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Extemp Central’s analysis of the thirteen International and United States Extemp topic areas that will be used at the 2015 National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) National Tournament will be released on Monday. The analysis, which runs more than seventy pages, is written by Logan Scisco (2003 U.S. Extemp final round winner; coach of 2008 International Extemp finalist) and will discuss issues extempers should be aware of for each topic area, provide strategy tips and a recommendation of sources to utilize, and five practice questions to help your preparation of each area for the national tournament.
You can pre-order your copy at SpeechGeek Market. The cost is $20, but for $5 more you can purchase a premium subscription and get the topic area analysis and all of the premium content topic briefs for this season, last season, and more!
If you are an Extemp Central premium subscriber, this topic area analysis will be free for you and will be posted to the “premium content” section of the website. The topic area analysis will serve as next week’s premium topic brief. Two more premium content topic briefs will be released for this season on June 9 and June 13 (the June 13 release is to provide extempers heading to NSDA with one more helpful topic brief before the tournament begins on June 15).
Since December, American agricultural authorities have been wrestling with an outbreak of bird flu. Three strains of bird flu have affected the North American poultry industry and have thus far led to the culling of 38.9 million birds in the United States, twice the number of a major outbreak that took place three decades ago. The Pacific Northwest and the Midwest have been the regions most significantly impacted by the outbreak and Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa have been forced to declare states of emergency. Scientists are not yet sure what is causing the outbreak, but the leading theory is that migratory birds might be spreading various strains of the virus. Although there is no threat to American public health at this time, health officials are remaining alert to any bird-to-human transmission of avian influenza, which took place in Asia in 2003. Due to the fact that the recent outbreak will raise consumer prices of egg-related food products in the short-term, that U.S. taxpayers will be paying millions in relief to poultry farmers, and handling the problem will test the leadership of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, extempers that specialize in domestic issues should be aware of the recent bird flu problem.
Here is today’s premium R&D to accompany 
