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After finishing runner-up at the last four major championships, Justin Graham of Trinity Preparatory School (FL) finally broke through by winning the 2016 National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL) Grand National Tournament in Sacramento, California. The tournament was never in doubt as Graham captured twelve first place ranks (of fourteen available) from octofinals through the final round, thereby turning in one of the most dominant performances in NCFL history. Benjamin Hoffner-Brodsky of Davis Senior High School (CA) took advantage of the home field conditions and placed second.
Aside from Graham, Samhitha Sunkara of Ardrey Kell High School (NC) reached the NCFL final round for the second consecutive season. Sunkara finished three spots better than last year, ending the tournament in third place.
Trinity Preparatory continued its run of solid performances in recent years, placing two competitors in finals. Along with Graham, Varun Bhatia of Trinity made it into the final round and placed sixth.
Kevin Bi of East Ridge High School (MN) and Justin Kang of Syosset High School (NY) rounded out the final round, placing fourth and fifth, respectively. It was the first national final round appearance for both competitors.
All of the competitors that reached the quarter-final round will receive National Points Race points. Graham will receive 100 points for his victory and he created more separation between himself and rivals Vaikunth Balaji of Ridge High School (NJ) and Marshall Sloane of Milton Academy (MA). Balaji and Sloane were both eliminated in the quarter-final round. Balaji is the only competitor that can catch Graham in this year’s points race, but all Graham has to do at next week’s National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) National Tournament is clear to octofinals to clinch the title.
Here are the results of the 2016 NCFL Grand National Tournament (Click here for tab sheet):
s a list of all our old quizzes, 
For the last thirty-two years Turkey has been in conflict with Kurdish separatists. These separatists, of which the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is most prominent, desire to create an autonomous Kurdish republic, arguing that Turkey represses Kurdish culture. In fact, the Kurds are the world’s largest ethnic group that lacks a state, with peoples scattered across Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria. Since 1984, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 20,000 soldiers and civilians and although some Turkish governments have attempted to solve the conflict, either to create more domestic stability or win favor with the European Union (EU), the conflict has resumed due to disputes over Turkey’s handling of the Islamic State and the Turkish government’s crackdown on Kurdish activists. Human Rights Watch has criticized both sides for violating the rights of civilians and combatants, and ending the conflict is in the Turkish government’s best interest for the sake of its international reputation and economy.
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Although Americans enjoy a privilege that billions of people in the world do not currently enjoy, a sizable number of them decide not to exercise it each year. This privilege is voting. Since 1828 Americans have had the opportunity to directly influence the outcome of the presidential election and popular participation in elections had been a hallmark of American history since the colonial period (although the economic, racial, and gender groups that could partake in voting has been expanded since that time). In 2012, 55% of Americans cast ballots, but this is well short of 1960s numbers where more than 60% of eligible Americans cast ballots. When it comes to midterm and off-year elections, even fewer Americans participate. For example, in 2014 only 36.4% of voters participated, which was the lowest turnout for a midterm election in seventy years. Finding a lasting solution to voter apathy, which appears to be on the rise as a Hillary Clinton-Donald Trump presidential campaign is taking shape, will likely be easier said than done, but there are some creative ideas for fixing American attitudes about the political process.