Looking for practice material?

Find thousands of free archived packets for practice and study from the Quizbowl Packet Archive!

MSHSAA Rule Changes 2010

Discussion of quizbowl topics not related to specific tournaments
Post Reply
User avatar
CentraliaCoach
Posts: 261
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 12:38 pm

MSHSAA Rule Changes 2010

Post by CentraliaCoach »

The Manual won't be mailed until the 29th, and the online rules "meetings" aren't available until October 1st. This is what has been revealed so far.

2010-11 Academic Competition Rules Changes

1. Rule C-2-c, regarding the answer to a calculation question, was modified the include the following phrase: “The answer must include units, unless the units are specified in the question.” (Editorial/clarification)

2. The term “tie-breaker” was changed to “overtime” throughout the rulebook when referring to the procedure to determine a winner at the end of a tied match. The term tie-breaker is still used in regard to breaking ties for advancement or seeding.

3. Wording was added to Rule I, regarding Scholar Bowl Officials, to further emphasize the requirement for neutrality in districts and the state series.



Advisory Committee Recommendations & Resulting Board Action
6/20/2010

Scholar Bowl Advisory Committee

Held May 19, 2010

*** 1. Recommended that the district and state series roster limit be increased from eight to ten and that the number of medals provided for the top four state teams be increased from eight to ten.
2. Recommended that the State Academic Competition schedule be moved later by one half hour to allow moderators more time to review the questions prior to competition.
3. Recommended an editorial change in the title of this event from “Academic Competition” to “Scholar Bowl” in all documents and references in order to more adequately represent the nature of the activity to the general public and MSHSAA member schools.

* Denied
** Tabled
*** Approved as Amended
**** No Action
All Others Approved

User avatar
L-Town Expatriate
Posts: 6904
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2004 12:00 am
Location: Riding a Mule down the Katy Trail to the State Fair
Contact:

Re: MSHSAA Rule Changes 2010

Post by L-Town Expatriate »

CentraliaCoach wrote:1. Rule C-2-c, regarding the answer to a calculation question, was modified the include the following phrase: “The answer must include units, unless the units are specified in the question.” (Editorial/clarification)

2. The term “tie-breaker” was changed to “overtime” throughout the rulebook when referring to the procedure to determine a winner at the end of a tied match. The term tie-breaker is still used in regard to breaking ties for advancement or seeding.
These both get a "meh" from me. If units are in the question and the units wind up being underlined as required for the correct answer, as opposed to in brackets/parenthesis, I sense the moderator's first inclination will be to still require the units. Teams of course can challenge and will do so successfully, should this come about. As for change #2, semantics, but a good one.
CentraliaCoach wrote:3. Wording was added to Rule I, regarding Scholar Bowl Officials, to further emphasize the requirement for neutrality in districts and the state series.
It was quite troublesome to hear horrible questions. It was more troublesome when the moderators reading horrible questions were B-teamers & Key Club members of the school hosting the district. I might be off on what exactly this change is aiming at, but hopefully it's this.
CentraliaCoach wrote:*** 1. Recommended that the district and state series roster limit be increased from eight to ten and that the number of medals provided for the top four state teams be increased from eight to ten.
This has been tried for years, and it finally went through. However, only a few teams will be able to utilize this effectively, and chances are those few were bring home plenty of hardware with just eight players. Now granted, it doesn't stop them from still bringing just eight.
CentraliaCoach wrote:2. Recommended that the State Academic Competition schedule be moved later by one half hour to allow moderators more time to review the questions prior to competition.
Wonderful idea.
CentraliaCoach wrote:3. Recommended an editorial change in the title of this event from “Academic Competition” to “Scholar Bowl” in all documents and references in order to more adequately represent the nature of the activity to the general public and MSHSAA member schools.
This will need some clarification as to what we're trying to adequately represent. Dare I say it makes us sound more, um, elitist, which strikes me as something MSHSAA isn't entirely fond of catering to. Swimming coaches pulled plenty of teeth to get their eligibility rules relaxed to allow swimmers who competed for Olympic-calibre clubs to also compete for their schools.

