G
raduate students at JSM 2008 had a chance to size up
their competition during “Rumble in the Rockies,” the
annual Mu Sigma Rho Statistics Bowl. For the second
year, San Antonio’s aces of statistical trivia tried to stump 16 of
the keenest students from across the country. Students competed
in seven single-elimination quiz games to crown this years’ champi-
ons. Eight of the contestants entered as teams, representing Case
Western Reserve University, Portland State University, the University
of Georgia, and The University of Texas at San Antonio.
The preliminary rounds were taken by Chris Rigdon (Arizona
State University), Susan Buchman (Carnegie Mellon), Adam
Molnar (University of Chicago), and Brian Hartmann (Texas
A&M). Based on points, Anne Hansen (University of California,
Riverside) and Jerzy Wieczorek (Portland State University) also
From left: Jerzy Wieczorek, Portland State University, with moderator
advanced to the semifinal rounds. Contestants answered questions
Michael Anderson and organizer Stephanie Cano
ranging from “What distribution has its normalization constant
defined by Vandermode’s Identity?” (A: hypergeometric) to “If the
Hotel California were a state in a Markov chain, how would you
describe it?” (A: absorbing, you can check out any time you like,
but you can never leave).
When points were tabulated across teams, The University of
Texas at San Antonio team (John Garza and Dan Polhamus)
came out as team winners, much to the surprise and delight of
the organizers.
In the semifinals for individual competitors, Chicago’s Molnar
and Portland State’s Wieczorek came out on top, with Adam taking
the championship in the final round.
As always, special thanks went to Mark Payton of Oklahoma
State University, who is founder and maestro emeritus of the Stat
Bowl. This years’ organizers, Stephanie Cano and Mike Anderson
from UT at San Antonio, are still mining Payton’s extensive ques-
From left: UTSA organizers and officials Stephanie Cano, Nandini Kannan,
tion bank and trove of one-liners.
Mike Anderson, and Gloria Anderson
Many organizations made the 2008 edition of the ASA Stat
Bowl possible. Thanks to the American Statistical Association,
whose financial assistance made travel to JSM possible for many
of the contestants. Contestant prizes were sponsored by Altarum
Institute and SciMetrika, LLC, which provided the Stat Bowl with
the first-ever cash prizes for the champion and runner-up. Another
important resource was Mu Sigma Rho, the national statistical
honor society.
Stat Bowl will return for the “DC Duke Out” during JSM 2009 in
Washington, DC. Students will be accepted into the 2009 tournament
on a first-come, first-in basis beginning in February 2009. Inquiries about
the bowl or requests to be registered as a contestant can be made at http://
business.utsa.edu/scc/statbowl. A maximum of 16 players will be
allowed. Universities are restricted to no more than two players to
assure diversity. A waiting list will be established to fill unexpected
From left: Stat Bowl winner Adam Molnar (Bellarmine University) with
vacancies should they occur at game time. n
moderator Michael Anderson and organizer Stephanie Cano
OCTOBER 2008 AMSTAT NEWS 31
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