Extemp Central News Quiz for the Week of March 4-10, 2024

Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz.  Good luck!

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HotTopics: United States Extemp Questions for the Week of March 4-10, 2024

1. Will the Republican Party be unified behind Donald Trump this November?
2. What should the U.S. do if Israel conducts its Rafah offensive?
3. Is America’s teaching shortage hitting an inflection point?
4. What lessons can the U.S. states learn from the “war on drugs” to launch a better effort against fetanyl?
5. Should surge pricing be allowed?
6. Who should be the next leader of Senate Republicans?
7. Is a federal ban on bump stocks constitutional?
8. How should the U.S. respond to Vladimir Putin’s recent nuclear threats?
9. Should the Biden administration withdraw U.S. forces from Syria?
10. Are religious liberty laws unconstitutional?

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HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of March 4-10, 2024

1. Is India becoming an emerging power player in the Middle East?
2. Would an ANC-EFF coalition be good for the future health of the South African economy?
3. Is China becoming too insular?
4. What should Egypt do if Israel conducts its Rafah offensive?
5. Does the world need a “new globalization”?
6. How should Nigeria handle the Anglophone insurgency?
7. What is to blame for a collapse in support for democracy across the world?
8. Should Ariel Henry step down?
9. Will Britain’s Conservative Party become a vehicle for the far-right after the next British general election?
10. How can Xochitl Galvez win the Mexican presidency?

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2024 California Invitational: Bauman Retains Bellarmine’s Hold on Championship, Spoils Tsoi’s Bid for Two National Points Race Wins by 1 Rank

Bellarmine College Preparatory (CA) has made it a habit of winning the California Invitational, taking three of the last five titles and this year was no different as Austin Bauman outlasted 129 other extempers to win the last National Points Race tournament of the regular season.

The tournament was cumulative from prelims and Bauman’s lead going into the final round allowed him to take the title as he won by one rank over #13 Evelyn Tsoi of Velasquez Academy (CA), who was appearing in her third National Points Race final round this season. Tsoi, who won the United States Extemp half of the James Logan MLK Invitational last month, won the final round but that was not enough to claim the overall tournament title even though Bauman took fourth in finals.

Like last year’s tournament, the final rankings of the tournament were close as #15 Abhijay Rana of Bellarmine, the winner of the International Extemp half at MLK, was a mere three ranks behind Tsoi. And Katherine Peckham of Westwood High School (TX), the only non-Californian in the final round, was one rank behind Rana. Peckham was runner-up to Tsoi in the final round after taking three first place ranks from the five judge panel and they made the biggest leap in the tournament from prelims to finals after they only cleared into elimination rounds by two ranks. Only a fourth and fifth place rank in the final round kept them out of the top three.

Bauman’s win was the second in a row for Bellarmine at the tournament after #7 Rohit Vakkalagadda won last season. Vakkalagadda’s bid for a second consecutive title, a feat that has not been done in 11 years, ended in prelims as he missed the break to elimination rounds by one rank.

Ethan Chen of Monte Vista High School (CA) took fifth place, finishing six ranks behind Peckham. And #17 Ellie Sohn of Flintridge Preparatory School (CA) reached her third National Points Race final round of the year and placed sixth. Sohn led the tournament after prelims.

Isaiah Sohn of Redlands High School (CA) and Ali Malik of Monta Vista High School (CA) were not able to replicate their final round finishes at last year’s California Invitational. Sohn dropped in quarter-finals and Mailk in octa-finals.

#23 Joy Hu of the Harker School in the tournament field but was not able to reach elimination rounds. Like Vakkalagadda, she missed the break by one rank.

Since the California Invitational was a third tier event, Bauman will receive 100 points for his victory and all extempers who reached quarter-finals will receive points. New National Points Race standings will be posted by next weekend.

Here are the results of the 2024 California Invitational (Click here for tab sheet):

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Extemp Central News Quiz for the Week of February 26-March 3, 2024

Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz.  Good luck!

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2024 Harvard National Speech & Debate Tournament: Peddi Breaks Through at Last Regular Season National Points Race Tournament, Wins Final Four Against Three National Points Race Champions

239 extempers made up the largest field of a National Points Race this season when Harvard University hosted its annual National Speech and Debate Tournament on February 17-20 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As a result of the high number of entries, the tournament was a second tier event.

