Muslim Inter-Scholastic Tournament

Are you MISTified?

28th December 2006

Bracket Competitions

Debate
Math Olympics
MIST Bowl

Debate

Debate Topics will be posted prior to the first MIST Regional

In this debate competition, contestants will be involved in a one on one, extemporaneous style discussion. Students will be given a topic at their specified rounds and told which side of the issue to debate- either affirmative, affirming or agreeing with the topic- or negative, negating or disagreeing with the topic. Depending on the number of students registered for this competition, there will be a specified number of rounds (not to exceed 5 rounds). Winners of a debate will move onto the next round. Students will find out if they moved to the next round at the end of their debate and after the judges deliberate. The final debate will be held in front of the entire tournament audience. Topics for debate will range from a variety of current event issues. Debaters are encouraged to stay abreast of any current issues. Topics will not be limited to religious ones.

While this a debate and students are expected to argue and debate points, it is imperative that all debaters understand that they need to debate in an Islamic manner. Rude and un-Islamic behavior will not be tolerated. Students should be passionate and intense when they debate but not at the expense of their Islamic manners.

1. No more than 2 students from each team can register for this competition.

2. This competition is NOT a team effort.

3. Moderator announces proposition to be debated.
For example: The death penalty is wrong, and should not be allowed in the U.S.”

4. The Moderator introduces each speaker- and the time is tallied

5. Time will be broken as follows:

a. 5 minutes for preparation time.

b. Affirmative Constructive** (AC): 5 min.

c. Negative Cross-examination*** (C-X): 2 min.

d. Negative Constructive (NC): 6 min.

e. Affirmative C-X: 2 min.

f. Affirmative 1st Rebuttal (1AR): 4 min.

g. Negative 1st Rebuttal (NR): 6 min.

h. Affirmative 2nd Rebuttal (2AR): 3 min.

6. Competitors will be judged according to the Debate Ballot.

** Constructive means that the position will be presented.
*** Cross-Examination will allow the contestant to ask questions of the opposite position

Math Olympics

This competition will test students’ ability to think critically and apply arithmetic to solve word problems. No knowledge of calculus, precalculus, or Algebra II is required. An understanding of only geometry and algebra are sufficient for a student. A number 2 pencil is required. Calculators are allowed.Rules:

  1. This competition is an individual bracket competition. This means that students will work individually. Hence, 2 people from each team can register but will not compete together.
  2. Students will get a set of problems in different rounds. The student with the most number of points moves on to the next round.

MIST Bowl

Topics and Study Materials
Preliminary and Semifinal Rules
Finals Rules

Teams will consist of a minimum of 2 members and a maximum of 6. Only a maximum of 4 students can play at one time. A student can sub for another student ONLY between rounds. If your team has 6 students, there will be 4 starters and 2 people on the bench. The more students you have in your bowl team, the better it is for your team. This way, each student can study one of the 6 scholastic bowl categories.

Topics and Study Materials

The following topics are selected for this year’s Islamic Scholastic Bowl. The topics are:

    • Note: When studying Geography, concentrate on the following areas: background, location, area comparative, climate, terrain, natural hazards, environmental issues, population, nationality, religions, languages, government type, capital, independence, national holiday, constitution, flag description, economy overview, agricultural products, industries and transnational issues; do not focus on detailed numbers and such

Preliminary and Semifinal Rules

1. A preliminary/semifinal competition consists of three rounds, with a total of 42 questions. A round consists of 7 questions each from 2 categories, with a total of 6 categories covered by the end of competition. Questions for the entire competition are printed in one packet, with each round clearly marked. Appropriate point values are pre-assigned.

2. Each team is allowed 6 members, with no more than 4 members participating per round. Teams are allowed to shuffle their players ONLY between rounds. Judges should announce which two categories are being played in each round so that each team may arrange itself accordingly.

