01 Happy 25th Birthday EDS UI
02 "Debating Kiddie Pool: Reflection on NEWBIES" by Albert Julio (FISIP 20)
05 "Fear The Cosmos" by Daniel Lie (FMIPA 22)
07 Afterglows Recap
09
"Beauty is in The Eyes of The Beholder (...and The Industry, and the neighbors)" by Einsteine Veliyanka (FKG 2019)
13 Memories: EDS UI Activity Recap
15 When The Fate of The Universe Relies on One Sentence: How Should We Define Poverty? by Julvin (FEB 20)
20 Thank You and Credits
In the vast and ever expanding debating community, my name is probably not even in the regular circulation in the debating world. Then again, who am I really? Unlike my fellow debaters in my generation, I do not have many achievements that I can be proud about. Oh, don’t worry, this writing will not be a depressive rant or even a “why am I not as good as them?” kind of essay. I wanted to convey that even though I have not been as successful as my fellow EDS members or juniors, I feel like I have accomplished what I am able to provide most, and that is proliferation In this essay, I will reflect on my journey in EDS UI through my three steps of handling NEWBIES, the annual flagship debating competition of EDS UI that focuses on varsity debaters
Well, my first real experience and journey that I had in EDS was to become one of the participants in NEWBIES 2020 I still remember that day like it was yesterday, nine people were selected into three teams, to compete against other universities That was so cool and I still remember everyone in our “NEWBIES Nine” being really enthusiastic and awesome throughout the competition This competition also gave me a very bitter taste of defeat as my team was unable to advance to the elimination round after getting beaten two times by different ITB teams (A classic rivalry story ) in the preliminaries. If I remember it well, in this rendition of NEWBIES, UI kind of underperformed as we did not manage to make the final.
That defeat was a humbling moment for sure I was a member of a powerhouse highschool debating team in my hometown who would steamroll all the competitions.
Alas, I was outclassed by people like Joshua Glorius, an average high school debater and Hezron Kowardi, someone that has never even debated before. The defeat was eye-opening for sure, for two reasons, one is to highlight how I am actually not that good and two is how these people will shine if they have had better conditions for the debating journey My predictions were correct as six out of nine members of “NEWBIES Nine” managed to become crucial contributors to EDS, with four of them becoming top class talents for the debating world. Hezron is the president of EDS UI 2023, Cecilia and Joshua became great people in the debating world, and Joan (though retired) also became someone well respected in the debating world. How about the others in the NEWBIES Nine? They were not too shabby, some went on to achieve great things not in debating (Pici), some continued the legacy of NEWBIES (Me and Inggit), Jason chased his passion and is a very cool person to talk to, and Rara took a little break from college before returning back One simple competition brought arguably people who shaped the current EDS landscape. It was unfortunate that talents such as Justin Gabriel, Julvin, Aditya Manggala, and Daffa Aditya were unable to compete in NEWBIES. However, looking back at it, NEWBIES have really shaped up a new generation under the pandemic
The second year, I became a staff in the projects division, fully intent on doing the next iteration of NEWBIES. It was not smooth sailing, I will be straight with you guys. If it were not for my own passion and determination (oh, cannot forget Chika’s immense level of hard work), the project would have gone astray. The online market was really reshaped in the COVID-19 era, with how many debating competitions there were on the horizon, we were massively unprepared However, as we marched on, holding on to the belief of another “NEWBIES Nine”, I was determined to give my juniors the same feeling of camaraderie and competition. It happened as it happened, as UI A were able to snag the winner medal and brought back NEWBIES bragging rights to UI.
