The team Do not disturb! Seriously!, comprising of Anne Valkering from Amsterdam and Jens Fischer from Berlin won the UCU Open 2010. The competition was held on October 22 and 23 at the University College Utrecht, 36 teams competed over five prelims. Further teams in the final were PTB I (Sam Block and Maddie Grieve), Hot like Mexico, Enjoy (Vignesh Ashok and John Ashbourne) and Erasmus A (Lucien de Bruin and Daniël Springer).

Into the semifinal had also progressed the teams The Real Real Deree (Chris Papadopoulos and Sophia Simunec), Erasmus C (Setry Rabejaona and Milen Petkov), Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (Antoine Sakho and Atte Oksanen) and Victor & Rooj (Victor Vlam and Rooj Darweesh). The top five speakers were Sam Block (412 points), Anne Valkering (405), Jens Fischer (402), Vignesh Ashok (401) and John Ashbourne (400).

The CA team with Adriaan Andringa, Isabelle Loewe, Steven Nolan, Manos Moschopoulos and Danique van Koppenhagen set the motions which read as follows:

• Round 1: This house would always grant citizenship to children born from illegal immigrants.
• Round 2: This house believes health insurance should never be obligatory.
• Round 3: This house believes homosexual parents should be allowed to adopt children.
• Round 4: This house would establish a UN protectorate in Somalia.
• Round 5: This house would close down all nuclear power plants.
• Semi-Finals: This house would not bail out private entities without nationalizing them.
• Final: Even if extension were scientifically possible, human life should end naturally after 100 years.

The tab of the UCU Open 2010 can be downloaded from the Utrecht Debating Union’s website.

The University College Utrecht was established 11 years ago on the compound of a former military academy in the fourth biggest city of the Netherlands. For participants, this meant short walking and an excellent bar to enjoy the evening. The team around convenor Esther Drees impressed with friendliness and professionalism – coffee and sandwiches were available at any time.

Travelling to the Netherlands is comparatively cheap from many European locations. Despite its relatively small size, the competition was of a high quality with international participants hailing from the Netherlands, Germany, England, Scotland, Greece, Ireland and France. Teams wishing to experience international atmosphere should definitely consider attending next year.

jef / apf / glx