Worlds Masters' Cup Break

The Worlds Masters' Cup Grand Final will be

England (273 points)
Fred Cowell
Andrew Tuffin
Ben Woolgar

vs

United Kingdom (262 points)
Jack Watson
Sam Block
James Hardy

The Grand Final takes place on January 2nd at 18:30 at the TU as the last debate event of the day, judged by the CAs Bronwyn Cowell and Philipp Stiel as well as Jacqui Yates, Mary Nugent and Michael Baer.

The tab can be found here.

Worlds Public Speaking Break

The eight finalists, chosen from more than 40 contestants by Kimera Chetty, Mathias Hamann and other panelists are, in alphabetical order:

• Alex McHale (Columbia)
• Casper McCauley (Dalhousie University)
• Daniel Enrlich (New York State University)
• Devon Black (University of Victoria)
• Edward Hauschild (Durham)
• Howard Cohen (McGill)
• Kobi Matsri (Tel Aviv University)
• Sulem Yong Ingrid (University of Dschang)

The Grand Final takes place at the social on January 2nd. Note that WUDC participants do not need to buy a Yucca ticket in order to join the fun. Please came along and watch.

We are asking the finalists to be there by 21:30. We are starting right after the Worlds Semi-Final Break announcement.

Jan 1st Preview

The final starting points and hours for excursions are the following:

• Szczecin and Dresden: Lobby Hotel Berlin, Berlin at 07:00
• Baltic Sea: Lobby Hotel Berlin, Berlin at 8:30
• Potsdam: Entrance Hall of the TU at 10:00
• "Wall Trip", "Introducing Berlin", "Prussia, Palaces, Politics" and "Capital of the 'Third Reich'": Entrance Hall of the TU at 10:30
• Brandenburg Stroll: Entrance Hall of the TU at 11:00

Council starts at noon at the TU main building room 2013.

There is brunch from 9:30 to noon at the TU.

In the evening (from 19:00) Chennai Worlds invites us to the Loewe Saal (map). There is free beer and food.

Debate Overview (up to Round 9)

The motions of the WUDC preliminary rounds were:

1. THW create public housing for the poor in wealthy areas
2. THBT Japan should acquire nuclear weapons
3. THW only imprison individuals who pose a direct and continuing threat to society
4. THBT international development institutions (such as the World Bank) should not finance natural resource extraction projects in corrupt states
5. THBT self-described progressive males of dominant ethnicities are morally obliged to refrain from taking positions of responsibility where there is a qualified alternative candidate from a historically disadvantaged group who would otherwise receive the post
6. THW legally permit soldiers to refuse to participate in military actions or missions on the basis of conscience
7. THBT European Union nations should forgive Greece's sovereign debt
8. THBT countries with booming populations should allocate every adult a single tradable permit to have a child
9. THW ban political parties and require all candidates for national public office to seek election as independents

There draws can be found here, debate videos here.

The preliminary intermediate results after Round 6 are here.

Dec 31st Preview

Same procedure as today: 8:15 a.m. - That is the point in time by which we would love to have scanned your badge at the TU. It went very well today and we ask you to make the same thing possible tomorrow (despite whatever is about to happen at Brunnen 70).

Transfers to the TU and breakfast: same timing as well.

The rest of the day:
Round 7, lunch (about 1 hour), round 8, coffee break, round 9, dinner.
That's all happening at the TU, just like today. Feel free to freshen up and change at your hotel before joining the Break and New Year's Party in and around the TU.

Round 5 Motion in Full Length

"THBT self-described progressive males of dominant ethnicities are morally obliged to refrain from taking positions of responsibility where there is a qualified alternative candidate from a historically disadvantaged group who would otherwise receive the post." #wudc #longmotionsrock

Dec 30th State of Affairs

First of all: thank you for making our morning schedule work! After some announcements the draw was supposed to be up by 9:30 and it ended up being shown from 9:36. Six minutes is an amazingly insignificant delay and we are very happy that things today went so much better and faster than yesterday.

We have uploaded the draw for round 4 to the known draw folder. Also, thanks to the Tab Room, we were able to publish a list of all teams and judges.

Generally things are going rather smoothly now. There are some issues participants brought to our attention and we are dealing with them right now. Our Conferenciers will address some of them and we do our best to keep you posted about what we are doing. And we welcome your feedback to improve things further.

Dec 30th Preview and Important Remarks

8:15 a.m. - That is the point in time by which we would love to have scanned your badge at the TU. If you are so kind to make that happen, we can start round 4 by 9:15. The Tab Room is working hard to make sure we have the fairest tournament possible and we have to grant them the time needed.

