Results of the KPDC (Karl Popper Debate Tournament) at the 2011 IDEA Youth Forum, July 22-23
Although the tournament finished today with the semifinals and finals (USA beat out another USA team for the championship title), our team, unfortunately did not break through to the out rounds. In their 6th round yesterday morning, the Warriors were defeated by a 0-3 vote on the affirmative against Canada. We still do not know the results of round 5 of the tournament, however, I have learned that IDEA power-pairs the debates. As IDEA puts it:
Teams are said to be power-paired when they each have the same or similar records. In a power-pairing situation, a team that has won the first debate should encounter, in their second debate, another team that won its first debate. By pairing teams in this way, tournament administrators are able to ensure that teams have a chance to debate teams appropriate to their skill level.
What does this translate into? The Canadian team in the 6th round the Warriors debated in did break to octofinals; consequently, it would seem to indicate that Brother Rice did indeed win round 5 against “Click” (Hungary) yesterday.
If this is the case, the Brother Rice KPDC Team had an overall record of 3-3 in the preliminary rounds of the tournament.
The actual overall ballot breakdown, in such a situation, would be 10 votes for and 8 votes against (if round 5 was a split 2-1 win), and 11 votes for and 7 votes against (if round 5 was 3-0 win). Brother Rice was maybe as little as one ballot or a few speaker points away from breaking to octofinals in their first-ever appearance in an international debate championship. I believe this is an extremely positive performance, considering the team had never heard of the words “Karl Popper Debate” until 3 months before the tournament and considering that the team had not yet underwent the MTT labs of next week that teach formal Karl Popper debate. The KPDC features the most experienced KPDC debaters – some of which have debated in past Youth Forums and are the equivalent of high school seniors (I would actually say the difficulty of the tournament would fall somewhere between Groves and the Glenbrooks policy debate tournaments). Other coaches concur with my opinion: I was approached by a judge who complimented the team on their speaking skills and cleverness in the debate round; she believes that with experience and age (our team is one of the youngest, if not the youngest team at the 2011 Youth Forum), our debaters will have a very bright future indeed.
As for me, I also did not “break” as a judge for the out rounds; however, this is quite expected – approx. 60% don’t break. After all, I have never judged a single round of Karl Popper debate, nor judged at an international tournament before. I am actually complimented that the tournament officials assigned me to judge 4 out of total 6 rounds of the preliminary rounds (less experienced judges are put on stand-by during some rounds), when other judges judged less. Judges are analyzed based on ballots (quality of description, being completely filled out, and so on), and debater feedback on oral critiques to assess (in addition to a judges self-evaluation – I was a B judge, having some judging experience, but not in Karl Popper or international debating) what level the judges belong in for the CJT (Coaches and Judges Track). It seems that for a first time as an international judge, I have not fared too badly. Keep in mind that Karl Popper debate at the IDEA Forum requires panels of three judges for just the prelim rounds (5 or more in break rounds), and I was made the de-facto head judge (timekeeper and conductor of the flow of the debate) for several of the rounds I judged.
Cultural Expo Night, July 22
Cultural Expo night was a great success at the Green Park Hotel Bostancı for Brother Rice High School. Every country got a table, and displayed the culture, music, food, drink, and pictures that are representative of their countries. Needless to say, the United States did not have a unified table; there were at least three separate tables representing different aspects of the culture of the United States; including, as it turns out, beer pong. Our table, as noted in previous posts, proudly displayed the culture and sights of Michigan and Detroit. There was a wide variety of knowledge and perceptions about Detroit and Michigan, from not quite sure what country Detroit is in to relatively expert knowledge (the head trainer of the new debaters track earned a PhD from Wayne State University). Actually, a common perception that many international students had of Detroit was a very gritty, industrial, “robotic” city. While in many aspects the first two are absolutely true, I have never heard of Detroit described as “robotic,” however, I believe this highlights the power of the Detroit industrial machine. The lack of knowledge about Michigan was universal, other than some debaters and coaches that could better visualize The Great Lakes as Michigan. Many were pleasantly surprised by the natural beauty of the state.
As for the Vernors, it was wildly popular, despite the lack of alcoholic content to domestic (remember that Vernors is really only marketed locally and that it is much stronger than ginger ale) and international students alike. As a related side note, debaters could not partake in drinking a certain country’s firewater, but coaches could. Due to the heavy carbonation of Vernors, calling it a “ginger ale,” and its golden color, many debaters were concerned that they were partaking in Detroit’s local firewater. On several occasions, we had to clarify that Vernors in non-alcoholic, and to the coaches, clarify that it is often mixed with liquors to make stronger cocktails.
Once we established that the pens, t-shirts, and tote bags were free, they went fast. Very soon, Brother Rice, Walsh College, and Matrix Human Services paraphernalia will be traveling to the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Ghana, Zimbabwe, and remaining in Turkey. I say remaining in Turkey because many of the t-shirts and pens were grabbed by hotel staff, wishing to give gifts to their managers or supervisors. Gifting giving, especially of foreign items, is apparently commonly used to coax a promotion or pay raise.
Ball of Confusion, by the Temptations was played from our 20th Century Masters Collection 1970s Motown II CD and it really got the party started. People really started dancing and throwing their hands up in the air to groove with the smooth, Motown beat that was blasted across the gardens of the Hotel Greenpark. Unfortunately, Veronika, the head of the Youth Forum, mis-announced the song as coming from New Hope, our Global Debate competitors. We did manage to get that straightened out, however, as we were not going to let a California team get the credit for an all-Detroit classic.
And all during this time, our pizzas finally arrived. Yes, despite the language barrier, we managed to online order some pizzas from Dominos (www.dominos.com.tr). Unusual toppings can be found on Turkish pizzas, like Hungarian Salami, which came standard on our pizza package.
That evening, I had to perform curfew duty until 2AM. That is why this post is arriving a day late.
KPDC Semifinals and Finals, July 23
As I mentioned before, the USA (New York team) was victorious in the finals of the KPDC, against another USA team. There is nothing really special to note about the break rounds and finals, other than they are very much similar to policy debate. In fact, they essentially are policy debate except for the speech order and the lack of speed reading. The terminology and argumentative theory be used by these break round debaters was clearly policy debate. I am fairly confident that the members of the winning team from New York are actual policy debaters while in the United States.
This evening, we took a Bosporus Cruise for two and a half hours, north from the Üsküdar district, and we passed under two highway bridges that connect European and Asian Istanbul.
Photos are posted below:
July 22-23
Rough order of pictures: the Doğa College banner in the Hotel Lobby, near the Princes’ Islands, the Brother Rice Cultural Expo Table, the Belarusian Cultural Expo Table, outside and around the Acarkent Doğa campus, pictures from the Bosporus Cruise
July 23 (Yuri’s Album)
Rough order of the pictures: pictures from the Bosporus Cruise
Post: Alex
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