Debate: AGM, Executive Platforms

CONSTRUCTIVE POINTS 1. Annual General Meeting 2. Executive Platforms 2.1 President, Andrew Lawrence 2.2 President, Adam Coombs 2.3 Vice President Administration, Jordan Charbonneau 2.4 Vice President Internal, Garnett Genuis 2.5 Vice President Internal, Daniel Westlake 2.6 Vice President External, Blair Stein 2.7 Vice President French/Francais, Alexander Grinton 2.8 Vice President French/Francais, Yannick Veilleux-LePage 2.9 Xerxes High School Cup Tournament Director, Alexander Bourbonierre 1. The Annual General Meeting of the Carleton University Debate Society will take place on April 5, at 7:00. As a reminder, all Members in Good Standing have voting rights. A Member in Good Standing is defined as having attended either four meeting in the past two months, or having attended one external tournament in the past academic year. If you fit this bill, be sure to get out to the AGM to vote. 2. The platforms of the people that have decided to run for executive positions so far will follow below. 2.1 President, Andrew Lawrence I think we've all learned a lot of things this year, and some things that I have observed have led me to enter my bid for the the presidency. This is not a conclusion I came to lightly. I'm going to begin with a bit of meta-platforming, and talk about my overall philosophy before I move to the issues and my relevant experience. I believe that our society is facing new challenges. We face new scrutiny, and a new position on campus. Stable funding, while not making us an elephant in the room, has certainly brought us place where we will be subject to particular scrutiny from other organizations, in the very least CUSA. Like it or not, there are particular expectations and perceptions that we are going to have to deal with, and how we meet these could have a serious impact on our society. This has been demonstrated by our dealings with CUSA recently- How the VPI of CUSA percieved our society has had a direct Impact on our CUSIDnet and Equity policies. With this in mind, I believe that how the role of the president needs a new direction. In the past, the presidency has been reactive- mostly communicating to other organizations after after they've contacted us. I think this needs to change, and that the president should henceforth be proactive and actively work to maintain positive relationships with other campus organizations on a regular basis. This became quite clear to me during the last CUSA council meeting. When the complaints against the society were being discussed, you could sense the displeasure in the room, not only with the incident, but with our club. I believe that this is a problem, and something we can reasonably expect to be a major issue in any future dealings with the student union. I think it was quite telling when Garnett got up to speak at the council meeting, he started his introduction with something like "I know that you only hear from us when things aren't going bad, but debate is a really fun society...". I intend to change this. I want the world to hear from us when things are going well, when we are doing all the positive things that we do. I want the rest of campus to know what we already do, that we are a great society with a lot to contribute. I think this is a crucial step for our society that must be diligently pursued, because other people knowing just how great our society is will be tremendously important if we ever are unfortunate enough to face a similar situations as we did these past two years. And here is how I'm going to do it!: 1. Building Bridges on Campus The first thing to be done is to make sure that as a club, that we stay current in student affairs while maintaining a non partisan stance. This can come from simple things like showing up to Clubs and Societies, CUSA and community events, and sending along our symbolic support for Student Initiatives and programs, or dropping by in the CUSA office on a regular basis. When we can, we should also participate in these events, or even, as Garnett and I did this year with MOSAIC this year, take part in the organization of these events. As president, I will continue and Increase participation in these kind of events. I think this is an Important part of changing perceptions of our society, especially since the people who organize these events and seek club's participation in them are often the same people who would be looking into how we are running things. 2. Getting people to take notice Our participation in moderating the "Does god exist?" Debate lead to several new people showing an interest in our society. Having similar exposure from our own events, like the one Josh organized at the beginning of the year, ans Garnett and Myself in the second semster with better postering could only have a similarly beneficial effect. I, as president pledge to work with next year's VPI to Implement some of these Ideas. The more exposure we have on campus, the better. This could also help with practicing for out rounds, being in potentially similar situations. I pledge to work with the VPI to make see at least two public debates a semester, and make sure that they are well publicized. I also pledge to Increase our prescene by better displaying our results. We did fantasticly well this year, and there was little campus exposure to show for our results. Last year, when Mike and Jo won worlds, the Charlatan ran an article on their victory, and if I recall, failed to mention Padraic and Garnett (at least in any significant way). I will make sure that our student and university papers are aware of our results, and will write letters and articles myself to get the exposure we deserve. 3. Keeping it clean It is not the president's role to run all the administrative details of the club. I do think, however, that it is the president's role to make sure that those responsible for running the administrative details are doing their job, and are doing it properly. Mark mentioned some concern over VP's taking responsibility for their areas, and as president I would do my part to make sure that everyone is taking their responsabilities seriously. Things can't seem shady if they are done, in plain sight and by the book. I pledge, as president, to make sure that all VP's and Officers of the club are giving due diligence to their portfolios. Also under the heading of keeping it clean, I pledge to go to equity services to learn what I can, through whatever training or Information they offer, to better understand equity and equity issues, to ensure that actions and sayings from myself and the rest of the executive can only be taken as they are meant. I pledge to do this no matter what the outcome of the AGM is on equity issues. I also will seek Equity Service's cooperation at novice training day. And enforce whatever policy comes out of the AGM with utmost vigilance. 