2 December 2003

UVM HOLDS DEBATE WORKSHOP IN CENTRAL EUROPE

| Some of the students pose | Tuna in St. Mark's Square, Venice, Italy

| Members of final exhibition debate | Maja, Anja, Crt, and Samo during a break|

The Lawrence Debate Union and the World Debate Institute cooperated with the Slovenian NGO Za in Proti [ZIP] to sponsor a one-week parliamentary debate workshop for university students last week in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Students were mostly from Slovenia, but also included students from Slovakia, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Sweden. The hope is to create a regular November debate workshop for Central European debaters who are anxious for instruction but often find it hard to locate. LDU coach Snider donated his time to the effort.

Snider was very concerned about the program initially. "School was in session," he commented, "but the program ran from 9 AM until 6 PM each day for five weekdays, meaning that they would have to miss all of their classes. Given that and the fact that half of them had never been involved in a debate before, and I was very worried that people would have to drop out as the days went by, or else they just might decide that debate was not for them, at least not with this huge investment in time and effort." His worries, however, did not come true. "The number of people in the program grew as the days went by through word of mouth," he smiled, "and we had almost zero attrition. This was truly a tribute to the students who really wanted to gain the skills of debating to use as tools for their future success."

The trip began with a brief bit of sightseeing in Venice, Italy, then want on to Slovenia for the program, a bit of sightseeing in Slovenia at the end, and then back to Venice for a flight to Vermont, just in time for the Monday night meeting.

A diary of the event with lots of photos will be finished by next week, with a web address published here. Watch for it.

NOTES FOR THE TEXAS SWING

Teams: Marty-Owusu, Supernaw-McMahan, Massey-Sanders.
Also attending prep: Hill, Kern, Landsman-Roos
Prep begins 9 AM 12/28, and ends afternoon of 12/31.
Needs housing: McMahan, Sanders, Marty, Owusu.
Has housing: Supernaw, Morgan Parmett

Depart from office 6 AM 1/2. Flight from Boston at 12:15 PM. Return to Boston 12:15 PM on 1/9.
Transportation help back and forth to Boston requested.

BURLINGTON HIGH SCHOOL TOURNAMENT COMING

The resurgent Burlington High School debate team is holding a tournament on December 12-13, 2003. The turnout looks to be huge, with up to 90 teams attending. high attendance is due to strong interest in schools from New York City, Boston, and Washington, DC. Here is the schedule:

The following have volunteered for judging, especially to help cover teams from DC. Colin Kern, Kayce massey, Mimi Supernaw, Bent Cardan, Gordie Miller, Mike McMahan, Jillian Marty.

MEETINGS AND EVENTS THIS WEEK
NEW ARGUMENT MEETING
THURSDAY EVENING, 6 PM

TRAVEL SCHEDULE 2004

RESEARCH

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

LONG-TERM RESEARCH ASSIGNMENTS COMING AFTER NEW ARGUMENT MEETING.

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.

NEXT TAPING DECEMBER 6, 2003, 12-3 PM.
TOPICS SUGGESTED: Political evangelism, Religion, Iraq, Vermont politics.
PANELISTS: Mimi, Helen. Justin, Tuna, Kayce, Gordie, Bent.
MEET AT THE OFFICE AT NOON!

SQUAD MEETS AT 6 PM EACH MONDAY NIGHT, 475 MAIN STREET, ALL WELCOME!
Next squad meeting Monday 12/2/03

ALWAYS CALL IT HUBER HOUSE!