US Universities Tournament Results

The US Universities National Tournament, hosted by Portland State University and co-Sponsored by IDEA, took place April 11th-13th at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. Tournament results are:

Quarterfinalists:
University of Alaska - Jim Stinson and Michaela Hernandez
Claremont Colleges - Joseph Clifton and Jesse Katz-Blumenthal
Colgate University - Stephen West and Andrew Eldridge
Loyola Marymount University MC - James Mollison and Matt Contreras
Loyola Marymount University CA - Courtney Crooks and Michael Aguilera
Seattle University - Michael Flores and Nicholas Henderson
Seattle University - Alana Bellwood and Sophia Sanders
Willamette University - Megan Kowalski and Edward McGlone

Semifinalists:
University of Alaska - Ben Ferguson and Severin Randal
Hobart William Smith College - Dan Thorson and David Hernandez
Portland State University - Josh Gross and Kelly Welch
Regis University - Dennis Sapranov and Braden Smith

Finalists
Claremont Colleges - Charles Sprague and Kari (last name omitted)
Seattle University - Michael Imeson and James Kilcup
University of LaVerne - Rob Ruiz and Thomas Allison

First Place:
Loyola Marymount University - Alexander Schwab and Kevin Kiley

Congratulations, Debaters!

IDEA-NFL Korea Qualifying Tournament Results

The IDEA-NFL Qualifier in Korea at Indianhead International School successfully concluded on Saturday evening. After 6 debate rounds, 4 oratory rounds, and 3 duo and dramatic rounds all packed into Friday evening and Saturday, the qualifiers for the NFL National Tournament in Las Vegas have been determined. There are 10 people and they come from 5 different schools, indicating the level and balance of competition in speech and debate in Korea. Without further ado, the results:


Duo Interpretation:

3rd place (2nd alternate for Las Vegas): Haeun Park and Amy Byun from Yongsan International School of Seoul (YISS).

2nd place (1st alternate for Las Vegas): Joyce Lee and Michelle Kim from Korea International School (KIS)

1st place (Qualifier for Las Vegas): Kristin Chung and Hanna Kim from KIS



Dramatic Interpretation:

4th place (finalist): Julia Shin from Seoul International School (SIS)

3rd place (2nd alternate): Megan Song from KIS

2nd place (1st alternate): Soomin Kim from Cheongshim International Academy

1st place (Qualifier for Las Vegas): Sukyeon Won from SIS

Original Oratory:

5th place (2nd alternate): Minjoo Kim from Daewon Foreign Language High School

4th place (1st alternate): Sung Woo Yang from SIS

3rd place (Qualifier for Las Vegas): Sejin Park from KIS

2nd place (Qualifier for Las Vegas): Suyeon Kim from Cheongshim International Academy

1st place (Qualifier for Las Vegas): Ashley Shin from Taejeon Christian International School

Public Forum Debate:

4th place (2nd alternate): Jeewon Yoo and Do Hyeong Kwon from Daewon FLHS

3rd place (1st alternate): Jun-bin Yun and Ku-ri Park from Daeil FLHS

2nd place, 5-1 record (Qualifier for Las Vegas): Janice Yoon and Stephanie Char from SIS

1st place, 6-0 record (Qualifier for Las Vegas): Youjin Song and Jongmin Lee from Daewon FLHS

Congratulations to all! Thank you everyone for all of your hard work to make this year's tournament a success. I want to especially recognize Tammi Wenzig from Indianhead International School for hosting this tournament. The facilities were beautiful and IDEA owes a debt of gratitude to Tammi and IIS for hosting the tournament this year. Thanks, Tammi!

HWS/IDEA Round Robin: Results are In!

Congratulations to all of the teams who participated in the Round Robin BP Tournament this year. The competition was intense, and every speaker did a wonderful job. For full tab of tournament rankings, please visit: http://people.hws.edu/barnes/debate/Round-Robin-Tab-2008.pdf. A short list below:
1. Hart House (U. of Toronto)
2. Harvard
3. Oxford
4. Claremont
5. Swarthmore
6. Queen's
7. LaVerne
8. Rochester Institute of Technology
9. Seattle University
10. Vassar
11. University of Alaska-Anchorage
12. Portland State University
13. Yale
14. Amherst
15. Cornell
16. University of Vermont

IDEA is looking forward to partnering with HWS again for this event next year!

Reporting from the HWS/IDEA Round Robin

Debate Enthusiasts,
The competition at the 2008 HWS/IDEA Round Robin BP Tournament is outstanding. The sixteen teams here have demonstrated impressive skills, and tournament organizers, Eric Barnes, Kate Bardsley, and the HWS team have been gracious hosts. What a wonderful event!


Rounds 1 and 2 were held yesterday, and debaters attended a reception at the home of HWS President Mark Gearan. Today, we begin rounds 3,4,and 5, followed by the final round to take place in the historic St. John's Chapel on the HWS campus.

Current standings up to Round 3 are:
1: Oxford University
2: Queen's University
3: Harvard University
4: Rochester Institute of Technology
5: Hart House (U. of Toronto)
6: Claremont Colleges
7: Swarthmore College
8: University of LaVerne
9: University of Alaska-Anchorage
10: Portland State University
11: Seattle University
12: Vassar College
13: Cornell University
14: Amherst College
15: University of Vermont
16: Yale University

Stay tuned for final results!

IDEA Youth Forum: Where incredible happens

No need to explain Where incredible happens.

IDEA-NFL Singapore Results!

Singapore, the newest country in the IDEA-NFL Guest Country Qualifier system, has just completed its tournament and is ready to send competitors to Las Vegas! Held at the Anglo-Chinese Junior College and featuring roughly 40 competitors from 6 schools, the tournament featured original oratory, dramatic interpretation, humorous interpretation, international extemporaneous speaking and duo interpretation. Results are as follows:

Duo Interp
2nd Alternate for US Nationals: Charmaine Poh and Rebecca Kwan from (Anglo-Chinese Junior College - ACJC)
1st Alternate: Nicholas Ngo and Lesley Sia (ACJC)
National Qualifier (1st place): Mark Cheng and Yin Ling Ng (ACJC)

International Extemp
1st Alternate: Ho Wee Seng (Anderson Junior College)
National Qualifier: Arun Vignesh s/o Selvaraju (Raffles Junior College)

Dramatic Interp
2nd Alternate: Dharshini Lokaswarn (ACJC)
1st Alternate: Frances Lee (ACJC)
Qualifier: Sarah-Ann Lee Meixia

Humorous Interp
2nd Alternate: John Cheah (ACJC)
1st Alternate: Xun Wei (ACJC)
National Qualifier: Gideon Yap (ACJC)

Original Oratory
Finalist: Nurul Sharafudin (National Junior College)
Finalist: Geran Wong (Millennia Institute)
2nd Alternate: Shreya Vipul Sanghvi (Victoria Junior College)
1st Alternate: Lian Kim Selby (ACJC)
National Qualifier (2nd place): Alexander Woon (Raffles Junior College)
National Qualifier (1st place): Sarah Yip (Victoria Junior College)

I would like to thank again Geetha Creffield from Anglo-Chinese Junior College along with her students Disha and Elizabeth for working hard to make this tournament a huge success. Also thanks to all the judges, ushers and volunteers for helping make this competition run smoothly. See some of you in Las Vegas and we hope to see the rest of you at next year's Qualifying Tournament!