Looking back at it, that year’s group of nine all contributed back to the community, and though I don’t know the details of what they are doing right now, all I know is that they were quite active in the debating community. Diva is the co-head of Internals for 2023, The entire UI B (Haiqa, Yousra, and Nathalie) alongside Mayta and Bianca became prominent figures in the debating world. Although I heard some of them have retired from debating, I felt relieved that they have at least dipped their toes in the pool of debating. Eileen found better achievements outside EDS UI, while Hanin and Keish were integral members of the 2022 internals Keep in mind, there are also batches of talents like Vanness, Hayckal, Ney, Faisal, Ran, Rizky, Sutra, Jere, Fadel, Raynathan, and Kayla who contributed hugely to the debating world. I would say that this era was definitely one of
most talented batches of debaters. Maybe, the online-ization of debating has really taken effect in enhancing talents before they even stepped in varsity level? I don’t know, but I cannot explain such talent for I don’t have them myself
The trilogy was completed when me and Inggit took a brave step to become the new coheads of Projects in EDS UI. Improving, reflecting, and keeping our resolve from last year’s NEWBIES, we managed to hold NEWBIES 2022 However, it may seem that chaos almost always comes to us, as that year we found ourselves with no available tabber. In my first encounter with NEWBIES I learned about how soothing the taste of defeat can be, followed by the second iteration that told me about how the world is changing (for the best? For the worst? I don’t know myself), then what can the third one teach me? Well, as life is full of wonderful surprises, the third iteration of NEWBIES teached me to tab a debating competition. All I can say is that I am so happy that my tabbing debut was not as bad as I thought
Now, to the talents, did I say that the 2021 batch were one of the greatest batch ever in terms of talent? Well, this 2022 batch might have the potential to break any glass ceiling there is. In my last NEWBIES ever, I managed to witness a pure domination from UI It was very unreal as I kept on rechecking every submitted ballot to see every adjudicator clicking “Win on UI” for all ballots in the elimination The best speaker was Rania from UI, now a staff of the projects division. I think it is too early to note achievements from the newest batch of nine participants of NEWBIES However, I truly believe that EDS UI will become even better year by year. As much as I want to continue this
recollection, I was hit hard by the real wall that is time and reality. I cannot see past the present, but I truly wish what lies beyond this wall is great prosperity for EDS UI
Knowing how many talents NEWBIES UI has provided for the world of debating and EDS UI makes me so happy Everytime I see a successful debater that has ever attended NEWBIES makes me feel so proud for doing the competition for three years straight I truly believe that some of the talents that are currently running in the debating world right now may not be formed if not for NEWBIES as their first platform for varsity debating and confidence building. NEWBIES’ novelty as a beginner only competition makes it a safe place for beginners to start their journey. If debating were like swimming, it definitely is terrifying to jump into the open sea with lots of megalodon and killer sharks ready to devour you (rather than building confidence, you might trigger an inferiority complex instead ) NEWBIES then is a kiddy pool where beginners can learn the basics and maybe race swim with fellow beginners
My only question is, why has no one tried to make a competition similar to NEWBIES? It would benefit so many people and the debating community itself by welcoming batches of new talents in a place to show off their awesome capabilities. Right now, open competitions are being taken over by professionals looking to “train” or capable debaters that already have too much experience under their belt. To start in such an asymmetric condition will definitely kill someone’s confidence, as rational thinking will suggest that there is no point in fighting a
battle you are most likely to lose. Someone will advise you to just be naive and “forget about it”, but I believe that you need to have a parameter on how good you actually are. Competing in a competition too high of a level you are in will just be a waste of your precious time to develop yourself.
Right now, I cannot be involved in NEWBIES anymore (or am i? Who knows, life is mysterious) in a meaningful way. I have given my responsibilities to Ney and Ckal to continue Projects as they are Only thing that I really want them to have is the same feeling of happiness to develop new debaters for the future in the context of NEWBIES Looking back at it, NEWBIES managed to create insanely wonderful people that otherwise might go unnoticed If there are programs in EDS UI that should never be touched, it is NEWBIES. The smile and arguments of the innocent young debaters as they look forward to performing well in their first ever varsity debating competition still gives me joy like no other.
All in all, this writing has been a chronicle of my journey in the wonderful kiddy pool of NEWBIES. I think I consider this a love letter and a very big thank you note to what EDS UI have managed to give me in my collegiate career. I am very happy to still be someone involved in EDS without debating In another universe, I might not have met most of the people behind EDS today because I decided to not submit my essay for NEWBIES 2020 The three years that I have spent in NEWBIES, from being a participant, project officer, and division leader have been the sweetest time in the organization I hope that EDS UI and NEWBIES shall last as long as debating is still something that exists in this world filled with complexities.
Any avid fan of horror, fantasy, or simply fiction in general would be familiar with that phrase or at least have heard of it once or twice, sometimes in conjunction with lofty additions such as “the stars are right!” This phrase(meaning“inhishouseatR’lyehdead Chtulhu awaits dreaming”), often used by Cthulhu’s cultists (and also followers of Mother Hydra and Fa Dagon), is a glimmer worldofcosmichorror alsoknownasLovecra anhorrororweirdstor inthepast Thisarticle seekstounearthitster toexplainwhycosm horrorspooksusinge Inparticular,thisarticle bediscussingHoward PhillipsLovecraft’sw asheisperhapsthe mostinfluentialwriter ofthisgenre.
