by 4-1
Monash 4 defeat Monash 3 by 3-2

Semis draw
Sydney 1 v Monash 1
Victoria Wellington 1 v Monash 4


--
Sent from my mobile device

Australs Octo-Results and Quarters Draw

Octo-final results

Monash 1 (1) defeated Queensland 1 (16) by 3-0
Ateneo 1 (15) defeated Sydney 3 (2) by 2-1
Monash 3 (3) defeated Melbourne 2 (14) by 3-0
Sydney 1 (4) defeated Queensland 2 (13) by 3-0
Australian National University 1 (5) defeated Auckland 2 (12) by 3-0
Monash 4 (6) defeated Multimedia University 1 (11) by 3-0
Victoria University of Wellington 1 (10) defeated Sydney 2 (7) by 3-0
UNSW 1 (8) defeated Auckland 1 (9) by 3-0

Quarters Draw:

Monash 1 (1) v UNSW 1 (8)
Ateneo 1 (15) v Victoria University of Wellington 1 (10)
Monash 3 (3) v Monash 4 (6)
Sydney 1 (4) v Australian National University 1 (5)

Australs 2009 Break

Chris Bishop has published the Australasians break on facebook

Main Break
1. Monash 1, 8 wins,
2. Sydney 3, 7 wins.
3. Monash 3, 7 wins.
4. Sydney 1, 6 wins.
5. Australian National University (ANU) 1, 6 wins.
6. Monash 4, 6 wins.
7. sydney 2, 6 wins.
8. Uni New South Wales (UNSW) 1, 6 wins.
9. Auckland 1, 6 wins.
10. Victoria Wellington 1, 6 wins.
11. Multimedia University Malaysua (MMU) 1, 6 wins.
12. Auckland 2, 6 wins.
13. University of Queensland (UQ) 2 6 Wins.
14. Sydney 5, 5 wins (cannot break team cap reached)
15. Sydney 4, 5 wins (cannot break team cap reached)
16. Melbourne 2, 5 Wins.
17. Ateneo 1, 5 Wins.
18. University of Queensland 1, 5 Wins.

ESL break:
University Indonesia
University Tokyo
Chinese University of Hong Kong
ICU 1

Monash Australasians 2009

The 2009 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships are currently ongoing at Monash University in Australia.

The results and other details can be found at http://www.monashaustrals.com/

Chris Bishop and others are posting partial details on Facebook and have slightly more up to date a they are posting "live" but they don't have results for all 95 teams.  However it is wort checking them out if you are looking for more results.

