Regional Academic Competition Guidelines

The following general guidelines apply to the Regional Academic Competitions for the 2009/10 season only:

General Information

1. Schedule positions will be determined by assigning a letter (A, B, C, etc.) to each team as they register the day of the competition unless otherwise mandated by the host intermediate unit.
2. Host is responsible for providing the following for each setup:
   • Four (4) tables on stage (3 for teams; 1 for score board)
   • Four (4) chairs behind each team table
   • One (1) Microphone on each table (if possible)
   • One (1) table and three (3) chairs for competition staff off stage
   • One (1) podium with a microphone off stage
3. In the event of school closings or delays, the host intermediate unit is responsible for contacting all parties involved.
4. All cell phones must be turned off to avoid disruption during the competition.
5. There will be no penalty for questions answered incorrectly.
6. The cumulative scores from the two preliminary matches will determine the top three teams to compete in the Championship match. The winner of the Championship match will represent their intermediate unit in the PA Academic Competition on May 7, 2010, in Harrisburg.

Tournament Officials

1. The academic competition coordinator will be responsible for the operation of the competition.
2. The contact person for each intermediate unit will be responsible for all details concerning the competition other than the operation of the actual competition.
3. The academic competition team will be responsible for the decisions made during matches, including disputes regarding correctness of answers, incorrect scoring, time-keeping, etc. All decisions by the academic competition team are final.
4. Each match will have a quizmaster. The quizmaster will read the questions, enforce time limits, determine the correctness of answers, award points, and otherwise enforce the rules of competition.
5. Each match will have a scorekeeper and timekeeper (may be combined when necessary).

Equipment

1. Every effort will be made to ensure that matches are played with a “ buzzer,” electronic equipment that determines which player signals first. However, due to logistics this is a one-day event with no make-up date scheduled; therefore,should no working buzzers be available, tournament officials will require players to signal by physical means. If equipment fails during a fanfare round, ten (10) seconds will be allotted for each question remaining.
2. Teams that refuse to play without an electronic buzzer will forfeit the match.
3. In the absence of a completely functioning buzzer system, the academic competition team will be the final judge of which player signaled first. These determinations are not protestable.
4. Each player is responsible for monitoring whether his or her own buzzer is operating properly throughout a match. If a buzzer malfunctions, only the current question or the just completed question can be replayed, subject to the academic competition team's ruling that the malfunction affected play of that question.
5. Timed matches should use a clock clearly visible to all teams.

Participants

1. All participants are responsible individuals and will be treated as such. Players and schools are responsible for any liability arising from their conduct while at the competition, or while traveling to or from such events.
2. Each competing team may bring up to six (6) high school students. Four (4) students compete in each round. All six (6) students need not compete.
3. Substitutions may only be made between rounds.
4. No player may play for two different teams.
5. Only one team per high school may participate in the competition.
6. A coach is a person who acts in a recognized advisory role to a particular team. A coach may not be a player for any team in the competition. A team can have an unlimited number of coaches, but only one may be designated the official coach. The person who is to be the designated official must be announced to the academic competition coordinator prior to the competition.
7. It is the responsibility of the designated coach to ensure that all members of his/her school's team fully understand the competition's rules and code of conduct.
8. Students are not permitted to bring pens, pencils, paper, and/or cell phones to the contestant tables. Students who bring these items to the contestant tables risk being disqualified from the competition and having their team forfeit the match.

Questions

1. Questions will be generated from the following areas:
   • Literature/Fine Arts/Grammar
   • World History/Geography/Economics
   • American History/Geography/Economics
   • Science
   • Contemporary Events
   • Potpourri (Any subject)
2. All questions are worth 5 points.
3. Great effort will be made to ensure the consistency of questions asked from round-to-round. The sequence of questions in the toss-ups will be:

   World History - Literature - American History - Science - Potpourri - World History - Literature - American History - Science - Potpourri

   The sequence of questions for the fanfare will be:

   Contemporary Events-World History-Literature-American History-Science-Potpourri

Time

1. A match consists of two (2) rounds. Each round consists of a toss-up section and a fanfare section.
2. When the clock sounds the end of time, the question will end, except:
   • If a player has buzzed in before the end of the clock buzzer, the player will be permitted to answer the question within three (3) seconds.
   • During Fanfare, if the quizmaster has begun reading the question, the team will be permitted to hear the entire question and will be given three (3) seconds to answer.