3. To begin the competition, judges should explain the rules of Round 1 to the competitors. This round is free-form, with the judge reading the point value of the question first, then proceeding to read the question aloud. Only after the judge has finished reading the ENTIRE question may the competitors buzz in. The first team to buzz in must answer within 10 seconds. A correct answer wins points and an incorrect answer does not penalize the team. If an incorrect answer is given, then the floor is reopened once the judge has said ‘incorrect’. The question may now be answered by the next to buzz in for half of its original point value, with a 10 second limit given on the response. Only two teams can attempt to answer any single question, after which, if both teams are unsuccessful, the judge will give the answer and proceed to the next question. The entire round consists of 14 questions from two categories. Judges are to begin from the beginning of the packet under the heading of ‘ROUND 1’. Judges will also remember to tell the teams which two categories are represented in Round 1. Be sure to announce the score in between each round.

4. Round 2 follows with the next two categories of questions which follow in the packet. The rules for Round 2 are exactly the same as round 1, except that teams are penalized for incorrect answers. For example, if a team were to respond incorrectly to a 200 point question, then 200 points are deducted from their running total. If another team were to then respond to this same question incorrectly when its value has been halved to 100 points (when the floor is reopened), then that team is penalized 100 points. Remember to mention which two categories are quizzed on in Round 2.

5. Round 3 then follows in the same fashion as Round 2: incorrect answers are to be penalized. Mention in which two categories the teams are being quizzed.

Preliminary Competition Point Summary

Round # Initial Point Value Second Attempt Penalty Time to Answer
1 Given Before Each Question Yes, ½ initial point value No 10 seconds per attempt
2 Given Before Each Question Yes, ½ initial point value Yes 10 seconds per attempt
3 Given Before Each Question Yes, ½ initial point value Yes 10 seconds per attempt

Finals Rules

1. The finals competition consists of three rounds, with a total of 42 questions. Questions for the entire competition are printed in one packet, with each round clearly marked. Round 1 and round 2 consist of one question related to each category, thus there are six questions per round. In round 3, questions will proceed “jeopardy”-style with each team captain choosing the category and point value.

2. Each team is allowed 6 members, with no more than 4 members participating per round. Teams are allowed to shuffle their players ONLY between rounds.

3. To begin the competition, judges should explain the rules of Round 1 to the competitors. This round is free-form, with the judge reading each question aloud. Only after the judge has finished reading the ENTIRE question may the competitors buzz in. The first team to buzz in must answer within 10 seconds. A correct answer wins points and an incorrect answer does not penalize the team. If an incorrect answer is given, then the floor is reopened once the judge has said ‘incorrect’. The question may now be answered by the next to buzz in for half of its original point value, with a 10 second limit given on the response. Only two teams can attempt to answer any single question, after which, if both teams are unsuccessful, the judge will give the answer and proceed to the next question. Judges are to begin from the beginning of the packet under the heading of ‘ROUND 1’. Each question in this round is worth 100 points.

4. The rules for Round 2 are exactly the same as Round 1, except that teams are penalized for incorrect answers. For example, if a team were to respond incorrectly to a question, then 200 points are deducted from their running total. If a team were to then respond to this same question incorrectly when its value has been halved to 100 points (when the floor is reopened), then that team is penalized 100 points. Each question in this round is worth 200 points.

5. In Round 3, a “jeopardy”-style game will be played with each team captain choosing the category and point value. For example, a team captain could say “History for 300 please.” Judges will then ask the appropriate question from the packet. The team with the lowest score will start off the round. After a question has been read, any team will be allowed to buzz in to attempt an answer. If a team answers a question correctly, then they will be able to select another question. An incorrect answer will result in a penalty as in Round 2. Following an incorrect response, the floor will be open for answers immediately after the judge says ‘incorrect.’ If no team is able to answer the question after 10 seconds, the same team will be able to choose another question. Note: in round 3, a board or display showing the category-value matrix will be necessary. An assistant who is keeping score will cross off each box on the matrix when that question has been asked.

