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Here is day two of our participant capsules for this year’s Montgomery Bell Extemp Round Robin in Nashville, Tennessee. Check back tomorrow for a poll, where you can cast your vote for who you think will win this year’s tournament!
Month: December 2014 Page 1 of 4
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Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
To access a list of all our old quizzes, click here.
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Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete! Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.
This R&D breaks down the new Republican Congress. The new Congress will meet for the first time on January 6. Republicans will enjoy their largest House majority in more than eight decades and they will enjoy a 54-46 advantage in the Senate. Analysts foresee possible areas of cooperation between the Congress and President Obama on trade and tax policy in the coming years.
Republicans Sort Their Priorities For The New #Congress @nprnews http://t.co/GPjX70aR81
— NPR Politics (@nprpolitics) December 29, 2014
Get ready for the 114th Congress with our definitive guide to the new members: http://t.co/bJzV2qUOEc @CQnow
— Roll Call (@rollcall) December 28, 2014
What does a Republican-led Congress mean for President Obama? The veto pen. http://t.co/K2oLjQTAHO
— U.S. News (@usnews) December 29, 2014
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The Montgomery Bell Academy Extemp Round Robin will take place this weekend in Nashville, Tennessee. The tournament invites the best extemporaneous speakers in the country and is one of the four major extemporaneous speaking tournaments. The winner will receive 150 points in the National Points Race since MBA is one of two second tier events on the national circuit calendar.
There will be a different winner of this year’s Round Robin. Lily Nellans of Des Moines Roosevelt High School (IA) won the last three Round Robins and her graduation last spring ensures that this year will feature a new tournament champion. Last year, Nellans survived the sternest test to her winning streak, as she came from behind on the final day to catch Josh Wartel of Lake Braddock Secondary School (VA) and proceeded to defeat him in the tournament’s Exhibition Round. Wartel returns to this year’s competition seeking the title that he came so close to winning last year.
This year’s MBA field features six returning competitors, including one Exhibition Round participant (Wartel), the winners of eight 2014-2015 Extemp TOC qualifying tournaments, five state champions, and eight of the top ten competitors in the National Points Race. Three extempers represent schools from Texas and Florida, giving both states the most representatives in this year’s competition. There is only one female extemper in the field as well – Phoebe Lin of Plano West Senior High School (TX).
Glenbrooks champion Jack Glaser of George Washington High School (CO), Yale and New York City Invitational winner Jasper Primack of Newton South High School (MA), and two-time California United States Extemp champion and NSDA finalist Brian Yu of Monte Vista High School (CA) all declined bids to this year’s tournament due to prior commitments.
Today and tomorrow, Extemp Central will provide brief capsules for each of the sixteen extempers invited to participate in this year’s MBA Round Robin. The capsules have been arranged in alphabetical order.
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As 2014 draws to a close, one of the biggest news stories is the growing American economy. While the U.S. economy officially exited from the Great Recession in June 2009, Americans have remained pessimistic. They worry about whether the economy will continue to be robust for future generations, how there are still a large number of part-time workers that wish they could work full-time, and the impact of globalization and immigration on job growth. Last week, the Commerce Department revised its third quarter numbers for America’s gross domestic product (GDP). It found that the economy grew by 5% between July and September, which is the largest quarter of economic growth that the country has experienced since 2003. A rise in exports, falling oil prices, and enhanced consumer spending accounted for the figure and economists are optimistic that America’s economy is heading toward a period of sustainable growth. Since extempers will face questions about the U.S. economy several times at various tournaments in the second semester, Extemp Central thought it was proper to provide a topic brief breaking down America’s economic performance in 2014 and assess its prospects for 2015.
This topic brief will discuss America’s economic growth in 2014, analyze its prospects for 2015, and provide a brief discussion of how an improved economy could affect the country’s political climate for the next two years. In each section, this brief will provide advice on how to tackle questions about the U.S. economy.
Readers are also encouraged to use the links below and in the related R&D to bolster their files about this topic.
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Here is today’s premium R&D to accompany today’s premium topic brief on the state of the U.S. economy (2014).
The U.S. economy closed out 2014 with its best momentum in 11 years http://t.co/jjLPCv5Bcb
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) December 28, 2014
Wherein @JustinWolfers nails the big questions hanging over the economy in 2015. http://t.co/6BxtPk5wqL
— Neil Irwin (@Neil_Irwin) December 29, 2014
Walsh: Obama’s rosy outlook for the #economy ignores middle-class reality http://t.co/peBOTXZoBn pic.twitter.com/QXm5CV6eBb
— U.S. News (@usnews) December 29, 2014
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1. Can the Honduran military solve the nation’s crime problem?
2. Is the AU’s mission in Somalia failing?
3. Should Laos dam the Mekong?
4. Does the EU need to establish a single market for services?
5. Is the world winning the fight against child labor?
6. Should German politicians ignore Pegida?
7. Does Nicaragua need a canal?
8. Should Pakistan re-impose a moratorium on the death penalty?
9. Does Jordan’s fight against ISIS threaten King Abdullah’s rule?
10. Will the euro zone crisis return in 2015?
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1. Should House Republicans move to expel Michael Grimm?
2. Are racial tensions rising in the United States?
3. What should be the top three priorities of the incoming Republican Congress?
4. Did the Supreme Court rule appropriately in Heien v. North Carolina?
5. Why does President Obama have a poor approval rating among military personnel?
6. Should the Federal Reserve raise interest rates before April?
7. How can the U.S. increase the number of start up firms?
8. Should the U.S. give Guantanamo Bay back to Cuba?
9. How can Bill de Blasio repair his relationship with the NYPD?
10. Can the Republicans win the presidency if there is a strong economy by 2016?
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Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete! Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.