4. Keeping it fun There has been some concern about socials at our club, both their accessibility to novii and, some aswell over how we can manage to relax and unwind. I'm commited to keeping things accesible, and fun. In this case, I think actions speak louder than words. This year as VPI i made a considered effort to encourage socials involving members of our club. Often hosted at my house. These, I think, were largely successful. Without going into specifics, I believe I managed to keep things accessible to those who had certain issues. Including hosting a Hanukkah party to keep things diverse. Also, and perhaps more importantly, without going into specifics many novii were present and enjoyed these events. I will continue to do my best to make sure our socials are accessible, diverse, and successful. 5. Recruitment, Retention and Training Recruitment I've allready mentioned raising our campus profile through public debates, and getting the word out about our society. I also pledge to -Be an effective representative of our society at the prelude table, and getting as many people to sign up as I can. -Take advantage of departmental rescources -Do two weeks worth of Class talks I think we should not only increase our physical prescence on campus, with more tables and events, but also use the Carleton Online community to our advantage. - I pledge to use facebook, and other online mediums as a recruitment and retention tool. Retention As outlined in my earlier topics, I think that retention is an Issue that encompases lots of different spheres of debate life. It encompasses tournaments, socials, and our debates. To quickly outline some proposals -Keep Socials fun, and many of them. Host them myself -Encourage Novice attendance at these events -Send as many people as we can to tournaments -Have a stronger focus on raising the aggregate and average level of debate skill in our club. Training The president is the person in charge of conducting meetings. As such, I intend to use these responsabilities to structure our day to day meetings so that there is a larger focus on training. I intend to do this by focusing on basic debate skills such as finding pros and cons, how flow a round, and how to judge at the beginning of meetings in the early year, as well as encouraging seminars from our more experienced members of the club. I can't promise anything on behalf of Ian, Garnett, Paddy, Mike or Adam or any other experienced member, but I can promise that I will work with them and encourage them to help out. And I can promise that I will do my part by contributing what I have learned. I also intend to bring back case preperation sessions, hosted at a convenient and relaxed place. I think learning to build a case is an Important and Valuable part of being a debater, and pledge to do my best to pass these skills on, and encourage others to do the same. I will also use my responsibilities to encourage Pro-Aming in house, and use the presidential spot on the TSC to push to make at least one tournament a Pro-Am tournament in the year, regardless of whether that is an official classification by the host of the tournament. 6. Tournaments As president, I would use my spot on the Tournament Selection Comitee to once again push my philosophy at tournaments, that the best way to improve your debating ability and your have fun at debate is to attend tournaments, so I will help fashion a budget that will send as many people as we can while respecting budgetary concerns. I also pledge to work with Incoming president Nick to try and get special deals for CUSID as a whole, that could help our budget I also pledge to work with the EDS, Queens and Others to explore Joint transport possibilites next year, such as perhaps renting a bus together for large tourments. We will have a lack of Drivers next year, and this could help alleviate concerns over transport issues. 7. French I'm a strong supporter of french debate. I pledge to work with the VPF to secure special funding for french tournaments, and possibly have a panda like event between CUDS and the FDS. 8. Gender and Diversity Issues Gender Issues have been an important Issue for not only CUDS, but CUSID in general. I have a two fold approach to dealing with this Inside the school, I pledge to make larger recruitment inroads, and also I pledge to talk with Service centers on campus such as the womyn's center, the GLBTQ center and the international service center to find a role for the society inside service center events. Outside the club, I pledge my full support to those interested in hosting a womyns tournament. I am good friends, and currently co-chairing a title tournament with one such interested party. I pledge to help anyway I can, especially if it means having this tournament in Ottawa. Having it just across town would be invaluable in getting those interested in attending, but hesitant to give it a try in a safe, supportive environment. I also pledge to work with Incoming CUSID president Nick in any endevours. We talked breifly during the Nats banquet about his plans for CUSID as a whole, and I am optimistic about his endevours. 9. THe Highschool Community, and Community at large I have strong links with the highschool community, and pledge to use them to promote CUDS and highschool debate. I also have links to the National Highschool debate association, the CSDF, and plan to use every opportunity that this relationship affords. I am allready capitalizing on this opportunity by hosting a day of a national high school title tournament at Carleton. As a personal project this year, I also helped a carleton student start a debate club at an ESL program at a school. I intend to continue to ursue projects like this, raising both the good standing of Carleton in the community, but also our karma. I will also continue to encourage and participate in Events such as the Glebe Center Debates organized by Garnett. Experience I am a highly experienced Executive member on debate societies, being the second longest serving exec member in our society. I am also a decently skilled debater, a tournament organizer, and every other facet of debate life. Debate has been my life for the better part of a decade. 