Search found 44 matches

by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Wed Jun 03, 2009 3:50 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Gaddis II Thanks and Discussion
Replies: 40
Views: 9583

Re: Gaddis II Thanks and Discussion

Many thanks. A delightful experience!
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Fri May 01, 2009 6:36 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Buzzerfest poli sci, etc., discussion
Replies: 23
Views: 3794

Re: Buzzerfest poli sci, etc., discussion

Respectfully, Gordan, I disagree. A quick survey of literature on dimensions of conflict indicates that the term is an IR term referring to different methods of conflict used by parties, while polarization refers to the overall differences in ideologies, perhaps caused by the cleavage structures in...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Fri May 01, 2009 11:53 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Buzzerfest poli sci, etc., discussion
Replies: 23
Views: 3794

Re: Buzzerfest poli sci, etc., discussion

The other problem with "cleavages" as an answer, especially as the question is written, is that there's just more than one term you could use for this concept. Although "cleavages" has some currency in the jargon, there's no reason that politically relevant divisions within a soc...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Sat Apr 25, 2009 1:17 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals Predictions
Replies: 10
Views: 2460

Re: ACF Nationals Predictions

The HQ staff will try, and will bail out of halfway through, each of a series of halfbaked schemes for distributing the question files; no one will believe they can access them even once they can; Round 1 will not start till 10:45. The Friar will later confirm that he can put them on the Web server ...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Fri Apr 24, 2009 1:38 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals Predictions
Replies: 10
Views: 2460

Re: ACF Nationals Predictions

The tournament is one-third edited by midnight tonight, leading to an open call for questions from anyone within the sound of Matt Weiner's voice. In round 5, an unedited "biology" tossup-bonus cycle written by the Friar (answer selection: "rabbits" and important opioids) brings ...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Fri Mar 13, 2009 6:08 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ANNOUNCEMENT: Gaddis Experiment II
Replies: 98
Views: 56399

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: Gaddis Experiment II

cornfused wrote:
Eärendil wrote:
JelloBiafra wrote:
Hilarius Bookbinder wrote:If I make it to HSNCT, I'll play.
It'll be the same for me.

What they've said.
Yep.
The above.
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Fri Jan 23, 2009 2:10 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: leaving tournaments early part II: the revenge
Replies: 64
Views: 11546

Re: leaving tournaments early part II: the revenge

People come to quizbowl tournaments for their own reasons, clearly they expect to enjoy the quizbowl, or they wouldn't make the effort to come. I fail to see how it's their fault it they decide it's not worthwhile. It may not be the fault of anybody else, either, their expectations may have been co...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Fri Jan 23, 2009 1:31 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: leaving tournaments early part II: the revenge
Replies: 64
Views: 11546

Re: leaving tournaments early part II: the revenge

This is a shocking post from somebody who should know better. Many times, a team will simply not have enough players to host a tournament, especially if the tournament is quite large. I don't think most cases of bad moderators stem from the fact that players are lazy and don't want to read. I think...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Wed Jan 21, 2009 2:52 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Winter discussion
Replies: 106
Views: 18918

Re: ACF Winter discussion

Question: is it common to consider Judith and Susanna "Old Testament" as opposed to "Apocrypha"? I would classify them as the latter, or at least throw that word in the question somewhere as a way of acknowledging that not all Christian traditions consider them canonical and it ...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Thu Dec 04, 2008 2:37 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: NAQT SCT...
Replies: 17
Views: 4090

Re: NAQT SCT...

