The British are coming to UNLV!

The British International Debate Team - a team composed of two of the top debaters in the world - will face off with two members of UNLV's squad at an audience-centered demonstration debate at UNLV on Sept. 16.

"We're thrilled that our team was chosen to be one of the teams to debate this great British pair," said Barb Pickering, UNLV's director of forensics. "It's an honor to be chosen as part of their U.S. collegiate tour.

"I'm sure the demonstration debate will be both informative and entertaining for our audience," Pickering said. The specific topic of the debate has not yet been chosen, but possibilities range from religious freedom to American political events.

The debate is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the ballroom of the Moyer Student Union. It is free and open to the public. The local event is being hosted by the UNLV forensics program and UNLV's Greenspun School of Communication.

UNLV will be the first stop for the British team as it begins a two-month tour of 29 universities and colleges around the nation. The tour is sponsored by the American Forensics Association, which each year sponsors a U.S. tour by an international team.

The British team is composed of Stephen Magee, the fifth-ranked debater in the world, and Simone Murray, who is ranked ninth.

Magee, a graduate of the University of Edinburgh with a degree in English literature, won the 1996 John Smith Mace National British Debating Competition Championships and was the winner of the 1996 Scotsman Competition. He also was a finalist in the 1996 World Debating Championships.

Murray, who is studying for a Ph.D. in English at University College London, was the winner of the 1996 European Debating Competition. She also was a quarter-finalist at the 1996 World Debating Championships.

Debating for UNLV will be Rick Kimbrough, a sophomore from San Antonio, and Steve Robertson, a senior from Riverside, Calif. Both men qualified for and competed in the 1996 U.S. National Debate Tournament, which was held at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. Both Kimbrough and Robertson are majoring in communication studies.

For additional information about the demonstration debate or the debaters, call Rosie Mays, assistant director of forensics at UNLV, at (702) 895-4643.