The run-down... Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC) is an event run by College Bowl Company, Inc (CBI) - the organization that runs College Bowl. CBI mandates that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) can either participate in HCASC or College Bowl - but not both. Since HCASC gives a fair amount of scholarship money to participants, HCASC is better financially. Some people oppose this on the grounds that (in these people's opinion - I'm not taking a stand in this message) it amounts to official segregation: Howard can never take on Georgetown or GWU in a CBI tournament, and Florida A&M can't take on Florida. This problem is exacerbated because of claims that CBI gives HCASC easier questions because of concerns about lack of ability (I'm not touching this one either). The major problems are thus with the motive and not necessarily with the decision itself. These are serious allegations, and previous discussion on the subject has become quite heated. CBI, unfortunately, has never to my knowledge listed an official explanation of the rationale for their policy. The other problem stems from the fact that HCASC schools must compete in CBI-licensed tournaments, which involve paying a fee of $1 per team per tournament. If not, their players get barred from HCASC. If you're new to this group, lots of quiz bowl players have very deep grievances with CBI, particularly over its claim that they own the standard tossup-bonus format (hence the licensing fee). Paying this fee gives CBI money and may strengthen a CBI legal claim should CBI ever initiate a lawsuit. Many are thus faced with a Catch-22: affiliate and strengthen an organization that they don't like, or not affiliate and thus eliminate HCASC schools from the circuit. Much of the current postings deal with involving HCASC schools in the quizbowl 'circuit' without jeopardizing their eligibility. Hayden Hurst hurstrh_at_...
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