Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

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quizbowllee
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by quizbowllee »

Speaking on behalf of the ASCA Board:

1) ASCA's board has, as previously explained, explored the possibility of an online tournament. Given the number of moderators, experienced personnel, and technical components that would be needed in order to make such an event work, as well as the very limited experience the vast majority of teams in our state have with such an event, we simply do not believe we can hold a state championship (let alone three of them) online and have it be a positive experience.

2) ASCA's decision to use questions from Academic Hallmarks followed the open solicitation of bids from multiple providers and an effort to find other writers with experience who would be willing to produce appropriate material for our use. Our choices, given NAQT's refusal, were highly limited, and the volunteer staff of the ASCA board, made up almost entirely of active teachers, simply could not undertake writing the huge number of rounds needed to run the event ourselves, and frankly, lack the experience to write quality questions in that number. We will have plenty of work just to edit the AH sets.

3) While ASCA may be hoping to hold an in-person event, we have shown in the past that we will NOT hold an event if the COVID situation is severe--that was why the state events were cancelled last year. Declaring that it is our desire to hold such an event is NOT the same thing as holding the event, but it DOES serve the purpose of giving people dates with which to plan. ASCA will absolutely re-evaluate the COVID situation as we enter March, and the possibility that we cancel again is certainly there. People do not seem to realize that this is the case.


Speaking on behalf of myself:

I, personally, am not in favor of holding large, state-wide in-person events at this time and will not be in favor of doing so unless the situation improves considerably.
Lee Henry
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by meebles127 »

quizbowllee wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2021 1:50 pm 1) ASCA's board has, as previously explained, explored the possibility of an online tournament. Given the number of moderators, experienced personnel, and technical components that would be needed in order to make such an event work, as well as the very limited experience the vast majority of teams in our state have with such an event, we simply do not believe we can hold a state championship (let alone three of them) online and have it be a positive experience.
Has ASCA considered asking for help from the community to support an online event?
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by benchapman »

quizbowllee wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2021 1:50 pm Our choices, given NAQT's refusal, were highly limited, and the volunteer staff of the ASCA board, made up almost entirely of active teachers, simply could not undertake writing the huge number of rounds needed to run the event ourselves, and frankly, lack the experience to write quality questions in that number. We will have plenty of work just to edit the AH sets.
Has the ASCA board considered that the reason that their options for getting in-person questions are "highly limited" is that the organizations that would normally be used (such as NAQT) recognize that there is an inherent danger in in-person quizbowl and don't want to sponsor an event that may cause people to die?
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by Vixor »

benchapman wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2021 3:13 pm
quizbowllee wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2021 1:50 pm Our choices, given NAQT's refusal, were highly limited, and the volunteer staff of the ASCA board, made up almost entirely of active teachers, simply could not undertake writing the huge number of rounds needed to run the event ourselves, and frankly, lack the experience to write quality questions in that number. We will have plenty of work just to edit the AH sets.
Has the ASCA board considered that the reason that their options for getting in-person questions are "highly limited" is that the organizations that would normally be used (such as NAQT) recognize that there is an inherent danger in in-person quizbowl and don't want to sponsor an event that may cause people to die?
I hope so, given that 20 other posters have said exactly this.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN) »

A board that makes statewide decisions governing an educational activity for minors should publish its minutes. People deserve to know who all the members of the ASCA board are, and how they voted, at the barest minimum.
Charlie Dees, North Kansas City HS '08
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN) »

To me, one of the more shameful aspects of the general worldwide response to this pandemic has been how willing people are to punt decisions until later in the calendar, rather than making a real effort to predict the (very obvious) future (that Alabama currently has killed 1 out of every 1,000 residents and that number will only continue to rise over the course of the winter) and use that extra time to implement early, effective solutions. Rather than telling us how ridiculous it is to make plans about a complicated multi-site event that is going to have to follow all kinds of health protocols, then inevitably not having a backup plan when March comes and you realize people are still dying and throw your hands up about how it's too late to get the state to switch online, you should just go ahead and decide NOW that the risks (that there's no universe where multiple district hosts aren't going to kill someone somewhere) aren't worth the benefits (playing the worst quizbowl questions imaginable) and spend this extra time implementing a better solution. You're supposed to be responsible adults and make the best decisions to protect your students in every other aspect of your job, why is this suddenly where that disappears?
Charlie Dees, North Kansas City HS '08
"I won't say more because I know some of you parse everything I say." - Jeremy Gibbs

