1. Is it too late to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon?
2. Has Michelle Rhee done a good job so far in changing the Washington D.C. school system?
3. Is the stimulus bill just a pork bill in disguise?
4. Can Rwanda successfully root out the FDLR in the DRC?
5. Will Bolivia’s new constitution heal the nation’s divisions?
6. Why are sexual discrimination complaints falling?
7. Will Obama’s stance on fuel emission standards create more trouble for Detroit’s automakers?
8. Will the Obama administration be more confrontational with China than the Bush administration?
9. Will closing Gitmo be a setback in the war on terrorism?
10. How would the election of Benjamin Netanyahu as the next Israeli prime minister affect the Middle East peace process?
Month: January 2009 Page 1 of 2
1. Can the U.S. solve its energy crisis in the next 40 years?
2. Will the recently brokered truce between Israel and Hamas hold?
3. Why did the Dow plunge on inauguration day?
4. How should the Chinese government deal with rising unemployment rates?
5. Why is the Likud Party benefiting from the Gaza offensive?
6. Should the world cut off aid to Rwanda after its incursions into the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
7. Will the Fiat-Chrysler strategic alliance benefit both sides?
8. Can U.S. airlines see a turnaround in 2009?
9. Is America more or less safe than January 2001 when President Bush first became president?
10. Will Obama face more trouble from the left or the right in his first term?
Russia’s decision on January 5, 2009 to cut gas supplies to European consumers via pipelines in Ukraine has sent shockwaves throughout the European energy community. The dispute between the two countries, centering upon geopolitical issues on Russia’s western border, has plunged some European nations into a new discussion about the safety and security of Europe’s energy policy of relying on Russia for natural gas. Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin are still trying to test the West’s resolve against a somewhat resurgent Russia and are acting more aggressively now that some spots of protest has risen against their rule at home in light of the current economic problems facing the world.
Russia and Ukraine now seem to have reached a tentative deal on resuming gas supplies to Europe, with international monitors coming in to ensure that Ukraine does not siphon off Europe’s gas supply. However, there remain many conflicts that are not solved by the latest dispute, namely what Europe should do to secure a better energy future and how Ukraine will resolve its gas dispute with Russia.
This brief will explain some background on why Russia shut off gas to European consumers, what issues it brings up for Europe, and how it puts Ukraine is a very uncompromising position with Russia.
1. Will the Democrat’s decision to seat Burris cost them votes in 2010?
2. How will the federal governments projected deficit impact Barack Obama’s spending priorities?
3. Should Rudy Guiliani run for governor of New York?
4. What does the collapse of Satyam Computer Services say about Indian corporate governance?
5. Is President Bush responsible for the U.S. recession?
6. Will Taro Aso still be Japan’s prime minister by the end of 2009?
7. Would a successful Israeli invasion of Gaza bring the Israelis and Palestinians close to a peace accord?
8. Should Alvaro Uribe seek a third term as Colombia’s president?
9. What impact will Dr. Steven Chu have on America’s energy policy?
10. How can Europe best reduce its dependency on Russian natural gas supplies?
The 2009 Montgomery Bell Extemp Round Robin has concluded and here
are the final results:
1st place: Matt Arons (Millburn HS, New Jersey)
2nd place: Evan Larson (Bellarmine College Prep, California)
3rd place: Stacey Chen (North Allegheny Senior HS, Pennsylvania)
4th place: Nicholas Cugini (Cypress Ridge HS, Texas)
5th place: Dillon Huff (Southlake Carroll HS, Texas)
6th place: Jane Kessner (Walt Whitman HS, Maryland)
It took a cumulative score of 63 across ten rounds to make the Exhibition Round (the top five). The winner of the Exhibition Round was Dillon Huff.
It is interesting to also note that in rounds that were labeled as IX topic areas, Matt Arons beat the field, but in US Extemp topics Stacey Chen was the best.
The ten rounds of competition at the MBA Extemp Round Robin have been completed. Adam Johnson, the director of the MBA Extemp Round Robin, has just released the names of the Exhibition Round competitors.
Here are your Exhibition Round participants for the 2009 Round Robin. They are listed in the order that they will speak for the round:
*Stacey Chen (North Allegheny Senior HS, Pennsylvania)
*Nicholas Cugini (Cypress Ridge HS, Texas)
*Evan Larson (Bellarmine College Prep, California)
*Dillon Huff (Southlake Carroll HS, Texas)
*Matt Arons (Millburn HS, New Jersey)
The Exhibition Round will be judged by the other eleven competitors who did not make it and there will be a guest judge on the panel that is still TBA. Prep for the Exhibition Round begins in ten minutes.
