Dear Tuna,

Good questions. At this point I think the appropriate place to ask these
questions is to the general membership and what they would like to do about
them.

My opinion is based on a reminder that this organization has one function,
to streamline and make sense of the process of selecting a host for USU. So
concerns about sanctioning, deciding who gets to participate, etc. are not
relevant to the organization.

As far as insurance goes, I believe any host would need to look into the
liability matter as they would for any tournament, and follow their
procedures. Since this organization does no sanctioning and is not hosting
any competitions, I don't think there would be any need for insurance. I
think there's a big difference between hosting your event on someone's
campus and facilitating someone's desire to host an event. I believe the
host would not be USU, but the school who is bidding, as it's always been.

Of course, general membership can change this as they see fit and explore
these options.

On the money issue, I believe it would be great for this organization to
raise money to make USU free or inexpensive to all who wish to come, so
that's why I included the development officer position. This of course will
require some work to see what needs to be done in order to raise and
distribute funds to hosts in ways that do not violate non-profit status of
host institutions, etc. It's something that will be explored in the future
by those who wish to hold this position or work with those who hold the
position, and most likely will require some legal assistance.

Please note that having a position in the organization officially does not
preclude someone working with the person who has that title, or forgoing
the title and having a committee work that position. But I find it strange
to think that if something happened at a tournament that those who
facilitated the bidding process would be held liable. It's possible I
guess, but I think any host of any tournament should learn and apply the
procedures that their institution follows. And as Mike pointed out,
everyone who works in debate should be aware of them too.

Finally, I hope everyone realizes that this is not an organization that
will sanction debates, say what debate is or is not, or say which
tournaments matter and which don't. The only thing the organization exists
to do is to facilitate the process of agreeing where we have a national
championship tournament. I encourage everyone to carefully read the
document outlining the organizations scope and powers and realize that this
is not the creation of a national organization to govern BP debate in the
US, but merely to make our process for choosing a national tournament site
centralized, accessible, and easy to follow so that we can encourage a
large, diverse number of bids in the future.

Best, Steve


On Wed, Nov 20, 2013 at 12:20 PM, Alfred Snider <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Just a couple of questions before I sign on:
>
> Will the organization be legally constituted?
>
> Will it have a budget of any sort and/or will it raise funds?
>
> Will officers be indemnified or insured against damages?
> New Scenario: School X organizes USU with USUDA. Something bad happens, a
> lawsuit begins. Campus X dos not want to be responsible so they sue the
> organizers, USUDA. USUDA has no policy, so officers are responsible.
> Old scenario: No one to blame, so host has to handle it.
> This is what my legal adviser has told me to ask. I am told that if it is
> not insured, don't be an officer.
>
> Not trying to rain on any parade, but curious.
>
> Tuna
>
>
> On 11/20/13 6:11 PM, D Register wrote:
>
>> Greetings all,
>>
>> This is a reminder that folks can declare themselves members of the USUDA
>> here: http://bpforum.yaledebate.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2319
>>
>> A current list of members is located here: https://docs.google.com/
>> document/d/1kaiGgmw-5y44hEDm7IBl-2--jJYzqEehxA06tq8zMrU/edit?usp=sharing
>>
>> Best,
>> David Register
>> Bard College
>>
>
> --
> ========================
> Edwin Lawrence Professor of Forensics, University of Vermont
> Director, Lawrence Debate Union; Director, World Debate Institute
> 475 Main Street, UVM, Burlington, VT 05405 USA
> 802-238-8345 mobile, 802-656-0097 office, 802-656-4275 fax
> http://debate.uvm.edu/alfredsnider.html
> http://debate.uvm.edu/tunacalendar.html
> @asnider Twitter
>



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