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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by A Lust-Fanned Dairy Tale »

If I may be totally frank, if any Alabaman watches this video of Crimson Tide fans celebrating the championship last night and (knowing what we know about how the virus spreads in large maskless crowds and can take as long as two weeks to show symptoms) thinks that it’s acceptable to be holding in-person quizbowl tournaments at multiple sites statewide is objectively, morally in the wrong. I want to re-emphasize Charlie’s excellent point and I hope you take it to heart:
You're supposed to be responsible adults and make the best decisions to protect your students in every other aspect of your job, why is this suddenly where that disappears?
I recognize that many of the defenses of ASCA’s decision are made in good faith, and I appreciate the attempt. However, these defenses are positively mystifying to me. I will go a little further than the other posters on this thread. If these in-person tournaments go ahead, people will get sick, and people will die.

It may not be students or school staff. It may be parents or grandparents, it may be grocery store or pharmacy clerks, it may be people you have never met. Point the first: If you spend time in a crowded public space, chances are good you have been exposed to COVID-19. That’s how uncontrolled community spread works. Any contact tracing is pretty much meaningless in a situation with uncontrolled community spread, so while there’s no way to prove that someone who got sick got sick at school, there’s also no way to prove it happened somewhere else. Is that something you really want on your conscience?

Point the second: The vaccine rollout has been botched, badly, nationwide. The idea that enough people will be vaccinated by March/April in order to make an event like this safe is a pipe dream so remote it’s not even worth planning around.

I know I sound apocalyptic. But this pandemic is the closest thing to an apocalypse in the US in my lifetime, and probably many of yours. ASCA is risking lives by hosting a superspreader event, and that’s their prerogative, but I fear y’all will not understand the consequences of these actions until it’s too late.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN) »

Cjh0024 wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 2:07 pm Please, that is a stretch... An Alabama Quiz Bowl tournament having a significant impact outside of the immediate connecting states at this point of the pandemic? That is like saying you are drinking Pharaoh Tuts urine when you bath in the Nile in 2020. If Alabama decisions are impacting other State decisions in Quiz Bowl, that is on their legislation.
I currently live 577 air-miles from London, with an entire other country and an ocean between. The UK is an island nation that just underwent Brexit to restrict mobility from their neighbors and which is currently undergoing a hard lockdown to control their new mutant strain. The moment that strain got serious press coverage, all flights from the UK were canceled by many governments in the region. My own city has been under a hard lockdown since mid-December, currently allowing a single guest in your apartment, banning many people from traveling more than 10 miles outside of their home, closing all schools/salons/restaurants/etc, demanding that you have a specific reason to be out of your home such as shopping or exercise, requiring masks in virtually all public spaces, and passing out unbelievable fines like candy for violators. Yesterday, they found the first case of the UK mutant strain here. Meanwhile, Huntsville, AL, is 511 air miles from Chicago with no true borders, also with millions of people who are so deranged that they often don't even think the virus is real, much less that they should wear a mask, inbetween. I can't imagine a more ill-thought out, selfish approach your region's public health.
Last edited by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN) on Tue Jan 12, 2021 3:47 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Charlie Dees, North Kansas City HS '08
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN) »

quizbowllee wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2021 1:50 pm I, personally, am not in favor of holding large, state-wide in-person events at this time and will not be in favor of doing so unless the situation improves considerably.
Are you going to still participate in your district championship if it happens, or are you going to do the right thing by taking your team out of the contest for one year until the risks have been mitigated and the question quality allows for an actual legitimate state championship, while encouraging other coaches to do the same?
Charlie Dees, North Kansas City HS '08
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"At one TJ tournament the neg prize was the Hampshire College ultimate frisbee team (nude) calender featuring one Evan Silberman. In retrospect that could have been a disaster." - Harry White
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by Joshua Rutsky »

I've stayed quiet on this for a while, but I feel like I should chime in here.