Round 6 Wins Board

1. Monash University 1 (6)
2. Victoria University of Wellington 1 (5)
3. University of New South Wales 1 (5)
4. University of Sydney Union 6 (5)
5. University of Sydney Union 4 (5)
6. University of Sydney Union 3 (5)
7. University of Sydney Union 2 (5)
8. University of Melbourne 2 (5)
9. University of Auckland 1 (5)
10. Monash University 3 (5)
11. Australian National University 1 (5)
12. University of Sydney Union 5 (4)
13. University of Sydney Union 1 (4)
14. University of Queensland 2 (4)
15. University of Queensland 1 (4)
16. University of New South Wales 2 (4)
17. University of New South Wales 3 (4)
18. Victoria University of Wellington 2 (4)
19. Victoria University of Wellington 3 (4)
20. Victoria University of Wellington 4 (4)
21. Victoria University of Wellington 5 (4)
22. University of Melbourne 5 (4)
23. University of Melbourne 4 (4)
24. Ateneo de Manila University 2 (4)
25. Australian National University 2 (4)
26. Australian National University 3 (4)
27. Macquarie University 2 (4)
28. Monash University 2 (4)
29. Monash University 4 (4)
30. Multimedia University 1 (4)
31. Nanyang Technological University 2 (4)
32. University of Auckland 2 (4)
33. University of Melbourne 1 (4)
34. University Of Canterbury 2 (3)
35. University of Auckland 4 (3)
36. University of Auckland 3 (3)
37. California State University (3)
38. University of Tokyo (3)
39. Chinese University of Hong Kong 3 (3)
40. University of Indonesia (3)
41. University of Melbourne 3 (3)
42. University of Melbourne 6 (3)
43. University of Queensland 3 (3)
44. University of Queensland 4 (3)
45. University of Western Australia (3)
46. University of New South Wales 4 (3)
47. University of Technology, Sydney 1 (3)
48. Chinese University of Hong Kong 1 (3)
49. National University of Singapore 2 (3)
50. Assumption University of Thailand 1 (3)
51. Ateneo de Manila University 1 (3)
52. Ateneo de Manila University 3 (3)
53. Australian National University 4 (3)
54. Korea University 3 (3)
55. Macquarie University 1 (3)
56. Macquarie University 3 (3)
57. Multimedia University Malacca 1 (3)
58. National University of Singapore 1 (3)
59. Nanyang Technological University 1 (3)
60. Multimedia University 2 (3)
61. Monash University 6 (3)
62. Monash University 5 (3)
63. Multimedia University Malacca 2 (3)
64. Macquarie University 4 (2)
65. Monash University Sunway (2)
66. Peking University (2)
67. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2 (2)
68. Tsuda College 1 (2)
69. Underwood International College (2)
70. Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (2)
71. University Of Canterbury 1 (2)
72. University of Macau 2 (2)
73. University of Technology, Sydney 2 (2)
74. Korea University 2 (2)
75. Korea University 1 (2)
76. Assumption University of Thailand 2 (2)
77. Bandung Institute of Technology (2)
78. Chulalongkorn University (2)
79. Debate Association of Ewha 1 (2)
80. Debate Association of Ewha 3 (2)
81. Ewha Division of International Studies 1 (2)
82. Far Eastern University (2)
83. International Christian University 1 (2)
84. International Christian University 2 (2)
85. Keio University (2)
86. Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages (1)
87. University of Macau 1 (1)
88. University of Malaysia, Sabah (1)
89. Tsuda College 2 (1)
90. Griffith University 2 (1)
91. Griffith University 1 (1)
92. Ewha Division of International Studies 2 (1)
93. Chung-Ang University (1)
94. Beijing Foreign Studies University (1)
95. Debate Association of Ewha 2 (0)

Asian Schools Debating Championships 2009

The 1st Asian Schools Debating Championships will be held in De La Salle University-Manila this September.

Here is an invitation letter with full details of the tournament.



For more details please see http://www.asdc2009.com/

LUMS IV 2009‏

Attached to this mail you will find the initial invite for LUMS IV 2009 Inter varsity 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 www.flynn.debating.net. Accommodation will be provided inside the university; Social events and other miscellaneous details will be communicated later. All details and information will be passed to institutes when initial confirmations are made.

The deadline for registration has been extended to the 18th of July in order to accommodate the maximum number of teams.


Hoping to see you debate in Lahore.

Debating in Iraq

Anyone looking at the list of teams registered for Worlds will have spotted teams from Iraq among the pre-registered list of teams.  This is the first time Iraqi teams will have attended Worlds.  The initiative to bring University Debating to Iraq is being lead by Muhammad Duhoki.  For more information visit http://www.iraqdebate.org/

Iraq Debate is an independent civic engagement initiative to foster and promote open discussions and debate culture in Iraq and plans to promote and teach debate across Universities and Schools in the country.



Iraq Debate brings together Arabs, Kurds, Chaldo-Assyrians, Turkmen, and all components of Iraq communities to participate in debate workshops and tournaments.


Currently, Iraq Debate works with students from University of Duhok- Duhok, University of Salahaddin- Erbil and University of Technology- Baghdad. however we are looking forward to extending our activities to all Universities and Schools in Iraq in near future.


Recently, Iraq Debate held a successful workshop in the University of Duhok for 22 students debaters [ April 1-7, 2009]. we then trained and sent students to participate in Qatar National Schools Debate Championships and Qatar National Universities Championships with 5 students debaters representing the Iraq Debate Team. At invitation of Qatar Debate.


Iraq Debate currently is planning to train students for the Worlds Universities Debate Championships 2010, to be held in Turkey, where they will compete with over 300 teams.

Because all sections of Iraqi Society are equal, we wish to establish a fair forum for all Iraqi people to develop logical, presentational, and leadership skills. If you would like to join us, or know anyone you think would be interested in joining us, please let us know. it is our pleasure to serve the community, and feel all curious minds.

