The 2006 Future Problem Solving State Bowl was last weekend, which was March 31 to April 1, 2006. (Trust me; there are no April Fool’s inaccuracies anywhere in this post. ;-)) And, as usual with FPS bowls and conferences, it was a great experience. As I always have, I competed in the Team competition this year.

The State topic was Health Care Access. As with all FPS competitions, before the competition we do preparatory research. One thing I like about the FPS program is that kids get to be exposed to so much information on such a wide range of cool topics. Anyway, I learned some interesting things about health care access. (For example, did you know that according to Money magazine, 80% of medical bills contain errors?! :-o)

In the Future Scene (the sci-fi story that is the basis of a given level of competition), many people were living past their 100s. However, these old ages introduced a new variety of diseases and challenges. The F.S. focused on an imaginary disease called Stith Syndrome that affected 1 in 3 people between the ages of 115 and 120. It was a painful disease that caused nerve deterioration and eventually led to death.

The solution to this was health care known as Aqua-Treatment, which consisted of confinement in underwater high-pressure chambers. The big problem in the Future Scene was the cost of this healthcare.

After completing the written portion of the competition, my team and I competed in the skit competition. We did a play on the word “Stith” and changed it to “Sith.” In other words, we had Darth Vader be a 115-year-old with Stith Syndrome.

We received the results on the second day of the bowl — April Fool’s Day — which led to a very believable April Fool’s joke claiming those in the Senior division would have to wait 2 weeks for their results. My team placed first in the written competition and third in the skit competition. This means we’ll be going to Connecticut for the International Conference in June! :-D