9 January 2001

The Voice of Edwin is the weekly newsletter of the Edwin Lawrence Debate Union at the University of Vermont, an endowed co-curricular program which trains students in debating and sponsors national competition and community events. Alfred C. Snider is the Director. 802-656-0097 voice, 802-238-8345 mobile, 802-656-4275 fax, asnider@zoo.uvm.edu email, and http://debate.uvm.edu/ldu.html web site.
The LDU meets every Monday night at 6 PM at 475 Main Street.

WINTER WONDER IN THE MIDWEST!
VERMONT DEBATE WINS SWEEPSTAKES AT BOTH KANSAS CITY TOURNAMENTS!


LDU Crew poses on stage in Kansas City | Sweeps bowl from UMKC, plate from William Jewell

Hard work, determination, argumentative ingenuity, student talent, and even some good coaching led to an astounding result -- the University of Vermont debate team won the team sweepstakes awards at both the Kansas City Swing tournaments, one at the University of Missouri at Kansas City (71 teams) and one at William Jewell College (114 teams). Just one win ahead of Michigan State at UMKC and one win ahead of Emory University at Jewell, each victory was important so that every team contributed to the win. Strong performances in each division made the difference.

At UMKC the team of Anthony Pagan and Mark Douglas (Middlebury) took second place in the Junior Varsity division after going 7-1 in the preliminary debates. Aaron Fishbone and Shawn Wilkerson (CCV) were 4-4 in the Varsity division. Matthew Sweeney and Charlie Hoag were 4-4 in JV, while Jennifer Knops and Shane Egizi were 3-4. . Several teams debated up a division in order to gain experience, and they had more of a struggle. JV debaters Casey Gervais and Meredith Parmett entered Varsity and were 1-7. Novice debaters entered in the JV division included Jillian Marty and Vilasa Campbell (3-5), Abagail Trebilcock and Wendy O'Connor (2-6), as well as David Moss and Brian Hurley (1-7).

At William Jewell Fishbone and Wilkerson were 4-2 and qualified for the elimination rounds before losing to the University of Kentucky. Pagan and Douglas were 2-4. In JV Gervais and Parmett were 4-2 and qualified for elimination rounds before losing to the University of Rochester. In Novice David Moss and Brian Hurley were 6-0 and lost in semifinals to California State University at Chico while Trebilcock and O'Connor were 4-2 and lost in semifinals to Texas-Dallas. Egizi and Knops were 3-3 in JV, Sweeney and Hoag were 2-4, and Marty and Campbell were 3-3.

While not all teams had good records, the fact that the LDU could field eight teams in all three divisions made the difference. The fact that a number of teams entered in a division higher than their eligibility, on the other hand, made this feat even more amazing.

LDU trips to the Midwest in January have become traditional through the years, as students travel to debate the best so that when they return they will be better. Out of region travel and competition, especially for the younger debaters, builds skills and expertise when they return, while experienced debaters keep up their national presence. One very important feature is that debaters commit to spending considerable time preparing before the trip begins.

Two vans with 20 people in board left early in the morning on January 1, 2001, driving to Kansas City, Missouri. After a stop in Ohio for the night, the group arrived in KC on January 2. The group left KC on January 8 and returned to Burlington 1477 miles and 26 hours later, driving straight through (four drivers in 3 to 4 hour shifts).

The LDU tradition is clear - we do not have experienced debaters on scholarship, we do not have as many coaches as most nationally competitive squads, and we lack the budget that most nationally competitive squads have, but we make up for it with hard work, sacrifice, desire, and (we hope) intelligent argument choice. The formula has worked before, and the KC swing has been an important part of powering us forward to competitive success in the second semester.

HIGHLIGHTS FOR SEMESTER TWO

CHECK OUR SCHEDULE - JUDGE FOR US, HOUSE US, BE A PART OF IT
TIME TO RECRUIT NEW DEBATERS
LDU LAUNCHES MAJOR LONG-TERM FUNDRAISING EFFORT
LDU INVITED TO GO TO SOUTH AMERICA IN MAY
LDU COACH INVITED TO CHINA IN APRIL
LDU FILES REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL SGA FUNDS
LDU IN COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP TO START NEW FM RADIO STATION
LDU COACH SERVES AS GUEST EDITOR FOR NATIONAL DEBATE MAGAZINE

SQUAD MEETING
NEXT MEETING JANUARY 15, 2001

RESEARCH SYSTEM

Aaron Fishbone is the Research Coordinator.
BEGIN PREPARING SEMESTER TWO RESEARCH ASSIGNMENTS

THE 2000-2001 YEAR-LONG TOPIC:
Resolved: that the United States Federal Government should substantially increase its development assistance, including increasing government to government assistance, within the Greater Horn of Africa.

THE PLANNED TOURNAMENT TRAVEL SCHEDULE:
February 3-4 Marist all 10-11 Cornell all 17-19 Heart of America varsity 23-24 East Regionals at BC all
March 3 VT HS States 7-8 Towson all 24-27 CEDA Nationals a few 29-2 NDT Nationals qualifiers only

LDU ADDRESS-PHONE-EMAIL LIST NOW AVAILABLE
at http://debate.uvm.edu/ldulist.html

LDU 2000-2001 SWEATSHIRTS ARE HERE!
ORDER NOW FOR NEXT PRINT RUN IN SPRING

Matt Sweeney is coordinator.
REPEAT OF "REPLACING WEAPONS WITH WORDS" HOODED SWEATS
ALSO: HOODED SWEATS WITH "101 YEARS OF SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER"

THEY WILL COST $30 EACH - HOODED, ZIP FRONT, POCKETED
ONLINE ORDER FORM AT http://debate.uvm.edu/ldusweats.html
COLORS: HUNTER, NAVY, STEEL, GRAY, BLACK

OUR RECORD

2000-2001 Season WINS LOSSES %
SEMESTER ONE 163 161 50%
KC Swing 56 63

TOTAL 2000-2001

219

224

49%

LDU RECORDS FOR WINS (376) AND DEBATES (725) ARE BOTH WITHIN REACH!

1999-2000 Record: 376-349 52%

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