40th Austral-Asian Intervarsity Debating Championship
SolBridge International School of Business
Daejeon, Korea Republic
Bid Proposal
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An Introduction to the Bid Document
12 January 2014
Dear Austral-Asian Debating Community,
We are pleased to present our bid document. In it you will find much of the information already published in our
Facebook webpage at http://www.facebook.com/Australasians2015 -- please do proceed there for more details.
We have added more detail to our plans for socials, adjudication, and answers to some questions we received from
the debating community. What we have kept separate from this document is a copy of our financial statement
which is still available on Google Sheets published at
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IlkfULLiUQY8C7OD_1T0XtrXCiNrUpMqVkJdQfqx9C0/edit#gid=1
837669434 this is an adjusted balance from a previously difficult to read and incomplete income statement.
If you have any further questions for the bid team and adjudication team, please contact us through the following
inboxes:
For our Adjudication Team
Gemma Buckley [email protected]
Joshua Park [email protected]
Daryl Isla [email protected]
For our Convener and Advisors
Joseph Iesue [email protected]
Thank you very much!
The SolBridge Australs 2015 Bid Team
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SolBridge International School of Business
The SolBridge International School of Business was founded in
2007 as the business education arm of Daejeons comprehensive
tertiary institution, Woosong University. Funded by the Woosong
Foundation and led by Dr. John E. Endicott, President of Woosong
University and Vice Chancellor of SolBridge, its vision is to become
an Asian Center of Excellence in Global Business Education.
The school offers both Bachelor in
Business Administration (BBA) and Masters in
Business Administration (MBA) programs. Its
classes are taught in English as it is designed as an
international educational institution. Its student
body is made up of students from over 35
countries around the world. It maintains an
internationally renowned faculty and has recently
pioneered partnerships with universities in the United States to establish 2+2 programs that allow for collaborative
learning in a dual environment for qualified students. Due to such accomplishments, SolBridge won the honor of
becoming the fastest and youngest institution to join the exclusive club of business schools accredited by AACSB
International.
Student life is rich on campus
and off campus for SolBridge students.
Many take semesters abroad in partner
universities in order to immerse
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themselves in new cultures and languages. Central to student life are its own campus organisations. Of these clubs,
SolBridge International is proud to support its own masters of speech and thought, the SolBridge Debate Society.
Due to its general support of its students and student activities, SolBridge and Woosong University were recently
placed among the Top 10 universities in Korea in DongA Daily University Rankings, a ranking system that places a
heavy emphasis on students.
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Tournament Details at a Glance
Organizer:
SolBridge International School of Business
SolBridge Debate Society
Supported by:
Woosong University
Woosong Foundation
Dates:
A 9-day period in July to be decided by both a survey of
participating institutions and the decision of the university
administration after the bid is ratified
Venue:
Preliminary Rounds Venue
Woosong University Campus
60 Classrooms
1 Large Convening Hall with tabbing area (fits 600 people)
1 Cafeteria/Lunch Area
Break Rounds Venue
SolBridge International Campus
11 Classrooms
1 Large Convening Hall (fits 400 people)
2 Cafeteria/Lunch Areas
Accommodation Partners
Yousung Hotel, Daejeon (4-Star)
Riviera Hotel, Daejeon (4-Star)
Socials Partners
Party Pool at Daejeon Science Complex
Yousung and Riviera Hotels
Woosong Art Center
Adjudication Core:
Co-Chief Adjudicators
Ms. Gemma Rose Buckley (Monash)
Professor Joshua Park (SolBridge and Harvard Law)
Deputy Chief Adjudicators
Mr. Tim Blair (Melbourne)
Ms. Joanna Connolly (Sydney Union)
Mr. Daryl Isla (Ateneo)
Mr. Asher Emanuel (Victoria)
Ms. Mai Mokhsein (MARA Technology)
Staff:
Tournament Co-Conveners
Professor Joseph Iesu (SolBridge International)
Ms. Jiwoo Kim (SolBridge Debate Society)
Advisors and Consultants:
Mr. Andy Hume (Glasgow Union)
Mr. Seth Jeesoo Kang (Korea Univ.)
