For the last few years under the direction of Kelly Larson, director of debate and forensics, the Missouri Southern debate squad has had one success after another.

This year’s topic is whether or not The United States government should substantially increase assistance to the Greater Horn of Africa in one of the following areas: economic development, human rights protection, or public health.

“The team will be first debating the fact that most people are not in agreement about what really constitutes the Greater Horn of Africa,” Larson said. “There are several different opinions on what counties should be in the Greater Horn of Africa.”

This topic was chosen after professors submitted ideas to the National Forensic Association. The members then selected several different topic areas, which will be used for an entire season. The membership votes on those areas, selecting one as the main topic. The Lincoln-Douglas committee sets the guidelines for the debate. A debate is broken up into several different sections, which are timed.

The debate team’s season started the second week in August and will continue until the third week in April.