1. Is Obama’s focus on creating green jobs hurting the ability of the U.S. economy to cure rising unemployment?
2. Has Dodd’s decision not to run for re-election prevented Connecticut’s Senate seat from falling into Republican hands?
3. Should Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab have been classified as an enemy combatant?
4. Why has the gay marriage movement failed to win victories at the ballot box?
5. Will the recent cold snap in the United States doom efforts at installing a cap and trade system?
6. If Harry Reid loses re-election in 2010 who should become Senate Majority Leader?
7. Will 3D TV be a bust?
8. Should Brit Hume be fired for his comments about Tiger Woods?
9. Does the forgiving of Harry Reid by the Democratic Party show that there is a political double standard about race?
10. Will GM be able to turn a profit in 2010?
Month: January 2010 Page 3 of 5
Here is your R&D top five for January 11th:
Maliki grasping at Shi’ite straws from the Asia Times
Mr. Smith Rewrites the Constitution (Filibusters are Unconstitutional) from the New York Times
Israel shrugs off Mitchell’s loan threat from the Christian Science Monitor
Uruguay benefiting from Argentina’s constitutional showdown from MercoPress
Terrorism Risks and ‘Timeless Problems’ from the Council on Foreign Relations
For more experienced extempers here is the short answer version of this week’s Extemp Central news quiz.
Answers will be posted on Friday. Good luck!
Here is this week’s multiple choice version of the Extemp Central news quiz.
Check back Friday for the answers!
The 2010 MBA Extemp Round Robin has concluded in Nashville, Tennessee. Dillon Huff of Southlake Carroll High School in Texas emerged victorious in the tournament for his fifth national circuit championship of the season defeating Jane Kessner of Walt Whitman High School in Maryland by a mere two ranks. Huff’s cumulative total across all ten rounds of the tournament was a 47. However, Kessner won the Exhibition Round by taking six first place ranks among the eleven student judges and going 1-1-2 from the MBA alumni panel of Jason Warren, Hunter Kendrick, and Logan Scisco. The Exhibition round was made up of questions from past NFL final rounds. As a sidenote, Huff and Kessner were the fifth and sixth place finishers in last year’s round robin.
Here are the final results:
Champion: Dillon Huff (Southlake Carroll High School, Texas)
2nd: Jane Kessner (Walt Whitman High School, Maryland)
3rd: Aaron Lutkowitz (Montgomery Bell Academy, Tennessee)
4th: Nabeel Zewail (San Marino High School, California)
5th: Gabriela Barahona (Spring High School, Texas)
6th (next out): Jacob Baker (Bellarmine College Prep, California)
All of these extempers have earned points toward the 2009-2010 National Points Race. These standings will be updated by the end of the week. Also, by the end of the week Extemp Central will release the names of the winners of our MBA pick’em contest. Extemp Central congratulates all of the Exhibition Round participants and all those invited to compete at this year’s Round Robin tournament.
All ten rounds at the 2010 MBA Extemp Round Robin have come to a close. Adam Johnson, the director of the Round Robin, has just finished announcing the five competitors who will compete in the tournament’s prestigious Exhibition Round. These five competitors have placed in the top five of the tournament, although the order is unknown. Also, the sixth place finisher at the tournament (who is not in the Exhibition Round but will be recognized at awards) will receive National Points Race points along with the top five.
Here are your participants in the 2010 MBA Extemp Round Robin. They are listed in the order that they will speak for the round with their National Points Race rank in parenthesis to the left of their name.
The last round of draw at the MBA Extemp Round Robin has just gotten underway. This is the last opportunity for competitors to earn a way into the Exhibition Round and secure their final placing in the tournament. Exhibition Round participants are set to be announced at 1:35 p.m. CST and draw for that round will commence at 1:50 p.m. CST.
The topic area for this round is the Americas.
Draw is currently underway for round 9 of 10 at the MBA Extemp Round Robin. Extempers will finish these two rounds, have a lunch break, and the Exhibition Round participants will be announced shortly after 1:30. The last round saw some changes in placing among the participants and if today is anything like past MBA tournaments it will be a day where someone who is outside of the Exhibition Round will make a charge to be in it. For these pairings each extempers National Points Race rank is identified within parenthesis to the left of their name.
The topic area for this round is Domestic Economics.
Due to some technical difficulties we were unable to post round 8 pairings when they went up. However, these were the pairings for round 8. In an interesting sidenote, the traditional “MBA line graph” has shown that many extempers are starting to flatline in their placing, with fewer fluctuations than over the first several rounds of the tournament. Also, the graph shows that five extempers have been in first place during the tournament.
Extempers draw for round 9 at 9:10 a.m. CST on Sunday. Sunday will have the last two rounds of competition and the Exhibition Round. Exhibition Round participants are scheduled to be released at 1:35 p.m. CST and it will be announced ASAP here at Extemp Central.
For these pairings, each extempers National Points Race rank is identified within parenthesis to the left of their name.
The topic area for this round was Africa & the Middle East.
After taking a poll, tournament director Adam Johnson has decided that tonight will go through round 8 instead of round 7. Also, for those wondering what was happening with the topic area in the last round it was this year’s experimental round at MBA. During this round, speakers were given an editorial and then given three prominent figures who might respond to that editorial. It was the speaker’s job to read the editorial and then choose one of the three prominent figures they were given and craft their speech along the lines of “If you were ________, how would you respond to this editorial?” Reaction among judges to the round was mixed.
The topic area for round 7 is everyone’s favorite topic area: Domestic Social.
We have two rounds left in the day! Round six draw will take place at 4:00. Each extempers National Points Race rank is identified within parenthesis to the left of their name.
The topic area for this round is Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Following lunch, the fifth round of the MBA Extemp Round Robin is getting ready to take place. This round will be followed by round six and then a refresher from 5:30-6:15 until draw for the final round of the day takes place. Each extempers National Points Race rank is identified within parenthesis to the left of their name.
The topic area for this round is Asia.
The draw for round four is currently taking and here are the subsequent pairings for that round. After this round there will be a lunch break for an hour and forty-five minutes. Draw for round five will begin at 1:45. Each extempers National Points Race rank is identified within parenthesis to the left of their name.
The topic area for this round is Domestic Politics.
It’s almost 15 minutes until draw begins to kick off day two of three of the 2010 MBA Extemp Round Robin. Today will see five rounds of competition in what is the most hectic day of the tournament. Competitors will be looking to position themselves for a strong finish tomorrow that will guarantee them a spot in the Exhibition Round. Each extempers National Points Race rank is identified within parenthesis to the left of their name.
The topic area of the round is U.S. Foreign Policy.
After finishing up round one, competitors are currently prepping for round two. This will be the last round of the first day of the tournament. Each extempers National Points Race rank is identified within parenthesis to the left of their name.
The topic area for this round will be Europe.