Mr. Loke Wing Fatt (Singapore)
Mr. Cedric Sungryul Park (Underwood Union)
Mr. Geonsub Shin (KIDA)
Mr. Josh Taylor (Griffith)
Registration Fee:
Debaters and Adjudicators
550, 000 Korean Won as a registration fee charge in the moderate expectation of support funding
Team Cap Policy:
Tournament Maximum: 120 teams, (360 debaters)
Judges: 100 judges, N-1 rule will be enforced and
independent judges are liberally welcome.
Accommodations
SolBridge NEAO 2013 billeted participants at the fantastic four star Yousung Hotel Daejeon. Well equipped with
conference facilities and banquet halls, Yousung provided NEAO 2013 with both warm socials and good nights rest. Famous
nationwide for its hot spring, we are certain participants will
have a great time.
Complementary to this, SolBridge Australs also means to use
the hotel next door -- the renowned four star Hotel Riviera
Yuseong. Understanding the new requirements of a 120 team
Australs, the Riviera provides equal quality and comfort
without compromising proximity of teams and judges from
each other.
Please check out their websites at:
http://www.yousunghotel.com/kor/index.do and
http://www.rivierayuseonghotel-daejeon.com/
We are working very hard at ensuring a great stay in one of Asia's favourite destinations.
Break Night and Socials
SolBridge plans to bring you an Australs Break
Night you will never forget. Daejeon is home to
hot springs and water wonders, one of which is
the party pool at the Daejeon Science Expo. It
hosted Daejeon #ONESUMMERNIGHT and
boasts of a large pool that can accommodate 500
people.
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The organising committee has already been promised competitive rates for either a 100 or 120 team tournament that comes
with copious amounts of alcohol and party food for a wet and wild dance party. There will be plenty of tables poolside for
those not wanting to get into the pool or wish to grab a breather. Gracing our event will be the house DJ roster which includes
DJ Koo, one of the most popular DJs in Korea. Welcome to the party!
Food and Drink
SolBridge Australs has is planning to provide three meals for each day with
debating rounds and special banquet style dinners for Opening Ceremony,
Womens Night, and Championship Dinner. On top of these events, we
will provide drinks at the Test Debate Social and we plan to organize a Tournament After-Party to conclude our
competition after the final. We will also be providing both alcoholic and non-alcoholic refreshments during debate days,
allowing our participants a taste of authentic Korean drinking culture in Soju and Makegeolli (and tea, of course).
Daejeon and Transportation
Daejeon is a technological innovation hub and it is two
hours bus ride (one hour via bullet train) from Seoul, the capital
of Korea Republic. Our hotel partners are strategically located in
downtown Daejeon and participants will find nightlife
establishments accessible. Daejeon as a tourist city is historically
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famous for its natural hot springs. Our hotels have these hot spring facilities in-house and will be available for use by
participants as part of their stay.
We expect most of our participants from abroad to arrive at
the Incheon International Airport. On arrivals day, we will be
providing buses to bring Australs debaters and judges from the
airport to the hotels in Yousung, Daejeon. These buses will be timed
strategically to the arrival schedule of institutions coming in and shall
require no additional cost. This is possible through the efforts of the
team to negotiate rates within Daejeon itself.
Finally, we will also be providing transportation from the
hotels to either Woosong University or SolBridge International on all
debate days. This is to ensure uniform arrival times for participants.
We intend to run a punctual Australs this 2015.
The organizing team has prepared a flight canvas for
institutions interested in air ticket costs for 2015.
