Search found 148 matches

by harpersferry
Tue Jul 07, 2009 10:35 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Who is really anti-math?
Replies: 39
Views: 7793

Re: Who is really anti-math?

Non-computational math has no shortage of answers--just a shortage of answers that are currently tossupable. Computational math has squelched it for so long that the canon for it has not expanded like it has for other subjects over the years. I can't even tell you how many words I learned in one yea...
by harpersferry
Thu Jun 18, 2009 10:09 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2009 NTAE
Replies: 57
Views: 17701

Re: 2009 NTAE

Your conclusions are very close to what I concluded last year. Awful matches, but fun other than that. The cons of this tournament are killing it because it is out of touch with the Nationals-level quizbowl community. As its field and budget (and therefore fun) shrink, fewer teams will see it as som...
by harpersferry
Tue Jun 16, 2009 1:55 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Bloggin' about you-know-what
Replies: 110
Views: 18108

Re: Bloggin' about you-know-what

Matt, I was wondering if you just didn't have information handy about specific incidents to ask him about or whether you didn't want to push him any harder (or both)?
by harpersferry
Fri Jun 12, 2009 9:11 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Southern Illinois secessionists?!
Replies: 18
Views: 3330

Re: Southern Illinois secessionists?!

This would solve all our quizbowl problems! Of course, expect the SIHSA to revert to pre-1990 rules for Scholastic Bowl. Poor Carbondale. They'd have to play in Missouri.
by harpersferry
Thu Jun 04, 2009 5:48 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2009 NAQT HSNCT
Replies: 349
Views: 102408

Re: 2009 NAQT HSNCT

Ken Jennings said: " I can't speak to the "Gaussian integers" question, but I think I was there for all of the resolution of the "Brahman" protest, since I edited the bonus. That the controversy wasn't given due consideration is untrue (and possibly unknowable, to the person...
by harpersferry
Tue Jun 02, 2009 2:34 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2009 NAQT HSNCT
Replies: 349
Views: 102408

Re: 2009 NAQT HSNCT

I think the protest with Brahman/Brahma showed a few things: 1) it's a difficult case to rule on 2) the protest procedure at NAQT did not give a fully due treatment to it, given the gravity of the situation, and that knowledgeable people (who were present, if not on the committee) were shocked by th...
by harpersferry
Fri May 29, 2009 10:20 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Letter to Questions Galore
Replies: 22
Views: 8966

Re: Letter to Questions Galore

Who cares if they don't like you Greg? Good for you. I actually think this might be more useful as ammo to bring to other people to convince them QG sucks, assuming they don't change.
by harpersferry
Tue Apr 21, 2009 11:21 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Survey Results
Replies: 10
Views: 1580

Re: Survey Results

I think Fred's point is valid. I thought the same thing when taking it as a student. Regardless of the absolute number of questions and whether "decreased" versus "eliminated" is really different, for validity's sake you should have the symmetric response.
by harpersferry
Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:37 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: My proposed IHSA distribution
Replies: 62
Views: 10928

Re: My proposed IHSA distribution

I think if we took out the poor questions in regionals and sectionals we'd have about 20 legit questions per round right now.
by harpersferry
Sun Feb 22, 2009 12:31 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Masonic Sectionals 2/21
Replies: 33
Views: 5017

Re: Masonic Sectionals 2/21

that bracket is very similar to last years. I believe we played NT in the second round after they had to beat WN and we played Carbondale for the final. Seems like he's sticking with the handicap the big schools scheme?
by harpersferry
Mon Feb 09, 2009 7:19 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: IHSSBCA Steering Committee meeting
Replies: 45
Views: 7735

Re: IHSSBCA Steering Committee meeting

I'd like to say that I support said Turnabout idea. Increase writing capacity of the top teams, give weaker teams more exposure. If it works, it'll be brilliant.
by harpersferry
Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:56 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Petition Against ACF Formatted Bonus
Replies: 65
Views: 7778

Re: Petition Against ACF Formatted Bonus

Since when were negs on the table? Kickoff didn't have negs, did it?
by harpersferry
Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:36 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

What happened? Did they not field a team?
by harpersferry
Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:33 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Reminder on who the board moderators are
Replies: 8
Views: 1749

Re: Editing vendor questions

Wow this thread is totally de-railed. Thanks people.
by harpersferry
Sun Jan 25, 2009 2:51 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Editing vendor questions
Replies: 6
Views: 1514

Editing vendor questions

I noticed over in the old giant thread that Greg had edited as well as he could manage some Questions Galore stuff that WN bought for their F/S tournament. I also am remembering the Mr. Price edited and re-wrote part of the Quillin's Questions set that he bought. I believe Jack wrote the bonuses for...
by harpersferry
Sun Jan 25, 2009 2:34 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: The predicted demise of Illinois frosh/soph tournaments
Replies: 47
Views: 8052