2.2 President, Adam Coombs Adam Coombs for CUDS President This is to announce that I will be seeking re-election for the 2007-2008 school year. Below is a bit about me and my plan for next year. Included is where I intend to focus the club., where the club needs to improve, and build on those where we are already strong. Background Info I am currently a second year history student and this (obviously) was my second year of University debate. I served as president of CUDS this year and prior to that was a member of the org-com for Carleton Nats 2006. In high school I debated for five years and was president of the Holy Trinity Debating Union for two years. I feel that this experience in both the organizational side and competitive side of high school and university level debate will allow me to serve as an effective president. Achievements This year CUDS has been extremely successful. One of the main parts of my platform last year was to raise CUDS' campus presence. This has been acheived in two ways. The first was the successful staging of two show debates this year. The other was a new practice that I began this year which was issuing press releases to highlight our achievements to CUSA, our Faculty sponsors, The Charlatan and the broader Carleton community. Another important element of my presidential platform last year was to bid for North-Ams 2008. As we found out nearly two weeks ago, Carleton will be hosting the 2008 North American Championships. We managed to present an excellent bid with awesome buttons and double th number of votes McGill got. Carleton will now become only the fifth Canadian university to host North-Ams since the tournaments inception. Finally as promised,this year has seen successful pro-am teams being fielded at tournaments from Yale to North-Ams to Queens Nats. I intend to build of off these achievements and make 2007-2008 another banner year for CUDS. Platform 1) Building Skills and Opportunities to Debate At the end of the day we are a debate club. We attend external tournaments, host our own and have in-house debate. It is the last where I wish to focus on in a second term. Training In order to ensure competitive success in the future we need to focus on internal debater development. This means building from our successful Novice Training Day with EDS and taking advantage of a number of skilled debaters in our own club such as Ian and Garnett. Also, there are CUSID aids which can be used in debater development such as the fantastic In order to ensure competitive success in the future we need to focus on internal debater development. This means building from our successful Novice Training Day with EDS and taking advantage of a number of skilled debaters in our own club such as Ian and Garnett. Also, there is the CUSID Central Style Guide. In order to further help novice development, in-house meetings need to be productive and experienced debaters should debate with less experienced debaters to help further skill development. This has been something which has seriously lacked in the past two years, and something I intend to fix. If re-elected, I will: * Build Upon our successful joint Novice Training Day with EDS * Implement monthly training workshops at regular debate meetings hosted by senior debaters * A focus on both British Parliamentary (BP) and Canadian Parliamentary (CP) Debate * Hold pre-CP tournament case building sessions to help those attending * A focus on running French rounds in-house Tournaments Tournaments are an important part of the debating experience. Next year I will seek to use the resources we have to send as many people as possible to tournaments. This means sending teams to both French and English Nats, BP Champs and Thailand Worlds. I think tournament participation has a direct correlation with retention: they are a tremendous experience, allow people to get to know other club members much better- just think of the times that you've heard about cool van rides. Equally importantly, it is through involvement in CUSID that people improve. In terms of tournament selection procedures, I think it is important that, for some tournaments, we seek to pair experienced debaters with less experienced ones. This strategy worked at Guindon and if elected I promise to designate certain tournaments as Pro-Ams where experienced debaters are partnered with less experiences debaters. This strategy was particularly effective for McGill at Guindon and Queens and Winter Carnival. Next year CUDS should work with Ottawa U to host the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Cup. Due to organizational difficulties the tournament did not materialize this year and owing to the lack of French tournaments, the failure of the PET Cup to take place is problematic. CUDS can lend our organizational experience to the EDS/SDF to help ensure that PET happens. If re-elected, I will: * Continue to send teams to title tournaments: English and French Nats, Leger, Thailands Worlds, BP Champs * Expanded Pro-Ams at non-title tournaments * Allow for the maximum amount of people to attend tournaments, not the maximum amount for some people * Expand attendance at French tournaments * Contact EDS/SDF to offer our organizational assistance to a 2007-08 PET Cup * Work towards the best Xerxes Cup * Encourage CUSID to host a Women's Tournament Hosting North-Ams 2008 at Carleton After mounting a successful bid for North-Ams 2008, the focus has to turn to hosting the best North-Ams in memory. My experiences helping to run both Nats '06 and The Lord Dorchester Cup will help to make Carleton North-Ams '08 a great tournament. I will meet with the co-TD's Blair and Andrew before exams end and begin to plan out how to proceed. We will also seek to solicit sponsorship over the tournament and to have an Org-Comm in place by the time September rolls around. If re-elected, I will: * Work with Tournament Directors right away to begin putting in place the measures needed for a successfully event * Begin promoting NorthAms to Carleton immediately * Work along side Ian to prepare our club for judging North American style 2) Creating a Stronger Relationship With the Carleton Community Equity Although we have made huge strides in terms of creating a better and more equitable environment, we still have a long way to go as incidents this year have shown us. I believe that not only does CUDS need to improve on this front it could and should be the leader in this regard at Carleton and CUSID. I am committed to working with next years Equity Officer, CUSA, CUSID National and Regional Ombudsman but as well Carleton Equity Services. We must expand out membership to better reflect Carleton, but also strengthen the procedures and institutions we have put in place already. If re-elected, I will: * Work with the new Equity Officer, CUSA, CUSID National and Regional Ombudsman and Equity Services to