AUDC 2008 Motions:
Young Ones
THW allow abortion on the ground of permanent physical deformity.
THBT the government should take away obese children from their parents.
THBT the state should financially support single teenage pregnant
mothers.
Malaysia
THW not allow elected MPs to change their political parties.
THW allow unrestricted religious conversion of its citizens.
THBT Malaysian government should end its subsidy on oil.
Bargaining and Concessions
THW give aid to Myanmar in exchange of political concessions from the
military junta
THBT it is time for South Africa to cut its aid to Zimbabwe until Mugabe
steps down
THW make recognition of an independent Kosovo a precondition for
Serbia's membership into the WTO
Taboo
THW legalize incestuous marriages
THW recognize the choice of identity for those who have undergone sexual
reassignment surgery
THBT Non-citizens should not be allowed to be legal prostitutes
Sports
THW have airtime quota on domestic media to promote women's sports.
THBT players should walk off the field in response to racist
hooliganism.
TH should lift the ban on expression of political beliefs by athletes
during sporting events.
Economics
THW make economic aid conditional on opening up development tenders to
foreign bidders
TH would punish companies' home for bribing abroad
This house would make eco-labeling mandatory for cross-border trade
Election
This house would restrict aid to troubled democracies unless their
election is held under an international body.
This house would ban campaign contribution from foreign entities in
national election.
THBT Asian democracies should disallow the succession of close relatives
to top political posts
State & Religion
This House would allow use of Sharia Law for Muslim minorities in
Britain
THW grant unrestricted access to pilgrimage sites to people of other
faiths.
THW impose a quota for female teachers on government subsidized madrasas
Food Security
THW impose a moratorium on the production of Bio-Fuel
THW nationalize the food production
THW not leave food prices in the hands of the market
US Foreign Policy
THBT United States should lift the embargo on Cuba
THBT Lebanon should accept United States' offer of military aid to
fight the Hezbollah
THBT United States should involve Iran in the nation-building of Iraq
Media
THBT Media corporations should be held accountable only to their
shareholders
THBT broadcast media organizations in the US should provide equal
airtime to competing views on controversial issues.
TH supports full live television coverage of legislative sessions
Bio-Ethics
THW supports surrogacy for profit
THBT private insurance companies should be allowed to access genetic
information of its policy applicants
THW ban pharmaceutical companies from giving monetary compensation to
clinical trial volunteers
In Times of War
THBT United States should not detain juvenile enemy combatants
THBT conscription of child soldiers by their parents is justified in the
war for freedom
THBT in times of war, the state should offer convicts imprisoned for
heinous crimes the option to fight for the army in exchange of
conditional pardon.
Showing posts with label UADC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UADC. Show all posts
EWU AUDC 2009 Motions
AUDC 2009 Motions
Round 1
"Action speak louder than words but not nearly as often" - MARK TWAIN
SYMBOLISM: These debates analyse the importance of actions and their symbolic impacts. Debaters would do well to try and quantify the role of symbolism in these contexts and whether the price is worth paying.
- This house believes that entertainment awards should not be bestowed on individuals who have committed acts of domestic violence in their private lives
- This house will not allow being labelled a homosexual as grounds for defamation claims
- This house wants politicians convicted of corruption to resign even when the political fallout is minimal
Round 2
"It ain't over until ...well ... its over" - YOGI BERRA
INTRACTABLE CONFLICTS: These are the evergreen debates because they deal with seemingly unsolvable problems. Here we end up trying something creative in order to achieve that elusive end-game.
- This house would let Iran have its nukes ... if its wants them
- This house thinks that the two state solution is not going to work .. and thinks three states is more like it
- This house wants Obama to lift the embargo on Cuba without any pre-conditions
Round 3
"One day soon the gillette company will announce the development of a razor that, thanks to a microchip, will travel ahead in time & shave beards that don't even exist yet" - DAVE BARRY
BRAVE NEW WORLD: Technology changes the rules of the game so fast that these debates are about age-old principles reincarnating in a technological context.
- This house would scrap copyright laws in the internet age
- This house would tax virtual commerce such as in Second Life
- This house believe that genetically modified foods should be embraced without reservation
Round 4
"Human rights are a Western invention" - MAHATHIR MOHAMMED
RIGHTS: Often, claiming that someone has a right to do something is the end of an argument. These debates explore the limits of fundamental rights and test if fancier rights are a natural extrapolation of the unquestionable ones.
- This house believes that an individual's right to free speech includes his right to defame religions.
