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.