Happy Easter from MUDS!

(A Mid-Semester Update)

Greetings, fellow MUDS members! We hope you are enjoying your break and eating lots of chocolate. Please find below the details of some exciting MUDS events coming up soon.

MUDS News

3-v-3 Internal Comp - Round 1 Report

Thanks to everybody who attended in Round 1! When teams are present and debates can go ahead as planned, everybody is happy.

The topic was 'That we should end government financial support for stay-at-home spouses', which 8 Affirmative and 5 Negative teams won. Please see the ladder summary below. A more detailed ladder is available on the MUDS website: http://www.mudsonline.net.

Congratulations to Ananth Gopal (Totally JRHADD), who was not only this week's best novice speaker, but the best speaker overall for this round.

The competiton now consists of 26 teams, made up of over 160 debaters, and we are not able to accept any further registrations. Teams will receive a finalised list of their teammates' names and contact details over the Easter weekend. If you missed out on registering this time, please come along anyway - you will have the opportunity to adjudicate, trainee adjudicate or 'swing debate' (fill in for missing people). Please email Chris and Tom at muds.internal.competitions@gmail.com with any queries.

Round 2 will be held on Tuesday 8 April (Week 5), but we will see you on Tuesday 1 April (Week 4) at Easters Team Formation. Until then, enjoy your break!

Chris Lum & Tom Sutherland
MUDS Internal Competitions Officers

Coaching Opportunities: MUDS Schools' Training

MUDS coaches high schools in debating, public speaking and mooting all over Victoria, and we're currently seeking new coaches. Coaching is enormously rewarding, and the experience that you gain from teaching debating to students enhances your employability!

MUDS coaches are also paid according to the job they do. There are three categories of job: coaching, adjudicating and demonstration debating. A MUDS coach receives $25 per hour; adjudicators receive $20 per hour; and demo debaters receive $15 per hour.

Keen, but no coaching experience? All coaches undergo a training program, where they will accompany an experienced trainer to coaching jobs and conduct part of the training under the guidance of that experienced trainer. MUDS will pay trainee coaches $15 per hour.

If you're interested in become a MUDS coach, please email Tony at muds.coaching@gmail.com, and detail your debating experience, and any coaching experience (needn't be debating-related). If you're not sure whether you'd like to be a MUDS coach, register your details anyway — you can always decline when job offers come around.

For more information, please refer to the Schools' Training Policy.

Upcoming Events

MUDS Mini Competition

Ready to hone your debating skills or just want to get a handle on advanced debating techniques? The Sunday Mini Competition is for you! Members with all levels of experience are welcome and it is the perfect opportunity to warm-up for Easters 2008 or other tournaments further down the track.

Date: Sunday, 30 March 2008

Time: 11am - 5pm

Location: Melbourne Uni - Law School

Register your interest now! RSVP: mudsonline@gmail.com.

Easters

Although the Easter weekend has just passed, "Easters" the debating tournament is still coming! Usually held over the Easter long weekend, the Australian Novice Debating Championships (aka "Easters"), this year the earliness of Easter means that the Championships will instead be held over the ANZAC day weekend (25th-27th April 2008), at Macquarie University in Sydney. For more information about this awesome tournament, see the Macquarie Easters website. For much more information, and to register your interest in attending, see the MUDS website.

Special DAV Adjudication Training for MUDS members

If you missed out on Debaters Association of Victoria adjudication training earlier this year, and still want to adjudicate the DAV Schools Competition, fear not! MUDS will be running a special DAV adjudication training seminar on Tuesday April 15. This is your chance to learn how to adjudicate, and also receive your DAV accreditation (and so be eligible to adjudicate the Schools Competition, and earn money!) We highly recommend all our members avail themselves of this special opportunity.

MUDS Calendar

Cheers,

Melbourne University Debating Society

mudsonline@gmail.com

Visit our website (www.mudsonline.net) for details of training, debating, tournaments and more!

Joining the Student Union is your choice. So is your club's livelihood. For information on Student Union membership go to www.union.unimelb.edu.au/membership or call the Membership Officer on 8344 3870.