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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

more summer viewing

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Don't let the year or the fact that it's in black and white fool you - this is a must see.  For starters, it's a film that is often parodied/referred to by other shows.  And of course there's this famous line: "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the war room!"


more summer reading

Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

Classic dystopian literature.  Not too long.  There's even a movie.

Community.  Identity.  Stability, indeed!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Team Nationals Results

Here's how the team fared in Indianapolis at the 2012 NJFL National Tournament.  A coach who was there for the first time since 2006 told me he was utterly shocked over how intense the competition had become.  When it was all said and done we had awards in all three categories of Speech, Debate and Overall and we were the only school to accomplish that, but in terms of "winning" Nationals I have to admit that we did not succeed this year.  Nonetheless, I couldn't be prouder of how hard they worked and persevered; of how much professionalism they showed even in the face of unprofessional competition and opposing coaches.  And now we have a definite mission next year.

Humorous Interpretation
Jeong Woo-Han - Quarterfinalist

Poetry Interpretation
Mary Tindall – Quarterfinalist
Dikla Taylor – Quarterfinalist

Prose Interpretation
Betsy Broaddus – Finalist
Dikla Taylor – Quarterfinalist

Extemporaneous Speaking
Connor Selna – 3rd Place
Sam Tekie - Finalist
Gregory Pauloski - Finalist
Jason Lan - Finalist
George Zhang - Semifinalist
Dane Byrd - Semifinalist
Tirthana Khedkar – Semifinalist

Original Oratory
Ariana Fletcher-Bai – Quarterfinalist
Lekha Sunder – Quarterfinalist

Impromptu Speaking
Lekha Sunder - Semifinalist
Luke Lawyer - Semifinalist
Connor Selna - Semifinalist
Vishnu Narayana – Quarterfinalist
Mary Tindall – Quarterfinalist
Nikki Goldin – Quarterfinalist
Dane Byrd – Quarterfinalist

Duo Interpretation
Betsy Broaddus & Maddie Spence - Semifinalist

Congressional Debate
Erin Sheena – Finalist
Tomas Arango – Finalist
Lauren Nyquist – Finalist
Michael Murphey – Finalist
Matthew Baker – Finalist
Vishnu Narayana – Finalist

Policy Debate
Ashley Liu & Lauren Nyquist – Octafinalists

Public Forum Debate
Gregory Pauloski & Sam Tekie – Quarterfinalist
Andrew Hollenberg & Bowen Song – Octafinalists
Jack King & Daniel Liu - Octafinalists

A tremendous THANKS goes to Brent Nyquist, Thea Goldin, and Natalie Baker for traveling with us - and to Brock Hajdik, Larry Selna and Teri Donaldson for helping out when duty called.  And of course we would not have come close to having any of the success we had if it hadn't been for our alumni who worked with the team during the camp and those who traveled with us: Sesenu Woldemariam, Michael Tekie, Olivia Arena, Lucy Chen, Nick Harris, Fernando Grimaldo, Nikki Foreman, Cari Bonilla and Brittney Sheena.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Summer viewing

This is going to be one of the longest summer vacations students and teachers have had in a very long while.  Don't worry - 2013's summer vacation will be much shorter.  So in addition to suggesting books to pass the time, I'll also give you some movies to watch.  Here's one to start things off: 

Quiz Show

Quiz Show is a film based on the game show scandal that took place during the 1950's.  It's a well-acted, well-directed film (don't worry it's in color).  It stars Ralph Fiennes, better known as Voldemort, as Professor Charles van Doren, who NBC sets up to win the game show due to his popularity.  The film pulls a PG-13 for language, but that's it. 

The relevance to debate is that this shows how mass media, namely T.V., realized its power and lost its innocence as it manipulated viewers and lost their trust.  Ever since then, people have always taken game shows and reality t.v. with a hint of skepticism - a hint of "This is staged - not reality."

Watch it and post your comments here.