Jakarta Varsities English Debate at UI

Jakarta Varsities English Debate at UI

By T. Sima Gunawan

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's prominent economist Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti has voiced a strong objection against capital punishment.

"The death penalty does not solve problems," he said.

But wait, don't take him seriously!

Dorodjatun, dean of the School of Economics, University of Indonesia, made the statement during a debate with finalists of the Jakarta Varsities English Debate 1995.

Dorodjatun, along with Ascobat Gani, dean of the university's School of Public Health, and Amir Santoso, a lecturer at the university's School of Political and Social Sciences, "acted" as those who were against the death penalty.

Their "opponents" were the teams of the University of Brawijaya in Malang, East Java, and of University of Indonesia's School of Computer Science.

The computer students, who won the game, made up one of the 16 teams taking part in the annual debate.

The debate was organized by the Local Committee of the Brussels-based Association Internationale des Etudiantes en Sciences et Commerciales (AIESEC) at the University of Indonesia.

"Among the objectives of the debate are to encourage the use of English, to encourage academic interaction as well as to provide communication training to undergraduates in the hope of developing versatile and confident intellectuals," according to the organizing committee.

AIESEC, an international organization for students interested in economics and business, has 75,000 members from 750 universities in 81 countries throughout the world.

UI's School of Economics joined AIESEC in 1984, which was then followed by the Brawijaya University, Padjadjaran University in Bandung, Diponegoro University in Semarang and Andalas University in Padang, West Sumatra.

It is not easy to become a member. The private Trisakti University in Jakarta applied for membership in 1993 and it is still in the process of becoming a member.

"We have to conduct a feasibility study for at least one year," President of UI's AIESEC committee, Ira Noviarti, said.

Among the things AIESEC look into are the human resources, student activities, and the organization of a university.

"Well, yes, it is bureaucratic," Ira said.

She admitted that it is not easy to join AIESEC, which claims to be the world's largest student-run organization and the "most powerful" one.

Several universities had earlier showed an interest to join AIESEC, but later gave up after learning about the organization's tough requirements .

UI's AIESEC has 120 members, all students of the School of Economics. More than 100 students submit applications annually, but usually less than 60 are accepted. Half of them leave within a year or two as they feel either that the activities infringe upon their studying hours, that they are not suited to the organization or that they find it difficult to interact with the other members, according to Ira.

Other faculties

Ira said the organization may accept students from other faculties next year.

If the membership is extended to students of other faculties, then the problem of human resources will be solved, but Ira warned that there might be bureaucratic problems.

"We are still making the SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis on the subject," she said.

As an independent organization, AIESEC does not receive any financial aid from the government or the universities.

"We raise the funds to finance our activities ourselves," Indah Iramadhini, project officer of last week's English debate, told The Jakarta Post.

She said the organization does not charge any membership fee. However, they have to pay for the training programs provided by AIESEC. New members have to join three training programs on orientation, motivation and management. For each program, which lasts two days, the students pay between Rp 15,000 and Rp 20,000.

AIESEC runs two global programs called International Traineeship Exchange Program and Global Theme Program.

Under the traineeship program, students can obtain practical working experience as well as the cultural experience of living in other countries. The global program targets on a significant socio economic topic and searches for practical solutions to global problems. This year the global program is Education Towards International and Cultural Understanding.

UI's AIESEC has organized a number of activities on a national and international scale, including the Stock Exchange Game, Career Days, Banking Training Seminar and Asia Pacific Leadership Development Seminar.

"What I like best in AIESEC is that it can bridge the business world and the students," Endika Widyawardhana of Brawijaya University said.

Apart from that, he also enjoys the cultural interaction with the other AIESEC members from overseas, like a group of Japanese students who recently visited Indonesia.

One of AIESEC trainees who is currently in town is Debby Schlick from Buffalo, New York, who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies.

She has been here for 10 months teaching English at a high school.

As a foreigner who comes from the other side of the world, she experienced culture shock which took her several weeks to work through.

"I just relaxed and went with the flow... not talking a lot, but absorbing, hearing, smelling, seeing, observing and learning," said the 24-year old short-haired woman.

She is scheduled to finish her job here at the end of the month and is planning to travel around the country before returning home.

This year the University of Indonesia has 11 "guests" who are in the city under the International Traineeship Exchange Program. They work in various fields, including advertising, chemistry, accountancy, and, of course, teaching English.

"But there are only two students from the University of Indonesia who have had the opportunity to join the program," Indah said.

Students who want to take part in the program are interviewed by the Student Review Board, who later send their applications to the AIESEC headquarters.

Indah said that not many students get the opportunity to join the program because there are a limited number of openings which match certain qualifications.

"They would have more chance to go if they did not chose the country of destination, but many of them say that they want to go to the United States," she said.

To be able to work in the U.S., the students must have a TOEFL score of more than 500.

"English is one of the problems facing the applicants," Indah said.