Here is our weekly survey of news stories to round out the week of December 15th-21st, 2014.
Obama Addresses Afghan War’s End on Christmas Visit http://t.co/ak23pSDAvE
— NYT National News (@NYTNational) December 26, 2014
Haiti nominates seasoned opposition leader to PM post as country awaits long delayed elections: http://t.co/vpPCbWLO25
— The Associated Press (@AP) December 26, 2014
5 things you need to know about Cuba’s economy as the U.S. resets relations: http://t.co/QKtuIqJmFO pic.twitter.com/vArhmy8Hea
— Real Time Economics (@WSJecon) December 26, 2014
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Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete! Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.
This R&D covers New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s strained relationship with the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Officers in the NYPD are reportedly upset with de Blasio for a lack of support after a grand jury refused to indict officers in the death of Eric Garner and some blame him for the deaths of two officers, who were killed by an anti-cop assailant last Saturday.
Bill de Blasio is not the first New York mayor to wrangle with the police http://t.co/aHLu4e2sa7
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 24, 2014
De Blasio’s nightmare: New York’s mayor has lost the police — and maybe much more than that. http://t.co/mlAZH7MXB5
— POLITICO (@politico) December 23, 2014
After the killings, Bill de Blasio and Bill Bratton now have the most critical relationship in New York: http://t.co/ZoFBN6PPWM
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) December 24, 2014
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Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
To access a list of all our old quizzes, click here.
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Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete! Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.
This R&D provides resources on Ukraine’s ongoing war in Donbass. The country has been fighting separatists in the eastern cultural region of Donbass since March. The fighting has largely resulted in a stalemate, as Russian forces have been supplying aid to the separatist forces. The West supports the Ukrainian government, but human rights groups have criticized President Petro Poroshenko for embargoing Donbass, saying that it will starve the people living there and leave people without adequate energy for the winter.
Ukraine threatens to cut off power to rebel-held regions unless they adhere to usage limits: http://t.co/obesm41Qkg pic.twitter.com/A016hLuFYK
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) December 22, 2014
As fine a piece of journalism as you’ll find, Harding’s piece on Ukraine has the vividness & compassion of a novel. http://t.co/MCN1fEmYk5
— NEIL | PRIMROSE (@Neil_in_Norfolk) December 23, 2014
1.7m children in #Ukraine suffering from conflict & harsh winter cold http://t.co/hbOG2nDWnX via @CNN
— UNICEF (@UNICEF) December 23, 2014
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Since 1960, the United States has maintained an economic embargo on Cuba, an island nation just ninety miles off the coast of Florida. The embargo was an instrument of Cold War policymaking, as Cuba became a communist nation under Fidel Castro and seized American economic assets without compensation. Even after the Cold War ended, the United States maintained the embargo as a political instrument in hopes of weakening the Castro regime. However, in the 1990s and 2000s, the embargo came to be seen by other Latin American nations as an unjust extension of American imperialism and some pundits allege that the embargo came to isolate the United States from the rest of the Western Hemisphere just as much as the embargo isolated Cuba from the American mainland. Last week, President Obama announced that he was taking executive action to weaken the long standing Cuban embargo and that he would move to normalize relations with Cuba. The President’s action received bipartisan support from those who believe that the embargo harms America’s relations with other Latin American nations, yet also received bipartisan criticism for rewarding a dictatorial regime that abuses the rights of its citizens. The President’s actions have forced 2016 presidential contenders such as Hillary Clinton, Rand Paul, Jeb Bush, and Marco Rubio to weigh in on the issue and depending on how well the President’s normalization push goes, it could become a significant issue in the Republican presidential primaries and the 2016 general election.
This topic brief will highlight some of the important steps taken to get Cuba and the United States to the negotiating table, discuss what actions President Obama will take to weaken the embargo, and the political impact that normalizing Cuban relations may have over the next two years, especially with regards to presidential politics.
Readers are also encouraged to use the links below and in the related R&D to bolster their files about this topic.
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Here is today’s premium R&D to accompany today’s premium topic brief on normalizing U.S.-Cuban relations.
Ted Piccone: On #Cuba, Obama goes long and Castro holds on: http://t.co/BGh1s59hSv pic.twitter.com/ruGgM06iDE
— Brookings FP (@BrookingsFP) December 22, 2014
The overlooked part of the US thaw with Cuba is Cuba’s leaders are enthusiastic about it. A marked change from past. http://t.co/632Rl2PQiz
— Daniel Drezner (@dandrezner) December 22, 2014
Why it’s too early to celebrate the Cuba deal: http://t.co/sBDLcFnGMW pic.twitter.com/MzZP9N4o4K
— Foreign Affairs (@ForeignAffairs) December 22, 2014
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1. How should the Department of Education rate colleges and universities?
2. What should be the Democrats economic message in 2016?
3. Is Illinois America’s Greece?
4. Will state lawsuits against Colorado end its marijuana legalization experiment?
5. Is “high value targeting” an ineffective way to fight terrorist groups?
6. Should the U.S. continue to provide defense equipment to Taiwan?
7. In light of falling oil prices, is the Keystone pipeline still needed?
8. Should a history of mental illness bar citizens from owning a firearm?
9. Did Sony Pictures make the right decision to pull “The Interview”?
10. Will normalizing relations with Cuba improve the United States’ standing with other Latin American nations?