Re: ACF Fall commentary

ratatosk22 · Tue, 06 Nov 2001 03:11:33 -0800

Let me make a few disclaimers:

1) I
believe and have always believed that writing questions
is one of the best ways to improve as a
player.

2) I am _not_ whining about getting beat by teams
with more experience and knowledge. The team that puts
in more effort should win almost all the time. And I
myself was not deterred by drubbings: my team
(ironically, with Zeke as a teammate) lost to Georgia Tech
540-40 at the 1996 ACF Nationals, and we both still came
back for much more. But I can sympathize with those
who get beat this way, especially if someone who is
supposed to be in the ACF consortium calls that neophyte
"retarded" for a comment made.

3) I am not angry at
comments made by Kelly, Charlie, or Dave H (whom I
consider a good friend). Charlie Steinhice should be
commended yet again for all the work he has done to expand
quizbowl to newer schools and less experienced players,
and the fact that UTC took a loss to run the Fall
tournament just raises my respect for the "Center of the
Known Universe" even more. From other comments posted
here, it seems that Kelly did put together an excellent
question set overall.

So... my animosity is
directed toward Roger alone. You cannot speak "for no one
but yourself,
" fool, if you are the editor of
2002 ACF Nationals! To take the approach you did in
responding to Stan's comments was not only harsh, but wholly
inappropriate for someone who is supposed to represent one of
the major quizbowl organizations.

As for my
original "straight outta Benet's" query, maybe the
questions had an abundance of those clues, maybe they
didn't. Again, I have not heard the set. I only mentioned
that as a possibility. But I think John Sheahan was a
wise man when he requested for his ACF sets a couple
years back to keep SOBs to a bare minimum. Lots of
people (particularly, ACF veterans), own a Benet's, and
I don't think it would hurt for editors of any
tournament (but especially those from the major
organizations) to go through their questions and check for
plagiarized phrases from Benet's. Experienced players DO (oh
wow, the shift key) have a less-knowledge-based
advantage when they have heard stock Benet's lead-ins many
times before. 

Question writers have the
responsibility to submit questions on time and avoid plagiarism.
If question writers fulfill this responsibility,
then editors have their own duty to check questions
for factual errors, pronunciation problems, grammar,
repeats, and plagiarism (particularly if it is from a
commonly used source such as Benet's).

I disagree
with Stan's stereotype of the 38-year old professional
student, but by calling his comments "retarded," you not
only put newer players off, but you help perpetuate
stereotypes about ACF.

Stick to writing questions,
Roger (your packets from SLO that were used at the
Terrapin were quite excellent).

-Adam
Fine
Ironically, a professional question writer