By Emily Petillon
Managing Editor
The Costa administration and the Scholar Quiz committee made the proper decisions to handle the problems associated with the 2014 Mira Costa Scholar Quiz.
This year, the committee had to take a different approach to organize Scholar Quiz due to worries about a shortage of parent volunteers and students not being able to find the right rooms amid the construction. There were also fears that teachers would close their doors to Scholar Quiz because of the recent teacher slowdown.
To solve this problem, the committee decided to move the first and second rounds of Scholar Quiz to Cooper Field at Waller Stadium, where they will provide cushions for each team to sit on and clipboards for each team to write on to replace the standard classroom desks. This is an innovative solution that will allow Scholar Quiz to continue despite Manhattan Beach Unifed Teachers’ Association’s actions.
To solve the potential problem of teams hearing each other’s answers on the open field, teams will be facing in all different directions. This will prevent the sound from one team interfering with that of another team. The committee tested this procedure to make sure that it worked properly, demonstrating foresight on the behalf of the organizers.
Another new problem that the committee faced was more teams signing up than the 64 slots could accommodate, presenting the issue of how to select which teams get to play. According to Scholar Quiz committee head Elizabeth Allen, the committee decided to pick the teams on the basis of seniority. This is fair because upperclassmen have fewer opportunities left to participate in Scholar Quiz.
Freshman Matthew Kennedy believes that the selection should have been on a first-come, first- serve basis, because he thinks that the more dedicated teams would have made sure that they were the first to sign up. This reasoning, however, ignores the fact that some teachers let their students out earlier than others, and some students have classrooms located closer to the designated sign-up area. Bearing this in mind, a first-come, first-serve basis is not an equitable way to determine team participation for Scholar Quiz.
The committee’s decision to narrow down the teams based on seniority was a difficult decision to make because it prevented more than 20 freshman teams from playing. Even so, it was the right decision for the event.
However, in the future, the planning committee should look into ways to extend the length and capacity of Scholar Quiz provided that more volunteers are available. The committee could then admit more teams into the competition and reward previously successful teams with first and second-round byes.
The Scholar Quiz committee this year was faced with a unique set of problems, but it handled these difficulties well and managed to come up with a set of effective solutions to the problems. However, it should look to extend the length of Scholar Quiz to accommodate more students.
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