All the following events take place consecutively and as soon as the respective preparations have been accomplished. We will keep you posted throughout the day. The exact times depend particularly on the check-in issue mentioned above (we repeat: 8:15).

Transfers to the TU:
07:00: Interconti → 07:10 HBB → 07:30 TU
07:30: Interconti → 07:40 HBB → 08:00 TU

Breakfast: 7:15-9:00 (so you have plenty of time to enjoy breakfast after check-in)

The rest of the day:
Round 4, lunch (about 1 hour), round 5, coffee break, round 6, dinner.
That's all happening at the TU, just like today.
Then you have the opportunity to freshen up at your hotel (we offer transfers), after which we have the Berlin Underground Party waiting for you (Brunnen 70). There are also transfers between hotels and social. The entrance is free between 21:00 and 23:00 and costs 10 EUR after that. Between 22:30 and 00:30 we offer transfers back to the hotels.

Dec 30th Schedule

[please see following post]

Dec 29th Debate Overview

Today we had the first three preliminary rounds of our Worlds. The motions:

1. THW create public housing for the poor in wealthy areas
2. THBT Japan should acquire nuclear weapons
3. THW only imprison individuals who pose a direct and continuing threat to society

There draws can be found here (sooner or later).

Are You Ready To Embrace Dissent?

We showed our opening video today before Round 2.

Are you ready to embrace dissent?

Schedule for Dec 29th

from 06:30: Registration at your hotel (last: 07:40)
from 06:45: Transfers from your hotel to the TU (last: 08:00)
07:15-09:00: Breakfast (TU atrium)
09:00-11:30: Draw & Round 1 (Audimax)
11:30-13:00: Lunch Lichthof (atrium)
13:00-15:30: Draw & Round 2 (Audimax)
15:30-16:15: Coffee Break Lichthof (atrium)
16:15-18:30: Draw & Round 3 (Audimax)
18:30-20:00: Dinner Lichthof (atrium)
from 19:00: Transfers to Hotel Berlin, Berlin (and back to the TU from 20:00)
21:00: Gender Night Lichthof (atrium)
from 22:00: Transfers to your hotel (last: 00:00)

Language Status List and Interviews

The Language Review Committee has kindly submitted the final Language Status List. If you have applied for ESL or EFL status, have a look. Time and place for interviews will be announced very soon.

Schedule for Dec 28th

Morning

Breakfast starts at 9 a.m. at the Technische Universität (TU) atrium.
Pre-Council starts at 10 a.m. in TU room 2013.
Worlds Masters' starts at 9:30 a.m. in TU room 0107.
Worlds Public Speaking starts at 10 a.m. in TU room 0110.
The 2nd chance for the judging test is at 10 a.m. in TU room 2032.
There will be live-streaming of Public Speaking and Masters'.

Afternoon

12:00-14:00: Lunch (TU atrium)
14:00-16:00: WUDC Briefings (TU Audimax)
16:00-16:30: Coffee Break (TU atrium)
Time to go back to the hotel (transfers available)
18:00-19:30: Dinner (TU atrium)
19:30-20:30: Opening Ceremony (TU Audimax)
20:30: Get-together and Jazz music (TU atrium)

The Morning of the 28th

Breakfast starts at 9 a.m. at the Technische Universität (TU).

Pre-Council starts at 10 a.m. in TU room 2013.

Worlds Masters' starts at 9:30 a.m. in TU room 0107.

Worlds Public Speaking starts at 10 a.m. in TU room 0110.

The 2nd chance for the judging test is at 10 a.m. in TU room 2032.

There will be live-streaming of Public Speaking and Masters'.

It's on.

Berlin Worlds as a gesamtkunstwerk (ask DCA Victor Finkel what that means) takes thirteen days. We started today with the arrival day of the scholarship participants (photo) and we will end with the World Debate Forum to be held from the 4th to the 6th.

Alas not all 110 scholarship recipients will make it to Berlin. Some even travelled to another country in order to get their visa for Germany but were denied them in the last minute, which is tragic.

Tomorrow (26th) at ten we start the Scholarship Seminar at the TU. Somehow we incorporated a trip to a Christmas Market into the programme. The trainers are the good people from the Adjudication Core and a few Worlds independent adjudicators.

In the afternoon most volunteers will arrive as well and receive their last briefings before Dec 27th, the official WUDC arrival day.

Some non-Berlin volunteers and adjudicators who had arrived early met on Christmas Eve. This event turned into a rather entertaining work session (photo) with mulled wine and presents under the palm tree.

Christmas, featuring Victor, Doug et al.