I am extremely disappointed that the assumption has been made in this thread that ASCA's board has been irresponsible. It is not POSSIBLE for ASCA's board to be irresponsible before they have DONE anything to be irresponsible for. What is happening here is that people are calling out what they perceive to be a bad decision, arguing that there is no justification for that decision, and presenting a case for why the people involved in making the decision are acting irresponsibly, but all of this is based on one fundamental assumption -- that ASCA will host an in-person tournament regardless of the situation on the ground, and regardless of the threat to the community. As a longtime board member, a contributor to this community, and a human being, I resent the assumption that I will act in any way OTHER than what I perceive as the best interests of the students and the greater community.
Rather than telling us how ridiculous it is to make plans about a complicated multi-site event that is going to have to follow all kinds of health protocols, then inevitably not having a backup plan when March comes and you realize people are still dying and throw your hands up about how it's too late to get the state to switch online, you should just go ahead and decide NOW that the risks (that there's no universe where multiple district hosts aren't going to kill someone somewhere) aren't worth the benefits (playing the worst quizbowl questions imaginable) and spend this extra time implementing a better solution. You're supposed to be responsible adults and make the best decisions to protect your students in every other aspect of your job, why is this suddenly where that disappears?
ASCA met in OCTOBER to discuss what we would do about this year's state event because we felt that we had failed to plan adequately for the situation last year. At the time, projections were optimistic that we would be in a much better situation in the springtime, but rather than blindly assume that we would be in a position to hold an in-person event, we discussed if and how we could conduct an online state tournament. To characterize what has happened here as a failure to plan on our part is inaccurate. Further, at the time when we met, NAQT had not yet made a decision whether it would permit in-person competition using their questions. NAQT extended its moratorium in December, if I remember correctly, so again, to describe our choice as a decision to play the worst quizbowl questions imaginable as if we were idiots who have no clue about what a good question is or why we might prefer them is unfair at best and condescending at worst. ASCA reached out to NAQT and let them know that we needed to know if they could guarantee that we would be permitted to use NAQT questions IF we held our tournament in person. We knew that if they said no, we would need to secure questions from a different source, and we wanted to have the chance to bid out those questions. At no time did ASCA state "we are going to host this event in person regardless of the situation involving COVID and nothing is going to stop us." What we did was try to ensure that IF the tournament would be possible, which again, in October, we were unwilling to rule out, we would have questions. That's not a failure to plan--it is the opposite.

Many people in this thread have spoken up about how online events are reasonable options, and I have no problem with online events. Most coaches who are on the ASCA board have played in one or more of these events this year. However, my experience with these events has been that running a relatively small event is something that requires planning, technical know-how, and moderators who are comfortable enough with the zoom world and with quizbowl that they can read, operate an online buzzer system, and track behavior at the same time. Ideally, every moderator in an online event has a support staffer who can take on some of these roles.

ASCA ran eleven district sites last year on the same day for our High School tournament alone. These sites each required at least three moderators apiece. Expanding out, that would mean about 60-70 staffers needed to provide two people per online room, and some 33 experienced and comfortable moderators. Even assuming that we could find those moderators, which we would have struggled badly to do, that would have gotten us through one tournament's district event--we would still have to run the state middle school districts, and the state finals for HS, MS, and Elementary. All of those events would require a sizable moderating team as well. Having tried to find moderators for years, and having struggled to do so, we simply do not believe that we can achieve this goal. Elsewhere in this thread our concerns about technology access were also raised, and the fairness issue was another point that came up in our discussions. We looked at alternatives, but frankly, most were priced out of our reach in a year where budgets were cut badly and where we saw a large decline in our membership registrations. Several of those who did not register told us that they were waiting to see if we were going to have a state event before registering, which we felt was understandable.

