Unless you were exiled to some sort of cave of Debateland, if you’re an European novice debater you probably heard about the Vienna Freshers’ that happened last week. True to the motto “Take off to your debating life” 32 teams from 9 countries were introduced to the debate tournament atmosphere, departing from Vienna, to… well, anywhere you want, or so I’ve heard. I’m looking forward to finding out how far the debating life can take someone.

Friday afternoon we gathered at the WU campus, mentally thanking the one who came up with the great idea of getting free energy drinks for the whole competition. We had 25 minutes prep time for each of the two motions, THW not publically fund universities and THBT individuals with bad personal lifestyles (that influence their health) should pay more for their health insurance.

In the evening the first social of the competition took place on Donauinsel, where we had roasted chestnuts and beer around the fire, while we admired the Vienna’s skylie, both the real one and its reflection on the Danube. The weather was surprisingly warm for this time of the year. It wasn’t until after 1 a.m. that I noticed it was cold – not sure if the actual weather was the cause or the fire or the lovely company.

The next morning I didn’t seem to be the only one having some trouble waking up. Some teams were cut from the third round, as they appeared way too late.

The last two rounds were just a little more serious: THBT the EU should divide up asylum seekers amongst its member states proportional to the member states’ GDP per cap. and THBT women activists in Saudi Arabia should not drive cars in their protest against the ban (an info slide informed us that in Saudi Arabia women are banned from driving cars).

Some more Red Bull later, the break was announced along with the semi final motion: THBT individuals should pass a parenting test before having children. I watched a quite interesting (and just a bit funny) debate. BBU A, Warsaw B, Vienna Economists and RDU B made it to the final where the motion was TH supported the US continuing its surveillance practices on global political leaders.

After the mandatory Schnitzel Dinner (Austrians are quite proud of their awesome Schnitzel) the Owl of Wisdom aka the Freshers’ Trophy found its new owners – BBU A. They did a really good job in convincing the judges that the nice “Uncle Sam” wants what’s best for world peace, I was actually impressed how they made up such convincing arguments as closing government in the final.

I probably don’t need to say much about the rest of the evening – after the schnitzel party we went to the actual party. Though no one showed up (too) hung over at the hangover breakfast the next morning (yes, that’s actually a thing – how cool is that?!), everyone looked quite tired.

I’d say it was a nice experience that made me so much excited for the Vienna IV, which will be coming up in early March.

In the course of the tournament we received a lot of useful hints on how to improve our speeches. I will try to keep the feedback I got in mind. Most importantly, I can promise though that I’ll remember the fun I had and the great people I met.

Break

Semi Final 1
Judges: Stefan Zweiker, Kira Shymanska, Sara Tamindzic, Miriam Baghdady, Julia Mikic
Warsaw Economics A
AFAmilia Vienna Beta
Warsaw B (advanced to final)
BBU A (advanced to final)

Semi Final 2
Judges: Melanie Sindelar,Tímea Klebercz, Agnieszka Bibro, Callum Davidson, Lio Kaufman
RDU B (advanced to final)
Zagreb A
Vienna Economists (advanced to final)
ELTE C

Final

Judges: Melanie Sindelar, Senna Maatoug, Julia Mikic, Callum Davidson, Madlen Stottmeyer, Christoph Jäger, Stefan Zweiker
Opening Government: RDU B
Opening Opposition: Warsaw B
Closing Government: BBU A (champion)
Closing Opposition: Vienna Economists

Motions

• R1: THW not publically fund universities.
• R2: THBT individuals with bad personal lifestyles (that influence their health) should pay more for their health insurance.
• R3: THBT the EU should divide up asylum seekers amongst its Member States proportional to Member States’ GDP per capita. (Info Slide: In the European Union, asylum seekers can only apply for asylum in the country they first enter and they cannot reapply nor be reallocated to another EU country.)
• R4: THBT women activists in Saudi Arabia should not drive cars in their protest against the ban. (Info Slide: In Saudi Arabia, women are banned from driving cars.)
• SF: THBT individuals should pass a parenting test before having children.
• Final: TH supports the US continuing its surveillance practices on global political leaders.

Team Tab
Speaker Tab

Miriana Muntean/ak