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

21 May 2010

Videos from UADC

Logan has posted a number of videos from the recent UADC in Bangkok.


Demonstration Debate / Adjudication Test
THBT terminally ill patients should have access to drugs that have not beenclinically tested
GOV (Steph, Wen-U, Dai Oba)
OPP (Manaav, Neha, Tian Yian)
http://blip.tv/file/3646484

Round 1
THBT religious organizations should pay taxes on donations received and assets owned
Ateneo 2 vs BRAC 2
http://blip.tv/file/3646409

Round 2
THW Ban treatments that claim to cure homosexuality
NUS 2 vs DU 1
http://blip.tv/file/3646437

Round 3
THW confiscate property of those who cooperated with oppressive regimes after the fall of the regime
BIPEDS vs TWEDS
http://blip.tv/file/3646468

Round 4
THW place a prohibitive tax on car ownership
UST vs EDiS
http://blip.tv/file/3646465

Round 5
THBT the willingness to participate in formal public election debates should be a pre-requisite for candidates running for national office
IITB vs MUIC
http://blip.tv/file/3646485

Round 6
THBT that important characters in movies should be portrayed by actors ofthe same ethnicity
NLS vs FOLC
http://blip.tv/file/3647077

Round 7
THBT it’s time the US recognize Hamas as a legitimate representative of Palestine
SMU 1 vs IIUM 1
http://blip.tv/file/3647097

Round 8
THW compel children to care for their parents
NUS vs FOLC
http://blip.tv/file/3647113

Pre-Octofinals
THBT the WTO should hold all countries to uniform labour standards
RVCE 1 vs DLSU 3
http://blip.tv/file/3646524

Octofinals
THW make environmental protection a legitimate defense in the prosecution of destruction of property
Ateneo 3 vs UPD 1
http://blip.tv/file/3646554

Quarterfinals
THBT ASEAN nations should accept Burmese refugees
NLS 1 vs MUIC 1
http://blip.tv/file/3646553

Semifinals
THBT gay parades do more harm than good to the gay community
NTU 1 vs Ateneo 1
http://blip.tv/file/3647112

Finals
THW Abolish parties based on ethnicity
NTU 1 vs Ateneo 2
http://blip.tv/file/3647146

Red Sea Open - Importnant information‏

Dear Debaters,

No Tournament is a tournament without its screw-up, and we are happy to report we found ours! While we invited you all to join us at 22-26/08/2010, the truth is we would like to see you all on 29/08-02/09/2010, a week later.

The good news is, as a result of this hiccup, we shall have FREE ALCOHOL for the duration of the tournament! Free Hot Drinks- coffee, tea! If this isn't sufficient satisfaction, you are not really a debater - and you know it.

And the hotel is giving us all that for only 10 euro extra per person, so now you get Lots of parties, sun, beach, Beautiful hotel accommodation, great team of adjudicators, and…FREE ALL YOU CAN DRINK ALCOHOL!!!

However, since this is a debating tournament, and we do want you to be able to debate (or judge), we have decided to adopt the method used at worlds (with some adaptations to Israeli summer) - so free beer will be available all day long, but other alcoholic drinks will only be served after rounds are over....

We are sorry for any inconvenience, this really is an upgrade of the event in a total. We will be revealing the name of the person in charge of this problem at the tournament. There, you can blame him\her personally for what he\she has done.

Please let us know if this caused any major problems with your planning and if we can assist you in anyway

Regards

Jordan & Haya, conveners
p.s.
We are sure your asking how this could have happened? The answer has to do with trying to convert between the Hebrew Calendar (in which this year is 5770) and the more common Gregorian calendar (2010 AD). A bad conversation system led to the hotel resort understanding that we plan hosting the event on the last week of August 5771 A.D. We were fine with this, but many debaters complained it didn't fit with plans they had for that time. We quickly moved the tournament 3761 years back, but a week ahead.

20 May 2010

The second World Online Debating Championships‏

Hi
We are proud to announce that the second World Online Debating Championships will place in August and September of this year. Thirty-two teams from thirty-two countries will battle it out to be crowned the best online debaters in the world and you are cordially invited to be one of them.

