WARNING: I'm gonna rant. Just so ya know and can turn back now. Okay, so we're trying to figure out why it is that someone like Chip Beall would use our questions without our permission. This wonderment is in and of itself puzzling, since when he uses his own questions we call them subpar -- and that's the word used if the community's in a good mood. The funny thing is, Beall isn't profiting from our questions -- the Twenty Questions thing is a complete ego exercise for anyone who wants it. The winner receives (last I checked) nothing, the event costs (last I checked) nothing, and the point of the whole thing is (last I checked) nothing. So where's the profit? As for me, I have no gripe with Mr. Beall. Our school did not go to his tournament during my tenure, except during my freshman year. Therefore, I don't have much experience with Chip's questions, other than people like Mike McElroy openly mocked them in practice, but he did that to everything. However, if there is a problem with plagiarism, the person who should cast the first stone, in my opinion, is the writer of the original itself. Brian has stepped forward, but he hasn't offered any personal affront. The officers of ACF, to whom the question was handed over and to whom it ostensibly belongs, have also been quiet thus far. So will I. Now, should Chip use one of my questions [like the TJHS packet from GW's tournament 1997, available for archive crawlers everywhere to laugh at], I personally would be flattered and wouldn't ask for any recompense. In fact, in the spirit of making things a lot better for all involved, I've actually volunteered for NAC writing duties. It just seems to me to be the constructive solution. Flame on, my brothers. Andy
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