IDEA Youth Forum: Where Incredible Happens

I invite you to spend some time on two new "Facts about IDEA Youth Forum" videos or you can watch these videos like really good remix of previous videos. Enjoy.

IDEA-CAU Tournament a Success!

The IDEA-CAU Open held at Chung-Ang University last weekend was a great kick-off to the debate semester here in Korea. Seventeen 3-person teams competed in Asian Parliamentary Debate - including some universities new to the activity. Konkuk University and Korea Development Institute both fielded teams exploring a debate tournament for the first time. In addition to several new teams and adjudicators, Jason Jarvis was able to train Gina Kim and Dohhee Roh in how to run debate tab. Notice the picture of the tab and organizing team "working hard" watching YouTube on the projector and eating pizza....

Saturday featured 3 preliminary rounds with the themes Law and Crime, International Relations, and Sports and Entertainment. On Sunday, a 4th preliminary round with the theme Ethics was held followed by Quarters (Asian Affairs), Semis (Gender) and Finals (Democracy). After finals on Sunday evening, those still around celebrated with food and libations at a nearby restaurant.

The final round between an Ehwa-Kyunghee International swing team and Hanyang 1 was on the motion "This House Believes that the Best Cure for the Ills of Democracy is More Democracy." Debating as Government, the Hanyang team centered the debate on increasing e-government in order promote democratic participation and freedom of information. The swing team argued back by exposing the dangers of e-voting (hacking, proxy votes, ect.) along with proposing an alternative narrative to explain low levels of democratic participation: people are fed up with the behavior of politicians. The debate was a 3-0 decision for the swing team of Ah-young Kim (Ewha), Hanna Ko (Ewha) and Jya-hyun Lee (Kyunghee Intl.).

The top 5 speakers at the tournament were:

1) Ah-young Kim (Ewha - swing)
2) Roh Hye-won (Korea University Debate Club)
3) Hanna Ko (Ewha - swing)
4) Michal Vodrazka (Korea Development Institute)
5) An Hee-jin (EDiS)

Many thanks to Chung-Ang University for hosting this event. CAU has always shown a great commitment to promoting debate and last weekend's tournament saw this trend continue. Logan from CAU deserves much credit for organizing this tournament as well as tirelessly promoting debate throughout Asia. Damin Kim and Lee Chan Young did about 99% of the work for this tournament - next time you see one of them, buy them lunch and say thanks! Jason Jarvis' willingness to train people in running tab should not be forgotten - this sort of knowledge-sharing will help make debate even more sustainable and wide-spread in Korea. Finally, to all the adjudicators who spent yet another weekend on a college campus helping debaters refine their advocacy skills: you all help make this activity a reality, so my warmest thanks for your help.

Motions:

Round 1 (Law and Crime)
1) THBT naked walkers should be imprisoned
2) TH supports the use of juries for all criminal trials.
3) THW use electronic bracelets to monitor pedophiles after release from prison.

Round 2 (International Relations)
1) TH supports Kosovo's declaration of independence.
2) THBT multinational businesses have a responsibility to adhere to international human rights standards.
3) THBT Turkey should be a member of the European Union.

Round 3 (Sports and Enternatinment)
1) THBT states should not fund sports.
2) THW allow athletes who have undergone sex-change operations to compete as their current gender.
3) THW set a minimum age requirement to become a pop star.

Round 4 (Ethics)
1) TH supports the death penalty for human trafficking.
2) THBT monogamy does more harm than good.
3) THW ban pets.

Quarterfinals (Asian Affairs)
1) THW censure China for its support of the Myanmar government.
2) THBT ASEAN should abandon its non-intervention policy.
3) THW send more troops to Afghanistan.

Semifinals (Gender)
1) THW create quotas for women in parliament.
2) THW give fathers an equal amount of paternity leave as mothers.
3) THBT Britney Spears is a good role model for women.

Finals (Democracy)
1) THBT e-government promotes democratic participation.
2) THW tie foreign aid to democratic reforms.
3) THBT the cure for the ills of democracy is more democracy.

IDEA Youth Forum: where incredible happens

I invite you to spend some time on "Facts about IDEA Youth Forum" videos.





These videos produced by Mite Kuzevski on behalf of the International Debate Education Association.

IDEA Presents Guest Blogs From the Fall Global Debates!

Green Is In the House
By Amanda Robert, Princeton High School, Princeton, Texas

Today I did something new. Something revolutionary. At least, revolutionary in my household. I started a change, slowly easing my family into it. First, I started with convincing them that purified water was better than spending all that money on water bottles. My parents seemed to agree as they went out that day to buy a water filter for our faucet.

Then, I worked them into buying more environmentally friendly house products. Started them off easy with new light bulbs, buying recycled goods (as well as recycling our own things), and different cleaning products than we usually get. They learned the joys of products from companies like Clean Environment Co. and were behind the 'going green' project I had started. But today was different. I was still fighting the battle in my home for things to be cleaner and better for the environment, but in a more drastic way. Our family rents their cars instead of buying them, so every few years they go out and pick some new ones. I'm sad to say that in the past we haven't had the cleanest cars around, but I convinced them to try something different this time around.

My parents decided, with some prodding, that looking into hybrid cars for this run would be worth it. I was surprised that it didn't take much to convince them (probably because they were renting it instead of buying), but they tend to tell their friends about things they like. So, if the new hybrid cars go over well, they might convince a few more people to give them a try. Here's to hoping to seeing more environmentally friendly cars out on the roads!

The Girls: An Interview by Rob Bingham

One of the most maddening realities of life in Uganda, especially for a school teacher like myself, is the massive disparity between the intellectual ability of many Ugandan students and their income. While Uganda has made some progress in the last ten years, introducing universal primary education in 1997, schooling at the secondary level is still financed by fees and tuition paid by individual families. The result is that many of the brightest young minds in the country, especially in places like the North, are simply locked out of the educational system by economic forces outside their control.

The issue of school fees often hits girls the hardest, as parents sometimes marry their daughters off as young as twelve in order to collect a "bride price," or dowry. Ironically, this bride price is often used to pay for the secondary education of other family members -- more often than not, boys. I sat down with the Ugandan girls of the CTAC Project to discuss what it is like to grow up as a young woman in Uganda.

This interview with Aseku Genavive, Namirembe Brenda, Achan Alice, and Ayee Beatrice -- the Ugandan girls of the Linking Individuals, Knowledge, and Culture Program -- was conducted over a two day period in July 2007. It has been edited and broken down into three parts: Women in Uganda, Education, and Politics, and The Future....

Women in Uganda

RB: As an American man, it's difficult for me to understand what it would be like to be a Ugandan woman. So what is it like? What are the lives of most Ugandan women like?

GENAVIVE: The life of the Ugandan women.... We are always oppressed by the men in Uganda.

RB: How so?

GENAVIVE: Okay, the reason I say so.... Women in Uganda are oppressed even in official work. We are always under men. We are not given the chance to be equal like men. For them, they want to be on top of us and we would be below them. And yet, in actual sense, we are capable of doing more than what they are doing right now.

BRENDA: And this is the result of men. Many still have the belief of traditional society where men used to be the boss, they're on top.... Now people are contradicting that belief that men are on top forever and ever. But even if they say we have emancipated women, (oppression) still exists in certain circumstances.

RB: So women are treated as property?

BRENDA: Yes.

RB: We had this other discussion in the parliament about early marriage. Could someone just explain what early marriage is?