World Online Debating Championships

Debatewise and IDEA are proud to announce the first ever World Online Debating Championship and formally invite you to take part.

This is an innovative competition and presents a new form of debating. 32 countries will take each other on in a knockout tournament open to anyone.

It takes place over the internet so you can participate from any place at any time. You can debate with people from all over the world, and get to understand them better, all without leaving home.

Plus, you have a full 24 hours to perfect your arguments so can craft them to perfection.

The competition is being run by Debatewise in collaboration with the International Debate Education Association; Chief Adjudicator is Neill Harvey-Smith, the Chair of the World’s Debating Council. Round 1 will start on August 10th and the winner will be declared on September 21st.

To find out more, including how to enter, please email dc@debatewise.com or visit www.debatewise.com/wodc and we’ll be delighted to help. The closing date for registration is Sunday 19th July.

Good luck,

David Crane- Convenor, Debatewise's founder and MD
Neill Harvey-Smith - Chief Adjudicator

MDR - Extension of Call for Submissions‏

Earlier this year the Monash Debating Review announced a Call for Submissions for May 31, 2009 (see link: http://worlddebating.blogspot.com/2009/04/monash-debating-review-2009.html).

The deadline has recently been extended to July 31, 2009.  If you wish to submit an article on strategic or substantive issues of interest to debaters then you have an extended deadline to get your thoughts onto paper.

ADAM 2009 results‏

The University of Melbourne's ADAM pre-Australs tournament was again agreat success. There were 50 teams present at the largest ADAM to date,and all enjoyed a weekend of high-quality debating and adjudication.

The winning team, "ahmadinejad@Ayatollah: Can't get to Lady Gaga concert- dead girl blocking way" (Univeristy of Melbourne: Phil Barker, Seamus Coleman, Ned Douglas) defeated Monash 1 (Tim Jeffrie, Amit Golder, Fiona Prowse) in a 5-2 split decision on the topic "That post conflict nations should focus on development and not democracy".

The best speaker was Sayeqa Islam, with an average score of 78.4. Thebest novice speaker was Kelly Butler (average 77.4), from the Universityof Melbourne.

Full results, and Chief Adjudicator Nicole Lynch's motions are available online at: http://muds.whypsloven.net/adam09/

Sponsored Adjuducators at World Schools

From WSDC mailing list

Call for Applications: Sponsored Adjudicators

QatarDebate is intending to pay for thirty adjudicators to attend the next World Schools Debating Championships, being held in Qatar on 8 – 19 February 2010.

Sponsored adjudicators will have their tournament registration and return economy airfare paid by QatarDebate; in every other respect, they will participate in the tournament in the same way as all other adjudicators.

Applicants will be chosen both on the basis of (i) proven adjudication record at WSDC and (ii) the need for diversity, particularly geographical and cultural diversity. All applicants must be able to be accepted as an eligible judge of the championship; therefore, applications will not be accepted from anybody who has debated at the 2009 WSDC in Athens. The sponsored positions will be allocated by the two Chief Adjudicators (Chris Erskine and Simon Quinn) in consultation with the Chief Adjudicators’ Panel.

QatarDebate is now calling for applications for these sponsored positions. If you are interested in applying, please e-mail both simon.quinn@economics.ox.ac.uk and cerskine@ozemail.com.au. Please provide a brief summary of your adjudicating experience and indicate your intended country affiliation at the tournament. Applicants who have not judged at WSDC previously should provide a name and contact information of somebody who has judged at WSDC previously to act as a reference, should it be needed.

The deadline for applications is 1 August; the decision will be made and all applicants notified by 1 September.

Simon Quinn
Chris Erskine

Announcement of Auckland Australs 2010 Adjudication Core

The University of Auckland Debating Society is proud to announce the adjudication core for its bid for Australs 2010.