In the end, we decided that we simply could not run a tournament that would be suitable to be called a state championship event online. Now, if people want to disagree with our decision in that regard, that's their prerogative, but since we were the ones who would be expected to make this thing work, we felt it was important that we believe that we COULD make it work before trying to do it. As a result, we decided that if we did hold a state championship event, it would have to be an in-person tournament, and so we set about trying to plan for the possibility of that occurring. Again, I don't believe that trying to plan for a possibility is wrong, nor is it a sign of irresponsibility.

I understand why people view Academic Hallmarks questions as being terrible questions. I understand all the objections to using them. A poster above asked if we didn't understand that NAQT might not want to sell questions to an event that could spread infection and cause harm to the community. Of COURSE we understood that. NAQT's decision not to sell us those questions was their choice, and we accepted that and let them know that we hope we can work with them again in the future. However, given that we were in agreement that we would not be hosting online, we had to have a set of questions on the off chance that we might be holding our state tournament. To not have this planned would be a dereliction of our responsibility, just as it would be such a dereliction to run a state in-person event with COVID being as prevalent as it is now. We did not have people capable of writing high quality questions ourselves for so many events, and attempts to find a set to potentially mirror were problematic. If you want to argue that it would have been better for us to immediately cancel the state event if we couldn't use NAQT questions, I guess you can make that argument, but we felt our responsibility was to have an event if possible, so we chose from what was available.

The bottom line here, at least from where I am sitting, is that ASCA has done what it was supposed to do. We made the decision that we would set dates for an event that we hoped we would be able to run. We decided that it was better NOT to host an event that we could not staff properly and that we didn't have the experience to run. We have continued to monitor the situation and have done what we could to push back dates in hopes that the situation would improve sufficiently. Until such time as ASCA actually hosts an in-person state championship event, I think that accusing it of being irresponsible, thoughtless, or anything else is premature.

It has always been very easy in this space to be aggressively negative towards other people and towards the choices they make. Several people upthread have made very reasonable arguments as to why hosting an in-person event is a bad idea, and many people upthread have suggested alternatives in a reasonable way. Others, however, have taken it upon themselves to send some pretty hostile messages to Lee Henry, and even to his son -- a 9th grader -- which I think is REALLY out of order. I am asking this community to please stop such messaging. If you want to take issue with the decisions that ASCA makes, that's fine. Go ahead and do so on this forum. Do NOT send those comments to a 13 year old, please. I am also asking the community to listen to what we have said here -- we are not going to hold an in-person event while doing so is against all guidelines. Individuals will make their own choices for their own schools, and others may not make the same decision that our board will make, but ASCA will continue to do what we have done--make decisions with our students in mind.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN) »

Who voted for this?
Charlie Dees, North Kansas City HS '08
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by Joshua Rutsky »

Could you be more specific, Charlie? Voted for what?
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN) »

Who are the members of the ASCA board who voted to hold an in-person district and state series? If MSHSAA can publicly post who voted to try and ban me from playing open tournaments (and every other annual advisory committee vote) then ASCA can post who voted to try running this event.
Charlie Dees, North Kansas City HS '08
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by Joshua Rutsky »

What makes you think that we have a problem with posting that? The ASCA board is posted publicly on our website, but here are the current members:

President 2020-2022 Lee Henry West Point High School

President-Elect 2020-2022 Christopher Arthur ADTRAN, Inc.
Secretary 2019-2021 Rhonda Brewer Sylacauga High School
Treasurer 2019-2021 Sharon Daily Retired
HS Member 2020-2022 Susan DeArman Russellville High School
HS Member 2020-2022 Todd Parker Spain Park High School
HS Member 2019-2021 Jay Vick East Lawrence High School
HS Member 2019-2021 Wayne Davenport Gadsden City High School
HS Member 2020-2022 Kate Wilson LAMP High School
MS Member 2020-2022 Jane Haithcock Liberty Middle School
MS Member 2019-2021 Corey Harris Opelika Middle School
MS Member 2020-2022 Russell Wilhite East Lawrence Middle School
Member-at-Large 2020-2022 Claudette Smith Retired
Member-at-Large 2020-2022 Christine O'Leary Wallace State Community College
Past President 2018-2020 Joshua Rutsky Hoover High School



I don't have the minutes in front of me, but as I recall, the board voted largely unanimously against an online event, and to pursue acquisition of questions. There would not have been a formal vote to hold an in-person event at that time, as our bylaws call for such an event on set dates each year. I do believe that we voted to push back the event by a month to give as much time as possible for the COVID situation to improve.

