Debates over for the year!

It's been a fantastic year at the Heaton Manor Union Society, and it's now over. The Grand Final saw James Bartle MYP and Laurie J. Dudley become this year's Champions in a dramatic clash with David Larke and Saskia Neibig over votes at 16. You can get the low-down on the event in the final newsletter until Autumn. Click here for that. It's also available as a podcast, which includes additional interviews with James and Saskia, as well as the Board's take on the debate. See here.

Next week's Zimbabwe debate has been cancelled due to the unavailability of participants, meaning that we won't meet as a Society until the summer party on 10 July. If you're reading this as a Society member, go to the discussion forums now to give your opinion on what we ought to get up to at the party.

This week also saw the last meeting of the Executive Committee under Laurie J. Dudley, who stepped aside for Saskia earlier this month. The Committee officially voted in the next office-holders, the full details of which is available at our Executive page.

Multimedia-wise, the Grand Final is truly live. James' video, 'A Year In Pictures', is available now on YouTube. Plus, our Flickr site is the place to be for the snaps we've taken this year.

'On that point...' will return in Autumn if not before.

Grand Final 2008

The last pieces of the jigsaw have been put into place this week for the Grand Final 2008. Likely to be even bigger an event than last year, this year's debate will take place in the Drama performance area of Heaton Manor School. The motion has been released as 'This House would lower the voting age to 16'. It will be proposed by David Larke and Saskia Neibig. James Bartle MYP and Laurie J. Dudley will oppose. Members are inviting parents, teachers and friends to come and join in the fun. Refreshments will no doubt be provided, and a presentation on the Society's activities will be given before the clash.

Stay tuned to the blog, RSS feed, and to final.heatonmanorunion.org.uk for all the latest news on preparations.

Podcasting our way into the twenty-first century!

The Heaton Manor Union Society is delighted to make available much of its content in podcast form. The newsletter, the league and, this week, the Chair's retirement statement (see James' post from earlier today!), are all available today.

Follow these links:
'the weekly conversation' Issue #28
League
Retirement of the Chair

Enjoy!

Grand final, Chair's retirement & next year's executive - News update

Here is an update on this week's important developments in the society...

Bartle, Dudley, Neibig and Larke confirmed as Grand Final '08 participants
We can now confirm that James Bartle MYP, Laurie Dudley, Saskia Neibig and David Larke (in order of league placings) have broken to this year's Grand Final debate, for which the motion is yet to be announced. Following a 5 votes to 4 win over Ewan Gibson and Andy Burdis in today's debate on the Royal Family and with the Judge's bonus point, James moved to first in the league table. The cancellation of next week's debate means Saskia Neibig will be unable to move James from the top spot and this week's league positions will be the final ones for the year. A copy of the final league positions can be found here.

Cancellation of next week's Zimbabwe debate
The debate on the motion 'This House believes we should intervene in Zimbabwe', scheduled for 12th June, has been cancelled due to a planning meeting for the Grand Final the following week.

Laurie Dudley announces his resignation as Chair
Laurie Dudley, the Society's Director of Communications has announced his resignation from the position of Chair. Society President, James Bartle, formally received Laurie's resignation this afternoon. Laurie is retiring from the position after holding it since the start of the academic year. He succeeded James Bartle to the position in September having previously served as Vice-Chair. A full copy of his retirement letter to society members can be found here.

Next year's Committee announced
After a meeting of the Social Committee this afternoon, the composition of next year's Executive Committee received its final approval next year. The Committee has undergone a significant reshuffle following Laurie Dudley's retirement from the Executive. Adam Thompson and Sam Hunt both rejoin the Committee following their departure last year. Adam becomes Vice President and Sam becomes the Committee's Assistant. David Shepherd remains Vice-Chair whilst Amy Maughan becomes Treasurer. James Bartle remains as President. The new Committee will be formally elected in the coming weeks and will take office on 1st August.

Should members of the Royal Family fight on the front line?

With Prince William beginning his deployment with the Royal Navy and the press still recovering from keeping quiet for so long about Prince Harry's trip to Afghanistan. Heaton Manor Union Soceity takes the bull by the horns and tackles the question of whether he should have gone to Afghanistan in the first place.

Speaking on the motion 'This House believes members of the Royal Family should not fight on the front line' will be:

Proposition
Andrew Burdis - Year 9; placed joint 7th in the league
Ewan Gibson - Year 9; also placed joint 7th in the league

Opposition
James Bartle MYP - Year 10; ICYD 2008 finalist; 3rd in the league
Luke Bendall - Year 8; 19th in the league

Thursday's debate will be a crucial one as James Bartle will attempt to move in to first place in the league (he needs only two out of a possible four points to do this) and other members of the society try to boost their final league positions as the debating year nears its end before the Grand Final later this month.

We look forward to welcoming everyone along to the debate in L7 - 2.40pm - Thursday 5th June 2008.