Difference between revisions of "Pennsylvania State Academic Competition"

Latest revision as of 09:07, 9 May 2023

The Pennsylvania State Academic Competition is a quizbowl tournament held each year around May in Harrisburg, in the state House of Representatives and Senate Chambers. Each year's top three competing teams are awarded scholarships. It is run by the Chester County Intermediate Unit.

The competition is televised live by the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) and rebroadcast throughout the year.

History

The Pennsylvania State Academic Competition (PSAC) was started in 1992 by Pennsylvania Representative Joseph Pitts. The first year contained 12 qualifying schools but has since been expanded to one school for each of Pennsylvania's 29 "intermediate units". For several years, the winning team received a scholarship to the Panasonic Academic Challenge, and its format is loosely based on PAC. Most years, the field is around 24 teams.

Format

Three teams compete head-to-head in each game in the tournament. The game is broken into two tossup rounds made up of 10 questions each, and two "fanfare" rounds where each table is given a series of 6 questions. Tossup rounds allow conferring before a team buzzes in, and give the team up to 15 seconds after the entire question is read to come up with an answer. One buzzer is supplied to each player. Fanfare rounds are 60 second timed affairs. Each team gets one fanfare per round. Prior to the adoption of simultaneous fanfares on a whiteboard, this could result in widely varying swings in difficulty between the fanfares given to different teams. This concern has subsided after the adoption of single fanfares for a round answered by all teams as of the 2019 competition. Fanfare questions are asked in rapid succession and once a team passes on a question, they are not permitted to go back to answer it.

The day's preliminary matches are followed by 3 semi-finals and final match for the top 9 and 3 teams respectively. The semi-final round was introduced at some point between 1999 and 2007. Prior to that time each team played two preliminary matches; of the teams which won both preliminary matches, the three teams with the highest points per game were selected to play in the final match. The preliminary matches are currently randomly assigned, which can lead to wildly imbalanced schedules.

During the 2021 competition, after a lobbying effort led by coach Bern McCauley of Great Valley, the competition adopted a two team format for its online competition that year (due to the COVID-19 pandemic.) It is not clear if this will continue or the competition will return to three teams for the upcoming season.

Qualifying and Costs

Main article:Pennsylvania Regional Academic Competitions

Qualifying teams, usually the winners of local championships, are chosen by the various intermediate units. In addition, the previous year's champion receives an automatic bid to attend the tournament.

The top three competing teams are each awarded scholarships. The winner receives 2,000 dollars, while the runners-up receive 500. There is no charge for participating teams, but hotel costs are only partially subsidized, and travel costs are the responsibility of each district.

Questions

Up until 2016, PSAC used house-written questions, some of which were recycled from year-to-year and from the CCIU tournaments. In 2016, after fielding many complaints about the questions, PSAC switched to the NAQT state championship set for tossups and a mix of NAQT and CCIU-written fanfare questions.

Sample old questions included:

Q. Written by Stephen Crane, this novel depicts the civil war by describing an individual soldier's reactions, fears, cowardice and courage in the battle zone. What is the name of Crane's novel? A. "The Red Badge of Courage"

Q. In 1963, representatives from thirty African nations met in Addis Adaba, capital of Ethiopia, and signed a charter establishing the O.A.U.. What do the letters O.A.U. stand for? A. Organization of African Unity

Q. This German physiologist was noted for his work with digestion; however, he is better known for stating the theory that all animals are made up of cells. Name him. A. Theodor Schwann

Q. In 1953 Congress pass a legislative act which extended the U.S. government's guarantee to protect the rights of workers to organize or join labor unions. Name the act. A. Wagner Act

Q: What kind of colleges are best for women? A: Women's colleges

Q: Cetology is the study of whales. For 10 points, who wrote Moby Dick? A: Herman Melville

2003 was notable for having at least 4 different questions on characters from Catch-22 as tossups in different rounds, as well as at least 4 different questions on ranks in the US military in different rounds.

Notable Events

In 2013, an extremely unlikely three way tie occurred between Conestoga, West Chester Henderson, and State College in the championship match. Conestoga won the tournament after a five question tiebreaker.