Chief Adjudicator: Christopher Bishop
Formerly of Victoria University of Wellington, Chris is a former Australs Grand Finalist (2007), a quarter-finalist (2005 and 2008) and top ten speaker (2007 and 2008). At Worlds he twice reached the octo-finals (2005 and 2008). He is a former winner of the Cambridge IV, a runner-up at the Oxford IV, and winner of seven New Zealand intervarsity tournaments. He chaired a Worlds semi-final panel in Cork and has been the Chief Adjudicator of every major New Zealand debating tournament. He is a former AIDA President, convenor of Australs, and President of the Victoria University of Wellington Debating Society.

Deputy Chief Adjudicator: Tim Jeffrie
Currently of Monash University, Tim is a former Grand Finalist at Worlds (2008), and a semi-finalist and top ten speaker at Australs (2007). He is a former winner of Melbourne Mini (2007), ADAM (2005 and 2007), a runner-up at Sydney Mini (2006), and a semi-finalist at WUPID (2007), and Australian Easters (2005). He recently served as a DCA for Australian Easters in Queensland and was the Chief Adjudicator of the 2008 Melbourne Mini. Tim has had a long involvement with the Monash Association of Debaters and has run the Victorian schools competition and coached the champion Victorian State debating team.

Deputy Chief Adjudicator: Sharmila Parmanand
Formerly of Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines, Sharmila has been a Grand Finalist at Australs (2005), a semi-finalist (2006 and 2008), a quarter-finalist (2007), and was the 4th ranked speaker in 2008. She is a three time winner of the Asian University Debating Championships, a Worlds octo-finalist (2007), and a three-time Philippine national champion. She judged the semi-finals of Worlds in Cork, was the CA for AUDC 2009, and has been the DCA or CA for an array of regional tournaments. Since 2004 she has facilitated over 50 free basic and advanced debating workshops/coaching sessions and debating tournaments for school and university students in Asia, as well as serving in a variety of capacities for the Ateneo Debate Society and the AUDC.

Deputy Chief Adjudicator: Christopher Croke
Currently of the University of Sydney, Chris is a former Grand Finalist and top ten speaker at Worlds (2008 and 2007 respectively), and quarter-finalist (2004) at Australs. He is a former winner of WUPID (2007), a Grand Finalist at Sydney Mini (2007 and 2005), and a Grand Finalist at Melbourne Mini (2007). He won Australian Easters in 2004 and was the third best speaker. He was recently a DCA for Australian Easters in Queensland, whilst at Worlds in Cork he judged to the main break quarter-finals and the ESL Grand Final. Chris was the coach of the champion NSW State Debating team in 2008.

Given the calibre of applicants the final decision was a difficult one, but we feel we have selected an experienced and capable adjudication core that reflects the interests of the wider Austral-Asian debating community. We wish to sincerely thank all those who applied for the role, and those who took the time to send feedback on the prospective DCA candidates.

Regards

Christopher Bishop
Prospective Chief Adjudicator, Auckland Australs 2010

Glenn Riddell
Prospective Convenor, Auckland Australs 2010

Update on Worlds Registration

As many of you are aware there was extremely high interest in attending Worlds this year.  The result is a large number of teams have been "waitlisted" for slots once the team cap was reached.  The organisers are in a very difficult position on this one and here is their response to some queries about why somw teams have 3 teams while others are waitlisted.

Yesterday’sregistration may have come as a surprise to some but to those who have been following global debating over the last years, it was expected. We were certainly expecting it. Whilst 90 seconds is remarkably fast, last year’sWorlds filled up in a similar fashion. However, between the two bouts of registration fever, there was a Worlds Council at which the issue was discussed at length. It is worth returning to that discussion, particularly as we are bound as an Organizing Committee to abiding by the policies (or as is more often the case, the spirit) of Council.

Firstly, we asked explicitly whether we should have a team cap of three or two. After a discussion lasting an hour, it became clear that there was no consensus but that the majority of delegates favored a three team cap. No binding decision was taken and the initiative was left with us. The arguments for three teams over two were many, including a larger number of n-1 judges (your proposal, Rajan, to reduce retroactively the team cap would also remove 77 judges) and the fact that many C teams are highly competitive. We stated at Council that we would go for three teams and that we would share our registration plans with the Chair of Council, which we have since done. We don’t believe that we can now reduce the team cap, even in the face of unprecedented interest in Worlds as this would undo every public and private statement we have made about registration since January 2008. It would also throw our adjudication pool into chaos. Any kind of retroactive, off-the-cuff response to a problem is likely to throw carefully designed plans into disarray and so we simply cannot go back on what we have said we would do.