build a model club for equity and diversity. * Implement new measures recommended at the AGM by the 2006 Equity Officer and Diversity/Equity Committee and mandate that all debaters wishing to attend external tournaments must attend a briefing by Equity Services. * Have Equity Services present at Novice Training Day Raising Campus Profile A strong campus-profile is important: in reminding people that we exist, it helps attract new members and garner additional funding, while at the same time contributing positively to campus life. I think we do a lot of this well already - we have perhaps the best debate website in the country, a great prelude table, and have been reasonably successful in getting campus media, be it The Charlatan or Carleton Now, to talk about our achievements. However despite this success, more can be done. One thing that is needed to raise our campus profile is a co-operative and respectful relationship with CUSA. In order to continue as a successful club it is imperative that we have strong personal relationships with the CUSA executive. I have been responsible for dealing with CUSA this year and have formed those relationships that are so imperative for good relations. We can also raise our campus profile by having a co-operative relationship with CUSA as we have already begun to do so by partaking in the Mosaic and Fair Trade debates. If elected, I promise to work with the VPI to further raise our campus profile by partaking in events such as Mosaic. If re-elected, I will: * Host at least 4 public debates a year (2 per semester) * Work with CUSA executive to implement equity policy * Offer our services to other Carleton clubs who host debates and discussions 3) Promoting Debate Within Carleton and Outside Recruitment In order to help recruit more people to CUDS we need to greatly expand our recruiting efforts. This means having a table at Prelude as well as speaking to first years classes and putting up posters for our meetings. In order to help recruitment of women we should be doing class talks to class that are traditionally female dominated, such as English and Women's studies. Also we can take advantage of departmental resources to aid in recruiting by talking to departments such as the French and Political Science departments. If re-elected, I will: * Will continue our strong showing at Prelude * Implement a wide ranging class-talk program for the first two weeks of class * Have a wide ranging recruitment campaign that is long lasting * Have tables in the atrium weekly in the lead up to club and societies days and then monthly throughout the year Media Attention This year CUDS has achieved tremendous success and has had success in being recognized by both internal and external media outlets. Through issuing press releases after every accomplishment, I have managed to secure some media coverage and even managed to get Ian a spot on Rogers Daytime. Despite this success, more can be done. First, I will arrange a meeting with the Charlatan's head editor to discuss increasing debate press coverage in the Charlatan. This way when we start the year off with a bang, the Charlatan will be covering it. Also in order to increase external media coverage I will work on developing a relationship with Carleton Communications which in the past has been very successful in garnering media coverage for CUDS. Finally seeing as Carleton is hosting North-ams, I will work with the VP com to ensure that this tournament gets the media coverage that it deserves. If re-elected, I will: * Continue solicitation media attention from Carleton media * A stronger web presences at carletondebate.org * Strong promotion for our events High School Connections In order to help recruitment of high school debaters to CUDS, the club needs to be more actively engaged with the high school debate community in Ottawa. Since over 50% of Carleton students are from Ottawa this can be a great way to attract new debaters to our club. CUDS can build on our successful high school tournaments by hosting a high school training seminar in BP. Many of the top high school debaters in Eastern Ontario are interested in learning BP and we can serve to increase our community profile and attract potential debaters to Carleton through initiatives such as this. I feel that I am in a position to accomplish this because I have extensive connections with the Ottawa and Ontario high school debate community. As President I would use those connections to attract new debaters to our club and encourage club growth. If re-elected, I will: * Create a Outreach Commitee aimed at helping to promote debate i n local high schools * Aim to have the largest Xerxes Cup ever * Work with OSDU to ensure maximum exposure for CUDS amongst High School Students. I look forward to your questions and hope I can count on your vote at the AGM. Please feel free to contact me through e-mail (adamo14(a)gmail.com), MSN (same as e-mail) or on my cell at 613-286-1094. Conclusion -I have the experience for the job and the desire to take on the responsibility associated with it -I will make an effective representative of the club in CUSID -Ideas for improving the level of debate within the club and helping Carleton improve its reputation within CUSID. 2.3 Vice President Administration, Jordan Charbonneau [image: Post]<http://www.cusid.ca/community/viewtopic.php?p=171921#171921>Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 4:55 pm Post subject: VP Admin for Jordan? And TSC??? [image: Reply with quote]<http://www.cusid.ca/community/posting.php?mode=quote&p=171921> [image: Edit/Delete this post]<http://www.cusid.ca/community/posting.php?mode=editpost&p=171921> [image: Delete this post]<http://www.cusid.ca/community/posting.php?mode=delete&p=171921&sid=3d886564c00421cb69e41db89dbdfae1> [image: View IP address of poster]<http://www.cusid.ca/community/modcp.php?mode=ip&p=171921&t=14453&sid=3d886564c00421cb69e41db89dbdfae1> ------------------------------ Hey guys, I don't like to make these things any longer than they have to be, so I'll give you what you need to know. I am in 3rd year Public Affairs and Policy Management. I have been on the executive since January, 2005, serving as Secretary-Treasurer and, with the position title changes of Annual General Meeting 2005, Vice-President Administration. I'm seeking re-election for this position for a few reasons: I) I want to still be involved with debate, and I think being on the exec is the best way to do it. VPAdmin is the position most suited to my tastes, and the best way I think I can contribute to the club. II) I'm familiar with the system. When I first became Sec-Treas., there was little structure to speak of. I have developed a system that, albeit paper-based, has been more than sufficient to keep track of important numbers. III) I want to make more changes. My platform this year is to convert all CUDS financial matters to electronic databases, allowing for easier access to and safer storage of data. This way, when I leave next year, the hand-over of power will be smooth and seamless. That's the VPAdmin side of things. _______________________________________________ I'd also like to run for one of the positions on the Tournament Selection Committee. I'm doing this essentially for one reason: I am an impartial and balanced member of CUDS, and so I'd like to use these qualities to ensure that the Selection process is as equitable as possible (we're all equal remember). 