March 2nd, 2009
Dear all,
Tonight (Monday 2nd March) at 7pm in the Old Refectory (yes, we are finally back in our old haunt!), we have the following fantastic debate:
*****
This House Would Give Margaret Thatcher a State Funeral
Speaking in Proposition
Shane Greer -
Shane is a British Conservative political activist, commentator, blogger, and Executive Editor of Total Politics magazine. He is the ex Executive Director of the Young Britains Foundation and a regular guest blogger for Iain Dale. Greer’s own blog, ShaneGreer.com, is now one of the most prominent conservative blogs in the United Kingdom. Greer appears regularly as a political pundit on television and radio 4, and has been featured in numerous publications including The Guardian Unlimited, New Statesman online, National Review, and the Washington Times.
Michael Rock – (National Chairman of Conservative future)
Michael, who studied information management at our own UCL, desribes himself as a classic Liberal Tory. Prior to being elected national chair Michael spent two years as Branch Chair of Herts South West local Conservative association and 5 years in the business world. We are delighted to welcome him back to UCL
Speaking in Opposition
Tom Copley -
Tom is Chair of London Young Labour and Labour parliamentary candidate for Beaconsfield.
In addition to his work for LYL, he sits on the Compass Youth Organising Committee and is Secretary of his local Labour Party branch, Finchley Road & Kilburn. He is also a member of the Co-operative Party, the Fabian Society and the Transport & General Workers Union.
Fred Cowell -
Fred is literally a World class debater, qualified lawyer and long term non-Thatcherite, as well as an alumnus of both UCL and UCL Union Debating Society.
*****
Please do attend, as I will also be making important announcements regarding the AGM, Foundation Dinner and our two final debates of the year, as well as the usual workshop and competition information.
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February 15th, 2009
For those of us lucky enough to be studying doss degrees have one, it is Reading Week this week – which means we have a week off from debating! No Monday night, no Thursday workshops.
We return on Monday 23rd February with the motion This House believes Israel was justified in its recent actions in Gaza in the Haldane Room at 7pm.
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February 9th, 2009
Did God make man in his own image, or is the inverse of this process true. You decide.
Speaking in proposition -
Andrew Copson – http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/andrew_copson/ – Education and Public Affairs spokesman for the British Humanist association – A regular contributor to the Guardian and New Statesmen, Andrew has also debated Ruth Kelly for the BBC on the role of faith in Schools
2nd speaker pending
Speaking in Opposition -
Fr Roger Dawson SJ
Fr Roger Dawson SJ served as an officer with the Royal Greenjackets before studying Psychology at Durham University. After a career working as a psychologist with the National Health Service, he joined the Jesuits in 1997 and has since studied philosophy and Theology in London and Paris. He worked on his doctorate in Psychology while teaching at Wimbledon College and has also worked at the Cardinal Hume Centre in London during his final year of Theology. He is currently assistant editor of the Jesuit Spirituality Journal ‘The Way’ and chairs the managing committee for the Jesuit Volunteer Communities in Britain.
Father Jonathan How – Director of Studies, St John’s Seminary, Wonersh, Surrey
Tonight, 7pm in the Haldane Room.
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February 5th, 2009
Just a reminder that debating workshops are Thursdays at 7pm in the CSC – tonight included. If you want to represent us at competitions around the country, you need to come to workshops – even if you don’t want to, workshops are still a fun way to develop your debating skills.
The CSC is on the 2nd floor of the Bloomsbury Theature building just down the road from the Union on Gordon Street.
If you have any questions, please email Richard – directorofdebates@debating.org.
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February 2nd, 2009
Dear all,
Firstly, apologies for the lack of emailing recently – a few server side problems have had me thinking messages have sent when they’ve not. I blame me for not checking – thanks to those who did email me wondering what was going on!
This week we don’t have a regular Monday night debate, but instead the Society hosts the Union’s One World Week (http://www.uclunion.org/oww) launch event, at 6pm (please note the earlier time) in the Bloomsbury Theatre. Yes, the great big theatre. Which means it’s doubly important for you all to come; I promise there’ll be room for everyone for a change. Don’t worry about refreshments – as always, those will be provided. There’ll even be food, so make sure you’re there, 6pm in the Bloomsbury Theatre.
The evening is a panel discussion chaired by yours truly, on ‘How welcoming is London?’, with the panel including:
***Ray Lewis – Former Deputy Mayor of London for Young People and Founder & Executive Director of Eastside Young Leaders Academy.
***Dariush Mirfendereski – UCL Alumni and Managing Director, Head of Inflation Linked Trading, UBS
***Dr. Atul Shah – author of ‘Celebrating Diversity – How to enjoy, respect and benefit from Great ColouredBritain’, founding editor of Jain Spirit international magazine, regular broadcaster on BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service and BBC Asian Network and Chief Executive of Diverse Ethics Ltd
***Fazil Kawani: Head of Development of the Refugee Council
For more info, check the Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=39852362661
On Tuesday at 5.30pm, there is also the UCL Union AGM, also in the Bloomsbury Theatre, which is vitally important to the democratic life of the Union. There’s a whole raft of motions you will want to have your say on, so check the event here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=61781525632 or here: http://www.uclunion.org/student-union/gm We would also very much appreciate if you could sign in as being members of the Society when you do attend, as part of the Union’s drive to reach quorum. See you there!
That’s about it. Check the website during the week when we’ll update it with the rest of this term’s events, including details of the Foundation Dinner.
All the best,
Josh Blacker
President
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December 10th, 2008
Just a quick note to let you all know: there will be no workshops this week (i.e Thursday 11th December). They will resume in the first week of next term, on Thursday 15th January.
I hope you all have a relaxing holiday and a happy new year.
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December 8th, 2008
If you have any photos of our events on Flickr, please do take a few minutes to tag them with ‘ucludebating’. There’s already a couple of debates’ worth of photos on there from myself and our Wine Officer and semi-official photog Niall Gibson, which you can find simply by visiting this link, which displays all global content tagged ‘ucludebating’. It’s a quickand easy way to see what we’ve been up to!
Tags: events, photos, wine officer
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December 7th, 2008
Hi all,
Just a quick note to say that insted of our weekly debate tomorrow we have an event in The Gallery, ULU. Beginning at 7pm there will be a backwards debate, the debate will start with summing up and the unfortunate speakers have to mention (or act out!) what they were told they said. Points of information from the floor may be offered if you want to join in the fun. There will be a suprise comedy motion.
See you tomorrow,
Libby
Social Sec
Tags: events, social
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December 2nd, 2008
Thank you to everyone who came and voted for (and stood for!) the positions of First Year Rep and Deputy Officers of the Mace. The winners were:
First Year Rep
Deputy Officer of the Mace
- Mariam Kaan
- Jonathan Coad
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December 2nd, 2008
Thank you again to all who came to This House would take any measure necessary to prevent Iran becoming a nuclear state last night, particularly our four speakers:
- Timothy Stafford,
- Douglas Murray,
- Jubin Motamed, and
- Dominic Kavakeb
It was a superb debate that raised passions on both sides, but in the end the audience just couldn’t agree with the proposition that was put forward, nor the perceived inaction of the opposition line, and thus more votes were cast in abstention than either prop or opp:
- Proposition: 30
- Opposition: 17
- Abstention: 38
The floor prize was awarded to Natasha Hausdorff for her speech in proposition.
Tags: douglas murray, iran, mondays, result
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