The Quizbowl Resource Center

(Moderator: please move if this is the wrong place)

Avery Enterprises of Johnstown, Colorado is pleased to announce that it will provide questions for both the middle-school and high-school competitions of the 2005 National Science Bowl!

We are looking for several freelance writers to help us with the more than 4,000 questions that will be needed for both events. No current players or current coaches at the high-school level can be used (to ensure question security), but past NSB players (especially college students who always hated the questions and could now use a few extra bucks) are more than welcome to apply.

Unfortunately, two main things many players dislike about NSB are still around (all-or-nothing bonus questions, and some multiple-choice questions). These are staples of the format and (at least, right now) won't be changed. However, if you can swallow your dislike of those things, we pay $3 per question (if you want to specialize in particular subjects), or $200 for a 50-question round using a template and distribution we will provide you. These prices are for both high-school and middle-school questions.

The regional-level questions are due Nov. 1, while the national-level questions are due Jan. 1 (we would pay you shortly after those dates). You can Google up lots of past Science Bowl questions to get an idea what's required if it's been a while since you played. You can also visit our web site http://www.averyenterprises.net to see more about us.

To apply as a writer, please send a _brief_ resume to [email protected] or [email protected] If you call our toll-free number on the web site, we'll talk to you, but you'll still have to send a resume.

best, Bryce Avery
President, Avery Enterprises

I'll be competing this year, so I won't be contributing questions, but I was wondering if you knew who was responsible for coming up with that unusual format in the first place (I won't go into my theories on its conception), and / or if there is a designated contact to whom I may address concerns that I (and hundreds of others, I'm sure) have with it. I know it won't get changed this year or the next, but I hold out some idealistic hope that within this geologic epoch, science bowl teams will not have to suffer all those format idiocies of which I'm sure you are well aware.
-Sam Lederer, who'll try his hardest to keep TJ's streak going

and by some multiple choice questions I'm assuming you mean it is still right about 60% or so?

My plan is 60% short-answer and 40% multiple choice this year.

I do know the government person in charge of the questions; however, he would not appreciate e-mail on the issue of format (yet).

My personal suspicion as to format (just a theory) is 2-fold:
a) someone was familiar with tossup-bonus format from CBI (who was invited to bid, BTW, though I don't know if they did)
b) multiple-choice allows some stuff to be asked that couldn't reasonably be asked otherwise (i.e., of these 4 distances, how far from the earth is Pluto?), and also allows "why" questions that don't come up in standard quizbowl (i.e. which of these long-winded reasons best explains why the sky is blue?) Whether that stuff _should_ be asked is a whole different issue; we will try to minimize stuff that (IMNSHO) shouldn't be asked at all.

But our past experience in writing should get rid of some obvious hose jobs, such as the kid who was asked how many atoms in a mole, said 6.02 x 10^23, and was ruled wrong because the official answer was 6.022 x 10^23.

We will gladly take comments for improvements after the year is over.

best, Bryce