#1 Sruti Peddi of BASIS Scottsdale (AZ) won the championship in commanding fashion, earning a six-rank final round victory that saw her earn four of the five available first place ranks. It is Peddi’s first National Points Race title this year after she made four previous final round appearances. Her victory marks the second consecutive time that an Arizona extemper has won Harvard as McKinley Paltzik won the title last season. And the 150 points she earned with this victory will enlarge her National Points Race lead.

Peddi won a final round against three other National Points Race winners. Second place was earned by #11 Waleed Haider of Hendrickson High School (TX), who won the United States Extemp half of the University of Texas Longhorn Classic in December. Haider swept up a majority of the second place ranks in the final round and was five ranks clear of the rest of the competition.

George Mason University Patriot Games winner Siri Ural of Shrewsbury High School (MA) earned a third place ranking, three ranks ahead of #18 Taylor Burris of the Potomac School (VA) and four ranks ahead of Stanford International Extemp winner #2 Brandon Cheng of Flintridge Preparatory School (CA). Burris and Cheng were separated by a mere rank for fourth place. Burris made her third National Points Race final round of the season while Cheng made his fifth.

Paul Fertig of Mounds Park Academy (MN) finished sixth, reaching a National Points Race final round for the second time this season. Fertig also finished sixth at the Apple Valley Minneapple Speech Tournament two weeks before Harvard.

While the final round featured a good number of previous winners this season, many ranked extempers were found in earlier elimination rounds and will earn National Points Race points. #12 Skyler Burrus of the American Heritage School – Palm Beach (FL) and #14 Kate Liu of Plano East High School (TX) made semi-finals, Glenbrooks champion #6 Lishore Kumar of Tomball Memorial High School (TX) and #25 Ishika Kothari of Plano East reached quarter-finals, and #3 Robert Zhang of Elkins High School (TX) qualified for octa-finals.

Due to the large number of competitors at Harvard, a few ranked competitors missed qualifying for elimination rounds. These included #10 Amy Cao of Ridge High School (NJ) and #19 Ronak Patel of American Heritage School – Broward (FL).

Here are the results of the 2024 Harvard National Speech and Debate Tournament (Click here for tab sheet):

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HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of February 26-March 3, 2024

1. If Russia were to invade the Baltics, would Western European nations resist?
2. Should the United Nations eliminate vetoes on the Security Council?
3. Is Pakistan heading toward an inevitable default?
4. What will Bukele do with his supermajority?
5. Is the first space war on the horizon?
6. Has Boric sold out the Chilean left?
7. Is Lula interfering too much in Petrobras’ operations?
8. Who should be the next leader of NATO?
9. Did ECOWAS make a smart decision in lifting sanctions on Niger?
10. Will Congo’s M23 rebellion spark a regional war?

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HotTopics: United States Extemp Questions for the Week of February 26-March 3, 2024

1. Should the U.S. continue providing military aid to Israel?
2. If Donald Trump wins the 2024 presidential election, will he withdraw the U.S. from NATO?
3. How can the U.S. make its sanctions policies more effective?
4. Should U.S. regulators approve a Capital One-Discover Financial merger?
5. Can Larry Hogan turn Maryland’s Senate seat red?
6. How can the Democratic Party rebuild its polling lead over Republicans on education issues?
7. What reforms need to be made to America’s asylum system?
8. How can Colin Allred defeat Senator Ted Cruz this November?
9. Should Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act be curtailed?
10. How much longer should Nikki Haley continue her presidential campaign?

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Extemp Central News Quiz for the Week of February 19-25, 2024

Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz!

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HotTopics: United States Extemp Questions for the Week of February 19-25, 2024

1. Should the U.S. Senate have an impeachment trial for Secretary Mayorkas?
2. How should the Federal Reserve respond to recent inflation data?
3. Should schools abandon remote learning days?
4. How can President Biden deflect concerns about his age in the upcoming presidential campaign?
5. Should the U.S. pivot its defense priorities to space?
6. How will a new round of redistricting in New York affect control of the House in 2024?
7. Should Fani Willis be removed from the Georgia election interference case against former President Trump?
8. What would another Biden term mean for the U.S. economy?
9. Will the civil judgment against Donald Trump in New York be upheld on appeal?
10. Is the National Labor Relations Board unconstitutional?

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