Ghetto Warz discussion
- grapesmoker
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Ghetto Warz discussion
Stop copying questions out of Wikipedia!
P.S. Stop recycling your own questions from a year ago!
P.S. Stop recycling your own questions from a year ago!
Jerry Vinokurov
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
Would it be cool if I recycled my questions from last year that were written out of Wikipedia?
Fred Morlan
University of Kentucky CoP, 2017
International Quiz Bowl Tournaments, CEO, co-owner
former PACE member, president, etc.
former hsqbrank manager, former NAQT writer & subject editor, former hsqb Administrator/Chief Administrator
University of Kentucky CoP, 2017
International Quiz Bowl Tournaments, CEO, co-owner
former PACE member, president, etc.
former hsqbrank manager, former NAQT writer & subject editor, former hsqb Administrator/Chief Administrator
- grapesmoker
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Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
yeah brah that's awesomeleftsaidfred wrote:Would it be cool if I recycled my questions from last year that were written out of Wikipedia?
Jerry Vinokurov
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
- Auks Ran Ova
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Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
So having looked through some of the packets, I've found a variety of tossups that were taken verbatim from one of last year's freely-available-online Ghetto Warz packets!
Don't do this! Ever!
Don't do this! Ever!
Rob Carson
University of Minnesota '11, MCTC '??, BHSU forever
Member, ACF
Member emeritus, PACE
Writer and Editor, NAQT
University of Minnesota '11, MCTC '??, BHSU forever
Member, ACF
Member emeritus, PACE
Writer and Editor, NAQT
- grapesmoker
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Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
see post #1 ittUkonvasara wrote:So having looked through some of the packets, I've found a variety of tossups that were taken verbatim from one of last year's freely-available-online Ghetto Warz packets!
Don't do this! Ever!
Jerry Vinokurov
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
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Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
I added mine after I found more than one instance of it.grapesmoker wrote:see post #1 ittUkonvasara wrote:So having looked through some of the packets, I've found a variety of tossups that were taken verbatim from one of last year's freely-available-online Ghetto Warz packets!
Don't do this! Ever!
Rob Carson
University of Minnesota '11, MCTC '??, BHSU forever
Member, ACF
Member emeritus, PACE
Writer and Editor, NAQT
University of Minnesota '11, MCTC '??, BHSU forever
Member, ACF
Member emeritus, PACE
Writer and Editor, NAQT
- No Rules Westbrook
- Auron
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Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
Several of the questions from this year's Ghetto Warz were lifted directly out of last year's set. This is an inappropriate way to write a tournament.
Ryan Westbrook, no affiliation whatsoever.
I am pure energy...and as ancient as the cosmos. Feeble creatures, GO!
Left here since birth...forgotten in the river of time...I've had an eternity to...ponder the meaning of things...and now I have an answer!
I am pure energy...and as ancient as the cosmos. Feeble creatures, GO!
Left here since birth...forgotten in the river of time...I've had an eternity to...ponder the meaning of things...and now I have an answer!
- Sima Guang Hater
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Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
Not that this is a bad thing, but I love how all of the commentary are from people who didn't play the tournament.
In any case plagiarism is bad.
In any case plagiarism is bad.
Eric Mukherjee, MD PhD
Brown 2009, Penn Med 2018
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Coach, University School of Nashville
“The next generation will always surpass the previous one. It’s one of the never-ending cycles in life.”
Support the Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Foundation
- grapesmoker
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Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
Well, if I had been responsible for this atrocity (insert pre-emptive ECSO joke here), I would be too embarrassed to show up in a thread discussing it, except possibly to beg forgiveness. I guess it speaks to the overall quality of most tournaments these days when I can't remember having seen a set this bad in some time.ToStrikeInfinitely wrote:Not that this is a bad thing, but I love how all of the commentary are from people who didn't play the tournament.
The plagiarism thing is especially ridiculous. I mean, when you're literally copying half your clues straight out of Wikipedia, is it too much to ask for you not to recycle your own questions from a previous year? Like, do you think people won't notice or something? Not only is it just wrong, but it's also further evidence of the editing team's monumental laziness, not that we really needed it given the question quality.
Jerry Vinokurov
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
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- Rikku
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Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
If I recall correctly, I think we played some Ghetto Warz packets at Moon Pie last year... and they were terrible then. I can only imagine what would possess someone to reuse questions that were known to be bad AND plagiarized.
Noah
Georgia '08
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Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
What have we been doing on IRC, then?ToStrikeInfinitely wrote:Not that this is a bad thing, but I love how all of the commentary are from people who didn't play the tournament.
Bruce
Harvard '10 / UChicago '07 / Roycemore School '04
ACF Member emeritus
My guide to using Wikipedia as a question source
Harvard '10 / UChicago '07 / Roycemore School '04
ACF Member emeritus
My guide to using Wikipedia as a question source
Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
As someone whose only involvement was performing minor quality control on UCI's packet (like explaining to people why certain topics are too hard for Ghetto Warz and random UCI professors that aren't Loftus or Ngugi probably shouldn't come up ever), I would be interested to hear whether the UCI packet was an improvement over previous years' UCI packets.
