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

3 October 2009

WODC Final in progress

The Final of the World Online Debating Championships is being contested by England and Estonia. Created by Debatewise.com - the leading online debating organisation in association with the International Debate Education Association (idea) – the leading offline debating organisation, the competition pitted twenty five national teams from virtually every corner of the globe against each other in debating the big issues facing the world today.
Finalists England overcame Estonia in their semi final, on the subject of whether an EU wide tax on meat consumption would help save the planet. Fellow finalists Lithuania beat South Korea in the other semi final, arguing successfully that all evidence gathered by intelligence agencies should be admissible in a court of law. The motion for the final is: We should prize freedom over security and abolish anti terrorism legislation - The competition has been a great success so far and the standard of the debates has been extremely high as was expected by the organisers.
The panel of judges assembled for the WODC by Harvey-Smith, former head of the World Universities Debating Council, has been described as the best ever compiled for a debating competition. It is perhaps Harvey-Smith who best summarises the value of an event such as the WODC, “Whatever the reason for participants entering the Championships, whether for debating practice, for fun or to win, there can be little doubt that in these times of unpopular wars and financial meltdown the need for debate is as strong as it will ever be. The WODC provides a much-needed and valuable platform for such debate.”

The panel of judges for the final features some genuine debating heavyweights. Chief Adjudicator Neill Harvey-Smith, who himself is a former World Championship grand finalist. Omar Salahuddin has been hugely successful during his own debating career, winning the Asian Masters four times with Team Malaysia, where he currently resides. Fellow judges include Monica Ferris, Croat Branka Marusic, who is the former President of the Europeans Council, and Colm Flynn, former chair of the World’s Council and Deputy Chief Adjudicator of Worlds. The list is completed by Logan Balavijendran who served as chief adjudicator for Worlds 2005 in Malaysia and will reprise that role for Worlds 2011 in Botswana.

To register your interest as a participant in the World Online Debating Championships 2010 or to view completed or current debates, please visit: www.debatewise.com/pages/wodc-debates

30 September 2009

Qatar Debate Coaching Position

QatarDebate is looking to hire a full time English Debate Specialist and Team Qatar Coach (one position) for the current school year. This person would not only coach our national team, but also run workshops, train locals to run workshops, and run tournaments (training can be provided for that). QD would like to have potential candidates come to run workshops and interview for the position.

For more information about QatarDebate, please visit the website at www.qatardebate.org.

If this is something you are interested in, please email a CV to Kelley Bieringer, Program Manager, at kbieringer@qf.org.qa.

Deadline to apply: 5 October, 2009

ANU Spring 2009

The Australian National University (ANU) Spring Tournament 2009 took place on the weekend of September 5th & 6th.

The winners of the tournament were Seamus Coleman and Duncan Kauffman (Melbourne University).

The other finalists were Nita Rao and Steph D’Souza (Composite), Victor Finkel and Pralabh Gupta (Monash University), and Sam Greenland and Patrick Caldwell (Sydney University).

The top ten speakers were:
1. Steve Hind
2. Tim Jeffrie
2. Victor Finkel
4. Chris Croke
5. Sam Greenland
5. Lauren Humphrey
7. Patrick Caldwell
8. Seamus Coleman
8. Duncan Kauffman
8. Chris Hibbard

More results available at http://debsoc.club.anu.edu.au/anu-spring-2009.html

UCD Vice-Presidents' Cup

The UCD Vice-Presidents' Cup will be held on Friday the 30th and Saturday the 31st of October. The Chief Adjudicators will be Marguerite Carter (Trinity IV winner, Irish Mace winner and European Semi-Finalist) and Will Jones (Reigning World Champion and European Champion 2008).

The Novice IV will be held on Thursday the 29th. This is the mace held prior to the UCD IV for first years and novice debaters, and this year's Chief Adjudicator will be Jeremy Kinsella (Reigning Irish Times Champion, 2006 Cambridge IV finalist, European semi-finalist and Irish Mace finalist).

The UCD IV 2009 hopes to be the largest ever, featuring over 80 teams. Food and entertainment will be provided on Friday and throughout Saturday. We will be having a Halloween fancy dress party on the Saturday night.

Registration is available through our website: http://www.ucd.ie/lnh/comps/nvpc.html

Contact Info

E-mail: iv@literaryandhistorical.com
Website: http://literaryandhistorical.com
Location: Box 33, Student Centre, UCD, Belfield, Dublin 4.


Hope to see you there.

