Southern California (SoCal) 2013

[PacificGoldenPlover]

Um....was that suppose to be funny?

It is an established tradition at my school to scare the freshmen.

[bearasauras]

hazing?

[CulturallyScientific]

Hazing? That sounds a bit extreme...

[istou]

LA county. A well organized event but with really poor prepared tests by "big heads". Many rules can have different meanings. Write-it-do it was a blast designed for super small hands and sharp-shooter eyes, absolutely not possible to assemble. Caltech has provided really poor support for the SciO, IMHO, this time. Maybe it's time to ask for help from a "normal" schools, such as UCLA?

[foreverphysics]

First, I think you have to understand the sheer amount of time and effort involved in running a tournament. I have personally met the guy from Caltech who helps run the LA Regionals, and I will tell you that he is one of the most dedicated and humble people I've ever met (and also possibly the funniest).
Caltech has supported SO wholeheartedly for a very long time, and in fact, there have been mentions in other threads about the SO volunteer program they have there. They have some of the best Regionals in the country, and I know that they work extremely hard to make their competition a success.

Event tests are not made to be easy. They are made to be challenging and to pick out the best. Now, while I have never seen LA Regs' WIDI, I can tell you that it probably wasn't impossible. The teams that got 1st through 3rd probably had something pretty close to what they were supposed to have. Just because your team wasn't able to assemble the WIDI doesn't mean it was a bad one. If anything, that's indicative that your team needs to work more.

If you have further accusations, please provide concrete proof.

[CulturallyScientific]

I must say that I have to agree with foreverphysics. Tests for any competition at nearly any level are very difficult to write, and keep in mind that all of the test writers at SoCal regionals and State are volunteers who have generously donated their time. I think that anyone who has written a test or a practice test can agree that it is very time-consuming and is certainly not an easy task! Anyone who has graciously volunteered to write a test for any Science Olympiad competition should be given credit for the tremendous effort that is put in, and I'm sure that most test writers do try their best to stick with the rules and write good tests. After all, the hardest tests to take are often the hardest ones to write.

[killer225whale]

@istou

I didn't find anything wrong with the Caltech tests. I competed in WIDI at the LA Regional and medalled in it. I admit that the build for WIDI was extremely difficult, but not too small, and certainly not impossible. My partner and I practiced over 10 times for this event in the 2 weeks before and I think the result reflects that practice. The volunteers from Caltech devote unhealthy amounts of time to organizing these competitions, and don’t get nearly as much credit or appreciation as they deserve. This sounds like sour grapes.

[PicturePerfect]

I agree with foreverphysics and CS. Tests are very hard and time-consuming to write. Istou, maybe you should try writing a decent test. Test-writers have to make it challenging while making sure not to ask any prohibited questions. They also have to decide how many points each question should be worth so that it is fair. Most are volunteers, too, so you should thank them for donating their time.

Anyways..
I got new partners for Food and Forestry.. We're going to fail so bad.

[arvandkay2009]

LA county. A well organized event but with really poor prepared tests by "big heads". Many rules can have different meanings. Write-it-do it was a blast designed for super small hands and sharp-shooter eyes, absolutely not possible to assemble. Caltech has provided really poor support for the SciO, IMHO, this time. Maybe it's time to ask for help from a "normal" schools, such as UCLA?

I find this post inappropriate and offensive. I've been coaching a middle school team in LA for 12 years and Science Olympiad in SoCal has grown thanks to the dedication of volunteers! The volunteers, most of which competed in Science Olympiad in middle school and high school, take time off their busy schedules to give back to our younger students. They serve as outstanding role models! The majority of the volunteers are Caltech students, but please know that UCLA, Berkeley, UC San Diego, and Occidental College were also represented. It was heartwarming to see my former team members, who are now undergrads at these colleges, serve as volunteer supervisors at LA County! All of them deserve to be commended not put down.

What's a "normal" school anyway??? That's offensive to my former team member who now goes to Caltech who also has volunteered in the past at a SoCal state tournament!

My team members came back from WIDI at LA County with the comment that the device was challenging but fair, and this is coming from an experienced pair from last year. Just because your team did not do well in the event doesn't automatically make the event unfair!

[AlphaTauri]

I feel like I should address the one point that no one's mentioned yet (though I must say that I agree with many of the posts preceding mine, especially those who point out that the testwriters are volunteers and so you can't expect them to do every single thing exactly right).

Anyway, my point - it's worth raising the point as well that some tests are designed to be "too hard" in order to ensure that no one gets everything right, thus preventing a gaggle of teams tied for first with perfect scores. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think WIDI has a tiebreaker other than time, which imho is not a terribly good tiebreaker.) It also stratifies the teams, separating the teams who really know their stuff from the decent-but-not-great teams from the teams who are, well...just there.