Preparation for WUDC Council in Manila‏

Dear members of the WUDC Council,

With approximately ten weeks before we all meet in Manila, the purpose of this message is to pave the way for what hopefully will be a concise discussion at both pre-Council and Council, and to re-start the discussion on issues that we were unable to solve at our meetings in Gaborone. Also, it should inform you about recent news from Botswana, Manila and Berlin.

Also, this should serve as a kind request: If you have issues that you would like to discuss in Manila, please let us know well in advance. We obviously cannot (and will not try to) stop you from bringing up new issues at Worlds itself, but experience shows that such issues tend to be under-discussed. So in the spirit of a well-informed debate, please start your engines now.

We plan to send out the detailed agenda by Dec. 1st 2011. Therefore, we would like to request that any input you would like to have included in that invitation, including any policy proposal or maybe just some poetry, should be emailed to Simone (simone.vanelk@gmail.com) by November 25th. 

All the best, we hope for a productive discussion!

Jens Fischer (Chairman)
Steve Johnson (Registrar)
Simone van Elk (Secretary)


Disclaimer:
For reasons of simplicity, this document references other sources that are available on Google docs. We are aware that some countries ban access to gdocs. If you should have trouble viewing any of the links in this document, or the original document itself (in which case you are probably reading the pdf-version that has been distributed - the original can be found here: http://goo.gl/kBWlD), please inform Simone by email to simone.vanelk@gmail.com. She will then get in touch with you, and provide you with pdf versions of the other documents mentioned.


1. The contact list of delegates and others (as we know it)
Below, you find the list that was compiled at the Council in Botswana, and added to by us during the year. Please check it for errors. Also, if you find your own name on the list, but are not your country’s rep anymore, please send an email with the name of your successor and their correct email address to simone.vanelk@gmail.com. We will then update the corresponding google document accordingly (which can be found here: http://goo.gl/hcMDz).

Thank you!

First Name	Last Name	Representing	Status
Jens	Fischer	Chair	1 Committee
Steve	Johnson	Registrar	1 Committee
Simone	van Elk	Secretary 2011-12	1 Committee
Ahyoung	Kim	Council Equity Officer	1 Committee
Sonia	Loudon	Women's Officer	1 Committee
Adam	Goldstein	Americas	2 Regional Rep
Thepparith	Senamngern	Asia	2 Regional Rep
Jens	Fischer	Europe/ME	2 Regional Rep
Victor	Finkel	Oceania	2 Regional Rep
Arlan	Narvaez	Caribbean & Latin America	2 Regional Rep
Steven	Nolan	IONA	2 Regional Rep
Chris	Bisset	Australia	3 Country Rep
Weese	Leonhard	Austria	3 Country Rep
Md. Abir	Hasan	Bangladesh	3 Country Rep
Senwelo	Moupo	Botswana	3 Country Rep
Tumo	Mpatane	Botswana	3 Country Rep
Auyon	Siddiq	Canada	3 Country Rep
Xi	Li (Cecilee)	China	3 Country Rep
Domagoj	Baric	Croatia	3 Country Rep
Tom	Jackson	England	3 Country Rep
Anna	Karolin	Estonia	3 Country Rep
Louisa	Zhang	France	3 Country Rep
Marcus	Ewald	Germany	3 Country Rep
Jasmine	Tam	Hong Kong	3 Country Rep
Shobhit	Singhal	India	3 Country Rep
Invi	Atmanegara	Indonesia	3 Country Rep
Catherine	Murphy	Ireland	3 Country Rep
Hayah	Eichler	Israel	3 Country Rep
Carlton	Lowrie	Jamaica	3 Country Rep
Keita	Takayanagi	Japan	3 Country Rep
Ye eun	Kim	Korea	3 Country Rep
Masechaba	Nkcsi	Lesotho	3 Country Rep
Suthen	Thomas	Malaysia	3 Country Rep
Carl	Pesat	Namibia	3 Country Rep
Anne	Valkering	Netherlands	3 Country Rep
Victor	Baguilat Jr.	Philipphines	3 Country Rep
Ian	Lacey	Qatar	3 Country Rep
Veronika	Nikitina	Russia	3 Country Rep
Robert	Cooklin	Scotland	3 Country Rep
Milan	Vignjevic	Serbia	3 Country Rep
Aji	Abu	Singapore	3 Country Rep
Anna	England Kerr	Slovenia	3 Country Rep
Daniel	Kaliski	South Africa	3 Country Rep
Luang	P	Thailand	3 Country Rep
Suleyman	Onay	Turkey	3 Country Rep
Bongo Patrick	Namisi	Uganda	3 Country Rep
Kate	Falkenstien	USA	3 Country Rep
Alejandro	Garcia	Venezuela	3 Country Rep
Michael	Keary	Wales	3 Country Rep
Innocent B	Ncube	Zimbabwe	3 Country Rep
Colm	Flynn	Emeritus	4 Emeritus
Ray	D'Cruz	Emeritus	4 Emeritus
Ian	Lising	Emeritus	4 Emeritus
Omar	Salahuddin	Emeritus	4 Emeritus
Dino	de Leon	Convenor 2012	5 WUDC 2012
Sam	Block	CA 2012	5 WUDC 2012
Lucinda	David	CA 2012	5 WUDC 2012
Patrick	Ehmann	Convenor 2013	6 WUDC 2013
Douglas	Cochran	CA 2013	6 WUDC 2013
Sharmila	Parmanand	CA 2013	6 WUDC 2013
Joe	Roussos	Secretary 2010-11	7 Others
Duncan	Campbell	Chair 2010-11	7 Others
Logan	Balavijendran	CA 2011	7 Others

