New BP Tab Software Released; Tabbie 1.2

Hello debaters,

First of all, sorry for cross posting. I think the subject of the mail actually does cross the different lists and can be justified as such.

In this email I'd like to:
Introduce Tabbie BP Debating Tab Software
Introduce its history
Call to participate and share
Claim the best current draw algorithm in the world
Tabbie is web based BP Debating Tabulation Software.

Free Download At Tabbie 1.2

Promo snipplet of properties:Official
It uses the official WUDC rules to calculate its draw. Safe and stable - It's been tried in practice at a tournament as large as NTU Worlds 2004 with great success. Fair. Tabbie currently has the best known implementation worldwide of the draw algorithm, giving the most balanced distribution of positions in the debate to the teams. (More info)

Scalable for large tournaments:
It is web based, you can use multiple computers for inputting data. Its Easy. Things like customized adjudication sheets for the tab can be created in one click.

Open and Free.
Its source code is freely inspectable. You can inspect any file (like the Draw Algorithm), and modify or add anything you like. Download is free.
Alive. As of July 2007 changes are being made to make it work even better.
History, State of the art, Uniting Tab Software

I found Tabbie on Flynn's site when looking for a piece of software to run the IDC tournament we had last week and which ran very smoothly, partially thanks to Tabby (this message is strangely unrelated to IDC's bid for Euros today). I was looking for something stable, adaptable ( i.e. open) and cool (nice forms etc.). Tabbie turned out to have these properties, though installing it required more than average computer skill (i.e. fixing the whole thing up).

Looking around I noticed the following: The amount of different pieces of Tab Software that are produced once by some wizard and then left by the roadside after the wizard leaves is unfortunately quite high. As far as I know (based on googeling and flynn.debating.net) the current state of the art is such:

Cragie Tab - Excel - used a lot. (I personally don't want to mess around with excel)
Tournaman - Delphi - used a lot in Germany. (I didn't want a closed source system)
Zorro - online system - I have no idea how to get in other systems seem even less maintained. However, I may miss some important systems here and would love to have them pointed out to me (and the community). In general, there are a lot of important tournament of which I have no idea which software they are using.

Tabbie seemed to fit into the "left by the roadside" pattern - it dates back to the NTU / Singapore Worlds 2004. I have no idea if anyone used it since. (I would like to thank Colm Flynn for preserving this excellent piece of software, when the original source had already long gone.) Anyway, I've dusted it off, provided some easier installation module and changed some things to my liking / understanding. The result can be inspected (live) at http://tabbie.sourceforge.net/run/

More importantly, I'd like to try to finally break this pattern of "use once" tab packages. This has been a bit of a spare-time activity and I am definitely not planning on monopolizing development. I have, therefore, created a repository at sourceforge.net (an open source platform). Anyone who wants to join - send me a mail and I'll put you on the developers list.

Participation - Specifically
Specifically, there is a lot that can still be done:I'm very interested to hear who is actually using Tabbie. Feedback of all kinds is very welcome.

Tell us how easy/hard Tabbie was to install on your system. (Since Tabbie is Web Based, installation is more complicated than downloading an excel sheet or exe file. An installation guide is provided, but I would very much like to hear if people have trouble installing to get into contact with me so we can have a truly easy to install system.)Report any bugs, Fix any bugs.

Request a feature
Add nice pictures and colours
Add stuff that you use in mail-merge like ways (powerpoints, pdf's etc) Add a feature yourself, and upload it

Become a developer
As you can see, many of these things do not require either a long time commitment, or much programmers knowledge, so join in....

The Draw Algorithm:
To open up the debate I would like to claim the following: Tabbie currently possesses the best algorithm world wide that complies to WUDC rules. More about this claim can be found at http://tabbie.sourceforge.net/draw_algorithms.php (high technical level). I would like to invite anyone with a better algorithm to present it to the debating community. Also, I know that there are algorithms out there that are specifically not WUDC but could be interesting for some users. I'd love to see their source code.

Version 1.2 Specific changes for the newest version.
The print module has been reorganized (cleaned up)
The live demo now supports "one click pdf": ( http://tabbie.sourceforge.net/run/rest.php?result_type=pdf&function=adjudicator_sheets¶m=1)

Regards,
Klaas van Schelven

Source: EUDC List

SAID Singapore Debating Report 2007

Dear all,

SAID was involved in 4 local debate education programmes in Singapore in the months of March and April 2007. Below are the details of these 4 Singaporean events:

Singapore Ministry of Education Debate Across the Curriculum (DAC) Workshop

Jointly organised by the Singapore Ministry of Education and SAID on 12th and 13th March 2007, the first-ever Debate Across the Curriculum (DAC) Workshop was attended by 70 teachers in Singapore. This pedagogy workshop was conducted by two world renowned debate educators, Dr Charles "Tuna" Snider, from Vermont University, USA, and Ms Bojana Skrt, from ZIP-Pro et Contra, Institute of Culture of Dialogue, Slovenia.

Activity

1. Giving a Public Speaking Workshop at Methodist Girls' School to 200 students on 20th March 2007;

2. Debating and Adjudicating in an Exhibition Debate on "Banning of cosmetic surgery" against debaters from Temasek Secondary School on 20rh March 2007.

3. Debating and Adjudicating in an Exhibition Debate on "Negotiating with terrorists" at Raffles Junior College against the Singapore World Schools National Team on 21st March 2007.

4. Debating and Adjudicating in an Exhibition Debate on "Single-gender schools" against debaters from Chestnut Drive Secondary School on 21st March 2007; and

5. A Meet & Teach Session with 4 SAID under-10 kids at Trellis Towers,Toa Payoh, on 21st March 2007.

SAID-Kyushu University Debate Education Programme

5 Japanese debaters from Kyushu University Debating Section, Akira. Naomi, Hiroki, Tomi and Rumiko, were in Singapore for 14 days, from 20th March to 2nd April 2007, to better their English and to improve their debating skills. They are the juniors of Hiroshi and Masaki who came to take similar debate lessons from Loke Wing Fatt last year.

Akira. Naomi, Hiroki, Tomi and Rumiko were literally "home tutored" daily at Loke Wing Fatt's home on how they could be better thinkers and debaters. They were also given daily opportunities to engage in joint debate training sessions with local debaters ranging from primary and secondary school students to experienced adult debaters affiliated with SAID.

SAID Primary School Debate Initiative

At the instigation of Mrs Lor Bee Kheng, an enterprising Singaporean mother who found SAID on the Internet and requested for our help to teach her son debating, Loke Wing Fatt initiated a primary school debate programme for boys who are below the age of 10 years at a private home at Trellis Towers, Toa Payoh. 3 boys are now in the programme, which commenced on 1st March 2007. We meet once a week for 1.5 hours of debate classes.

Methodist Girls' School (MGS) Public Speaking Contest

The Methodist Girls' School Public Speaking Contest was held on 19th April 2007. Founded in 1887, Methodist Girls' School is a prestigious, centenarian girls' school famed for producing strong-minded and well-rounded individuals in Singapore. At the event, 12 contestants aged between 13 to 16 competed, in accordance to the Plain English Speaking Association (PESA) rules and regulations. Women issues dominated the themes of most speakers. In the end, a pair of sisters, Ms Jessica Lee and Ms Hannah Lee, won the top honours fro the Lower and Upper Secondary School Categories.


Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin

Source: http://said.d2dsg.com/view.php?sub=main&page=index

Hong Kong Delta-Region Intervarsity Debate 2007

Dear all,

Hong Kong Parliamentary Debating Society ( HKPDS) would like to congratulates Rachel Hui and Joanne Ng of HKU B who are Champions of the HKPDS Delta-Region Intervarsity Debating Championship 2007. The tournament saw 15 teams from seven Universities compete for the Championship in British Parliamentary style debating.

participating Universities were:

 Chinese University of Hong Kong (1 team)
 Hong Kong Baptist University (3 teams)
 Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2 teams)
 Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (1 team)
 Ling Nan University (2 teams)
 University of Macau (1 team)
 University of Hong Kong (4 teams)

The 6 Preliminary Rounds were held at the at the University of Hong Kong recently. The top 4 teams progressed into the Grand Final.

The Grand Finalists were:

Opening Government:
Poly A – Walter Wong & Florence Au (who broke 3rd tied on 12 points, averaging 151.4 speaker points per round)

Opening Opposition:
CUHK B – Alice Pang & Sanyi Shum (who broke 2nd tied on 12 points, averaging 153 speaker points per round)

Closing Government:
HKU B – Rachael Hui & Joanne Ng (who broke 1st on 17 points)

Closing Opposition:
HKU A – Pulcheria Chung & Linda Chan (who broke 4th tied on 11 points, averaging 153.83 speaker points per round)

The Grand Final Judges were:

 Elton Chan
 Kevin Li
 Le-Shan Kwan
 Tim Parker (Chair)

HKPDS would like to thank all the teams, judges and helpers for their tremendous contribution to the tournament. In particular, we would like to thank Irene Yeung and Dr. Albert Chau from HKU OSA who helped us to secure venues for the tournament.


Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin

Source: http://www.hkpds.org/index.html

Hong Kong BP Workshop 2007 Start from Today

Dear all,

Hong Kong Debating Society's Summer Workshop is starting from july 30. this BP style workshop includes 6-day camp, students will be coached by the World’s top debaters, adjudicators and trainers in British Parliamentary style debating – the international debating format. This year’s trainers include the former World Debating Champion (2006), and the former Chief Adjudicator of the World Universities Debating Championships (2005).The Workshop is aimed at students continuing University, although younger students may also be considered. Debating experience is not a must, but is preferred.

Date and Location

Monday 30th July – Saturday 4th August
New Asia College, Chinese University of Hong Kong

The first two days of the Summer Workshop programme consist of small-group workshops, followed by three -days of competition debating. The last day (Saturday) will consist of a finals series, culminating in a public Grand Final debate in which the top four teams will compete for the HKPDS Cup. The Summer Workshop also features evening talks from top Hong Kong and international figures; past guests include the Hon. Ms. Rita Fan, President of the Legislative Council, and English Members of Parliament the Hon. Mr. Paul Keetch and the Hon. Mr. Nigel Evans.


Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin

Source: http://www.hkpds.org/index.html

3rd EU-Thailand National Debating Championships 2007

Dear all,

This year the Delegation of the European Commission (EU) in Thailand, in collaboration with the British-American Studies Program (BAS) in the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Thammasat University, organized “The 3rd EU-Thailand National Inter-varsity Debate Championship 2007”. The host of this Debating Championship was Thammasat Speakers Union.

Following on from the success of last year’s event, some 60 teams from more than 20 universities has competed in three days of debating on a wide-range of topics including Thailand’s political and economic reforms, university autonomy, the development of nuclear technology, environmental protection and ASEAN integration. Among new comers to the competition are Prince of Songkla University, Neresuan University, Mahasarakham University, and Bansomdejchaopraya Rajabhat.

Background:

This National Competition was aimed at promoting Asian style debating in Thailand and giving awareness to current events in the world, especially issues that deal with the EU. This is because debating stimulates critical thinking, discussion, and knowledge of the issues that affect us either directly or indirectly. The competition is also a way for the EU and Thai Academic Institutions to strengthen relations.

The First EU-Thailand National Debate Championship 2005 has proved to be very successful in bringing an international experience to students in Thailand. The competition was participated by more than 100 students from four universities: Thammasat University, Chulalongkorn University. Mahidol University and Assumption University. It was beneficial not only to debaters who directly participated in the competition, but also students responsible for the organization and others who witnessed the competition, namely the representatives from the Member State Embassies, Media and other students. The Delegation has therefore planned to continue this activity and expand the scale of the competition to more students across the country.

EU-Thiland 2007 top Speakers

1. Sureerat Sachanakul - Assumption University
1. Verapat Pariyawong - Chulalongkorn University
2. Phuripat Chantavarin - Chulalongkorn University
3. Phra Chainarong Sangsranoi - Mahidol University International College
3. Peter Isaac Simon - Assumption University
4. Thanachote Rungsitivut - Thammasat University
4. Yao Qiang - Mahidol University International College
4. Alisha Sachchathep - Mahidol University International College
4. Chutinan Chutima - Chulalongkorn University
5. Courtney James O’ Connor - Mahidol University International College

The grand final motion:
This house believes that Thailand should take the lead in developing ASEAN along the EU

Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin

Source: http://www.geocities.com/thammasat_speakers/

Pakistan Debating and its recent Achievements

Dear all,

Each year several debating championship held in Pakistan in different format. This news collection will give you a glance of Pakistan Debating round the year.

All Pakistan Inter-University Debating Contest 2007
All Pakistan Inter-University Debating Contestfor Award of ‘Allama Iqbal Shield’ was held at NED University, Karachi in March 2007. Mr. Muhammad Umair Bashir, obtained 1st Position and a cash prize of Rs. 5,000/- for his excellent debate in English.

Sixth GIKI Parliamentary Debates 2007
Sixth GIKI Parliamentary Debates were held at Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute (GIKI), Topi, NWFP, in February 2007. Syed Asad Daniyal, received the 1st Best English Speaker’s Trophy.

4th International Shahjiwana Debating Competition 2007
4th International Shahjiwana Debating Competition 2007was held at University College Lahore, Lahore, in February 2007. The AKU team won the First Position and won a trophy. (Names of students : Mr. Khurram Owais, Mr. Aziz Ahmed, Mr. Umar Bhatti, Mr. Ahsan Raza, Mr. Umar Rashid, Mr. Umar Tariq and Mr. Haider Warraich).

15th All Pakistan Bilingual Declamation Contest
15th All Pakistan Bilingual Declamation Contest 2006 was held at Cadet College Pataro, Petaro in November 2006. Mr. Omer Tarar won the Consolation Prize for his speech in Urdu.

Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin

7th UAE Skyline Crossfire Debate Tournament 2007

Picture is taken from 2005 UAE Debate Championships


Dear all,

The University of Wollongong in Dubai 'Speech and Debate' team wins again with another impressive performance in the inter-collegiate competition circuit.

The UOWD debating team of Sonia Manek and Samarth Meherish competed against 8 other UAE universities in the 7th annual Skyline Crossfire Debate Tournament held recently in Sharjah, UAE. Samarth was named Best Speaker for the Motion, winning the top rank and trophy. UOWD was narrowly edged out for Best Overall Team by MAHE-Manipal.

The team was coached by UOWD faculty members Melissa Bos and Swapna Koshy.

Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin

Micronesia Law Day Debate 2007

Dear all,

The 2007 FSM law day was successfully held in Colonia, Yap on July 12, 2007. Kosrae State won the 2007 national debate, Chuuk was the first runner-up and Pohnpei and Yap tied for third position.

The FSM law day was first organize and held on July 12, 1991 to commemorate the first ten years of existence of the supreme court of the FSM. It has since become an annual activity of the court. Each year, a coordinating committee is appointed comprising employees of the court and one member is appointed by the President of the FSM and one appointed by the Speaker of Congress.

Each year a state championship debate in held in each state to determine which school should represent that state in the national debate championship. The state champion debaters representing the State of Kosrae were Ms. Evangeline Ching and Ms. Sepe Waguk from Kosrae high school and Ms. Martha Timothy was their coach.

