ACN The Academic Competition Newsletter Volume VIII, Issue 8 June 2002 Editors: Jay Anderson, Willie Chen, Gaius Stern Dear Subscribers, Finally we are up to the last issue of the year. A few small administrative matters. If anyone is changing e-mail addresses, mail me your new address for fall and I will see to it that your old address is discontinued and the new one added. I just added a bunch of new subscribers from Willie's maillist. A note to them and to everyone else: It is very practical to have your club mail list receive the newsletter (I can then delete individuals from the same school). This is done by UC Berkeley, Stanford, and a few other teams. Next, anyone who wants to write or co-edit the newsletter next year is most welcome to drop me a line. We can always use contributions. The ACN strives to keep its subscribers in the West and Midwest informed, but now and then drops the ball. We appreciate your forgiveness and prompt corrections (especially from Eric H and Peter M). Finally, an outine of this issue's contents: results from UC Irvine Anteater IV Summer contests scheduled so far Jay's column Buzzer info (the last segment) ------------------ Berkeley and Los Alamitos win Anteater Bowl IV High School Division: College Division: 1) Los Alamitos (10-0) 1) Berkeley 2) San Dieguito Academy (8-2) 2) Caltech 3) Palos Verdes Peninsula A (6-4) 3) UCLA A Three teams stayed for trash, which happened immediately after the tournament (which ended before 5 PM!!). This is the first time in UCI history that a tournament ended before the sun went down; I was the last person to leave, and I got home at 7:15 PM. All the teams were very punctual and the tournament ran according to the schedule precisely. Much thanks goes to Sharlene of Dana Hills High School for helping out with moderating--it was her first time moderating and she did a great job. She also saved the tournament because many UCI club members flaked and we were severely understaffed throughout the day. SUMMER CONTESTS UC Irvine Open IV in July As yet unscheduled, but certainly to take place after 26 June. Write Willie Chen for details. Vancouver SFU to run Summer Tournament on 20 July Peter McCorquodale writes: Other than Berkeley, Vancouver will be the ONLY place west of Chicago where you can play quiz bowl this summer, at least that's been made public so far. We'd REALLY like to have the prestige of attracting top-ranked visitors such as yourselves to a neck of the woods that is admittedly not known for its QB powerhouses. Our own players have spent lots of money from their own pockets to travel far across the continent for the sheer joy of playing quiz bowl against the legends of the game. The announcement can be read at ( http://caql.org/events/veto02.html ). So we're doing everything we can, short of outright bribery, to make this an event that world-class players will want to come to. We're offering: - FREE tournament admission; - FREE Trans-Canada Championship Match via speakerphone against a team in Ontario if your team qualifies -- the third time we'll be running this event that is still unique in the quiz bowl world; - FREE TRASH TOURNAMENT on Sunday, with questions already written, from the recent RC Cola at Chattanooga; BASQUE III - Bay Area Summer Quizbowl Extravaganza Seth Teitler at UC Berkeley is planning on running the mirror of Capitol Punishment and the science tournament for BASQUE. There is the possibility of holding the tournament either the last weekend in July or the first weekend in August. An announcement will be forthcoming, but feel free to contact Seth for info now at Seth editor's note: Gaius invented the name BASQUE with Rachel Marshak; it stands for Bay Area Summer QUiz Extravaganza. ************* DON'T THROW THAT BOOK OUT With the advent of the web and more importantly, better search engines the question arises whether the time honored tradition of a hard copy reference library is still needed by the question writer. Even with all the available online resources including, Encyclopedia Britannica or Wikkipedia, the necessity for hard copy reference library is even greater. As wonderful as the web is for ease of use or amount of information it still has the following disadvantages: First, the information may disappear due to a variety of reasons. Second, websites are not always updated or even completed in some cases leading to faulty information. Third, rarely do websites provide citations for their information. Websites such as, History House prove exceptional due to providing sources for their information. Because of this lack of fact checking and citation the potential for bad information to occur is great. Finally, the information at even a reputable site such as, the Encyclopedia Mythica, is limited. Compare the information on Greek myths at this website to let's say Robert Graves' _Greek Myths_. The choice for the more in depth read is the hard copy. The web in a way, poses a problem for the question writer, how does one trust the information at the website? It is easy to simply type in a query and all this information appears, but how reliable is that information. The same critical eye that one approaches a hard text must be applied to the website as well. An example would be looking at a Norse Myth site and simply accepting the Asteru interpretation without critical thought and using the information for questions. At the best you hose