Last year teams from Eastern and Western Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Asia tackled subjects as diverse as euthanasia, terrorism, vegetarianism, aliens, marriage, alcohol, drugs, gambling, banking and the environment. The subjects are announced on the day but you have 24 hours to present your arguments and the internet is at your disposal.

All debates take place in English under what is close to British Parliamentary rules. Judging will be done by ex-world champions, chief adjudicators and other highly experienced debaters, so ensuring your work will get the kind of feedback that allows you to develop your debating expertise regardless whether you win or lose.

Entrance costs $20 per person or $100 per team no matter how many members it has. Bursaries are available for those who need them.

To enter or apply for a bursary please email us. Registration closes on the 30th June so don’t delay, enter now.

We've got flyers and leaflets you can pass on to others on our blog here: http://debatewise.info/ 

On this page you'll also find links to last year's debates so you can judge the standard required, tips and tricks to help you learn how to debate better and the rules that will govern participation.

Hope you can make it,
Dave

Submission for the MDR‏

Dear All,

The Monash Debating Review is an annual debating publication, produced by The Monash Association of Debaters. The MDR is a scholarly, interdisciplinary journal that addresses issues of interest to debaters. We are currently seeking submissions from those with an interest in debating or debating issues for the 8th volume of the MDR . The MDR has a strong international focus. As such, we welcome submissions from all over the globe.

Submissions:

- Should be in English

- Should be 2000 to 3000 words in length

- Should be proper annotated in accordance with the guideline document. The guidelines are also available from any of the editorial team.

- Should be sent to the editorial committee via Harish Natarajan, the Editor in Chief by e-mail at hknatarajan@gmail.com in Word or RTF by July 31, 2010. Submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis so early submissions are encouraged.

- Should include a SEPARATE document stating the author’s name, University and debating society where applicable, a brief biography focusing on debating experience, contact e-mail address, postal address, word count and the title of the submission. Please do not place any identifying information in the body of your work.

- Joint authorship is permitted

- Publication is open to all those interested. Submissions must, however, be in some way relevant to debating.

- Submissions should focus either on an issue that may concern the international debating community, or a current event, or issue of international significance and its applicability to debating. The previous edition included essays on the use of International Law in debates, the politics of climate change, the role of a whip speaker, the substance of style, new arguments from new epistemologies, and debating in Africa.

Anyone who is interested in submitting an article is encouraged to contact one of the editorial team.

The Monash Debating Review is a peer reviewed journal. One or more referees will evaluate each submission. The author's name will not be disclosed to referees while they are evaluating submissions. Submissions may be returned for the author to make changes. Referees’ reports will be sent to each author after submission. In submitting an essay, the author agrees to transfer copyright, including electronic copyright, to the Monash Debating Review. We reserve the right to make changes to the essay before publication; these will not affect the substance of the submission.

Any queries requests for further information should be sent to the Editor (hknatarajan@gmail.com) or to your regional Associate editor (email address below)

We look forward to reading submissions from some of you soon!

Regards,
Harish Natarajan, Editor, IONA, hknatarajan@gmail.com
Paralabh Gupta, Associate Editor, Oceania, pralabh@hotmail.com
Andy Hume, Associate Editor, Asia, aahume@hotmail.com
Padraic Ryan, Associate Editor, North America, padraic.j.ryan@gmail.com

19 May 2010

1st United Asian Debating Championships, Bangkok

Greetings from the first United Asian Debating Champions, hosted by Assumption University in Bangkok. This tournament was especially important because as the Asian debate community came together after 5 years of separation, the crisis peaked in Bangkok - a stark reminder of the importance and relevance of debate. We were based about 30 minutes from the center of the protests, but the tournament progressed largely unaffected. The tournament ended yesterday.

For the first time, we broke 24 teams to represent the larger pool of participants. Teams 9th to 24th debated in a pre-octofinal break round.

Results

Champions of the first UADC - Ateneo de Manila University 2 (Walter Wong, Cecile Gotamco, Danielle de Castro)
Finalists - Nanyang Technology University 1 (Parvathy Prem, Anindya Dutta, Satya Venugopal)
Ateneo won 6-5 on the motion, THW Abolish ethnic based parties.

