26 August 2003

BUSY SUMMER SHOWS UVM DEBATE NEVER STOPS!

OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE - NEW YORK CITY
The open Society institute hosted the annual Ideafest for the Urban Debate League cities. LDU coach Alfred Snider was asked to chair the meeting, also attended by Sarah Snider '01, now program manager of Washington, DC UDL. Ideas were presented and debated as the 14 separate programs aimed at sustainability and expansion. Lisa Heller, director of the Providence Urban Debate league operated out of Brown University, is also an LDU alum. The three day event was attended by over 45 educators, teachers, and administrators. For more information, go to the National Association of Urban Debate Leagues web site at http://urbandebate.org/

NFL NATIONALS - ATLANTA
The National Forensic League organizes high school speech and debate in the USA. When 5000 people descended on Atlanta for the national championship speech and debate tournament the NFL called on LDU coaches Alfred Snider and Gordie Miller to be in charge of pairings, tabulation, and results. The five day event was preceded by five working days in Atlanta for the two LDU coaches. Numerous obstacles were confronted and overcome, as both called it the most difficult assignment in their careers. NFL gratitude led to bonuses for both and a free laptop of his choice to Snider.

NATIONAL DEBATE CAMP - SLOVENIA
LDU coach Alfred Snider was invited by the Slovenian national Debate Program to be an instructor at their annual summer training camp held in the Slovenian Alps, this year in Areh. He directed the training for university students. The program was held in a lovely ski lodge, and the view from Snider's classroom can be seen at the left. The debaters were hard working, talented, and very creative. New bonds were formed between the LDU and this vigorous debating nation. A return trip will have to be planned, as well as the opportunity to host Slovenes at a future World Debate Institute in Burlington. A picture gallery o the trip can be found at http://debate.uvm.edu/travel/slovenia03.html .

WORLD DEBATE INSTITUTE - BURLINGTON
Over 250 students and teachers descended on Burlington for the 22nd World Debate Institute. 130 students attended the high school debate workshop, with many of them from Urban Debate League programs who partner with the LDU. Over 25 teachers came to attend the coaches workshop. 75 college debaters gathered for the college policy workshop, while 30 attended the parliamentary workshop. International attendees came from Canada, Japan, Chile, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Haiti, and other countries. The last day featured a number of public debates, and some of the participants are shown above. Left to right: Royal Military College of Canada debated Nicaragua and Venezuela on compulsory military service; Herrold Prophete, Djeane Monfort, and Jacob Gateau of Haiti staged a debate in French about debt relief ; Katsuya Koresawa and Satoru Aonuma held a debate on casino gambling in Japanese; and a debate on the role of violence in social change was staged in English by Justin Green of Georgetown, Adam Lee of Rochester, and LDU alum Maxwell Schnurer of Marist College.

DEBATE CAMPS - ATLANTA, WASHINGTON, NEW YORK CITY, BURLINGTON
Numerous LDU debaters worked at various summer debate camps for high school students. Jillian Marty, Sheila Limprevil, Edwin Owusu, and Shana Bryce worked at the Emory National Debate Institute in Atlanta, WDI in Burlington, the DC Urban Debate League summer workshop in Washington, and the CITI workshop held in New York City. All received rave reviews but seemed a bit tired as the summer ended.

KOREAN DEBATE ORGANIZERS VISIT - BURLINGTON
The LDU has had direct ties with debating in Korea for several years now, following the December 2000 trip coach Snider made to Seoul. Since then many Koreans have attended WDI. During the end of the summer Dr. Gyeoung-ho Hur of Kyung Hee University visited Burlington to engage in future plans for cooperation. Plans call for exchanges, Korean students attending WDI, and a visit by LDU debaters to Korea. A few days later a delegation led by Julie Han visited the LDU. The recipients of a "Brain Korea" grant they plan to introduce debating into middle schools in Korea over a three year period and seek advice and curricular support from the LDU. Julie and her delegation are pictured at the left. Julie is to Snider's left.

MEETINGS AND EVENTS THIS WEEK

NEXT MONDAY NIGHT -- FIRST SQUAD MEETING OF THE YEAR -- 6 PM.
AGENDA: TRAVEL, TEAMS, NOVICE RECRUITMENT, PUBLIC EVENTS.

TRAVEL SCHEDULE 2003-2004

RESEARCH

Research Director is Jillian Marty. Assignments accepted must be completed.

LDU'S TV SHOW

Watch Flashpoint from your computer screen whenever you want! You will need RealPlayer installed on your computer to become a part of our growing audience. Here are some recent programs now available at http://debate.uvm.edu/flashpoint.html.

New topics and tapings to be scheduled at the next Monday meeting.

SQUAD MEETS AT 6 PM EACH MONDAY NIGHT, 475 MAIN STREET, ALL WELCOME!

ALWAYS CALL IT HUBER HALL!