Org Com Applications: Fall BP Invitational

October 19-21, 2007 the HH Debates Committee (in conjunction with the Club) will be hosting a BP Invitational. One of the more competitive BP tournaments in Canada, the tournament requires a fairly substantial amount of planning and organization before hand (i.e. during the summer and in September).

We will be accepting applications for the positions described below.

THE DEADLINE IS MAY 15 2007 at NOON.

Applications can be dropped off at Lisa Chamber's office at Hart House or emailed to <lisa.chambers@utoronto.ca>

The following positions are open:

1)Deputy Tournament Director

General duties of the DTD will be assisting the Tournament Director with the organizational and logistical aspects of planning. The DTD will likely have be in charge of a certain specific area (e.g. room bookings, information packages, etc) and generally contribute to the OrgCom beforehand, with a great deal of their work taking place during the tournament handling general trouble-shooting. It should be a really good learning experience for those interested in being TD of a tournament in the future, easing him/her into the process.

Skills/Criteria for Consideration: organized, keeps to (and understands importance of) deadlines, pleasant (you'll be dealing with cranky people during the tournament), keen, willing to learn but not to tell Christina to calm the f down because paperclips will not make or break a tournament (necessarily).

2) Deputy Chief Adjudicator

The most important part of DCA position is the task of general recruitment and organization of judges before the tournament; given that the Chief Adjudicator will be out of the country in the weeks prior to the tournament, the DCA will likely be in charge of the in-house training session and confirming the number of expected judges. In addition to those duties, the DCA will also assist the CA in creating a style guide, selecting resolutions before the tournament and assigning judges during it. Anyone is encouraged to apply for the position.

Skills/Qualities: proactive, work well independently, take direction well, organized, creative/thoughtful/aware, pleasant (to entice judges), works well with others.

Include in your application: experience and success in debating (especially in BP), experience/success in judging (especially in BP), future gains for the club, experience (if any) training

3) Tabs Director

The tabs director will be in charge of directing tabs for the tournament (surprise!). The tabs director will be in charge of appoint a Deputy Tabs Director (we're all about training the future), organizing/reviewing/confirming results, tabbing during the tournament in question.

Skills/Assets/Criteria for Consideration: strong knowledge of BP tabbing theory, some experience with tabbing software, computer trouble shooting skills.

Include in your application: experience debating/judging, experience tabbing (in general and in BP), your tabbing philosophy

4) Food Director

Acts as a liaison with the Hart House Catering and Sammie's. Work with TD regarding Banquet specifications, number of people registered, etc. Designs menu for all meals (Friday dinner, saturday break/lunch, BANQUET, Sunday breakfast/brunch). Must be diligent with budgeting and prioritizing. Responsible for recruitment and training of volunteer crew. During the tournament, the FD is responsible for set-up and clean up of food stations. Works with Socials director regarding banquet set-up and Friday night food (at the social).

5) Socials Director

In charge of finding socials venues for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. All events must be all-ages and accessible (financially, socially, location-wise). Ordering food at venues, where appropriate. For the Banquet, they are also in charge of decorating the Great Hall and booking entertainment.

6) Public Speaking Director

In charge of organizing 3 rounds of public speaking (resolutions, logistics, etc.). Recruits/trains judges. Historically, the PS Director also does tabs for the rounds. The PS Director, together with the TD and DTD, assists with the selection of awards.

7)Equity Officer

In charge of creating an equity policy prior to the tournament, acting as a liaison with the CUSID Ombuddies, ensuring people are notified/briefed on the equity policy, providing mechanisms for and dealing with equity complaints, and leading by example. During the tournament, the equity officer should be very accessible and present during tournament, staying at socials until a reasonable time.

8)Head Runner

Recruits, trains, and directs the runners. On the day of, ensures that rooms are open, that rounds begin on time, and that ballots are collected and quickly taken to tabs.

ALL APPLICATIONS should include a summary of relevant experience and skills regarding both organization and tournaments.

THE DEADLINE IS MAY 15 2007 at NOON.

Drop off in person with Lisa Chambers at Hart House or email to <lisa.chambers@utoronto.ca>.

Churchill Debate

TORONTO. The Hart House Debates Committee at the University of Toronto is holding a formal debate on the resolution "Be it resolved that the 'notwithstanding' clause should be removed from the Charter of Rights and Freedoms." On Monday April 23rd, at 7:30 PM in the Debates Room. The guest speaker will be Andrew Coyne, the national affairs columnist for The National Post.

Should politicians have the power to override court decisions by having the final word on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in certain circumstances? With the 25th anniversary of the charter approaching, it's time to question the controversial "notwithstanding" clause in the Constitution. Former prime minister Paul Martin, during the last federal election campaign, stunned his own cabinet by announcing he'd abolish the clause because he said prime ministers should not be able to "cherry pick" rights. Join Andrew Coyne and the Hart House Debaters as they explore this topic.

