Here are the results from the Lake Travis Cavalier Classic, held at Lake Travis High School on September 11th.
United States Extemp
Champion: Ariela Schnyer (Anderson High School)
2nd: Emily Guthrie (Westlake High School)
3rd: Divya Ramamoorthy (Westwood High School)
4th: Lindsey Butler (Hendrickson High School)
5th: Ellen Hense (Pflugerville High School)
6th: Aparna Singh (Westwood High School)
Here are the results from the Louis D. Brandeis Fallen Heroes Forensic Forum Tournament held at Brandeis High School on September 11th.
United States Extemp
Champion: Sydney Scott (Claudia Taylor “Lady Bird Johnson” High School)
2nd: Griffin Rubin (Saint Mary’s Hall High School)
3rd: Rohit Chandan (MacArthur High School)
4th: Nick Schaedel (Sandra Day O’Connor High School)
5th: Shareen Woody (Reagan High School)
6th: Alec Gray (MacArthur High School)
Here are the results from the Keller Central Tournament, which was held on September 11th.
U.S. Extemp
Champion: Paul Samuel (Southlake Carroll High School)
2nd: Xinjie Luo (Flower Mound High School)
3rd: Megan Schippmann (Southlake Carroll High School)
4th: Matthew Gmitro (Flower Mound High School)
5th: Eduardo Reyes (Mayde Creek High School)
6th: Kelsie Rogers (Royse City High School)
Here are the results from the Elkins High School Tournament that took place on September 10th-11th.
United States Extemp
Champion: Grayson Clark (Lamar Consolidated High School)
2nd: Alex Abston (Northland Christian School)
3rd: Maggie Zhou (Clements High School)
4th: Nikita Kansra (Travis High School)
5th: Michael Bodiford (ClearBrook High School)
6th: Drew Heugel (Lamar Consolidated High School)
7th: Lynn Phan (Alief Taylor High School)
8th: Karan Somaiya (Hightower High School)
Here is your R&D for September 13th:
China, Japan, America from the New York Times
America’s trade relationship with China has been a contentious political issue for quite some time. In this New York Times op-ed piece, Paul Krugman writes that it is finally time for America to get tough on China’s trade practices.
Republican leader hints at tax concession from the Financial Times of London
Noticing the detrimental impact to the economy if the impasse over the Bush tax cuts is not resolved, House Minority Leader John Boehner says that he is open to extending only the middle class portion of the tax cuts if that is all that President Obama offers.
South Korea Offers Aid to North from the Wall Street Journal
Despite issuing a final report that blames North Korea for sinking a South Korean warship in March, South Korea has offered $10 million in assistance to North Korea to deal with recent flooding. Find a quick overview of the report here.
Here is the multiple choice version of this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Pick well and good luck!
The final results of the Wake Forest National Early Bird are in. In a final round that was dominated by North Carolina extempers, Isabelle Taft of Henry W. Grady High School in Georgia emerged victorious and claimed the first national circuit championship of the year. This is the second consecutive victory by a female extemper at the Wake Forest National Early Bird and the first time that an extemper from the state of Georgia has won a recognized national circuit extemp championship. Nathaniel Donahue of Durham Academy in North Carolina, who finished third at Yale last year and was on Extemp Central’s pre-season top ten list, took second.
Extemp Central thanks Dr. Steve Moss for providing updates from the tournament this weekend.
The semi-finals of the 2010 Wake Forest National Early Bird have concluded and the six extempers who will compete in tomorrow’s final round on Wake Forest’s campus have been announced. All of these extempers will earn points in the National Points Race for themselves and their respective schools. Judges for the final round are not known at this time.
Extemp Central thanks Dr. Steve Moss for providing live updates from the tournament.
Thanks to Dr. Steve Moss, Extemp Central has the names of the extempers who made semi-finals at the 2010 Wake Forest National Early Bird, the first tournament that will count in the 2010-2011 Extemp Central National Points Race.
Check out the sectioning for semi-finals after the jump. Since Wake Forest is a fifth tier tournament, only those extempers who make finals will receive National Points Race points.
by Logan Scisco
In the United States, the Democratic Party is attempting to paint the Republican Party as mean spirited and warning voters that if the Republicans take control of Congress this November they will privatize Social Security. This tactic is meant to rally elderly voters, who vote more than any other group, to the polls on Election Day. Social Security is referred to as the third rail in American politics because it is such a deadly issue for politicians to confront. However, all experts agree that without changes in its structure, Social Security and America’s dreams of a government pension in old age are likely to go the way of the dodo.
Like the United States, government pensions were seen by European nations and their citizenry as sacred trusts whereby the government would provide for elderly citizens in their old age. Politicians who dared question the sustainability and cost of these pension programs were seen as anti-elderly and insensitive. However, rising budget deficits and crushing national debt burdens have finally forced European nations to deal with their aging populations. Some, like Great Britain, are confronting the problem voluntarily while others like Greece have been forced to reform their generous pension systems.
Here is your R&D for September 10th:
Roma expulsions must stop now, MEPs tell France from the UK Telegraph
The European Parliament has requested that France stop its forced deportations of Roma back to their home nations. Although parliament can’t force France to stop the deportations, it may be a precursor to stronger action that can be taken by the European Commission.
Amnesty International Criticizes Extension of U.S. Sanctions on Cuba from the Latin American Herald Tribune
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has critized the Obama administration’s decision to extend U.S. economic sacntions against Cuba for another year.
Serbia backs compromise U.N. resolution on Kosovo from Reuters
The status of Kosovo remains a controversial issue in the international community. Find out where things stand on Kosovo and how the European Union is impacting Serbian-Kosovo ties in this article.
Rahm Emanuel begins to test the waters from Politico
Will White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel be the next mayor of Chicago? He’s reportedly testing the waters for a run after Mayor Richard Daley announced earlier in the week that he would not seek another term.
US pastor cancels burning of Koran after mosque ‘deal’ from the Irish Times
Pastor Terry Jones has called off his plan to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of September 11th after reportedly working out a compromise with Imam Muhammad Musri that will lead to the relocation of the planned mosque site two blocks from Ground Zero. However, other sources say that there are no plans to relocate the mosque.
Here are the answers for this week’s news quiz. Good luck to those extempers competing at the Wake Forest National Early Bird and elsewhere around the country this weekend.
by Logan Scisco
Last month, Extemp Central revealed the tournaments that will make up this year’s Extemp Central National Points Race. Unlike last year, no tournaments were dropped from the National Points Race, although George Mason University Patriot Games and the Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions switched tiers. The decision to keep the California Invitational in the fifth tier aroused criticism, but the placement decisions are final for the 2010-2011 season. Any changes in the California Invitational’s position, as well as that of any other tournament, will take place after the National Forensic League (NFL) National Speech and Debate Tournament in June.
Here is your R&D for September 9th:
Imam Says Moving Center Could Embolden Radicals from the New York Times
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who is behind plans to build the controversial mosque two blocks from Ground Zero, says that if the mosque is not built it will create a security problem for America.
Fidel Castro says Cuban model doesn’t work from the Associated Press
In a startling revelation, former Cuban President Fidel Castro told a visiting American journalist that Cuba’s communist model is a failure. Find out facts about the Cuban economy in this article.
Americans Support Federal Involvement in Education from Gallup
By an eight point margin, Americans support more federal involvement in education. The poll shows that parents of children in school are more supportive of more active government role.
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