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Students practice for debate Photo by Jim Craven Ashland High School debate team member Ben Bryan, left, asks a question during practice for a debate over access to the Internet in Cuba, while his teammate, Kelvin Nicholson, prepares to make an opposing viewpoint. The students will be among 27 Oregon teens to participate in the first United States-Cuba high school debate in Cuba in January. Ashland kids argue in Spanish as they prepare for Cuba trip By DANI DODGE ASHLAND -- At a speechathon Wednesday, Ashland High School students practiced arguing in both English and Spanish -- the language they will use when they debate students in Cuba next month. The young men and women are headed for the first United States-Cuba high school debate to be held in the communist country. The Ashland students worked on speeches about five topics they have chosen -- one of which is the need to provide Internet access to all Cuban students. And although through most of the eight-hour practice the students spoke in Spanish, they also demonstrated their English in front of media Wednesday. "No society should remain in total isolation from the rest of the world," argued Skye Mathieson, a senior. "And no society should be in isolation based on the small fears of having its citizens become aware to reality." Seventeen students at Ashland High and 10 others from around the state will join in the trip to Cuba on Jan. 18. The trip costs about $1,300 per student and many students took pledges for Wednesday's mock debate. Although a deterioration of relations could cancel the trip, organizer John Tredway said all indications he's getting from Cuban officials and Americans in Cuba remain positive. "We're optimistic Cubans will see this as a way to get their point across," he said. In the debate, the Ashland students chose five resolutions to support: Internet access available to all Cuban elementary and secondary schools; freedom of travel; an increase in baseball exchanges; normalizing diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States; and support for the United Nations declaration on human rights. The Cubans also will choose several resolutions. Ashland students expect to see the Cuban choices when school resumes in January. Mathieson said he's looking forward to the discussions. "It will be interesting to hear well-thought-out arguments on the other side," he said. Jan Grauman, a freshman who began the day moderating the debate, said he isn't concerned about having to argue in Spanish. He's lived in Mexico and Argentina and traveled to Guatemala with medical teams. "Personally, this is the biggest thing I've ever done because Cuba is such an incredible place and our relations have been so bad," he said. "And we are getting to go there to talk about politics -- it's something I'll remember for the rest of my life." The students are still raising money for the trip. Anyone interested in donating can contact Tredway at 482-8771, ext. 170. Tredway noted that checks can be made out to the Ashland Schools Foundation, a nonprofit organization, if people want to deduct the donation from their taxes. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA