New Jersey 2019

[EastStroudsburg13]

The real question is why can't we atleast try to get more volunteers so that the competition can be of higher quality... more than that, different time slot groupings have different conflicts... teams 19-27 have conflicts between fossils and herpetology for example (which basically screws them over), but the other groups don't. These inconsistencies all add up to a really volatile and poor competition

From what I understand, the state competition being a weekday reduces the number of outside volunteers who are able to assist.

Honestly, I feel like the things that screw us over are the terrible tests and only 5 time blocks. The tests are often reused and just generally short and low quality tests, which are pretty frustrating. The 5 time blocks though just make for so many conflicts that could easily be avoided if another hour was added into the schedule.

Also, build events are much harder in a short time span than study. You're right that everyone has the same time to prepare - but it takes much longer than 3 weeks to even get close to perfecting a build. I'm not saying that builds are specifically harder than study events over the entire year, but in my opinion, it definitely is harder in 3 weeks.

boi no one said you have to perfect it... everyone has the same time so it doesnt matter

If anything, the new trial events would just show which teams work harder and which teams don't care. If you can work really hard in 3 weeks, you could definitely make a good bottle rocket. It's not that teams have unfair advantages. Nobody knew about bottle rocket until it was posted yesterday. It's just that some teams have harder workers and it shows.

I think suggesting that trial events are good because they divide which teams care and which don't is a stretch. Often in New Jersey the margin of champion to runner-up is on the scale of single digits. A trial build like Indoor Bottle Rocket introduces volatility that can significantly affect that margin, which impacts everyone involved. The fact that everyone has the same amount of time to develop it doesn't matter, since it's not as accurate a measure of team strength as the other 23 events that teams have been working on from the beginning (as well as the 23 that teams will actually be competing in at nationals).

Having trials from the beginning (like Texas) is one thing. Dropping a trial less than a month in advance and forcing teams to scramble to complete an event that won't help them past the state tournament is another. Having a "good" bottle rocket is small consolation to teams that have had the time to develop "great" builds for other events.

THE VIEWS IN THIS POST DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE OFFICIAL VIEWS OF THE SCIENCE OLYMPIAD STUDENT CENTER

[builderguy135]

Honestly, I feel like the things that screw us over are the terrible tests and only 5 time blocks. The tests are often reused and just generally short and low quality tests, which are pretty frustrating. The 5 time blocks though just make for so many conflicts that could easily be avoided if another hour was added into the schedule.

Also, build events are much harder in a short time span than study. You're right that everyone has the same time to prepare - but it takes much longer than 3 weeks to even get close to perfecting a build. I'm not saying that builds are specifically harder than study events over the entire year, but in my opinion, it definitely is harder in 3 weeks.

boi no one said you have to perfect it... everyone has the same time so it doesnt matter

If anything, the new trial events would just show which teams work harder and which teams don't care. If you can work really hard in 3 weeks, you could definitely make a good bottle rocket. It's not that teams have unfair advantages. Nobody knew about bottle rocket until it was posted yesterday. It's just that some teams have harder workers and it shows.

I get what you're saying, but 3 weeks really is not enough time to make a build and test a build at all. In this case, most teams will have to buy/build a launcher as well.

For many teams, the difference of their times will only be a fraction of a second.

[lumosityfan]

Honestly, I feel like the things that screw us over are the terrible tests and only 5 time blocks. The tests are often reused and just generally short and low quality tests, which are pretty frustrating. The 5 time blocks though just make for so many conflicts that could easily be avoided if another hour was added into the schedule.

Also, build events are much harder in a short time span than study. You're right that everyone has the same time to prepare - but it takes much longer than 3 weeks to even get close to perfecting a build. I'm not saying that builds are specifically harder than study events over the entire year, but in my opinion, it definitely is harder in 3 weeks.

boi no one said you have to perfect it... everyone has the same time so it doesnt matter

If anything, the new trial events would just show which teams work harder and which teams don't care. If you can work really hard in 3 weeks, you could definitely make a good bottle rocket. It's not that teams have unfair advantages. Nobody knew about bottle rocket until it was posted yesterday. It's just that some teams have harder workers and it shows.