Most horror stories (be they writing or film or others)tendtohavesupernaturalelementsin them, except perhaps physcological horror Nevertheless, it is almost always humanity that is at the forefront Furthermore, the humans would often “win” or at least match their supernatural adversary; sometimes this is a priest or a cleric banishing demons through religious means or a band of plucky teenagers sealing a shapeshifter In other words, the (presumably) humanaudience is usedtoseehumanityasaspecialspecies,a specialexistence
This is utterly absent in cosmic horror. Humanity is insignificant in cosmic horror. Humanity is nothing Perhaps an easy example would be the Deep Ones, who appearsin“TheShadowoverInnsmouth”;
ld never be destroyed, only barely checked by charms and magic made by “the Old Ones” (this pantheon would be expanded into the Elder Gods) Those charms are lost now.
The Deep Ones are not particularly scary when taken at face value bipedal fish seems benign compared to a screaming kuntilanak; but the knowledge that they are out there in their seas, millions of them, waiting to bring the tribute their gods craves without anywayforhumanitytostymiethem isterrifying
In “The Other Gods”, the priest Barzai is driventonearinsanityafterrealizingthatthe godsoftheearth,whomhispeopleworships, arefeeble,andguardedbythegodsofouter hells Similarly, the gods are not physically describedandhorrorisnotderivedfromtheir grotesque or unnatural shapes Here horror isderivedfromthefactthathumanityisweak andinsignificant;thatwearenotspecial;that we are but another uppity species. Against such powerful and ancient beings, man is a minuscule detail This is what cosmic horror is based upon; that human interests, laws, customs, emotions, and whatnot bear no significanceinthecosmos
An interesting aspect sprouting from this is that the entities in cosmic horror are almost always not evil Their morality has simply transcendedhumanmoralityandthisaddsto another layer of horror: these entities do not act against us consciously and they have no intention to harm us (except perhaps Nyarlathotep) Perhaps an analogy would be whenwesitonachairandunintentionallykill anantonthechair wedonotmeantoharm the ant, nor do we possess any malice towardstheant
Immortalfish-likepeoplearmedwithpowerful magic who worships Cthulhu, Father Dagon, and Mother Hydra Submarines torpedoed Y’ha-nthlei, one of their undersea cities, and couldonlydamageit,fortheDeepOnescou-
Another aspect of cosmic horror is the sheer unfathomability of the otherworldly beings We do not know these things They are unknowntous andthistapsintoourfearof the unknown. This is perhaps most exemplified in “The Colour out of Space” written by Lovecraft in 1927 The titular Colour is a wholly alien being brought by a meteorite. This being is so beyond descriptionthatitisonlydescribedas“some diseased, underlying primary tone” It siphons life through mysterious ways, perverting humans and animals into grotesque shapes, mutates plants into bloated vegetation that is inedible, and corrupts the ground and water into grey, brittlematter.ThestoryendswiththeColour indirectly driving away the inhabitants of the farmitinfects
There is a marked difference between the Colour and other, more mainstream supernatural or alien entitites Its shape, intents, motivations, and identity are all unknown.Itexistsonadifferentspectrumthat we cannot see. Contrast this to, say, the 2017 movie“Satan’sSlave”,wherethesupernatural elements are present in the form of zombies raised by demonic cultists, two very understandable and tangible entities in horror media.Weknowtheirintents,motivations,and identities, and their humanoid physical shape isfamiliartous.
Ingeneral,thephysicalformsoftheGreatOld Ones(thinkCthulhuandHastur)andtheOuter Gods (Nyarlathotep, Azathoth, and others), or even the more relatively benign Elder Gods (Nodens,Hypnosand others)aredescribedas, well,undescribable;and humanity’sperceptionsof them,betheypillarsof flameoramassof tentaclesorsome othergreatbeing, aremerelyfeeble attemptsbyour mindtocomprehendthem
Attemptstoglimpsetheirtrue formsleadto insanity
Theseabominationsarenotmadeoffleshand blood,andwhilsttheyhaveshape,theirshape is not made of matter A red string is drawn here: we do not know them, we cannot comprehendthem,andsowefearthem.
