Canadians
Invade Washington!
by Joanna L. Kocsis
When you think of Washington D.C., you envisage the White House, Capitol, Monument and Memorials. Had you been there April 6th-8th, you would have been impressed by the sight of students from Aruba, Canada, Colombia and Mexico as well as from many of the US States. "Of course the nation's capital welcomes visitors from all over the world"; however, these were not simple tourists!
George Washington University held its 3rd Annual WAMUNC conference this spring and 48 students from COWAC member schools composed the Niagara Regional Team. As a squad, we were approximately one-eighth of the competition's total and as a team we received one-third of the awards. Our winning delegates included: Patrick Crummey (Dennis Morris), who won a Verbal Commendation, Craig Garbella (Grimsby), Sean Driedger (Grimsby), Paul Vrbik (Dennis Morris), Mike Bittle (St.Paul), Jamie Cook (AN Myer) who won Honourable Delegate Awards, and Geordie Miller (Sir Winston Churchill), Sarah Urquhart (Niagara District) and Nichola Hall (St. Paul) who won Best Delegates.
Between the 11.5 hours of intense debate we had the opportunity to visit the Capitol, tour Georgetown, see the Smithsonian, the Monument and the Memorials. Trips were organized to the CIA headquarters and the Arlington Cemetery as well as a Washington Wizards basketball game. Some of us met with Senator Joseph Lieberman's foreign advisor for a one-on-one discussion period (thanks to Nick Collosimo).
Although, I must admit that sightseeing was often the last thing on our minds after a full day of tough competition, we were all appreciative of the effort that Mr. Collard, Mr. Cukierski, Ms. Duggan and Mrs. Arkell put into making our trip educational.
The level of debate was not as high as it has been in the past at conferences such as Kent State and Harvard University, but the array of international students provided a learning experience for everyone. The format also differed from what Canadian students were used to. The Rule Book stated that no informal debate was allowed. In its place was the "Moderated Caucus", with a predetermined length and speaking time (usually five minutes and thirty seconds speaking time). This proved a challenge to many delegates as we were not accustomed to it; however the shortened speaking time did help us learn to express our ideas in a concentrated manner.
The councils were different than those we have used in past COWAC debates. They ranged from CHR, Security Council and ICJ, to Disarmament and Security (DISEC), Special Political (SPECPOL), Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, ASEAN and many more. The topics for discussion were specific. For example, rather than "Landmines" the DISEC committee discussed "landmines along the Peruvian-Ecuadorian Border". This allowed for more feasible suggestions and more timely resolutions.
The club is already in the process of deciding where next year’s trip is going to be to. Our experience in Washington has boosted morale within the club as well as our confidence about our debating capabilities.
Victory aside, we enjoyed ourselves, made new friends and learned a lot. We learned different formats of debate, heard the point of view of debaters from other countries and soon found out where not to go at night in Washington! Thanks to our staff advisors, our sponsors (ie. parents!) the WAMUNC staff and, of course, to our favourite bus driver Sam!