Subject: Alt.college.college-bowl FAQ
Date: 10 Jan 1996 20:15:41 GMT
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2-upenn1.3]

The Alt.college.college-bowl Frequently Asked Questions list

Last changed: 1/5/96

Edited by: Patrick Matthews (patrickm@pobox.upenn.edu)
Contributors (in no particular order): Pat Matthews, Jennie Rosenbaum, Mark
.Ruzon, Tom Michael, Carole Chang, Peter Freeman, Richard Dunlap, Randy
.Buehler, Mike Simon, Sendhil Revuluri, Peter McCorquodale, Vishnu
.Jejjala, Ted Schuerzinger, Doug Bone, Paul Harm, John Kuchenbrod,
.Rick Grimes, Shawn Askew, Ramesh Kannappan, Jim Dendy, Mike Haynes,
.Gaius Stern, John Palmatier, Joe Neff, Tom Waters, Matt Colvin,
.Craig Leff, Gary Greenbaum, Lillian Parker, Samer Ismail, Julie
.Stahlhut)

Comments? Suggestions? Send them to Pat Matthews at
patrickm@pobox.upenn.edu. See #17 for guidelines on submissions.

List of question subjects:
 0.  What is College Bowl, and do I have to bring my own ball
 1.  How to get info about tournaments
 2.  Differences between College Bowl and ACF
 2a. Other formats available
 2b. What are the rules for the various formats
 2c. What is "blitzing"
 3.  Who can play
 4.  What kind of questions are asked
 4a. What is "trash"
 5.  What's the difference between College Bowl and Jeopardy!
 5a. How do I become a Jeopardy! contestant
 6.  Is there a College Bowl contact list
 6a. Are there any "special interest" CB/ACF mailing lists
 7.  How did College Bowl start
 8.  What makes a question "good"
 9.  How to recruit people and/or start a club
 9a. How to run the campus tournament
10.  What equipment is needed
10a. Whom can I buy equipment from
11.  How schools can acquire questions
11a. How do I write questions
12.  Who gets to play at Regionals
12a. What are the regional breakdowns
12b. Who won the CB RCT's in 1994-95
13.  Past national champions
13a. How does a school get to the Nationals
14.  Which schools normally host tournaments and when are they
14a. How does my school go about hosting a tournament
14b. What is the license fee controversy about
15.  Are there any books available on CB/ACF
15a. Is there a CB/ACF history/historian on the net
16.  How are CB/ACF players ranked
16a. How are statistics kept
16b. What are "VVB's"
16c. What are "CUR's"
17.  What are the policies for FAQ submission

List of abbreviations:
ACF.Academic Competition Foundation--alternate quiz bowl format
ACUI.Association of College Unions Int'l--partners with CBI
CB.College Bowl, the game
CBI.College Bowl Co., Inc.
HCASC.Honda Campus All Star Challenge
HSB.High School Bowl
IM.Intramural tournament or Campus Tournament
J!.Jeopardy!, the TV quiz show
NCT.National Championship Tournament
RCT.Regional Championship Tournament

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  D I S C L A I M E R S &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Any prices quoted in this FAQ were accurate at the time they were 
added, but are subject to change without notice. The editor will try to 
stay current with the prices for most items, but to get the most recent 
prices, please consult the appropriate companies.

The editor strives to make this document as objective as possible, and 
except where the opinion of a specific person(s) is noted to make the 
answers herein accurately reflect the consensus of the readership of 
alt.college.college-bowl.

Opinions expressed within, except where noted, are not necessarily the 
opinions of the editor and the contributors, nor of the institutions or 
organizations the editor and contributors represent. Material in this 
document should not be construed as legal advice.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& E N D    D I S C L A I M E R S &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

***************************************************************************
(0) What is College Bowl, and do I have to bring my own ball?

CB is a game in which two teams face off, earning points by answering
questions covering every conceivable category of human knowledge. CB, 
ACF, and HCASC rules stipulate no more than four players per side, but 
other formats may have different rules.

There are two types of questions, tossups and bonuses (boni). Tossups must
be answered individually, i.e. without the aid of a teammate. The first
person to "ring in" attempts to answer the question. If a player 
correctly answers a tossup, his/her team earns a bonus question. The 
entire team is allowed to work together to answer bonus questions.

CB is dubbed "The Varsity Sport of the Mind," so the only reason to bring
a ball is to toss it around with teammates in between matches.

****************************************************************
(1) How do I get information about tournaments (school or ACUI)?

Campus tournaments at your school are generally held by your school's
Student Activities office or by your school's College Bowl
club/program/whatever. These tournaments are typically intramural in
nature, but each school may have its own participation rules. The best 
way to find out the dates and locations of your school's campus 
tournament is to call your student activities office and ask who the 
contact is for College Bowl. If you cannot find your school's contact 
that way, call CBI at 1-800-234-BOWL (or 818-788-4103 if you're in the 
area). If your school has an official contact, they will be able to tell 
you who this person is, and will more than likely have an office number 
and phone number.

(Note: the above only applies to schools affiliated with CBI. If your 
school plays only ACF or some different format not affiliated with CBI,
there may or may not be an intramural or similar event at your school.)

In addition, many schools host intercollegiate tournaments, in which many
schools send teams to compete. Unlike the CB RCT, schools are usually 
allowed to enter more than one team in these invitationals. In the past, 
invitations were usually snail-mailed to a school's College Bowl 
coordinator. Nowadays, more tournaments are announced via email and this 
newsgroup, and some tournaments have abandoned snail-mail altogether. 
Normally, to participate, a school must pay a fee and submit a packet of 
questions for each team it enters. In addition, at invitational 
tournaments, rules of play are often modified versions rather than 
strict versions of CB or ACF rules.

To get a list of invitational tournaments, email Mike Starsinic of
Ohio State at starsinic.1@osu.edu.

***********************************************************************
(2) What is the difference between CB and ACF?

CB is an academic quiz game created by Don Reid which pits two teams of four
players each against each other. The game is now administered by CBI in
partnership with ACUI.

ACF is a similar game created a couple of years ago by a few schools,
mostly in the Southeast. This group created the ACF format because they
were dissatisfied with the CB format and with CBI. The ACF proponents have
attempted to create a more academically rigorous format, a reaction to
what they claim to be softness in official CBI questions. In addition, 
the ACF founders sought a format with lower costs and fewer restrictions 
on student eligibility.

There are numerous and vociferous adherents to each camp, and a great many
people are comfortable with both formats. Rather than seeing each format
in an adversarial light, these people look at the difference in formats as
an opportunity to sample two different but not mutually exclusive formats.
While the RCT's for CB and ACF strictly follow their own formats, most
invitationals combine elements of both formats.

The rules for CB and ACF have some similarities. Both are based on individual
games involving two teams of four players each. There are two types of
questions: toss-ups and bonuses. A toss-up question is read first. If a
player signals and answers the toss-up correctly, the player's team receives
10 points, and is read a bonus question which only that team has a chance to
answer. If the player answers the toss-up incorrectly, a player from the
opposing team may signal and answer. A five point penalty is assessed 
against the team if the player signals to interrupt the toss-up while the 
question is being read, and gives a wrong answer; otherwise there is no 
penalty for guessing. Players work individually on toss-ups, but work 
together as a team to answer the bonus questions. Toss-up questions 
require single answers and are worth 10 points each; bonus questions may 
require single or multiple answers, and have a maximum value of 30 points.

.A COMPARISON OF COLLEGE BOWL AND THE ACF (after Peter Freeman)

....CB...ACF

Time:...7-minute halves..20 questions, untimed
...(8 minutes in HCASC)

Recognition:..Wait until called,.Varies by tournament. Usually
...either by name or.not enforced.
...number.

Graduate students:.Official team may.no limit on grad participation
...only have one. (Was 
...supposed to have been
...reviewed for 94-95 
...season, but no final
...decision was announced.)