I voted in favor of the decision to move the dates, and I voted against trying to hold an online event using Zoom or Discord. I proposed at one point the use of some sort of online event similar to Qblitz as a way to bring the numbers down to something we could work with for an online event, but that wasn't something we could afford when we got a quote.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by Joshua Rutsky »

Just to clarify, if anyone has any doubts in this regard - as Lee has said upthread, I am opposed to holding an in-person event at this time. There is no indication that it would be safe to do so. While measures could be taken to improve that safety, the best measure is not taking the risk. ASCA is a board, however, with diverse opinions. I respect the right of my fellow board members to voice their opinions, even if I disagree, as I do in this case, and I know that he respects my right to vote against such an event in our deliberations.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by Cheynem »

One of the few advantages of online quizbowl, to address your concerns about staffing, is that tournament staff is no longer dependent on region. It is very possible to bring in staffers who do not live in Alabama to staff online tournaments (and judging by the experience of many online tournaments this summer, staffers not actually in a region is very common). I don't want to come off as overly combative--everyone during this pandemic is facing unprecedented challenges and forced to make difficult decisions, but I just want to gently point out that many of your concerns in Alabama about online tournaments are faced in other states and regions, and solutions or workarounds, however imperfect, have been achieved.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by quizbowllee »

For those ASCA players and Coaches who get their information from this board:

The ASCA Board has ultimately voted NOT to hold in-person competitions this year.

We are working with NAQT to set up online District Tournaments via Buzzword at the Middle and High School levels. This is an ongoing discussion and not all of the details have been ironed out yet, so we ask everyone to please be patient and not bombard us with questions about how this will work. We have had great conversations with NAQT and I am pleased with the framework we are working in. We hope to announce all the details and ins-and-outs of this very soon. For now, I want to extend a heartfelt "Thank You" to NAQT for their unbelievable willingness to work with us and help us provide a platform for our schools to play safely this year in as equitable a manner as possible.

The top teams from the online Buzzword district tournaments will play in a full-scale online State Championship Tournament using Zoom and Buzzin.live. We are partnering with the Greater Huntsville Section of The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) to provide the technology and support needed to run these events. We are very thankful to Robin Osborne, who spearheaded this partnership with AIAA. Again, more details will be coming soon.

More information can be found on the ASCA Website and every ASCA Member Coach and Sponsor should have received information about this via e-mail earlier in the week.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by Cheynem »

This is a great decision, doing what is best for safety and also using far superior questions. I wish Alabama the best on their season under rather unfortunate circumstances.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by meebles127 »

As someone who engaged quite heavily with this thread, I appreciate that ASCA has made the difficult decision to work with NAQT and a local partner to implement an online alternative to their state series this year.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by Deepsouth quizcoach »

I don't have a dog in this fight anymore, having retired after last year from Alabama. I still have deep ties to Alma Bryant and wish to keep up with what's going on and help them as I can.

Saddens me that the season is basically lost. I forgot to pick up my medical degree, so I don't know what would be best beyond any shadow of a doubt. Seems, given the info out there, that an in-person format would not be safe, so ASCA has probably made the correct decisions.

What I don't understand the is the level of vitriol in some of the comments on this board. If you don't like the rules, make it known; if the response doesn't satisfy you, quit coaching. Just hammering a group of people who are trying to do the best they can (for what is one of, if not the, best-run Scholars Bowl associations in the nation) is not only counter-productive, it is idiotic. ESPECIALLY when you are in agreement in principal with ASCA. A lot of this discussion seems to be people, particularly one person, just stomping his foot and wanting his voice heard...

How about a little support for the Board? I never tried to be involved with the board in my 18 years of coaching, because I had a pretty good idea how much work was involved, and that I wouldn't be able to do the job justice. For those who serve, especially Rutsky- who has poured his heart and soul into this as long as I can remember- show a little love. Josh, I hate to see you so prodded that you have to write an immensely defensive post.