This is available here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Z-KtXJCqbK1PvSfB1ZzsPa-
1qZrKKUlYfVURU4pMykk/pubhtml
Tabulation Master
George Cong Chen is a science graduate of
the University of Hong Kong. He has tabbed
dozens of competitions in China, Hong Kong, and
Macau. He most notably led the tab team of the
Asian BP 2013. He has also been the permanent tab
director at main-stay events like the China British
Parliamentary Championship, Hong Kong Debate
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Open and East Asian Inter-varsity. He was deputy chief adjudicator at the Hangzhou Spring Tournament 2014 and BFSU
Debate Challenge 2014. George is experienced in using all currently in-use tabbing software in either the WUDC or 3-on-3
format. He is known best for being able to debug and recode systems if necessary, averting a crisis at the Asian BP and re-
encoding tabs from the beginning after a crash in less than 30 minutes.
Formerly a competitive farmer, George now works for an
education consultancy firm and also helps out at the China Debate
Project in Beijing. Our advisory team members Mr. Loke and Mr.
Geonsub Shin also possess much experience with time
management and tabulation. The objective is to capitalize on
software developments and build on past successes with George
and the team. SolBridge fully intends to develop the tab software
used at both Korea Australs 2011 and as well as the new software
from the tab team at Dunedin Australs 2014.
Northeast Asia and Debating
Northeast Asia refers to the debating circuit that
includes China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, and
South Korea. To date, NEA has only hosted Australs once in
its 39 year history. An area of both debating development
and language development, NEA debating has great potential.
However, the challenges that institutions face come from universities that offer limited funding to their clubs. Given the
extracurricular nature of debating, many students have to fund themselves to attend events like Australs. Korea Australs 2011
was the first time in history that the region was able to host a major regional tournament that brings in teams from outside
Asia. An astonishing 21 universities and 38 teams from NEA were able to compete in 2011.
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ESL and EFL Policy
Where we could still get data, we have noticed a lack of participation from institutions with ESL and EFL
backgrounds. Positively, we also recognize that almost half of the teams participating at Korea Australs 2011 were
in a special English category.
On our language team are
Lee Youngcho from Ewha
International, Yeeun Kim
from Chung-Ang University,
Yoonji Kim from the
Underwood Union, and
senior Seth Jeesoo Kang
from Korea University.
Here is a chart
reflecting data we gathered
from published team tabs of several Australs tournaments. We believe bringing Australs to Korea will help us give
access to ESL and EFL teams from the Northeast. We may release further data soon.
We look forward to exploring the best way of accommodating everyone in the competition at SolBridge
Australs 2015.
Korea Excursion and Free Day Itineraries
Given that many participants at Australs 2015 will be first time
visitors to Korea and Northeast Asia, we have thus far prepared three
options for your free day adventure. These are a tour of the Korean
Peninsula's Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), a day trip via return flight to Jeju
Island, and a visit to the nearby Boryeong Mud Festival, internationally
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famous for relaxation activities like mud massage as well as more active options like mud wrestling, mud sliding,
marine mud-training, and more.
Socials, Sponsorship, and Tournament Finances
Institutional Support
This July, SolBridge won a 700,000,000 KRW per year government grant to help make the institution more
international. One of the primary areas in which this funding is to be utilized is for supporting various student
events and activities. Prior to this grant, SolBridge Debate Society has received between 34,000,000 ~ 69,000,000
KRW in funding per year since 2011, with amounts varying based on the availability of government grants.
SolBridge has, with and without government grants, also supported debating tournaments such as the 2012 KIDA
National Championship and 2013 North East Asian Open with in-kind support and money grants. With the new
government grant in place, and with personnel on the organising committee who were instrumental in winning the
grant and has a significant say in disbursing the grant, we are confident that substantial institutional support for
Australs will be granted.
Partial list of events and planned expenditures on the SolBridge budget for this academic year:
1. Asian Thought Leader Case Competition (in-school): 25,000,000 KRW
2. International Case Competition: 18,000,000 KRW
3. Entrepreneurship Idea Competition: 21,000,000 KRW
4. Multicultural Activities/Culture Day (in-school): 10,000,000 KRW
Corporate Support
SolBridge, as a business school, prides itself on its connections to corporations. We have at least four areas
of connection/major programs involving domestic and international corporations that we will utilise to secure
corporate support for the 2015 Australs.