Secondly, Council discussed internet speed as an issue which undermined registration inparts of Asia and Africa. We instigated a policy whereby institutions from nations with low bandwidth internet connections would get a break and as a result, many new institutions were included in the first phase of registration this year. Thirdly, Council reaffirmed the rule whereby every nation that has competed at Worlds one year get sone team slot as a right at the next round. A look at our registered list shows a remarkably diverse number of nations represented from every continent and region (with the unfortunate exceptions of North and Central Africa). We have done everything that Council expects from us andin this sense, we are happy with how registration has gone.

You are right, however, that a lasting solution is needed to the effect the growth of Worlds Style debating around the globe has had on the World Universities Debating Championships. You suggest a team cap of two but a quick look at current registration indicates that this would still leave around 70 institutions outside the tournament. There are now so many universities that actively debate that a team cap of one would be required to include everyone. We now face a situation where the global debating community must decide what its biggest tournament is about. Is Worlds a tournament solely about finding thebest team in the World? Is it about ensuring that everyone who wants to competegets to compete?

It is in this context that last year’s Worlds Council set up the Future of Worlds Committee, which was charged with looking at an array of issues, including registration. We would suggest that you, and anyone else who has strong viewson this matter, approach the Chair of that Committee, Adiba Shareen, with your ideas. This year’s registration was no surprise – we all saw it coming. Rather than trying to solve the problem by making retroactive knee-jerk decisions, we will need to come together as a community and make some hard decisions. Thismight happen this year but more likely it will take two. What is imperative is that we are prepared to make changes that preserve what makes Worlds such an attractive event whist also dealing with the myriad problems that explosive growth has brought.

We should all be proud that Worlds Style debating is flourishing and at Koç we recognize that we are the temporary guardians of an immensely valuable Championship. We hope that Singapore Management University get in off the waitlist (and our pre-payment policy will ensure that speculative registrations are knocked out much earlier than in previous years).We also hope that you choose to help us seek a long-term solution rather than a short-term one that would throw our plans into chaos and make us go back on our word.

With our warmest regards,
Can Okar
on behalf of the Vehbi Koç World Universities Debating Championships

Herzliya win Israeli National Debating Championship

The Israeli National Debating Championship, hosted by IDC Herzliya, took place on June 17-18, and consisted of 6 preliminary rounds, semi-finals and a grand-final.

The finalists were (in breaking order):
Tel Aviv A (Danny Zeevi and Yoni Cohen-Idov)
IDC Herzliya B (Carmel Sahaf and Daphna Gross)
IDC Herzliya C (Jonathan Braverman and Maya Boursi)
Haifa A (Leor Sapir and Shiri Newman)

Winners: IDC Herzliya C (Jonathan Braverman and Maya Boursi).

Best Speaker: Yoni Cohen-Idov (Tel Aviv A)

Motions:
Round 1: THW obligate internet commenters to reveal their true identities.
Round 2: THBT the west should intervene in the Iranian election.
Round 3: THW set a congestion toll on private vehicles entering city centers.
Round 4: THW ban leaders who lost their bid for reelection from running for office again.
Round 5: THBT the gay parade is detrimental to the gay community.
Round 6: THW privatize the military checkpoints in Gaza and the West Bank.
Semi-Finals: THW ban the use of evidence which had been illegally obtained
Finals: THW ban the commemoration of the “Day of Al Nakba”.

US NFL Nationals results

The National Forensics League of the US were on last week.  This format has multiple different sorts of competition in forms of debating and public speaking so the list of winners is longer than normal.