Again, no dog in the fight... just sayin'.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by Vixor »

The compromise solution released by ASCA and NAQT seems somewhat better in a way but kind of counterintuitive. Since players still have to congregate with each other in person for district events that's kind of a concern, even though they wouldn't have to play their competitors in person. Additionally, six students having to congregate around one computer to buzz seems quite impossible, and given that the buzzword rules states that players cannot "communicate with any other person in any fashion", it would be impossible to ask your team's captain press buzz for you. Admittedly this is a better solution than playing other teams in person, but it seems impossible to even play under these circumstances.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by quizbowllee »

Ideally, one person will be at the keyboard, with the screen projected and team members spaced appropriately.

Team members absolutely can tell the captain to buzz in and what to type. We are fine with the players collaborating on the questions. All of this was discussed and worked out with NAQT. We don't expect 4-6 players to be virtually on top of one another around a single computer.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by setht »

I just wanted to echo Lee here: Team members can tell the captain (or designated typist) when to buzz and what to type, and can collaborate on answering.

The "no communicating with any other person in any fashion" rule is for our standard, single-player Buzzword games. The ASCA District events will use some different rules (in particular, team communication and collaboration are allowed).
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by CPiGuy »

Vixor wrote: Tue Feb 09, 2021 9:39 pm Since players still have to congregate with each other in person for district events that's kind of a concern, even though they wouldn't have to play their competitors in person.
If schools are meeting in person (which if I recall correctly, yours is one of like, two schools in Alabama not to be in any capacity), this doesn't present any risk that an ordinary school day doesn't -- whereas a tournament with people from many different schools mingling together absolutely does.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by Joshua Rutsky »

Vishal-

You raise a fair point regarding the proximity of teammates in participating in the event. I don't want to seem like we are dismissive of it in any way. Coach Henry's suggestion regarding projecting the match is a good option, but regardless of how a team approaches this event, we strongly suggest running a test round of Buzzword together just to get a feel for how this will work.

It isn't the best solution, but this is the best we could do under the circumstances for the most people.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by osbornrj »

I personally think it's an ingenious solution and would like to thank NAQT and ASCA for coming up with the idea and working through the details. Buzzword in and of itself is a well-designed, user-friendly platform. For our kids to be able to use it for Districts is pretty cool, and it really does simplify the technology issues since teams only need one internet-enabled computer over a short window of time.

As others have said, there's no reason teams should not be able to socially distance while playing. Just turn the volume up. The questions are not displayed — they're read through audio files, so there's not much need for anyone except the person driving the mouse and keyboard to see the screen. I suppose if you don't trust that the person in control is spelling the answers correctly, that might be a reason to want to see the screen. Maybe try using your web browser's zoom/magnify feature (for Windows web browsers, hold CTRL and press the + key) to make the answer box larger so others can see it from a distance. If that's not sufficient, project to a larger display as has been suggested. But also keep in mind, Buzzword doesn't require perfect spelling. They give some leniency, within reason.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by osbornrj »

UPDATED ON 3/17/2021

Everyone,

Please feel free to share the announcement and Google form link below with anyone you think might be willing to volunteer to help out with the ONLINE Alabama State Championships (middle school and high school varsity divisions). We’re primarily looking for moderators and scorekeepers. We'll be closely following NAQT's guidelines for online tournaments and using ZOOM and Buzzin.live. I’m coordinating this with ASCA board members Lee Henry, Josh Rutsky, and Chris Arthur.

Call for Volunteers:
https://engage.aiaa.org/greaterhuntsvil ... 2fcalendar

Volunteer Sign-up Link:
https://forms.gle/hso7qRYkG29Jd1Hy9

These online tournaments are being sponsored in a collaborative effort between the Alabama Scholastic Competition Association (ASCA) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Greater Huntsville Section. A huge thanks to AIAA, ERC, and the Jacobs Space Exploration Group in Huntsville for providing support in the form of both volunteers and funds. We'll be drawing upon as many volunteers as possible from the aerospace community in our region, as well as the ASCA community. However, we absolutely welcome anyone who loves quiz bowl and is kind enough to serve as a volunteer and help with moderating or scorekeeping.

