Month: November 2015 Page 1 of 3

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1. What changes will Congress make to No Child Left Behind?
2. Why is there so much tension in America over abortion rights?
3. Should states raise the smoking age to twenty-one?
4. Will the Supreme Court find President Obama’s executive orders on immigration constitutional?
5. Which nation in the Middle East should receive the most backing from the United States?
6. Should the Republican Party embrace protectionism?
7. Has the Obama presidency been bad for race relations?
8. Should Hawaii’s native people enjoy self-governance?
9. Would Chicago be better off if it had a vibrant two party system?
10. How can the GOP establishment stop Donald Trump?

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1. Should NATO expel Turkey?
2. Can Rafael Correa pull off a Putin-like presidential switch?
3. Is the UN’s advocacy of women’s rights hypocritical?
4. Should the international community lend more support to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters?
5. Who should Haitian voters select as their next president?
6. What steps does China need to take to reduce air pollution?
7. Did Belgium overreact to terror threats made against it?
8. What ails the European economy?
9. Will there be a major breakthrough at the Paris climate talks?
10. Is Turkey becoming an obstacle in the fight against ISIS?

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The updated standings of the 2015-2016 Extemp Central National Points Race have been posted.  These reflect the results of the New York City Invitational, the St. Mark’s Heart of Texas Invitational, the Florida Blue Key, and last week’s Glenbrooks tournament.  To access the standings, you can click on the National Points Race tab on the right of the main page or click here.

The next National Points Race competition will take place next week in Fairfax, Virginia when George Mason University hosts its Patriot Games Classic.  This will be a third tier contest and it will award 100 points to the winner.

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This year’s Glenbrooks, the first third tier tournament of the year in the National Points Race, attracted 101 competitors and Marshall Webb of Saint Mary’s Hall (TX) was this year’s champion. Webb, who was the top extemper at the St. Mark’s Heart of Texas Invitational last month, won the tournament by five ranks over Brian Xu of San Marino High School (CA).

Trinity Preparatory School (FL) had another impressive showing at a major national circuit event, placing three of its extempers in the final round. Nathaniel Saffran, the winner of the New York City Invitational last month, placed third, National Points Race leader Justin Graham took fourth, and Varun Bhatia finished fifth.

Webb will receive 100 points in the National Points Race as a result of his victory. He becomes the second extemper this year to win two national circuit tournaments. He also becomes the first Texas extemper to win the Glenbrooks since 2007, when Ian Panchevre of Tom C. Clark High School took the title.

Here are the results from the 2015 Glenbrooks (Click here for tab sheet):

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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 November 23-29, 2015.

What are the presidential candidates saying about foreign policy? Find out in our guide: https://t.co/KFDZgcDL8T pic.twitter.com/eZ33N0uuWA

— CFR (@CFR_org) November 26, 2015

France appeals directly for Britain to join Syrian war against Isis https://t.co/RDFZ8AXeHj

— The Guardian (@guardian) November 26, 2015

Donald Trump’s campaign takes a dark turn https://t.co/wpUqPUmllg pic.twitter.com/QJHcoC1aCg

— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) November 26, 2015

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At this year’s Florida Blue Key, National Points Race leader Justin Graham of Trinity Preparatory School (FL) routed the competition, decisively winning both extemp categories. Graham cruised to an easy victory in International Extemp, picket fencing the final round and defeating Jacob Levenson of Nova Senior High School (FL) by eight ranks. In United States Extemp, Graham took four of the five available first place ranks in the final round and defeated Jacob Thompson of Des Moines Roosevelt High School (IA) by six ranks.  This was the second consecutive year that Graham won the U.S. Extemp portion of the tournament.

Despite the fact that Blue Key allows for extempers to double enter, Graham and Levenson were the only extempers to final in both categories. This made the awarding of National Points Race points less clear, but the top six extempers throughout the whole tournament will receive credit. Graham will receive forty points for the tournament, thereby allowing him to add to his National Points Race lead.

Here are the results of the 2015 Florida Blue Key (Click here for tab sheet):

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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 the ASEAN Community, a formal community created on Sunday to bolster economic activity in Southeast Asia.  The ten-member bloc, which generate $2.6 trillion in yearly economic activity, reached an agreement over greater political, social, and economic integration that should provide for freer trade and capital movement throughout the region.  The ultimate goal will be to lower tariff rates to zero and make it easier for skilled professionals such as doctors, architects, and accountants to practice their craft in member states.

Asean community is here https://t.co/xHwEWPwc46

— The Star (@staronline) November 24, 2015

ASEAN leaders announce formation of Economic Community, but challenges remain https://t.co/94T6M8XQ4c

— The Japan Times (@japantimes) November 22, 2015

Latest on ASEAN summit: Southeast Asian leaders formally launch economic community https://t.co/44EqX940Ut

— The Associated Press (@AP) November 22, 2015

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While East Coast extempers were dueling it out in New York City, extempers in Texas and Oklahoma battled at the St. Mark’s Heart of Texas Invitational. This year’s tournament featured split winners in International and United States Extemp, with Micah Cash of Booker T. Washington High School (OK) winning International Extemp and Marshall Webb of Saint Mary’s Hall (TX) winning United States Extemp.

Since St. Mark’s allows extempers to compete in both categories, there was a great deal of overlap in the final rounds. Cash, Webb, Aprotim Basu-Roy of Westlake High School (TX), Ruprasri Shankar of Plano Senior High School (TX), and Neil Patel of Plano West Senior High School (TX) were those that pulled off the “St. Mark’s double.”

