Re: Moc Masters 2006 at UTC (8/20, not 8/22)

Charlie Steinhice <*steinhic_at_steinhice.yahoo.invalid*> · Thu, 29 Jun 2006 22:29:27 -0000

Thanks to Jacob for handling posting duties on this while I was 
tying up loose ends from our June tournaments.  A couple of 
additions and minor corrections:

* Just to clarify: the tournament will be held Sun., Aug. ***20**, 
as correctly stated in the text but not And of course the tournament 
in question is Moc Masters, not Moon Pie Classic.

* As per usual, Moc Masters will be paired with a trash tournament 
the day before.  Muck Masters details will follow shortly.  As we 
did last year, we will also award the coveted Mix Masters eggbeaters 
and separate All-Star prizes for those with the best results 
combined for Saturday and Sunday together.

* Because this is the one time we have the academic tournament on a 
Sunday (and trash on Saturday), please note the starting time: 
Registration begins at 8:30 AM EDT in Holt 124; tournament play 
should begin at 9 AM.

* There are two different contact points for this event.  Packets 
should be sent to utcacfediting [at] gmail [dot] com, while 
registration and other other questions go the the oh-so-familiar 
steinhic [at] bellsouth [dot] net.

* We are actively seeking freelance packets, and also willing to 
work out mirror or packet-sharing arrangmements.  For the latter, 
please send your request to both the above e-mail addresses. 