Winners

2023: Cedar Crest
2022: Manheim Township
2021: Great Valley
2020: Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2019: Hempfield
2018: Great Valley
2017: Spring Grove
2016: Lehigh Valley
2015: Downingtown East
2014: Downingtown East
2013: Conestoga
2012: West Chester Henderson
2011: West Chester Henderson
2010: West Chester Rustin
2009: Wilson
2008: State College
2007: Scranton
2006: State College
2005: Emmaus
2004: Emmaus
2003: Emmaus
2002: Downingtown
2001: Moravian
2000: Lancaster Catholic
1999: Manheim Township
1998: Manheim Township
1997: State College
1996: West Chester East
1995: General McLane
1994: Downingtown
1993: Radnor
1992: Conestoga

External Links

Chester County Intermediate Unit's PSAC Page

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 ==History==
-The Pennsylvania State Academic Competition was started in 1992 by Pennsylvania Representative Joseph Pitts. The first year contained 12 qualifying schools but has since been expanded to one school for each of Pennsylvania's 29 "intermediate units". For several years, the winning team received a scholarship to the [[Panasonic Academic Challenge]], and its format is loosely based on PAC.
+The Pennsylvania State Academic Competition (PSAC) was started in 1992 by Pennsylvania Representative Joseph Pitts. The first year contained 12 qualifying schools but has since been expanded to one school for each of Pennsylvania's 29 "intermediate units". For several years, the winning team received a scholarship to the [[Panasonic Academic Challenge]], and its format is loosely based on PAC. Most years, the field is around 24 teams.
 ==Format==
-Three teams compete head-to-head in each game in the tournament. The game is broken into two tossup rounds made up of 10 questions each, and two "fanfare" rounds where each table is given a series of 6 questions. Tossup rounds allow conferring before a team buzzes in, and give the team up to 15 seconds after the entire question is read to come up with an answer. One buzzer is supplied to each player. Fanfare rounds are 60 second timed affairs. Each team gets one fanfare per round. Fanfare questions are asked in rapid succession and once a team passes on a question, they are not permitted to go back to answer it.
+Three teams compete head-to-head in each game in the tournament. The game is broken into two tossup rounds made up of 10 questions each, and two "fanfare" rounds where each table is given a series of 6 questions. Tossup rounds allow conferring before a team buzzes in, and give the team up to 15 seconds after the entire question is read to come up with an answer. One buzzer is supplied to each player. Fanfare rounds are 60 second timed affairs. Each team gets one fanfare per round. Prior to the adoption of simultaneous fanfares on a whiteboard, this could result in widely varying swings in difficulty between the fanfares given to different teams. This concern has subsided after the adoption of single fanfares for a round answered by all teams as of the 2019 competition. Fanfare questions are asked in rapid succession and once a team passes on a question, they are not permitted to go back to answer it.
-The day's preliminary matches are followed by 3 semi-finals and final match for the top 9 and 3 teams respectively. The semi-final round was introduced at some point between 1999 and 2007. Prior to that time each team played two preliminary matches; of the teams which won both preliminary matches, the three teams with the highest points per game were selected to play in the final match.
+The day's preliminary matches are followed by 3 semi-finals and final match for the top 9 and 3 teams respectively. The semi-final round was introduced at some point between 1999 and 2007. Prior to that time each team played two preliminary matches; of the teams which won both preliminary matches, the three teams with the highest points per game were selected to play in the final match. The preliminary matches are currently randomly assigned, which can lead to wildly imbalanced schedules.
+During the 2021 competition, after a lobbying effort led by coach Bern McCauley of [[Great Valley]], the competition adopted a two team format for its online competition that year (due to the COVID-19 pandemic.) It is not clear if this will continue or the competition will return to three teams for the upcoming season.
+==Qualifying and Costs==
+''Main article:[[Pennsylvania Regional Academic Competitions]]''
-==Qualifying==
 Qualifying teams, usually the winners of local championships, are chosen by the various intermediate units. In addition, the previous year's champion receives an automatic bid to attend the tournament.