The first is the makeup of the current leadership of SolBridge International. The Vice President of
SolBridge, who was instrumental in securing classrooms and auditoriums for the Australs bid as well as mustering
institutional support when we hosted North East Asian Open in 2013, is the former Vice President of LG
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Electronics, Inc. In addition, the current Honorary President of Woosong University (other mother institute) is the
former president of LG Electronics and continues to be a senior advisor for the multinational corporation. Another
Vice President of Woosong University is a former Samsung executive. One of our professors is a former high
ranking official of SK Telecom, one of the largest telecommunications companies in Korea. We will be receiving the
help of their direct and indirect connections to businesses to try to secure sponsorships for Australs.
Secondly, SolBridge operates a Corporate Advisory Council (CAC), where CEOs and prominent
business minds meet at least twice a year with the Dean and university management to offer advice on curriculum
and activities of SolBridge. Some current members of CAC are:
Mr. Christopher Wood: Representative Director & General Manager of Estee Lauder, Korea
Mr. William Freeman III: Managing Director, AIG Global Real Estate, Korea
Dr. Yoonsoo Kim: Managing Director and Country Manager, Bank of New York Mellon, Korea
Dr. Lilly DAngelo: Vice President of Danone International, New York
Dr. Hae-Jung Jung: President of M.K. International Inc., Korea
Mr. Brad Buckwalter: President/Regional General Manager, Tyco Security Solutions ADT, Korea
Mr. Alan Timblick: Head of Seoul Global Center Seoul Metropolitan Government
Dr. Stephen Frawley: Senior V.P./SPHR, HR Group SK Telecom
Mr. Hermann Kaess: President/CEO of Robert Bosch Korea Ltd.
Ms. Jean Moe: President of Pulmuone Danone
Ms. Lisa Wallace: Executive Director of Delta
Mr. Kook-Hyun Moon: Former President of Hansol Textile Ltd.; President of New Paradigm Inst.
Mr. Paul Kim: CEO of Benchmark Partners
Thirdly, SolBridge extends beyond merely receiving institutional advice through the CAC by operating a
Global CEO Mentoring program, where current and former heads of businesses mentor our students through a
for-credit course. In 2013, 6 CEO Mentors guided 60 of our students. CEO Mentors include officials from LG,
Samsung, and Standard Charters. CEO Mentors are personally invested in their mentees, and have successfully
helped several graduates to secure job offers in some of the top companies around the country.
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Fourthly, SolBridge offers a regular series of special lectures, called the Plantinum Lecture Series, where
former and current business, political, and academic leaders visit SolBridge to deliver lectures to students and attain
Friends of SolBridge status, some later to join the CAC or CEO Mentoring Program.
Recent Guest Speakers featured at SolBridge Platinum Lecture Series include:
1. William Freeman, Managing Director of AIG Global, President of AIG Korean Real Estate
Development
2. Donald Manzullo, President/CEO of Korea Economic Institute of America, Former Illinois
Congressman
3. Pat Gaines, President of Boeing Korea and Vice President of Boeing International, President of
the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea
4. Min-soon Song, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
5. Sohn Jie Ae, CEO of Arirang TV, Former CNN Seoul Bureau Chief
6. Hermann Kaess, President/CEO of Robert Bosch Korea Ltd.
7. Jongshik Kim, CEO of Tata-Daewoo
8. Hang-hee Lee, President/CEO of Corning Korea
9. Nam-kyun Woo, Former President, Current Advisor of LG Electronics Inc.
10. Gi-hong Song, Managing Partern of Deloitte Consulting
11. John Walker, Executive Director at Macquarie Group Ltd., Chairman of Macquarie Group of
Companies, Korea
12. Shin-Bae Kim, Vice Chairman/CEO of SK C&C
We are confident that such close relationships with corporate partners will yield a far better result in
securing a sponsorship than merely going up to unknown corporations to ask for support.