In five minutes, draw for the very last preliminary round of the 2009 Montgomery Bell Extemp Round Robin will begin. The topic area for this round is U.S. Economics.
Here are the pairings for the final round of competition. Remember, that under the MBA format, this last round will determine competitors final placings of one through sixteen, with the top five competitors moving onto an Exhibition Round later this afternoon.
Section One:
Judges: Scott Baker, George Clemens, and Jon Cruz
1. Aaron Lutkowitz (Montgomery Bell Academy, Tennessee)
2. Jason Bell (Ladue Horton Watkins HS, Missouri)
3. Dillon Huff (Southlake Carroll HS, Texas)
4. Evan Larson (Bellarmine College Prep, California)
Section Two:
Judges: Tim Hogan, Sam Duby, and Logan Scisco
1. Brennan Morris (Randolph Macon Academy, Virginia)
2. Amanda Johnson (Eagan HS, Minnesota)
3. Nicholas Cugini (Cypress Ridge HS, Texas)
4. Morgan Booksh (McNeil HS, Texas)
Section Three:
Judges: Neil Conrad, Howard Miller, and Eric Melin
1. Jane Kessner (Walt Whitman HS, Maryland)
2. Rahul Sangal (Plano East HS, Texas)
3. Alex Tolkin (Newton South HS, Massachusetts)
4. Karen Zhou (Lakeville North HS, Minnesota)
Section Four:
Judges: Diane Forbes, Corey Metzman, and Tim Greenfield
1. Ryan Pereira (Nova HS, Florida)
2. Stacey Chen (North Allegheny Senior HS, Pennsylvania)
3. Matthew Arons (Millburn HS, New Jersey)
4. Alex Draime (Howland HS, Ohio)
Following the completion of this round, there will be lunch for the competitors and the Exhibition Round participants will be announced in the library at 1:35 p.m. CST. Extemp Central will release those participants as they are announced by Adam Johnson at that time, with results following later this evening.
Here are the pairings for round nine of the MBA Extemp Round Robin. The topic for this round is international relations.
Section One:
Judges: Liz Vieira, Bill Healy, and Neil Conrad
1. Dillon Huff (Southlake Carroll HS, Texas)
2. Jane Kessner (Walt Whitman HS, Maryland)
3. Brennan Morris (Randolph Macon Academy, Virginia)
4. Matthew Arons (Millburn HS, New Jersey)
Section Two:
Judges: Brian Raymond, Matt Murrell, and Dean Rhoads
1. Nicholas Cugini (Cypress Ridge HS, Texas)
2. Evan Larson (Bellarmine College Prep, California)
3. Rahul Sangal (Plano East HS, Texas)
4. Ryan Pereira (Nova HS, Florida)
Section Three:
Judges: Steve Moss, Anjan Choudhury, and Joe Vaughan
1. Alex Tolkin (Newton South HS, Massachusetts)
2. Stacey Chen (North Allegheny Senior HS, Pennsylvania)
3. Aaron Lutkowitz (Montgomery Bell Academy, Tennessee)
4. Amanda Johnson (Eagan HS, Minnesota)
Section Four:
Judges: Diane Forbes, Corey Metzman, and B.A. Gregg
1. Alex Draime (Howland HS, Ohio)
2. Karen Zhou (Lakeville North HS, Minnesota)
3. Morgan Booksh (McNeil HS, Texas)
4. Jason Bell (Ladue Horton Watkins HS, Missouri)
Starting at 7:30 p.m. CST, the MBA Extemp Round Robin begins its last day of competition. According to the rankings line graph, the top positions are still close, with lots of movement in the top ten spots. The lines from 11th-16th place are becoming more consistent, though.
Today’s competition involves three more preliminary rounds and the Exhibition Round will take place in the late afternoon. Awards is scheduled for after 4:00, and results will be posted later this evening.
Here are the pairings for round eight. The topic area will be U.S. politics.