The national debate held on July 12 of each year is important because it gives the high school students an opportunity to involve themselves with the legal system and it also gives an opportunity to the general public to get involve in issues of national significant for the FSM. For a nation of law there is no title higher than that of citizens.

The first semi-final debate followed the opening ceremony between Pohnpei for the proposition and Kosrae against the proposition. The second semi-final debate was between Yap for the proposition and Chuuk against the proposition. In the final debate in the afternoon, Chuuk argued for the proposition while Kosrae again argued against the proposition. Debaters representing Kosrae won the 2007 national debate, Chuuk was the first runner-up and Pohnpei and Yap tied for third position.

Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin

Source: Federal State of Micronesia Government Site: http://www.fsmgov.org/press/pr07270f.htm

MIEDC Registration period is stretched until 8 August 2007

Dear all,

Due to great interest of the participants, we have received requests
from a number of institutions to extend the registration period due to
the many activities in the debating scene recently. So far we have
received good response from a good number of local institutions, a
couple from Thailand, India and Singapore.

In order to ensure the support for aspiring debaters we are pleased to
announce that the registration period is stretched until 8 August 2007
(Wednesday), 11:59pm (Malaysian time). Thus all teams registering
within this period is waved from being charged any extra fees and only
required to pay the normal rate of MYR 125.00 (without accommodation)
/ MYR 225.00 (with accommodation) per participant.

However we advise you to register formally with us soonest possible as
we have to settle with very limited places. It is in the interest of
the organizer, however, to increase the number of team cap in the next
MIEDC.

Hoping to see a you at IIU from 18 to 20 August 2007 and please feel
free to pop us any question in your mind.

Contacts:
Secretariat Office
4th Level, Economics and Management Building,
Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences,
International Islamic University Malaysia,
Jalan Gombak, 53100 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.

Tel. : +603-6196 4199
Fax : +603-6196 4850

Regards,
SYUHAIB ITHNIN
Convener
+60132840964
URL : www.miedc.net

Source: AUDC List

Korea University Open Mini IV Results & Motions

Championships Results

Champion: Team "D", composed of Soo-hyun Yoo, Sumi Park, and
Sungkwan Jung. Runner-up: Team "B," composed of Heejin Ahn, Mikyoung Kim, and Jieun
Yoo

Best Speakers

1. Youjin Chung
2. Sumi Park
3. Taehyun Kim

Motions:

Round 1: Justice & War
1. THW reject the current global ban on the use of cluster bombs.
2. THBT terrorism is a legitimate means of warfare.
3. THBT every country should have the internationally recognized right
to take unilateral military action.

Round 2: Sports & Entertainment
1. THW require corporate sponsorships for sporting events to be
proportionate to its sponsorship for a comparable women's sporting
event.
2. THW punish the teams for their fans' misbehaviour.
3. THS boycotting sporting events on political grounds.

Round 3: Children & Education
1. THW spank other people's children.
2. THBT children's stories should have happy endings.
3. THW ban books featuring gay parents from elementary school
libraries.

Final Round: History & Reflections
1. THW require Turkey to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide as a
condition for its accession to the European Union.
2. TH regrets the demise of the Soviet Union.
3. THBT Africa's wealth in valuable natural resources has been more of
a curse than a blessing.

Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin

Source: Korea Debate List

International Mandarin Chinese Debating Championships 2007

Dear all,

This year's International Varsity Debate hits cyberspace as it continues to spread the use of Mandarin around the world. Organised by Singapore's MediaCorp and China's CCTV, this highlight on the international debating calendar will also see a record number of 21 teams from non-native speaking countries battle it out.

The Inter-varsity Debate series started in Singapore in 1986. Apart from the fast and furious repartee that's already a hallmark of this competition, this year's International Varsity Debate will go high tech and sport a new look. Organizers promise there will be fireworks on stage and the key to that is the choice of debate motions which will move away from the philosophical and academic.

The teams are from six countries - US, UK, Russia, Australia, South Korea and Egypt. In the Asian category, teams from China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia will compete. Only the best will be chosen to take part in the international contest.

From July 32 teams from various Chinese universities will fight to represent their country. These rounds will be broadcast over the Internet, with teams and judges doing their verbal sparring from their respective locations. This year will also see a record 21 foreign teams taking part in their own non-native speaker category. To stretch their abilities, they will duel with debaters from Tsinghua University and Zhejiang University.

All semi-finalists will fly to Beijing in October, where online viewers will be able to vote for their favourite teams. It was known then as the Asian Inter-Varsity Debate, and was organised by Singapore's national broadcaster. But in the last 14 years, it has evolved into a collaboration between MediaCorp and its Chinese counterpart.

"This is the eighth debate series organised by Mediacorp and CCTV, and I think we have reached a new milestone. I believe this year's debate will offer more and will be on a bigger scale," said Woon Tai Ho, Managing Director of MediaCorp News. "This time, the topics will be closer to the hearts of the youth and will be related to news affecting our lives. It will also include unresolved political and social issues, as well as hot topics of the day," said Xie Qing, Executive Director of the 2007 International Varsity Debate.

Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin

Source: Channel NewsAsia

Monsoon-Summer Debating in Bangladesh

Dear all,

Each year during the summer in Bangladesh different debating activities picks-up with the new arrival of Monsoon and different seasonal fruities. Summer songs click the debaters to start the slice of debating activities in different educational debating organizations. This institution each year arranges summer debating for their students extracurricular and celebrates the Monsoon and its flavor. This activity includes different food festivals, cultural carnivals and in schools debating. This article will contain some of these summer schools debating activities in Bangladesh.

AUB Summer Debate Competition 2007

AUB Debate competition 2007 was organized successfully by Asian University Debating club to celebrate the Monsoon Day. The final round was on 26th June 07. The program consisted of prize giving ceremony, declaration of new commitee and reunion.A public speaking program was held. The champion crest won by Rawshan Ara Lubna from English department -10th batch.In debating, the champion team were Daisy, Ferdous, and Taposh from BBA dept.

Festive Fresher's Summer Debate in BUET

BUET Debating Club recently organized the Fresher's Debate Championship in this summer. It commenced from the 21st of June and ended with its three day program on the 23rd of June. Debaters from both the batch-05 and batch-06 participated in the program. Public Speaking was also a part of the program. On the first day of the program, preliminary round debates were organized in the traditional format. The topics of the first round focused on the current national issues. Five winning teams along with three best losers advanced to the second round. Debates were simultaneously conducted at the seminar room and the auditorium of BUET. The best speakers from this round were selected for the public speaking.

Debate Competition 2007 held at Chitagong University

University of Chitagong (CU) the best summer school campus in the city organised Inter-Year Bangla and English Debate Competition 2007 from 2-7 June. One Bangla team and one English team from each of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th year from this department took part in the competition. The main event started on 2nd June at around 10.30 a.m. All the debates of the preliminary round were held on 2nd and 4th June where the competitions were really tight and the results were very close. After the very interesting battle of words, 1st year and 3rd year moved into the final of Bangla Debate competition by beating 4th year and 2nd year respectively.

SDF Summer Debate Championships 2007

With the association of Stamford University, Bangladesh the 3rd Inter Department Debate Competition of Stamford Debate Forum has begun on 23 June,2007. The teams were selected at Stamford's Siddeshwari Campus through a lottery. In a show debate Aninda Rahman, Nazmul Islam Shovon of Dhaka University, Shaifuddin Rana of United International University and Abdullah Mohammad Sukrana, Md.Monir Hossain and Abdullah Al Rezwan of Stamford University, Bangladesh took part. In this 8 day long debate program, 28 teams of the Bengali section and 10 teams of the English section are participating. The final debate of the Inter Department Debate competition was held on 30 June, 2007.

Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin
Chair, Bangladesh Debating Council

Asia-Pacific Mandarin Debate Championships 2007 Ends

Dear all,

Universiti Malaya won the third Asia-Pacific Mandarin Debate Competition after beating National University of Singapore at Shih Hsin University in Taiwan Saturday. The teams debated the topic “Intellectual property protection will help the growth of society”. UM student Ooi Choong Han, whose team supported the statement, was named the best speaker. Other team members were Yeow Boon Bin, Tey Xin Yi, Tuan Earn Yee, Sia Shang Yuen and Chow Yu Hui. Sixteen universities from China, Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, Russia, Singapore and Malaysia participated in the competition. MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting congratulated the team for their outstanding performance. “I am proud of their performance in the competition. They beat teams from China and Taiwan before reaching the final.

Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin

Thailand WUDC 2008 Adjudicator and Observer Updates

Dear All,

I would like to request all the institutions to make full use of our online
registration system. It is a system which gives the institutions a lot of power
and flexibility to register.

Some have complained, there is too much information to fill up. Yes, but it is
critical for us for you to fill up all this information for our logistic
purposes. The transportation team and food and beverage teams need all the
information in advance so we can provide you with the most efficient and
professional service as an organizer. It is for your own good ladies and
gentleman. We want to make sure we have all your travel details and dietary
needs. We must ensure we know exactly how many teams are coming and adjudicators
etc. So please do take the registration process seriously. If you have any
inquiries please email myself or the communication director Mr. Rish. We really
need your kind cooperation.

Our IT team has worked very hard to make an excellent system. Believe me it is
a great registration system. I have been in the event management business for 4
years now and worked a lot with IT solutions for conferencing. This system is
very user friendly if you just take the time to educate yourself about it for
ten minutes. We are putting up a user manual within this week with instructions
and pictures. The system is there for your benefit and ours as organizers. In
the past some organizers used emails for registration purposes especially with
changing details of delegates, a lot of misinformation happened such as
misspelling, wrong team name, or incorrect dietary requirements. We are
trusting you to input all your own details and we have given you plenty of time
to do it also. Of course, your details can even be updated once more for the
last time during registration day of the tournament.

Make sure only the team leader has the username and password. Please do not
share your username and password with too many people. That would give others
the power to enter our system to alter any delegate information. We are
trusting you to keep your username and password to yourself safely.

With regard to team cap. Please wait till September 5. We will announce if we
will increase the number of teams per institution or not and increases in
adjudicators. I encourage all of you to register the slots you can get now then
wait till September 5.

Please try to understand we are trying to be as fair as we can to all
institutions. We wish to have diverse worlds. Currently, we have almost 150
institutions registered. We have institutions from Estonia, Russia, Romania,
Turkey, Israel, China, India, Bostwana and many more! We wish to give a fair
chance for all to attend this tournament. We do wish to have a very strong
adjudication pool representing the best in all regions of the world both from
institutions and independents. I strongly encourage independents to apply, we
need the alumnis of excellent debating institutions to come and adjudicate in
Bangkok.

If any institutions have any concerns or request regarding registration please
do email me directly. If any independents need any help please contact me also.
We want to make sure if you are an experienced adjudicator who wants to come to
our worlds, that you are here to do world class adjudication for our
participants.

I would like to also state that please do not expect the team cap to go above
350 teams for this tournament. The DCAs and CA have decided it is very highly
unlikely to go above 350. We believe once we have reached our 350 team cap that
is a very good size tournament. Next thing we will focus on is ensuring these
350 teams get the best adjudicators we can find not just based on numbers but
also on quality. The team cap per institution will only increase if by August
31st 350 teams have not paid. Please do not take the risk of waiting till then
in the hope we will increase the number of teams for the tournament above 350.
From the current trend, I feel there is a very high chance that by August 31st,
above 300 teams will have their slots reserved. The slots will be full or very
few left.

Please register now and transfer your payments to reserve your teams and
adjudicators based on the registration policy stated on our website. No
institution can send less than N-1 adjudicators. Our policy now is N+2
adjudicators maximum per institution. We will review the list of adjudicators
very carefully after August 31st and decide if we will increase the number of
adjudicators depending on the pool of independent adjudicators and adjudicators
sent by each institution. Our goal is have a large pool of quality adjudicators
from as many regions as possible. Our DCA team will be consulted on all issues
relating to adjudication. I can ensure you that we will work very hard to
provide you with the best adjudicators. Our DCA and CA pool are all world class
adjudicators and debaters and you can trust them to put together a great pool of
adjudicators both in quantity,quality and diversity. Your kind patience is
highly requested by us.

Last but not least, our policy regarding observers is that unless you are an
University Administrator(faculty member, administration representative,liason,
chaperon etc), you cannot attend worlds as an observer. If you wish to attend
World's as an observer you must request the organizing committee directly. You
need to explain to us why you are attending worlds as an Observer and why you
cannot adjudicate. There have been complaints in past worlds that many
observers attend and take adjudicator slots from independents and institutions
even if the rego fees for observers is doubled as in UBC WORLDS. We wish to
avoid this situation because as stated earlier in my email, we are doing
everything we can to put together a pool of excellent adjudicators for the
tournament. We want to avoid losing a great adjudicator because an observer
took their slot.

So if you are a group of students from an institution planning to only come watch Assumption Worlds,please note you are not allowed to do so. You must come adjudicate. It will save you cost and you will gain valuable experience which you can take back to your institution and educate others about BP Style of debating. All observers rego fees are higher and they must be approved by the organizing committee to be allowed to attend or not. University Administrators can attend our tournament as observers . We understand some universities have a policy of sending a faculty or administrator with each team, please let us know about such cases. But again, we even encourage those faculty to come as adjudicators. It will save cost for the institution. Who knows, they could end up being great judges and break.

I will be sending more updates regarding different issues. I am currently
a member of the APDA,CUSID,AUSTRALS, ALLASIANS and EUDC. I also send updates
directly to Mr. Flynn's website flynn.debating.net. I feel I am reaching out to
a large percentage of the debating community in the world. If I am missing any
other large forum, please let me know.

Regards,
Tarique Shakil
WUDC 2008
Tournament Director

South Korea is the new World Champion in Karl Popper Debate

Dear all,

The KPDWC is over. The new World Champion in Karl Popper Debate is South Korea! The actual team in question is Korea 1, consisting of Woon Joon Jang, Habin Chung and Yunsieg Paik Kim. The win was a decisive 8 - 1 in favor of Korea 1 over South Africa.

Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin

Source: http://idebate.blogspot.com/

Updates from North East Asian Debate 2007

1. NEAO will be held in asian parliamentary debate format. Three
debaters constitute one team and each speaker will have 7 minutes per
speech with additional 4 minutes' speech by first or second speaker
from each team. Motion can be various and will promptly be given for
each round with 30 minutes of preparation time.

Details of asian format is explained on our website. :)
http://neao2007. conasian. com

2. The NEAO council will take place on the 9th of November, the first
day of NEAO.This council, though NEAO now became 4 years old, is first time
taking its place.

As NEAO is getting bigger year by year, it is proper to have official
organization to boost up active communication between the region.
Especially the necessity for official bidding on the next NEAO led us
to open NEAO council.

Each institution's representative from North East Asian countries
will have voting right to decide certain matters regarding NEAO and
NEAO council.

The related information will be posted on our website soon.

