The grand final of the Eastern Online IV 2020 was won by Cornell 3 (Dylan Young, Amaar Jeyasothy) in Closing Opposition, speaking against McGill 1 (Micaela Lewis, Naomi Panovka) in Opening Government, Yale 1 (Eva Quinones, Ko Lyn Cheang) in Opening Opposition, and Brandeis-NU Hybrid (Ravi Simon, Tanay Patri) in Closing Government on the motion “THW spend all of Jeff Bezos’s money.” The debate was chaired by Marlene Pierce, with a panel of Klaudia Maciejewska, Rob Ruiz, Chris Pang, Germaine Barrett, Niki Linganur, and Reed.

In  the ESL Final Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology 1 (Shirsha Songshoptak, Tameer Hossain) took the victory in Opening Government, speaking against St Petersburg University 1 (Artem Samarsky, Anita Makarova) in Opening Opposition, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology 2 (Adri Das, Amanat Hossain) in Closing Government, and RVCE-India 1 (Neel Bandari, Shuvam Mitra) in Closing Opposition. The adjudication was chaired by Klaudia Maciejewska with a panel of Rayo Verweij, Clarence Bronte, Marlene Pierce, and Namita Pandey. 

The top speaker and top novice speaker of the tournament was Naomi Panovka, with an average score of 80.8 speaker points.
The top ESL speaker was Josef Moscovici, Berlin 1 with an average of 79.4 speaker points.

Open Break:
1. Cornell 3 (Dylan Young, Amaar Jeyasothy), 13 points
2. McGill 1, (Naomi Panovka, Micaela Lewis),
3. Yale 1 (Eva Quinones, Ko Lyn Cheang), 12 points
4. Western 1 (Ethan Curry, Jun Kim), 11 points
5.Berlin 1 (Josef Moscovici, Calyxx Peucker), 10 points, withdrew from elimination rounds
6. NU / Brandeis (Ravi Simon, Tanay Patri)
7. Bard 1 (Gwen Stearns, Elaina Taylor)
8. Astana 1 (Elina Amurlayeva, Nursulu Sagimbayeva)
9. SFU 1 (Aidan Wilson, Diggory Waddle), 9 points

ESL Break:
1. Berlin 1 (Josef Moscovici, Calyxx Peucker), 10 points, different break
2. Astana 1 (Elina Amurlayeva, Nursulu Sagimbayeva), different break
3. BUET 1 (Shirsha Songshoptak, Tameer Hossain), 8 points
2. RCVT 1 (Neel Bandari, Shuvam Mitra), 7 points
3. BUET 2 (Adri Das, Amanat Hossain)
4. SPU 1, (Artem Samarsky, Anita Makarova), 6 points

As adjudicators broke Abhilash Sane, Alia Gilbrecht, Becca Poliquin, Chris Pang, Clarence Bronte, Germaine Barrett, Hadley Parum, Klaudia Maciejewska, Liam Sullivan, Lydia Vlasto, Mark Schmutzler, Marlene Pierce, Mateusz Wojtowicz, Matt Caito, Namita Pandey, Niki Linganur, Rayo Verweij, Reed, Reefat Aziz, Rob Ruiz.

Open Speakers:
1. Naomi Panovka, McGill 1, 80.8 avg speaks
2. Dylan Thomas Young, Cornell 3, 80.6 avg speaks
3. Amaar Jeyasothy, Cornell 3, 80.4 avg speaks
4. Micaela Lewis, McGill 1, 80.1 avg speaks
5. Jun Kim, Western 1, 79.4 avg speaks
6. Ko Lyn Cheang, Yale 1, 79.4 avg speaks, tie
6. Josef Moscovici, Berlin 1, 79.4 avg speaks, tie
8. Calyxx Peucker, Berlin 1, 79.4 avg speaks
9. Eva Quinones, Yale 1, 79.2 avg speaks
10. Ethan Curry, Western 1, 78.8 avg speaks

ESL speakers:
1. Josef Moscovici, Berlin 1, 79.4 avg speaks
2. Calyxx Peucker, Berlin 1, 79.4 avg speaks
3. Samuel Scheuer, Berlin 2, 78.4 avg speaks

Novice speakers:
1. Naomi Panovka, McGill 1, 80.8 avg speaks
2. Emily Levis, Ottawa 2, 77 avg speaks
3. Elina Amurlayeva, Astana 1, 76.4 avg speaks

EFL Speakers:
1. Elina Amurlayeva, Astana 1, 76.4 avg speaks
2. Nursulu Sagimbayeva, Astana 1, 76.4 avg speaks
3. Rafael Cabrera, Rosario 1, 73.8 avg speaks

The Eastern Online IV featured 41 teams competing in five preliminary rounds with a break to semi-finals as well as an ESL final. It was run on Yaatly. This was the second tournament hosted virtually in the United States this semester and the third hosted in North America. It was hosted by debaters of HWS and Bard College Debate Union. Tab was run by Eric Barnes and Reed Herter. The CA team consisted of Clarence Bronte, Matthew Caito, and Marlene Pierce.

Motions:
R1: THW mandate that in any legal case both sides must have access to an equally priced counsel (for example a rich person can hire as expensive a defense attorney as they would like, but money must be provided to the plaintiff if they cannot afford a lawyer of a similar caliber)

R2: THR tv shows and movies that humanize violent, antisocial protagonists (ex: Barry, You, Killing Eve, The Assassination of Gianni Versace, My Friend Dahmer)

R3: Infoslide: The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is a law that was passed in 2019 by the Parliament of India. The law provides a path to Indian citizenship for undocumented migrants of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities, who had fled from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan before December 2014. Muslims from those countries were not given such eligibility. Critics of the Act express concerns that the law will be used, in combination with the new National Register of Citizens, to render many Muslim citizens of India stateless, as they may be unable to meet stringent birth or identity proof requirements.

THBT Muslim states should sever political and economic ties with India until the repeal of the Citizenship Amendment Act

R4: Infoslide: A technology has been created that allows individuals to upload their consciousness to an online reality after their death. The virtual afterlife is an idyllic version of reality with different levels of luxury depending on which tier you paid for. Uploaded people can contact people in the real world, feel any and all sensations, and buy luxury items and amenities with weath they made before their deaths or money given to them from living donors (friends, family, etc). There exists no other similar technology: a person must choose between this technology or a natural death.

Assuming you lived a middle class life, THW choose to upload their consciousness to this technology.

R5: THR the existence of high fashion

SF: THBT governments should not condition COVID-related bailouts of the private sector on major corporate reforms (e.g., limiting executive compensation, banning corporate stock buybacks, restrictions on lobbying, increased environmental regulation, etc.)

ESL Final: THBT western liberal democracies should criminalize and permanently disavow private military contractors

Final: Infoslide: When you wake up in the morning from unsettling dreams, you find yourself changed in your bed into Jeff Bezos. Jeff Bezos’ employees are now your employees. His money is now your money. Nothing you say or do will convince anyone you are not Jeff Bezos, even his closest friends and family.

THW spend all of Jeff Bezos’s money.