Policy Debate – Sean Hernandez & Reid Ehrlich-Quinn, Damien HS (CA)

Lincoln Douglas Debate – Shivani Vohra, Hockaday (TX)
Public Forum Debate - Robert Kindman & Josh Zoffer, Durham Academy (NC)
Domestic Extemp – Evan Larson, Bellarmine (CA)
Foreign Extemp – Stacey Chen, North Allegheny (PA)
Original Oratory – John Hoffmeister, Apple Valley (MN)
Dramatic Interpretation – Jane Bruce, Ogden (UT)
Duo Interpretation - Ismael Williams and Drake Pough, James Logan (CA)
Humorous Interpretation – Lindsey White, Eastview (MN)
Storytelling – Francis Blaise, New Trier (IL)
Impromptu – Jessica Petrie, Bellevue West (IL)
Prose – Vanessa Garcia, Fullerton Union (CA)
Poetry - Andrew Laroca, Riverdale HS (LA)
Expository – Evan Hernandez, Wichita East (KS)
Commentary – Anuv Ratan, Claremont (CA)
Senate – Robert Colonol, Winter Springs (FL)
Congress – Howard Downs Temple, Stuyvesant (NY)

For more info visit http://gaforensics.com/2009/06/nfl-week-2009-the-champions.html

Worlds 2010 Registration Day One: Who's registered, who's waitlisted?

After an incredibly long day of going through massive amounts of data and e-mails, we have organized the list of who has registered and who has not for Koc Worlds 2010. All of the information can be found at http://www.kocworlds2010.com/index.php?page=76.

Please get in touch if you have any questions.

Fatih Mehmet Inal

Co-Convenor of the Vehbi Koç Worlds 2010

Worlds 2010 Important Registration Info.

Hello from Turkey!
We are writing with some final details concerning the registration process for Worlds which commences next week. Please read this carefully as we hope we have been as clear as possible. If you have any outstanding queries regarding registration, you can contact Hasan Sadik Arik at h.s.arik@kocworlds.com.

Exact day and time
The first stage of registration for the Vehbi Koc Worlds 2010 begins on 22nd June 2009 (this coming Monday). Registration will be on a first-come, first serve basis so you should note the exact time at which registration starts. We will turn on the system at 9am Turkish time (GMT + 3). For your ease, this means the time will be as follows in some cities around the world (though we advise strongly that you re-check this time as we cannot be held responsible if we have got this wrong!):

San Francisco- 23:00pm (21st June 2009)
Ottawa– 02:00am
New York– 02:00am
Dublin– 07:00am
London– 07:00am
Paris– 08:00am
Berlin– 08:00am
Gabarone - 08:00am
Baghdad– 09:00am
Moscow– 10:00am
Mumbai – 11:30am
Dhaka– 12:00pm
Bangkok– 13:00pm
Beijing– 14:00pm
Tokyo– 15:00pm
Sydney– 16:00pm

What you need to do in order to register
At 9am Turkish time on the 22nd June 2009, you can access the registration page by clicking the REGISTER NOW link at www.kocworlds2010.com. This will redirect you to our registration page. You will only have registered when you enter your details and then press the Register button. Please ensure that your details are correct, particularly your e-mail address – if you write this wrongly, we cannot send you a confirmation mail and you will face a very stressful couple of days.

The details required at this stage are as follows:
Institution Name, Country, City, Representative Name, Representative Status (is the person who is filling in the form a debater, adjudicator or not attending Worlds), Phone Work/Home, Phone Mobile, E-mail, No. of teams, No. of Adjudicators, Password (that you choose)

Please, please only register as many teams and judges as you plan to send! We will be merciless in our adherence to the pre-payment system and will delete teams who do not pay their pre-payment as described in our previous mail and on our website (www.kocworlds2010.com). To make it clear, if you register 3 teams and 2 judges and pay only 500 EUR in pre-payment, we will only accept this as payment for 2 teams and 1 judge. If you send an amount that does not correspond to n-1 (i.e. you send 400 EUR), we will take this to mean 1 team and 1 judge and you will not receive your 100 EUR back.

We want to reiterate two important facts about the pre-payment system:
1) Once you pay the pre-payment, it absolutely non-refundable. We instigated this approach because last year, teams registered and then disappeared for months meaning that the teams that eventually took their slots had to pay exorbitant air-fares.
2) You cannot pay 800 EUR for three teams and two judges in the Second Phase, then reduce your contingent to five people and expect the 300 EUR back or to top up your outstanding balance. Please only register and then pre-pay for teams that you will actually send.

