rfeynman wrote:First of all whoever said that the event was well run clearly is from Athens or something. As probably one of the most seasoned veterans of science o I can say that its becoming a pitiful joke especially when you have schools like Athens. Now this isn't a rant about them however that school is the largest example of why scioly is a joke. Basically what happens is that they somehow end up proctoring every single event and do well in all of those. And the kids are not smart to say the least I have seen them in action especially with building events (this goes for alot of teams where you see them struggling with instructions for how to use them) none of the kids have the capacity to build the stuff and they make a fool of themselves to anyone who really does know what theyre doing
When I was competing, I thought we had the same thing going on here in the B division. The perennial team was St. Josephs. They won almost every year I competed. Their parents coached the events, and more often then naught, they win medals in every single event. However this year they lost, and by lost I mean by a considerable amount(40 points). They have never cheated, as high as my suspicions were when I competed in B div., and in no way did it accomplish anything by saying they cheated. All it shows is that unless the accuser has documented evidence that teams cheated, or the event supervisor edged some scores in favor of their child's team, then said accuser has no leg to stand on.
rfeynman wrote:Also amazing tests? is that a bigger joke half of the events are run horribly. Experimental design was testing a slinky and trying to make it go faster. Science O has completely lost all merit of actual scientific achievement and thats why the UsPhO and UsNCO and USAMO are so much better, people cant cheat to get unfair advantages which they do all the time and the competition is well run
If you still insist teams in PA were cheating, then I dare you to go to Nationals. I went for three years, and never got a medal, not even a ribbon or w/e. In fact, in those three years, my school only medaled once. Every event, it seemed like the same school were going to collect medals. The clinking of the medals was aggravating. No matter what I did, My highest placing was in the 20's. You tell me how you feel when you see that, and I come from a nationally qualifying perennial team.
The fact of the matter is that they studied more than me, they put more effort in than me, and even when I tried my best, I still only got 2/3 of the way there. I have seen people hang their heads in SHAME because they couldn't medal or place high in their event of specialty. And not once, NOT ONCE, did we ever say they cheated. We held our high regards for schools like Harriton, Penncrest, and Grand Haven, and their determination to succeed/hold up expectations. And you know what? When i met people on those teams, they weren't snobs who expected to win. All they wanted to do is have fun, and learn some science: The main goals of the Olympiad itself.
So before you go accusing some school of cheating, think about THEIR dedication, THEIR drive, THEIR determination. In the case with Athens, your claims of cheating could easily be relegated to the fact they had a drive to succeed this year, to take down Penncrest, or possibly even Harriton, and they had the confidence to believe that they could do it. In no way does it mean they cheated. I'm sorry to sound so crass with this, but I made this mistake before. It only brings trouble, and makes you look bad, especially when you cannot prove it. From your claims, you look like nothing more than a sore loser, trying to shift blame and tarnish the names of people who have tried to work hard. I'm sorry, but this is my opinion.
Actually, if you don't mind, it's just the doctor. - Doctor Who.
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