Daniel Berdichevsky

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Daniel Berdichevsky, also known as "DemiDec Dan," is the founder and current CEO of DemiDec. He also competed as a Academic Decathlete in the 1994 season for William Howard Taft High School in Los Angeles, California in the Honors Category.

[edit] Initial Entry into Academic Decathlon and Quick Exit (1992-1993)

Daniel Berdichevsky originally entered the Academic Decathlon at Taft in 1992-1993, but dropped out mainly due to the speech and interview events.^[1] The 1992-93 Taft Academic Decathlon would eventually go on to win the California State Competition, and place second place overall at the 1993 United States Academic Decathlon National Competition.

[edit] Return to Academic Decathlon (1993-1994)

During the offseason, Taft reaquired Dr. Arthur Berchin,^[1] who (at that time) had won a previous National Championship in 1989 over Deer Park High School in Texas. Dr. Berchin encouraged Daniel, among other decathletes, to return and try again. This time, Daniel chose to remain with the team, and at the 1994 City competition (the first step in California towards a National Championship), Daniel scored a grand total of 9,297 out of 10,000 points. This point total is the highest in Academic Decathlon history. His team scored 50,515 points overall, the first known team to break the 50,000 barrier. The 1993-1994 team would go on to defeat the George Floratos led West High School (Torrance) (among others) at the California Academic Decathlon State Championship in Stockton, and in a memorable 1994 Nationals, won the 1994 National Championship over such schools as Mountain View Mesa High School of Mesa, Arizona and Oliver Wendell Holmes High School (led by Mr. Adriano M. Gonzalez) of San Antonio, Texas.

[edit] Collegiate Educational Career (1994-Present)

After attending Taft High School, Daniel attended Stanford University, where he received his Bachelors degree, and proceeded to attend Harvard University. He eventually graduated with his Masters in Public Policy in 2005. Currently, Daniel is on leave from Northwestern University where he may someday attain a Master's in Writing for the Screen and Stage. In addition to Daniel's achievements in college, articles co-authored by Daniel have been published in CACM [1] and the Kennedy School Review. Daniel was also the innovations columnist for the Stanford Daily in 2004-2005.

[edit] Invention of DemiDec (1995-Present)

DemiDec was the brainchild of Daniel Berdichevsky and his fellow Taft teammate, Andrew Salter. Originally the creators of tests on objective subjects, the company expanded to create resource guides (which can clarify USAD's sometimes vague expressions and explanations), power guides (condensed topic item-by-item "testable" facts written solely by students who have broken the 8,000 point barrier at an official meet), flashcards (one testable question and fact on each card, and the set of cards were eventually color-coded to avoid confusion as to the subject/event the question belonged to), cram kits (includes only the most vital of vital information needed in last ditch effort to increase an individual/team score before a meet), and the aforementioned tests. Since this time, he also created Scimitar, a separate project that models the DemiDec test writing, but in general is more challenging. DemiDec is now known for not only their resource and reading material which is considered a vital supplement to USAD official curricula, but a variety of tests pertaining to the curriculum. From focused quizzes which focus on the most specific facts of each testable subject, to comprehensive exams that direct more attention on larger pictures, DemiDec writes tests that are excellent tools for all levels of difficulty. In the 2006-2007 Decathlon season, DemiDec produced the first DemiDec Map which portrayed China and the eastern Oriental world. The leader designer of the map was Diana Saville, who led was the graphic artist and illustrator of the map (Diana is also the illustrator of other DemiDec products such as Resources and Powerguides). In September 2006, Daniel held the first annual DemiDec Beta-Test Race, which was open to all DemiDec beta-testers (typically current or former participating Decathletes who help make DemiDec products better). Joey Skarzenski, a first year Decathlete, won the race with a grand total of 2,257 correct answers, and was followed by Lawrence Lan (2,179) and Patrick Paterson (2,166).

[edit] Daniel Berdichevsky and the Scholar's Cup (2007-Present)

DemiDec Dan is currently working on developing the World Scholar's Cup.^[2] This competition consists of three components: a gamut of multiple choice tests, an essay regarding the multiple choice material, and a debate. The First International Scholar's Cup will occur in Spring of 2007 in Seoul, South Korea.

[edit] Personal life

Daniel lives in Los Angeles, California with his dog Chiqui. He also is a big fan of alpacas, and travels quite frequently to various places around the globe. The alpaca is the mascot of DemiDec today. He has a blog which is updated from time to time, covering his travels to foreign countries, with some entries about his collegiate days and his dog. He also attends many Academic Decathlon competitions around the United States, and 'webcasts' the results on the DemiDec message board. Despite Daniel's credentials, he has taken quite a few questionable actions, including a 1994 jaywalking ticket and one occasion when he accidentally blew up a gas station.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} The DemiDec Story - Where do Alpacas Come From?
2. ^ World Scholar's Cup

[edit] External links

• DemiDec Resources
• Link to Dan's Blog
• Link to DemiDec Message Board
• Articles by Berdichevsky at The Stanford Daily
• Article at Stanford about Ethics of Persuasion