Blog 5 Source Incorporation

For this blogging exercise I will focus on synthesizing my ideas and the ideas of those who have responded to my emails regarding the topic of Academic Contest moderation. Moderators or readers in the ASU Academic Bowl preside over matches by reading the question packets, prompting participants when more information is required, and informing of them of correct answers. Much of the typical burden of scoring or time keeping in other Quiz Bowl style tournaments is taken over by the panel of judges present at all the matches; however, as the first vestige of authority in the Academic Bowl, their professionalism is integral. Moderators are afforded this commanding presence by virtue of their status as deans within the faculty, but their relative academic standing does not always translate into ideal procedural execution. Both ASU Quiz Bowl president, Ian McCloskey, and champion team member, Wesley Fullmer, note moderators slow paces during this competition as one of this problem’s major symptoms. Given the timed matches used in the ASU Academic Bowl, the pace one reads becomes very important and getting hung up on hard-to-pronounce terms or reading slowly contributes greatly where a team might place in the event. The tournament should be conducted fairly, so alleviating this issue is a worthy yet challenging goal. Readers can really only improve through experience, and at this point can only practice once a year. History Bowl Director David Madden offers the solution of having prospective moderators practice with an experienced moderator and two teams prior to the completion or at least setting up a document detailing proper pronunciation of common yet difficult terms. Steven Fullmer, an experienced reader and longtime quiz bowl supporter, sees mispronunciation as a factor that reduces the competition to a game of luck rather than knowledge. Practiced participants demonstrate a greater familiarity with the material and therefore placed at an advantage through the ability to capture the key elements of a question unlike other competitors who have mentally process a question without prior experience. Fullmer proposes allowing readers to skim packets a few minutes prior to the match and then confer with the judges before beginning