Semifinalists

  • National Law School India 1 (Vipul Nanda, Kalrav Rakesh Mishra, Shivam Singh) - lost 4-3 to Ateneo 2
  • Ateneo de Manila University 1 (Angelica Mangahas, Vincenzo Tagle, Stephanie Co) - lost 6-1 to NTU 1

Quarter Finalist

  • International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) 1
  • Mahidol University (MUIC) 1
  • University of Technology MARA (UT MARA) 2
  • University Philippines Manial (UPM) 1

Octofinalists

  • Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) 3
  • National University of Singapore (NUS) 2
  • National University of Singapore 1
  • National University of Singapore 4
  • RV College of Engineering (RVCE) 1
  • University of Colombo (FOLC) 1
  • University of Santo Tomas 1
  • University of Technology MARA 1

Pre-octofinalists

  • De LaSalle University (DLSU) 1
  • De LaSalle University 2
  • De LaSalle University 3
  • Delhi University (DU) 1
  • EWHA Womens University (EDiS) 1
  • Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) 1
  • Nanyang Technological University (NTU) 4
  • University Philippines Deliman (UPD) 2

EFL Results, Speaker, Adjudicator and Team tab, and videos to follow.

Motions

Round 0 – Ban

  • THW ban websites that do your assignments for you
  • THBT that governments should totally ban smoking
  • THW ban hymen reconstruction surgery

Round 1 – Religion

  • THBT the right to free speech does not extend to offending religions
  • THBT religious organizations should pay taxes on donations received and assets owned
  • THBT the Pope should be prosecuted for the crimes of Roman Catholic priests

Round 2 – Medical Ethics

  • THBT Doctors should be obligated to report suspected cases of domestic abuse
  • THBT Doctors should not be forced to perform medical procedures that are against their faith
  • THW Ban treatments that claim to cure homosexuality

Round 3 – Post Conflict

  • THBT post conflict societies should recruit rebel soldiers into state armies
  • THBT that it is justified to represent fallen regimes as absolutely evil in history textbooks
  • THW confiscate property of those who cooperated with oppressive regimes after the fall of the regime

Round 4 – Big Cities

  • THW pay youth to not move to urban centers
  • THW place a prohibitive tax on car ownership
  • THW impose curfews in high crimes areas 

Round 5 – Media

  • THBT that western liberal democracies should ban online anonymity
  • THBT the willingness to participate in formal public election debates should be a pre-requisite for candidates running for national office
  • THW ban advertisements that use sex to sell products

Round 6 – Pop Culture / Art

  • THBT Harry Potter has done more harm than good for literature
  • THBT that important characters in movies should be portrayed by actors of the same ethnicity
  • THW impose a minimum age for pop stars

Round 7 – International Relations

  • THBT it’s time the US recognize Hamas as a legitimate representative of Palestine
  • THBT the NLD should not boycott the elections in Burma
  • THBT the leaders of nations that stockpile agricultural products for economic gain while global hunger persists should be charged with crimes against humanity

Round 8 – Social Dilemmas

  • THW compel children to care for their parents
  • THW allow minors to apply to be recognised as adults before they reach they age of majority
  • THBT individuals who have undergone cosmetic surgery should be required to disclose it to anyone whom they want to have children with.

Pre-Octos - WTO

  • THBT Russia should be admitted as a full member into the WTO now
  • THBT the WTO should hold all countries to uniform labour standards
  • THBT the WTO dispute regulation mechanism should allow disregarding intellectual property as a form of retaliation to unfair trade practices

Octofinals - Environment

  • THW make environmental protection a legitimate defense in the prosecution of destruction of property
  • THBT The environmental movement should publish outright lies about the extent of environment harm to promote their cause
  • THBT governments should only subcontract to environmentally friendly companies

Quarters Finals and EFL Semifinals – Immigration

  • THBT ASEAN nations should accept Burmese refugees
  • THS accept migrants even if they do not respect laws banning polygamy
  • THW give asylum to sexual minorities