In case it helps anyone plan: it looks strongly like the "lower Midwest" site NAQT is looking for is going to be Washington University in St. Louis. I'll be waiting for them to make the announcement for real, though.
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Wed Nov 12, 2008 7:41 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Fall discussion
Replies: 133
Views: 22693

Re: ACF Fall discussion (don't read, players at U Wash. site)

Even if there were bonus parts that had harder clues and an easier later part, they shouldn't have contributed to the lengthening of games by more than a few minutes each. There were 14 rounds. A few minutes each adds up to about the hour I thought could have been saved. Pretty much what M. Arnold ...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:58 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Fall discussion
Replies: 133
Views: 22693

Re: ACF Fall discussion (don't read, players at U Wash. site)

Just to second some complaints about bonus variation, I think too many bonuses didn't even try for difficulty variation (which I honestly support in general, I think PLEASE MAKE FUN OF ME BECAUSE I SPEAK NEITHER LATIN NOR ENGLISH should be easy or hard more or less entirely by whether you are good ...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:53 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Fall discussion
Replies: 133
Views: 22693

Re: ACF Fall discussion (don't read, players at U Wash. site)

Late to the party, I will post my own addition to the general lovefest for the questions at the first ACF Fall I've played in my seven years in the college game. The list of things I can remember being unhappy with is short. One was the placement of Weber's definition of the state as the second clue...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:33 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Automated Password Protected Zip File Creator
Replies: 29
Views: 12941

Re: Automated Password Protected Zip File Creator

Or, you keep printed packets in the stat room, and hand out only the one for the next round when the room official brings you a completed scoresheet. That is to say, the above problem's entire existence is conditional on going paperless. I suppose that's what the cool kids are doing these days, of c...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Sat Oct 11, 2008 10:27 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: EFT Discussion
Replies: 107
Views: 26373

Re: EFT Discussion

the clue "The final movement of this piece is marked allegro non troppo and ends with the woodwinds and violins building to an ambiguous climax" is not only not unique amongst all music, it's not even unique amongst Shostakovich symphonies (in fact, I'd say it fits 5 a lot better than 7) ...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Tue Sep 30, 2008 10:36 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Language rules
Replies: 29
Views: 5676

Re: Language rules

I'm all for Matt's common-sense rules for moderator discretion: 1. If it clearly sounds like the player is responding in another language, prompt him/her. 2. If the player subsequently can't come up with the answer, or the moderator doesn't recognize the given answer as being from a non-English lan...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:18 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Gauging Interest: Fantasy Quizbowl League
Replies: 35
Views: 8510

Re: Gauging Interest: Fantasy Quizbowl League

TIT in the regular season is a good idea, and one that I should have come up with myself. Thank you.
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Wed Aug 06, 2008 8:41 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Gauging Interest: Fantasy Quizbowl League
Replies: 35
Views: 8510

Re: Gauging Interest: Fantasy Quizbowl League

I think that Bonus Conversion is one statistic that can be easily influenced by both a team and an individual. A team that averages 20 ppb might have the vast majority of bonus points coming from one person (for instance the Weiner VCU teams) or might be more equally spread out from several contrib...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Wed Aug 06, 2008 1:21 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Gauging Interest: Fantasy Quizbowl League
Replies: 35
Views: 8510

Re: Gauging Interest: Fantasy Quizbowl League

Highly interested. I'd like to play as it currently is described, but some things did jump out at me about the scoring. I see some of the logic behind including both team winning percentage [penalizes good players for being on otherwise weak teams] and PPG [penalizes good players for being on otherw...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:47 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: First semester college academic tournaments
Replies: 33
Views: 13205

Re: First semester college academic touraments

400 miles, you say? And surely every bit as easy to run...

I dunno how many of them have already figured on playing EFT, of course, but there were always plenty of house teams for the IS FDICs when I was there. It's a thought.

Now to figure out where the Rochester people have gone off to.
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Sat Jul 12, 2008 8:02 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: First semester college academic tournaments
Replies: 33
Views: 13205

Re: First semester college academic touraments

Is Rochester running an FDIC this year? It would most likely be Sep 27 if there were one, but that's a loop I'm out of.
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Fri Jun 06, 2008 4:38 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Great News! CBI "Susp"Ends!
Replies: 89
Views: 28548

Re: Great News! CBI "Susp"Ends!