someone and the worst is the introduction/perpetuation of bad information. So, before you decide to chuck those old Panati books please consider that the web is wonderful but it has not reached the level of replacing a large reference library. The need to have a reference library is even greater due to the fact that you, the writer, have to be your own fact checker in regards to the web's plethora of information. FINAL WORD ON BUZZER SYSTEMS I set out to find all the buzzers I could this year and review them. I had dug up two new companies for review in this issue, but somehow in a mail glitch from parts unknown, Willie, Jay, and I lost all the copies. Eventually I will find them, but not in time for this issue. So next year I may do a late release during the middle of the year. If any of you come across a machine, please send me info and I will review it for an issue next year. I am pretty sur ethe company BK&F Electronics in Michigan is out of business, as is the Quiz-a-Matic in Utah. I am pleased to say that I have helped design a new system for all quizbowl activities with 20 players. I described the requirements, and Steve Kirkman designed this new system for quizbowl which is very versatile. (32) KIRKMAN Certamen 20 Buzzer Box MICHIGAN The temporary name for this is the Certamen 20 Box because the machine is built to accomodate 20 players. You can set the box in two modes: teams (5 teams of 4) or as 20 individuals. The moderator has a very light weight box with a light for each plyer. Each player plugs their chord in to the console and holds a thumb-pressed buzzer. The Certamen 20 Box tells who signalled 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. If you want individual player lights, this will cost extra but can be ordered. W/o player lights, the regular system costs $380.00 for 12 players, $430 for 16, and $480 for 20 players. I think shipping is free if you tell Steve that I referred you as a customer. check his website at www.QuizEquipment.com/information.htm this system looks something like the WBQ but there was no photo ready the day I looked at the website. Steve Kirkman. 703 N. Rembrandt Royal Oak, Mi. 48067 248-398-1161 (evenings) e-mail: kirkmans@aol.com http://www.QuizEquipment.com/information.htm (33) Compuquiz COMPUQUIZ cpmuter program OKLAHOMA Not exactly a buzzer system, but would work for exhibition matches. Compuquiz is a computer program that automates Nazarene quizzing. It consists of the software and an interface box. The strands of jumpseat pads plug in to the interface box. It can handle up to 3 teams, or 15 individual quizzers in a quiz-off. The computer displays a light corresponding to each quizzer's seat, just like the QuizTime and Kirkman boxes. Once the quizmaster resets the lights, the first quizzer to jump locks out the other quizzers and the computer displays the name of the quizzer who got the jump. It then automatically counts down the 30 second answer period and beeps at the end. The quizmaster presses a key to indicate "correct" or "error". If "correct", the software adds the proper points to that team's score. If "error", it displays the name of the quizzer who gets the bonus question. The software displays the question number and the team scores. It also keeps track of individual scores, errors, fouls, bonus points, quiz-outs, challenges, etc. There is a DOS version that works on any 386 or newer computer. The Windows version has a couple of improvements including ability to record answers for replay. The ideal computer configuration is a laptop with an external monitor and either a TV or video projector attached. The quizmaster watches the laptop display; the quizzers see the monitor; the audience can see the TV or video display. (Laptops differ in their capabiliies to support external displays. I can advise you if you need to purchase a laptop.) Major advantages: Special features: uses a computer Price: ASK Address: CompuQuiz 6344 N Hammond Oklahoma City, OK 73122 Smullen549@aol.com, CompuQuiz@aol.com A list of all the buzzers reviewed this year in the ACN: Remember those in issue 1 were under $350, those in 2 under $500, and those in 3, 4, and 8 have no common price tag. Company: Buzzer: location issue Acegame Junior Quizbuzzer Britain 2 Anderson Enterprise Officiator Kansas 4 B & F Industries Tiebreaker Utah 3 Brain Brawl Quiz Machine Wyoming 2 Bredon Electronics Quizbot Texas 2 Circuit Loft Gizmo Illinois 3 Compuquiz Compuquiz Oklahoma 8 Creative Electronic Quizwizard II Ohio 3 Educational Technol Inquisitor Kentucky 4 Electromatic Judge Minnesota 2 Funtronics Responder 2000 Utah 1 GHP Software Quiz-Minder Kentucky 4 Groupics Litl Buzz System Virginia 1 J/J Enterprises Buzz-in System Oklahoma 2 Jem Designs BRZ 200 Ontario 1 Jennings Inc Schoolmaster 2000 Kansas 2 Johnson/Chadderton Arbitrator Illinois 2 Kirkman WBQ, Quizbar, Michigan 3 Certamen 20 box " 8 Logitek Quiztron Texas 2 M & K Ventures QRBuzzer Kentucky 4 Nasco Classroom Challenger (on-line) 4 Novel Electronic Series II, 200 Illinois 2 Patricks Press -- SEE Spec. Design Corps Quizco QuizMachine Idaho 2 Quizsystems Model 2000 California 1 Quiztime Quiztime Box Michigan 1 Quizzer Inc Quizzer Wisconsin 3 Shelty Systems Buzz Box Ontario 1 Spec. Design Corps Basic model Alabama 1 Deluxe model " 1 Triple Q Show-Me-Smart Illinois 1 Zeecraft Tech Challenger 1, 2, 3 Pennsylvania 4 have a nice summer, Willie, Gaius, Jay ---------------