Please visit our website!!
http://neao2007.conasian.com

Schedule

November 9 – Arrival day
Arrivals and Registration
Mock Debate & Adjudication Test
Opening Ceremony
NEAO council meeting

November 10 – Preliminary Rounds
8:00 – Round 1
11: 00 – Round 2
1: 00 – Lunch (provided)
2: 00 – Round 3
5: 00 – Round 4
7:00 – Dinner (provided)

November 11
8:00 – Round 5
11: 00 – EFL finals/ Quarter finals
1: 00 – Lunch (Provided)
2:00 – Semi finals
5:00 – Finals
7:00 – Dinner (Provided)
8:00 - Final Ceremony & Farewell party!

:: Registration dates
- July 23, 2007 – Setember 28, 2007

:: Team cap
Total team cap: 50 teams
Institution team cap: 3 teams

:: Number of adjudicators:
N-1 (N = number of teams from one institution)

:: Registration fee:
(For adjudicators/debaters)

a. on a twin room share basis : \ 120,000 Won per person
b. on a triple room share basis : \ 100,000 Won per person**
c. on a quad room share basis : \ 90,000 Won per person**
d. Registration fee without hotel: \ 30,000 Won per person

As there are limited numbers of available quad/triple rooms, option b. and c will be provided on a first come, first served basis.

:: Payment
Wire transfer will be accepted by Setember 28, 2007.
Only Korean currency Won is acceptable.

Wire transfer info:
Bank Name: Woori Bank
Account holder: Jin Yong Kim
Bank Account Number: 1002-833-738347

Bank Address:
893-1 Ganseogdong Namdonggu
Incheon 405-234 Korea
Bank Tel. 82.32.429.5408~9
Swift Code: HVBKKRSE

:: Rules for registration
1. Rules of team cap and waiting list will be applied on first come, first served basis. Without the payment complete, registration will not be considered to be finished.

2. The confirmation of registration would be notified to the respective representatives of the institutions by e-mail.

3. After transferring the fee through wire transfer, the copy of the wire transfer slip should be sent to ifota9000@gmail.com .

The registration of the institution would not be complete until the copy of the receipt is received.

Contact Info
Mail to ifota9000@gmail.com

Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin

Source: Korea Debate List, NE Asian 2007 website at http://neao2007.conasian.com/

More Updates from WUDC 2008

Dear All,

Please check the Assumption Worlds 2008 website at http://www.assumptionworlds.com/ for very important updates regarding registration and team cap increases. Our registration system will lock down on September 1. September 5, we will announce if we will increase the team cap. From September 1st till September 4th, the registration system will lock down so no new teams will be able to register between those dates. So please make sure you register before August 31st and please pay by that date. The teams that have registered before August 31st will be able to edit their information. But they must confirm all payments by August 31st. We must receive all payments by August 31st.

From September 1st till September 4th, we will calculate and confirm how many teams have paid. We will not accept any payments during this period. Based on the number of slots left, we will increase the team cap and open registration again on September 5th. The team cap increase is expected to increase to 5. After September 5, the registration will be first come first serve basis. When we increase the team cap, the registration module will give you the option to add the extra teams and the details.

You can view all your payment information by logging into your account and clicking on the PAYMENT link. Our team here will be updating the payment information regularly. You can even scan your invoices and submit on our website by logging in. Our system will create a folder in our database in your institutions name and store your invoice in it.

As of July 26 we have 317 teams registered from 136 institutions.

We will be updating the website regularly. Please register by your INSTITUTION NAME.

Regards,
Tarique Shakil
Tournament Director
WUDC 2008

Thiland WUDC 2008 Update

Dear all,

The Assumption Worlds Organizing Committee has updated the website. We have made some very important announcements regarding transportation, team cap increases and bursaries. Please do visit our website at www.assumptionworlds.com. Please do pay special attention to the updates.

As for our adjudication policy. Each institution must send atleast N-1 adjudicators and maximum of N+2. N representing the number of teams per institutions. Please visit the registration link on the website for more information regarding registration.

Currently, within 3 weeks of registration opening, we have 275 team registered from 119 institutions. We are considering increasing the team cap per institution. We are just right now observing the trend of how many teams register and how many pay. Please visit our website regularly for announcements. We will be announcing to increase team caps some time in August, latest 1st week of September.

Last but not least I would like to warmly welcome all you to WUDC 2008. I promise you it will be worth all your time. We are doing our best to put on a great event! See you at the LAND OF SMILES!

Regards,
Tarique, Tournament Director
WUDC 2008

North East Asian Open 2007 registration is now available!!

Greetings,

It is my great pleasure to announce that North East Asian Open 2007 is now open for your registration. Please visit neao2007.conasian.com and read the further information (the website is still under construction but it will give
you basic information). If you have any question please leave your
messages on Q&A board, email to ifota9000@yahoo.com, or call 82-10-2070-
7879 (Korea)

I am looking forward to seeing you in Incheon!

Regards,
Lee, Jin-gyu
Convener

Singapore Secondary Schools Debating Championships 2007

"This House Believes That The War on Terror Has Been Counter-Productive."

This is the motion that decided the fate of 'A' Division top contenders Singapore Chinese Girls' School and Catholic High School in the fight for this year's Singapore Secondary School Debating Championships 2007 title.

To provide a level playing field, the championships are split into three divisions - The 'A' Division, for schools which have extensive and long-established debating traditions, the 'B' Division, for schools which are newer to the inter-school debating scene but have enjoyed some success, and the 'C' Division, for schools with very limited experience in competitive debating.

Both schools were evenly matched. But it was never about the battle of the sexes.

I thought that the Singapore Chinese Girls' School had an easier job being the proposition because there were loads of information supporting the fact that the war on terror is more or less a failure. The best speaker of this year's
championship, Susannah Wang, charmed the crowd with her persuasiveness and quality of arguments presented. Overall, I thought the SCGS team possessed more teamwork and their content was backed by strong concrete facts.

Catholic High School did great too! I particularly liked the way the third speaker, Arianto Usman Adamy presented. He adopt the fast speaking, quick talking way of delivery but rather a paced and calm style of presentation. I thought it was more impactful considering the previous five speakers were just shooting off the points that they had. You could also see the team trying their best to present facts supporting their arguments.

However, it was not enough. At the end of the night, SCGS was crowned champions of the Grand Finals of the 'A'Division Championships. It was partly expected that the title would be theirs. After all, the girls handled the whole debate well and they had the better side of the argument.

Sponsored and organised by Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning for the ninth year, this year's competition featured a record 84 schools and over 1,000 students involved. As a testament to the rapidly growing popularity of debating in Singapore, more than half the number of participating schools this year competed in the 'C' Division which comprised of 47 schools, 10 of which were participating for the first time.

Through encouraging debate in Singapore, the championships aim to promote high standards of speech communication and also help students learn skills of persuasion, negotiation and confident self-expression.

Technorati Tags: Singapore Secondary School Debating Championships 2007, Singapore Chinese Girls' School, Susannah Wang, Catholic High School, Arianto Usman, Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning, War on Terror

Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin

Source:Youth SG Singapore Website
http://youth.sg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2542&Itemid=29#

Philippine Inter-Collegiate Debating Championships 2007

Dear all,

The AdMU reaped numerous achievements in the recently concluded Philippine Inter-Collegiate Debating Championship 2007: UPD-A and AdMU made it to the finals round of the Asian Parliamentary format tournament which is regarded as the National Debating Championship in The Philippines.

It was AdMU-A however, composed of Sharmila Parmanand, Leloy Claudio, and Miko Biscocho, who won the championship title by a 5-2 vote from the adjudication panel. Nevertheless UPD won runner-up as the affirmative side debating on the motion this house believes that the youth’s political maturity is ill-served by their generation’s representatives in print media.

UPDS’s successful organization of the 4-day tournament in which was held in Luisita, Tarlac and co-presented with the Tarlac Conventions and Visitors Bureau, the North Philippines Visitors Bureau, and the Benigno S. Aquino Foundation. With the theme Filipino Minds, Global Perspectives, the tournament was hosted by the UP Debate Society in line with its continuing mission of nurturing debating and critical thinking skills among the youth.


