DEBATING, NEW STYLE

The Harvard-Chicago debate of last Saturday bids fair to revolutionize in great measure the future of inter-collegiate debating. That the debate was broadcast on a national radio book-up is important, but the real significance of the occasion lies in the fact that the two teams debated at a distance of one thousand miles. From 'he success of this experiment it is seen that the old limitations of debating are no longer valid.

In the development of modern university life debating has hitherto suffered through lack of interest. It has not been able to keep pace with changing conditions. Now the use of the radio offers a new opportunity. The vast audience that can be reached through the radio should provide ample stimulus for fresh interest in forensic competition. As a result responsibility devolves on college debaters to maintain a standard of general interest in the choice of their subjects.

For Harvard debating, besides the enlargement of the audience, there is the noteworthy fact that the radio spreads the range of possible competition. Financial limitation has in the past prevented the University teams from meeting some desirable distant opponents. Under the old conditions many first-rate universities were unable to guarantee the expenses of visiting debaters, and Harvard was forced to accept offers from second-rate colleges willing for various reasons to provide the necessary guarantee.

Radio debating necessitates a new technique. Emphasis will naturally center on the expression of personality through the medium of the voice alone in an attempt to replace the loss of the visible element. But this fact should serve as an added attraction to increase activity in debating.

Considered as a whole, the possibilities revealed in Saturday's debate are such as to be welcomed enthusiastically by followers of Harvard debating. This year for the first time the University team is receiving a small subsidy. If the radio opens a new field for this form of inter-collegiate competition, its success at Harvard will necessarily depend on the official recognition of the financial dependence of debating on the University.