28 October 2003

News from Vermont Debate AKA 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. The newsletter is published every Tuesday during the school year and infrequently at other times. Alfred C. Snider is the Director. 802-656-0097 voice, 802-238-8345 mobile, 802-656-4275 fax, alfred.snider@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.

OUCH! TWO LOSING WEEKENDS IN A ROW
WEAK SHOWING AT UVM TOURNAMENT
HARVARD CONTINUES TO BE DIFFICULT FOR UVM

It usually doesn't happen like this for the LDU, so it needs to be reported straight when it does. Two weekends in a row the LDU posted disappointing results at debate tournaments. A variety of circumstances may have led to this reality, and the squad is examining these circumstances and planning for a turn around in the near future.
At the 2003 Huber debates the decision was made that no UVM teams would be allowed to reach the elimination rounds in order for us to focus on being better hosts. Perhaps it was this, or perhaps it was that four of the team debating from UVM were at their first tournament ever, or perhaps a combination of things, but the squad ended up with a 27-43 record at what was a tournament with strong competition. Bright spots included Mimi Supernaw being named the #2 speaker in the novice division.
At Harvard things were not much better. After a horrific first day, the teams bounced back slightly on the second day of what many feel is the most difficult tournament of the year. Jillian Marty and Edwin Owusu were 3-5, Teresa Hill and Sheila Limprevil were 2-6, and Colin Kern and Carlos Varela were 1-7, pulling out a win against Binghamton. The debaters remained at the tournament on Monday to watch the elimination rounds and learn as much as they could.
Some coaches were heard to say that lack of preparation, especially lack of knowledge of the files we have, was a critical element in the performances. One has to recall, however, that UVM had its worst tournament in history last year (Capital Cities) and still had an excellent year, finishing in the top ten nationally. Time will tell about this year.

NEW CONTACTS AND NEW VISTAS IN CROATIA


DUBROVNIK OLD TOWN

UVM coach Snider attended the International Debate Education Association annual conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia in an effort to network with debate programs from all over the world. The conference was well attended and featured some of the leading academic figures in argumentation in the world, specifically Frans van Eemeren of the Netherlands. As a result of the activities at the conference Snider has been ask to coordinate the program for the 2004 event to be held in Istanbul, Turkey. As well, he was invited to begin designing and directing an annual debate workshop for university students to be held over the Thanksgiving holiday each year, beginning in 2003.

ON TO WEST POINT - CRANK IT UP AND TRY IT AGAIN


TROPHY POINT AT THE US MILITARY ACADEMY

The LDU sends a large number of teams to the US Military Academy at West Point, NY this weekend in an attempt to change their luck.
VANS LEAVE AT 9:30 AM FROM THE DEBATE OFFICE. ROUND ONE IS AT 4:15 PM.
Varsity: Marty-Owusu, Kern-Hill. JV: Perez-Landsman-Roos, Massey-Mates, Reimer-Velez. Novice: Anderson-Harrington, Greenbaum-McMahan, Blumberg-Sanders, Lehrer-Wright, Hitchcock-Cardan.
Coaches include: Snider, Justin & Helen Morgan Parmett, Cole, Witney, Miller, and hopefully more.

WHERE ARE ALL THE NEW PICTURES?

After seven dependable years our digital camera has gone to a better life. Watch for new pictures next week from our new digital camera.

MEETINGS AND EVENTS THIS WEEK

TUESDAY 5:30 PM SUZIE & MIKE WITH TUNA
WEDNESDAY 3 PM MIKE WITH TUNA
THURSDAY 5:30 PM NOVICE TRAINING WITH TUNA
THURSDAY NIGHT 7:30 PM - GENERAL PREP NIGHT AT THE OFFICE

TRAVEL SCHEDULE 2003-2004

SEMESTER ONE
SEMESTER TWO
OCTOBER
10/31-11/2 West Point
NOVEMBER
11/7-9 Central Oklahoma
11/14-16 NYU
11/15-17 Wake Forest
JANUARY
1/3-8 North Texas-Texas Dallas swing
1/31-2/1 Cornell
FEBRUARY
2/6-8 West Virginia
2/7-9 Northwestern
2/14-15 Binghamton
2/21-23 Kansas
2/28-29 DISTRICT8/CEDA East at Marist
MARCH
3/12-14 Towson
3/19-22 CEDA Nats Louisville

RESEARCH

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

RESEARCH ASSIGNMENTS DUE THIS WEEK: THURSDAY 5 PM

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. Watch on Burlington Channel 15 Wednesday 12:30 PM, Thursday 10 PM, Saturday 1 PM.

TWO SHOWS WERE RECORDED ON OCTOBER 25 BY SNIDER, HOAG AND LOCKWOOD -- #275 POETRY IN MOTION & #276 IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION.

NOW LOOKING FOIR NEW TOPICS. NEXT TAPING DECEMBER 6, 2003.

FROM THE SQUAD MEETING

START PLANNING NOW FOR THE TEXAS SWING IN JANUARY!
POETRY SLAM WEDNESDAY NIGHT, 7:30 PM, LIVING & LEARNING FIREPLACE LOUNGE
POSTERS GOING UP FOR THE POETRY SLAM, AVAILABLE ON THE OFFICE
RAFFLE TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE FROM KAYCE MASSEY. SELL!

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

OUR RECORD

UVM DEBATE WAS #10 IN THE CEDA NATIONAL SWEEPSTAKES FOR 2002-2003.

OUR RECORD WINS LOSSES PERCENTAGE
PREVIOUSLY 30 39  43.4%
UVM 27 43  
HARVARD 6 18  
 TOTAL 63 100  39%
LAST YEAR AT THIS TIME 93 104  47.2%

ALWAYS CALL IT HUBER HOUSE!