Andrew Coyne is national affairs columnist for The National Post. Raised in Winnipeg, Mr. Coyne graduated with a B.A. in Economics and History from the University of Toronto and a Master's degree from the London School of Economics. He has been an editorial writer and columnist for The Financial Post, The Globe and Mail, and the Southam newspaper chain. His work has also appeared in a number of other publications in Canada and abroad, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The National Review, Time, and Saturday Night. On television, he is seen regularly on CBC's The National, TVO's The Agenda and other programs, and was a co-host of the CBC public affairs show Face-Off. He is the winner of two National Newspaper Awards and the Hyman Solomon Award for Excellence in Public Policy Journalism. He can be read online at andrewcoyne.com.

Since 1924 Hart House Formal Debates have been the premier forum of debate and discussion at the University of Toronto. The Debates are led off by some of the best student debaters at the university. Several members of the audience will also have the opportunity to speak on both sides of the issue. The debates conclude with a prominent guest speaker providing their perspective on the resolution. Past guests have included politicians, activists, journalists and academics such as Dr. Henry Morgentaler, John F. Kennedy, Tommy Douglas, Joe Clark, John Polanyi, and William Lyon Mackenzie King. The debates are often lively, always free, and open to the general public.

WHAT: Churchill Debate on the notwithstanding clause

WHEN: Monday, April 23rd, 7:30 PM

WHERE: The Debates Room, Hart House, 7 Hart House Circle.

COST: Free.

CONTACT: Lisa Chambers, Programme Advisor (416-946- 8391 or lisa.chambers@utoronto.ca)

Meetings

Don't forget that this week's meetings are the last of the year! Remember to check CUSIDnet for information on summer meeting times.

Good luck on your exams, and have a good summer!

AGM - Summary

On April 3rd, the Hart House Debating Club had its annual general meeting. "What happened at that meeting?" you may ask. Here is a brief description of what went on at the meeting. Note that no votes at the AGM were binding.

1) Executive Reports

All outgoing executive members gave a brief report on their accomplishments during the year, and things they would like their predecessors to improve upon.

2) Continuous Functions

The club voted unanimously in favour of adopting a continuous function to calculate points, in place of our current tiered system. Details still have to be worked out, and the executive still have to amend the points system.

3) Tournament Caps

The club voted in favour of keeping the current cap of five tournaments per semester, but changed the allocation of those tournaments so that there is no cap on judging and a maximum of three times competing within the overall cap.

4) Development

Since there were no proposals for development, a sub-committee was established to look into the matter and develop a proposal. No members were chosen for the sub-committee at this time.

5) Recruitment and Retention

Novices gave their opinions on how to help recruitment and retention for next year. Some ideas include:

- A change of rooms or a change of the room setup
- Creating hand-outs for new club members to give out at meetings

The idea of having a show debate during next year's SAC clubs fair was voted unanimously in favour of.

6) Executive

A proposal to restructure the novice representative positions was voted down, but not unanimously. Discussion was cut short to keep the meeting time reasonable, and more discussion on this topic can be expected.

This is a very brief summary of what occurred at the AGM. Complete minutes can be found here.

Worlds Fundraising 2007-08

In order to be eligible to attend Worlds, members of the club must fulfill a fundraising requirement to the Debates Committee. If you are interested in attending Worlds in the 2007-08 academic year as either a judge or a debater, please contact Mitchell Gerskup at or 416.829.6988.

Failure to do this will result in your disqualification from consideration for the 2007-08 World University Debating Championships.

Nats Videos

Here are two videos from Nationals, courtesy of Andrew McCoomb from the University of Western Ontario.

Quarterfinal:
"Do not allow mall owners to eject protesters from public space inside malls. "
Hart House A: Nick Shkordoff & Paul-Erik Dash Veel v. Hart House C: Alexander Levy & John Ashbourne
HERE

Final Round:
"Federalists ought not support the motion that Quebec is a nation within Canada. "
McGill A: Mike Jancik & Jason Rogers v. Hart House D: Adrienne Lipsey & Richard Lizius
HERE

AGM

The Hart House Debating Club's AGM will take place on Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007 at 7PM. Please come prepared to discuss (m)any issues concerning the club. Specifically, the following topics will be covered:

- 'Development' as a criteria for tournament selection
- Tournament Caps
- Oxbridge Funding

also, possibly:

- Transparency, Accountability and Input
- Recruitment & Retention
- Driver Selection
- Accessibility
- Dedication

Make sure to mark this date on your calendar, as you will not want to miss the most fun-packed debate club meeting of the year! If you would like to propose something at the AGM, please post your proposal on CUSIDnet to allow for club discussion prior to the AGM.