ALICE: Okay, Early marriage. This is still existing in the rural areas.... For instance, if you go into Northern Uganda, you'll find that a girl of thirteen years old is already married, simply because their parents want to get property. Because of financial problems they tend to send their daughters for early marriage so they can get money and other things, like cows, goats... So they are released from the problem of poverty.

RB: So they essentially sell their daughters.

ALICE: Yes.

BRENDA: And if they happen to give birth to a girl child, they are happy because they have already got rich. They are rich now, to give birth to a girld child.

RB: So a Ugandan family is happier to have a girl?

BRENDA: Yes. They are happy they have given birth to a girl child --

RB: But only because they know they can get a bride price--

BRENDA: Yeah. And that's why we are here, to stand and fight so that may not continue.

GENAVIVE: It should be abolished.

RB: Early marriage should be abolished?

GENAVIVE: Yeah, because a person like me, I get married now and I cannot support myself as an individual. I become a parent.... How am I supposed to support my family? And yet also in a family a man goes to work, gets his money, goes to drink. He leaves me with all the activities in the home. I'm the one to buy food for the children, I'm the one to clothe them. You see that kind thing. That's why we stand firmly that early marriage should be abolished here in Uganda.

RB: But can't a girl refuse early marriage?

GENAVIVE: You cannot.

BRENDA: If you refuse they just send you out of your family. "You go, and look for someone to care after you!"

ALICE: That's how many girls are now in the streets, because of early marriage. They tend to run away. Because they have nowhere to go, they tend to be in the street.

Education

RB: Can we talk about school fees for a minute? How much are your guys' school fees? Can we just go around -- Alice, How much per year are your school fees?

ALICE: It depends on the school....

RB: Well, let's say the worst school in your district and the best school in your district. What are the two prices?

GENAVIVE: For me, the worst school in the district -- Okay... The schools which are not highly paid, which have a low standard.... like where I am.... We pay 106,800 (Ugandan schillings) per term.

RB: And how many terms per year?

GENAVIVE: Three terms.

RB: Okay, so that's roughly 300,000 per term....

*NOTE: 300,00 Ugandan schillings is roughly $200... for huge classes, limited supplies, and untrained teachers. In sum, a substandard education. Quality schools -- boarding schools in the capitol, for example -- cost 600,000 or more, roughly $350 per year, an amount unaffordable to most families.

A final note of clarification. Ugandan students refer to amounts in the hundreds of thousands in terms of a fraction out of a million. Six hundred thousand shillings, for example, might be described as "point six."

GENAVIVE: I have heard there are schools that cost one million here in Uganda, but most of us don't even know the direction (laughs), because you cannot start going there looking for admission and yet you are not capable of paying.... and even in the lower school (laughs) I am not able to pay....

RB: So what are your schools like? Can you tell me a bit about the schools you're currently attending?

ALICE: First, you find that good teachers tend to go away because the pay is not there.... Like...we don't have literature in our school. Political education is not there, and many other subjects we are not being taught. We are supposed to have eighteen subjects, but we are being taught fourteen only. For the case of Northern Uganda, it is even the worst. You find many students who did not finish Senior 6 (the final year of high school) are the ones who teach, because there is no one else....

RB: Like in Gulu, for example...

ALICE: Yeah.

GENAVIVE: Qualified teachers are based in Kampala.

ALICE: Rob, all of us who are here you picked from rural schools, and most of us here are bright. But the reason you picked us from those rural schools is because we are lacking school fees. Otherwise, we would be attending better schools where they pay .6 million.... But we are not capable of paying....

RB: But you’re confident that, if you could pay, that you would be admitted to a good school?

ALICE: Yes.

RB: Okay.... Beatrice, you haven't spoken much. What is your school like? Explain for us.... How many students per class, for example?

BEATRICE: Okay, at our school we have a total of one thousand students --

RB: And you go to a girls' school, is that right?

BEATRICE: Yes. It's a girls' school. And there would be between one hundred fifty and two hundred students....

RB: Wait. So if you walk into a class, and the teacher goes to the front, how many students are sitting in those desks?

BEATRICE: We don't use desks; we used lockers....

RB: What do you mean by "locker?"

BEATRICE: A locker is just like a cupboard.

RB: Oh okay. But seriously, you would have one teacher at the front of the room and one hundred and fifty students?

BEATRICE: Yeah.

RB: Wow.

Politics and The Future

RB: Okay, we were talking politics and someone mentioned Nelson Mandela. Who mentioned Nelson Mandela?

GENAVIVE: Me.

RB: So do you think.... Well, you were telling me this the other night. Do you think it's necessary to suffer in order to govern, to understand --

BRENDA: It was like this. There was an Apartheid policy in South Africa, where blacks were discriminated against. There were schools for the whites, and gardens for the whites.... and Nelson Mandela said no, the only difference is color. We are all human beings, and we are all from God. Why can't we have equal rights?

RB: So what makes Nelson Mandela different from other people? From other leaders? You were saying, Genavive, that he gave away power peacefully --

GENAVIVE: When it came time for him to retire, he didn't fight. He never fought. He told his people, "You elect the leader of your choice. It is my time to retire. I can only be an advisor." And that is what he is doing.

RB: So Nelson Mandela is the model for you?

GENAVIVE: Yes.

ALICE: In fact, we want all the leaders to be like Nelson Mandela. You retire when your time comes, and not guns, guns, all the time....

RB: Okay, let's wrap this up. I want each person to tell me -- for one minute each -- where do you see yourself ten years from now?

ALICE: For me, the way I see myself... If I am to be educated, well-educated, I will be someone useful in the future.

RB: So you see yourself in a university?

ALICE: Yes.

RB: An American university or a Ugandan University?

ALICE: It is my dream to study from an American University. Yeah.

RB: Genavive?

GENAVIVE: I see myself as a gift from God. So I have to utilize my life to support others. If I am well-educated, I have to become a politician, because politicians are the ones who speak in the parliament....

RB: Okay. Beatrice?

BEATRICE: For me, if I'm supported, I would like to become a medical doctor. And you know, in the camps, people are really having problems. The sanitation is so poor, people are almost in a place with the animals, and that is very, very bad --

RB: And this is the Internally Displaced Persons Camp where you live, right?

BEATRICE: Yes. So if I'm educated, I would really fight for people's health. I would like to be a medical doctor. My dream... I would like to study from the outside where the technology is advanced.

ALICE: Even in politics, you find that many of the politicians go and study from the outside and come back to implement the knowledge.

RB: What about you, Brenda? Where do you see yourself in ten years?

BRENDA: For me in ten years, if I happen to get a good education, I can be good for my country....Because I pray that one day I become the president of this country.

IDEA Trains in Malaysia!

With the help of 2 trainers from the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM), I had the opportunity to work with students from the Politeknik Tuanku Sultanah Bahiyah and a handful of local high school students in Kulim, Malaysia from January 31 to February 4. Fareez bin Zahir and Yem Mohammad – both accomplished debaters and trainers – lent their expertise in British Parliamentary debate to introduce a crop of 45 debaters and 6 adjudicators to the format.

The first evening was a time for icebreakers and activities to put all participants at ease. Picking 5 people – George Bush, Paris Hilton, Osama bin Laden, David Beckham and me (I didn’t pick me! A student did!) – and putting them in a hypothetical crashing airplane with only 1 parachute led to some stimulating debate. The students also shared their expectations and hope for the camp.

On day 2 we leapt into heavier subjects with a session introducing debate generally and two sessions introducing British Parliamentary debate in particular. While Yem and I worked with students in the afternoon, Fareez worked with the new adjudicators to outline how to run and judge a debate. At the end of the day, with the camp divided into 3 smaller groups, debaters practiced their skills by giving public speeches on subjects ranging from global warming to Malaysian national service.

Saturday saw the debaters put all of their newfound skills together and do full debates. Yem and I, feeling particularly mean, assigned debate partners by randomly drawing names out of a paper bag! Debaters then assigned their newfound team a name. Although grumbles could be heard when we revealed our plan, I can see that new friendships were formed from our short camp. As is sometimes the case with beginning debaters, speeches on Day 3 were not always the full 7 minutes and some of the rules of the format were still being discovered. At the end of the day, though, most debaters were prepared – if a bit apprehensive – to participate in the mini-tournament with their new partners at the end of the camp.

The tournament featured 3 preliminary rounds, plus a semi-final and final round. Many students who on Day 1 shared their fears of speaking publicly were giving rousing 7 minutes speeches by Day 4. Some even asked if they could extend speeches to 10 minutes! Topics for the tournament mostly focused on issues relating to Malaysians and Malaysian youth. Preliminary topics centered on lowering the voting age in Malaysia (currently 21), banning smoking in public places and censoring the internet for political content. Those advancing to the semi-finals debated the merits of Malaysian National Service – a system wherein young people go to a 3-month camp run by the government to learn life skills.

The final round topic was “This House would restrict foreign laborers from coming to Malaysia” and featured plenty of entertainment for the sizable audience and three new adjudicators. Eventually, team Paranoid Duo of Nicole and Farah took first place from the Closing Opposition position, while teams Kaiser Crew, Assassins and Left Brain finished second, third and fourth, respectively. A three-way tie for first individual speaker from the preliminary rounds could not be mathematically broken, so Nicole from Paranoid Duo, Rena from Assassins and Thiban from team TZ currently shared a trophy.

The enthusiasm for debate in Kulim is high and we have to thank Lye Wah and Isyati Suparaman from the Polytechnic for arranging everything and helping to put on a fantastic camp. Also thanks to Yem and Fareez for donating their weekend to help spread debate in Malaysia. Thanks everyone and we hope to see you again!

IDEA Training in Seogwipo, South Korea

On January 19-20, IDEA offered a free training for middle school students in Seogwipo on the island of Jeju of South Korea. Jeju is far from the bustling metropolis of Seoul and is populated mostly with fishing villages, tangerine orchards and in the summertime, tourists lounging around at resorts. Elizabeth Humphrey, a Fulbright scholar and former debater and part-time IDEA employee, is based on Jeju at Seogwipo Jungang Girl’s Middle School and hosted the training for debaters from several schools. The training covered basic debate, argumentation and public speaking. Elizabeth and I worked with 23 students, and focused on getting each student speaking in English and equipped with the basic skill of constructing an effective argument.

Some of the older and more eager students wanted to try a full debate on Sunday, which we of course encouraged. They felt all the frustrations that first time debaters have (filling time, taking notes, responding to arguments) and were so keen to improve that they asked to debate again but on a different topic. Students chose their own topics and focused on the death penalty and whether homosexuality should be accepted in Korean society. As a conservative society with regard to sexual mores, it was quite surprising that most students were keen to defend the equality and acceptance of LGBT communities. Some of the younger students worked on constructing arguments and giving prepared speeches on whether Korean men should be conscripted into the military. Currently, all healthy men must serve 26 months in the military.

Several of the students were quite enthused about debate and are looking to begin clubs at their high schools next semester. So many of the debate opportunities in Korea center around Seoul, a metropolitan area of about 20 million, so offering training and opportunities for engagement to students and teachers outside Seoul, such as in Seogwipo, is important.

An Article from an IDEA Alum on Love and Debate...

Debates & Love

By Peter Zhdanov, Demosthenes Club, Russia, Novosibirsk-Moscow, peter@eotinc.com

I have known Katrin since first grade: in midschool she liked me, then the feeling has evaporated, and it was my turn to fall for her. Anyway, by the time we entered high school all this love hassle has been sorted out, and we became very good friends.

One day we were quite surprised to see each other at the weekly meeting of the college’s debates club. Katrin became the second speaker of our Carl Popper debates team, while I ended up being the third. Together we have successfully participated in a couple of tournaments and have seen a few APD games presented by students of various Russian universities. Impressed and dazzled by their brilliant manner, we swore to ourselves that we’ll continue playing debates after we graduate from school.

In 2003 we entered Novosibirsk State University, on of the top schools in Russia. Katya’s major was Sociology, while I was into Math. We kept attending trainings on the APD format in the famous Demosthenes Club, tried judging and coaching and have gotten to know many interesting people. However, with the end of George Soros’ sponsorship program most of the Russian debates clubs were left struggling for survival. The “golden era” of debates in our city has passed, and we decided to switch our attention to other occupations and hobbies.

I still wonder who (or what luck) brought us back to the debates world in 2006, when I and Katrin were invited to judge the school Carl Popper championship of our district. I fell in love with a charming little girl with fluffy hair from the same school that I used to attend – Eugenia Stepanzova – who managed to win the tournament. She inspired me to continue my debate activities and lure Katrin into playing together in the upcoming open debates cup of our university. I became the team leader, while Katrin proved to be a great member of the team. Naturally, we won the cup, and that was only the beginning: trainings, tournaments, debate camps, writing a book – “Debates – the Art of Winning”, etc. Btw, in the semifinals of our very first APD tournament we have beaten two rather gifted guys (would-be champions of the city). One of them, Artem Zyatkov, was so impressed by Katrin’s looks and style that they ended up dating each other.

In 2007 Katrin and I graduated from the university and were admitted to MA programs of two prestigious Russian economics schools, located in its capital, Moscow. We are looking forward to participating in the activities of the Russian debates society, making new acquaintances, trying out the BPD format and, eventually, successfully participating in the WDC. No matter what, debates have already helped us to boost our public speaking skills, develop a critical way of thinking, get to know remarkable people and…even find our significant others!
Therefore, I sincerely believe that the pompous slogan of Demosthenes Club – “Debates are a whole world” – is in no way an overexaggeration.

Have a great time playing debates,
Peter Zhdanov

2nd IDEA-BFSU British Parliamentary Debate Tournament

IDEA’s involvement in China continued successfully last weekend with the 2^nd IDEA-BFSU British Parliamentary Debate Tournament in Beijing. Hosted by Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) and jointly sponsored by IDEA and the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (FLTRP), the event drew over 200 debaters not only from Beijing, but also from as far away as Nanjing (10-hour train ride), Xi’an (10-hour train ride), Dalien (overnight train), and Ulaanbataar, Mongolia (the grand prize for the longest trip – a 2-day train/bus/jeep journey!). Many of the participants from the IDEA training at BFSU from November 2-4 of this year were at the tournament eager to put that session to use. Materials from that training can be found at http://wiki.idebate.org/index.php/Beijing_BP_Training.