This news comes as a surprise to me, though -- I had no idea CBI was suffering from financial problems. Can anyone speculate as to what precisely caused CBI to suspend their program? I caused CBI to suspend their program. It was all me. When I told them at NCT I wouldn't be coming back next year, t...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Fri May 30, 2008 10:34 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Gaddis Discussion
Replies: 60
Views: 12592

Re: Gaddis Discussion

Gaddis was a real blast. I am hardly qualified to pick apart much of the writing, but I'm definitely in the consensus of those who think it was well done. The answer selection was overall good, with what I found an entertaining and appropriate level of whimsy, which I really wish there were more of ...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Thu May 15, 2008 5:53 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: HSNCT staffing--begging for rides
Replies: 13
Views: 2711

Re: HSNCT staffing--begging for rides

now leaning toward purchasing a car in order to qualify -->
wondering if NAQT will reimburse under the heading of transportation costs -->
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Wed Feb 27, 2008 4:03 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Wanted: ACFN Coauthor
Replies: 1
Views: 1301

Wanted: ACFN Coauthor

AFAIK, I'm not gonna make it to ACF Nationals, but I have decided in my infinite stupidity that the best way to occupy my copious free time this March would be to write a freelance packet. Is anyone out there interested in collaborating on such an endeavour? My most preferred packet breakdown would ...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:35 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CBI Regionals Discussion
Replies: 85
Views: 12649

Re: CBI Regionals!

So who's left on the mainstream circuit that still plays CBI? Minnesota? UCLA? Washington University in St. Louis participated in Regionals and expects to be at Nationals rather than take up ACF's offer. I personally am going to retire from College Bowl after that with a year of eligibility left un...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Thu Jan 24, 2008 3:44 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Length and Google Docs
Replies: 4
Views: 1834

Could x characters be agreed on as a target rather than a number of lines? No, because character limits result in awkward grammar and don't have the subtlety of the softer limit that line limits provide. I'm gonna dissent, theMoMA. My example (N = 1) is the Ann B. Davis tournament, which uses a har...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:40 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: return (sorta) of the question database
Replies: 33
Views: 9542

Ö is part of eight-bit ASCII, and so are a bunch of common accented characters. If you write Händel and I search for Handel, though, do I hit your question? I'd suspect not. That'd be another reason for not using non-keyboard characters.
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Mon Oct 08, 2007 6:35 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Announcement: Vanderbilt mirror of EFT2 - October 6
Replies: 21
Views: 9595

This tournament was extremely fun (I might be a little biased), but I did think it took longer than it had to.
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Mon Oct 08, 2007 6:27 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: How Should A/B/etc. Teams Be Divided?
Replies: 16
Views: 6343

I'm a big personal proponent of (1). I don't think putting one strong veteran on every side of novices is going to be inspiring enough to them to keep many of them around. If you have a lot of talent left over after assembling your A team, I guess you could try putting the rest of your veterans amon...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Mon Oct 08, 2007 5:44 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: EFT Discussion
Replies: 92
Views: 32238

I'll also echo his sentiments on the science, in that it was well-written excepting the black hole question. I'm a little bit upset with myself for not having this on the second word. As far as Jerry's rounds, I may have been a bit harsh in saying they didn't belong in the set, but that was my init...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Tue Aug 28, 2007 10:47 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Some Semblance of Preseason Discussion
Replies: 38
Views: 16320

grapesmoker wrote:Illinois: [...] Not sure who their 3rd and 4th players will be.
Jeff Crean is starting a political science Ph.D. there, but I have no word on if he's playing.
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Sun May 06, 2007 10:49 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Player Movement/Retirement Thread
Replies: 33
Views: 17366

I'm beginning a Ph.D. program at Wash. U. in St. Louis in the fall.