Sincerely,
Robin
Last edited by osbornrj on Wed Mar 17, 2021 10:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by Vixor »

I made a high school player poll for Alabama. I will announce the results in roughly the next two weeks. Anyone can vote, but all players ranked must be from Alabama, and in high school or middle school.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ATWGnx ... e&ths=true

Edit: here the middle school poll, the same rules above apply except you can only rank middle schoolers and below.

https://forms.gle/1fpzRswxnBuCYqjy6
Vishal Rameshbabu
[James Clemens High School]

Muhammad bin Tughluq, upon his ascent to the throne of Delhi, conducted a massacre at Kannauj. He moved the capital of Delhi to Daulatabad in Maharashtra for centralization after his conquest of Warangal Fort in Telangana. Tughluq defended India in the north against the Chagatai Khanate, and was later defeated by Prithvi Chand II in in Kangara. Tughluq standardized brass and copper coinage, taking away from the market value of gold.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by William McCurley »

Will we be able to qualify for HSNCT from the ASCA district tournaments? Baker has not attended any other NAQT tournaments this year.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by meebles127 »

William McCurley wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 6:46 pm Will we be able to qualify for HSNCT from the ASCA district tournaments? Baker has not attended any other NAQT tournaments this year.
Starting on March 22 HSNCT will have Open Registration.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by Important Bird Area »

William McCurley wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 6:46 pm Will we be able to qualify for HSNCT from the ASCA district tournaments?
Yes, the ASCA district events will serve as qualifiers for the 2021 HSNCT and SSNCT.
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by quizbowllee »

The results of the 2021 ASCA District Tournaments (via Buzzword) have been finalized and are available here:

https://www.naqt.com/stats/tournament/s ... t_id=11933

ASCA's Tournament Coordinator, Sharon Daily, should be contacting all the teams who qualified for State in the next few days.

On behalf of ASCA, I want to give a huge thanks to NAQT for working with us to make this possible. I know a lot of hard work and planning went into this.

Congrats to all the qualifying teams, and good luck at State!
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by osbornrj »

We could still use a few more volunteers for the online Alabama State Championships. Specifically, we need:

2 moderators for the April 17 middle school prelims (8:30 am - 12:30 pm)
3 moderators for the May 15 high school prelims (8:30 am - 12:30 pm)
2 scorekeepers for the May 15 high school prelims (8:30 am - 12:30 pm) and 1 for the playoffs (1:30 pm to 5:30 pm)

Call for Volunteers:
https://engage.aiaa.org/greaterhuntsvil ... lle%2fhome

Volunteer Sign-up Link:
https://forms.gle/hso7qRYkG29Jd1Hy9

For volunteers who've never served as a moderator or scorekeeper for an online tournament, there will be a one hour training session to ensure you're well prepared.

Thanks,
Robin
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Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Post by osbornrj »

This is a follow-up to my previous posts and Call for Volunteers that I put out on this forum. THANK YOU to all the volunteers who helped with this year's State Championships! Below is an e-mail I sent out this morning.

--------------------------

Dear Volunteers,

I want to thank all of you again for your outstanding volunteer work with the Academic Quiz Bowl State Championships. The tournaments absolutely could not have happened without your support. Many thanks to the AIAA Greater Huntsville Section (Nishanth Goli, chairman), Jacobs Space Exploration Group (Jeff Haars, vice president and program manager), and ERC, Inc. (Ernie Wu, president and CEO) for supporting academic excellence in our schools through their sponsorship of these events. These organizations were of immense help in putting out the Call for Volunteers and providing funds for the trophies, medals, and cash prizes for the winning teams and schools. The Alabama Scholastic Competition Association – ASCA (Lee Henry, president) is to be commended for what they do each and every year to organize and host the district and state tournaments for the students of Alabama. Many of the ASCA members are teacher volunteers or former quiz bowl players. It was an honor to work with them during this extremely challenging time to use online technology to ensure the tournaments still happened safely despite COVID.