Re: The predicted demise of Illinois frosh/soph tournaments

Dan, I think that would be a very good thing for the circuit. My advise if you do decide to do it: start as early as humanly possible. If your players are not used to writing questions, it will take a while to get anything usable. Also, read up on the many threads about house-writes and how to do th...
by harpersferry
Tue Jan 13, 2009 3:03 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

I'd like to mention a few decisions that I was glad Auburn made for their F/S tournament. (By the way, I pretty much had nothing to do with organizing this tournament, except some last minute help on editing). 1. ACF style bonuses. Though with bouncebacks, this is either the first tournament at F/S ...
by harpersferry
Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:33 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

I think this is one of those cases where you just deal with it. Matching tops are enforced at 5 dates at most during the year. Complete teams, at most 3. I've only seen one situation of complete teams being an issue. Yeah it's dumb, but there are better things to spend time trying to get changed. I ...
by harpersferry
Thu Jan 08, 2009 12:08 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

I think most hosts around the state waive the requirement that you have 5 players. That and matching tops are common exceptions to the official rules. It is a silly and unnecessary rule to begin with. Nowhere else in the country has the requirement as far as I know.
by harpersferry
Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:27 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

Mike: they aren't rare. But I agree that they should be. A couple years ago, we used to spend most of the 30 sec. just chatting. Then we realized that by calling time we were keeping the pace of the game lively and keeping ourselves on our toes. That strategy of keeping the energy up was the one tha...
by harpersferry
Wed Dec 17, 2008 1:48 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

It's also the creator of hilarity when two players try to out-extend each other as a signal of: "I got this." "No I got this more" "Oh hell no, it's on!", etc. Bonus hilarity for buzzers that fall off the table and inadvertently make one of the other players buzz who is...
by harpersferry
Sun Dec 14, 2008 11:07 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

What is up with these stats?
by harpersferry
Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:48 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

la2pgh wrote:What on earth would a middle school pyramidal question look like?
Like NAQT-A sets maybe?
by harpersferry
Wed Dec 03, 2008 6:18 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

I feel that coaches who have only experienced it once are prone to give a very myopic view of what they see. I seem to remember being anti-ACf style bonus the first time I encountered it (ACE camp I think). Therefore I would agree that it takes several exposures to get one to like it. I think it's ...
by harpersferry
Wed Dec 03, 2008 11:23 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

Yay!
by harpersferry
Tue Dec 02, 2008 11:15 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

And the wealthy Chicago suburb of Kenilworth, which sits on Lake Michigan, is a tight-knit community with little room for new development. JACK GLERUM!! http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/small-towns-with-big-money.html http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/11/1125_small_towns/11.htm Uh, who cares?
by harpersferry
Fri Nov 28, 2008 12:24 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Studying U.S. History
Replies: 26
Views: 5900

Re: Studying U.S. History

The American Pageant characterizes [John] Brown as "degranged," gaunt," "grim," "terrible," "crackbrained," "probably of unsound mind," and says that "thirteen of his near relatives were rearded as insane, including his mother and grandmot...
by harpersferry
Mon Nov 17, 2008 11:21 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

I'll pick Siva to repeat as morning champ, but a close match with Ben to decide it. Other finalist predictions: Michael, Joe, Jack, and Carbondale takes over for auburn in putting three in the finals. I think from preliminary tournament results, these are the players on the top teams, and it's prett...
by harpersferry
Wed Nov 05, 2008 4:45 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

Auburn's going to be at Sterling instead of WN?
by harpersferry
Sun Nov 02, 2008 11:30 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: On Writing for NAQT
Replies: 9
Views: 2541

Re: On Writing for NAQT

Doesn't this kind of come back to a previous discussion about a general lack of experienced science editors on the circuit? For the record, I don't write for NAQT not because of the issues cited above, but because I thought I could help IL better by writing for Aegis. Since NAQT hasn't really caught...
by harpersferry
Sun Nov 02, 2008 12:45 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Masterplots?
Replies: 7
Views: 2746

Re: Masterplots?

Magill online is great. It has the bonus of including all of the other Magill publications like Cyclopedia of Literary Characters and some author biography books. Plus you can search them all at once with cool stuff such author nationality/ethnicity/gender/etc. or publication date. Sometimes I use t...
by harpersferry
Thu Oct 30, 2008 11:50 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

Question: Is conferral on bonuses allowed during the reading of the question? Obviously in normal ACF it is, but what is the plan for Kickoff? I only ask because in the vid at 5:50, Mme Van Howe asked Michael's team not to talk. Was that just a mistake, or is that the way that they're planning on pl...
by harpersferry
Tue Oct 21, 2008 11:46 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

From a purely economic standpoint they will make more money, it's just a fact. Bear in mind their geographic location is a great one, being in the heart of the Suburbs, but I think that if they changed their format from a pure IHSA, to a PACE or NAQT that their attendance would drop. If you believe...
by harpersferry
Sun Oct 05, 2008 1:04 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

UIUC EFT Mirror: Auburn made the second bracket on a three way tie with us and Ohio State for second place in one of the prelim RR. I don't remember where NT was (third bracket?). From what I could tell the stats were good from the individuals from IL. Oh yeah, and Auburn beat IN (it was close...). ...
by harpersferry
Sat Sep 13, 2008 5:22 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