Grand Champion
AdMU A: Sharmila Parmanand, Miko Biscocho and Leloy Claudio by a 5-2 vote from the adjudication panel

Runner-Up
UPD A: Anna Arcellana, Nicolo Cabrera, and Claire Jiao

Best Speaker of the Finals
Miko Biscocho of AdMU A

Top 10 Best Speakers
7th (tied )- Judilyn Sison (UST), Dino de Leon (DLSU), Sabrina Gacad (UPD), Eric Javeloza (UST)
4th (tied)- Miko Biscocho (AdMU), Estelle Osorio (DLSU), Claire Jiao (UPD)
3rd - Sharmila Parmanand (AdMU)
2nd - Nicolo Cabrera (UPD)
1st - Leloy Claudio (AdMU)

Best Rookie Team
UP Baguio A: Abel Quintos, Jahzeel Cruz, and Arlene Bonifacio

Best Adjudicator
Yves Saint-James Aquino (UPM)

Philippine Representative to the ESU-International Public Speaking Competition
Weber Amores (FEU).

Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin

Source: www.pidc-online.com and www.updebatesociety.org

UAE Debate Championships

Dear all,

The coveted Rolling Trophy for the Best Team at the Seventh UAE Inter School Debate organized jointly by the Indian Consulate and the Indian School, Dubai.

The Motion of debate was ‘Faith is Man’s Greatest Weapon ’.

Eleven prominent schools from different Emirates participated, with each sending one member for and against the motion.

At the end of deliberations, Sagarin Elsa Jacob of the host School and Anna Mariam Thomas of the Abu Dhabi Indian School were adjudged best speakers for and against the motion respectively.The second best speakers for and against the motion were Shreyas Palliyani of Our Own English High School Al Ain and Mohamed Rameez of Our Own Indian School Dubai

Honouring the winners, H E Mr. Y. K Sinha Consul General of India in Dubai, commended the efforts of all the participants and extolled on the virtues of debate. The function commenced with Mr. Aziz Akhtar, Principal of the host school welcoming the gathering. Thereafter the Consul for Education Mr. Bilesh Kumar ceremoniously handed the gavel to the moderator of the debate Mrs. Simi Antony. The vote of thanks was proposed by the head girl Sanju Mereena.

The other distinguished invitees were the Principals of the participating schools, senior officers from the GEMS Group, the parents of the participants.The programme ended with the rendering of the Indian national anthem and the guests were treated with high tea arranged at the Consulate.

Regards
Rashedul Hasan Stalin

Source: UAE GEMS Education Website

Malaysian Intervarsity Economics Debating Championship 2007

"Economics toward Development and Progress for All"
International Islamic University Malaysia , Kuala Lumpur

Hi All,

Hoping for a good and meaningful day for each of you. We, the MIEDC commies are popping in your mailbox to announce that the registration period for debaters, adjudicators and accompanying officers for MIEDC has officially commenced at 12.00 a.m. (Malaysian time, +8hours GMT), 28 June 2007. So, hurry up everyone, make your move to join us in this anticipating debate.

Registration Details

Duration
28 June to 27 July 2007

Fees
MYR 125.00 without lodging
MYR 225.00 with lodging

How to register?

You shall complete the registration pack for the whole delegate. The pack can be downloaded at www.miedc.net/ registration . You can get more information there too.

We will assume that you are serious with your registration once you revert back the completed registration pack together with at least 50 percent of the total fees owed. These need to be completed within the registration period so that you can avoid the extra fees of MYR 50.00 per person that is incurred if you register within the late registration period.

If you have any doubt don't hesitate to e-mail us at MIEDC2007@gmail. com

We are anxious to see you at Kuala Lumpur this August and are working for MIEDC. MIEDC promises to become an interesting economics debating championship.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Cheers,
Bro.Syuhaib
Convener
+60132840964
syuhaib@gmail. com

Contact:
Tel. : +603-6196 4199
Fax : +603-6196 4850
E-mail : MIEDC2007@gmail. com
URL : www.miedc.net

Source: AUDC List

Ian Lising, A man with vision

Dear all

Asia has contributed lots of talented Debaters and Debating Personalities for global debating communities. They are not only the assets of Asia but proven significant for the World. I would like to focus some of these Names who have always being a helping had for world debating movements. This is the first article on These Asian Debating Legends.

Ian Lising, A man with vision
Chair of World Universities Debating Council

In a comedy club one night in Singapore, a friend threw Ian Lising on stage unprepared. But to his good fortune there happened to be a producer from the Philippines where Lising was a professional stand up comedian, who offered him his own talk show.

“It was a cheapo rip-off of David Letterman,” says Lising which lasted only one season But now that he is married. He and his wife love exploring California as we as rest of the world. He has visited close to 37 countries for debating Tournaments and for different workshops.

Till now you got it right, this article is all about Ian Lising, The Current Chair of World Universities Debating Council. Lising was unanimously voted to head the World Debating Council in 2002 and he is the longest standing council chair to date.

Ian Lising has wise bespectacled eyes, a warm and inviting smile and an aura of peace and serenity. Despite his renowned status, he is ironically shy, extremely patient and completely humble, as victory is far from No. 1 on his list of priorities.

Lising’s passion for debate first sparked when he was a student at Carney High School in Carney, Neb. “I felt debate was a great form of finding balance,” Lising said. “Debate is the activity that helps us become more resolute in our actions and, more importantly, to understand our reasons for doing them.”

As a Debater in High school and college, Lising had plans to attend at low schools, but he founded to analyzing his opponents to debate. He loves to Coach rather found him self in the Court Room.

Ian Lising received his B.A. in Political Science from the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. He received his M.A. in Education from the University of La Verne. He was a lecturer and Debate Coach of the Ateneo from 1994-1998. He also taught at the Ateneo High School from 1994-1997 and at the Assumption College from 1997-1998. He began coaching the ULV Forensics Team in the fall of 1999 and started teaching Speech Communication in 2000.

Professor Lising was the co-Founder, Chair and Coach of the Ateneo Debate Society from 1991-1998. He coached the 1st Asian Debate Champion team at the inaugural event in 1995. In 1999, he served as the Championship Director of the Worlds Universities Debating Championships (WUDC). Later that year, he coached the University of La Verne to the Grand Final of the Oxford Union International Intervarsity Debating Championship. He has also coached both the Ateneo and La Verne at the WUDC.

His teams have become World Octofinalists, Quarterfinalists, Semifinalists, and Grand Finalists. In 2003, the University of La Verne was the only American university to advance past the preliminary rounds.He has also been granted the honor of adjudicating the World Grand Finals for the last few consecutive years, which is a position reserved only for the best judges in the world.

At the University of La Verne, he teaches argumentation and debate, results-oriented interviewing, public controversy and criticism, and rhetorical theory

Lising’s manner of coaching is far more laid-back and less stringent than that of most coaches.

“Some coaches program their debaters,” Lising said. “I give them a plethora of experiences so they can make decisions independently.”

Brenna Lampson, senior double major in philosophy and speech communications and captain of the debate team, referred to Lising’s pressure-free method of coaching as “the sink or swim mentality.”

His infamous coaching technique has often improved his students’ autonomous thinking and problem solving skills, ultimately molding them into better people.

“I don’t have expectations or visions for (my students),” Lising said. “I help them to achieve visions for themselves. (The team’s success) is not a reflection of what I’ve done; it’s something the students have accomplished and I’m just lucky enough to be a part of that.”