Eligibility:..6 years of RCT or.For RCT and NCT play, until
...NCT play. Must be a.a terminal degree (i.e., a
...registered, for-credit.Ph.D.) is earned. Non-credit
...student...courses count for eligibility

How to get to..Win your RCT..Finish in the top three at one
Nationals:..(geographic repre-.of the ACF Regionals; or host
(see question 13a). sentation)..a tourney with 8 schools or
......more; or request a wild-card
......(good schools with bad travel
......funds); or host the ACF region-
......al; or win an ACF-registered
......tournament (registration done
......by contacting the ACF ahead
......of time)...
......(non-geographic representation)
......[Note: these are subject to
......change, depending on the cap
......on size of field]

How may teams may.One per school..As many as you can qualify
go to the RCT/NCT?:

Intramural Tourney:.Required..Not required
...(all team members
...must play at least
...one game)

Question buying:.At least 10 packets.Not required
...at a full cost of
...$62.50 a piece to be
...allowed into regionals
...(these packets are 
...used for the intra-
...mural). Early order
...and quantity order
...discounts can bring 
...price down to $50 for
...established programs
...and $43.75 for new
...programs.
...[Note: prices are
...subject to change]

Types of questions:.Speed-oriented pop.Deeper, more rigorous.  Little
...fluff, some gems hidden current events or pop culture.
...inside, more "everyday
...experience" questions,
...whatever that means.

...Mix of categories tends  Packet consistency varies
...to be very consistent    by tournament.
...in CBI packets, less so  
...at invitationals

...Relies on a few..Relies on submissions from
...professional question.(hopefully) talented
...writers...amateurs, though this may
......change somewhat in the near
......future for RCTs and the NCT.

Faults:...Vague lead-in followed.Questions can be too long.
...by concrete clue, which A typical CB player from Joe
...means many questions    Schmo St. would think they are
...can be survival of the  too hard.
...quickest...

...Requires an intramural.Does not require an
...tournament, getting.intramural.
...the whole campus
...involved.

...Can be insipidly easy..Can be impossibly obscure.

...We pay their salaries..Nationals is like any other
...Graduate students may.invitational, no Radio, TV,
...participate, but one.or awards banquets.
...per team rule limits.
...their involvement..Lack of eligibility limit
......may allow "dinosaurs" to
......continue playing for years.

......The program is still in its
......growing stages.

Advantages:..Been around since 1953,.Allows grads a competitive
...it's the leader..forum.
......
...Puts on a good show.LOW COST.
...for Nationals...

...ACUI partnership gives.ACF was founded by and is
...it the support of many.run by many well-established
...student union adminis-.school programs and players
...trators nationwide

...Requires an intramural.Does not require an
...tournament, getting.intramural.
...the whole campus
...involved.

Quote from the other."Too much fluff!"."Too hard!"
side:..."Face it, State U.."None of that timed-match
...would wipe Tech..excitment!"
...out...so why can't 
...they play at Nationals?"


As far as information about how to sign up with the ACF goes, you can contact
Vishnu Jejjala at vjejjala@wam.umd.edu or Jim Dendy at mrpbody@aol.com.

Schools are encouraged to participate in both formats.

*******************************************************************
(2a) What other quiz bowl formats are available?

[adapted after Lillian Parker]
HONDA CAMPUS ALL STAR CHALLENGE (new format, effective 1995-96 season)

Honda Campus All Star Challenge (HCASC) is a version of CB for historically 
black colleges and universities (HBCU). Currently, 87 HBCU's are eligible 
for HCASC play at the campus program level. Of these, the first 64 teams to 
complete the following requirements are invited to play in the NCT:

-Completion of campus program/tournament with a minimum of 10 teams/40 
 students participating.
-Turning in scoresheets from all campus tournament games
-Turning in Campus Tournament evaluation/questionnaire
-Turning in Team Sign-up forms
-Turning in National Registration forms.

The Sectional Play-Offs no longer exist.  The National Championship 
Tournament has been expanded to a field of 64 teams.  The Nationals will be 
conducted in two phases:

1. Preliminary round-robin (8 teams/group) narrows the field to 16.
2. A single elimination tournament will determine the Champion.

The Nationals are scheduled for March 28 - April 1, 1996 and will be held 
in Orlando. Unlike past HCASC NCT's, the 1996 tournament will not be 
televised.

American Honda sponsors the program, and provides $305,000 in grants 
distributed among all participating schools.

HCASC uses the standard CB rules, except that each half is eight minutes 
long in NCT play, seven minutes at the campus level. Although generally 
balanced, the questions place a heavy emphasis on African-American 
culture and history. The televised portions feature several audio-visual 
and/or tactile questions each game.

Many questions used in CB official play are also used in HCASC. Schools 
participating in HCASC may not play in any other tournament. HCASC also 
has its own newsgroup, alt.college.camp-all-stars.

For more information on HCASC, call CBI at 1-800-234-BOWL (or 
818-788-4103). The past HCASC champs are listed in the answer to 
question 13.


Kentucky College Quick Recall League (John Kuchenbrod)
.The prize Kentucky colleges compete for. Often held the same weekend
as the CBI RCT, it's occasionally blamed for Kentucky schools not
showing up at the Region 5 RCT. Tourneys are held on various weekends 
throughout the year, with a final tourney on or about April. 20 Tossups 
and a varied number of bonuses each half; there is no change in difficulty 
between tossups and bonuses.  Each is worth 2 points, with a -1 for 
interrupting the tossup. Nice twists are subs at halftime and during 
time-outs that can be called after bonuses or incorrect tossups.

International Food Technologists College Bowl
.Sponsored by the Institute of Food Technologists. Questions deal
with food science and technology. Hosts regional competitions leading to
a national championship. Any relationship of this "College Bowl" to CBI
is unknown.

The Linnaean Games [after Julie Stahlhut]

The Linnaean Games are a series of quiz matches held at regional and 
national meetings of the Entomological Society of America.  Most 
Linnaean Games players are graduate students in university entomology
and zoology departments, but undergrad players sometimes participate.
Also, current Linnaean Games rules allow non-students to play if they
have graduated within the past year.
 
Tossup questions are usually science-oriented, concentrating on 
insect taxonomy, morphology, and physiology, and on pest control.
Bonus questions can include both science questions and those 
pertaining to other fields such as insect imagery in the arts. 
 
Linnaean questions have never been written to CBI/ACF standards, and 
"hosings" are common.  However, the games are played in good fun; 
the preliminaries are run at ESA regional meetings, and the top
two teams from each regional play for the national championship 
at the ESA national conference every December.  
 
Linnaean may lack the polish of standard buzzer games, but where
else can a bug-fancier follow up a quick tossup on sexual selection
in moths with a bonus on "I Heard A Fly Buzz When I Died"?
[end attribution]

Possibly defunct:

Glorieta Bowl (Challenge?)
.Televised ~1988 on a religious channel in Montgomery, AL, perhaps 
elsewhere. Matches have t's and b's, timed rounds. All questions related 
to religion (60%) or football (40%). Schools participating in the matches 
seen by the contributor were private religious schools in Oklahoma, 
Texas, and New Mexico.

Defunct:

College Mad House
.Hosted by Greg Kinnear in his pre-Talk Soup days, syndicated by
Warner. Teams squared off in a combined trivia game/obstacle course(!). 
Lasted one season.

Campus Challenge
.Sponsored by World Affairs Television. Featured 8 American and
8 Canadian teams in a single elimination tournament, ultimately won by 
Harvard University. Taped in September, 1994, it was meant in the U.S. 
for PBS stations, and ended up being broadcast in very few markets. The 
organizers had never run a tournament before and encountered many 
problems, some of which appear on the show. A tape of the first match, 
featuring a lockout system that didn't lock out and a confused moderator, 
is the Grail of video collectors.