A certain Princeton dinosaur of the late '90s was seriously considering joining me there, but, Heaven help us, he's off to Illinois instead. I don't know if that means he'll play there or not, but it certainly can't help.
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Sun May 06, 2007 10:27 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest for Quiz Bowl
Replies: 71
Views: 35990

Penn "It's Not Unedited, It's Fun-Edited" Bowl XIV:

"This equation, developed by a scientist of the same name..."
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Wed Mar 01, 2006 11:32 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: TheBITCh Update
Replies: 0
Views: 1777

TheBITCh Update

This is the second announcement of the University of Rochester's Thelion Big Intercollegiate Trivia Challenge (TheBITCh) on March 25th, 2005. The field so far consists of: Maryland (1) Michigan (1) UR House (1) Since at present we have more packets, and commitments to write packets, than teams, pack...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Fri Jan 20, 2006 3:12 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Flower City Invitational at Rochester, February 18th
Replies: 0
Views: 1708

Flower City Invitational at Rochester, February 18th

The University of Rochester Thelion Society is pleased to announce we will host our annual Flower City Invitational tournament for high school teams on Saturday, February 18th, 2006, on the lovely River Campus in perhaps less lovely Rochester, NY. The FCI will be an official NAQT event using questio...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Fri Jan 20, 2006 3:00 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Rochester Pack-Sub Academic March 25th
Replies: 0
Views: 2505

Rochester Pack-Sub Academic March 25th

The University of Rochester Thelion Society is pleased to announce we will be hosting our first annual packet-submission academic tournament, tentatively titled Thelion Big Intercollegiate Trivia Challenge (TheBITCh), on Saturday, the 25th of March, on the lovely River Campus in perhaps less lovely ...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Mon Mar 14, 2005 4:50 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Rochester's Third Annual Flower City Invitational!
Replies: 0
Views: 1836

Rochester's Third Annual Flower City Invitational!

The University of Rochester (NY) is pleased to announce its third annual Flower City Invitational tournament for high school teams will be held on Saturday, April 30th, 2005! As in previous years, this will be an unofficial NAQT event, meaning the tuornament champion will qualify for NAQT's high sch...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Tue Sep 21, 2004 3:31 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Fall 2004 at Rochester
Replies: 1
Views: 3003

Special discount!

Thanks to a special arrangement with the Academic Competition Federation, the University of Rochester's Thelion Society is offering a special, one-time discount of $25 to every team playing ACF Fall 2004 at UR! All other discounts will remain as originally announced. You now have the opportunity to ...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Mon Sep 13, 2004 4:08 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Fall 2004 at Rochester
Replies: 1
Views: 3003

ACF Fall 2004 at Rochester

The University of Rochester Thelion Society is proud to announce that we will be hosting ACF Fall 2004 on Saturday, October 30th! Fees for the event will be as follows: Base Fee: $100 see special discount below! Buzzer Discount (max. 2 per school): -$5 Qualified Moderator Discount: -$10 Multiple Tea...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Mon Apr 26, 2004 6:20 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CBI Nationals
Replies: 55
Views: 81185

Another reason CBI is ridiculous: the process of qualifying one team from each region, ignorant of the fact that some regions are ridiculously talent-poor, and then taking just a single wild-card team. The apt comparison is really like if the NCAA basketball tournament took 32 teams - the 31 confer...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Mon Apr 26, 2004 5:04 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CBI Nationals
Replies: 55
Views: 81185

Point taken, benjaminthedonkey, though I would point out that I specifically avoided saying anything about College Bowl's opinion of itself or other formats. (I was only concerned with answering in detail the poll question, which as I see it relates to the gameplay more than the politics.) About &qu...
by Jeremy Gibbs Sampling
Mon Apr 26, 2004 3:51 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CBI Nationals
Replies: 55
Views: 81185

I consider College Bowl legitimate — low-grade, yes; but dog-food cuts are still legitimate beef. It represents, to sharpen the sports comparison, the Arena Football League of quizbowl: compressed playing surface (i.e. question size), fewer of the best players, and ridiculous final scores. I admit...