User avatar
Jeffrey Hill
Posts: 6651
Joined: Fri Apr 30, 2004 12:00 am
Location: In between the bright lights and the far unlit unknown (aka Johnson County, KS)
Contact:

Re: MSHSAA Rule Changes 2010

Post by Jeffrey Hill »

L-Town Expatriate wrote:
CentraliaCoach wrote:1. Rule C-2-c, regarding the answer to a calculation question, was modified the include the following phrase: “The answer must include units, unless the units are specified in the question.” (Editorial/clarification)
These both get a "meh" from me. If units are in the question and the units wind up being underlined as required for the correct answer, as opposed to in brackets/parenthesis, I sense the moderator's first inclination will be to still require the units. Teams of course can challenge and will do so successfully, should this come about. As for change #2, semantics, but a good one.
As far as I know, NAQT never underlines the units, and a cursory look at an NAQT set I have on hand seems to show that they typically include the units or some other wording somewhere in the question text that clearly indicate what units are requested. Of course, I haven't seen their "speedcheck" math computation. I don't think this should be an issue this year, but we'll see. It's nice that they've finally explicitly stated this (I believe) previously unwritten rule that has been enforced for years. (Of course, I'd prefer not requiring units [not to mention no computation at all], but it's better than before.)

User avatar
L-Town Expatriate
Posts: 6904
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2004 12:00 am
Location: Riding a Mule down the Katy Trail to the State Fair
Contact:

Re: MSHSAA Rule Changes 2010

Post by L-Town Expatriate »

U. Lou Sthagaim wrote:
L-Town Expatriate wrote:
CentraliaCoach wrote:1. Rule C-2-c, regarding the answer to a calculation question, was modified the include the following phrase: “The answer must include units, unless the units are specified in the question.” (Editorial/clarification)
These both get a "meh" from me. If units are in the question and the units wind up being underlined as required for the correct answer, as opposed to in brackets/parenthesis, I sense the moderator's first inclination will be to still require the units. Teams of course can challenge and will do so successfully, should this come about. As for change #2, semantics, but a good one.
As far as I know, NAQT never underlines the units, and a cursory look at an NAQT set I have on hand seems to show that they typically include the units or some other wording somewhere in the question text that clearly indicate what units are requested. Of course, I haven't seen their "speedcheck" math computation. I don't think this should be an issue this year, but we'll see. It's nice that they've finally explicitly stated this (I believe) previously unwritten rule that has been enforced for years. (Of course, I'd prefer not requiring units [not to mention no computation at all], but it's better than before.)
They always required units on our math homework, if only to force us to nitpick ourselves. But hey, it's very unlikely (albeit very much possible) that any of our math teachers are going to be writing the questions. :P

User avatar
bt_green_warbler
Posts: 68
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2010 4:22 pm
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Contact:

Re: MSHSAA Rule Changes 2010

Post by bt_green_warbler »

NAQT correctness guidelines C.20 states:
Questions which ask for a physical quantity will specify the units of the answer in the question
Our speed check series conform to this guideline, just like the longer questions.

User avatar
bt_green_warbler
Posts: 68
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2010 4:22 pm
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Contact:

Re: MSHSAA Rule Changes 2010

Post by bt_green_warbler »

U. Lou Sthagaim wrote:As far as I know, NAQT never underlines the units
There are rare cases in which we do underline the units, usually word problems where the answer is a sum of money.

User avatar
dividebyzero
Posts: 359
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2009 12:00 am
Location: Near East St. Louis

Re: MSHSAA Rule Changes 2010

Post by dividebyzero »

CentraliaCoach wrote: 3. Wording was added to Rule I, regarding Scholar Bowl Officials, to further emphasize the requirement for neutrality in districts and the state series.
I thought we determined that the name was being changed to make sure we're no longer the first activity listed on the MSHSAA homepage? :p

User avatar
CentraliaCoach
Posts: 261
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 12:38 pm

Re: MSHSAA Rule Changes 2010

Post by CentraliaCoach »

3. Wording was added to Rule I, regarding Scholar Bowl Officials, to further emphasize the requirement for neutrality in districts and the state series.
This one is to prevent parents from being officials in rooms where their child is playing. It also states that both teams must agree on the officials at the sectional level, or each team must provide two officials.

User avatar
ZhangC1459
Posts: 342
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2009 12:00 am

Re: MSHSAA Rule Changes 2010

Post by ZhangC1459 »

dividebyzero wrote:
CentraliaCoach wrote: 3. Wording was added to Rule I, regarding Scholar Bowl Officials, to further emphasize the requirement for neutrality in districts and the state series.
I thought we determined that the name was being changed to make sure we're no longer the first activity listed on the MSHSAA homepage? :p
I thought that statement was just a joke about how we piss off MSHSAA from time to time?

User avatar
dividebyzero
Posts: 359
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2009 12:00 am
Location: Near East St. Louis

Re: MSHSAA Rule Changes 2010

Post by dividebyzero »

Hence the little emoticon at the end...

Post Reply