University Challenge--see Question 7.

HIGH SCHOOL BOWL (Pat Matthews)

CBI also runs High School Bowl. HSB is identical in format to CB, except
that questions tend to be a bit easier. For more information on HSB, call
CBI's toll-free number, 1-800-234-BOWL.

It must be stated here that many colleges conduct quiz tournaments for
high school players, and that there are about a bazillion high school
formats, many of which are similar to CB, but only HSB has official ties
to CBI.

*******************************************************************
(2b) What are the rules of the various formats?

The official College Bowl rules appear in the College Bowl Information 
Guide. As this Guide is copyrighted material, it would be inappropriate 
to reproduce this information in toto. For a copy of the rules, call CBI 
(1-800-234-BOWL).

ACF rules were passed out at the 1995 RCT's and NCT, but have not been 
made electronically available. The editor does not know of any plans to 
make these rules electronically available.
 
*******************************************************************
(2c) What is "blitzing"?

In CB, players are exhorted to be as precise as possible in their answers. 
In general, unless the question specifically asks otherwise, a player may 
offer only one piece of information in his/her answer. Players sometimes 
try to give two or more related facts in their answer. This practice is 
called "blitzing". For example, if a question begins "On June 6, 
1944...", a player might ring in and say "The D-Day invasion occurred on 
the Sword, Juno, Omaha, Gold, and Utah beachheads of Normandy, France". 
Such an answer would be ruled incorrect, as stated in Rule 26:

."....The Moderator and Judge must determine if the player
.has pinpointed the answer, giving _clear and precise
.knowledge_ [emphasis CBI's] of the information requested,
.or if the player is just rattling off a list of related
.facts in an effort to hit the required answer...."

Blitzes are permitted in official CB play only under Rule 29, the so-called 
"creator/creation" rule. In brief, when a question deals with "created" 
artistic works (novels, plays, paintings, sculpture, music, etc. but NOT 
film) or scientific works (theorems/-ies, inventions), a player can give 
both the "creator" and the "creation". If either is the sought-for 
answer, the creator/creation pair is correct, and the two were given by 
the player without a discernible pause, the player's answer is correct.

Occasionally, players can give answers that appear to be blitzes, but 
really aren't. For example, a question could begin: "Amalthea, Io, 
Ganymede..." If a player rang in at that point and said "moons of 
Jupiter", he would be correct even if the sought-for answer was 
"Jupiter", as the player demonstrated "clear and precise knowledge" 
without spewing out a list of possible answers.

In ACF, however, the situation is drastically different. A full treatment 
is provided in the rules used for the 1995 ACF NCT. According to this 
rule, a player may give several related pieces of information so long as:

1. The entire chain of information is correct. That is, in the D-Day
   example above, if the player had said "Nebraska" instead of "Utah",
   the whole answer is invalidated. and

2. The player is not simply rattling off a list of answers of the same 
   class. I.e., the player can say "Jefferson defeated John Adams in 
   election of 1800", but s/he can't rattle off a list of Presidents. and

3. One of the proffered pieces of information is that which the question
   sought.

Some invitationals have sought a middle ground, allowing "two related 
pieces of information". In effect, such a rule works pretty much like the 
ACF rule, except that the number of related pieces of information is 
strictly limited.

*******************************************************************
(3) Do you have to be an undergrad to play, or are grad students /  
staff / unaffiliated people OK? 

That depends. Many schools do not restrict graduate student participation
for their campus tournament, but some do. The same goes for staff members.
Most schools do not allow non-students to play in their campus tournaments.
However, participation in intercollegiate invitationals is entirely at the
discretion of the host school. CBI only allows one graduate student on the
team that each school sends to the RCT and NCT, while ACF does not restrict
graduate students at all. As stated before, the final say on who gets to 
play goes to the host school for *any* tournament except CB RCT and NCT.

Some schools host "masters" tournaments that are open to *everyone*. These
tournaments are usually conducted in the summer. In the summer of 1995, 
there were "masters" tournaments in Knoxville (The Masters), Minneapolis 
(Paul Bunyan), and Philadelphia (The Philadelphia Experiment).

In addition to these "masters" tournaments, some schools have held 
"trash" tourneys, which are generally open to anyone. During the 1994-95 
season, "trash" events were held by Vanderbilt and Williams. For a 
description of "trash", see question 4a.

***********************************************************************
(4) What kind of questions are asked?

Questions span the entire range of human knowledge. A typical round should
have questions on history, literature, the arts, social science, "hard"
science and/or mathematics, mythology/philosophy/religion, problem solving,
current events/politics, sports, and pop culture (some categories may
have been left out unintentionally).

Question content varies slightly between CB and ACF. CB questions tend to
be structured so that most of the players should know the answers to
tossups read in their entirety, while ACF questions tend to be more obscure in
nature. For an example, a CB tossup might read, "This US President had the
longest Inauguration Address, but caught pneumonia during the ceremony and
died a few weeks later. For ten points, name him, the hero of Tippecanoe." 
(A: William Henry Harrison)

An ACF tossup on the same subject would read: "George Badger was his
Secretary of the Navy, Thomas Ewing was his Treasury Secretary, and Francis
Granger was his Postmaster General; but it was Secretary of State Daniel
Webster who persuaded this President to leave many references to Imperial
Rome out of the inauguration speech. For ten points, identify this Whig
President."

This is just an hypothetical example :)

*******************************************************************
(4a) What is "trash"?

"Trash" subjects are generally considered to be current events, sports, 
pop culture, and some parts of the "general knowledge" catch-all. The use 
of the word "trash" in reference to these subjects was originally 
derogatory, but "trash-lovers" have reclaimed the word, and many label 
themselves "trash-mesiters" or similarly with pride.

*******************************************************************
(5) What is the difference between CB and Jeopardy!?

First, the obvious: Jeopardy! is a game show that appears on TV, and CB is
a quiz game that is no longer on TV.

OK, now we'll get serious. Jeopardy! is an individual game, CB is a team
game. Also, in J! the difficulty of the "answers" supposedly increases 
with the dollar amounts, while in CB the difficulty of the questions 
supposedly remains level throughout the match. In addition, the CB 
questions are generally harder than J! questions: the average CB tossup 
read in its entirety would rate at or above the $600 level on J!. Another 
huge difference between CB and J!: in J!, you must wait until Alex 
Trebeck finishes reading to buzz in, while in CB you can buzz in at any 
time while or after the question is read.

******************************************************************
(5a) How does one become a Jeopardy! contestant?

This question really isn't related to CB per se, but it gets asked a lot,
so here goes:

To be a regular contestant on J!, the information line is 310-280-5367, 
and the line is operated Mondays through Fridays from 10:00am-4:30pm 
Pacific time. J! also runs Teen, College, and Senior tournaments. To be a 
contestant in these, you are supposed to mail postcards to specified 
addresses. Names are then drawn to see who tries out for The Show. Since 
the Editor does not know these addresses, he suggests that those 
interested in one of the special tourneys call the general information 
number.

In addition, J! now has a WWW home page, where one can find out contestant 
and spectator information. The address is: 

http://www.spe.sony.com/Pictures/tv/jeopardy/jeopardy.html

******************************************************************
(6) Is there a contact list of CB club presidents?

Actually, there is a list maintained for contacts for CB and ACF programs
nationwide. The current custodian of this list is Paul Harm
(dionysos+@pitt.edu). For a copy of the contacts list, email him, or 
download it from the FTP site (directory /group/college-bowl/FAQ).

Also, to send mail to the whole list, mail your message to:
+dist+~dionysos/dlists/cb_contacts.dl@pitt.edu

************************************************************************
(6a) Are there any "special interest" CB/ACF mailing lists?

