Union debate team advances in international competition

Camas — Students from Union High School’s debate team have advanced to the Round of 32 in the International Public Policy Forum, making them the only team in the state to advance this far in the competition, which pits students from around the world against each other in written debates sent back and forth via email. To enter the competition, the team wrote a 2,800-word essay on the topic of “Genetically modified organisms are essential to global food security.” In the Round of 64, each team was assigned a position and emailed with their competing school. Union defeated Catholic High School from Baton Rouge, La., to advance to the Round of 32, and are currently facing off against Harvard-Westlake School from Studio City, Calif. The winners of this round will be announced Jan. 26, and should Union continue on past the Round of 16, the final eight teams will head to New York City on April 2 for the finals. The winning team earns a $10,000 prize.