[debate-l] Re: [university-l] International TPS Tournament in Beijing, China

Fri Sep 29 03:39:42 CDT 2006

Hi Jason, 

Sadly, there was probably no weekend in November that would not have conflicted with some other worthy event.  Admittedly, when we planned this event we did not know of your event, but unfortunately, there was simply no other weekend in November when we would have been able to host this event. 

But, now, when you think about it, there are well over two billion people living in the region.  It seems to me a little much to say that if a tournament is being held in Seoul one can't be held the same weekend in Beijing.  Either of these two global cities could easily support more than two tournaments on one weekend.  This is not a zero sum game we're playing where we'll be dividing the same limited pool of debaters.  There will be many teams that compete in the Beijing Tournament and trainings which would never have had the means to compete at your event and similarly I'm sure there are teams that will compete in yours that could not come to Beijing.

You ask why we did not consult with anyone in the region before scheduling our event.  Unfortunately, one of the reasons is that we have very few members in this region and while we do our best to keep informed about event taking place everywhere in the world, it's difficult.   We have for several years now hoped that some schools from your region would join IDEA and add their voices to our network and this is something we are hoping to remedy.  We are, in fact, exploring the possibility of opening a branch office in your region sometime next year.  I would hope that your school would consider joinging IDEA and that you might also consider coming to our annual General Assembly, which will be taking place this year in Prague, the first weekend in November.   A problem we face is that no one has ever consulted with us before organizing their events, even when they conflict with events we have regularly held but, frankly, we don't expect people to.  You have yourself organized many events over the past few years and have never once consulted with us before doing so and I suspect you'd be annoyed if I suggested you should, which I never would.  It is sometimes frustrating to us that people expect us to coordinate our activities with them we don't see any reciprocal exhibited.  Hopefully this unfortunate scheduling conflict will lead us in future years to have a better dialogue.

As for Worlds, we have never intended to compete with this event and tried consistently to schedule our January tournament so that it would take place after Worlds.  We support the Worlds Tournament and, in fact, have been working to create a bursary fund so that less advantaged schools can compete in the event.

Finally, since your tournament is taking place in November, it is eligible for financial support through IDEA's The People Speak Initiative.  I do hope that you'll take advantage of this opportunity but am sure that regardless you will have a wonderful event.

All the best,

Noel

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Noel Selegzi
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www.idebate.org

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-university-l at mailhost.soros.org <owner-university-l at mailhost.soros.org>
To: Chen, Jeanne <jeanne4 at wharton.upenn.edu>; debate-l at mailhost.soros.org <debate-l at mailhost.soros.org>; university-l at mailhost.soros.org <university-l at mailhost.soros.org>
Sent: Fri Sep 29 03:29:02 2006
Subject: Re: [university-l] International TPS Tournament in Beijing, China

I think its great that IDEA is holding competitions in
China.  However, I am curious why NO EFFORT whatsoever
was made to talk to people in Northeast Asia regarding
the competition and its timing.

For the past 3 years, Korea has hosted the Northeast
Asian Open debating competition in early November. 
The competition attracts teams from Korea, Japan,
Thailand and the United States (consistently).

This year it will be on literally the same weekend
that the organizers in Beijing are holding their
tournament (not surprising since we have always used
early November!)
http://kudc.org/nao/index.htm

So far the Northeast Asians has only been held in
Korea, but the long term hope is that this becomes a
tournament that is the regional championship, and
which will rotate to other countries.  A goal that is
less likely to be achieved if Chinese participants are
encourged by IDEA to stay home.

Remarkably, the competition has been advertised on all
the major international listserv's including  IDEA
lists EVERY YEAR IT HAS BEEN HELD (this year as
well).....

What is frustrating is that the region could use more
competitions, particularly ones which are free!,
however, this is the SECOND time in the same year that
IDEA has hosted a tournament in China when it OVERLAPS
with other important competitions.  The tournament in
Xian took place at almost the same time as
Worlds...which is somewhat more forgivable due to the
WUDC being in Dublin.  However, this time, it overlaps
with the ONLY regional championshp.

I think Sharon Porter is a nice person (I found her to
be quite pleasant during my coaching days at Arizona
State), and do not mean to denigrate her, or anyone
else as human beings. However, quite frankly I am very
irritated by this glaring oversite and the tunnel
vision that leads people to fail to consult folks in
the region before they plan events.  

IDEA's goal ought to be to encourage regional debate,
and Chinese participation in it.  That REQUIRES
consulting with other people, (meaning people who live
outside of America) about what is happening locally.

If the goal is to get the Chinese to debate, why
doesnt IDEA fly Chinese students to Korea in November?

OR 

If the goal is to get them to debate in BP, how about
ANY of the numerous regional IV warmup tournaments
being held throughout Southeast Asia???? (The Asian
debate listservs, there are 2, are really useful for
gathering information on these events).

In the long run, the interaction with other students
and faculty from ASIAN universities will be more
beneficial to them as it will create regional support
networks of people who can help them on a more
consistent basis.

.02,

Jason L. Jarvis
Assistant Dean and Lecturer

Korea Development Institute Graduate School of Public Policy and Management
http://www.kdischool.ac.kr/
Office: 82-2-3299-1031
Email: debatekorea at kdischool.ac.kr

Korea Debate Listserv
 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/koreadebatelist/

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