Gaius Stern publishes the West Coast Newsletter. It's geared primarily 
toward schools West of the Mississippi, but there are some articles of 
general interest. To subscribe, email Gaius at gaius@uclink2.berkeley.edu.

In addition, HCASC has its own newsgroup, alt.college-camp-all-stars.

************************************************************************
(7) How did CB start?

"College Bowl was created by Don Reid." Started on Radio in 1953, ended on
television in 1970 (after giving up an afternoon slot for a shot at prime
time as a summer replacement series), continued on CBS Radio with Art
Fleming as host until about 1983. Its main TV sponsor was General Electric.
Of its three TV hosts, Allen Ludden was its most famous.

Until 1977, teams played whomever was scheduled to appear next week.
A team that won five consecutive games was proclaimed an undefeated
champion, given a silver bowl, and, during the television era, banned
from further TV appearances for three years. The national champion format
started with the joint venture with ACUI around 1977. This format has
been televised once by NBC and for two years by Disney.

There has been talk from time to time about taking CB to an international
level, but the last time this happened was in 1979, when national champs
Davidson College took on the English champs. Some suspect that American
colleges would have a hard time competing against many foreign schools,
whose students tend to be both older and more experienced in their fields
than their American counterparts.

(Mostly after Craig Leff)
There is an English counterpart to CB. It's called University Challenge,
and it airs on Granada Television. It had been on hiatus, but now it's 
back, though the long-time host Bamber Gascoigne is not.  Why he is not 
back is not explained, but the new host is Jeremy Paxman, a well-liked 
newsman and interviewer. For more information on game play in University 
Challenge, see the section on the _University Challenge Quiz Book_ in 
Question 15.


*********************************************************************
(8) What makes a question "good"? (See also Question 11a.)

A good question is one that is both fair and moves from obscurity to clarity.

A question is "fair" if it is not intentionally misleading. An example of
a misleading question is: "Giants Stadium is the only stadium home to two
NFL teams, but for ten points, name the only state home to two Federal
Reserve Banks." This question is unfair because the two pieces of
information, Giants Stadium and the Federal Reserve, are totally
unrelated. This question would have been "fair", however, if it had asked
which teams played in Giants Stadium or asked which city Giants Stadium is in.

A CB tossup question should have 2 or 3 pieces of information, and they
should be presented in such a manner as to take the question from
obscurity to clarity. (ACF tossups may have additional clues. CB tossups 
should be limited to three clues because long questions are incompatible 
with timed rounds.) For example, if a question has 3 clues then after the
first clue only the exceptional player should be able to answer it, after
the second a good player should be able to make an educated guess, and
after the third clue only one possible answer should remain.

There are exceptions to this rule. The first is the spelling question. In
these questions, the answer is to spell a word. In these, the word to be
spelled *must* be one of the first 4-5 words of the question in order to
be fair. Another exception is the "quickie" question. An example would be
"For a quick ten points, what is the capital of Kansas." These questions
reward speed and players who can adjust their tempo quickly. However,
"quickie" questions should not be overused: in CB packets, there should be
no more than 3, and ACF discourages the use of any quickies.

Both formats "officially" (through their most-often cited question 
writing guidelines) call for "giveaway clues" at the end of a tossup.


*****************************************************************
(9) What is a good way to recruit people or get a club started?

If you are interested in starting up a new CB club at your school, the
first thing to do is call your student activities office. Ask if your
school has ever been involved in CB, and if so which faculty or
administrators were involved. Also ask how one goes about getting
school funding for student activities. The next thing to do is to contact
CBI, at phone number 1-800-234-BOWL (or 818-788-4103). They have a wealth of
information and can walk you through the official mumbo-jumbo. The next
thing to do is to find a faculty person or administrator who is willing to
be your "coach" or do some behind-the-scenes work for you. Next, find a few
people who are interested in CB and who are willing to put in work to
promote the club and the activity at your school. If you can secure funding
for 10 or more packets of questions from CBI (10 packets will cost a new
program in the area of $500), order them and set up a campus tournament
for your school. Be careful about this: you will need a few game 
officials and some equipment, and you have to be careful to avoid 
conflicts of interest. A typical campus tournament runs 1-2 competition 
rooms at the same time, and each room should have at least 2 game 
officials. [Note: The official CBI script calls for four officials per room, 
but most tourneys get by with only two officials, with no noticeable drop 
in quality.]

Conflicts of interest are harder to avoid. If the club runs the tournament,
it is best if the director and other game officials of the tournament not 
participate in it. If the director or other officials do participate, you 
will have to sequester the questions carefully so that the director and 
these officials do not see the questions they will play on before their 
matches.

There is another way to start up a CB program, but you cannot play in
your CB RCT the first year if you do it. However, you may participate
fully in an ACF RCT and, if you make it, the ACF NCT. The first year, get a
group of people together to form a club, and send teams to invitationals at
other schools. You may or may not be able to get funding for this,
depending on your school's policies. After this, apply to your school for CBI 
packets the next year, saying that you have a club already in place and
that you are ready to take CB to your entire school. [Note: almost every CB
program gets the money to buy CBI packets either from their school, an outside
sponsor, or a combination of both. There have been cases where individuals
purchase the questions themselves, but this an option left only to those
willing and able to pay the hefty $43-62 per packet.]

To set up an ACF program, contact Vishnu Jejjala at vjejjala@wam.umd.edu 
or Jim Dendy at mrpbody@aol.com.

To recruit players for an already existing program, the first decision you
have to make is whether you want a year-round club or not. Many schools
run a campus tournament, and then just send the winning team to their RCT
(and if it wins the RCT, it gets sent to the NCT). Other schools, which
tend to do better at the national level, maintain year-round clubs, which
send teams to invitationals and practices year-round, and may even conduct 
more than one campus tournament.

A good way to recruit for a year-round program is to find out from your
admissions department who participated in academic competition in high
school, and target those individuals. However, there is a problem with this
method: many potentially good players may not have had the opportunity or 
the inclination to play in high school, but may want to play in college. 

Once you've promoted and run your campus tourney, you have another
decision to make: do you want entry to the club to be competitive or not?
At some schools, all participants in the campus tourney are invited to
join the club, although standing on travelling teams is based on merit.
Some schools do this, but target particularly the best players in the
campus tourney. At other schools, the best players from the campus tourney
try out for as many spots as are open in the club/travelling teams. It is
up to your program to decide how to do it.

************************************************************************
(9a) How do I run the campus tournament?

(Most of this section from Pat Matthews)
As stated before, for CB-participating schools the campus tournament 
should be the cornerstone of your recruitment effort, and as such it 
should be run well and promoted to your entire student body.

The first thing you should do is to plan out on which date(s) you will
have your event. There is no strict rule as to how your event must be
structured: it is entirely up to your program. Some of the many things to 
keep in mind in planning the campus tourney:
a. How many teams do you expect will play
b. How many rooms you will want to run at the same time
c. How many game officials will be available, and at what times
d. Will any participants also serve as officials
e. What format will you want (round-robin, single elimination, double
   elimination, swiss pairs, modified or hybrid forms of the above)
f. Are there any campus events that you want to avoid conflicts with
g. What kind of publicity will you generate, and will campus and/or local
   TV/Radio/newspapers cover you

Most of these issues are discussed in the _College Bowl Campus Program
Information Guide_, available free from CBI. Sample scoresheets,
tournament charts, promotional materials, a rules quiz for game officials,
and other useful info are in the guide.

The second thing you must do is figure out how you are going to pay for
the campus tourney. If you do it by the book, every question you use
should be bought from CBI, and these packets cost $43-$62 each. Plus, you
will have to pay for photocopying scoresheets and rules, posters, possibly 
an ad in your campus newspaper, possibly food/soda for your game officials,
possibly prizes, etc. Many schools have some sort of funding mechanism for 
student activities, and that should be your first stop. In addition, a few 
programs have succeeded in getting local businesses to sponsor or 
co-sponsor the campus tourney.