Toss-ups

1. A Toss-up section contains ten (10) questions.
2. All teams have fifteen (15) seconds to buzz in after the question has been completed.
3. Team members may not engage in verbal or nonverbal conferral once their team has buzzed in.
4. If the answer given is incorrect, the remaining teams have whatever time is remaining on the clock to buzz in.
5. An answer to a toss-up question must begin within three (3) seconds after the team has been recognized. An answer begun after the quizmaster and/or academic competition judge has said “Time” will be treated as no answer.
6. A player may signal to answer a toss-up question at any point after the quizmaster has begun reading the question.
7. When a player has buzzed in, the quizmaster will recognize the team by name. A player is not to answer a question until his/her team has been recognized by the quizmaster.
8. If a player buzzes in before the quizmaster has finished reading the question, the quizmaster will stop at that point. If the answer given is incorrect, the quizmaster will begin re-reading the question. The remaining teams may buzz in to answer the question.
9. If a player who was not the first to signal gives an answer:
   • The quizmaster will ignore the answer, and will recognize the player on another team who actually is the first to signal. In the event the player answers the question incorrectly, only the one remaining team that has not yet answered will still have the opportunity to buzz in and answer the question.
   • If the player who answers is a teammate of the first player to signal, the quizmaster will treat the response as an incorrect answer from that team.
   • If a player answers because the quizmaster incorrectly identified who signaled first, the question will be replaced, and no points will be awarded regardless if the question was answered correctly or incorrectly.

Fanfare

1. A Fanfare consists of six (6) questions that are asked and answered by one team in rapid succession within 60 seconds.
2. Each team gets one fanfare per round.
3. The time clock does not start counting down from 60 until the first question is completely read or the team captain has begun answering. If the timer sounds during the reading of a question, the question will be completed and the team must answer immediately. The designated team captain will be required to give the answers. If another team member responds, the response will not be accepted and the next question will be read. If it is the last question, the Fanfare will be over.
4. Teams may "pass" on any question; however, they will not be iven an opportunity to answer "pass" questions if time remains on the clock after all questions have been answered.

Correct Answers

1. The quizmaster will accept only the first answer given by a player.
2. A person's last name will be accepted unless the question specifically asks for a full name. However, if a full name is given voluntarily, it must be completely correct. Universally known nicknames may or may not be accepted. (For example, “Babe” Ruth may be accepted while the “Home Run King” might not).
3. First names of kings and queens will be accepted without their corresponding number. However, if a number is given, it must be correct.
4. Extraneous information preceding a response is disregarded (e.g., What is a wombat? or They’re all Californians) unless the quizmaster determines that the extraneous information was given in an unsportsmanlike attempt to delay the game, in which case the response is treated as incorrect. Harmless or inadvertent embellishment of responses will not be penalized, so long as the embellishment does not make the response wrong.
5. Dates must be exact (e.g. the year 71 will not be accepted if the answer is 1971).
6. If the quizmaster inadvertently reveals the answer to a question after a team has given an incorrect answer, but before the other teams have had a chance to answer, the quizmaster will read a replacement toss-up question for the remaining teams only. If none of the teams have had a chance to answer, the toss-up will be replaced with a new question.
7. If the quizmaster or any official member of the academic competition team believes he or she has heard the answer to the question called out from the audience, the question will be replaced.
8. Only the answer on the quizmaster's card will be accepted as the correct answer, whether or not it is correct, and whether or not a team can “prove” that it is incorrect. However, the academic competition team may rule to accept an answer even if it is not on the card, if they determine the answer was correct and was the answer which the question sought.

Appeals

1. Mistakes happen no matter how hard everyone tries. Take a deep breath and treat the academic competition staff and the opposing teams calmly. We all want a perfect tournament, and will do our best to correct errors with your cooperation.
2. No appeals will be accepted. All decisions by the academic competition team will be final. Coaches and team members are expected to accept the decision graciously. As in all team competition, unsportsmanlike conduct will not be tolerated and may result in ejection from the tournament, forfeiture of the game, or both.
3. During matches, the academic competition team may only be approached by the coach between rounds to report a perceived error.
4. If it is determined that the scorekeeper inadvertently awarded points to a team that it did not earn, then the points will be removed and, if warranted, added to the score of the team to which they were to be originally awarded.
5. It is impossible to foresee every circumstance that may arise during competition. In the event a situation arises that is not covered in these guidelines, the academic competition team will use their discretion to resolve the situation. The academic competition team's decision is final.

Championship Match

The teams with the three (3) highest cumulative scores will compete in the Championship Match. The winner of this match will represent their intermediate unit in the PA Academic Competition in Harrisburg on May 7, 2010.

Tie Scores

Tie scores are possible in the following instances:

• At the end of the two preliminary rounds which determines the teams in the Championship match.
• At the end of Championship match.

The ties will be broken as follows:

• The tied teams will play a tossup round consisting of five (5) tossup questions as follows:

  World History - Literature - American History - Science - Potpourri

• If teams are still tied, sudden death tossup questions will be given one-by-one. The team who answers the first toss-up question correctly will be the winner.