2.4 Vice President Internal, Garnett Genuis Hello everyone: As we approach CUDS Exec Elections, its platform time. Relevant Experience -I am currently CUDS VPX and a member of the TSC -I was president of my debate club in my final year of high school, and I did a lot of work on recruitment and retention -I am currently a Rez Fellow, which gives me many of the necessary connections in residence to recruit for next year (note: I will not be a rez fellow next year) -I volunteer weekly at the Glebe Center, a home for the elderly. I have used my position there to organize a number of public debates at the Center Platform Broadly speaking, I see four main goals for the VPI. Recruitment, retention, public debates, and social events. 1. Recruitment The objective of recruitment, as I see it, is to honestly present what debate is in as favourable a light as possible to as many students as possible. To do this, we need a presence at C&S Days, particularly those at the beginning of the year. This has been done fairly well in past. But we also need more of a presence in residence. I would like to get members of the club at as many floor meetings as possible at the beginning of next year. All rez fellows hold at least two meetings in the first month of school – and usually both are in the first two weeks. Making brief pitches about the debate club at those meetings could be a great way to give us the recruitment edge we need. Recruitment doesn't just happen at the beginning of the year, but it is obviously most successful then because September is when people are looking to fill their theoretical 'activities quota.' Once it's full, they are unlikely to join debate, even if they think it's cool. Obviously it is important that we try to balance are gender numbers through recruitment. First of all, it's clear to me that the more recruitment we do, the less likely we are to have a skewed sample. If we only recruit 1 girl, then she's more likely to leave – but if we recruit 4 girls, they are less likely to feel out numbered and more likely to stay. I strongly support any initiatives to partner with EDS in order to increase the number of women at CUDS events. This seemed to be a big success for novice training day. Finally, despite our political differences, I have a very cordial working relationship with Ashley Hunkin, current Womyn's Center coordinator and CUSA's VPSS-elect. I would like to see if the Womyn's Center can help us with recruitment – they probably know of some outspoken and debative women on campus who they would be more than happy to send our way. As far as I understand the center, working constructively to remedy gender inequality is an important part of their mandate, and they would be more than happy to help us out. 2. Retention Obviously, we will do better with retention if we recruit more. I think a certain degree of attrition is inevitable – people will join debate and then realize that it's not really for them or that they don't have the time. We should not regard every person who stops coming regularly as an indication of failure. At the same time, I think we need to look at better ways to easy people into debating. Right now, if someone has debated once, it is assumed that they are ready to debate. I would like to see more debate/discussion occur in a casual environment with people who don't appear ready to give a seven minutes speech cold turkey. For those who were at novice, we need more of 'the circle game' – essentially, round table discussions which encourage people to think like debaters without being put on the spot too much before they are ready. This is potentially more of an issue for the TSC, but I would also like to see more pro-aming. Ideally, I would also like to see pro-am hybrid teams where we put a female novice from our club with a well-known female pro from another club, so that the novice can (a) make connections outside of CUDS which will make them want to go to more tournaments (b) identify a female role model in the debate world and (c) get pulled into higher rounds then they would otherwise be able to see. 3. Public Debates Everyone says that public debates are needed. Even though it is not part of my position as VPX, I have organized 3 public debates already this year – 1 on campus and 2 off. Again, despite political differences, and I have a very good relationship with many people inside CUSA and am keen to partner with them when organizing events. We can and should obviously organize public debates on our own, but there are many advantages to working with CUSA when possible (potentially better venues, less organizational muscle required from our end, easier advertising, etc.). I would like to have a public debate in September in residence this year in partnership with RRRA. Although I have yet to speak to the incoming executive about this, I think many of them would be very interested. (I have many contacts throughout the organization, given that I have regularly attended RRRA counsel meetings since October.) Finally, I would to see us debating regularly at the Glebe Center. This is a good way for CUDS to give back to the community and for us to gain experience debating in front of people. Also, when we seek sponsorship for events such as Northams, volunteering in the community will potentially reflect very well on us. 4. Social Events This is a relative no-brainer. CUDS should have a social atmosphere, and we need to include novices in that atmosphere as quickly as possible in order to help with retention. It's great that we go to Mike's Place often, and we should keep doing that – but not everybody is comfortable with the bar atmosphere and we should look at having other kinds of social events as well (bubble tea runs?). I will be getting a house near campus next year, and am happy to open it for debate social events at any time (provided that they aren't too debaucherious in nature). 