Liberty debate team calls 1985-86 a 'buildingyear'

Th e Apostle Paul says the unrighteous are fullof debate (Rom 1:9) But certain students at Liberty have proved the righteous can be into debate,too — up totheir ears.

Club members put in about 15 hours a week researching Come tournament time, they work harder.

Startingat8a.m.,Friday,they debate all weekend — eight hoursa day, threedaysstraight. They debate both sides of an issue — pro and con — four hourseach side. They spend another eighttoten hoursatnight pouring over newly heard arguments, revising their notes, trying to construct rebuttals Debaters have tostickto the subject — one subject allyear, no matter how boring.In198586 itwas public schools.

The national debate topic read:"Resolved: That more rigorous academic standards should be established atallpublic elementary and/or private schools in the United States in one or more of the following areas: language arts, mathematics, and/or natural sciences."

The team's performance suf- fered initiallyfrom inexperience and the graduation of awardwinning debaters Itwas a building year

"This year we had a lot of novice people and a lotofpeopleintheJuniorVarsityDivision," senior Mary Ann Barber said "I could expect that in the next year or two we're going to have a team justas competent as itwas."

Already the team is winning top prizes.

— Dolph Bell