Hi all, welcome to the society! Come along to the Union Hall this Wednesday 10th March at 6:30pm. It’s our introduction night and a great place to start meeting people or, if you’re still deciding, do just that – decide to join the society.

We’ll have an introduction debate to show you what it’s all about, and we’ll be telling you a little more about the society. There will also be an election for a first year representative to serve on our executive committee and represent first year views. So if you’re first year you should have a think about whether you want to run for that position.

There will also be heaps of free pizza for all who come along, and we’ll be going to town afterwards for some great drinks deals and a chance to further meet and greet.

See you there!

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The 2010 Exec Committee have been elected in a highly contested AGM.

The committee are:

President: Seb Templeton
Vice-President: Sarah Wilson
Secretary: Nigel Smith
Treasurer: Yogesh Patel

General Exec: Richard D’Ath
General Exec: Holly Jenkins
General Exec: Udayan Mukherjee
General Exec: Jenna Raeburn
General Exec: Kathy Scott-Dowell
General Exec: Ihaia Tichborne

You may notice the six general exec members and lack of a 2nd year representative. This is due to a constitutional amendment being passed turning the position into a general one. First year rep still remains, and will be voted at the IGM for 2010.

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This Wednesday slot (6:30, SUB, you know) will be our AGM. The evening involves reports from the President and Treasurer, discussion and voting on constitutional amendments, and then the election of the committee for 2010. Positions, subject to amendments, are President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, 2nd Year Rep, and 5 General Exec positions. Speakers give a short speech to their nomination and then every paid member votes. There will be pizza provided.

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Deletion of second year representative requirement on the Committee

Proposed amendment

Article 7, Clause B, sub-clause 1 and 2 currently reads:
The Committee shall be composed of:

1. The Officers of the Society, namely the President, the Vice-President, the Secretary and the Treasurer
2. Five other committee members, one second year representative, and one first year representative (to be elected at the Society’s Initial General Meeting), or such number of other members as the Annual General Meeting may determine;

I propose amending sub-clause 2 so it reads as:

The Committee shall be composed of:

1. The Officers of the Society, namely the President, the Vice-President, the Secretary and the Treasurer
2. Five other committee members, and one first year representative (to be elected at the Society’s Initial General Meeting), or such number of other members as the Annual General Meeting may determine;

Effect of the amendment

If the amendment is passed then the Debating Society committee will not contain a mandated second year representative from 2010 onwards. Additionally, the committee will reduce in size by one person, ie the second year rep shall not be replaced. The committee will reduce from eleven to ten people.

Rationale for the change

It is difficult to see why the constitution mandates that there be a representative specifically for second years on the society’s committee. Unlike first year students, second year students are able to stand for election at the AGM each year. It is also hard to see that second year students have issues in debating that are separate to those of other students, or that those issues are incapable of being resolved without a dedicated representative.

I wish to stress that this proposed amendment should not be construed as an attack on anyone who has held the office of second year representative in the last few years.

In the event that the above is defeated (and only in that event) I also wish to move the following:

Amending sub-clause 2 so it reads as:

The Committee shall be composed of:

1. The Officers of the Society, namely the President, the Vice-President, the Secretary and the Treasurer
2. Five other committee members, and one first year representative (to be elected at the Society’s Initial General Meeting), or such number of other members as the Annual General Meeting may determine

Effect of the amendment

The effect of this amendment would be the same as above, except it would keep the same total number of committee members, ie the second year representative would be replaced by an additional general executive member.

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Article Sixteen

Trialling Method

1. Trials to select teams to represent the Society shall be conducted in teams not determined by trialists.

2. The Committee shall determine Selectors for trials.

3. Selectors shall evaluate trialists on the basis of factors determined by the Committee for the specific trial in question. The Committee may give selectors direction about how they expect the factors to be weighted or applied. Factors may include, but are not limited to:

- Performance in trials;

- Past Performance;

- Potential for development; and,

- Preferences expressed by trialists to be selected in teams including (or not including) other trialists.

4. Selectors shall determine which trialists represent the Society, in which teams.

5. For the avoidance of doubt the trialling method described above applies but is not limited to the following tournaments:

- New Zealand Universities Prepared Debating Championships;

- New Zealand Universities Impromptu Debating Championships;

- Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships; and,

- World Universities Debating Championships.

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If you enjoyed the VSM Public Debate, you should come along to the Old Government Buildings Lecture Theatre One again tonight at 6:30pm to hear the final debate in the Victoria Debating Society’s 2009 series. The debate (on the moot “That this House has confidence in Her Majesty’s Government” will be chaired by the Vice Chancellor Professor Pat Walsh and will feature four champion present and past student debaters (Chris Bishop, Richard D’Ath, Clodagh O’Connor McKenna and Seb Templeton), Labour MP Chris Hipkins and past president of the New Zealand Young Nationals Michael Mabbett. There will be a question and answer session and tea, coffee and chatting afterwards.

For more info, contact me on 027 349 6498/emilyrobyn@gmail.com or join the group for this event at this link:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=137458127514&index=1

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The AGM for 2009 has now been moved to week 12 (previously week 11) in the normal Wednesday slot due to a clash with the Blues Awards dinner for a number of our debaters.

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The public debates this year have been a huge success. Now on Monday we’re happy to announce the most relevant of these to you – the voluntary student union membership debate. The debate will be held at 6:30pm in the Old Government Building (Pipetea Campus) Lecture Theatre One.

The speakers are:

Aff
David Garrett MP
Stephen Whittington (student debater)
Peter McCaffrey (ACT on Campus Vice President)

Neg
Helen Kelly (President, New Zealand Council of Trade Unions)
Seb Templeton (student debater)
Max Hardy (Vic Labour President)

There will also be a panel of both people in the debate, and other speakers to ask questions of at the end.
For more information, check out the Facebook event here.

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Due to a clash with the Blues Awards dinner for a number of our top debaters, the AGM has now been changed to Wednesday 14 October – in week 12. This means that we will have a week off in week 11 instead. The calendar on the front page has been updated.

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Just to clarify – the AGM is now on Wed 7 Oct, so in week 11. Week 12 we will not have debating simply because it’s always a crazy time of year for everyone.

The end of year party is the Saturday after the last day of class – October 17th. You can get good and drunk because you have a whole week of study leave before exams start. No excuses.

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