1. If Donald Trump is convicted of a felony before the Republican National Convention, should the GOP nominate a different candidate?
2. Are growing campus protests over Israel’s war in Gaza becoming a major headache for President Biden’s re-election effort?
3. How can Elon Musk reverse the decline of Tesla’s stock price?
4. Does President Biden have a problem with Hispanic voters?
5. Will the Supreme Court crack down on ghost guns in Garland v. VanDerStok?
6. Has the Affordable Care Act failed to make healthcare more affordable?
7. Should colleges reclassify athletes as employees of their respective institutions?
8. How should the Supreme Court rule on former President Donald Trump’s immunity claims?
9. Should the Federal Reserve increase its inflation target to 3%?
10. Is the U.S. stock market in a precarious position?
1. Could anger over Israeli operations in Gaza produce a new “Arab Spring”?
2. What is the biggest obstacle for India becoming a great power?
3. Can a pro-Russian electoral bloc in Moldova keep the country out of the European Union?
4. Could the Philippines, instead of Taiwan, serve as the starting point for a military clash between China and the United States in the Pacific?
5. Will favorable views of Russia and China in the Sahel last?
6. Is anything working when it comes to global climate policy?
7. Should the “Global South” reject the current international system?
8. Is the British NHS falling apart?
9. Should the level of France’s public debt be a cause of concern?
10. What should be the first priority of Haiti’s transitional council?
The national circuit resumed after taking a two-month pause for state championship competitions. 89 competitors attended this year’s University of Kentucky Tournament of Champions (TOC), kicking off the post-season phase of the National Points Race.
#17 Charlotte Reitman of NSU University School (FL) won her second National Points Race tournament of the season, winning the final round over #4 Waleed Haider of Hendrickson High School (TX) by two ranks. Nick Pienkos of Marquette University School (WI) finished third, one rank behind Haider and three back of Reitman.
Reitman is the first Florida extemper to win the UK TOC since Justin Graham of Trinity Preparatory School, who won in 2016.
The final round was close as five extempers each received a first place rank. What clinched the title for Reitman was receiving two second place ranks while other competitors received a worse mixture of ranks from the panel.
#15 Tyler Crivella of Seven Lakes High School (TX) finished fourth and #19 Ellie Sohn of Flintidge Preparatory School (CA) took fifth. Crivella was appearing in his third National Points Race final round of the year while Sohn was appearing in her fourth.
Arya Goyal of Scarsdale High School (NY) finished sixth.
Several other extempers in the top 25 made the trip to Lexington for last weekend’s event. #9 Abhijay Rana of Bellarmine College Preparatory (CA) dropped in semi-finals while #2 Brandon Cheng of Flintridge Preparatory, #12 Taylor Burris of the Potomac School (VA), and #16 Austin Bauman of Bellarmine College Preparatory made it to the quarter-final round.
Since the UK TOC was a third tier event, Reitman will receive 100 points for winning and all competitors who reached elimination rounds will earn National Points Race points. The next National Points Race competition will take place next weekend in Evanston, Illinois when Northwestern University hosts the Tournament of Champions of Extemporaneous Speaking, the season’s second major championship.
Here are the results of the 2024 University of Kentucky Tournament of Champions (Click here for tab sheet):
Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
1. Would a Maduro victory create a larger refugee crisis for Venezuela’s neighbors?
2. Did Iran’s recent attack on Israel backfire?
3. Is deflation the biggest threat facing China’s economy?
4. Should Germany liberalize its abortion laws?
5. Have international organizations lost their moral authority?
6. Should Palestine be given membership in the United Nations?
7. How will farmers protests affect European parliamentary elections this summer?
8. Should NATO admit Argentina as a global partner?
9. Will the new American aid package for Ukraine have an immediate impact on the battlefield?
10. Is Ethiopia’s conflict with Tigray heating back up?
1. Should U.S. aid to Ukraine come with more oversight?
2. Will Robert Kennedy, Jr. get ballot access in all 50 states?
3. Should Donald Trump’s attendance be required at his New York criminal trial?
4. Is America’s domestic electric car industry in trouble?
5. What should be America’s current foreign policy priority?
6. How should the Supreme Court rule in Grants Pass v. Johnson?
7. What direction would the Republican Party take were Donald Trump to lose this November?
8. Should the Trump tax cuts become permanent?
9. Was the passage of the Ukrainian aid bill a significant defeat for MAGA Republicans?
10. Should the U.S. expand existing sanctions on Israeli settler groups?
Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz! Good luck!