Once you have these figured out, order the questions from CBI. It is
imperative that you complete steps one and two *very* much in advance of
the actual campus tourney. A good time to hold it is in October or
November, so you should finish the planning stage preferably by September
1, and ideally before everyone goes home for the summer. This is for two
reasons: first, advance planning makes the event easier to run; second,
you will qualify for the early order discount on questions.

There are many other tasks which you must complete for your campus tourney
to be a success, and they may be performed either while or after the
aforementioned tasks are completed.

An extremely important task is the recruitment of game officials. They
must be impartial, have a thorough knowledge of the game and its rules,
and be firm in their decisions, but they must not be afraid to admit
mistakes or be so rigid that they will not uphold a valid protest. If you
have no experienced game officials at your disposal, there are three
things that you can do. The first is to train officials yourself. Have
them read the materials from game officials that CBI sends in its annual
mailings to the schools, and take them through simulated matches. Make
sure they know the rules *COMPLETELY*. Another option is to call
neighboring schools' CB programs and see if they can send you some game
officials. A third option is to call your ACUI region coordinator. They
have lists of volunteers in your region who help out for the RCT, and you
may be able to persuade some of these people to help you out for your
campus tourney (but don't count on it). To find out who your regional 
coordinator is and his/her phone number, call CBI at 1-800-234-BOWL.

Another key task is to get the necessary equipment (see question 10). You
will need as many buzzer systems as rooms, and any clocks that you use
should be countdown timers that are visible to the players and game
officials. If your program does not already have a buzzer system, it
should buy one (and depending on the size of your program, you may need a
second system). Borrowing a system is possible, but very difficult, as
they are not cheap (a buzzer system ordered through CBI costs ca. $500).
However, you may be able to borrow the equipment of a neighboring school,
and your regional coordinator may be able to loan you a system as well.

For help and advice for any aspect of intramural tournament planning, do not 
hesitate to ask the editor of this list (Pat Matthews, 
patrickm@pobox.upenn.edu).

************************************************************************
(10) What equipment do I need to play CB?

To properly play a CB match, you will need a room that is relatively quiet
and free from outside noise, a lockout buzzer system, paper and pencils,
and a clock. All of the above, with the exception of the clock, are
required for ACF matches.

The lockout system is essential to the game for one reason: it is the best
method of determing which player (among the eight) has actually signalled
first. Each player has some sort of signalling device, and in a lockout
system, once a player has signalled, no one else can signal until the
system has been cleared. Barring malfunction, this eliminates any
arguments about "who rung in first", because once the first player "rings
in," no one else can until the system has been reset.

When schools host invitationals, the host school usually offers a
discount to schools bringing buzzer systems (and sometimes clocks) to the
tournament.

************************************************************************
(10a) Whom can I buy equipment from?

(After John Palmatier)
The most popular clocks for CB are made by the GraLab Instruments 
Division of Dimco-Gray. You can get models for as little as $59 or as 
much as $316. The phone is (513) 433-7600 and the fax (513) 433-0520. 
(end attribution)

Gralabs are also available from resellers, such as photographic and/or 
lab equipment stores, and some purveyors of buzzer systems. GraLab clocks 
aren't strictly necessary. Pretty much any count-down timer that "buzzes" 
when time is up and that players can see from across a room is acceptable.

(from Joe Neff)
If you are looking to buy an inexpensive digital timer, check out
the Aldrich catalog, easily found at your univerisity's chem or bio
department.  The timer is in the "1995 New Products" supplement, so it
may take a year to get into the main monster of a catalog (2000 pages).

"Here's how to order..."
Phone 1-800-558-9160, Fax 1-800-962-9591
Or write to PO Box 2060, Milwaukee WI, 53201.
There is no minimum order, Visa and MC accepted.
OAKTON dual timer/clock, item #Z25,329-4, $20.00 + shipping.
[If you forget the Z, you'll order
Item 25,329-4:  3-(2-Isothiocyanatoethylcarbamoyl)-PROXYL, 10 mg, $29.30]

The timer is made by Cole-Parmer, and is available directly from them for 
$20 plus shipping. There are quantity discounts: 10% off for orders of 
10-24 clocks, and 20% for orders of 25+ clocks. Item #H-94440-10.

To order:
Cole-Parmer Instrument Co.
625 E. Bunker Ct.
Vernon Hills, IL 60061
Phone 1-800-323-4340.Fax 847-549-7676

Several companies sell buzzer systems. A few are described below. Before 
ordering, call the company and ask them to mail you a brochure, as 
several companies offer more than one model.

(After Gaius Stern)

Creative Electronic Design."Quizwizard II"
.Designed for High School Certamen.  System is a box with 12 or 16 thumb
activated buzzers held in hand at end of long chords.  Only moderator can 
tell who rang in from display (i.e. players can not see).  System can be 
set for individuals or teams of 4 players each.   System is delicate.
Major advantage:  can seat 12 or 16 people
Special features:   System tells who rang in 1st, 2nd, AND 3rd.  
Price:  x8 players = $420    x12 players =  $495.x16 players =  $570
Address/phone:
.Creative Electronic Design Inc...(513) 426-1506
.2565 Celia Dr.
.Beaver Creek, Ohio 45434 - 6815
*******.contact Gaius Stern (gaius@uclink2.berkeley.edu) before 
.ordering, as he may be able to arrange a discount for you.

Electramatic Inc...."The Judge".
.Comes in a briefcase.  Players hit "footpedals" to signal an 
answer which lights up green or red light corresponding to each buzzer.   
Locks out all other responses until reset.   
Major advantage:   Very durable and portable.
Special features:  None
Price:  x8 players  =  $350..x10 players =  $375
Address/phone:..
.Electramatic Inc...(612) 781-9588
.1815 Jefferson St. N.E.
.Minneapolis, Minn 55418


Specialty Design Corp.
.Each player presses a thumb activated, hand held buzzer which is 
connected to a light sitting in front of him/her.   Lights look like  
volunteer firefighter sirens, triggers are long thin cylinders with a 
thumb button on the end, and the entire system is connected with modular 
phone wire. I'm advised that the little tabs on the modular jack break 
every few years, forcing replacement of that little connector, but other  
than that, low maintenance. 
[No address/phone number given]

Zeecraft Tech..."Challenger I, II, or III"
.Each player has a little box with a buzzer and a light on it.  
Everyone can see who rang in first.  They sell several different models, 
so I advise calling and getting their brochures.  Prices refer to 
"Challenger II"  Models for 8 - 16 players can be ordered and they rent 
out for weekends, as well. 
Major advantages:  none  (a 16 person set available)
Special features:  built in clock can be ordered for extra
Price:  x8 players = $445    x12 players =  $545.x16 players =  $635
Address/phone:
.Zeecraft Tech...1-800-662-7475 or (717) 465-7475
.Ridge Road
.RR2 Box 157 -H
.New Milford, PA 18834

[This is the new (Fall 1995) standard for CBI. CBI sells a modified 
version of the Challenger I system for $414. In addition, CBI sells a 
carrying case for $125. Both prices include standard shipping.]

Academic Enterprises
.This system comes disrecommended to me by Univ. of Oklahoma.  All 
I know about it is that it is a 10 person system.  Eric Bell says the 
manufacturer may no longer be in business.  If you call Information in 
Lexington, Kentucky, you can find out for sure.  Sorry I have nothing more.  
(end attribution)

Patrick's Press...
.Makes very affordable buzzer systems. 8-player model with 
indicator lights on the moderator's panel is only $298. Separate 
indicators for each player (8 total) is $498. Models for more players are 
available.
.Patrick's Press...1-800-654-1052
.P.O. Box 5189
.Columbus, GA 31906

It is possible to make one's own buzzer system, but that's beyond the 
editor's expertise :)


***********************************************************************
(11) Aside from buying questions from CBI, how can I get more questions to
use in practice?