This tournament featured impromptu debate topics which fell into one of 8 pre-released categories: Iran’s nuclear program, US troops in Iraq, UN Peacekeeping, private automobile ownership, technology in the classroom, Isreal/Palestine and the 2-state solution, the World Bank, and flaws in Western development models. Thus debaters knew the themes of the tournament but not specific motions. Even though debaters expected to have debates about UN Peacekeeping, for example, they perhaps did not expect the semi-final motion “The UN should have a standing Peacekeeping force.” This format encourages research but maintains the excitement of impromptu debating.

The final debate featured strong performances from all eight debaters on the topic “Reject the Western development model.” Even though all four teams put forth a strong effort, the second opposition team, comprised of Ellen Pang and Ji Zha from Peking University, were ranked 1^st on the ballots of all 7 judges. After extolling the virtues of the free-market system and Western legal norms governing contracts and business rights, the Peking students argued that the Western model is not simply wasteful and exploitative, but improves the lives of people in countries where such models are implemented well. The final results from that round, and the top 4 teams in the tournament (out of more than 100 – quite an accomplishment!) were:

First place: Peking University - Ellen Pang and Ji Zha
Second place: Central University of Finance and Economics - Ji Ruonan and He Jingkai
Third place: Beijing Foreign Studies University - Chen Hao and Wu Mian
Fourth place: Beijing Foreign Studies University - Zhou Sheng Ru and Rui Yuan

Even though these four teams got the thrill of debating in front of a large crowd, all teams got at least 6 preliminary rounds and 32 got the chance to debate in octafinals. Simply to break into that top 32, teams needed an average of 2^nd place in each preliminary round with high speaker points to advance.

As evidenced by this tough competition, debate seems to be becoming ever more popular in China. This May’s FLTRP Cup promises to be a large event and tournaments around Beijing will be held throughout the Spring. We hope to see you at IDEA-related events in China again in the future!

Another Update from Marcin

Dear All,
We are reaching the end of the wonderful event we have had in Jinja - tomorrow is the last day: featuring one more preliminary round, then semi-finals and the finals.
Yesterday all the participants started working on preparing their cases. They had been divided into teams the evening before and selected names for their teams.
We worked in 5 lab groups with participants, focusing on running policy cases on the topic: this house would strengthen protection of children's rights in Africa.
The teams then prepared their cases and each lab ran practice rounds for their teams.
In the evening we had a judges' briefing when we addressed the questions of logistics of the tournament as well as professional behavior of judges.
In the morning, we had two rounds of debating and all the teams had a chance to debate on both sides of the resolution. The debates I have seen were great and we got very good feedback on other debates from the debaters and judges alike.
In the afternoon we had an excursion to the source of the Nile and the rapids - it was an unforgettable experience and believe me- many pictures were taken today :) (of the most beautiful scenery).

In the evening, we had a cultural night, during which the participants presented their songs and dances- Rwandan and Ugandan.

Tomorrow we will have more debates- one more preliminary round after which 4 teams will be selected to the semi-finals.

After the final round, we will have the closing ceremony- we are expecting the Major of Jinja as well as the Rwandan Ambassador as the guests of honour!

After the ceremony, we will have a bonefire, plenty of Ugandan delicacies and many opportunities to dance to the sound of African drums.

I will send you my last report from Jinja tomorrow and a lot of pictures after I come back from Uganda.

All the best,
Marcin

Marcin's Report from the African Youth Forum in Jinja

Dear All,
We have completed the second day of DtD Forum in Jinja- hosting students and coaches from Uganda and Rwanda.
Yesterday, following the team building and ice-breaking sessions, we introduced students to the basic elements of public speaking, organization, style and delivery. Students then selected a topic of their choice and prepared a 3 minute speech (under the guidance fromcoaches and trainers). They practiced delivering their speeches in front of the small groups and volunteers presented their speeches in the evening during a Public Speaking night. We had so many volunteers that we had to organize another Public Speaking night today!

Today, students were introduced to the working of a mock parliament and were given time to work on the resolutions on the themes of the rights of children. In the afternoon we had a session of mock parliament with students presenting and debating their resolutions. We divided debaters into mixed teams today, and tomorrow they will be preparing their cases on the topic: This house would strengthen protection of children's rights in Africa. We have 20 teams and the first ever international Karl Popper Debate Touranament in Africa will start on Wednesday. Everything is going well- we have great debaters, coaches and trainers. I will submit my report from Jinja on Thursday.
All the best from sunny Jinja,
Marcin

Liz Goes to the National Council of Social Studies Teachers Conference!

Hello! My name is Elizabeth Carson-Garland, and I am the new administrative assistant for IDEA U.S. My office is located at Willamette University. I am very excited about being apart of this wonderful organization. I will be handling the accounting, bookkeeping and event registration here on the West Coast.

I just returned from the NCSS conference in San Diego, California, where I worked along side Martin Greenwald promoting our Idebate press books to Social Studies teachers from across the United States. I thoroughly enjoyed discussing our materials with these teachers and introducing them to IDEA. It was such a rewarding experience, as I knew with each book purchased, our materials would be integrated into their curriculum, teaching students to think critically, and encouraging them to take an active role in society through debate and discussion. I am privileged to have the opportunity to work for IDEA, and I look forward to working with all of you in the future.

IDEA Visits Bangladesh

In mid-November IDEA made its first appearance in Bangladesh for the inaugural Bangladesh Open held at the Islamic University of Technology (IUT) just north of the capital Dhaka. The event was organized by the Bangladesh Debate Council, which invited IDEA to come help adjudicate and train debaters. Students came from Bangladeshi high schools and universities as well as a contingent from the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) to make this an international tournament.

On my first day in the country, I along with Claudia Newman-Martin from Australia, trained a group of students in the British Parliamentary debate format and in debate/argumentation more generally. We covered a variety of topics in our workshop, from hate speech to globalization’s effect on the poor to sanctions on Burma, to demonstrate some of the most effective tactics in debating. Chief among these was an injunction to set up a level playing field and win debates on wit – something there is no shortage of in any debate community – as opposed to deception. The students from this training, mostly high school-aged, were extremely enthusiastic and well-informed, demonstrated by the fact that two of the students from the training even placed 3rd in the Bangladesh Open.

The topics at the Bangladesh Open ranged from space exploration to the protection of cultural heritage to Kurdish independence to sex education. The final round was a particularly interesting topic centering on the right of companies to refuse employment to smokers. The sizable audience got to have a few laughs and was entertained by the two Bangladeshi and two IIUM teams in the round – although one of the IIUM debaters is a Dhaka native. One of the most rewarding things for me to see at the tournament was that debates continued after the formal round was over, indicating an enthusiasm for critical engagement that exceeds mere competition.

During my last few days in Bangladesh I went to visit a couple high schools to introduce students to debate and to hear what young people in Dhaka had to say. At the Aga Khan School, I fielded lots of questions about debate and IDEA, introduced a few brief concepts of debate, and then facilitated an interesting (and lively!) debate about the merits of arranged marriages. At the Baccalaureate International Tutorial, I got the chance to hear the students’ views on the influence of American culture on Bangladesh and had a great time listening.

If you’re a Bangladeshi reading this – thanks to all for showing me a good time in your country; I am now craving paan and spicy curry in the freezing Seoul winter! I hope you enjoy some of the photos posted to this blog and I hope to see you again.

Alex.

IDEA Weekly November 27th

November 27, 2007
Dear INN Readers,
I hope this newsletter finds you well. As usual, I will try to figure out how to cram a week’s worth of IDEA News into one page. I’m chatty, so this is no small feat. We at the IDEA office in the U.S. have been busy the last couple of weeks tallying ballots for the TPS Fall Global Debates. You are faithfully sending envelopes and boxes of forms, and we’ll do our best to continue posting results at www.idebate.org/thepeoplespeak. In the meantime, my office looks like an obstacle course, and I’m mourning the many trees whose lives were lost in the printing of thousands of ballots! A moment of silence… ~Arminda

The UNF Announces Leading Global Debate Point Winners!
Congratulations to the following top six international schools for being TPS 2007 point leaders! Remember, you can submit your items for extra points to the UN Foundation at info@thepeoplespeak.org until January 15th, 2008. Anyone can win one of the six trips to New York at this point. And, don’t forget to send your ballots from your debate to IDEA in order to make your points count! To see ballot results, visit www.idebate.org/thepeoplespeak.
School Location Rank
1:Mircea Eliade Lyceum Chisinau, Moldova
2:N. Popovich Math and Science HS Shumen, Bulgaria
3:Moscow High School Moscow, Russia
4:Gymnasium #8470-9 Simferopol, Ukraine
5:Lyceum Prometeu-Prim Chisinau, Moldova
6:Theoretical Lyceum V. Alecsandri Calarasi, Moldova

The IDEA TPS Bosnia Open Thanks to the organization and commitment of the Center for Cultivating Dialogue in Sarajevo, the TPS Bosnia Open was a valuable experience for all involved. The Bosnia Open was November 15th-19th in Sarajevo. There were 24 teams in attendance from BiH, Montenegro, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. The finalists for the Open were Bosnia Mix 1 (Mateja Mikulic, Enio Kapetanovic and Belma Ibrahimovic) and Montenegro 2 (Rastko Pajkovic, Milos Popovic and Jovana Ramovic), with Bosnia Mix 1 emerging as the tournament’s winner. The top three tournament speakers were: Rastko Pajkovic, (1st), Miha Sustarsci (2nd), and Iva Coric (3rd). Congratulations to the hosts, coaches, and participants for a successful event! To see photos of the event, visit http://picasaweb.google.com/jasmin.ceco/TPSBosniaOPEN2007. The next issue of idebate Magazine will feature photos and articles from the Bosnia Open.

IDEA Will Co-Sponsor The Great Debaters Debate Video Contest
In celebration of the movie, The Great Debaters, IDEA has been asked to co-sponsor The Great Debaters Debate Video Contest. As a co-sponsor, IDEA will help with the judging for the contest. For more information about the contest and eligibility, visit www.princetonreview.com.

Visit IDEA’s New EU Youth Speak Website!
On November 9th, IDEA launched a site especially for European Youth. The site launch corresponded with the 18th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. IDEA would like for the new EU Site at www.euyouthspeak.org to become a place of discussion for European Youth to contribute their ideas and discuss global issues. EU Youth Speak is a work in progress; please visit the site and see how you can contribute.
IDEA’s New and Improved Website: www.idebate.org

What's the buzz in the streets of Lira?!

Hear us speak – Children’s parliament in Lira, Uganda
And they were heard indeed!

On November 12-16, 2007 an IDEA trainer, Veronika Vlckova facilitated training that lead to the Children’s parliament Conference in Lira, Uganda. The training was organized by War Child Holland (WCH) as a part of project Go to school, stay in school, go back to school, an activity done in cooperation with UNICEF and Save children. WCH focuses on recreational activities for children in war effected areas. IDEA was invited to participate as an expert organization to facilitate and instruct on how to lead discussions, in this case Model Parliaments.

The training focused on children of 9-14 of age, who live in Lira District in Northern Uganda, a region which suffered from civil war forcing many into Camps for Internally Displaced Persons. The 32 pupils and 8 teachers discussed the issues of education, more specifically the problems of teachers; lack of teaching materials and school equipment; and peace and security in schools.

The week-long training culminated in Children’s Parliament Conference that took place on November 20th in the Lira District Council Chambers. The pupils presented their speeches and answered questions from the local district officials and representatives of NGOs working in that region by simulating the parliamentary procedures of the Local District Council. The pupils were so great that not only the local officials and NGO leaders were impressed but the word of praise went beyond the walls of the Chambers’ walls into the streets if Lira. Children were welcomed home as little heroes and there really was a lot to be proud of!

IDEA Weekly November 15

Dear INN Readers,
Happy Autumn! I just returned from the IDEA Exchange and General Assembly hosted by our own Jurate Motiejunaite in Kaunas, Lithuania. I went to many interesting panels put on by IDEA Members, and the GA was an enlightening experience as well. It was great to meet so many IDEA members in person. Among our discussions at the GA meeting was a discussion about new tracks at the Youth Forum, which will be held in Bulgaria in 2008. Veronika Vlckova, our Youth Forum Coordinator, will be sending out details about the different options you can choose from for Youth Forum 2008. Stay tuned for detailed descriptions and registration information about our 2008 events on www.idebate.org! ~Arminda

TPS Global DebatesIf you participated in the fall Global Debates, remember to send your items for extra points to the UN Foundation at info@thepeoplespeak.org. Send your ballots from your public forum debate to IDEA at: IDEA/ Willamette University/ 900 State St./ Salem, OR 97301/ USA. If you have questions about this, please email Arminda: alathrop@idebate.org.

A Letter from Veronika
Dear debating community,
I am proud to present you the chief staff for the upcoming Youth Forum for 2008 in Bulgaria. The local host is the Bulgarian National Debate Association, represented by Mariana Tcherneva and Trendafil Meretev (Dafo). Robert Trapp, Marcin Zaleski, Ioana Cionea, Kajar Kase, Ronna Liggett, Aaron Fishbone, Katechka Hanzelkova and Anca Pusca are the Curriculum Committee and will be making sure that the curriculum and topics are excellent! Running the tournaments for the second time in row, our Tournament Director is Helina Loor. Kajar Kase and Kenda Cunningham will be working tirelessly to improve the quality of judging as Chief Adjudicator and Deputy Chief Adjudicator, respectively. Veronika Vlckova, our Forum Coordinator will be making sure everyone is working as hard as they can to make the YF 2008 in Bulgaria hard to forget! Have a nice day! ~Veronika Vlckova

IDEA Teaches British Parli in China
From November 2-4, IDEA and FLTRP in Beijing, China cosponsored a British Parliamentary Debate Training hosted by the Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) in Beijing. Five IDEA trainers—Dr. Robert Trapp, James Edenborough, Vishal Nangalia, Alex Dukalskis and Veronika Vlckova—worked with about 350 debaters and 50 judges over three days. Led by Trapp, the training team covered various topics related to argumentation and debate following the British Parliamentary (BP) format. Debating is becoming extremely popular and receives a lot of attention from students, teachers and also university head representatives. Gary Rybold, who is currently conducting his doctoral research at BFSU, is hosting a tournament on the weekend of December 8 in Beijing, and by the end of the training, he had already 130 signed up!

IDEA Calendar: Annual Events 2008
Mark your calendars for the following 2008 Annual IDEA Events!
●European Youth Speak: March 15-17, 2008 ~ Amsterdam, NL
●IDEA International Tournament of Champions: May 16-18, 2008 ~ Oregon, U.S.
●IDEA NJFL International Tournament (Middle School): June 26-29, 2008~Western Kentucky University, U.S.
●IDEA International Debate and Citizen Journalism Institute: June 29-July 19, 2008
●IDEA International Youth Forum: July 23-August 5, 2008 ~Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria


Contribute to IDEA’s New Debatepedia, the Encyclopedia of Debate!