--- In quizbowl_at_yahoogroups.com, "utcquizbowl" <barnacles_at_...> wrote:
>
> As president of UTC's quizbowl team, I am announcing this on 
behalf of
> Charlie.
> 
> The UTC Academic Trivia Association will host its 4th annual Moon 
Pie
> Classic on Sunday, August 20th, 2006, on the UT-Chattanooga 
campus. It
> will be a packet submission tournament, with editing 
responsibilities
> to be handled collaboratively by associates of the UTCATA.
>  
> ELIGIBILITY: This is an open tournament, which means that any and 
all
> who wish to play may participate regardless of current, former, or
> future collegiate affiliation. Typically such tournaments attract
> former or current college players, but it should be observed again
> that all players (including current high school students) are 
welcome;
> in fact, teams composed of high school students/class of 06 
graduates
> will receive discounts on fees, which are detailed below.
>  
> - In the case of free agents: There is the possiblity that teams 
might
> be looking for additional players, so if you would like to attend 
but
> do not have a team together, let us know and we will try to match 
you
> with teams needing help. Likewise, teams who could use additional
> support are encouraged to make us aware of that fact as soon as 
possible.
>  
> REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS: For a variety of reasons (of which some
> will probably be made obvious directly) it would help us a great 
deal
> if we could get an indication on the number of teams who wish to 
play
> as soon as possible. Therefore, if this tournament interests you,
> please drop as line as soon as possible, and keep us informed if 
for
> some reason your plans change and you cannot make it.
>  
> Note: If your team includes players with disabilities or access
> issues, it will simplify things if you let us know in advance. That
> way we can take it into account when scheduling (building changes, 
etc.)
>  
> FEES: As in years past, Moc Masters will be a packet submission
> tournament. This means that packets are *expected* from teams who 
plan
> to attend. You'll note we said "expected", but not required; teams
> will be given the option of playing without submitting, but there 
are
> substantial incentives in place to encourage writing. To whit:
>  
> - Undiscounted fee: $120. For this sum you can simply show up and
> play, and nothing further is required, with one exception: YOU MUST
> LET US KNOW BY JULY 15th THAT YOU PLAN TO PLAY WITHOUT PACKET. This
> does not preclude the possibility that you may be allowed to play
> without writing if you notify us after that date, but you may be
> penalised for late notification. This seems unusual, but the reason
> for this new policy is so that we have a firm handle on how many 
teams
> will be attending and how many rounds we can expect from them 
versus
> how many we will have provide ourselves.
>  
> - Packet written to guidelines below, submitted by July15th: $40. 
You
> read that correctly: if you can get a packet to us in three weeks
> which is written to the packet specifications described below, you
> will receive an EIGHTY DOLLAR discount from the non-packet fee. We
> figure the best way to ensure a quality, team-composed tournament 
set
> is to a) make the reward for writing a packet irresistable, and b) 
get
> the packets in plenty of time; this is how we propose to do so.
>  
> - Packet written to guidelines below, submitted by July 22: $55
> - Packet written to guidelines below, submitted by July 29: $70
> - Packet written to guidelines below, submitted by August 5: $85
> - Packet written to guidelines below, submitted by August 12: $100
>  
> As can be seen, any packet submission whatsoever will 
automatically be
> worth a $20 discount from non-submission; packets submitted any 
time
> in the next five weeks will result in almost half the entry fee 
taken
> off, even before other discounts.
>  
> *Note Well* the following, however: to get any of the 
abovementioned
> packet discounts, the packets must be usable, which means they 
must be
> written to the packet specifications below. Packets which do not 
do so
> will be returned with a short explanation of why they cannot be 
used,
> and the discount will start from the date at which they are finally
> submitted in usable form.
>  
> - Special Novice Discounts: If your team will consist entirely of 
high
> school students or those who have just graduated and thus have no 
ACF
> experience, or if no member of your team has any ACF experience, 
you
> may play without submitting a packet for $60, provided you alert 
us by
> July 15th. This does not mean that you cannot write a packet, 
however;
> if you compose a usable packet by July 15th, your entry fee will be
> waived entirely, and if you can submit one by July 29, you will 
only
> pay $20.
>  
> - Additional discounts: Teams looking to save even more money can 
do
> so by means of taking advantage of an additional discount for
> composition of high school packets; a set of original high-school
> level questions will receive an additional $15 reduction from the 
base
> fee. Also, $5 will be taken off for a working buzzer system, as 
well
> as another $5 for the services of a full-time game volunteer. With 
all
> the discounts in effect, it will be more than possible for teams to
> play at this tournament and pay nothing for the privilege, and we
> would be just as pleased as punch for this to occur.
>  
> PACKET SPECIFICATIONS:
>  
> - Exclusivity: Obviously, packets should be blind to anyone who 
might
> conceivably play at this tournament.
>  
> - Degree of Difficulty: Though this tournament styles itself a
> "Masters" tournament, that designation pertains far more to its 
open
> eligibility than to the difficulty of questions we wish to 
present. In
> other words, we are looking for questions to be on the easier side
> rather than the harder, somewhere between ACF Regionals and ACF 
Fall,
> and closer to the latter than the former. Writers would be well 
served
> to consult these tournaments (Fall sets can be found at this 
address:
> http://www.dpo.uab.edu/~paik/acf/results.html ) or tournament sets
> like Kelly McKenzie's Wildcat tournaments (
> 
http://www.uky.edu/StudentOrgs/AT/tournaments/wildcat_inv_03_spring/w
ildcat_inv_03_spring.htm
> ) for the overall style and level of difficulty desired, and to 
keep
> in mind that, if a choice has to be made between a well-written
> difficult tossup and a well-written easier one, the easier one is 
to
> be preferred for this event.
>  
> That having been said, the editing for these packets will primarily
> concern itself with culling of repeats, correcting obvious factual
> errors, meeting the distribution, and ensuring pyramidality, and 
will
> NOT have as its main focus maintaining a level of difficulty. It is
> incumbent on the writer to make sure that his or her questions will
> not be too hard or too easy, and complaints on that score will be
> directed squarely at the writer at this event, as is appropriate. 
In
> other words, make sure your questions don't go overboard, and
> everything will be fine.
>  
> FORMAT:
>  
> - Please arrange questions separately by category.
> - Make sure the words "for ten points" or abbreviation "FTP" 
appear in
> each tossup shortly before the final clue.
> - Please place the answer in a separate line, with the 
word "Answer:"
> and a single tab before the answer. Please bold AND underline all
> required information
> - Ideally, titles of books, plays, films, and works of art should 
be
> italicized, while titles of songs, short stories, and short poems
> should be placed in quotes.
> - Please e-mail the packet as either an MS Word or RTF file,
> preferably in 12 point Times New Roman font.
> - Please e-mail packets to this address: utcacfediting_at_...
>  
> DISTRIBUTION: We ask for 25 tossups and 25 bonuses per packet,
> distributed as follows below.
>  
> - Literature: Please include 5 tossups and 5 boni, of which at 
least
> 1/1 should be works of American literature, 1/1 should be British 
or
> Commonwealth literature, and at least 1/1 should be European
> literature. While questions on authors are obviously fine, 
questions
> which cover actual works or characters are greatly encouraged;
> ideally, literature questions of this type would outnumber those 
only
> covering authors.
>  
> - Sciences: 5/5, of which 1/1 each of biology, physics, and 
chemistry.
> If you have a second question from any of these categories, try to
> make them from a different subcategory (e.g. two physics boni 
would be
> OK, but two on thermodynamics would be overkill). Effort made to 
make
> sure that these questions are actually about the science as 
opposed to
> science history and science biography alone would be greatly
> appreciated; if science biography is written, make sure that the 
clues
> are relevant to the reason for why the scientist is known (in other
> words, rather than "Born in 1901, his first university post was at
> Danzig University", try something like "In 1934 this man completed 
his
> doctorate based on his study of Pym Particles, for which he
> contributed the Yellowjacket theory of interaction and devised the
> equations named for him and his colleague Steve Rogers".
>  
> - History: 5/5, of which at least 1/1 should be American, at least 
1/1
> should be pre-1815, 1/1 post-1815, and 1/1 non-US.
>  
> - Philosophy/religion/myth: 3/3 for full packet, preferably 1/1 
apiece.
>  
> - Fine arts: 3/3; no more than 1/1 each on painting, 1/1 classical 
music
>  
> - Geography: 1/1
> - Social sciences: 1/1 for full packet
> - Your choice: 2/2. These may include 1/1 from any one of the
> categories above (but no more than 1/1 from any sub-category), as 
well
> as General knowledge/interdisciplinary questions -- these are
> especially helpful as tossups, since they make good Tossup 21s. It 
may
> also include 1/1 of Trash, but no more than that; as it turns out,
> Trash will be here in abundance in the previous day's tournament, 
so
> these packets really should be as close to completely academic as
> possible.
>  
> OTHER NOTES: Generally, the editing staff expects that writers heed
> the basic tenets of quizbowl theory over the past decade or so and
> avoid obvious howlers in their packets. In general, try to keep 
tossup
> length to a reasonable level (at least three sentences); a delicate
> balance will be attempted between question length and clue density,
> but if an error must be made, have it come in the form of more 
clues
> rather than excessive brevity. As far as bonuses go, please use
> 30-20-10's sparingly, and do NOT write any of the kind "5 for one, 
10
> for two, 20 for 3, and 30 for all four".
>  
> DRIVING DIRECTIONS:
> From Atlanta and points south -- take I-75 to Chattanooga, then I-
24
> west towards downtown, then follow the freeway splitoff for U.S. 27
> North, downtown Chattanooga. From 27 North take the 4th Street 
exit,
> within sight of the Tennessee Aquarium. Go right on 4th St. (you 
have
> no choice) and follow it for ca. 1 mile. Go past the UTC Arena, 
after
> which E. 4th St. becomes part of E. 3rd St. After that, take the
> second right on Palmetto St. Go two blocks and turn right on Vine 
St.
> (just past the EMCS Building.) Just before the place where Vine 
St. is
> blocked off, the parking lot for Grote and Holt Halls is on the 
right.
> Enter Grote by the door next to the dumpster.
> 
> From Knoxville and points north -- take I-75 to Chattanooga, then 
I-24
> West; directions from there same as above.
> 
> From Nashville and points west/north: Take I-24 east to 
Chattanooga.
> As you round Moccasin Bend (freeway goes alongside river) watch for
> two exit lanes on the right; take the less rightward of the two, 
which
> will have signs above it for U.S. 27 N. Rest of directions are the
> same as above.
> 
> From Birmingham and points southwest: Take I-59 to the outskirts of
> Chattanooga, where it dead-ends into I-24. Get on I-24 East and 
follow
> the Nashville directions from there.
> 
> CONTACT: Recall that packets are to be sent to 

             utcacfediting_at_...
>  . For other questions, e-mail Charlie Steinhice (steinhic at
> bellsouth dot net -- and yes, it's steinhic, not steinhice).
>