1. Should Democrats save Johnson’s speakership if it is threatened with a motion to vacate?
2. Are the Crumbley convictions an important precedent for preventing future school shootings?
3. Is the Biden administration taking too long to finalize its Title IX updates?
4. Can the U.S. drive a wedge between Russia and China?
5. Is the Arizona Supreme Court ruling on abortion rights in the state a significant blow to Republican efforts to win its presidential and Senate votes this November?
6. Do growing geopolitical problems make Biden’s chances of re-election better or worse?
7. Should there be a federal right-to-repair law for automobile owners?
8. Will there be a lot of swing voters in the 2024 presidential election?
9. Are higher rates of inflation the new normal for the U.S. economy?
10. Will growing bird flu in the United States make inflation worse?
1. Will Ecuador’s diplomat spat with Mexico provide a political boost to Daniel Noboa?
2. Is Ethiopia the biggest threat to regional security in East Africa?
3. How will the European Court of Human Rights ruling on climate change affect future climate-change litigation in Europe?
4. Is Xi Jinping adopting the wrong cure for China’s economic woes?
5. Should humanitarian obligations or national interests play a larger role in rendering a final decision on the EU’s Aslyum and Migration Pact?
6. What do the results of the South Korean parliamentary elections mean for the future of President Yook Suk Yeol’s political agenda?
7. Why have voters in democratic countries become more skeptical about the fairness of elections?
8. How would a large war between Israel and Iran affect the stability of other Middle Eastern monarchies?
9. What should a transitional government for Haiti look like?
10. How can European nations prevent fentanyl from becoming a major problem?
Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
1. Do local election results in Turkey signal the beginning of the end of Erdogan’s rule?
2. Will the warming of relations between Japan and South Korea last?
3. Was Israel’s assassination of Zahedi necessary?
4. Can Dina Boluarte overcome “Rolexgate”?
5. Will the launch of the ZiG stabilize Zimbabwe’s economy?
6. How can governments best prevent non-state actors from employing drone technology for evil purposes?
7. Will Western governments eventually need to put boots on the ground in Ukraine in order to prevent it from losing its war with Russia?
8. Have Rwanda’s reconciliation efforts succeeded 30 years after its genocide?
9. Should European nations condition aid on whether developing nations help its limit migration?
10. Will a bird flu be the next global pandemic?
1. Does the U.S. have an “accountability crisis”?
2. Is it time to take the level of U.S. national debt seriously?
3. Has the U.S. lost the ability to set the world’s agenda?
4. Who should pay for the repair of the Francis Scott Key Bridge?
5. Are President Biden’s recent student debt relief measures unconstitutional?
6. Why was No Labels unable to field a presidential candidate for 2024?
7. How can the U.S. best counter Chinese cyber attacks on the homeland?
8. Will California’s minimum wage hike prove counterproductive?
9. What does a looming retirement crisis mean for the future of the U.S. economy?
10. Will Florida’s abortion ballot measure put the state in play for President Biden in the 2024 presidential election?
Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz!
1. How should the Supreme Court rule in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine?
2. Should President Biden continue his opposition to Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel?
3. How can Boeing restore trust among its airline customers?
4. Will New York City’s debit card program for migrants be successful?
5. How can the U.S. get more Mexican cooperation in battles against drug cartels?
6. Are Democrats undermining their “protect democracy” message by trying to keep Robert Kennedy, Jr. off of state ballots?
7. Should U.S. media organizations platform individuals who deny the outcome of elections?
8. Are telecom firms doing enough to protect their customers’ data?
9. How should the U.S. government deal with growing numbers of citizens in Russian jails?
10. Will the settlement by the National Association of Realtors make homes more affordable?
1. What will be needed to bring the Syrian Civil War to a conclusion?
2. Has the international community abandoned Afghan women?
3. Is Pope Francis strengthening or weakening the standing of the Catholic Church?
4. How can Milei build more support for the 2025 Argentinian midterm elections?
5. If Labour wins the British general election, should it attempt to take Britain back into the European Union?
6. Will China’s demographic crunch short circuit its bid for global dominance?
7. Should Great Britain extradite Julian Assange to the United States?
8. Has Myanmar’s junta lost control of its borders?
9. How will Japan’s large public indebtedness affect future monetary policy?
10. Has the UN become too compromised to play a role in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process?