(January 27, 2003) On Feb. 4 history teachers Ira West and Nick Doom will debate the topic of a possible war in Iraq. The debate will occur during first block in either Clark’s TV production studio or the auditoria. Not everyone will be able to view the taped debate so it will be shown at tutorial also. The setting for the debate will be announced at a later date. The idea of the debate began when West was discussing his views at lunch. Students and teachers wanted to hear more about his views—as well as Doom’s— and encouraged them to participate in a debate. The Junior Statesmen Club will attend a political convention Feb. 21-22 at the Sheraton Hotel in Los Angeles. At the convention, members from the club will meet with other high schools from all over Southern California in order to enact a mock House of Representatives and Senate debate. The topics of debate will revolve around bills to be proposed at the convention. Currently, members of the Junior Statesmen Club have invented bills regarding environmental concerns, the equal distribution of money between poor and rich schools and various issues regarding foreign affairs. Freshman Tatev Abrahamyan won the annual K-12 Chess Championship held in Atlanta, Georgia Dec. 13-15. The competition was sponsored by the Georgia Chess Association and included over 2000 students from all over the U.S. Abrahamyan was one of 100 freshmen who competed. The games were played under the rule of elimination, and Abrahamyan played a total of six games to get to the highest place. She said, “It was hard, but it was worth it. I was so happy and excited when I first won the first place.”