War of words

High school debate teams Sunday clashed over age-old questions like who should care for the poor and whether teenagers accused of high crimes should be tried as adults.

But they also argued some recent arrivals, such as the value to students of the Web application, Wikipedia.

Analy High School senior Nate Rosen opined that the collaborative encyclopedia is ridden with mistakes and lacks credibility among teachers.

To prove his point, the 17-year-old from Sebastopol said he posted a submission about a nonexistent book — “My Life and Times as a Playa” — and it remained online for several weeks.

“It shows the quick and easy way out isn’t always the best,” said Rosen, part of a two-person team taking on a pair from Windsor High. “Slow and steady wins the race.”

Rosen was one of about 700 high school students competing in the Golden Gate Speech Association tournament on the Santa Rosa Junior College campus.

Twenty-seven Bay Area schools including six from Sonoma County squared off in traditional Lincoln-Douglas style debate as well as four other formats, including the fast-paced parliamentary style, in which contestants have just 20 minutes to prepare.

It was the first time in more than a decade that high school debaters converged at the junior college.

Laila McClay, debate coach and teacher at Petaluma’s St. Vincent de Paul High, said it was a welcome change from the usual long car drives her team takes to far-flung locales.

McClay, who had 20 students competing in policy debate, said the research and preparation engages students in a way they don’t normally encounter until college.

Unlike some other formats, policy debaters stick to a single question for a year and argue both sides of it.

“It takes the intellectual pursuit to a level you wouldn’t otherwise get in high school,” McClay said.

Sunday’s debates were spread among 100 different classrooms and auditoriums, running from 9 a.m. until about 5 p.m.

Dressed in business suits and dressy attire, students scrambled to matches, heavy briefcases and file boxes in tow.

St. Vincent freshman Lani Frazer and her partner, sophomore Laynie Stephens, emerged from a classroom in Emeritus Hall after matching wits with a group from Union City over social services.

“It was fun,” said Frazer, 14, who had two large plastic tubs filled with notes. “I find the topic really interesting.”

Across campus in Lark Hall Planetarium, Analy High coach Lynette Williamson’s varsity group took on the Wikipedia topic, among others.

To relieve stress in between matches, many of her 40 students played a game they called “ninja,” which had them hopping around a gymnasium taking fighting stances.

Her team won the state championship for small schools in 2008 and was hoping for a shot at another title in April. The finals will be held in Bakersfield.

Having Sunday’s tournament so close to home was a treat, she said.

“Typically, we’re on the road for two hours before a debate like this,” said Williamson, an Analy English teacher. “So my team and other Sonoma County teams have an advantage in terms of sleep.”