2. Our procedural wishes and ideas
It is our strong desire to keep both pre-Council and Council as concise as possible. Therefore, this is what we would like to request from all Council members:

If you wish to bring in a motion on any of the issues under discussion, please do these two things:

- Try to discuss them with other delegates BEFORE we actually go to Manila. The email list above should help you with that, and we will try to channel discussions into forums.

- We will only accept substantive motions or proposals IN WRITING. This make it much easier for the Secretary to record motions accurately and will facilitate discussion of particular questions.

We hope that all discussions will be productive, we still think that in Council itself it’s always hard to be innovative - please take some time to prepare before you attend the sessions. Thank you!


3. Botswana follow-ups
The minutes
Unfortunately, due to a computer failure we do not have the original minutes any more. We have tried to reconstruct what happened in Botswana, you find the reconstruction for download at http://goo.gl/ztEW1.

If you have anything to add or correct, please notify Simone by email to simone.vanelk@gmail.com. Since the minutes need to be ratified in Manila anyways, we will have time to discuss such issues there.

The Convenor and CA report
The Convenor and the CA of Botswana Worlds are in the process of writing up their reports, those will be made available with the full agenda by Dec. 1st.

There will be time in Manila to ask questions about these reports.


4. Preparations for Manila
Confirmation of Delegate Eligibility
Article 22 of the WUDC Constitution outlines eligibility criteria for delegates debating in the World Universities Debating Championships. In particular, the constitution specifies that Regional or Country delegates are to determine questioned eligibility for delegates from their jurisdictions. To facilitate this process, we have asked that the OrgComm provide a list of delegates registered to speak in Manila. We will circulate these lists to the relevant representatives when they are made available to us. We ask that the representatives review these lists to determine if any questions of eligibility exist. Questions about interpreting eligibility guidelines may be directed to the Executive and may also be brought to the attention of Pre-Council.

The Convenor and CA report
The Convenor and the CA of Manila Worlds are in the process of preparing their reports, those will be made available with the full agenda by Dec. 1st.

There will be time in Manila to ask questions about these reports.


5. Preparations for Berlin
The Convenor and CA report
The Convenor and the CA of Berlin Worlds are in the process of preparing their reports, those will be made available with the full agenda by Dec. 1st.

There will be time in Manila to ask questions about these reports.

6. Invitation for Bids for 2014
We so far have not heard of any bid proposals. Please let us know if you are thinking about bidding - we promise not to tell, but it would provide some peace of mind for us.


7. The main issues on the Council agenda
Again, we hope that all these discussions can be concise. We have added a non-binding short text for each of the issues, so you know what this is all about. If you care about any of these things, please start writing about it and discuss it with others.

1. Registration: Should council mandate the registration process? Does the process need reform? And if yes: What kind of policy would be best?

2. Break reform: Should we change the current system of the open break with 32 teams, and ESL/EFL-breaks with up to 16 teams? If yes: What kind of policy would be best?

3. Proposal for an eligibility committee: Should we form a committee that oversees eligibility of competitors before pre-Council? Simone van Elk is writing up a proposal that will be distributed together with the agenda on Dec. 1st.

4. Responsibility of the host: Is the host obliged to fund their adjudication core for the bid defense (a year earlier) and the report to Council (a year later)?

5. Discretion of the host: Is the host allowed to field teams at their own Worlds, if they so choose?