2.5 Vice President Internal, Daniel Westlake This is to announce my intention to run for VP Internal at this year's AGM. Posted below is my platform. Experience: I have been involved in debate in some fashion or another since I was in grade 9. In high school I served as President of my schools debate club and had an important role in recruitment. Working within a high school that had less of a reputation for debate, I have dealt with a number of challenges when it comes to getting people to come out to debate and keeping them within the club. I also spent two years in high school working on my school's yearbook, serving as head editor in my last year. Though this experienced I learned a vast amount about organizing a large project that requires a large amount of time and effort, but also tact for dealing with people who are involved in a variety of aspects of school life. At Carleton I have been involved in debating since the day I got here. I have attended a variety of tournaments including Nationals and Worlds, and have been responsible for organizing this year's Xerxes Cup high school tournament. I am committed to finding ways to bring new people into the club and to making sure that a variety of interests and personalities are not only accepted by the club but embraced by it. Ideas: Debate Bombing? This is a tactic stolen from the realm of swing dancing and the idea of Lindy Bombing. Essentially what it involves is finding high traffic areas at the beginning of the year and holding a number rounds, the idea being that people walking by will get to see what exactly debate is and will take a look at it. I think that this can compliment recruitment efforts such as the prelude table. While having a table is great, I believe that this will help the debate club to stand out from a lot of the other clubs that are on campus. I think that when people see what debate is, and that it can produce both interesting and entertaining ideas that they will become more attracted to the club. Campus Presence. When we moderated the God debate we saw a couple of new people show up at our meetings directly after. I would look around campus to see what other opportunities there are for us to become involved in public debates across campus. I am committed to seeking to work with other clubs in order to foster a greater presence on campus. I have connections within many of the political clubs on campus and am an active member of the campus NDP. I think that club relations with these clubs can be built up and exploited so as to improve the club's image on campus. Not only do I think that this will help us become more visible on campus, but I believe that it will us help our abilities as debaters. But I'm Already a Member of the Club. I think that this club by its nature is not simply a debate club but also a social club. I am a full supporter of the social activities that we have done regularly in the past. I have always advocated that the club look at developing a diversity of social activities as opposed to relying on the regular run to Mike's Place. Not that there's anything wrong with Mike's Place, but I think the club will benefit from catering to a variety of social interests. The dodge ball game at Dorchester showed that debaters do have in an interest in doing things other than the traditional social and I am committed to actively canvassing members to see what social events cub members are interested in. One of my central goals is to ensure that all members in the club feel welcome in whatever activities the club undertakes. I think that by diversifying club activities we will diversify club membership and develop a stronger club. I hope that I can count on your vote on the 5th. Feel free to PM me, post, e-mail, talk to me, send smoke signals, or otherwise communicate any questions to me. 2.6 Vice President External, Blair Stein Hey everyone! I want to run for the position of Vice President External for the 2007-2008 school year. I'm not entirely sure how this platform thing works, so someone please stop me if I'm doing this wrong... Here is a little bit about me... I have been debating recreationally since the fifth grade (really!) and, although my high school didn't have a competitive team, I ran a recreational club where I organized some in-house mini-tournaments and a training day with another school. I also beat Ashbury once. It was awesome. I'm a first-year Journalism student who has been very involved with CUDS this year. Not only did I serve as Novice Rep, but I was volunteer co-ordinator at the Xerxes Cup as well as Tournament Deputy Director at the Lord Dorchester Cup. I pioneered the use of loot bags as a judging incentive, which, I feel, was a huge part of our successful NorthAms bid. Incidentally, I will be Tournament Co-Director for NorthAms, which will probably be the best one ever. For those of you who don't know me well, I am full of enthusiasm, energy and dedication to CUDS. My extreme love for all things CUDS would be an absolute asset to the position of VP External. Here's a little bit about what I want to do... I admit, I'm not entirely clear on the distinction between VPI and VPX. I understand, however, the specific duties in the realm of VPX, and I will go above and beyond expectations concerning those. There are a few things that I want to change in CUDS overall, though. 1) Visibility on campus and in the community CUDS has been really visible on campus this year, but most of that has been relatively negative. I propose that we strengthen ties with campus media, especially The Charlatan, to ensure that we get the publicity we deserve. For example: All of Carleton, and all of Ottawa, knew when the Ravens won the national basketball championship. We have the best debater in North America. Who knew about that? Let's get The Charlatan, and maybe even the Citizen, to cover our successes. Let's call the Rogers Community Cruiser during Xerxes. Let's get ourselves out there. Let's get NorthAms in the news. It's a pretty big deal. I also want to see some more show debates, both on- and off-campus. Bringing in guest speakers is nice, but showing off what we can do is better. 2) Running the best NorthAms ever Part of next year's success will come with running the North American Debate Championships. This, as I have mentioned before, is a big deal. I'm reallyexcited. As Tournament Co-Director, I want to make sure that the rest of Carleton, and the rest of the city, knows what's going on. 3) Ties with EDS and FDS Sure, U of O is our rival in every other sport, but it's not the case in debating. We already have a really close relationship with EDS and, to a lesser degree, FDS, but let's make it stronger. Our joint Novice Training Day is fun, as is Debatathon and Panda, but let's do more. I suggest show debates between schools (how fun would that be?) where we clobber them. Perhaps also some Panda-like debate-offs during the slow tournament season. Maybe even a mini Pro-Am tournament. 