6. Judges will not announce the winner of the final competition. This will occur during the award ceremony.

Round # Initial Point Value Second Attempt Penalty Time to Answer
1 100 points Yes, ½ initial point value No 10 seconds per attempt
2 200 points Yes, ½ initial point value Yes 10 seconds per attempt
3 “Jeopardy Style” Yes, ½ initial point value. Last team to answer a question correctly gets to choose next question. Yes 10 seconds per attempt

posted in Uncategorized |

There are currently 49 responses to “Bracket Competitions”

  1. 1 On December 28th, 2006, adnan mohamed said:

    assalmualkum ok, for debate is it supposed to be LD or what? If so why are the times so
    wierd, as a person who does ld you really cant give the neg so little time it is not fair.
    also you dont really have a rule on sharing flows and that was an issue last year.
    You stated no rudeness will be tolerated but that is just part of a debate you kind of
    have to over power your opponent in my opinion it is crucial to a debate.

  2. 2 On December 29th, 2006, Sami Ahmed said:

    Walaikum Assalam Adnan,

    It is LD style but the times are actually fine and not the issue you make them out to be. I do think that there were some problems in debate last year, but I think the only ones that I saw were that the topics had nothing to do with Islam really. Besides that, the Atlanta regional had some amazing judging and was a complete success. The Houston nationals were awful in debate. The judging was mediocre and the result was not decided on who won the argument but based on percentage criteria like speaking delivery and posture and a whole bunch of crap that I thought was a complete disapointment like the rest of the Houston nationals. As far as your comment on rudeness, there is a difference between rudeness and delivering your speech with power. If rudeness is how you roll and through which you make your arguments, no one will find you persuasive, just desperate and matching part of a stereotype of Muslims. I hope MIST doesn’t do what Houston did and I hope that MIST changes the topics. I also hope that this message enlightens you and also finds you in the best of health.

    Wassalam,
    Sami Ahmed

  3. 3 On December 29th, 2006, Sami Ahmed said:

    I’m also wondering why we can’t do more than one bracket like last year?

  4. 4 On December 29th, 2006, Ahmed Salim said:

    Last year, we had time in our Atlanta Regional program (not to mention a limited number of rooms) to allow separate time slots for both MIST Bowl and Debate, so we allowed competitors to compete in both. However, officially all competitions in one category should commence at the same time, so the rule that a competitor can only register for one competition per category makes sense: nobody can be in two places at once.

  5. 5 On January 1st, 2007, aisha jangda said:

    do current events start from feb 28th too? and which sites?

  6. 6 On January 22nd, 2007, Anita said:

    Assalamualaikum.
    I have a question about the style of debate. If the style is truly LD, the Negative side would have more time to present his case. In traditional LD, the Negative side gets a long constructive period during which he presents his case as well as refutes the Affirmative’s case. Also, the Neg’s rebuttal is usually longer than the Affirmative’s rebuttal which makes the timings fair to both sides. In this debate, I don’t see how the Neg gets his fair share of time to justify his position. The Aff not only gets 3 extra minutes, but also receives the privalege of presenting first and last. So, what I am really wondering is how the debate balances out. If I could please get a response to this question, I would really appreciate it. Thank you.

  7. 7 On January 26th, 2007, adnan mohamed ld debater said:

    salams…..first of all the times arent right…in orginal ld it is 6,3,7,3,4,6,3
    those time equally add up at up on each side 16 minutes….in this version it is 5,3,
    5,3,3,3,3 that is 11 minutes neg 14 mintues aff that is unfair for neg because they have
    1 less speech and less time it doent make sense… and i think it shouldnt be about Islam
    because you cannot arque against islam therefore what ever side is againts it will have
    the disadvantage…..wasalamyalkum

  8. 8 On January 26th, 2007, ADNAN LD DEBATER said:

    o and ahmed a im from housotn they had bad judging are you varisty lder because i am just windering salam

  9. 9 On January 30th, 2007, Rasha El-haggan said:

    Assalamu Alaikum,

    As always, we do appreciate all your input and comments and we do take them seriously. I will attempt to answer all your concerns in my post below.

