Five students will represent the University of Oviedo in the Inter-University Debating League organised by the G9 and which will take place next 1st and 2nd March in the Asturian academic institution. The University Auditorium was the scenario, last Friday, for the selection of the team which will compete with the rest of Universities participating in the final. Three multidisciplinary teams competed for the representation of the Asturian institution. Finally, the chosen were: María Lema Villanueva, Óscar Barros González, Sergio Brea García and Abel Higuera Acebo, and now a new member from the other finalist teams will be selected.

During three hours, the university students discussed opposing views about "Is transgenic food the universal panacea against hunger?", a topic chosen for the 2012 Edition of the Inter-University Debating League. A jury constituted by the Vice-rector for University Extension, Culture and Sport, Vicente Domínguez; the area director of Cultural Activities, Marta Pérez Toral; and the lecturer at the Department of Asturian Philology, Rafael Núñez Ramos, was in charge of choosing the winning team.

The teams participating in this phase were trained in the Debating Room of the University Extension Cultural Centre some months in advance. The IV Edition of the Debating League, in which the universities from the G9 participate, will be held next 1st March in LAUDEO, the University Extension Cultural Centre, and the final will be held in the Conference Room of the Principality of Asturias. This significant event is sponsored by the General Assembly of the Principality of Asturias and Cajastur.

The Debating League aims to promote the public debate among students and discuss opposing views as a coexistence exercise as well as to develop personal skills of information search, analysis, oral expression, listening competence, team work and speed of answer.

Throughout two days, the student teams from the different universities will face one another to debate on a topic chosen by the host University in the final. In the confrontations, echa team is announced, with a few seconds in advanced, the stand it has to take, for or aganist, and this assignment is the result of a drawing. So if they overcome the different phases, it is likely that one team will have to take both stands.

The winning team will receive a 3,000 euro prize, whereas the second classified will be given 2,000 euros. There will also be a 450 euro prize for the best speaker.