The first answer is: write them on your own (see question 11a). Getting your
players to write questions is a very good way to both develop playing
skills and to expose the team to new knowledge, as well as generate more
practice material. For example, if you have a 15-member club (14 players
and one coach) and each person wrote one packet per month, that would be a
total of 180 new packets for the year. If these questions are used in
practice, the team may learn many things they did not know before. Also,
writing questions and using them in practice is an excellent way to keep
the club up-to-date with current events and other happenings. In addition,
becoming a good question writer can be helpful to playing skills. While
playing, a good question writer often has a better sense of where a
question is leading, and thus may be better able to anticipate the answer.

The second answer: trade with other schools. Many schools maintain question
libraries, and are willing to trade, sell, and sometimes give away
questions. Be careful, however: questions from CBI may not be transferred
or duplicated without company permission! Also, be careful about question
sales in general: the host school of a tournament is held to be the owner
of all questions submitted for that tournament, and they have final say on
how those questions are distributed.

The third answer: download them from the CB/ACF anonymous ftp site. Here's
how:

[original by Peter Freeman, additions by Paul Harm]

An anonymous ftp site is now available for the deposit and withdrawal of
old CB/ACF tournament sets.  I have set up this ftp account so that schools
may utilize the network to get question sets for their practices.  Please
do not utilize this resource as a last-minute measure to create question
sets for tournaments; if I hear any complaints about questions being re-used
or mis-used, I will pull the plug immediately.

This ftp site will start with a limited selection; the idea is for those of
you who have held tournaments and who have old sets on a mainframe or on
disk to contribute them.  Some schools charge for their sets, though; in
anticipation of this, I have worked out an agreement with BU and Penn to
hold any sets for at least one year (e.g., the ftp site has the 1992 Terrier 
Tussle, but not the 1993).  I would like to make that a general rule, if
others are willing, i.e. if you charge for your sets, do not send anything
less than a year old.

[I've now taken over the archive, as a new sysadmin on oddjob booted
it off.  As a first note, there is no risk of this happening at
ftp.pitt.edu.  As the name indicates, this is an all-purpose
ftp-dedicated site.

As an additional feature of this move, the archive will have
a WWW interface at http://www.pitt.edu/~dionysos/college_bowl.html
Also, if anybody happens to be on AFS, the CB archive can be accessed
without using ftp.  The directory to look in is
/afs/pitt.edu/public/users/d/i/dionysos/college_bowl

-- pkh]


If you have not used anonymous ftp before, this is how it goes:

     yoursystem> ftp -i ftp.pitt.edu

     You will be prompted for a username.  Type "anonymous".

     You will then be prompted for a passwd.  A passwd is not necessary, but
     the standard practice is to type your e-mail address (which then gets
     logged in the syslog, I believe).

     ftp> cd /group/college-bowl

     ftp> ls

     You will then have a number of directories to choose from.  For instance,
     choose acfreg2.93 (ACF Chicago, 2/93).

     ftp> cd acfreg2.93

     ftp> ls

     You then should have a file called README (which lists the schools, and
     maybe someday will have final results and individual standings), and
     a number of compressed files (i.e. ending in .Z).  Each file contains
     the toss-ups and boni of a particular team.

     If you want all the sets, type:

     ftp> binary
     
     ftp> mget *

     Because you put the "-i" in the first line up above, the program will
     not keep asking you whether you want files; it will assume you want all
     of them and will send them all back to your system.

.[Note: If you _want_ to be asked sometimes, omit the -i.  You
.can then toggle confirmation at will by typing:
.ftp> prompt
..-- pkh]


     ftp> quit

     yoursystem> uncompress *

     And voila, you have a number of tourney sets, ready to use for your
     next practice. 


If there are any problems or comments, or if you would like information on
how to submit old sets, please send e-mail to: dionysos+@pitt.edu


********************************************************************
(11a) How do I write questions?

Like anything else, the art of question writing is acquired only by
practicing. Most writers have trouble writing good questions on the first
attempt. However, in time, the process becomes easier and more natural.

The best way to start writing CB questions is to read the writing
guidelines written by the Stanford College Bowl Club. They are the most
comprehensive guidelines to date on the subject. For ACF question 
writers, Marc Swisdak, formerly of the Maryland Academic Team, has
compiled an ACF question writing manual. Both manuals are available via 
FTP, and are reposted to a.c.c-b regularly.

Then, try writing a few questions.

After writing questions, it's an excellent idea to try them on other
people in your club. This is essential, because it's the best way to get
immediate feedback, and find out what changes should be made.

From Pat Matthews:
"A common complaint of question writers is that they have no "inspiration"--
they have no idea what to write about. My personal method when I've lost 
inspiration is first to attack the Sunday edition of the New York _Times_ 
for questions, then to go to the encyclopedias. I'll pull out 7-8 volumes 
at a time and open to random pages, looking for good stuff to write 
questions about."

"Another thing I do is that I tend to stockpile questions and then
take questions out of my pile to make packets. That way, if I happen to be
using a good source for a particular category, I'll just write down the
questions and use them later. For example, if I were reading a book on the
Civil War, I'd write down as many Civil War related questions as I could
while reading the book. Then, later on, I'd use these questions in other
packets."

"A method used by one of my former Penn colleagues was to carry a small
assignment pad in his backpack. Then, if he ever heard or read something
that was question-worthy, he'd jot it down on the pad. He now writes for CBI."
[Ed. note: while it's true that this friend wrote freelance for CBI when 
I wrote the above, he no longer does.]

Here's a tip from Tom Michael:
"Here is a tip on writing good quality questions on a variety of subjects
quickly. This method requires two "sources" (books, magazines, specialty
publications, encyclopedias, general texts, etc.), one of which should be a
general reference work; and a ten sided die. Dice in a variety of shapes,
including non-platonic solids, are available at hobby, wargame, and
bookstores that sell Dungeons & Dragons or other fantasy games. Using the
die, roll a page number for one of your sources. Find something on that
page suitable for a question. Cross-reference the subject in your general
reference work, and write a question using information from both sources.
Using information from two sources allows you to expand the scope
of the question beyond the first reference, and provides a check on the
accuracy of the information. After you have written several questions in
this manner, sort the questions by subject area. Now "balance" the packet
by writing questions on subject areas you are missing."

"This method helps if you are running out of inspiration for questions, or
simply don't have a lot of time. (Note: I hand out one die to each player
at the second practice every year. Some have found it helps to write
questions; others don't use it.)"

********************************************************************
(12) Who gets to go to the regionals?

(Pat Matthews)
For CB, every school that bought at least ten CBI packets in the given 
year is eligible to play in its RCT. An additional entry fee is usually 
required to cover the RCT's operating costs. Each school may send one 
team. The team is selected from the Varsity Squad, composed of eight or 
more players who all played in at least one game of each school's IM. 
The RCT team consists of four players and one "alternate". (The term 
"alternate" is misleading, as teams may substitute freely between rounds.)

Members of the winning IM team automatically become part of the Varsity 
Squad, but the Varsity Squad can consist of as many "All-Stars" selected 
from other teams as each program deems desirable. Thus, it is entirely 
legal for the RCT team to have no members of the winning IM team. 
(Indeed, the rule does not define "All-Star", so the "Varsity Squad" 
could conceivably consist of every player in the IM.) Members of the RCT 
team must be taking the equivalent of three credit hours per term. (A 
lower second-term load is OK if the registrar certifies that the  
student's course load satisfies degree requirements.) Also, only one 
member of the RCT team may be a graduate student.

