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.