WUDC Berlin 2013 Equity Team

Our Equity Team is now complete, up and running. It consists of Equity Officer Sarah Jaglitz (Germany) and Deputy Equity Officers Ahmed Al Suwaidi (UAE/UK) and Beth Sheil (USA).

Here is their message:

The WUDC Berlin 2013 will see 1,400 participants from 82 countries, which is just awesome! It is very important to us that everyone, regardless of background and experience, feels respected and is able to participate in and enjoy the championship without fear of discrimination. Please keep that in mind when interacting with others; what might seem like harmless fun to you might hurt someone else deeply.

We will not tolerate any behaviour that discriminates or demeans a person and will take every Equity complaint very serious. Our Equity Policy is stated in the Code of Conduct and applies to everyone participating in the tournament regardless of status.

The Code of Conduct can be found here and in the Tournament Guide you will receive at check-in. We expect all participants to read it.

Please feel free to approach any of us at any time; members of the Equity Team will be present throughout the the tournament and you can also contact us via the Help Desks or by email. 

Sarah is a Berlin native and member of the Berlin Debating Union. She is a third year student in Jewish Studies and History at the University of Potsdam.
Ahmed hails from the United Arab Emirates, he is in his third year of university debating and is in his final year of Neuroscience BSc at King's College London.
Beth is from New Jersey, USA and is a second year student in Chemical Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Register now for Worlds Public Speaking 2013

We proudly announce the opening of the registration for the Worlds Public Speaking Competition 2013 in Berlin. As always, all Worlds speakers and adjudicators are eligible to participate as speakers or judges. The Chief Adjudicators are Kimera Chetty (South Africa) and Mathias Hamann (Germany).

The competition has a preliminary round on December 28th 2012 and a Grand Final on January 2nd 2013.

The general topic of this year's Public Speaking is "Embracing Dissent", the motto of Berlin Worlds. Each contestant will be given an individual and slightly more specific topic to prepare in 15 minutes. Contributions are up to 7 minutes in length.

Public speaking is a great platform for orators of every creed. Participants are invited to engage in classical Public Speaking but also very welcome to choose from a wider range of creativity. The panel of judges will be rating performances in terms of content (meaningful contribution to the topic) and style (to which degree did the performance rock/sadden/rhyme/make us laugh). Feel free to do reflection, comedy, poetry... – and sign up now.

To sign up please fill in this form by December 27th, 10 p.m.

If you would like to judge Public Speaking, please email Kimera and Mathias and indicate briefly how you think the speakers should be assessed. We will announce our judging panel for the preliminary round once we have selected the panel.

The CAs are looking forward to open the Worlds Public Speaking Competition 2013 on December 28th, right after breakfast at the TU.

Meet McKinsey at Berlin Worlds

It is with immense pleasure that we announce a cooperation between the WUDC Berlin 2013 and the leading global strategy consulting firm, McKinsey & Company. McKinsey will sponsor Worlds and has agreed to meet you there and after.

McKinsey is a global partnership with almost 9,000 consultants deployed in over 100 locations in more than 55 countries. They help the world's leading organisations in the private, public, and social sectors address their most critical strategic, operational, organisational, and technological challenges (www.mckinsey.com/careers).

McKinsey would like to get to know you better and give you a chance to get to know McKinsey and consulting. Representatives will be present before and during the Finals on January 3rd. Furthermore, they are planning to organize a series of events locally as well as virtually specifically for people connected to the WUDC. The first one will be early next year, run by Diana Farrell, Director of the new McKinsey Center for Government. She will talk about the global trends facing governments today; how governments can adapt to meet these challenges by embracing 'government by design'; and why business should care about effective government.

To keep in touch with McKinsey, beginning now, you may send your CV to mckinsey@wudcberlin.com. Please submit your CV in English or German, in PDF format, named as per the following example: Family Name, First Name.pdf.

Keeping in touch, you can potentially gain fast-track access to McKinsey's application process for an internship or full-time position. We encourage you take advantage of this opportunity.

Note of confidentiality: Only the Convener and the WUDC Berlin 2013 McKinsey liaison have access to stated email account. We will forward all your CVs to McKinsey for consideration after Worlds, at which point we will delete the CVs from our servers (hosted by Google)

WUDC Berlin 2013 Payment Balances

This is the full list of payment balances.

Please make sure your institution brings the cash to settle its open balance (if there is one). It is paramount that you settle any open balance you may have on December 27th/28th, i.e. before round 1. If you and your institution fail to do so, your teams will not be able to compete until the balance is settled.

If you find your entry not to be up to date, please discuss this issues with us in Berlin.

Language - check your status and debate the criteria

1)
The WUDC Berlin 2013 Language Review Committee has looked at the data provided by each participant requesting ESL or EFL status. Please find the preliminary status decisions for all speakers here.