Update from an IDEA Governing Board member

Hello everyone!

This is Joe Zompetti, IDEA-NL Governing Board member and associate professor in the School of Communication from Illinois State University. I just wanted to let everyone know a few updates from me:
1. I recently published an article on Advocacy and Civil Society in the journal Argumentation: An International Journal on Reasoning.
2. Last week, in conjunction with the GA, the Board met and discussed new ideas on how to make IDEA an even better organization. Your ideas are welcomed and appreciated!!!
3. During IDEA Exchange, I presented a workshop on International Civic Engagement. Anyone interested in this subject area should fee free to contact me at zompetti@aol.com.
4. On 10 November, my debate team at Illinois State participated in a public debate with the University of Illinois regarding the motion: That the U.S. should withdrawal from Iraq immediately. It was well attended and promoted lively discussion amongst those in the audience. Later in the month, our debate team will work in conjunction with our Student Government Association to host a public debate concerning the U.S. presidential frontrunners.
5. I am currently at the National Communication Association conference in Chicago, Illinois. In addition to activities relating to my university, I hope to promote IDEA as well.

Please let me know if you have questions or if there are things I can do to represent you better on the Board!

Best,
Joe Zompetti

IDEA Exchange and General Assembly

Greetings from Lithuania!
I am at the IDEA General Assembly Meeting in Kaunas. It's great to see familiar faces! The IDEA Exchange ended yesterday; it was great to see the presentations and hear about debate in our our member countries. The Exchange was organized and hosted by Jurate--perhaps the most ambitious woman in the world!--and Professor Robert Trapp was the keynote speaker. This year's Exchange topic was "Debate in the Neighborhood." It was interesting to hear members' ideas about the concept of a neighborhood and discussion in different "spheres."

IDEA-FLTRP Training a Success!

From November 2-4, 5 IDEA trainers worked with about 350 debaters and 50 judges at the Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU). Led by Dr. Robert Trapp, the training crew covered various topics relating to British Parliamentary Debate and argumentation more generally.

The training started off with a lecture by Robert entitled Arguing Constructively, where he advanced a vision of debate that emphasizes not victory or unilateral achievement, but self-discovery, teamwork, analysis of pressing world issues and building skills that can be used for advocacy. Eight Chinese debaters then put those ideas into practice with a Friday night debate on “This House Would Abolish Capital Punishment.” These brave volunteers put their wit and intelligence on display for hundreds of their colleagues and judging by the audience response, nobody was disappointed. On Saturday and Sunday, Veronika Vlckova and James Edenborough worked with judges on the fundamentals of adjudicating BP style debate, while Robert, Vishal Nangalia and I addressed argument and case construction, refutation, fallacies and several Q&A and interactive sessions. Most of the training materials are available on the Debatepedia at http://wiki.idebate.org/index.php/Beijing_BP_Training

The enthusiasm for debate in Beijing is contagious! Dozens of participants stayed after the training and wanted to talk more about the ideas covered over the weekend. There are already more than 100 teams signed up to debate on the weekend of December 8 in Beijing – in fact interest is so widespread that Gary Rybold, the tournament director, has had to limit the number of teams!

-Alex.

IDEA Weekly October 23

October 23, 2007
Dear INN Readers,
It sounds like the Global Debates went well! I’ve heard from many of you, who have reported successful debates at your schools! Some of you even had local community leaders or reporters as guests! Nice job. For a list of participating schools, visit IDEA’s TPS website. I guess it’s time to finish up Fall and start prepping for spring…J The spring topic for the Global Debates is “Resolved: Water should be considered national property.” You will be able to find helpful resources on that topic on the new Debatepedia. In the meantime, don’t forget to send your ballots to the address listed in your toolkit (IDEA at Willamette). You will want to send items you completed for extra points directly to the U.N. Foundation: info@thepeoplespeak.org. I’ll also be here to answer questions. ~Arminda

**TPS Global Debates Participants are eligible to register for the IDEA TPS Bosnia Open, hosted by the Centre for Cultivating Dialogue in Sarajevo November 15th-19th.

Idebate Deadline November 1st
If you would like to submit an article to idebate about debate in your country or club, please send all articles and inquiries to alathrop@idebate.org by November 1st. If you have already agreed to write an article for idebate, don’t forget the deadline!

Meet Winnie: IDEA’s Newest Staff Member in the NL!
Winnie Terra (34) studied art and culture policy and social science with a focus on city and culture sociology. The past ten years Winnie worked for various cultural non-profit organizations such as Marres, Kunsten '92, De Balie, Shadow Festival, Fort Asperen, Catalogue Magazine as a project leader, researcher or managing director and worked as a cultural policy advisor. She recently received a grant to write an essay on cultural diversity in the arts in international perspective. Along with these activities Winnie has a special interest in debates and politics and writes about social issues and debates, and organizes political dinners (LuxVoor) and debates with Spreeksteen. She advises and helps the De Levante Foundation, a organization about cultural diversity, to become sustainable. Winnie's has a special interest in inequality in the broadest sense of the word, democratic processes and- participation, culture, East Europe.
~Welcome aboard, Winnie!

IDEA Announces Final Call for Youth Forum 2008 Staff
The application deadline for Chief Adjudicator, Curriculum Committee Member, and Tournament Director is October 29th. If you are interested in one of these positions, get an application here and submit it soon!

IDEA Calendar: Annual Events 2008
Mark your calendars for the following 2008 Annual IDEA Events!
●European Youth Speak: March 15-17, 2008 ~ Amsterdam, NL
●IDEA International Tournament of Champions: May 16-18, 2008 ~ Oregon, U.S.
●IDEA NJFL International Tournament (Middle School): June 26-29, 2008~Western Kentucky University, U.S.
●IDEA International Debate and Citizen Journalism Institute: June 29-July 19, 2008 ~ Duino, Italy
●IDEA International Youth Forum: July 23-August 5, 2008 ~Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria

Contribute to IDEA’s New Debatepedia, the Encyclopedia of Debate!

Debate in Argentina: Some Positive Feedback

Politica

02/09/2007 Rio Negro: Comienza un nuevo ciclo del programa Crecer en demócracia
El vicegobernador de Río Negro Mario De Rege anunció que 20 escuelas de diferentes localidades provinciales inscriptas para el presente ciclo del proyecto ‘Crecer en Democracia’, comenzaron a remitir a la Legislatura sus iniciativas parlamentarias con la intención de sesionar próximamente en el recinto legislativo.De Rege explicó que «los trabajos entrarán ahora en una etapa de selección y sorteo cuyo resultado determinará la realización de hasta ocho sesiones a las que los alumnos serán convocados a partir de la última semana de setiembre y durante todo octubre».Con ese fin, las áreas de Comunicación Social y de Capacitación y Desarrollo, encargadas de implementar y organizar el programa institucional, distribuyeron en el mes de julio pasado más de doscientos sobres con material instructivo y videos a todas las escuelas públicas y privadas de Río Negro.Remitieron sus solicitudes varias escuelas del Alto Valle, Valle Medio, y de las regiones Andina y Atlántica, que involucran establecimientos de General Roca, Villa Regina, Allen, Cipolletti, El Bolsón, Bariloche, Sierra Grande, Ingeniero Jacobacci, Comallo, Choele Choel y Río Colorado.[Diario de El Bolson BW]

