______________________________________ADU THROUGH THE YEARS
J
ust this May, the Union has commenced a new tryout system to ensure that the most competent debaters and adjudicators are really the ones who will actually represent the university in competitions. Only successful members from the tryouts will be allowed to represent the university. This is a new and better tryout scheme than before on two counts: (a) it has been expanded to last for a duration of little less than a month and consists of at least seven rounds, a great improvement from the 1-day tryouts which only has four rounds maximum; and, (b) will involve another level of screening which focuses on team dynamics, different from the month-long preliminary screening and definitely not present in the old tryout scheme. This new tryout scheme was adopted and improvised by alumni based on the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) Debate Varsity scheme, perhaps one of the most successful tryouts schemes if we were to base UPD’s track record in national debating. Additionally, the Union remains strong to its commitment to disciplined training as it has enshrined among its policies the policy to debate at least six rounds in one week come the regular semesters. Additionally, adjudication-poolspecific training has been revived this year for higher stakes of Ateneo de Zamboanga University dominating both categories –debating and adjudicating – in competitions and for an attempt to induce improvements in the adjudication pool problems of Mindanao debating.