Poorly Run Event Stories

[sciolyperson1]

FJDKSLjkljfkldsjlefd mystery at UCC.

Materials given were just lots of tape, and useless stuff like a dvd, 3(?) or 4 index cards, a spoon and a fork, and two cups, one small one large.
The prompt was to build the tallest arch that could support a tennis ball.

At Rustin, the prompt was similar, except we didn't have to hold anything, and an arch was defined as a structure with no straight edges (they used a 5cm block to measure). Their definition was pretty clear and concise, albeit rather tedious.

However, at UCC, their definition of an arch varied a lot. They said that "the curve" had to support the load (tennis ball), yet while we implemented curves into our design, apparently it didn't count. They also wanted our structure to be perfectly symmetrical (....which it was...). If you think about it though, how the heck do you implement a single spoon or a single fork into the structure, while keeping it symmetrical?
In our block (of 7 teams), not a SINGLE team was placed into tier 1.

Agreed. At Rustin, although their materials were on the simple side, they gave a very straightforward definition of an arch (no straight segments >5cm) and they were extremely consistent about measurements. Although the materials were more complicated at regionals, all of their specifications were subject to opinion (Ex. Is the structure perfectly symmetrical? How would you define a curve?). At one point, two of the supervisors were even disagreeing to each other on whether or not our build would constitute an arch.

lmao a dvd...and 2 different sized cups XD
hehe i like to hear that our coaches (rustin proctors) did decent. they are the official state mystery arch supervisors

Just to note, some parts of the arch were just bit vague (some were a bit curved, others not so much, etc.). I suggest that you can counteract that by giving longer distances for the sides (instead of 5cm, 10cm would be an easier way to judge competitors).

[JoeyC]

If you think about it though, how the heck do you implement a single spoon or a single fork into the structure, while keeping it symmetrical?

Saw the spoon in half.

[builderguy135]

FJDKSLjkljfkldsjlefd mystery at UCC.

Materials given were just lots of tape, and useless stuff like a dvd, 3(?) or 4 index cards, a spoon and a fork, and two cups, one small one large.
The prompt was to build the tallest arch that could support a tennis ball.

At Rustin, the prompt was similar, except we didn't have to hold anything, and an arch was defined as a structure with no straight edges (they used a 5cm block to measure). Their definition was pretty clear and concise, albeit rather tedious.

However, at UCC, their definition of an arch varied a lot. They said that "the curve" had to support the load (tennis ball), yet while we implemented curves into our design, apparently it didn't count. They also wanted our structure to be perfectly symmetrical (....which it was...). If you think about it though, how the heck do you implement a single spoon or a single fork into the structure, while keeping it symmetrical?
In our block (of 7 teams), not a SINGLE team was placed into tier 1.

Agreed. At Rustin, although their materials were on the simple side, they gave a very straightforward definition of an arch (no straight segments >5cm) and they were extremely consistent about measurements. Although the materials were more complicated at regionals, all of their specifications were subject to opinion (Ex. Is the structure perfectly symmetrical? How would you define a curve?). At one point, two of the supervisors were even disagreeing to each other on whether or not our build would constitute an arch.

lmao a dvd...and 2 different sized cups XD
hehe i like to hear that our coaches (rustin proctors) did decent. they are the official state mystery arch supervisors

They did an excellent job of being consistent and fair to every team. I really appreciated how they quantitatively defined what an "arch" is, rather than just saying "It has to curve". My only suggestion is that they should use a more diverse selection of materials, rather than just paper (Rustin). A larger selection of materials would force the competitor to be more creative with what they're building.

[builderguy135]

Agreed. At Rustin, although their materials were on the simple side, they gave a very straightforward definition of an arch (no straight segments >5cm) and they were extremely consistent about measurements. Although the materials were more complicated at regionals, all of their specifications were subject to opinion (Ex. Is the structure perfectly symmetrical? How would you define a curve?). At one point, two of the supervisors were even disagreeing to each other on whether or not our build would constitute an arch.

lmao a dvd...and 2 different sized cups XD
hehe i like to hear that our coaches (rustin proctors) did decent. they are the official state mystery arch supervisors

They did an excellent job of being consistent and fair to every team. I really appreciated how they quantitatively defined what an "arch" is, rather than just saying "It has to curve". My only suggestion is that they should use a more diverse selection of materials, rather than just paper (Rustin). A larger selection of materials would force the competitor to be more creative with what they're building.

If you think about it though, how the heck do you implement a single spoon or a single fork into the structure, while keeping it symmetrical?

Saw the spoon in half.

To show the power of FlexTape, I sawed this spoon in half!

[Verdigris]

Fun story while waiting for Regional results.

2019 Central Florida Regionals is the first time that Ocoee High School has hosted, IIRC. They’ve done great, and I want to commend them.

That said, apparently the planned event supervisors for Sounds of Music and Experimental Design dropped out at the last minute and had to be replaced with new people. As a result of the ensuing mess, we still don’t have Division C final results, 2 hours later. I greatly appreciate the people who worked to pick up the slack on both supervising and grading, because this situation sounds like a worse nightmare than the time our school tried to run Science Bowl as an ESO event.

[Baller2435]

It's really unfortunate what happened at UCC Regions this year for Fossils... given the amount of work required for it...

[CPScienceDude]

I have a good one: At Northridge, not a single event was ran! (Get it? Because Northridge was cancelled?)

[Baller2435]

Haha that does sound worse. At least we got to skip school for a day

[Rivkaaa]

In Garnet Valley, for Water Quality, the salinity testing was poorly run and didn't meet the standards, which messed up the results for almost every team.

[CookiePie1]

At Yale, for mission, the event supervisor put two tally marks for the number of touches and interpreted it as 11 which got us DQ'd.