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Socials
The team has been able to secure sponsorship of event venues at the hotel partners as a guarantee. This
avoids fixed costs when possible. However, the team reserves the space to move socials to other venues when
opportunities arise, much like our break night party. This also means all of our budget goes straight to alcohol, food,
and lighting/music.
Adjudication Team and Adjudicators Policy
The Adjudication Team for SolBridge Australs has been formed
with both competence and experience factored in and with regional and
gender diversity accounted for in the selection process. We understand
that Austral-Asia as a debating region is a diverse community. Your
SolBridge adjudication team understands this and is dedicated to finding
opportunities to touch base with all of our friends from the regions of
Northeast Asia, South Asia, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand. Our seven judges have decided to put up a tentative list of
competitions where you may find a member of
our team this year. In these events where we
may be debating or judging, we look forward to
having a chat with you about Australs and to
know your concerns better. Australs would not
be complete without a wide pool of competent
adjudicators to complement the judge team. As such, we have budgetted a large portion of our expected financial support and
registration fees income to independent adjudicators subsidy. There will be a minimum of 30,800,000.00 for funding the
flights of qualified independent judges from around the Austral-Asian region. Within moderate expectations of sponsorship,
we expect this number to adjust upwards to 50,800,000.00 within the calendar year. Given the proximity of Korea Republic
to both Europe and ASEAN, we expect this fund to be distributed efficiently to enable many strong judges to attend Australs.
This possibility extends to North American judges as well, given the dramatically increased frequency of moderately-priced
return flights to Northeast Asia from Vancouver, Toronto, Los Angeles, New York-JFK, and other ports in the United States.
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Since Australs is regionally the second-largest debating tournament in the world, the added cost-effectiveness of Korea as a
regional host may for the first time promise the participation of strong judges from the Americas.
Finally, we are aware that institutions have been interested in
sending contingents with adjudicators that exceed the participation rule of
the Australs of that year. SolBridge Australs 2015 is imposing a minimum
requirement of n-1 on all institutions that wish to participate. This means
that the number of teams
your university wishes to
send must equal the same number of judges sent minus 1. The affirmative action
rule that requires a third of the contigent must be famale is likewise applied on
the total number with adjudicators. While this exists as a minimum rule, we have
crunched the numbers so that teams can send virtually as many judges as they wish and independent judges are liberally
welcome. This is because of a new variable revenue driven cost system that is only limited by the number of rooms needed
with our accommodation partners. More on this will be discussed later in the calendar year.
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Tentative Tournament Schedule DAY 1
Arrival and Hotel Check-in for All Teams and Welcome Drinks DAY 2
Debating and Adjudication Briefing Organizing Committee Briefing Adjudication Test Interviews Opening Ceremony and Dinner
DAY 3 Debate Proper for Round 1 Debate Proper for Round 2 Debate Proper for Round 3 Womens Night DAY 4 Debate Proper for Round 4 Debate Proper for Round 5 Debate Proper for Round 6 DAY 5
Debate Proper for Round 7 Debate Proper for Round 8 Break Night Pool Party DAY 6 FREE DAY and Council DAY 7 Debate Proper for Open Pre-Octofinals and ESL Quarterfinals Debate Proper for Open Octofinals and EFL Semifinals Debate Proper for Open Quarterfinals and ESL Semifinals DAY 8 Debate Proper for Open Semifinals Debate Proper for EFL Grand Final Debate Proper for ESL Grand Final Debate Proper for Open Grand Final Championship Dinner Banquet After Party DAY 9 Departures
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Appendix
Since announcing our intention to bid, we have been asked to address a number of questions and concerns, some in
comparison to our rival bid. Our responses and comments on these issues are listed below.
1. Representation: SolBridge Australs 2015 welcomes the appointment of a female chief adjudicator on the
team, the first since the 2011 edition of Australs, also in Korea Republic.
