Logan Park High School win OUDS Cup 2011
The 2011 Russell McVeagh Otago/Southland Regional Debating Championships were held on the 25th 26th of March at Logan Park High School. 14 teams from 10 different schools competed.
On the Friday afternoon teams debated both sides of the prepared motion: “That the environmental movement should use violence to advance their agenda.” Returning for an early start on Saturday morning teams took part in two limited preparation rounds. First , “That we should abolish all forms of affirmative action” and then “That we support the use of the death penalty as the harshest criminal punishment”.
After four rounds Logan Park was on four wins and Bayfied, Columba, John McGlashan and Otago Boys were on 3 wins. Otago Boys narrowly missed out on the semi-finals due to having the lowest number of win points (a measure of strength of draw).
In the semi-finals the teams debated “That we should abolish the Maori Seats”. Progressing to the final were Logan Park High School and last years’ winners Bayfield High. The teams debated “That we should refuse to negotiate with terrorists”. Ultimately Logan Park won the debate and the Otago University Debating Society Cup with a four-one split panel.
Over the course of the weekend the adjudicators had a difficult task of awarding a number of prizes. The winners of the various awards were:
The Otago University Debating Society Cup for the winners: Logan Park High School (Patrick Dawson, Rowena Rushton-Green and Allyn Robins)
The Runners’ Up: Bayfield High School (Emily Robertson, Jake Duval-Smith and James Tocher)
The Most Promising Speaker Cup: Kasun Kumarasinghe (Otago Boys High School)
Highly Commended: Emily Robertson (Bayfield) and Rowena Rushton-Green (Logan Park)
2nd Reserve to the Otago/Southland Regional Team: Allyn Robins (Logan Park)
1st Reserve to the Otago/Southland Regional Team: Penelope Couper (Columba)
The Otago/Southland Regional Team: Patrick Dawson (Logan Park), James Tocher (Bayfield) and Joe Ascroft (John McGlashan)
The Rachel Carrell Cup for Best Speaker: James Tocher (Bayfield)
William Cheyne
Otago / Southland Convenor 2011