These entities are not the only thing contributingtothealienfeelingthatonefeels when enjoying cosmic horror The alien mood is also set by the environment in cosmic horror. Laws of time are bent and broken. The geometry of the space was abnormal and non-Euclidean and comprised offoreignspheresanddimensions
For a simple example of impossible geometry, look no further than one of Lovecraft’sclassics:“CallofCthulhu”.Acrew of seamen, after stumbling into Cthulhu, is consumed by “ an angle which was acute, but behaved as if it were obtuse” Such nonEuclidean geometry would have been somewhat familiar, perhaps, with mathematicians, but for non-mathematicians (who presumably comprise most people who enjoycosmichorror),thenotionofsuchanangleisextremelyconfusing,lendingtothe unfathomableatmosphere
Allofthisbringsustothecoresofcosmichorror:thathumanityisinsignificant inastrange,unfamiliarcosmosfullof indifferent,nonmoralentitiesthatcannot becomprehended Wefearit Wefearour irrelevantness,wefeartheunknownandunknownable andsuchhorrorisfoundin cosmichorror Fearthecosmos,fearthe horrorsthatlurk,anddespair!
Reference:
Anwar,J (Director) (2017) Satan’sSlaves RLJEFilms
Fredriksson,E (2010) Lovecraft,H (1927,September) TheColourOutofSpace AmazingStories [BachelorThesis] https://wwwdiva-portalorg/smash/get/diva2:1020823/FULLTEXT01pdf
Hull,T (2006) HP Lovecraft:aHorrorinHigherDimensions MathHorizons,13(3),10–12 h htps://remote-libuiacid:2065/stable/25678597
Lovecraft,H P (1927,September) TheColourOutofSpace AmazingStories
Lovecraft,H P (1936) TheShadowoverInnsmouth VisionaryPublishingCompany
Lovecraft,H P (2019) CallOfCthulhu DesignStudioPress
Mamatas,N,&Keene,B (2011) Thedamnedhighway:fearandloat-hinginArkham:asavage journeyintotheheartoftheAmericannightmare,andbackagain DarkHorse
UI A - Open Co-2nd Runner Up
• Justin Gabriel - 2nd Best Speaker
• Rizky Ananda - 6th Best Speaker
• Sutra Setiara - 8th Best Speaker
UI B - Open Quarterfinalist
• Cecilia Tiara - 10th Best Speaker
• Jones Anderson
• Widyan Grani
UI C - Open Octofinalist
• Bianca Fabiola
• Nykia C'ren Nice
• Diva Faustina
UI D
• Ayu Nandhita
• Andi Maziyah - 4th Best Novice Speaker
• M. Khairil Khatami
Elgard Mario - Chief Adjudicator
Kezia Ascencio - Co-4th Best Overall Judge
Hayckal Maulana - 3rd Best
Institutional Judge
Moh. Daffa Aditya - Co-5th
Best Institutional Judge
Jessica Andriani - Invited and Breaking Adjudicator
Joshua Glorius - Invited Adjudicator
UI A — 1st Runner Up
• Justin Gabriel Wibisono (4th Best Speaker, Open Grand Final Best Speaker)
• Hezron Kowardi (10th Best Speaker)
UI B — Co-2nd Runner Up
• Cecilia Tiara Liong (Co-5th Best Speaker)
• Julvin (7th Best Speaker)
UI C — Open Semifinalist
• Rizky Ananda (Co-5th Best Speaker)
• Widyan Grani Pramestiparamitha
N1s
• Jones Anderson (Breaking Adjudicator, Novice Grand Final Judge)
• Hayckal Maulana
UI A — Semifinalist
• Justin Gabriel Wibisono (6th Open Best Speaker)
• Daniel Lie
UI B
• Marcello Wilbert (7th Ams Best Speaker)
• Jones Anderson
N1
• Hayckal Maulana
Champion
• Justin Gabriel Wibisono (1st Best Speaker)
• Hezron Kowardi (4th Best Speaker)
First Open Breaking Team & First Runner-up
• Hezron Kowardi
• Rizky Ananda
• Jones Anderson
Layout & Design
Nisrina Amania
Narisha Fathiya
Arina Hasanah
Putri Latiefa
Editing
Ayu Nandhita
Picture Credits
Naafi Abika
Albert Julio
Hezron Kowardi
AEO 2023 Committee
Special thanks to our President and Vice President of BE 2023