- This house believes life is sacred but you can end it if it is yours
- This house would allow people to experiment and experience psychotropic drugs
Round 5
"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others we have tried" - SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL
DEMOCRACY DEBATES: These debates explore when a show of hands is the best way to make a decision.
- THBT gay marriages should be left to the courts (ala Iowa) and not referenda (ala California)
- THBT third world nations with large, poor, illiterate populations are right in seeking the stability of technocratic elite-driven governments
- THBT votes in supranational organisations should be assigned on the basis of population and not 'one-nation-one-vote'
Round 6
"We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories." - BARACK OBAMA
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: Deciding on how best to use the bounty that nature has blessed us with is a challenge for the brightest minds.
- This house would commercialise regulated hunting of large fauna to protect them
- This house would subsidise every electric car purchase
- This house would nationalize mineral resources
Round 7
"The sad truth is that the greatest happiness of the greatest number is the measure of right and wrong" - JEREMY BENTHAM
UTILITARIANISM: When is the cold hard calculus of utilitarianism acceptable for deciding what society can and cannot do?
- This house would force beggars, street urchins, and the homeless off the streets
- This house would use convict labour for national projects
- This house believes that child labour should be incorporated as a poverty alleviation mechanism in third world nations
Octo Finals
"Government should be a place where people come together and no one gets left behind. A force for good." - TOBY ZIEGLER, West Wing
BIG STATE, SMALL STATE: How can government do its best without over-reaching? What is over-reaching anyway?
- This house would make medical insurance mandatory for all citizens
- This house believes that the state should fund faith-based services
- This house believes that the state should finance movies that promote desirable social messages
Quater Finals
"The president knows Chinese political prisoners are going to be sewing soccer balls with their teeth whether we sell them cheeseburgers or not, so let's sell them cheeseburgers." - Character in West Wing
PRAGMATISM v IDEALISM: These are typically foreign policy debates where doing the right thing is often compromised by having to settle for whats more practical. Damage minimisation is a yardstick that is often used.
- THW not sell arms to or include in military alliances any non-democracies
- THW prioritise ending of bloodshed over the punishment of genocidaires.
- THW violate the sovereignty of states unable to control global mal-contents within their territory
Semi Finals
"I know porn when I see it!" - Supreme Court Justice POTTER STEWART
UNMENTIONABLES: In these debates one team is made to defend something conventionally disapproved or considered repulsive in society. But the other team struggles to articulate why that is wrong.
- THBT the social sanction against nudity is a feudal restraint on our personal choices
- THW allow polygamous unions
- THBT paedophilia can be allowed where an adolescent's parent consents to the relationship
EFL Semi Finals
"It's my life, its now or never" - JON BON JOVI
LIFESTYLE CHOICES: These debates explore whether living a certain way is acceptable or not.
- THW allow individuals to spoil their good health in their pursuit to look good
- THW allow teenagers to obtain the morning-after pill without parental consent
- THBT vegetarianism is the smarter lifestyle
EFL Final
"All is fair in love and war" - JOHN LYLY
LESSER of TWO EVILS: Often, we have no choice but pick between a bad option and a worse option. The question is which is which.
- This House would not prosecute government staffs who commit torture during the Bush era
- This House believes that the "don't ask don't tell" policy is crucial to national security
- This House would disallow couples with severe genetic disability to give birth to children
Final
" An economist is one who sees something happen in practice and wonders if it does in theory " - US PRES RONALD REAGAN
TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT : In these series of debates the teams asses the accuracy of these statements by appealing to the cold hard barometers of economics, history or science
- This House believes that the emigration of the best and the brightest from poor countries to the first world profits both countries
- This House feels that the Catholic Church should waive celibacy requirements for its priests
- This House believes that nuclear energy is a bad way to replace fossil fuels
Round 1
"Action speak louder than words but not nearly as often" - MARK TWAIN
SYMBOLISM: These debates analyse the importance of actions and their symbolic impacts. Debaters would do well to try and quantify the role of symbolism in these contexts and whether the price is worth paying.
- This house believes that entertainment awards should not be bestowed on individuals who have committed acts of domestic violence in their private lives
- This house will not allow being labelled a homosexual as grounds for defamation claims
- This house wants politicians convicted of corruption to resign even when the political fallout is minimal
Round 2
"It ain't over until ...well ... its over" - YOGI BERRA
INTRACTABLE CONFLICTS: These are the evergreen debates because they deal with seemingly unsolvable problems. Here we end up trying something creative in order to achieve that elusive end-game.
