Around the Inner Harbor pavilion, tourists with disposable cameras and passers-by sipping lemonade seemed stunned as they gathered to hear the teenager plead his case for why the United States should resist joining U.N. peacekeeping missions.

[Nicholas Brady] and his 15-year-old partner, Zachary Murray, took home the championship trophy after intense verbal sparring with Adam Jackson and Michael Smoot, 11th-graders from Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School.

Photo(s); 1. Zachary Murray (left), 15, a sophomore at City College, debates Adam Jackson, 17, a junior at Digital Harbor High School, during yesterday's competition in the Inner Harbor. 2. Nicholas Brady, 15, a sophomore at City College, debates the need for support of the International Criminal Court during the Urban Debate League's contest yesterday at the Inner Harbor.; Credit: BARBARA HADDOCK TAYLOR : SUN STAFF