The status granted is either EFL or ESL or EPL or Interview. In case of the latter, we have some questions for you regarding the answers you have given (or have not given yet). The colour coding indicates whether you got the status you requested (green), are asked for an interview (orange) or we gave you a different status from what you requested (red).

Anyone who disagrees with their current status designation can appeal against the decision in Berlin. This can be done by handing in a note in writing indicating your name, institution and the ground on which you wish to appeal (and for which status). The precise procedure for handing in these notes will be made clear in Berlin. 

If your name does not appear on the list (although you have requested ESL or EFL status) or if you have any questions about your status, please email the Committee.

2)
Five years after the institution of new language criteria in Thailand, it is time to have a look at the rules and see what we think of them. Please feel free to leave your thoughts on the current criteria on the Council forum.

Register now for the Worlds Masters' Cup 2013

We proudly announce the opening of the registration for the Worlds Masters' Cup 2013 in Berlin. As always, all Worlds adjudicators are eligible to speak and everyone else very welcome to judge. The Chief Adjudicators are Bronwyn Cowell (Australia) and Philipp Stiel (Germany).

The competition has two preliminary rounds on December 28th 2012 and a Grand Final on January 2nd 2013.

Format

This year's Worlds Masters' Cup will be held in the Wartburg debating style, named after the castle where Martin Luther wrote his 95 Theses in 1517 and laid the cornerstone of the Protestant Reformation. The format was conceived by the debating societies of Jena and Erfurt. For the Masters' we will use a slightly simplified version, the most important features being:

• There are three speakers per team, two teams per debate. 
• All debates are about principles (affirm or negate), and no policies are allowed. 
• The coin decides which team opens the debate. 

Debaters at the Wartburg

You will get a briefing before the tournament but don't hesitate to have a look at the short version of the rules now.

As for the composition of teams, note that each team must consist of three (!) speakers and represent one country. However, if a speaker is not exactly from the country they represent, we are flexible in this regard. Just bring a flag. Also, there may be several teams representing the same country.

Registration 

Teams, please fill in the registration form by December 27th, 10 p.m.
If you want to judge, you are encouraged to do so and email Philipp with short details about your judging experience.

The CAs are looking forward to open the Worlds Masters' Cup 2013 on December 28th, right after breakfast at the TU.

Evaluation by Open Society Foundations

The Open Society Foundations are a great contributor to Berlin Worlds, as we announced earlier. On site they want to evaluate their project and we encourage you to talk to them and share your experience.

Please contact Maryanne Olson to set up a time to connect in Berlin, or if you prefer, please contact Subarna Mathes at to set up an appointment for a Skype call. Also please reach out to Subarna with any questions. Thank you in advance for your time and input!

(For more information, read their letter in full)

WUDC Berlin 2013 Judging Test

All adjudicators, institutional and independent, are required to take the WUDC Berlin 2013 Judging Test. The submission deadline is in ten days, on December 23rd 2012.

The results of this test will greatly affect the judges' ranking, with not submitting leading to the pretty much worst outcome. If you have questions, please email Sharms or Doug.

WUDC Berlin 2013 Code of Conduct

"Each host of each round of the Championship shall be required to draft, implement and enforce a Code of Conduct which will uphold the principle and the purpose of the Championship" (Constitution of the World Universities Debating Council, art. 32,1).

We present: the Code of Conduct for the WUDC Berlin 2013. If you are joining the tournament, please have a look to learn about the ground rules and to avoid unpleasant surprises.

We are about to complete the Equity team and are going to announce it soon.

Debate in front of millions, with DIE ZEIT!

A highbrow newspaper and supporter of German debating gives you your largest audience ever. With an estimated readership of above 2 million, DIE ZEIT is the most widely read German weekly newspaper. They want to do preliminary debates via Skype and feature them on their website. For this they are looking for two debaters of different origin to give a short statement about a topic chosen by the users.

You could be debating.

If you are participating in the WUDC Berlin 2013, have a stable Skype connection and time on Tuesday, December 11th or Wednesday, December 12th 2012, then email Berlin Worlds Press Secretary Annette Kirste by December 9th, and send her your name, age, gender, country of origin, debating experience and a picture of yourself.

We are looking forward to hearing from you!

WUDC Berlin 2013 Briefings

The Berlin Worlds Adjudication Core has put together a three-part WUDC briefing.

1. Debating
2. Adjudication (also recommended for speakers)
3. Format (for Novices)

All speakers and adjudicators are recommended to familiarize themselves with it in order to make the Worlds a qualitatively better place.

The documents can be read and downloaded here.