Semis – Sexy Time

  • THBT gay parades do more harm than good to the gay community
  • THW fund sex change operations
  • THBT women should withhold sex with their partners to get them to end violent rebellion against the state

EFL Finals – Crime and Punishment

  • THW create a DNA registry of all criminals
  • THW physically castrate rapists
  • THBT prisoners sentence to life without parole should be allowed to choose the death penalty

Finals – Asia and Unity

  • THW Abolish parties based on ethnicity
  • THW create an Asian Parliament
  • THBT China’s rise to power is in the best interest of Asia

(Finals motions the adjudication core wanted to run but didn't)

  • THBT Asia should have a common currency
  • THBT Asia should have the same electric socket configuration
  • THBT Asians should all drive on the same side of the road

18 May 2010

Better World Conference 2010‏

Blog for news and updates see:http://betterworldconference.blogspot.com/

Third International Conference on Argumentation, Rhetoric, Debate and the Pedagogy of Empowerment -- THINKING AND SPEAKING A BETTER WORLD.

Two previous conferences have been held, one in Koper and the other in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The third conference is planned for October 22-23-24, 2010. The conference will be hosted at the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor, http://www.ff.uni-mb.si/

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:
ARGUMENTATION: RASTKO MOCNIK - Teaches Theory of Discourse and Epistemology of the Humanities at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Ljubljana. Graduated from the University of Ljubljana in Sociology and Comparative Literature in 1968. Studied semiotics from 1969 – 1975 at l’Ecole pratique des hautes etudes, later École des hautes études en sciences sociales (Paris), with Algirdas J. Greimas. Obtained doctorat du troisième cycle in linguistics - literary semiotics at the Université de Paris X (Nanterre). In 1983, doctorate in sociology from the University of Ljubljana. Post-doctoral Fulbright fellow at the Department of Philosophy, University of California at Berkeley,1985. 1987-89 vice-rector of the University of Ljubljana - as the result of a campaign which led to the first fair and open election of the University leadership under the regime of the time. Recent publications: Altercations - essays on "totalitarianism”, the "alternative”, nationalism; Belgrade, 1998 - in Serbian; How Much Fascism? - essays on post-communist politics; Zagreb, 1998 - in Croatian; Theory for Our Times. Levi-Strauss, Mauss, Durkheim - a study in three retroactive movements; Skopje, 1999 - in Macedonian; Three Theories - Ideology, Nation, Institution - a rationalised presentation of respective theories and their mutual articulation, *cf., Ljubljana, 1999 - in Slovene; Encounters: histories, transitions, beliefs – essays on the theory of institution, nation, media, contemporary speech-practices, artistic practices and film; Sofia, 2001 – in Bulgarian.

DEBATE: SAM GREENLAND - Currently President of the World Universities Debating Council. Sam has debated for Oxford and has also been a successful schools coach, directing the Hong Kong team at numerous World Schools Debating Championships. Recently he has been representing the University of Sydney Union in competitions, and reaching the WUDC semifinals among other advanced elimination rounds. He has been very active in creating the standards for non-native speakers to participate in international tournaments such as the WUDC. Sam has also been working on now debate can be used as a tool for teaching English and how debating improves the overall academic performance of students.

PEDAGOGY: DEBBIE NEWMAN - Has experience of teaching debate around the world at all levels. She is now focused on using debating and other active techniques to improve classroom methods. She is a previous English national debating champion, president of the Cambridge Union Society and world champion schools debate coach. She has been on the faculty of the World Debate Institute, IDAS and the UK Debate Academy and is a former Head of the Centre for Speech and Debate at the English-Speaking Union in London. Although Debbie is an experienced university trainer, her focus is on schools debating: both working with children, from 8-18, and also working with teachers to help build their skills and confidence in training and judging debate. Training is always tailored to meet the needs of the hosts and will aim to be both challenging and enjoyable. Whether beginners learning the skills of debating for the first time, or the more experienced looking to hone their talents, all students and teachers will develop their abilities in a supportive and positive environment.

For more news and updates see: http://betterworldconference.blogspot.com/