[fblike]
Kari Janhsen of South Anchorage High School became the first extemper to successfully defend a state championship when she won her second consecutive state title in International Extemp at the Alaska High School Activities Association State Tournament, held two weeks ago at East Anchorage High School. Jahnsen’s teammate Jack Sezauer took second place and AJ Tsang of Eagle River High School took third.
In United States Extemp, Foster Bimbaum of West Anchorage High School won his first state championship. His victory over Connor Van Alstine of Dimond High School gives West Anchorage its second champion in United States Extemp in the last three seasons. Robert Hockema of Homer High School finished third.
All of the finalists earned an automatic qualification to the 2015 Extemporaneous Speaking TOC at Northwestern University.
Here are the results of the 2015 Alaska High School Activities Association State Tournament:
Last Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on a party-line vote decided to reclassify broadband as a telecommunications service. This allows the FCC to impose more regulations on broadband Internet providers as if they were a public utility. The FCC intervened due to concerns that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will discriminate against network traffic, speeding up some Internet sites that would be willing to pay them a special fee, while reducing the speeds of other sites that either refused to pay or were in competition with other operations of the ISP. This so-called “net neutrality,” which treats all Internet data the same, has become a highly charged political issue, with conservatives warning that the FCC’s decision will stifle innovation and liberals championing the FCC’s decision as a victory for consumer interests.
Here is today’s premium R&D to accompany 
This year’s Illinois High School Association State Speech Final was primed as a showdown between Parth Patel of Huntley High School and Vinesh Kannan of the Illinois Math and Science Academy. Last year both extempers, along with Saumya Jain of Neuqua Valley High School, shared the state championship after an unbreakable three-way tie. However, the anticipated story did not go as planned as Kannan finished one rank out of the final round and Moyo Abiona of Carl Sandburg High School defeated Patel by one rank to win Sandburg’s first-ever extemporaneous speaking state championship.
Domestic extempers can attest to the fact that questions about education reform never go away. From merit pay to vouchers to standardized testing, extempers must be able to handle topics pertaining to the American education system if they wish to successfully navigate domestic social rounds. Anxieties about American education have persisted since the nation’s founding, with President Thomas Jefferson warning that “If a nation expects to remain free and ignorant in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and what never shall be.” Americans have desired a strong education system to maintain the nation’s position as a political and economic superpower, enhance socioeconomic mobility and the “American dream,” and to solve social ills such as racial and gender inequalities. However, despite the federal government pouring more money into American schools since the 1960s, American students still lag behind their international counterparts in math, science, and reading. While political actors on both sides of the aisle agree that something must be done, they disagree over how to solve it and these divisions are being played out in Congress, states, and municipalities throughout the country.
Here is today’s premium R&D to accompany