Our policy for nations with notoriously slow internet-access
We have put in place a policy this year that protects the international nature of the tournament and ensures that institutions from nations with slow internet access are not automatically stripped of the opportunity to compete at Worlds. We have set aside 24 team slots for the nations listed below and institutions from these nations will compete with one another for places at Worlds. If institutions from these nations register in the first 300 teams, this will not affect the 24 team slots – these are independent of the 300 team slots that are purely first-come, first serve. The nations we have listed are below but if you believe your nation should be included, please get in touch with h.s.arik@kocworlds2010.com before Sunday 21st June 2009:

China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, all of the African continent (except for South Africa), all of the South American continent, all of the Middle East (except Qatar and UAE).

We want to reiterate that this does not mean that only 24 teams can come from the above mentioned countries and regions. We are saying that in addition to any teams from these countries and regions who register in the first 300 team slots, we will also put aside 24 places for the next teams from these countries and regions.

One final note: you will have noticed that we have mentioned 300 teams which are purely first-come, first serve and 24 teams set aside for nations with slow internet access. The remaining 36 team slots are set aside to ensure that every nation that went to Worlds last year can go this year. These 36 slots will be held until the end of the first registration phase and if untaken will then be given to teams on the waiting list.

Our n-1 and adjudication registration policy
If you register with 3 teams, you are constitutionally required to send 2 judges. If you send 2 teams, you are constitutionally required to send 1 judge. If you send 1 team, you are allowed but not constitutionally required to send 1 judge. If you wish to send more judges than your n-1 allocation, you should get in contact with Can Okar at c.okar@kocworlds2010.com. He will then speak with the regional DCA and a decision will be made as to whether we can accommodate your request for extra judges.

Some institutions have stated that they wish to send less than the number of judges stipulated by the Worlds Constitution (i.e. less than n-1) either because air-fare is very expensive or because they do not feel they have sufficiently qualified adjudicators. In this situation, we will expect you to pay the full registration as required by the Constitution (i.e. if you want to send 3 teams, you will be expected to pay for 8 people) but you must get permission from the adjudication team first. At the first stage of registration, you should enter 3 teams and 2 judges or 2 teams and 1 judge but you will need to contact Can Okar as soon as possible to let us know that you won’t actually be sending a judge. We will then use the registration fee you pay to subsidise an independent adjudicator to take the place of the judge that you should have sent. This policy has been discussed with representatives of the Worlds Council Executive and we believe that it isthe most effective way of ensuring that we get the right balance of serving the interests of teams that want to compete at Worlds without undermining the quality of the adjudication pool.

If you are planning to register as an independent adjudicator, you can do this on the first day of registration. However, you must contact a member of the adjudication team first so that we can ensure that you are sufficiently qualified. We are able to offer limited subsidies to independent adjudicators who show financial need so please do get in touch with us as soon as possible.

Observers may also register from 22nd June onwards but must contact Hasan at h.s.arik@kocworlds2010.com and take a look at our website for further details.

Communication
We realize that you may need to get in touch with us on the day of registration. We have set up two Skype accounts for which you can add us from tomorrow onwards. These accounts will be live from 8am Turkish time on the 22nd June 2009 through to 5pm Turkish time on the 22nd June 2009. These accounts are kocworldshotline1 and kocworldshotline2.

You can also call us that day on +90 212 338 19 26. Before then, you can e-mail us at h.s.arik@kocworlds2010.com. We would be much obliged if you could try to limit your queries on this day and in the immediate following two days to issues surrounding Phase 1. Once we have ensured that the Phase has been completed, we will gladly entertain questions regarding payment.

That is a lot of information for you to digest but we hope that it is clear. Let us reiterate, if there are any areas of confusion, please do get in touch with any questions or concerns. We have tried to set up a registration that is fair for all involved, transparent and in the spirit of our guiding Constitution. We also believe that it is in the interests of both individual institutions and the tournament as a whole from the perspectives of international involvement and strength of the adjudication pool.

The 22nd awaits. We are ready – we hope you are too.

With our warmest regards,
Fatih Mehmet Inal and Suleyman Onay
Co-Convenors, Koc Worlds 2010

Hasan Sadik Arik
Registration Officer, Koc Worlds 2010

Can Okar
Chief Adjudicator, Koc Worlds 2010