Next, I want to share some numbers in regard to the students and schools that participated:
In order to qualify for the State Championships, teams first had to be the top performers in their District Tournaments. There were an estimated 600 students from 111 schools who participated in the ASCA District Tournaments. Of those 111 schools, 56 qualified for State. In total, over 300 students representing those 56 schools participated in both the middle school and high school State Championships. Here are links for both State tournaments:

April 17 - Middle School State Championship
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... 1285445915
https://www.naqt.com/stats/tournament/s ... t_id=11934
http://home.hiwaay.net/~asca/MSStateWinners_000.html

May 15 - High School State Championship
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... 1285445915
https://www.naqt.com/stats/tournament/s ... t_id=11936
http://home.hiwaay.net/~asca/HSStateWinners.html

Our 64 volunteers consisted of members of the Huntsville aerospace community, teachers and students from across Alabama, and quiz bowl alumni. In at least one case, we had someone who has no direct ties to Alabama, as far as I know, but he’s just a great person who saw the Call for Volunteers and offered to help. Thank you so much, Chris Chiego – I watched some of your rounds, and you’re a top-notch moderator. It was an honor to have your involvement. Below are some other fun facts about our volunteers:

• Both Chris Chiego and Corey Rosenbloom were moderating from CA, so they were up bright and early Saturday. We also had Anna Stanford, a former Alabama quiz bowl player (now an attorney) helping us from MA.
• Several members from the AIAA GHS board volunteered – Nishanth Goli (chairman), April Potter (secretary), Nancy Donahoo (treasurer), and Naveen Vetcha (public policy). Thank you AIAA GHS for putting your full support behind the events!
• We had volunteers ranging from middle school students all the way up to Ph.Ds.
• Bill Anderson, who is retired from the Office of Education at NASA Headquarters, moderated from TN. Education Specialists Catherine Shelton and John Eckhart, who work in NASA MSFC’s Office of Education, were volunteers. John Dankanich, the Center Chief Technologist at NASA MSFC, was one of our moderators.
• ASCA board members Lee Henry (president), Christopher Arthur (president-elect), Joshua Rutsky (past president), Rhonda Brewer (secretary), Kate Wilson (HS member), Jane Haithcock (MS member) and Claudette Smith (member-at-large) all supported the events and were critically important in making sure we were successful.
• We had several husband/wife dynamic duos who volunteered and did a fantastic job: Jason Pullias and Tracie Prater, Greg Joseph and Ellie Meyer, and Walker Gabriel and Jayme Gabriel.
• Sibling volunteers Sophia Liu and her younger brother Steven also helped as a moderator and scorekeeper. Sophia is a Hoover High School alum (currently a student at Northwestern University) and Steven Liu is a student at Bumpus Middle School. If we were giving out an award for the fastest and most efficient Zoom room, it would have to go to those two, hands down. They were often getting through their rounds in ~30 minutes. Sophia is also a moderator for the NAQT National Championships.
• Another set of siblings, Matthew and David Hitt, did a superb job as moderators. Thanks, guys!!
• My husband, Danny Osborne, wrote the scoring/ranking/TU# script for the Google Sheet tournament pages, and my son, Tate Osborne, served as a scorekeeper in the HS tournament.

Below is a breakdown of the organizations and companies represented by our 64 volunteers. In many cases, there is some overlap. For example, many Jacobs employees are also AIAA GHS members.

AIAA GHS (25 volunteers)
Jacobs Space Exploration Group (24)
NASA (6)
ASCA (6)
ERC, Inc (3)

Others:
Qualis Corporation, Paragon TEC, Bastion Technologies, Boeing, GeoControl Systems, Aerodyne, ADTRAN, MTS, Inc., University of Alabama Huntsville, Naval Postgraduate School, Northwestern University, Hoover High School, West Point High School, Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School, Bumpus Middle School, Monrovia Middle School, and Liberty Middle School. Sorry if I didn’t capture all of the organizations.

Sincerely,
Robin Osborne
Tournament Director
Robin Osborne
Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering (parent)
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Greater Huntsville Section (Associate Fellow)
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