Scott -- I think, in principle, that having each person write only what he or she knows best is a good idea where writing quality pyrimidal questions is concerned works as a theory. However, consider this: The way I chose to get better in college competition was to write about people and things I had never heard of before or had only heard of in a cursory fashion. Thus, I tried to flesh out my knowledge of that subject by writing a toss-up on it. This does lead to some questions being jumped on in the first sentence, but I think that often enough this is counter-acted by the benefit gained by the question writer. I think this is more acceptable for packet- submission tournies than those run by NAQT, which ostensibly has enough editors (who themselves are seasoned players or experts in a particular field) that it can correct questions (since there is little value in NAQT question writers making themselves better, as most of them no longer compete). So, in short (with a nod to people like Roger Bhan, who have advocated this strategy for a good while now), have people make themselves better by writing questions -- be it about what they already know or about things they want to know in order to make themselves and their teams better. Both ways have their advantages. My thinking is that it is not only the teams competing in a tournament but also the writers and editors that should stand to gain from holding an event. Stan Jastrzebski, DePauw resident dinosaur
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