To determine who the top six extempers were at the tournament for National Points Race purposes, Extemp Central uses a formula that awards points for specific finishes.  Based on our calculations, Webb was the best extemper at the tournament, having won one of the categories and finishing second in another.  As a result, he will receive forty National Points Race points.

Here are the results of the 2015 St. Mark’s Heart of Texas Invitational:

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Last month, the Bronx High School of Science in New York City hosted their annual New York City Invitational Tournament and Trinity Preparatory School (FL) continued their impressive showing on the national circuit, taking the top two places. Nathaniel Saffran won his first national circuit title over the season by five ranks over Justin Graham, who won the Wake Forest National Earlybird in September. Christopher Mayer of Montville Township High School (NJ) finished in third place, eight ranks behind Saffran.

Saffran’s victory was owed largely to his impressive showing in preliminary rounds, which he exited with a score of six, and a dominating performance in his semi-final round, where he took straight 1’s. Saffran had a cumulative score of sixteen in the final round versus Graham’s eleven, but rough quarter-final and semi-final performances were too much for Graham to overcome to win the tournament.

Saffran will earn forty National Points Race points for his victory. All of the finalists earn National Points Race points with the exception of Vaikunth Balaji of Ridge High Schol (NJ), this year’s Yale champion, as he finished seventh. National Points Race points are only awarded to the top six for fifth tier tournaments.

Several extempers in the final round improved on their performances from last year’s event. Graham moved up one spot from third to second, while Charlie Barton of Regis High School (NY) and Jacob Levenson of Nova Senior High School (FL) moved from the semi-finals into the final round. Barton took fourth at the tournament, while Levenson finished sixth.

Here are the results of the 2015 New York City Invitational (Click here for tab sheet):

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Starting next Monday, more than one hundred heads of state, climate activists, international officials, and scientists will convene in Paris for negotiations on a new global climate accord that can replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.  The conference, also referred to as COP21, will aim to install oversight of carbon emission reductions by the developed (and possibly developing world) and create a framework to aid developing nations in climate mitigation efforts.  Those following environmental policy are hopeful that this conference, which has been promoted for two years, will not collapse like the Copenhagen talks did in 2009.  However, limitations facing U.S. President Barack Obama, who once dreamed of a farther reaching and legally binding climate accord, may constrain the talks since the Republican Party is likely to reject any agreement that obligates the United States to reduce its carbon emissions.  According to climate activists, the failure of the Paris talks would set the world on a dangerous path since the world is set to have its hottest year on record this year.  According to these activists the time to act on climate change has finally arrived.

This topic brief will cover the aims of those meeting at the Paris climate talks, explain some of the possible outcomes of the talks, and then provide an evaluation of how extempers should interpret whether the talks are successful.

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 Paris climate talks.

Would a Paris climate deal be legally binding on the U.S.? https://t.co/YGWqdhG1NH

— CFR (@CFR_org) November 24, 2015

Paris climate talks could leave Africa with money to embrace clean energy: https://t.co/vr9oCUdEEJ

— National Geographic (@NatGeo) November 23, 2015

The Paris climate change talks pledges are in. Will they fix anything? https://t.co/uxG1jJ92CC

— NYT Science (@NYTScience) November 25, 2015

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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 the Louisiana gubernatorial election, which was decided on Saturday.  Louisiana voters chose Democratic state representative John Bel Edwards over Republican Senator David Vitter, who entered the race as a heavy favorite.  Edwards becomes the first Democratic governor of Louisiana in more than a decade.  Vitter’s defeat was blamed on a prostitution scandal dating back to 2007, as well as the dissatisfaction Louisiana voters had for outgoing governor Bobby Jindal. After his loss, Vitter announced that he would retire from the Senate, thereby giving Republicans another seat that they will have to defend in 2016.

Louisiana gets its first Democratic governor in more than a decade https://t.co/8txgbfcCGG pic.twitter.com/cHpP32o5cL

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) November 23, 2015

5 things to know about Democrats’ stunning win in the Louisiana governor’s race https://t.co/nIBVJkDccn pic.twitter.com/SHsN4qAEOb

— Vox (@voxdotcom) November 22, 2015

Democrat Defeats David Vitter in Louisiana Governor’s Race https://t.co/BZkh8Ix34l

— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 22, 2015

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1. Is Africa the neglected battleground of the war on terrorism?
2. Should social media networks ban users with extremist views?
3. Is globalization triumphing over nationalism?
4. Will the ASEAN Community significantly improve the economies of its member states?
5. What should Nepal do to quell protests by the Madhesi movement?
6. Do George Osbourne’s budget cuts go too far?
7. What does the result of the Argentinian presidential election mean for the nation’s economic future?
8. Is China militarizing the South China Sea?
9. Should the international community sanction Bangladesh after the execution of Islamist politicians?
10. How can European leftists avoid losing political ground after the Parisian terror attacks?

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1. What should be the U.S. position at the Paris climate talks?
2. Why did Bobby Jindal’s presidential campaign fail?
3. Is leftist activism becoming a significant problem for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign?
4. Should more status reject Common Core testing?
5. Why did the Democrats win Louisiana’s gubernatorial election?
6. Should the Obama administration do more to free Jason Rezaian?
7. Is President Obama pursuing the right policy toward the Islamic State?
8. What improvements need to be made in airline security?
9. How can Democrats win over white working class voters?
10. Is George W. Bush responsible for the Islamic State?