2. Location of socials: Our socials are pegged to be hosted at the hotel in the interest of convenience and to
take advantage of sponsorship. Upon the opportunity to move our social to an area of reasonable cost and
significant improvement, we would not hesitate to do so. However, we would like to reflect a reasonably
conservative estimate. If we wanted to, we can allocate our surplus of over 17000 USD to more
adjudicators and socials. We will do so upon making sure that there will be no further tournament issues on
volume of participants or price shifts.
3. Break-night: Our pool party is ground breaking because it is likely one of the very few times the debate
community can experience an event like this. However, eating and drinking and much of the socializing can
happen out of the water. It is to be a lot of fun regardless of if people choose to get wet or not. We also
would like to note that we will have professional life guards.
4. Traffic: Traffic has been test driven once already to fall within 21 minutes in moderate conditions with rain.
This will likely be the case, if not faster, in most conditions. Rounds will begin on time and people will get
to socials immediately if we keep them in our accommodations partners events halls or in nearby areas in
town in Daejeon.
5. Language and Region: Our adjudicators on this team have the most number of training and adjudicating
touch points across all regions in Asia Debating. We have gone to lengths on our official Facebook page on
why our team is substantially impactful at empowering debaters in any language category. Our adjudication
team represents Australasia as a region best, given that we have representatives who not only stand for their
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regions but also go to lengths to meet and interact with debaters and universities from other regions. We
are the only bid this Australs to have a Northeast Asian representative. We are the only bid as well to have
adjudication team members in regular interaction with South Asia (India multiple times and Bangladesh at
least once next year), helping to develop a region that has been historically underrepresented in Australs.
We also would like to emphasise the guidance of our diverse advisory team including a World Champion,
the Korean Union president, and an Australs ESL Champion.
6. Adjudication Funding: Including the funding meant for adjudication core team members, our total
amount of funding in either worst or moderate case is USD 47,400.00. A more comprehensive breakdown
is available on our budget on our Facebook page. This means there is no compromising on the quality of
judges. In fact, our budget surplus which can be spent on improving socials can also be appropriated to
judge funding. That is over 17000 USD set aside as cushion but ready for allocation.
7. Sponsorship: Our institutional support is co-supported by active involvement of SolBridge professors.
Unlike other bids for other tournaments run by university students logistically, both our adjudication team
and organizing team are led by professors of the university deeply involved in debating. Professor Park and
Professor Iesue ensure a deeper synergy between Australs and the school itself. This adds additional
certainty for the university to be expected to go over and beyond minimum expectations.
8. Tabulation: Australs is a large and prestigious competition that needs a tab master of tested performance.
Schedule delays and other problems pose threats to logistical seamlessness. We feel obliged to remark that
the Macau UADC 2011, run by a team that included our rival bids tab master, suffered from fatal problems
in tabulation that led to adjudication team members re-tabbing personally and the break to be released the
next day. We are resolved to avoid any mishaps such as this, regardless of where the fault may lie. We are
proud to have Mr. Cong Chen, who with the help of Mr. Zheng Bo, was able to save an entire Asian BP
championship from having a collapsed tab due to software errors.
9. Cost: We acknowledge that our bid costs more, but we feel that we have justified where this additional
funding is paying for the security of a tested bid, the diversity and competence of a strong adjudication team,
and the certainty of a great tournament experience. You will also note from our posts that despite the fact
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that Korea is considered a developed country (in terms of economy, safety, infrastructure, sanitation,
political and legal system), the cost of many items that debaters may need to purchase is very low, showing
little or no difference from that in Jakarta.
10. Organising Committee: We feel it is important for an organising committee to both be experienced and
be primarily from the host institution, so that they can better communicate with and be accountable to
make sure everything is taken care of on-site. In that regard, we feel that our bid is the one that features an
in-house Org Comm that has successfully held two major tournaments (Korean Nationals and NEAO).
Along with advice from both the domestic and international (representing far more regional diversity)
advisory committee, this promises that Australs 2015 is in experienced and directly responsible hands, and
will run without a hitch.
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