Scandal at the science fair

With no class to worry about this semester and a very part-time job, I've had a lot of time to invest in Madison's science fair project...

We put together a splendid presentation utilizing the photos in my previous post, maybe even a prize winning presentation. Bright and early Monday morning, Madison and I took in the presentation so it could take its place in the scientific community. But when I picked up Madison from school that afternoon, she told me that she wasn't allowed to use pictures with her face in it or her name (immediately under the title, "Yeast Feast," it said "Investigator: Madison Uthoff")....or she would be disqualified!!! Dun, dun, dunnnnn... I went home and re-read the rules, but apparently this one was unpublished common knowledge. Madison told me a teacher said she would put stickers over her face and name, and that would be okay for getting judged. Ever skeptical, I went in again this morning to check on things. No stickers on her presentation and at least 7 other presentations that would be disqualified! I put Curious George stickers on Madison's face and covered up her name with shiny stars. But I felt really bad for the other kids, who's hard work was going to be disqualified.

Andrew contends that this rule really is a common convention in academic competitions, like writing competitions. When I think of academic competition, though, I think of my own experiences on academic team and in speech competitions, where the student isn't anonymous. And in athletic competitions, the opportunity exists for bias among referees. But Andrew counters (rightly, I think) that if you can remove the opportunity for bias, you should. But I still think there's something to be said for putting your name on something and standing behind it.

Maybe if the science fair weren't a competition...

...or maybe if I just knew the rules...


Originally posted at www.myspace.com/wannabedutch on 1/30/07.