The mode of team selection varies from school to school. Modes include, 
but are not limited to:
1. some form or tryout/showdown
2. vote of the program members and/or officers
3. appointment by coach/other official
4. sending the winning IM team
5. some hybrid of the above

For ACF, there are fewer restrictions. No IM is mandated, and a school 
can enter more than one team. In addition, there are no packets to buy, 
so all a school has to do to enter a team(s) is pay the entry fee(s) and 
perhaps send a packet(s), if packet submission is required. In addition, 
there are no restrictions on graduate students, and a player need only 
have taken a course at the school in the last year. Programs select their 
ACF RCT teams with the same modes, although "sending the winning IM team" 
will not apply to all schools.

********************************************************************
(12a) What are the regions for College Bowl competition?

Region 1: ME, NH, VT, MA, CT, RI, Canadian Maritimes
Region 2: NY except for NYC and Long Island, Quebec, Ontario in EST
Region 3: NYC and Long Island, NJ, DE, and southeast PA
Region 4: the rest of PA, MD, WV, DC, northern VA
Region 5: the rest of VA, NC, SC, TN, KY
Region 6: GA, MS, AL, FL
Region 7: OH, lower MI
Region 8: Chicago, WI, and upper MI
Region 9: IL (except Chicago), IN
Region 10: IA, MN, ND, SD, Manitoba, Ontario in CST
Region 11: KS, MO, NE, OK
Region 12: TX, LA, AR
Region 13: AR, UT, WY, NM, CO
Region 14: ID, MT, WA, OR, AK, the rest of Canada
Region 15: CA, NV, HI, Guam
*Region 16: Australia, New Zealand, Far East

*Region 16 has never sent a team to the NCT since the Campus Program began.

Note: ACF has "regionals", but they are not based on formal geographic
breakdowns, but rather on what schools are willing to host them and
relative proximity between these schools.

************************************************************************
(12b) Who are the defending regional champions?

Region.School
-------------------------------------------------
 1.Harvard University
 2.Cornell University
 3.Princeton University
 4.The George Washington University
 5.University of Virginia
 6.University of Florida
 7.University of Michigan
 8.University of Chicago
 9.University of Illinois - Urbana
10.Iowa State University
11.University of Oklahoma
12.University Texas - Dallas
13.Brigham Young University
14.University of Alaska
15.Stanford University

************************************************************************
(13) What schools have won the National Championship?

For CB, since the beginning of the campus program.
For ACF, from 1991 (first ACF NCT).

YEAR.CB....ACF
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1978.Stanford University
1979 .Davidson College
1980.California State - Fresno
1981.University of Maryland
1982.U. of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
1983.not held
1984.University of Minnesota
1985.not held
1986.U. of Wisconsin - Madison
1987.University of Minnesota
1988.North Carolina State University
1989.University of Minnesota
1990.University of Chicago
1991.Rice University...University of Tennessee
1992.Massachusetts Inst. of Tech..not held
1993.University of Virginia..University of Chicago
1994.University of Chicago..University of Chicago
1995.Harvard University..Harvard University

HCASC Champions:
Year.School
----------------------------------------
1990.West Virginia State University
1991.Florida A & M University
1992.Norfolk State University
1993.Tuskegee University
1994.Tuskegee University
1995.Jackson State University

*********************************************************************
(13a) How does a school get to Nationals?

For CB, it's simple. The 15 region winners go. In addition, one randomly
selected second place team goes as the wild card, making a 16-team field.
In the event that a region winner cannot attend, the region's #2 team goes
in its place, and so on.

For ACF it's slightly more complicated. ACF has a few regional tournaments,
at which the top few finishers at each qualify for nationals. In addition,
the hosts of each regional tournament and some ACF-registered
invitationals receive automatic bids. Also, teams can receive automatic
bids for good performances at invitationals. Finally, if there are any
slots available, the ACF committee will accept appeals for consideration.

For HCASC, see the description in question 2a.

*********************************************************************
(14) What schools normally host invitationals, and when are they?

There are many schools that host invitationals, in addition to CBI and ACF
regionals and nationals. Mike Starsinic compiles a list of tournaments that
is posted regularly to alt.college.college-bowl. If you want a copy
emailed to you, write Mike at starsinic.1@osu.edu.

*******************************************************************
(14a) How does my school go about running its own invitational?

That's a subject worthy of its own FAQ! Running an invitational 
tournament is the main source of revenues for many clubs. Indeed, a fair 
number of schools on the invitational circuit would be unable to afford 
to travel if not for the money raised by their own tourneys. However, 
running an invitational, whether it's a high school event or an 
intercollegiate competition, isn't easy.

For a *brief* overview of what is involved in running an invitational, 
check out the document first-time-tourney-command from the FTP site (as 
of this writing, it is not known which directory it is stored in). This 
document is a combination of articles on the subject posted by Pat 
Matthews and Doug O'Neal.

[Ed. note: if anyone is interested in helping to compile a "Tourney 
Direction FAQ", please contact Mike Haynes of Bowling Green at 
mhaynes@bgsuvax.bgsu.edu.]

*******************************************************************
(14b) What's all this flap about registering tournaments and license fees?

CBI holds copyrights and/or trademarks on many items, such as the name 
"College Bowl", their official rules and scoresheets, their questions, 
and certain phrases like "Varsity Sport of the Mind." To use any of 
these, or any other bits of CBI's intellectual property in connection 
with an invitational tournament, you must negotiate a license contract 
with CBI beforehand. The typical fee is $10/team participating in a 
tourney that charges an entry fee, and $5/team participating at a tourney 
that doesn't charge an entry fee.

ACF does not charge schools a fee to use its rules or format, and has 
claimed that tourneys that use none of CBI's intellectual property are 
not subject to any license fees. A position paper on the subject (written 
by Jim Dendy, Vishnu Jejjala, and Ramesh Kannappan, with feedback from 
Tom Michael) is available on the FTP site. It's called  
ACF_position_license_fees.

*******************************************************************
(15) Are there any books available on College Bowl/ACF?

There are countless question-and-answer books out there, but they don't 
really count :)

(After Gary Greenbaum and Craig Leff)
In terms of books about _the game_, the editor knows of only one, _The 
College Bowl Quiz Book_, compiled by Carol Nash, published 1971 by 
Doubleday & Co. No ISBN number available, but Library of Congress catalog 
number is 70-139009. The book is mostly questions and asnwers, broken by 
category. The book also records the score of every televised match. 
Unfortunately, the book has been out of print for some time now, but you 
be able to find it in a secon-hand bookstore.
(End attribution)

(after Craig Leff)
There is a similar book available for CB's British counterpart: _The 
University Challenge Quiz Book_ (with forward by Don Reid). [Ed.: For 
info on University Challenge, see Question 7.] It contains 14 games of 
questions, with each game composed of 20 starters (TUs) and boni.  The 
boni are all worth 15 pts, with 3 questions for 5 pts. each.  Also, the 
boni are all in one category, which range from children's TV to British 
politics to Fridges (3 boni about refrigerators and refrigeration) to 
Bears to Sports to Languages, etc. One interesting note:  each game 
includes 5 extra starters "in the event that neither of the teams is able 
to answer a given starter".

There are a few Brit politics questions, and some about cricket starters
that Americans may find impossible, but overall I was impressed with the
content of the questions and think they would travel well to this side of
the Atlantic.

I would peg the questions as harder than CBI, but not consistently at the 
level of ACF. The questions are of CBI length vs. ACF length.  Note
that even "un-ACF" categories like sports are more likely to ask
"Theoretically, what is the minimum number of strokes a player can make to
win a set of lawn tennis?" rather than "idenfity this tennis star" or "who
won more than 3 consecutive Wimbledons in the modern era?"

The cover shows two teams on the TV set, which is quite beautiful,
with symbols etched on a blue-green background.  The symbols range from
large capital letters from an illuminated manuscript to yin/yang to a 
Greek column to something that may be a part of a Cubist painting.