    Debates held at MIST are technically not LD style since we aren’t arguing about morals. What we did was look at all forms of debate and we kind of came up with this one. It’s similar to LD but it’s not exactly LD. The times online are in accurate and we will correct them inshallah. The actual times are:
    a. 5 minutes for preparation time.
    b. Affirmative Constructive** (AC): 5 min.
    c. Negative Cross-examination*** (C-X): 2 min.
    d. Negative Constructive (NC): 6 min.
    e. Affirmative C-X: 2 min.
    f. Affirmative 1st Rebuttal (1AR): 4 min.
    g. Negative 1st Rebuttal (NR): 6 min.
    h. Affirmative 2nd Rebuttal (2AR): 3 min.

    This gives Negative and Affirmative equal time: 14 minutes each. As for the topics, we cannot argue Islamic topics because that would force the negative side to go against Islam which is, of course, unacceptable. As a Muslim, you are free to view your side from an Islamic point of view, and if presented properly, you get points for that. Finally, as with everything that has to do with MIST, our volunteers work overtime to make sure that everything is handled smoothly. By the will and blessings of Allah (SWT), MIST is improving every year and we do appreciate your patience inshallah. In the end, we hope that your experience at the tournament is a satisfactory and educational one.

    Jazakumu Allahu Khayran. Assalamu Alaikum,

    —MIST National Competitions Director

  10. 10 On January 31st, 2007, Sami Ahmed said:

    Assalamu Alaikum Rasha,

    In response to “As for the topics, we cannot argue Islamic topics because that would force the negative side to go against Islam which is, of course, unacceptable. As a Muslim, you are free to view your side from an Islamic point of view, and if presented properly, you get points for that.” I would like to say that you do not need to have one side go against Islam for Islamic topics. You have a number of options actually: one is that you ask them fatwa style…ask them their opinions on a topic and let them both agree with each other if they want and still have it debate style so that one will point out weaknesses in the other’s argument, as both will still have to back up their arguments with evidence and explanation (no offense, but not a good idea for houston since this would require good judges–like those from atlanta). The next option is to use international relation topics and larger scale questions…like the type that are found in essay topics (you can keep the whole aff/neg thing). I think the best option, however, is to keep the current system but to reward extra points for Islamic teachings on the subject (this is a Muslim Competition after all). To show you why I disagree with your current claim, you must look at last year’s topics. For example, let me give you two topics that were used last year “Should the Patriot Act be kept?” and “Should the Death Penalty be Allowed?” these were actual topics from the atl one and Islam has clear opinions on both and the judges were biased obviously so someone is already arguing against Islam…I felt that way on a couple of topics last year that we had. I think that if you guys come up with good Islamic (or non-Islamic for that matter) topics, then no one will have to argue against Islam, which was not the case last year…so I pray to Allah to give us all guidance and help you people bring us together successfully at MIST for the worship of Allah.

    Wassalam

  11. 11 On January 31st, 2007, Sami Ahmed said:

    also…maybe delete the affirmatives 2nd rebuttal to give a fair chance to the negative (add 2 min to aff 1st rebuttal to keep the timing on the aff’s side) but give the neg the last speech, as in the real world, the critics always get the last say (the negative)

    1. 5 minutes for preparation time.
    2. Affirmative Constructive** (AC): 5 min.
    3. Negative Cross-examination*** (C-X): 2 min.
    4. Negative Constructive (NC): 6 min.
    5. Affirmative C-X: 2 min.
    6. Affirmative 1st Rebuttal (1AR): 4 min.
    7. Negative 1st Rebuttal (NR): 6 min.
    8. Affirmative 2nd Rebuttal (2AR): 3 min.

  12. 12 On January 31st, 2007, Sami Ahmed said:

    also, can u allow the use of qurans during the competition?

  13. 13 On February 11th, 2007, Rasha El-haggan said:

    good question. Lemme get back to you on that

  14. 14 On February 12th, 2007, Anonymous said:

    Hello– this is my first time in MIST and i was
    wondering if the 13 years olds have to against 19 year olds or, is it
    like organized into age groups??