This tournament is going to be very strange indeed.
by harpersferry
Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:48 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Changes to NAQT's Official Rules
Replies: 53
Views: 9088

Re: Changes to NAQT's Official Rules

How about when the answer given is a more general class of something (like speciation) and the first few clues are all about a subset of that class and a player answers with that subset (like sympatric speciation) which is not listed as acceptable to a certain point in the question, even if some clu...
by harpersferry
Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:25 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Indiana 08-09
Replies: 8
Views: 2134

Re: Indiana 08-09

evilmonkey wrote: Also, as far as I know, the only people involved in Indiana HS on these boards are Mr. Dillon, Mr. Blessman, and myself, so that conversation might be better suited to e-mails. I am henceforth declaring myself involved in Indiana HS quizbowl as well, at least a little bit. Me too....
by harpersferry
Wed Aug 20, 2008 6:48 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Quality Engineering system?
Replies: 2
Views: 1171

Re: Quality Engineering system?

K Thanks. It's the secondary set anyway, so it may not be worth the trouble, but hey why not?
by harpersferry
Wed Aug 20, 2008 5:00 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Quality Engineering system?
Replies: 2
Views: 1171

Quality Engineering system?

My dad is going to coach a team that has a stone age looking buzzer system that does not seem to work. I remember playing on one at the Illinois Masonic State Finals last year, but other than that I have never seen it. Basically, when you plug it in, it beeps once in a while and a light on the main ...
by harpersferry
Mon Aug 11, 2008 11:55 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Collaboration and Google Documents
Replies: 5
Views: 2164

Re: Collaboration and Google Documents

Indiana is going to use Google Docs for the next year to pool questions and write for the Hoosier Open. We haven't done much yet though, so I can't report on its effectiveness. So far though, so good.
by harpersferry
Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:23 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Chicago Open Discussion
Replies: 58
Views: 14368

Re: Chicago Open Discussion

This was my first CO, as I'm just graduating from high school. Going into this tournament, we knew we were one of the least experienced teams there, but it didn't matter. I still had a good time. We started the day against the eventual winners of the tournament, and I barely noticed that we lost 470...
by harpersferry
Sun Jul 20, 2008 9:05 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Bad Negs Again
Replies: 494
Views: 113915

Re: Bad Negs Again

"one sentence of a CO tossup" Nick Matchen: *hits Jonah in the head with buzzer* Buzzer: *buzz* Moderator: "that's a buzz dude" Nick Matchen: "uh..I don't know" Moderated by Mike Sorice I assume? no it was the kid from florida with the extremely curly hair in our game ...
by harpersferry
Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:53 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

Confirm said subbing by Sido. Including once on another team. What I learned: I need to read more books. Also, HS teams should play college tournaments, because if you learned even a tenth of what was covered at CO (or a greater portion of a fall-level tournament) you'd dominate high school. It's a ...
by harpersferry
Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:45 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Bad Negs Again
Replies: 494
Views: 113915

Re: Bad Negs Again

"one sentence of a CO tossup"
Nick Matchen: *hits Jonah in the head with buzzer*
Buzzer: *buzz*
Moderator: "that's a buzz dude"
Nick Matchen: "uh..I don't know"
by harpersferry
Fri Jul 18, 2008 10:32 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Mirroring/collaborating on tournaments info
Replies: 50
Views: 23961

Re: Mirroring/collaborating on tournaments info

SIVster716 wrote:we've switched our bonus format to mACF this year
Yay.
by harpersferry
Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:51 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

SIVster716 wrote:Who's on the Illinois high school team?
I think he's referring to the new trier+me team.
by harpersferry
Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:56 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '08-'09
Replies: 1271
Views: 207250

Re: Illinois '08-'09

It's on our calendar as potential, and I'd guess it's likely since it's practically next door as college tournaments go.
by harpersferry
Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:30 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: ACE Camp
Replies: 87
Views: 22727

Re: ACE Camp

akinney wrote:SEMO will take on Milligan any day!
Not so sure...

It seems that the ACE camps tend to reflect the general trend of the country, and as such the eastern one tends to draw better competition.
by harpersferry
Sun Jul 06, 2008 12:15 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Senior Destinations 2008
Replies: 103
Views: 22951

Re: Senior Destinations 2008

We also have a Josh Jaffe going to Indiana University. Someone want to send him an e-mail to let him know how to find the club? Send me an e-mail and I'll forward it to him. If mods say it's ok I'll post his e-mail here... so mods: Is that OK? What's yours, so I or carlo or somebody else can at lea...
by harpersferry
Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:26 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Thumb Strength?
Replies: 25
Views: 6080

Re: Thumb Strength?

Seriously, we had an hour long session at certamen practice about being able to read lips. That's why I don't play certamen. Every once in a while someone comes on and has a home-spun theory that they've "tested" on how to beat people on buzzer races or they want to know how they can &quo...