Local News in Brief : CSUN Student Named to Debate Soviets

A20-year-old student at California State University, Northridge was named to a three-person American debate team that will tour the Soviet Union in April, CSUN officials announced Tuesday.

Jamie Goferman, a Russian immigrant who came to this country 12 years ago, will join two Harvard University students on the squad that will debate Soviet university students. The topic for the series of debates, to be held in Moscow, Leningrad and Kiev, is the proper relationship between government and the media.

To qualify for the trip, applicants must be fluent in Russian because the debates will be conducted in that language. Goferman, a member of the CSUN debating team, is the only member of the team with debate experience, said Patricia Ganer, one of the judges who selected the American team.

Team members were selected by the Speech Communications Assn., an organization that oversees college debate programs. In addition to sponsoring the Soviet tour, the group sponsors American debate teams that tour and compete in England and in Japan.