  15. 15 On February 13th, 2007, Ahmed Salim said:

    There are no age groups. All competitors must face one another as equals.

  16. 16 On February 17th, 2007, Layla said:

    I was wondering why the topics will be posted ONLY 2 weeks before.. that doesn’t give us enough time to prepare for our researching..is there any way you can post the topics earlier? ok thanks

  17. 17 On February 19th, 2007, Ahmed Salim said:

    MIST has only recently begun posting possible Debate topics prior to the event. Originally, competitors received their topic right before their 5 minute preparation session, which helped test the debators on their general knowledge and on-the-spot critical thinking skills. We realized that the debators might be at a disadvantage solely due to their ignorance of the topic and not on their debating skills, so we decided that possible topics should be released beforehand, allowing the competitors enough time to at least become familiar with the topics.

  18. 18 On February 19th, 2007, Rasha El-haggan said:

    Debate is all about how you can think on your feet fast. Just as Ahmed said, you usually have no idea what the debate topics are in mainstream debate and forensics competitions. However, because we want to have meaningful debates, we are going to post the topics 2 weeks ahead of time. Last year we posted it only 7 days before the competition. So this year, we allowed you even more time :)

  19. 19 On February 19th, 2007, Rasha El-haggan said:

    In response to the comment about age groups, for the first prelim competition, we do try to put people with the same age together as much as possible, however, at one point in time you will debate someone from another age group especially if you end up moving up in the ranks. However, for prelims, head judges do try and match up ages as much as possible. This is not guaranteed however, because we can’t guarantee that there will be another person your age debating.

    MIST Competitions Director

  20. 20 On February 19th, 2007, Rasha El-haggan said:

    In response to the question on using quran in debate: You are not allowed to use any material other than paper and a writing tool while in a debate.

  21. 21 On March 3rd, 2007, adnan champion Lder said:

    ok if it isnt exactly ld then will their be no value, value criterion debate..because thats wat ld is all about…wat will you be upholding…..the resoultion with no plan or counter plan…this doesnt make sense…… You guys might need to fix this because it would be stupid and unethical to have a debate in which it is half ld style, and half cx

  22. 22 On March 4th, 2007, Rasha El-haggan said:

    Assalamu Alaikum,

    Well first, lets not use the words “stupid and unethical” because someone might get offended and we don’t want that.

    Secondly, this is the best debate style that we found that suits debaters who haven’t necessarily done any research on the various topics as well as haven’t had any debating background. In the future, when competitors are more established in debate, we will inshallah look into changing the style. Currently, it is what it is.

    Assalamu Alaikum,

    Rasha El-Haggan

  23. 23 On March 9th, 2007, Hiba said:

    Asalaamu alaikum

    So just to clarify are the topics going to be Islam oriented or more focused on current events?

    JazakAllah khair

  24. 24 On March 10th, 2007, Rasha El-haggan said:

    Assalamu Alaikum,

    We try to stay away from any topics that would make students debate an Islamic issue since that requires a lot of background in Islamic shariah. As a result, most topics are of a current event nature and students are encouraged to use Islam to support their various sides of debate.

    Assalamu Alaikum

  25. 25 On March 14th, 2007, Safia Ansari said:

    what happend to the mist bowl study materials?

  26. 26 On March 14th, 2007, Safia Ansari said:

    just kidding =D

  27. 27 On March 15th, 2007, adnan ld debater said:

    ok so your saying that you are dumbing down debate to suit people
    who dont know anything about it…but it is a debate competion therefore
    you cannot change it just because people are un aware of the rules….
    its like saying well not everybody is aware of basketball rules so we
    will change it up to have ten on ten or something like that……im trying to be postive
    in saying that it may give people a motive to learn debate…therefore you should stick to
    ld…

  28. 28 On March 16th, 2007, Rasha El-haggan said:

    Jazakumu allahu khayran for your candid remarks. Inshallah we will take your suggestions in consideration when we work on future tournaments.