IDEA Visit to Mongolia

Flying from Seoul to Ulaanbataar, the first thing I noticed was this:

People per square kilometer in Mongolia: 1.7

People per square kilometer in Seoul: 17,108

From the IDEA base in Seoul, I hopped on the 3-hour flight to Ulaanbaatar to work with the debate network of the Mongolian Education Alliance (MEA) for a week. Fortunately for my interest in traveling, these opportunities are fairly common since Seoul is so close to other Asian destinations. On this particular trip I got to work with the MEA to think about some grant proposals, start a blog (http://debateinmongolia.blogspot.com if you can read Mongolian), train some students and teachers, and help keep Mongolian debaters abreast of happenings elsewhere in the IDEA network. Overall it was an interesting trip and I got to catch a glimpse of a fascinating place. Debaters and educators have several challenges to face: getting quality debate research materials in the Mongolian language, connecting a network of debate clubs over vast distances, and attending international events when the country is so far from most others. The MEA is doing some interesting things to try to alleviate some of these difficulties by, for example, translating relevant parts of the Debatabase into Mongolian or using the new blog to reach those schools in Mongolia with internet access.

One of the main things I did in Mongolia was training students and teachers. Many of them wanted to know some methods for debating about policies or plans, some wanted to know about judging, while still others wanted to talk about the program side of things and how to get their students or classmates more involved. On the last topic, one student from the 2007 Youth Forum returned to her school in Ulaanbaatar and started an English debate club. I’ve included a picture of all of us after we talked along with some pictures from a few other teacher/student trainings.

Of course, no IDEA trip would be complete without a little bit of sightseeing and local activities. On my last afternoon in the country, Davaku, a former IDEA debater, 2007 Youth Forum coach, and current MEA employee, took me and a few others out to her grandmother’s house in the countryside. The beautiful scenery was a nice change of pace from my usual city surroundings. We got to hike up some mountains, eat some delicious food, and, of course, ride horses and yaks…

Alex.

Ozone Hole:Join Global Debates!

As part of the Global Debates effort within The People Speak 2007/2008, we would like to show you this Public Service Announcement, produced by Mite Kuzevski-Jumbo, on behalf of the International Debate Education Association.

IDEA Weekly October 17th: Global Debates News

The IDEA Weekly, Volume 145

October 17, 2007

Dear INN Readers,
The weeks of Global Debates are on; schools across the world have begun competing for one of sixteen team trips to the U.N. Youth Summit in New York next summer. The Global Debates last until October 23rd, so if you haven’t signed up, it’s still not too late! IDEA and the UNF have many great resources for your debate, including the new Debatepedia at www.idebate.org. The Debatepedia offers debate arguments that relate to this fall’s Global Debates resolution and contains additional information about TPS 2007-2008 as well. Last week marked the launch of the Global Debates, Debatepedia, and the new IDEA website. If you haven’t visited the website yet, please go and look around. I welcome your feedback and suggestions about the new site; we are continuing to make improvements. Also, the latest issue of idebate is available on the website and will be distributed in print soon. The latest issue features articles on Youth Forum 2007, the Institute in Duino, Dialogue through Debate and Critical Thinking across Cultures. You can find it at: http://www.idebate.org/resources/publications/idebate_magazine.php?id=41 .
Best wishes for a happy, healthy fall~ Arminda

Global Debates Statistics—as of Today’s Date
Number of Participating Countries: 63
Number of Participants Who Registered for Their School: 525
Number of Participants Outside of the U.S. Who Registered for Their School: 293

Number of Participating School Organizers per Country/Province:

Arab Emirates: 1; Albania: 10; American Samoa: 1; Australia: 1; Azerbaijan: 1; Bosnia/Herzegovina: 44; Bangladesh: 3; Bulgaria: 5; Belarus: 2; Canada: 6; Chile: 2; Cameroon: 2; China: 5; Kosovo: 1; Czech Republic: 1; Germany: 2; Egypt: 1; Great Britain: 4; Georgia: 1; Ghana: 1; Hong Kong: 1; Haiti: 2; Indonesia: 3; Israel: 1; India: 48; Italy: 1; Kenya: 6; Kyrgyzstan: 1; Korea: 5; Kazakhstan: 2; Lithuania: 2; Lebanon: 1; Moldova: 25; Montenegro: 1; Macedonia: 11; Mongolia: 2; Myanmar: 1; Mexico: 1; Malaysia: 3; Nigeria: 4; Netherlands: 1; Nepal: 3; New Zealand: 1; Philippines: 5; Pakistan: 10; Romania: 1; Russia: 11; Rwanda: 3; Sudan: 1; Sweden: 1; Singapore: 2; Slovakia: 2; Sierra Leone: 3; Syrian Arab Republic: 1; Thailand: 1; Taiwan: 1; Tanzania: 1; Ukraine: 17; Uganda: 2; United States: 232; Uzbekistan: 1; Serbia: 1; South Africa: 8; Zambia: 1 .

**For a complete list of schools outside of the U.S. that have signed up as well as detailed instructions for participation, visit http://www.idebate.org/thepeoplespeak

**TPS Global Debates Participants are eligible to register for the IDEA TPS Bosnia Open, hosted by the Centre for Cultivating Dialogue in Sarajevo November 15th-19th.

IDEA Announces Final Call for Youth Forum 2008 Staff

The application deadline for Chief Adjudicator, Curriculum Committee Member, and Tournament Director is October 20th. If you are interested in one of these positions, get an application here and submit it soon!

IDEA Calendar: Annual Events 2008

Mark your calendars for the following 2008 Annual IDEA Events!
●European Youth Speak: March 15-17, 2008 ~ Amsterdam, NL
●IDEA International Tournament of Champions: May 16-18, 2008 ~ Oregon, U.S.
●IDEA NJFL International Tournament (Middle School): June 26-29, 2008~Western Kentucky University, U.S.
●IDEA International Debate and Citizen Journalism Institute: June 29-July 19, 2008 ~ Duino, Italy
●IDEA International Youth Forum: July 23-August 5, 2008 ~Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria


Contribute to IDEA’s New Debatepedia, the Encyclopedia of Debate!

Silent Movie:Join Global Debates!

As part of the Global Debates effort within The People Speak 2007/2008, we would like to show you this Public Service Announcement, produced by Mite Kuzevski-Jumbo, on behalf of the International Debate Education Association.

Win a Trip: Join Global Debates!

As part of the Global Debates effort within The People Speak 2007/2008, we would like to show you this Public Service Announcement, produced by Mite Kuzevski-Jumbo, on behalf of the International Debate Education Association.

Global Debates Start This Week!

It's hard to believe that October 12th is so close. IDEA has many exciting happenings on that day, including the release of IDEA's Debatepedia, a launch of our new homepage, and the start of the Global Debates. Right now, there are approximately 200 schools from outside of the U.S. signed up. Six lucky and/or hardworking schools will win a trip to the U.N. Youth Summit in New York next July! It's easy to participate in the Global Debates. You can sign up at www.thepeoplespeak.org and find out how you can get extra bonuses from IDEA at www.idebate.org/thepeoplespeak. A free trip to New York for having a debate? It's not so difficult.

The latest issue of Idebate is online!

The October issue of idebate Magazine, full of photos and articles about Summer 2007 IDEA events and upcoming IDEA events is online. Go check it out and take a little walk down memory lane!