On the 19th and 20th of March the Rotterdam Open, sponsored by the Speakers Academy, took place. It was a tournament boasting 56 teams and 7 inrounds over 2 days, with a break to semi finals and novice finals. The CA-team consisted of Dan Lahav (Tel Aviv), Naoise Dolan (TCD Phil), Muhammad Asadullah Khan (Cambridge), Calin Muresanu (BBU) and Jeroen Heun (Erasmus).
This video gives an impression of the Rotterdam Open.
Champions
The winners of the competition were Rogier Baart and Floris Holstege (Leiden).
Best speaker was Matt Hazel (Cambridge).
The winners of the novice final were Joona Suhonen and Markus Myllymäki (Aalto University).
Best novice speaker was George Hames (Oxford).
Motions
Round 1: This House would make the number of votes an individual has inversely proportional to their wealth (i.e. the more wealth an individual has the fewer votes that individual has)
Round 2: This House would ban TalkToys
Infoslide: TalkToys are dolls with Artifical Intelligence (AI) and speech recognition software that enable them to engage in actual conversation with children.
Round 3: This House believes that the US should require the NRA to pay reparations to victims of gun violence
Infoslide: The NRA, National Rifle Association of America, is a lobbying group in Washington. Its notable actions include influencing legislation aimed to deregulate gun ownership laws, initiating lawsuits against municipalities that have banned or have placed strict regulations on firearm laws, and endorsing candidates mainly of the Republican Party.
Round 4: This House would suspend trade unions and labour protection laws in times of economic crisis
Round 5: This House believes that Egypt should conscript women to female-only unitt
Infoslide: Conscruption is mandatory in Egypt for males of ages between 18 to 30. The service obligation is between 12 to 36 months and is followed by a 9 year resurve duty.
Round 6: This House believes that sex education classes in schools should teach techniques for pure sexual gratification (including, but not limited to, anal sex, oral sex, Mutual gratification and masturbation)
Round 7: This House would release inmates from jail solely on the basis of their rehabilitation and not upon the completion of a predetermined period of time
Novice Final: This House, as Pope Francis, would remove the requirement for Catholic priests to take a vow of celibacy
Infoslide: During the first centuries AD there was no religious law demanding clerical celibacy in the Catholic sect of Chrisitanity, and there is no direct mentioning of such a requirement in the New Testament. Celibacy is been thought to have been universally adopted by Catholicism after a decision made by a council in the 12th Century.
Semifinal: This House believes that jobs that are deemed to be of moral value or societal importance should have their wages set by the State.
Final: This House believes that using Human Shield tactics, by the weaker side, can be justified in a-symmetrical wars
Infoslide: For the purpose of this debate, “Human Shield” is a term describing the deliberate placement of non-combatants in or around combat targets to gain an advantage over enemy units. Prominent examples include: shooting missiles from within cities to limit the enemy’s force response, locating military bases underneath civil infrastructure, such as hospitals, drawing the enemey to guerilla fighting next to urban centers, etc.
Extra Info
You can find the tab here.
To round it all up here is a video of the final.
The Rotterdam Open 2016 final (winners: Opening Government).
Daan Welling
Daan is een oud-debater van de Leiden Debating Union en Nijmeegse Studentendebatvereniging Trivium. Ook diende hij als Bestuurslid PR & Communicatie van de Nederlandse Debatbond (2013-2014).
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