  29. 29 On March 18th, 2007, mist participant said:

    It says that the debate topics will be released 2 weeks
    before the competition,
    but the competition is less than 2 weeks away. So when are they
    being released???????

  30. 30 On March 18th, 2007, mist participant said:

    There are less than 2 weeks left before competitions,
    when are the debate topics being released????
    Just a reminder…..

  31. 31 On March 21st, 2007, Ambereen Ali said:

    Assalamualaikum

    Thanks for the mist material…but it is so long. Do we really have to memorize everything? Can you say what we need to know for each topic…

  32. 32 On March 23rd, 2007, Rasha El-haggan said:

    What you need to do is in the packets inshallah

  33. 33 On March 24th, 2007, Rahma Popal said:

    As salaamu alaikum wa rahmatu Allahi wa barakatuhu. I pray that all is well, ameen. I have a question concerning the MIST Bowl packets. I wanted to print them out, but not through Adobe Reader because my printer is having difficulties with printing out black ink, and I wanted to transfer it to Word Perfect so I could change its color, but it wouldn’t allow me. Is there something that I can do? Jazak’Allahu khair.

  34. 34 On April 16th, 2007, aziza said:

    we may use our papers and research material at the time of the debate, right?
    thanks

  35. 35 On January 7th, 2008, Amina said:

    I was looking at the MIST Bowl topics. For current events, it is about everything, starting from January 1st?

    Thanks

  36. 36 On January 10th, 2008, Raunaq Bana said:

    As salaamu alaikum
    i was just wonderingif the current events are islam related or are they current events about everything??
    Can you plz reply as soon as you can
    i think i should get started on it
    Thanks

  37. 37 On January 17th, 2008, AmnahK said:

    so are the mist bowl packets going to be put up today?

  38. 38 On January 18th, 2008, competitor said:

    One quick question, it’s the 18th and the MIST bowl packets still arent up yet. Weren’t they supposed to be posted yesterday?

  39. 39 On January 19th, 2008, a concerned citizen/green card holder putter! said:

    MIST BOWL TOPICS ARENT ON THE SITE AND IT SAYS JANUARY 17!

  40. 40 On January 19th, 2008, Lana K said:

    It’s January 19. It says that bracket topics will be up by Jan. 17. Why aren’t they up yet?

  41. 41 On January 19th, 2008, Bo said:

    The mist bowl topics havent been released yet
    just a reminder

  42. 42 On January 21st, 2008, Sheima said:

    soo….

    the scholastic bowl packets haven’t come up yet.
    are the packets going to be smaller since time is being cut from our studying ?

    thanks.

  43. 43 On January 22nd, 2008, a concerned citizen/green card holder, putter! said:

    the MIST BOWL topics aren’t online yet, and they said it would
    be up Jan 17. WHAT IS WRONG BETA????, I NEED TO STUDY :]

  44. 44 On January 22nd, 2008, ayman said:

    i noticed that the date for when the topic booklets for the scholastic bowl has already passed. has there been some delay in releasing them, or do i have to go to another site to locate it?

    thanks in advance.

  45. 45 On January 23rd, 2008, Ahmed Khan said:

    I’m from houston. I loved the debate brackets.

  46. 46 On February 2nd, 2008, Amin Khan said:

    I know I have read the rule somewhere, but if we compete in MIST Bowl, are we allowed to compete in another bracket competition such as Debate or Math Olympics?

  47. 47 On February 4th, 2008, Sehar said:

    When are the debate topics posted?

  48. 48 On March 20th, 2008, Raunaq Bana said:

    someone needs to reply to these things
    ppl are getting very lazy thses days
    again i need specifications on current events
    are they about everything or just muslim related

  49. 49 On April 1st, 2008, Alaa said:

    For the current events what date do we start from?
    And for the Culture packet what exactly are we supposed to focus on? Do you want us to focus on every detail, or just major things. I mean this is so much to study for in a month, so I need to know what to look for and what to study to avoid wasting time
    Thanks !

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