Debate+Terms+and+Rules


 * __ Some things to know for today! __**

Your group’s policy statement is what your group believes to be true about how power is made for humanity. Your policy statement is your mission. It is what your organization __stands for and believes__. You may find that as the day goes on your statement changes. This is okay, but __be sure that it gets updated regularly on your wiki__.

When the mouthpiece from your group first declares the group’s policy statement today during the debate, any member of another group can say an “acknowledgement statement” to let everyone know what this person feels about that statement.

The mouthpiece from Save the Fish: Greetings to the chair and to our fellow debaters. We at //Save the Fish// are dedicated to the preservation of the oceans at all costs. We believe that the year 2011 is a pivotal year that will make or break the future for our oceans and ultimately the human race. Save the Fish is about fish and other animals of the sea, but we are also about humanity, which depends on the oceans for survival. Thank you! Chair: If there are any representatives from other groups who would like to make an acknowledgement statement, please **__step up to the microphone to be recognized__**. (A representative from Fishermen United steps to the microphone) Chair: Which group do you represent? REP: I represent Fishermen United. Chair: **You are recognized.** REP: So Save the Fish claims to be about humanity and saving the oceans at any cost, but we all know that means the fishermen of the world will have to pay that cost in lost jobs! Someone from another table shouts: Yeah! Chair: Warning! There is to be no disruption from the audience during this debate. **You MUST be recognized in order to speak in this forum**. Thank you, Fishermen United. There is time for two more acknowledgement statements. Please approach the microphone **if you would like to be recognized**. ** You must also be recognized in the formal debate whenever you address the audience. **

This is the process where people speak to each other to try and convince members of other groups to consider what they have to say on the issue. This will be easy for some groups and not so easy for others. The main thing to remember is that you cannot commit to something UNTIL you have the approval of your team. **The best that you can do in lobbying is SUGGEST how you think your team will lean**. Lobbying is not voting, so until the vote is actually made you don’t know exactly how people are going to sway.

The wiki for your group is ESSENTIAL to this debate. You must create a wiki and include a relevant design that mirrors what your group believes. The mouthpieces will be creating a poem that is connected to your group that you must all believe in as members of that group, and your wiki must have a policy statement that reflects how your group feels at the moment. You may have links to relevant websites and you may also embed videos. People from other groups will read your wiki and you will read theirs. Your final wiki is due before the debate begins at 13:30. **This is a task that requires everyone to help, and it requires that the CEO is on the ball at all times.**

As you know from the introduction this morning, the resolution for the town hall debate is this: ** Resolved: Vietnam should reconsider its pursuit of nuclear energy in the wake of the crisis in Japan. **

Your group’s task is to look at this question from the perspective of your group. Some of the groups will agree with this 100%. Some of the groups will disagree 100%. Most of the groups will fall somewhere in the middle.

The goal of your group in the debate is to align with other groups and **put forward a “solution” to the problem stated in the resolution.** Every group might say yes to the resolution, but it doesn’t mean anything unless we know what ‘reconsider’ means in detail. That means that you will need to COMPROMISE in order to get others to listen to you so that you can write up a solution that gives those details.

Each group has a mission, and there are some things that you cannot compromise on. All of you need to know what this is, **so read your group descriptions carefully, especially the lobbyists and CEO**.

During the debate, there will be a final lobbying session where the groups meet with other groups they can work with and **then write up a solution which is given to the chair by the CEO’s before the final vote**.

These solutions will be shown on the board. The solution with the best results in the vote will be the one recommended to the Vietnamese government for consideration.

// Original Resolution: // Resolved: The major economic countries of the world should place severe restrictions on fishing practices in order to save species from overfishing.

// Save the Fish—Oceans are US—Green Peace Solution // The major economic countries of the world should completely ban long line fishing, stop the practice of yearlong fishing and educate coastal communities in order to save species from overfishing. ** Notice how the groups have added details! **

// Fishermen United—Oceanography—Realistic Progress Solution // All coastal countries of the world should NOT place severe restrictions on fishing practices but should instead find solution that allow fishing to continue in a sustainable way,including working with the UN and other NGOs to make sure that species have time to recuperate. ** Notice again that this group is against the resolution but has also offered details for another plan. **