2011-2012 Alabama State Provider

[Charbroil]

We are pleased to announce that Olympia Academic Competition Questions, LLC will be providing the questions for the 2012 Alabama Scholastic Competition Association middle school and JV state tournaments. I know that there's been a lot of complaints about the questions in past years, so we will do our utmost to make the questions strictly pyramidal and academic. Along those lines, if you're from Alabama and have any suggestions for us, or would like to join us to write questions for the tournament (especially worksheets), for this tournament, please email us at [email protected] (if you're not from Alabama, but have suggestions for us, you are, of course, also welcome to contact us).

[Joshua Rutsky]

To add information to this post, Jim Sanford, who has previously authored numerous Bevill State tournaments and has been writing since 1999, will be the provider for this year's High School tournament questions.

Teams wishing to get an early look at material from either of these providers are encouraged to attend this year's "Fun Tourneys" or to come to the annual convention in October. Dates are TBA.

[Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)]

http://www.dbtech.net/asca/resources.html

Why is Questions Unlimited a "sponsor" of ASCA?

[Charbroil]

http://www.dbtech.net/asca/resources.html

Why is Questions Unlimited a "sponsor" of ASCA?

I've actually asked ASCA what being a "sponsor" even means, was told that they'd let me know, and was never informed. I'm going to assume it's something fairly meaningless, given that even members of ASCA I talked to had no idea.

[Joshua Rutsky]

http://www.dbtech.net/asca/resources.html

Why is Questions Unlimited a "sponsor" of ASCA?

I've actually asked ASCA what being a "sponsor" even means, was told that they'd let me know, and was never informed. I'm going to assume it's something fairly meaningless, given that even members of ASCA I talked to had no idea.

"Sponsorship" in ASCA dates back to earlier days of the organization, when we actually received funding from private groups in the form of contributions, or received donations of questions, supplies, or "in-kind" services in exchange for name billing as sponsors at our state event. As you might imagine, funding is tight for quiz bowl.

Today, companies that donate drill materials or goods to be used as door prizes at the annual conference or that offer us the use of buzzer sets for the state tournament are considered sponsors.

I hope that this clarifies the issue.

[Joshua Rutsky]

For the Middle School Tournament, NAQT has now been designated the official question provider. We appreciate their willingness to work with us at a late date.

[BucsMath]

I have no experience with middle school questions written by NAQT or Olympia, but at first glance it seems like this is a major improvement to Alabama quizbowl starting at the earliest stages. Hopefully this will make the transition from middle school ASCA to high school competition a much gentler learning curve. I remember hating NAQT my freshman year because the massive canon expansion and the style change left me completely bewildered.