And now the facts:  The University Challege Quiz Book, 1995, BBC Books,
ISBN 0-563-37194-3.  Cost printed on the back cover is 5 pounds. Questions
are copyrighted Granada Television Ltd.  Game format copyrighted to CBI.
[end attribution]


*******************************************************************
(15a) Is there a College Bowl historian/history available on the net?

CBI has kept records dating from the game show days, but their files
aren't accessible from the net. Now that company officials have obtained 
Internet access, more information *may* become publicly available. 
(Speculation from the editor.)

Shawn Askew of Georgia Tech has embarked on a project to chronicle
ACF Nationals participants, both the teams and the players. If you can be of
any assistance to him, mail Shawn at gt5489b@acme.gatech.edu. 

For now, limited information can be gleaned from the FTP site and this
FAQ. The FAQ contains a list of past CB, HCASC, and ACF champions, as well 
as a sketch of the origins of CB. The FTP site also has past invitationals
summaries and Top 20/25 lists. In addition, Shawn has placed an ACF 
history file (ACF_94.txt) on the FTP site.

It is hoped that more historical material can be compiled and made
available via FTP in the near future.

*******************************************************************
(16) How are players ranked?

(Pat Matthews)
Like any sport, academic competition has a few statistics which are useful
in measuring player performance. The most common stat is Points Per Game
(PPG). The formula for PPG is fairly simple:

.(10 * # of tossups answered) - (5 * # of incorrect interrupts)
PPG = .--------------------------------------------------------------
....# of games played

This formula can be applied to individuals or teams. PPG is often used to
determine tournament all-stars, but it is very vulnerable to the "shadow
effect," which will be explained further below.

PPG is sometimes rewritten as "adjusted average." The only difference 
between PPG and adjusted average is that adjusted average uses 1 and -0.5
instead of 10 and -5 as the weighting factors for tossups and interrupts.

Other commonly used stats on both the team and individual level are Interrupt
Ratio or Interrupt Percentage. Interrupt Ratio is defined as the ratio of
incorrect interrupts to tossups answered correctly. Interrupt Percentage is
usually defined as interrupts divided by the quantity interrupts plus
tossups, but sometimes as interrupts divided by total chances (interrupts
plus tossups plus "zeroes", or incorrect non-interrupts).

A useful team statistic is Bonus Conversion. It is simply bonus points
earned divided by bonus points possible, and is the best measure available
for team play on boni.

Other, less widely-used stats also exist to evaluate performance. Most of
these alternative stats attempt to counter the "shadow effect." Simply
stated, the "shadow effect" is the effect on individual stats of having
very strong or very weak teammates. The idea is that having good 
teammates decreases a player's opportunity to answer tossups, and that 
having weak teammates increases said opportunities. Thus, Player A from 
Team A could have a significantly lower PPG than Player B from Team B, 
yet still be a much better player than B because A has better teammates.

One such measure designed to counteract the "shadow effect" is the Points
Created (PC) stat developed by Pat Matthews and Clay Davenport. PC 
attempts to normalize player scores so that the effects of teammates on 
scoring is minimized, and players are ranked according to how many 
points they "produce" above or below the average player.

A full explanation of the PC method is available on RTF format from the 
FTP site (pc_explained_rtf). In addition, a barebones, formulae-only text 
version is avilable via FTP (pc_formulae_text). The reader is warned, 
however, that only the rft version is "canonical", and the text version 
may have an error or two in the formulae.

**********************************************************************
(16a) How are statistics kept?

It depends on the host. Every tournament uses scoresheets to track each
match, and most tournaments publish the player statistics at some point
during and/or after play.

Stats are sometimes tabulated by hand, but are increasingly being
computerized. Many people have created spreadsheets and database
applications to track player stats and automate computation. The best 
freely available CB/ACF stats application is StatKeeper, developed by the 
folks at Auburn University. StatKeeper has some minor limitations but 
few bugs, and has many nifty features. StatKeeper runs on the Macintosh.

To obtain a copy of StatKeeper, you have two options. A copy of StatKeeper
has been placed in binhex form on the FTP site, and you can download it 
from there, or you can get a copy through snail-mail. To do this, email 
Pat Matthews at patrickm@pobox.upenn.edu. Typically, you will have 
to mail Pat Matthews a 3.5" disk and return postage, and he will mail you 
back the program.

********************************************************************
(16b) What are "VVB's"?

(after Matt Colvin)
"VVB" is an abbreviation for variable value bonuses. In other words, if a 
tournament uses bonuses with mixed values, the tourney uses VVB, whereas
if the tourney uses fixed bonus values for each packet the tourney does 
not use VVB. VVB is an issue because several posters have questioned the 
fairness of rewarding teams that answer tossups with randomly-determined 
bonus point opportunities. Opponents of VVB feel that the only fair thing 
to do is equalize bonus values, so that bonus opportunities depend on how 
many tossups a team answer, not also on *when* the team answers.

At least as many people have posted to say that VVB are not inherently 
unfair. In the end, it comes down to a question of how much randomness 
is acceptable in a game. Also, related to the debate are questions of how 
difficult lower-value bonuses should be relative to higher-value bonuses. 
For example, if the bonus conversion rate on 20-point bonuses is very 
high relative to 25- and/or 30-point bonuses, teams may not necessarily 
be at a disadvantage by getting a disproportionate number of 20-point 
opportunities.

********************************************************************
(16c) What are "CUR's"?

(after Matt Colvin)
CUR is the colorful acronym for "Colvin Unfair Result".  The term was
coined by Gary Greenbaum of the GWU as a name for a situation posited in
debate by Vishnu Jejjala and Matt Colvin of Maryland.  The name has stuck.

Matt Colvin originally defined a CUR as a game in which:

1.  Team A scores as many or more tossup points (tossups times 10 minus
    interrupts times five) than Team B.
2.  Team A converts a higher percentage of its available bonus points than
    Team B.
3.  Team A loses the match.

(At first, it was believed that a CUR could only occur in matches using 
VVB's. However, it has been demonstrated by Colin Russell that the above 
definition can produce a CUR even if bonus values are held constant. 
Colin and Matt have both submitted alternate definitions.)

Opponents of VVB's consider such a result unfair because they feel each 
tossup should carry the same point opportunities, and should not be 
affected by randomness in bonus value distributions. On the other side, 
it's argued that the result is not "unfair" because a loss cannot be 
solely attributed to any one factor.

Although many, including the editor, scoffed at first that a CUR was 
a philosophical construct that could never happen in reality, in the 1995 
CB NCT there were two documented CUR's by the above definition.

********************************************************************
(17) What are the policies for FAQ submission?

(Pat Matthews)
The editor of this list relies on the readers of alt.college.college-bowl
to bring up new material, update old material, and suggest other 
improvements for the file.

Unless an actual attribution is attached to information in this file, the 
reader may assume that either the section in question is not clearly 
attributable to a single source or that the author of that section does 
not wish to be identified.

If you have new material you would like added to this FAQ, send it to Pat 
Matthews at patrickm@pobox.upenn.edu. Unless such material is CLEARLY 
MARKED as potential FAQ fodder, the editor will not consider it as such. 
Also, if portions of your post are *not* meant for inclusion in the FAQ, 
CLEARLY DELINEATE what is FAQ material, and what is for the editor's eyes 
only. Finally, if you do not wish to be attributed when offering FAQ 
material, you must clearly so say in the submission.

Also, be advised that any submission sent may be edited by the editor (as 
the title suggests). If you wish to see a proof copy of a submission 
before it actually goes into the FAQ, you must clearly state that in the 
same message containing the contribution. Otherwise, the editor will 
assume that the contributor trusts the editor's judgement as the final 
word on the contribution.

Finally, as a reader of alt.college.college-bowl, the editor reserves the 
right to make additions/changes to this FAQ based on posts made to the 
newsgroup. In such a case, *no* attribution will be made for the new/updated
information.
