Santa Ana : Kirkpatrick, Young Debate Policy Tonight

City officials are hoping for a lively point-counterpoint session tonight when former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Jeane Kirkpatrick and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young debate American foreign policy to open the Great American Talk Festival.

The four-day, city-sponsored linguistic celebration will also feature a talk by “Megatrends” author John Naisbitt on Wednesday night, actor Tony Randall on Thursday and educator Marva Collins, who will close out the event Friday. The festival will be held at Santa Ana High School’s auditorium, 520 W. Walnut St., beginning with the 7 p.m. meeting of Kirkpatrick and Young, who is also a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Chapman College President G.T. (Buck) Smith will moderate tonight’s debate, which is expected to cover a wide range of issues from Central America to the Soviet Union and the Middle East. Co-sponsors of the festival are the League of Women Voters, Rancho Santiago and Chapman colleges, the World Trade Assn., the county Republican and Democratic parties and Sherman Clay Pianos.

Naisbitt, who heads the Naisbitt Group, a Washington think tank that predicts social, economic and political trends, will speak on “Re-inventing the Corporation” Wednesday. Randall, a replacement for the late actor Orson Welles, will discuss the entertainment industry, and Collins, who was recently featured on “60 Minutes,” will discuss the state of U.S. public education and her successes in educating inner-city Chicago children.

Tickets are $15 for the Kirkpatrick-Young debate, $10 for Naisbitt and Randall and $5 for Collins.