Section One:
Judges: B.A. Gregg, Justin Seiwell, and Scott Baker
1. Morgan Booksh (McNeil HS, Texas)
2. Aaron Lutkowitz (Montgomery Bell Academy, Tennessee)
3. Jane Kessner (Walt Whitman HS, Maryland)
4. Ryan Pereira (Nova HS, Florida)
Section Two:
Judges: George Clemens, Cherian Koshy, and Dan Sheehan
1. Dillon Huff (Southlake Carroll HS, Texas)
2. Alex Tolkin (Newton South HS, Massachusetts)
3. Alex Draime (Howland HS, Ohio)
4. Nicholas Cugini (Cypress Ridge HS, Texas)
Section Three:
Judges: Jimmy Ficaro, Jason Warren, and Sam Duby
1. Jason Bell (Ladue Horton Watkins HS, Missouri)
2. Amanda Johnson (Eagan HS, Minnesota)
3. Matthew Arons (Millburn HS, New Jersey)
4. Rahul Sangal (Plano East HS, Texas)
Section Four:
Judges: Ron Kendler, Anjan Choudhury, and Eric Melin
1. Karen Zhou (Lakeville North HS, Minnesota)
2. Evan Larson (Bellarmine College Prep, California)
3. Brennan Morris (Randolph Macon Academy, Virginia)
4. Stacey Chen (North Allegheny Senior HS, Pennsylvania)
Round seven prep will begin @ 6:15 p.m. CST. The topic area will be foreign hotspots. The line graph that shows where the 16 competitors currently stand (albeit they are not aware of what line they are) shows a lot of movement in the top six places. In fact, the competitor currently sitting in first place entered today in tenth place.
Here are the round seven pairings:
Section One:
Judges: Bill Healy, Ron Kendler, and Logan Scisco
1. Amanda Johnson (Eagan HS, Minnesota)
2. Karen Zhou (Lakeville North HS, Minnesota)
3. Ryan Pereira (Nova HS, Florida)
4. Dillon Huff (Southlake Carroll HS, Texas)
Section Two:
Judges: Lisa Miller, Steve Moss, and Matt Murrell
1. Stacey Chen (North Allegheny Senior HS, Pennsylvania)
2. Jason Bell (Ladue Horton Watkins HS, Missouri)
3. Nicholas Cugini (Cypress Ridge HS, Texas)
4. Jane Kessner (Walt Whitman HS, Maryland)
Section Three:
Judges: David Tucker, Dean Rhoads, and Jim Miller
1. Rahul Sangal (Plano East HS, Texas)
2. Alex Draime (Howland HS, Ohio)
3. Aaron Lutkowitz (Montgomery Bell Academy, Tennessee)
4. Brennan Morris (Randolph Macon Academy, Virginia)
Section Four:
Judges: Scott Baker, Chris McDonald, and Liz Vieira
1. Alex Tolkin (Newton South HS, Massachusetts)
2. Morgan Booksh (McNeil HS, Texas)
3. Evan Larson (Bellarmine College Prep, California)
4. Matthew Arons (Millburn HS, New Jersey)
This is the last round of the evening. The pairings for the eighth round will be released tomorrow by 7:30 p.m. CST.
The pairings for round six (draw set to go off @ 4:30) have been released. The topic area for this round is every extemper’s favorite: U.S. Social Issues.
Here are the pairings:
Section One:
Judges: Jim Miller, Neil Conrad, and Joe Vaughan
1. Nicholas Cugini (Cypress Ridge HS, Texas)
2. Matthew Arons (Millburn HS, New Jersey)
3. Karen Zhou (Lakeville North HS, Minnesota)
4. Aaron Lutkowitz (Montgomery Bell Academy, Tennessee)
Section Two:
Judges: Steve Moss, David Tucker, and George Clemens
1. Jane Kessner (Walt Whitman HS, Maryland)
2. Amanda Johnson (Eagan HS, Minnesota)
3. Evan Larson (Bellarmine College Prep, California)
4. Alex Draime (Howland HS, Ohio)
Section Three:
Judges: Dean Rhoads, Sharon Volpe, and Erin Melin
1. Brennan Morris (Randolph Macon Academy, Virginia)
2. Jason Bell (Ladue Horton Watkins HS, Missouri)
3. Ryan Pereira (Nova HS, Florida)
4. Alex Tolkin (Newton South HS, Massachusetts)
Section Four:
Judges: Ron Kendler, Dan Sheehan, and Jon Cruz
1. Rahul Sangal (Plano East HS, Texas)
2. Dillon Huff (Southlake Carroll HS, Texas)
3. Morgan Booksh (McNeil HS, Texas)
4. Stacey Chen (North Allegheny Senior HS, Pennsylvania)
The MBA Extemp Round Robin resumes at 1:45 after lunch and the topic for round five will be U.S. foreign policy.
The topic for this year’s “experimental” (or as some say “the silly”) round concerned Obama’s administration. Extempers drew a name of a Obama cabinet appointee and had to answer a question concerning if they were that nominee what they would consider to be the biggest single greatest policy problem facing the country, how they would address it, and how they would ensure that the Obama administration made their proposal a priority.
