Re: A Science Current Events Proposal (And Some CE Random Blasts)

nephelococcygia <*dthorsle_at_nephelococcygia.yahoo.invalid*> · Fri, 22 Nov 2002 16:22:43 -0000

--- In quizbowl_at_y..., ZAMM_Phaedrus <no_reply_at_y...> wrote:
> Here's an idea. Some people have made the claims that certain forms 
of 
> this game we love and love to complain about are "adaptive and 
> responsive." Take the next few submission tournaments through, 
let's 
> say, the end of February.
> 
> If you think current events science has a place in the science 
> distribution, make an effort to write such a question for every 
packet 
> you write between now and the end of February. 
>
> [snip, snip]
> 
> If sufficient people (who don't write bad questions) feel that the 
> current events of the science has a place within the science 
> distribution then tournament editors will be put in the position of 
> either a) bowing to the quizbowl's (perhaps literally) unwashed 
masses 
> and allowing at least some of those questions through or b) writing 
a 
> ton of replacement science questions. On the other hand, if very 
few 
> people write current events science, well, we can assume this issue 
is 
> only important to an occasionally shrill, ignorable few. 
> 
> Then again, perhaps I'm just saying this because it would amuse me 
to 
> stir up chaos in the off-chance that it will annoy editors of 
upcoming 
> tournaments with questions they hate and I'd like to see if anyone 
is 
> sufficiently quaking in their boots at the prospect of a deluge of 
> currents events questions to actually make a proactive announcement 
> banning them. Then again, if people write horrid current event 
> science, they probably would also write horrid non-CE science, and 
> you'd be replacing their questions anyways, so what do you editors 
> have to fear.
> 

The zeroth law of all packet submission guidelines is "Follow these 
guidelines, even if you don't agree with them."  No one would go to 
the effort of precisely delineating what sorts of questions are OK 
and what sorts are not OK and then not expect people to follow them.

Therefore, if you have a strong opinion about current events science 
questions or about how many pop culture questions should be in a 
packet or about there not being enough Canadian history, you have two 
options:

1) Stretch the distribution as far as possible towards your preferred 
stance, within the limits provided. (For example, I always write as 
many math questions as the distribution allows)
2) Choose to attend another tournament whose guidelines are more in 
tune with your ideas as to what qb packets should be like.

What's not acceptable is to use your packet to grind an ideological 
axe and ignore the distribution in order to try and make some sort of 
point.  That's the way to make yourself one of the most hated writers 
in quizbowl.

Quizbowl is adaptive due to the discussions people have had on e-
mail, weblogs, mailing lists, Usenet, and this group, not to mention 
the feedback editors and writers receive during and after 
tournaments.  However, in order for individual tournaments to be run 
as well as possible, we need to freeze the adaptation for a while and 
say "For this weekend anyway, this is the way things have to be."

That being said, the Michigan MLK distribution asks for 3-3 current 
events, including at least one question on "Literature, Art, and 
Academia."  If you like science current events, you can write a 
science question for that category; if not, you can write about 
something else current, academic, and non-political.

In my opinion, current events questions work best when the events of 
the question are placed in context.  Even though a specific 
scientific advance or political event may be obscure, it's usually 
connected in some way to topics that are well known to qb players.  
If, for example, a bonus question includes information on both a 
specific event and its context, teams with knowledge of the specific 
event will likely receive 30 points, while those with a basic 
understanding of the context will receive 10 or 20 points.  Which is 
the way it should be.

Dave

P.S.  All qb players should check and see if their university library 
provides free access to Lexis-Nexis.  It makes writing current 
events, especially on things that happened more than a week ago, a 
lot easier.