Regards,

Kieran Daly
Eoghan Sheehy

Co-Convenors,
UCD IV 2009

Australian Women's Debating Championships 2009

Results from the Australian Women's Debating Championships 2009
Hosted by Macquarie University

Winners: USYD 2 (Closing Opp - Naomi Hart, Rebecca Barrett)
Grand finalists: USYD 1 (Julia Bowes, Eliza Forsyth), USYD 3 (Bronwyn Cowell, Nina Ubaldi), UNSW 2 (Su-Min Lim, Anh Tran-Nam)
Best Speaker: Julia Bowes

Motions
1 - THW legalise all soft drugs
2 - THW release all data about the academic performance of schools to the public
3 - THW allow intersex and transgender athletes to compete in women's sport
4 - THS the targeted killing of Taliban leaders
5 - THBT the USA should pay people to vote
6 - THBT governments should prevent convicted paedophiles from living in certain communities
SF -THW stop giving foreign aid to Africa
GF - THBT Turkey should lift the ban on headscarves in universities

Adj core: Lauren Humphrey (CA), Sarah Lynch & Naomi Oreb (DCAs)

World Online Debating Championship Final

The first ever World Online Debating Championship has reached its climax this week with England and Lithuania the two teams left fighting to become World Champions. Created by Debatewise.com - the leading online debating organisation in association with the International Debate Education Association (idea) – the leading offline debating organisation, the competition pitted twenty five national teams from virtually every corner of the globe against each other in debating the big issues facing the world today. Finalists England overcame Estonia in their semi final, defeating the Eastern Europeans on the subject of whether an EU wide tax on meat consumption would help save the planet. Fellow finalists Lithuania beat South Korea in the other semi final, arguing successfully that all evidence gathered by intelligence agencies should be admissible in a court of law. The no doubt hotly contested final will start at 12 noon GMT today (28th September), with the question being -We should prize freedom over security and abolish anti terrorism legislation - and will be judged by six judges, who include former world and European debating champions. The competition has been a great success so far and the standard of the debates has been extremely high as was expected by the organisers.

“One of the most interesting and positive aspects of the championship is that countries who are miles apart geographically, culturally and politically, and some of whom may be under represented on the world stage, are able to battle it out face to face, or in this case keyboard to keyboard, on the level playing field of the internet,” says Debatewise.com founder David Crane. “A debate for example between South Korea and Lithuania is not an everyday occurrence, and allows readers and debaters to develop a deeper understanding of another country’s stance on important issues. Furthermore, the championship has allowed countries the opportunity to shake off stereotypes. Quarter finalists Venezuela have shown that, despite internal concerns about the views of President Hugo Chavez on freedom of speech, the opportunity and willingness to debate is strong and demonstrates that, perhaps surprisingly, the country has one of the highest literacy rates in South America.”

The subjects for debate are decided by the chief adjudicator Neill Harvey-Smith and endeavour to address issues that have particular resonance in participating countries. Pakistan faced Chile earlier in the competition on whether the media should be banned from reporting on hostage taking, while Indonesia, facing Mexico, debated that poorer countries should abandon free trade agreements. The feedback from participants has been highly positive. “I think that WODC is a great experience. I feel that this tournament has improved my debating skills greatly” enthuses Latvian team member, Nikita. A sentiment echoed by USA team captain Kory Pace, “The tournament was intellectually engaging and brought some interesting perspectives from around the world.”

The panel of judges assembled for the WODC by Harvey-Smith, former head of the World Universities Debating Council, has been described as the best ever compiled for a debating competition. It is perhaps Harvey-Smith who best summarises the value of an event such as the WODC, “Whatever the reason for participants entering the Championships, whether for debating practice, for fun or to win, there can be little doubt that in these times of unpopular wars and financial meltdown the need for debate is as strong as it will ever be. The WODC provides a much-needed and valuable platform for such debate.”

To register your interest as a participant in the World Online Debating Championships 2010 or to view completed or current debates, please visit: www.debatewise.com/pages/wodc-debates

Company info:
Debatewise (http://www.debatewise.com/) is an not for profit online debating site which aims to become the Wikipedia of debate. Anyone can start a debate on any subject they like and anyone can edit and strengthen that debate, this ensures that over time the strongest and most definitive arguments emerge and provide a highly valuable resource for anyone looking to make up their mind. Debatewise was founded in 2008 by David Crane and is currently based in the London internet hub of Hoxton in East London. Patrons include Michael Crick, Gabby Logan and Chris Heaton Harris.

Contact details Tel: 44 20 3393 7223
07956 292 567
info@debatewise.com
Debatewise CIC
Scrutton Street
London ,EC2A 4PJ
UK