Here are the pairings for round five (draw time @ 1:45 p.m. CST):
Section One:
Judges: Hunter Kendrick, Matthew Vansuch, and Brian Raymond
1. Jason Bell (Ladue Horton Watkins HS, Missouri)
2. Brennan Morris (Randolph Macon Academy, Virginia)
3. Morgan Booksh (McNeil HS, Texas)
4. Dillon Huff (Southlake Carroll HS, Texas)
Section Two:
Judges: Sharon Volpe, Lisa Miller, and Diane Forbes
1. Nicholas Cugini (Cypress Ridge HS, Texas)
2. Aaron Lutkowitz (Montgomery Bell Academy, Tennessee)
3. Evan Larson (Bellarmine College Prep, California)
4. Amanda Johnson (Eagan HS, Minnesota)
Section Three:
Judges: Justin Seiwell, Scott Baker, and Liz Vieira
1. Ryan Pereira (Nova HS, Florida)
2. Rahul Sangal (Plano East HS, Texas)
3. Stacey Chen (North Allegheny Senior HS, Pennsylvania)
4. Alex Tolkin (Newton South HS, Massachusetts)
Section Four:
Judges: Jim Miller, Charles Oakes, and David Tucker
1. Matthew Arons (Millburn HS, New Jersey)
2. Jane Kessner (Walt Whitman HS, Maryland)
3. Alex Draime (Howland HS, Ohio)
4. Karen Zhou (Lakeville North HS, Minnesota)
Round four prep is now underway and it is the so-called “silly” round. An explanation of what this entailed will be discussed when round five pairings are released in several hours. Past “silly” rounds have included forming a question from the New York Times, picking a world leader and writing a question, or interpreting a political cartoon.
Here are the pairings:
Section One:
Judges: Sharon Volpe, Matthew Vansuch, and Bill Healy
1. Jane Kessner (Walt Whitman HS, Maryland)
2. Nicholas Cugini (Cypress Ridge HS, Texas)
3. Rahul Sangal (Plano East HS, Texas)
4. Brennan Morris (Randolph Macon Academy, Virginia)
Section Two:
Judges: Jimmy Ficaro, Jason Warren, and David Tucker
1. Morgan Booksh (McNeil HS, Texas)
2. Karen Zhou (Lakeville North HS, Minnesota)
3. Alex Tolkin (Newton South HS, Massachusetts)
4. Amanda Johnson (Eagan HS, Minnesota)
Section Three:
Judges: Steve Moss, Logan Scisco, and Matt Murrell
1. Dillon Huff (Southlake Carroll HS, Texas)
2. Ryan Pereira (Nova HS, Florida)
3. Matthew Arons (Millburn HS, New Jersey)
4. Evan Larson (Bellarmine College Prep, California)
Section Four:
Judges: Dean Rhoads, Jon Cruz, and Eric Melin
1. Stacey Chen (North Allegheny Senior HS, Pennsylvania)
2. Alex Draime (Howland HS, Ohio)
3. Jason Bell (Ladue Horton Watkins HS, Missouri)
4. Aaron Lutkowitz (Montgomery Bell Academy, Tennessee)
It is almost time to start day two of the MBA Extemp Round Robin, with draw beginning for round three in approximately twenty-one minutes.
The topic areas extempers have had for the first three rounds of competition so far have been:
Round One: Asia
Round Two: The Bush Presidency Revisited
The upcoming round will have International Economics as its topic area. By the way, the topics have been written by Jason Warren of George Mason University.
Here are the pairings for round three (which goes off at 9:00 a.m. CST):
Section One:
Judges: Matthew Vansuch, Diane Forbes, and Sharon Volpe
1. Aaron Lutkowitz (Montgomery Bell Academy, Tennessee)
2. Morgan Booksh (McNeil HS, Texas)
3. Ryan Pereira (Nova HS, Florida)
4. Jane Kessner (Walt Whitman HS, Maryland)
Section Two:
Judges: Justin Seiwell, Anjan Choudhury, and B.A. Gregg
1. Alex Tolkin (Newton South HS, Massachusetts)
2. Dillon Huff (Southlake Carroll HS, Texas)
3. Nicholas Cugini (Cypress Ridge HS, Texas)
4. Alex Draime (Howland HS, Ohio)
Section Three:
Judges: Hunter Kendrick, Billy Healy, and Scott Baker
1. Matthew Arons (Millburn HS, New Jersey)
2. Amanda Johnson (Eagan HS, Minnesota)
3. Jason Bell (Ladue Horton Watkins HS, Missouri)
4. Rahul Sangal (Plano East HS, Texas)
Section Four:
Judges: Corey Metzman, Dan Sheehan, and Logan Scisco
1. Karen Zhou (Lakeville North HS, Minnesota)
2. Stacey Chen (North Allegheny HS, Pennsylvania)
3. Brennan Morris (Randolph Macon Academy, Virginia)
4. Evan Larson (Bellarmine College Preparatory, California)