4) Training lots of novii I want to see aggressive recruitment. I want Xerxes to become a recruitment tool. I will personally work the table at the Club Fair during frosh week. This should all be obvious. We hear over and over again that "CUDS has a retention problem." Let's change that by working extra-hard to make sure that everyone feels comfortable in the club... 5) Female presence within the club Part of the negative press that CUDS has been getting is due to a small female presence within the club. Having a female face on CUDS's executive is part of the process needed to have a stronger female presence. I remember my first couple of meetings with CUDS. There were few women and, I admit, it was a bit intimidating. I have a vested interest in making sure that we try our best to attract, and keep, female novii. I hope you all consider what I have to say. As I said when I ran for Novice Rep in October, I'm in love with debating and debaters and I will do everything in my power to help CUDS be successful. Love and loot bags, Blair 2.7 Vice President French/Francais, Alexander Grinton Version anglais suivirai. English version to follow. Moi, Alexandre Grinton, voudrait annoncer ma candidature pour le VP Francais. La base sur laquelle je cours a trois piliers simples comme suit : 1) Je suis qualifié. Au delà de la compétence nécessaire de base d'être à l'aise en français, j'ai beaucoup d'autres qualifications qui me rendent parfait pour cette position. Parmi ceux qui sont ces j'ai beaucoup de conduite et d'expérience d'organisation, y compris une expérience gestionnaire et ma participation continue en tant que officier dans la marine. Le dernier me fournissant beaucoup d'expérience continuelle comme officer, mais également précédemment comme communicateur comme lequel j'ai organise des series de communications et des réseaux. J'ai aussi passé six mois à bord du HMCS Tecumseh en tant qu'auteur d'un Cox'n que le directeur financier pour les rangs juniors, dont les deux me fournissant beaucoup de chances de faciliter en améliorant les systèmes internes de bateaux. 2) Représentation. Un espoir que j'en a, c'est de donner une voix dans les côtés de la Science et de technologie de Carleton au commite executive. Il est évident que nous ayons besoin de plus de recrutement pour le club, mais ce que je voudrais fournir est un aspect visé à ceci. Actuellement le club a la participation très petite de la science et de technologie, qui est d'être due prévu à la tendance franc les matières d'être du côté politique, et ainsi je regarde pour améliorer notre recrutement en science et en machinant des corps enseignant pendant qu'une voix de la science dans un effort à se relient plus facilement aux membres éventuels chez ces corps enseignant aussi bien que pouvoir les atteindre plus facilement par arrangement quelles classes pour aller aussi bien avoir accès plus facile à pouvoir parler à ces groupes. 3) Améliorations du côté français du notre le club. Je voudrais également regarder apportant deux améliorations simples au côté français du club. Tout d'abord, il est tout à fait évident que la discussion française reçoit moins d'attention que le côté anglais, et alors qu'il n'est pas probable que ceci change, l'aspect français a besoin considérablement de plus. Particulièrement pendant la deuxième moitié de la saison, quand les tournois français de discussion s'approchent, nous ont besoin de plus de discussions de pratique plutôt alors qu'un rapide fourre la session avant les ressortissants. Ceci peut simplement venir de diviser le club en deux salles de seperate un peu plus souvent, ou même de avoir une réunion additionnelle une fois par semaine. La deuxième amélioration est auussi au sujet du recrutement, parce que, étant à Ottawa, il y a une population de langue française significative autour de nous, et j'estime que nous pourrions facilement soulever la participation de club en montrant notre côté français. Quelque chose aussi simple qu'une discussion française d'exposition serait une excellente démonstration de CUDS à la communauté d'étudiant de Carleton. J'espère que c'a été assez pour vous montrer que je suis le candidat le plus évident pour ce positition, mais si quelques autres questions se posent je suis fluent en français, anglais, le code Morse et d'une manière plus importante l'email. English version: I, Alexander Grinton, would like to announce my candidacy for VP French. The basis on which I am running has three simple pillars as follows: 1) I am qualified. Beyond the basic necessary skill of being fluent in french, I have many other qualifications that make me perfect for this position. Among those being that I have much leadership and organizational experience, including managerial experience and my ongoing involvement as an officer in the Navy. The latter providing me with much experience currently as an officer, but also previously as a communicator in which I spent much time organizing communications and networks. I also spent six months aboard the HMCS Tecumseh as a Coxn's Writer the financial executive for the junior ranks mess, both of which providing me with many chances to aid in improving the ships internal systems. 2) Representation. One thing I hope to provide to the executive committee is a voice within the Science and Engineering sides of Carleton. It is obvious that we need more recruitment for the club, but what I would like to provide is a targeted aspect to this. Currently the club has very little science and engineering involvement, which is to be expected due to the tendency fr the topics to be on the political side, and so I am looking to improve our recruitment in the science and engineering faculties as a science voice in an effort to more easily relate to the prospective members within these faculties as well as be able to reach them more easily by understanding what classes to go to as well have easier access to be able to speak to these groups. 