- This house would let Iran have its nukes ... if its wants them
- This house thinks that the two state solution is not going to work .. and thinks three states is more like it
- This house wants Obama to lift the embargo on Cuba without any pre-conditions
Round 3
"One day soon the gillette company will announce the development of a razor that, thanks to a microchip, will travel ahead in time & shave beards that don't even exist yet" - DAVE BARRY
BRAVE NEW WORLD: Technology changes the rules of the game so fast that these debates are about age-old principles reincarnating in a technological context.
- This house would scrap copyright laws in the internet age
- This house would tax virtual commerce such as in Second Life
- This house believe that genetically modified foods should be embraced without reservation
Round 4
"Human rights are a Western invention" - MAHATHIR MOHAMMED
RIGHTS: Often, claiming that someone has a right to do something is the end of an argument. These debates explore the limits of fundamental rights and test if fancier rights are a natural extrapolation of the unquestionable ones.
- This house believes that an individual's right to free speech includes his right to defame religions.
- This house believes life is sacred but you can end it if it is yours
- This house would allow people to experiment and experience psychotropic drugs
Round 5
"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others we have tried" - SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL
DEMOCRACY DEBATES: These debates explore when a show of hands is the best way to make a decision.
- THBT gay marriages should be left to the courts (ala Iowa) and not referenda (ala California)
- THBT third world nations with large, poor, illiterate populations are right in seeking the stability of technocratic elite-driven governments
- THBT votes in supranational organisations should be assigned on the basis of population and not 'one-nation-one-vote'
Round 6
"We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories." - BARACK OBAMA
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: Deciding on how best to use the bounty that nature has blessed us with is a challenge for the brightest minds.
- This house would commercialise regulated hunting of large fauna to protect them
- This house would subsidise every electric car purchase
- This house would nationalize mineral resources
Round 7
"The sad truth is that the greatest happiness of the greatest number is the measure of right and wrong" - JEREMY BENTHAM
UTILITARIANISM: When is the cold hard calculus of utilitarianism acceptable for deciding what society can and cannot do?
- This house would force beggars, street urchins, and the homeless off the streets
- This house would use convict labour for national projects
- This house believes that child labour should be incorporated as a poverty alleviation mechanism in third world nations
Octo Finals
"Government should be a place where people come together and no one gets left behind. A force for good." - TOBY ZIEGLER, West Wing
BIG STATE, SMALL STATE: How can government do its best without over-reaching? What is over-reaching anyway?
- This house would make medical insurance mandatory for all citizens
- This house believes that the state should fund faith-based services
- This house believes that the state should finance movies that promote desirable social messages
Quater Finals
"The president knows Chinese political prisoners are going to be sewing soccer balls with their teeth whether we sell them cheeseburgers or not, so let's sell them cheeseburgers." - Character in West Wing
PRAGMATISM v IDEALISM: These are typically foreign policy debates where doing the right thing is often compromised by having to settle for whats more practical. Damage minimisation is a yardstick that is often used.
- THW not sell arms to or include in military alliances any non-democracies
- THW prioritise ending of bloodshed over the punishment of genocidaires.
- THW violate the sovereignty of states unable to control global mal-contents within their territory
Semi Finals
"I know porn when I see it!" - Supreme Court Justice POTTER STEWART
UNMENTIONABLES: In these debates one team is made to defend something conventionally disapproved or considered repulsive in society. But the other team struggles to articulate why that is wrong.
- THBT the social sanction against nudity is a feudal restraint on our personal choices
- THW allow polygamous unions
- THBT paedophilia can be allowed where an adolescent's parent consents to the relationship
EFL Semi Finals
"It's my life, its now or never" - JON BON JOVI
LIFESTYLE CHOICES: These debates explore whether living a certain way is acceptable or not.
- THW allow individuals to spoil their good health in their pursuit to look good
- THW allow teenagers to obtain the morning-after pill without parental consent
- THBT vegetarianism is the smarter lifestyle
EFL Final
"All is fair in love and war" - JOHN LYLY
LESSER of TWO EVILS: Often, we have no choice but pick between a bad option and a worse option. The question is which is which.
- This House would not prosecute government staffs who commit torture during the Bush era
- This House believes that the "don't ask don't tell" policy is crucial to national security
- This House would disallow couples with severe genetic disability to give birth to children
Final
" An economist is one who sees something happen in practice and wonders if it does in theory " - US PRES RONALD REAGAN
TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT : In these series of debates the teams asses the accuracy of these statements by appealing to the cold hard barometers of economics, history or science
- This House believes that the emigration of the best and the brightest from poor countries to the first world profits both countries
- This House feels that the Catholic Church should waive celibacy requirements for its priests
- This House believes that nuclear energy is a bad way to replace fossil fuels
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