+The top three competing teams are each awarded scholarships. The winner receives 2,000 dollars, while the runners-up receive 500. There is no charge for participating teams, but hotel costs are only partially subsidized, and travel costs are the responsibility of each district.
 ==Questions==
-Question categories include Contemporary Events, World History, Literature, American History, Science, and Potpourri. Each question is rated by difficulty and questions are then evenly dispersed between teams. All answers are worth 5 points each.
+Up until 2016, PSAC used house-written questions, some of which were recycled from year-to-year and from the CCIU tournaments. In 2016, after fielding many complaints about the questions, PSAC switched to the [[NAQT]] state championship set for tossups and a mix of NAQT and CCIU-written fanfare questions.
-Sample questions include:
+Sample old questions included:
 Q. Written by Stephen Crane, this novel depicts the civil war by describing an individual soldier's reactions, fears, cowardice and courage in the battle zone. What is the name of Crane's novel?
@@ Line 31: / Line 37: @@
 A. Wagner Act
-Through years of research and the implementation of a judge whose sole responsibility it is to ensure the accuracy and applicability of questions, the Pennsylvania State Academic Competition has evolved into a program that offers students from throughout Pennsylvania the opportunity to compete in an academic competition, at no charge, with a level of notoriety that is often reserved for athletics. Additionally, the top three competing teams are each awarded scholarships to support their future academic endeavors.
+Q: What kind of colleges are best for women?
+A: Women's colleges
-This is the tournament which several years ago not only included the infamous question "What kind of colleges are best for women? Answer: Women's colleges" to begin with, but recycled it from one year to the next. Another question from this tournament was "Cetology is the study of whales. For 10 points, who wrote Moby Dick?" Looking only at tournaments with state championship implications, this one may take the crown for actually having the worst questions out of many, many bad local question writer options.
+Q: Cetology is the study of whales. For 10 points, who wrote Moby Dick?
+A: Herman Melville
 was notable for having at least 4 different questions on characters from Catch-22 as tossups in different rounds, as well as at least 4 different questions on ranks in the US military in different rounds.
-In 2016, the tournament adopted NAQT questions.
+==Notable Events==
+In 2013, an extremely unlikely three way tie occurred between [[Conestoga]], [[West Chester Henderson]], and [[State College]] in the championship match. Conestoga won the tournament after a five question tiebreaker.
 ==Winners==
-*2016: [[Lehigh Valley]]
+* 2023: [[Cedar Crest]]
+* 2022: [[Manheim Township]]
+* 2021: [[Great Valley]]
+* 2020: Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic
+* 2019: [[Hempfield]]
+* 2018: [[Great Valley]]
+* 2017: [[Spring Grove]]
+* 2016: [[Lehigh Valley]]
 * 2015: [[Downingtown East]]
 * 2014: [[Downingtown East]]
 * 2013: [[Conestoga]]
-* 2012: [[B. Reed Henderson]]
+* 2012: [[West Chester Henderson]]
-* 2011: [[B. Reed Henderson]]
+* 2011: [[West Chester Henderson]]
 * 2010: [[West Chester Rustin]]
 * 2009: [[Wilson]]
 * 2008: [[2008 State College|State College]]
-* 2007: [[2007 Scranton|Scranton]]
+* 2007: [[Scranton]]
 * 2006: [[2006 State College|State College]]
-* 2005: [[2005 Emmaus|Emmaus]]
+* 2005: [[Emmaus]]
-* 2004: [[2004 Emmaus|Emmaus]]
+* 2004: [[Emmaus]]
-* 2003: [[2005 Emmaus|Emmaus]]
+* 2003: [[Emmaus]]
-* 2002: [[2005 Downingtown|Downingtown]]
+* 2002: [[Downingtown]]
-* 2001: [[2001 Moravian|Moravian]]
+* 2001: [[Moravian]]
-* 2000: [[2000 Lancaster Catholic|Lancaster Catholic]]
+* 2000: [[Lancaster Catholic]]
-* 1999: [[1999 Manheim Township|Manheim Township]]
+* 1999: [[Manheim Township]]
-* 1998: [[1998 Manheim Township|Manheim Township]]
+* 1998: [[Manheim Township]]
-* 1997: [[1997 State College|State College]]
+* 1997: [[State College]]
-* 1996: [[1996 West Chester East|West Chester East]]
+* 1996: [[West Chester East]]
-* 1995: [[1995 General McLane|General McLane]]
+* 1995: [[General McLane]]
-* 1994: [[1994 Downingtown|Downingtown]]
+* 1994: [[Downingtown]]
-* 1993: [[1993 Radnor|Radnor]]
+* 1993: [[Radnor]]
-* 1992: [[1992 Conestoga|Conestoga]]
+* 1992: [[Conestoga]]
 ==External Links==
@@ Line 71: / Line 88: @@
 [[Category:State championships]] [[Category:High school quizbowl in Pennsylvania]]
 [[Category:Original QBWiki Page]]
+[[Category:Bad quizbowl]]