1. Did the U.S. effectively respond to the attack on military personnel in Jordan?
2. Does Florida’s attempt to ban children from social media violate the First Amendment?
3. How will RNC cash flow problems affect its ability to contest the 2024 elections?
4. Why have America’s immigration policies failed?
5. Has the Biden administration asked too little of Mexico?
6. Should Sinema seek re-election?
7. Have America’s schools effectively dealt with COVID-19 “learning loss”?
8. Should Robert Kennedy, Jr. seek the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination?
9. Is Alejandro Mayorkas becoming a political liability for the White House?
10. Should the U.S. federal government subsidize America’s newspaper industry?
Month: February 2024
1. How should Mexico transition to cleaner energy sources?
2. What role should Japan play in a future space race?
3. Will corruption scandals bring down Gustavo Petro?
4. What is to blame for Europe’s economic stagnation?
5. Is Palestinian political dysfunction the biggest impediment to the creation of a Palestinian state?
6. Does the European Union need to do more for Ukraine?
7. Can China successfully bend the global order to its will in the next decade?
8. How can Great Britain fix its housing shortage?
9. Will gang violence in Latin America lead to more Bukeles?
10. How much credit does Modi deserve for India’s economic success?
Updated standings for the 2023-2024 Extemp Central National Points Race have been released. Check them out by clicking here or the “Natl Points Race” tab above.
The new standings are updated to reflect the James Logan MLK Invitational and the Barkley Forum. Each was a fourth tier tournament.
The next National Points Race competition will take place this weekend at the Apple Valley Minneapple Speech Tournament. This is the first year that the Minneapple will be a National Points Race event and it will be a fifth tier competition for extempers in the Midwest.
#9 Katherine Lee of Plano West Senior High School was the highest ranked competitor in the field and she lived up to her ranking, winning the tournament by nine ranks. Lee took four of the five available first place ranks in the final round, defeating Skyler Burrus of American Heritage School – Palm Beach (FL).
The victory was Lee’s second of the season as she was the winner of the International Extemp half of the University of Texas-Longhorn Classic in early December.
#13 Charlotte Reitman of the University School (FL) notched her third top three placing in a National Points Race event in as many final round appearances. Reitman tied Burrus in the final round with a 17 rank composite score but lost a judges preference tiebreaker 3-2.
Southern competitors made up the bottom half of the final round. Noah Darby of St. Thomas More Catholic High School (LA) was fourth, Al Zaidi of Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy (FL) was fifth, and Charlie Hui of Westwood High School (TX) was sixth. Darby finished three ranks ahead of Zaidi and Hui and Zaidi earned a fifth place tiebreak through another 3-2 judges decision.
Plano West maintained its strong record on the national circuit, placing three competitors in the top 12. No other school matched that mark or had more than one competitor reach semi-finals.
Lee will earn 70 points toward the National Points Race for winning, and all of the competitors who reached the semi-final round will be credited with points. New National Points Race standings will go up tomorrow.
Here are the results of the 2024 Barkley Forum (Click here for tab sheet):