3) Improvements on the french side of our the club. I would also like to look at making two simple improvements to the french side of the club. First of all, it is quite obvious that the french debating receives a god deal less attention then the english side, and while it is not likely that this will change, the french aspect does need considerably more. Especially during the second half of the season, as the french debate tournaments are approaching, we need more practice debates rather then a quick cram session before the nationals. This may simply come from dividing the club into two separate rooms a little more often, or even having an additional meeting once a week. The second improvement is once again about recruitment, because, being in Ottawa, there is a significant french speaking population around us, and I feel that we could easily raise club involvement by showing our french side. Something as simple as a french show debate would be an excellent demonstration of CUDS to the Carleton student community. I am hoping that this has been enough to show you that I am the most obvious candidate for this positition, but should some other questions arise I am fluent in french, english, morse code and most importantly email. Sincèrement; Sincerely; Grinton, Alexander 2.8 Vice President French/Francais, Yannick Veilleux-LePage Relevant Experience and Assets: - Native Francophone with high proficiency in written and spoken French. - I am Currently CUDS VPF - Won public speaking French Nats 2007 - Broke Semi-Finals. French Nats 2007 - Won 1st place and top speaker at Western French Tournement 2007 - Broke Semi-Finals, French Nats 2006 - President of my high school parliamentary debate club - President of my high school model UN club. - It is also very important to note that one of the main reason we created this position was to facilitate the communication between French club. This requires a very high level of French proficiency which only I posses at the present time. Plans for the club : - Marie-Anne (FDS Prez) and I, have been discussing and studying the possibility of holding regular joint meeting between French debaters and FDS. The venues would alternate between Ottawa U and Carleton in order to maximized the amount of members and possibility of holding rounds. - The past two years have given me the opportunity to create good relationship with members of the French Dep. On numerous occasions have I had formals and informal meeting with Doutrelepont (Chair) and Khordoc (Assistant-Chair and my directed reading advisor) regarding the club. I would like to use these contacts to further a couple of projects. 1) I would like to host high quality French round with invited guest from the French dep. These guests would include prof and TAs, hopefully they will not only enjoy this but will be able to increase the profile of the club in their classroom and possible host in round debate class provided that we give them some basic rule training. 2) I have been approached for a Ta position for next year. This position would allow me to host numerous in class rounds and increase the profile of the club that would be highly useful for recruiting. 3)This year I approached the French department for funding. After our victories at BC, chance of funding next year are fairly high providing that we continue to maintain positive relationship with the department -As most people know. I am on the organization committee for the 2008 French National Championship and will serve as Chief Adjudicator pending bid approval. This will raise the profile of CUDS on the entire French circuit of CUSID. This will also allow me to have a first hand say in tournament policy that will help maximize the club participation. Accomplishments in 2006-2007 -I would probably start by saying that the creation of the VPF was an accomplishment by it self and was reserved very positively by other clubs. -Since last year. Carleton has broken at every single French tournament it has participated in. We have also won UBC Western French and won the 2007 French Nat public speaking. This has for effect to raise our profile as a club who is taking French debate seriously -We have started getting funding from the French department. -Our participation in tournaments has double. We when to twice as many tournaments this year and sent twice as many debaters to French Nats. - Securing the proxies from Poly (unfortunately was not sent to use on time by the poly exec) and the proxies from FDS. This one proxy would have play a crucial role in securing our NorAms bid Yannick. I will be more then happy to answer any questions. 2.9 Xerxes High School Cup Tournament Director, Alexander Bourbonniere My name is Alexander Bourbonniere, and I want to be CUDS official tournament director for the Xerxes cup. I believe I have a lot to offer to this club and the best way is for me to run an amazing Xerxes. First of all, a little bit about me. I debated a lot during high school and I was a Xerxes semi-finalist in 2005-2006. My recent experiences in high school tournaments allows me to best respond to high school debaters and what they are looking for in a tournament. Past tournaments I have helped organize include High school provincial Seminar, which I co-ran with Elizabeth Bingham. I have also organized regionals for the Ottawa region a few months ago, which ran quite smoothly and actually ended early. I will also have the benefit of recently being elected to the OSDU board of directors, which will allow to me have close contact with high school debaters in Ottawa and across the province. I will have the contacts and I am very willing to drive and track schools down in order to encourage them to come. I think these initiatives I will be putting forth will most certainly increase our numbers and show people we are committed. I also know very many people with Carleton itself, which include scheduling ladies, to ensure that the on going feud they have with us will not affect our room bookings. If I were chosen to be Xerxes Tournament Director, I will be running 5 rounds, hidden quarters, and a semi and final round. It will be CP style because I believe it is what will be the easiest for debaters to warm up to. I have not picked a date yet and must look at other OSDU sanctioned tournaments in order to insure there are no conflicts. I also plan on running a novice final in order to encourage novices to participate in debating. I also hope to promote Carleton and its debate club with more than just an actual well run tournament. Almost every high school tournament has a campus tour, which allows them to promote their University. I am very proud to be at Carleton and will hopefully find willing enough people to give tours. I believe I have the capacity, experience and connections to run a very successful 2007-2008 Xerxes. ***Please do not reply directly to this email. If you have any questions or concerns, please ask vpcom(a)carletondebate.org to address your concerns***