While yes every team has the same amount of time to perfect their bottle rocket, it still doesn't hide the fact that it's inherently unfair to have an event just dropped on a team like that AT THE STATE TOURNAMENT. It's one thing for regionals where we all know the events could be different (which is in itself an issue considering it doesn't look like NJSO is trying to get all the events filled at regionals) but it's another thing for a tournament which determines bids for nationals. Also as East notes there's greater volatility in builds and so even if a team has harder workers that team may bomb because of some stupid wind current.

[AWildMudkip]

About the volunteers issue, it's true that volunteers are a lot harder to get since the tournament is in the middle of the week. It's really rough for us because that week is midterm week, and whether or not I can event supervise depends on our still unreleased exam schedule.

My friend says that the reasoning he heard is that a weekday tournament makes it more accessible, since some schools don't have the resources for a weekend trip (teachers, bus drivers, money, etc). Seems a bit trivial though...

[EastStroudsburg13]

About the volunteers issue, it's true that volunteers are a lot harder to get since the tournament is in the middle of the week. It's really rough for us because that week is midterm week, and whether or not I can event supervise depends on our still unreleased exam schedule.

My friend says that the reasoning he heard is that a weekday tournament makes it more accessible, since some schools don't have the resources for a weekend trip (teachers, bus drivers, money, etc). Seems a bit trivial though...

I think that reasoning makes sense for a regional tournament. For a state tournament, I would assume most teams would be willing to make the tradeoff. Perhaps that differs in C Division vs. B Division. Perhaps a compromise could be reached and the tournament could be held on a Friday instead of midweek.

[rabbitman]

boi no one said you have to perfect it... everyone has the same time so it doesnt matter

If anything, the new trial events would just show which teams work harder and which teams don't care. If you can work really hard in 3 weeks, you could definitely make a good bottle rocket. It's not that teams have unfair advantages. Nobody knew about bottle rocket until it was posted yesterday. It's just that some teams have harder workers and it shows.

While yes every team has the same amount of time to perfect their bottle rocket, it still doesn't hide the fact that it's inherently unfair to have an event just dropped on a team like that AT THE STATE TOURNAMENT. It's one thing for regionals where we all know the events could be different (which is in itself an issue considering it doesn't look like NJSO is trying to get all the events filled at regionals) but it's another thing for a tournament which determines bids for nationals. Also as East notes there's greater volatility in builds and so even if a team has harder workers that team may bomb because of some stupid wind current.

Not disagreeing that its difficult and stupid and whatnot, but everyone is under the same conditions. The only inevitable reason for it being unfair is the fact that some teams have more resources than others... but this would impact all trial events as you said earlier (all the more reason to throw them all away). I also agree that for the state tournament its pretty stupid to have non-official events run especially when teams are preparing for higher levels of competition all year long. But if we are being realistic, all the competitive teams at the top have the same resources available to them... its just a matter of effort.

the stupid wind current can happen to anyone not just some team that has harder workers. you could say this about any build event. its just inherent. just to put it out there- there is no way indoor br is even close to the normal br in volatility

[builderguy135]

there is no way indoor br is even close to the normal br in volatility

This would be true if trial events were released earlier, not 3 weeks before

Running a build, especially one with such a high chance of bombing, is just unfair for everyone. Any study event (even a binder event!) would be much better than this. I doubt many people would complain if it was a study event.

[builderguy135]

My predictions:

B:
1) Community MS
2) Grover MS
3) Montgomery MS
4) Churchill Jr. HS
5) Noor-Ul-Iman School
6) Pond Road MS

[CookiePie1]

Div. C predictions:

1. WWP North
2. WWP South
3. Monty
4. JPS
5. Princeton
6. Hillsborough
7. South Brunswick

[bromothymol]

second trial event (Chemistry Clue) posted for division C:
https://www.soinc.org/sites/default/fil ... 20Clue.pdf

no build event = fine by me