His students, however, are quick to point their fingers in his direction.
?“Ian has really turned the debate program at ULV into a very large and successful team that can compete with the best at any tournament that we attend,” said Josh Martin, senior double major in speech communication and political science and debate team member.

“Ian is the foundation for our team,” said Allison Fernandez, sophomore double major in philosophy and speech communications and team member. “He challenges us to do our best and puts enough trust in us to know we’ll come (through) with our parts.”

Lising said he believes everyone has the potential for greatness in the debate field and he strives to bring this quality out in each of his students.

“Some say, ‘But I don’t speak very well’ or ‘But I don’t know very much about the world,’ and helping them to discover that they do is a challenge and ultimately my goal in life.” he added.

Lising also said his greatest triumphs have arisen from the individual successes of his students.

“My greatest successes haven’t been found in a debating chamber, but in how successful my students become in their lives,” Lising said. “Since debate is an interdisciplinary activity, they’ve been able to find success in the classroom, work place and society in general.”

Lising does not quantify his student’s successes according to anything beyond what they have learned and gained from their experiences thus far.

As a result, Lising has been an ongoing inspiration to his team.

“It’s really fun working with him,” Soria said. “When you work with someone who loves what they do, you yearn to be a part of it.”

Lising Belief subconsciously he always wanted to be a teacher. As a child “Star Wars” was a quite influential on him. While every young boy wanted to be Hans solo, Lising wanted to be Obe Wan Kenobe, the wise teacher. “I wanted to be the old guy” he jokes.

. Name: Ian Lising
• Age: 34
• Gender: Male
• Astrological Sign: Cancer
• Zodiac Year: Rat
• Industry: Education
• Occupation: Professor
• Location: La Verne : California : United States


Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin
Contributor and Author
World Debate Website and Asian Debate Website

Source
Debate Coach Argues for Greatness
Jessica Bell can be reached at ledjessilin@yahoo.com.
Campus Times, University of La Verne
http://www.ulv.edu/ctimes/102805/lvlife.htm

Faculty List
Ian Lising
http://academic.ulv.edu/~cas/Faculty%20Pages/Ian%20Lising.html

All-India Debating Championships 2007

Dear all,

The Frank Anthony Debate, organized by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CICSE), held this year at the Frank Anthony Public School, Kolkata. This debating championships is the most prestigious debating contest in India. Approximately 1600 schools take part in the preliminary rounds and zonal qualifications to reach one of 7 places in the Final round.

This year, the Dubai Modern High School, competed in the finals with a number of other prestigious schools such as the Doon School, Dehradun, St. Xavier’s, Kolkata, and St. James’, Kolkata, and eventually emerged champions.

Modern High’s Debate team, still celebrating from their win at the Chuckerbutty debates in Doon, as a result, completed a clean sweep by winning the two most prestigious debates in India. The team, comprising Kaushik Iyer and Shrivats Iyer, were accompanied by Aditya Srinivasan, Rajiv Naresh and Mr. Michael James.

The Motion before the House read:
“This House believes that the foundation of a healthy society needs the presence of a woman.”

Kaushik Iyer spoke for the motion, whilst Shrivats Iyer spoke against the motion.
Kaushik Iyer was named the 2nd Runner-Up Best Speaker, and through the efforts of both speakers, Modern High emerged triumphant at the Frank Anthony Memorial All-India Debate.

Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin
Source: Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations Website

U.S.-Japan Exchange Debate

U.S.-Japan Exchange Debate 2007

This year is for Japan Tour and American delegate has just visited Japan in June.Masako Suzuki and Mr. Isao Ayabe were the hosts for this year. Application and selection for Japanese national team for US Tour Feb 2008. Will be held in November/December this year.

For further information on U.S.-Japan Exchange Debate Tour between Committee
on International Discussion and Debate (CIDD) of National Communication Association(NCA) in U.S. and Japan Debate Association(JDA), please visit their official websites.

CIDD's report on Japan Tour
http://groups.wfu.edu/debate/International%20Debates/cidd.html
JDA's report on US Tour
http://www.kt.rim.or.jp/~jda/

last Year Report

Two members of the Japanese national debate team, who are touring throughout the U.S., stopped at Western Illinois University to discuss global issues with two representatives from Western recently.

The debate - sponsored by Center for International Studies, Illinois Centennial Honors College, Council on Student Activities Fees and Western Speaking Society - focused on the spreading of American culture into other cultures, including Japanese culture, and speakers from each side discussed whether the American culture is desirable or undesirable.

While the Western team was concerned about the proliferation of American culture around the world and the endangerment of the tradition of each region through worldwide fast-food chains which are popular U.S. entertainments, the Japanese team insisted people can utilize and assimilate the American culture into theirs and have the choice of whether or not to accept it.

The motion was "The Global Spread of American Culture is Undesirable."

The Western debate team took the affirmative side by indicating the danger of the American culture, and the Japanese team took the opposite side, supporting the spread of American culture. Speakers from each team took turns addressing their points of view, which were based on research to support their respective claims. The audience was welcomed to ask questions between constructive speeches and rebuttal speeches. There also was a general discussion of the topic after the debate.

The Western debate team insisted U.S. citizens can sometimes be ignorant of other cultures in different countries because of the dominating influence of American culture. They also said the spread of American culture can endanger the traditions of other cultures with centuries of history.

On the other hand, the Japanese debate team insisted it is desirable to accept American culture because it believes they can choose whether they accept it or not. They also emphasized the importance of a major culture to unite the world by assimilating new elements into the existing cultures.

The Japanese debate team is sponsored by the Committee for International Discussion and Debate which is affiliated with the National Communication Association.

Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin
Source: Western Courier Website

Debating in China has lots to offer

Dear all,

Very recent debating movements in China shows it is gradually becoming debating power house in the North East Asian region. It is true that, some of the obstacles like Proper Training Facilities were not there before, but organization like World Debate Institute and Society for Associated Inter-Tertiary Debaters (SAID) of Singapore is providing that helping hand for its debating journey. Alfred C. Snider Aka Tuna; Director of World Debate Institute and with him many other debating contributors actively participating with this English Debating Movement in China. Some of the outcomes of these movements are summarized here.

Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) Debate Education Programmes

Recently a series of British Parliamentary (BP) debate education workshops were conducted by Loke Wing Fatt for 60 freshmen, 250 sophomores and 6 professors of the School of English & International Studies (SEIS) at the Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU).

Providing excellent guidance and facilitation as Co-Trainers were Ms Liang Hong, Debate Coach & Lecturer at the SEIS and her 8 senior debaters from the BFSU Debate Team.

During this time lunch-time debate workshop was also conducted for over 120 members of the Beijing Language & Culture University English Debating Society (BLCU EDS) to bust the confidence of English Debating in China.

Macau University (MU) Debate Workshop

24 members of the Macau University English Club attended a 2.5-day Debate Workshop recetly. The university students were introduced to the major varsity debate formats and taught the basics of good debating. An American Parliamentary Style Exhibition Debate was staged by 4 debaters for the student body of Macau University.

Tianjin City Universities American Parliamentary (AP) Style Debate Workshop

In Tianjin, the sister city of Beijing ( about 3 hours away), Hewlens Wong, Anthony Paul and Loke Wing Fatt from SAID conducted a 5-day American Parliamentary (AP) Style Debate Workshop at Nankai University for over 60 university students from Nankai University, Tianjin Foreign Studies University and Tianjin University.

Public lectures on debating cum exhibition debates were also staged for the students and lecturers of these 3 major universities of this famed seaport city of China. The 3 SAID trainers also held a lunch-time exhibition debate at the renowned Tianjin Experiment High School.

Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin
Source: Beijing Foreign Studies University website
Society for Associated Inter-Tertiary Debaters (SAID) website

Kuwait Debate League 2007

Dear all,

Al-Bayan Bilingual School will host the Kuwait Debate League 2007, the debate league invites all English language curriculum schools within Kuwait to attend and participate in its upcoming season which will culminate in the combined BIT/KFSAC Kuwait junior varsity and varsity championship.

This Season's Resolution

"Resolved that the United States should substantially change its policy towards energy."

Kuwait Issues
1. Alternative forms of energy
2. Political Energy Policies
3. Conservation
4. Increased Supply

Foreign Policy Issues
1. Nuclear power generation
2. Conflicts with specific nations over oil supply

Kuwait Debate League 2007 will determine the Kuwait National Debating Champion, Last year Al-Bayan proved victorious, winning their fourth national championship in the six years of the League's existence and fighting off an extremely strong challenge from arch-rivals, Fahaheel Wataniyieh Indian Private School, who came in a very strong second.

The Kuwait Debate League invites the best English-curriculum schools, whether English or American, bilingual or monolingual, Pakistani or Indian, CBSE, EMAC, ISAAC, or KFSAC to participate in American-style policy debates. Over seventy schools received invitation to participate in the League this year for upcoming league participation.

Junior Varsity Result of Last Debate League
Top School: BBS Varsity

Junior Varsity Debaters Ranked by Score
1. Mishal Karam
2. Sulaiman Al-Khaled
3. Dana Khader
4. Ahmad Abdulmugni

Varsity Ranking
1 BBS Varsity 19
2 FAIPS 13

Top Debaters Ranking
1 Sonal Sharma 24.6
2 Abdullah Mdaires 24.3
3 Manu Hedge 22.9
4 Sarah Fakrhral-Deen 22.1

Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin
Source: The Daily Kuwait Times

Welcome to Asian Debating Website

"Debating with the eyes of Asia"

Dear all,

The largest Continent in the World with lots of Debating Opportunities and Success plotted the Asian Debating Website launching story. While working with the dynamic World Debate Website contributor Team, I felt the essence of having an Asian Debating News platform where four region of Asia : Middle East , South Asia, South East and North East Asia will be plotting their Debating Stories. This is just a beginning of our vision for Asian Debating road map.

Asia has many Debating Legend and Power House from whom this site can be benefited.

Fell free to post your news in this web. My e-mail address is stalinhasan@yahoo.com . I will be announcing the Latest Updates when it will be available.


Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin
Contributor Asian Debate Website and World Debate Website
Chair, Bangladesh Debating Council-BDC

Malaysian Multimedia University Friendliest of Friendlies!

Hey everybody,

Since Worlds will be held in Asia once again, we should all be doing what we can to make sure all our teams are well prepared for it. Having said that, MMU will be hosting a series of one-day debate tournaments called the MMU Friendliest of Friendlies! 3 friendly IV's for all the institutions to participate in!

So without further ado, here are the details:

"MMU Friendliest of Friendlies"
Number of tournaments: 3 one-day tournaments

Dates:
Friendly#1: 4th August
Friendly#2: 18th August
Friendly#3: 1st September
Rounds: 3 prelims + Grand Final

Style: British Parliamentary
Team cap: none
Adjudication: n-1

Registration: RM 0.00
Chief Adjudicator: Licky
Convener: Kandahar
Deputy Convener: Cavin
Communications Director: IPS

Accommodation will not be provided but you can contact us if you require help/information in booking nearby rooms. Do contact us earlier if you need our assistance. The itinerary for the one-day tournaments will be posted soon.

To register,please contact:
Phone: +6-012-400-5260

Cheers,
Kandahar,President
Voices MMU

International Islamic University Malaysia Debate League 2007

IIUM LEAGUE SEM I 2007/2008

To continue the efforts of last semester's iium debate league which had an average of 40 teams per weekend, i would like to announce the tentative dates for the proposed league this semester, hopefully it wont clash with any other IV coming up. everyone is invited, as last semester we had teams from UM, KLIUC, MMU,UiTM,STAR,UNITEN,UPSI,we are hoping more teams can join in since this is the 'correct season' for BP.

Participation is free(no accomodation or food will be provided,if u need rooms, we can provide in iium hostels as long as u give us 4 working days notice,and
u have to pay), British parliamentary style. no team cap, just inform us in advance how many teams ur sending so we can have enough venues . (seriously,uitm had 12 teams last time). this time around we do hope teams would abide by the N-1 rule, since if theres not enough judges we wont be able to debate those rounds. and hopefully more alumnis would spare their time to help out in adjudicating or debating
(latif and sani had a team together, those who werent here missed out big time(imagine omes and latif this time))as this tourney is not only meant to be competitive, but to also help develop new debaters and adjudicators.

The official dates will be announced once we have finalized the program, and official
invitation letters can be given. any feedback on the dates, please do contact me ASAP. do come, this is fantastic preparation for worlds and WUPID.

CA : Azrul Izzam (not confirmed,there might a coup on
the horizon)DCA : 1 appointed UiTM adj. & 1 appointed MMU adj.
fareez has tentatively approached hafiedz and suthen)

TAB Director : Khalidah Nazihah

Special task : Meor Alif

Proposed Dates:

1st session - 28 & 29 July

2nd Session – 11 & 12 August

3rd session – 25 & 26 August

4th session – 8 & 9 September

Debates need to end before 10th of September as it
will be the start of Ramadhan

Regards,
Azrul Izzam

Exclusive: Treasures of Tibetan Monks Debates in Himalayan

Dear all,

Some people might think the formal part of debating based on the winning of the battle. But Himalayan replies with its own Tradition. From thousands of years Tibet has always offered us so many mysteries and drew the attentions for its secrecy.

Recently in a rare occasion in Tibetan community, Buddhist monks and nuns took part in an interschool Tibetan Debate Competition organised by Srongtsen Brikuti Boarding High School (SBBHS) in Nepal. .

The motion‘Character is more important than Education’.

The debate competition is part of the series of year-long events being organised by the Srongtsen School to mark its 25th founding anniversary.

All together five teams participated in the debating event. Although the monks and nuns of Kopan did not succeed in securing the winning positions, this could well be one of the rare cases where monastic and nunnery educational institutions has participated in an interactive debating event with modern educational institutions.

Srongtsen Bhrikuti School, one of the most prominenet Tibetan schools in Katmandu valley in Nepal will be organizing First Tibetan English debate competition this coming August.

The Physicality of Tibetan Traditional Debates
According to the Tibetan Monks, Debating is their integral part of religious practice. One of the striking features of Tibetan debates is that they are quite physical. They are marked by emphatic gestures, such as the clapping used by the questioner to punctuate each question.

Tibetan debate involves prescribed modes of behavior. The debate starts, with a ritual invocation of Manjushri in a loud and high-pitched tone. The debater then puts his questions in a very low voice barely audible to the audience.
The Tibetan tradition is quite aware of the dangers of debate but sees them as counterbalanced by its benefits. Because debates are intensely physical, participants can give vent to considerable energy.

Tibetan scholars love debate for their internal clarity. They become excited when they talk about it and miss it once their training is finished. Older scholars often advise students to savor their times as debaters: “This is the best time in the life of a scholar. After this, all fades in comparison.”

I am not sure what to make of this last comment, for its description, its also captures the essence of good sporting competitions. But it does convey the overall atmosphere of debates, which are veritable intellectual sports.

Some You Tube Tibetan Traditional Debating Video Links

Tibet: Debate with the eye of an Explorer
Tibetan Monks Debate in Dharamsala
Monks Debate: Lhasa,Tibet
Courtyard debate in Tibet

"Isn’t it great to have all these people displaying such engagement and even aggression within such a peaceful atmosphere?"

Regards,
Rashedul Hasan Stalin