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From Cuba with joy Photo by Jim Craven Tamara Reichenshammer gives her son, Rex, a welcoming hug at Medford's airport Wednesday. The Ashland High School debate team member had just returned with fellow team members and his father, Carlos, from a trip to Cuba. No debate: Ashland kids wiser, glad to be home By DANI DODGE With squeals of delight, weary Ashland teens ran into the arms of their parents and friends at the Medford airport Wednesday after making history as the first high school debate team to travel to Cuba and take on the communists. They came back loaded with new images, new friendships and new outlooks on the world. "It was pretty interesting to see how our reality is shaped by the media and propaganda," said Skye Mathieson, an Ashland High School senior. "In Cuba, their newspapers always show Elian Gonzalez upset ... but here we always see pictures of him smiling. "The Cubans view it as straight-out kidnapping by the government and (his family members in Miami), and we see it as a legal process." Ashland High School debate coach John Tredway led the 27 Oregon high school students on the nine-day trip. Ten of the students were from Ashland High School, the rest from Eugene and Portland. The students have received international attention and will top it off with a spot on a CBS news show about 8 a.m. today. The students debated Cuban high school students about subjects ranging from human rights to the U.S. embargo against Cuba. They came to agreement on each point, and also developed a joint resolution about Elian Gonzalez. The 6-year-old Cuban boy became the focus of controversy in both countries after he survived a shipwreck that killed his mother as they made their way to the United States. Elian's father wants him back in Cuba, while his American relatives in Miami are fighting to keep him in the United States. "We resolve that both the families of Elian Gonzalez in Cuba and in Miami should meet in Geneva, Switzerland, to have a meeting mediated by a U.N. official," the resolution stated. Tredway said the students worked hard to hammer out a solution that everyone could agree on. He called the trip an unparalleled success, allowing both American and Cuban students to develop real understandings of each other. "It exceeded expectations," Tredway said. Many of the parents said they were extremely relieved to see their children again. "I just fretted a little bit, wondering whether Castro would use the kids as a bargaining chip to get Elian back," said Paul Nicholson. But Nicholson said his worry was vanquished Tuesday when his son, Kelvin, called from Miami. "He sounded great," Nicholson said. "He sounded older. "You can't expose yourself to those things without it changing you in some way." Skye said he felt safer in Cuba than he does in most places in the United States, especially at night. While they were on the trip, the students went to a Cuban disco and danced the salsa. Skye said he was a little shy, but he did ask several Cuban girls to dance, and they didn't hesitate. He exchanged e-mail addresses with several Cuban students he met at debates. Most fun of all was playing a game of basketball on the beat-up wood floor of one Cuban high school against a team of real high school players. Cubans won: 97-44. "They seriously stomped us," Skye said, laughing. "It was the Cuban dream team vs. the American debate team. We claimed moral victory for keeping them to two digits." The students even attended a rally in support of Elian's immediate homecoming. Ashland High School student Chelsea Ruediger said that, like a number of other Americans, she wore a T-shirt proclaiming "Salvemos a Elian" ("Save Elian") to the rally. And while she was impressed by the political fervor of the Cuban people, she was most struck by the contrasts between the privileged and the poor in that country. "Students at the Lenin High School said everything was wonderful," Chelsea said. "But then at a baseball game kids were begging for my shirt." She said it made her feel more grateful for everything she has here. Her mother, Jan Wright, chipped in "Even me?" "Even you, mom," Chelsea said, giving her mother a big hug. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA