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5 September 2006

| New Coaches: David Register, John Hines | Gang of 4: Jason, Nick, Leslie, Steffi |

The 108th year of debating at the University of Vermont begins this month as students return to campus, a new coaching staff gears up for the season, and the debate office is abuzz with preparation and fellowship.

New to the scene are the two coaches, David Register and John Hines. Both have MA degrees from the University of North Texas and both have been involved with debating for a long time -- they both started in the 8th grade. David comes directly from UNT while John has been working for IBM in Phoenix, Arizona, but both seem glad to be in Vermont. "It is beautiful," said David, while John responded with, "You have water here." The episode of FLASHPOINT that was taped on Saturday featured an extended talk with both of them and a preview of the coming year. You can find that at http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/VideoBlog/C8ED6013-E391-4D05-A3FD-FE6C30DBF2D7.html .

One other feature of the coming year has been the attitude and work effort of what has become known as the "Gang of 4." These are four experienced debaters who have made a massive commitment to success this year and have demonstrated that commitment so far by doing as much work as anyone has ever seen around Huber House. Three are seniors (Jason Hitchcock (former JV national champ), Nick Landsman-Roos (former JV national champ), and Leslie Keller (former novice national champ), along with one junior Stephanie Kimerer (former novice national champ), but all have set high goals for the season. "They have set these goals," noted David Register, "and now we have to tell them what to do to reach those goals." They open the season later this month at Georgia State University.

One final difference for this season is that long-time LDU director and coach Alfred "Tuna" Snider will be on sabbatical all fall semester, living and teaching in Europe while he also completes a book. "I have spent the last twenty-six years here day in and day out nurturing this debate team," he mused, "and now I will be going through withdrawal each week and each tournament. Fortunately, I feel extremely confident in David and John as well is in our students, and that will make it a lot easier for me. They just might find that I am not as necessary as they may once have thought."

TRAVEL SCHEDULE

The LDU has announced its tentative travel schedule for 2006-2007. All tournaments are USA Policy debate format, those marked BP are British Parliamentary debate format.

BUSY SUMMER FOR LDU ACTIVITIES

As usual those involved with the LDU spanned the globe promoting debate in a variety of different ways. Here is a brief summary of some of them as well as some links to more detailed descriptions.

LDU ESSENTIAL FOR RUNNING USA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL SPEECH AND DEBATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

PHOTO: Martin Glendinning, Sarah Snider, Alfred Snider at NFL Nationals in Dallas

LDU director Snider served as director of tournament operations for the National Forensic League national speech and debate tournament that was held in Dallas, Texas. Over 6000 participants were involved in this six-day event. Sarah Jane Snider, LDU alumna, assisted him and did all logistics for debate events held at grapevine High School. Lots of interesting stories from this event.
Find out more on Tuna's blog at the following:
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/587C9CFC-72DF-441A-AF10-FF7BDA750466.html
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/42C4ABA7-FC59-45A8-92A1-28496972B2C5.html
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/CD9996B8-4931-4502-AF9A-8BC9F7DA7C22.html
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/027954EA-46B7-4A25-AFEE-47AA80D20145.html
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/8991D7E4-CDD4-4CBE-84D1-F19357C9E581.html
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/4BC312AD-D4FD-44C3-9EB5-B4B16F7B1ECF.html
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/1E378D86-AD8D-4533-BBF8-DB770C32E64D.html
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/E1627E7C-348A-41DA-9EAD-8E9AA914FF26.html

UVM HOSTS TWENTY-THIRD WORLD DEBATE INSTITUTE

PHOTO: LDU member Taylor Lalemand in a practice debate at WDI 2006.

WDI 2006 featured programs for middle school,. high school and college students in teachers in a variety of debate formats over a period of five weeks. The program was again a success, For more specific information you can consult the WDI Blog that was launched at http://debate.uvm.edu/wdiblog/wdiblog/Blog/Blog.html A number of LDU students attended, including Alex Thibault, Mandy Frank, Ethan Backus and Ethan Nelson. Nick Landsman Roos was administrative assistant for the event, while Stephanie Kimerer and graduating Shana Bryce served as RAs in the dorms as well as judging some practice debates. LDU alumna Sarah Jane Snider also served as a faculty member for four weeks. Former LDU coaches John Meany, Jackie Massey and Gordie Miller also returned as faculty.

WORLD DEBATE INSTITUTE GOES TO ASIA

PHOTO: Finalists from WDI Asia Tournament

Jason Jarvis was a student at WDI and also a faculty member. WDI was crucial in helping him get a teaching job in Korea where he has been a dynamo of activity for promoting debate. This year he had a 105-student high school program called the Asian Debate Institute, and then a 78-student college program called WDI Asia. For both WDI has served as a model and a source of curriculum assistance, Once again, LDU director Snider was invited to serve as a faculty member. LDU debater Jake Meany was a teaching fellow at ADI and attended WDI Asia.
For more information, check out Tuna's blog, specifically:
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/29819783-9EA1-46EF-B60D-811D602FF9C0.html
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/2ADE92E1-7174-4611-9FAA-C63266852668.html
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/9207744E-ABCD-4328-B628-F15E4C637E71.html
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/3FD465CF-9EB8-42DF-84FA-173C8528F90F.html
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/6E98AE9F-2050-4353-8AEC-B040ED6ADC00.html
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/E53B16E7-6289-40D5-AFA6-42BF8A8E8312.html
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/59B7047E-011E-4074-BA4E-EE1C7C2907F3.html
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/C6A5BB67-3572-49AC-AE54-557CFA00D29E.html
Photos are available at:
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/8A168A98-5EC7-467E-9AD8-C2E131A25923.html
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/337B4B9A-3CB1-45F7-876D-830F88A5EB41.html
A FLASHPOINT program about the trip can be seen at:
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/VideoBlog/19898BBD-5E93-4A1E-9A72-AB27FED5C968.html
An exhibition debate including LDU director Snider and LDU student Jake Meany can be seen at:
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/VideoBlog/9F6B11AB-D8A9-4BB1-9B7C-97D1DBAC0A7F.html
Other related videos can be found at:
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/VideoBlog/VideoBlog.html

FLASHPOINT TELEVISION

Watch Flashpoint from your computer screen whenever you want! You will need RealPlayer and QuickTime 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. Watch on Burlington Channel 15 Tuesday 12:30 PM, Thursday 10 PM, Saturday 1 PM.
Next taping will be in September. John Hines and Brady Fletcher are now program coordinators.

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