WIT (March 2013)

[Auroni]

(Moderators, can you move the posts from the other WIT thread to this one, then delete that thread? Otherwise I have to ask Sarah to make updates to the first post, which is annoying for all involved.)

Hello, everyone. I will be head-editing the Western Invitational tournament. My co-editors will be Jarret Greene and Jasper Lee from OSU, and Tanay Kothari, Ankit Aggarwal, and Sam Braunfeld from Berkeley. This regular-difficulty tournament will be available for mirrors beginning March 2, 2013.

Eligibility: This is a closed tournament. By default, players must be enrolled in an institution of some sort and must only play with other people from that institution. However, I may make an exception for sites that have difficulty gathering a field. For instance, the Berkeley site of this tournament will be open.

Our packet requirements are the same as those of ACF. Any team with at least one person on it who played a regular, collegiate, academic quizbowl tournament prior to September 1, 2011 must submit a packet for this event.

Packet Deadlines (Base fee $120)
(-50) January 1
(-25) January 6
(0) January 20
(+25) February 3
(+50) February 17
After February 17: $5 extra per day unless you have extenuating circumstances that you clear with me. If we don't have your packet by February 24, then you will not be allowed to play, no matter what.

Distribution:
5/5 Literature (1/1 American, 1/1 British, 1/1 European, 2/2 World/Your Choice)
5/5 History (1/1 American, 2/2 European (at least 1 British), 1/1 World, 1/1 Your Choice
5/5 Science (1/1 biology, 1/1 physics, and 1 question each on chemistry, earth science, astronomy, math, computer science, and science history)
3/3 Religion, Mythology, and Philosophy
3/3 Fine Arts (1/1 painting, 1/1 music, 1/1 other)
1/1 Social Science (if at all possible, I want to see some creativity here)
1/1 Trash
1/1 Current Events, Geography, or Your Choice

Packets should be emailed to Tanay Kothari (tanay.kothari at gmail dot com) with subject line “WIT Packet: [Team Name]”.

Hosting
New England:
Mid-Atlantic: University of Virginia, March 2
South: Western Kentucky University, March 3
Texas-Area: Rice, March 16
Great Lakes: Ohio State?
Canada:
North: Minnesota, March 9
Midwest: Truman State, April 6
California: Berkeley, March 9
UK: Oxford, March 2

If you’re interested in hosting a mirror this tournament, please email Tanay at tanaykothari at gmail dot com. This tournament will be available for mirrors on or after March 2, 2013.

Received Packets:

-$50: St. John's, Bentley, Rice A, MCTC, Rutgers, VCU A


-$25: Jordan Palmer, Dartmouth A, Chicago B


No penalty: UMD A, Louisville A, Carleton


+$25: Louisville B, Sheffield A, Imperial A, Oxford A, UCL/Loxham, GMU, Chicago A, Michigan, Chicago C


+$50: WUSTL, Georgia Tech, Alabama A

[Auroni]

Minnesota will be the North Midwest site.

[Blackboard Monitor Vimes]

I appear to have broken this topic a bit trying to merge it...can a more experienced moderator/admin put Auroni's first post back at the beginning of the thread?

Carried out another split to make this happen. The first half of the original thread can be seen here. --JTH

[Auroni]

Thanks, Sarah and Jeff. Another note: every tossup in this set will be capped at 7 lines (10 pts TNR) including powers.

[Sam]

Should RMP and Fine Arts be divided equally into their usual subcategories (i.e. 1/1 R, 1/1 M, 1/1 P and then 1/1 visual, 1/1 concert music, 1/1 other)?

[Auroni]

Yes.

[Auroni]

Hey,

So today is the last day to get the -50 discount. We've already gotten two pretty good packets, so keep them coming. I do want to ask people submitting packets to be mindful of the science distribution, since it is different from the standard. Namely, do not submit 1/1 pure chem, do not ignore science history, and make sure that each of the minor science subdistribution gets its one question.

[Auroni]

Hey, keep in mind that this tournament is regular difficulty, much like ACF Regionals 2011 or MAGNI. The last four or so packets have had a large chunk of outrageously hard (albeit well-written) questions. Please save some of that spirit for ACF Nats and Chicago Open.

[Auroni]

The -25 deadline has passed. You have two weeks to get in a packet without paying a penalty.

[Edmund]

You have two weeks to get in a packet without paying a penalty.

A short extension for the UK mirror would be gracious, since it has yet to be formally announced and most teams here have little to no real writing experience. That said, you would be equally well within your rights to expect British teams to "put up and shut up" if they want to play this tournament. I have hassled the proposed hosts to confirm that they will do so, and will endeavour to assist anyone struggling with packet submission.

[Auroni]

You have two weeks to get in a packet without paying a penalty.

A short extension for the UK mirror would be gracious, since it has yet to be formally announced and most teams here have little to no real writing experience. That said, you would be equally well within your rights to expect British teams to "put up and shut up" if they want to play this tournament. I have hassled the proposed hosts to confirm that they will do so, and will endeavour to assist anyone struggling with packet submission.

We've negotiated with Oxford; the no penalty deadline has been moved back to February 3rd for this site. (But the +25 and +50 deadlines are the same.)

[Auroni]

The no penalty deadline has passed (for US teams).

[Auroni]

Hey, we've kinda been dragging our feet on getting the Northeast and Canada sites up. When we do, we'll work out some sort of adjusted no-penalty deadline for getting packets in for teams that might attend those sites. Our apologies.

[Auroni]

The +$25 deadline (no penalty for UK teams) has passed. There's not a lot of time left to get your packet in if you want to play this tournament, so please hurry and do so.

[Rococo A Go Go]

Great Lakes: Ohio State?

Is this happening?

[Auroni]

I updated the first post with all of the packets that I have. I was told that Maryland B may have submitted one as well, but Tanay and I don't have it; if possible, can someone from that team resend and forward some details from the original email (so I can figure out which discount they qualify for)?