Re: Science Bowl Brouhaha

Jon <*jonpin85_at_jonpin85.yahoo.invalid*> · Sun, 14 Sep 2003 03:20:19 -0000

I think by SciBowl's convoluted rules, it would just be dead wrong. I 
remember one question at regionals "What is the value of the acceleration due 
to gravity--" [Buzz] "9.8 meters per second squared." "Wrong. [re-reads] 
What is the value of the acceleration due to gravity rounded to the nearest 
whole number?" In other words, you go by the letter of the question.

More egregious are SciBowl's joyous multiple choice rules where saying 
something in a grammatically correct fashion might get you an "incorrect" 
because the choice as written was grammatically incorrect.

Jon

--- In quizbowl_at_yahoogroups.com, "Jason Mueller" <jcmpn7_at_m...> wrote:
> I don't know about Science Bowl rules, but if that had happened in 
> Missouri high school play, 1 kilogram would be incorrect because if a 
> question asks for units, the answer would have to be stated in the 
> requested units.  (I would, however, feel sorry for the person whose 
> equivalent answer was ruled wrong on a technicality.)  My personal 
> opinion would be to prompt, but as a moderator I would follow the 
> protocol of the particular tournament/format rules.
> 
> Jason Mueller
> 
> 
> --- In quizbowl_at_yahoogroups.com, matt_reece <no_reply_at_y...> wrote:
> > Ah, I remember the joys of Science Bowl protest resolution. (I was a
> > competitor about 3 years ago.) My favorite was when the opposing 
> team
> > answered a question on "How many sigma bonds are in benzene" 
> with "0"
> > (the right answer is 12), and convinced the judges they were right
> > "because the electrons are delocalized." (The judges agreed,
> > apparently not thinking about what the question asked or what this
> > fact might have to do with the answer.) The whole time, their own
> > coach, a chemistry teacher, was standing up and yelling at them that
> > they were wrong. In the end we won anyway, but it was frustrating as
> > the match was very close.
> > 
> > Anyhow, in your case, I would say they should be prompted, if the
> > answer is not just accepted outright. The other feasible response I
> > could imagine would be to read a question for only the second team.
> > 
> > Matt
> > 
> > --- In quizbowl_at_yahoogroups.com, zundevil <no_reply_at_y...> wrote:
> > > Since I'm here, I thought I'd relate an unseemly event from this 
> > > year's Science Bowl.  I don't *think* I posted this back when it 
> > > happened; I'm sorry if I did.
> > > 
> > > (Conveniently, btw, the below situation happened in an 
> elimination-
> > > round of the playoffs, on the last question of a two-point game, 
> on 
> > > a question worth four points, in the room where I was the judge)
> > > 
> > > I don't remember all the words exactly, but the question boiled 
> down 
> > > to:
> > > 
> > > "How many grams of water are there in a liter of water?"
> > > 
> > > The first team answers "Ten-thousand": wrong, no penalty.
> > > 
> > > The second team answers "1 kilogram".  The correct answer 
> is "1000" 
> > > or "1000 grams".  You make the call.
> > > 
> > > FWIW, I'm happy with the outcome that our room chose, with the 
> > > outside help of an official judge.  I'll post what we did to add 
> to 
> > > a discussion, if there even is any.
> > > 
> > > Jason