In other news, I spent most of Saturday trying to recover from a flu bug. Impromptu poll question: if I had gone to the tournament and thrown up in the middle of it, would the flu bug or question quality have been a better excuse?
This is especially sad because last year's Ghetto Warz was a significant improvement (from "absolutely terrible" to "mediocre") and I had hopes that Ghetto Warz might actually be good. Then I saw our packet and just hoped that the tournament didn't suck. Apparently it sucked worse than all previous Ghetto Warz, which is saying something.
In other news, I spent most of Saturday trying to recover from a flu bug. Impromptu poll question: if I had gone to the tournament and thrown up in the middle of it, would the flu bug or question quality have been a better excuse?
This is especially sad because last year's Ghetto Warz was a significant improvement (from "absolutely terrible" to "mediocre") and I had hopes that Ghetto Warz might actually be good. Then I saw our packet and just hoped that the tournament didn't suck. Apparently it sucked worse than all previous Ghetto Warz, which is saying something.
Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
I wrote 5/3 for the Berkeley packet, but I didn't go to the tournament, or see the questions. Does anyone remember individual problem questions?
Larry Wang, UC Berkeley
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Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
This isn't as egregious as blatant plagiarism(!), but when you have a tossup whose answer is a person, please don't begin it by telling us where and when that person was born. That adds nothing to the question and in the rare few cases a person's birth date and place are very important/famous it becomes an instant giveaway.
Pat Freeburn - No particular affiliation.
Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
For those spouting off, the questions taken were taken from a previous year's packet which was not read at Ghetto Warz IV, as it was saved for a finals round which was not necessary.
My apologies for recycling questions, but my particular situation, having nine and a half packets at four in the morning (because of various deficiencies in contributions from other teams and members of my own) induced me to use those questions. Had I known it would come to that, I would never have allowed them to be posted; as it was, it caused no problems whatsoever in the tournament, which went smoothly and without incident.
As I have no intention of ever running a quiz bowl tournament in the future, and may never attend another event, it doesn't bother me if people thousands of miles away, who did not attend the tournament, criticize me. I hold your complaints in as much value as they are worth.
Mik Larsen
TD
(In response to your interest, Dwight, other than a few minor bits which were easily solved in editing, I thought UCI submitted an excellent packet, and I can't recall any complaints from play).
My apologies for recycling questions, but my particular situation, having nine and a half packets at four in the morning (because of various deficiencies in contributions from other teams and members of my own) induced me to use those questions. Had I known it would come to that, I would never have allowed them to be posted; as it was, it caused no problems whatsoever in the tournament, which went smoothly and without incident.
As I have no intention of ever running a quiz bowl tournament in the future, and may never attend another event, it doesn't bother me if people thousands of miles away, who did not attend the tournament, criticize me. I hold your complaints in as much value as they are worth.
Mik Larsen
TD
(In response to your interest, Dwight, other than a few minor bits which were easily solved in editing, I thought UCI submitted an excellent packet, and I can't recall any complaints from play).
Mik Larsen
USC '08, UCLA '14
USC '08, UCLA '14
Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
Well, this doesn't really matter if, in fact, those questions were posted online for all to see.rylltraka wrote:For those spouting off, the questions taken were taken from a previous year's packet which was not read at Ghetto Warz IV, as it was saved for a finals round which was not necessary.
Steven Wellstead
Fisher Catholic High School '07
Case Western Reserve University '11
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Fisher Catholic High School '07
Case Western Reserve University '11
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Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
. . . are you for real?As I have no intention of ever running a quiz bowl tournament in the future, and may never attend another event, it doesn't bother me if people thousands of miles away, who did not attend the tournament, criticize me. I hold your complaints in as much value as they are worth.
Chris Ray
OSU
University of Chicago, 2016
University of Maryland, 2014
ACF, PACE
OSU
University of Chicago, 2016
University of Maryland, 2014
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- Maxwell Sniffingwell
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Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
I'm pretty sure that I just lost all respect for...rylltraka wrote:As I have no intention of ever running a quiz bowl tournament in the future, and may never attend another event, it doesn't bother me if people thousands of miles away, who did not attend the tournament, criticize me. I hold your complaints in as much value as they are worth.
You CAN'T post the questions before the tournament, EVER.rylltraka wrote:Mik Larsen
TD
Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
I think it should bother you that people thousands of miles away are now less likely to agree to mirroring deals with your club which could help fund your team. I really don't think it's beneficial to yourself or the team that you represent to respond to valid criticism by just blowing it off.rylltraka wrote:As I have no intention of ever running a quiz bowl tournament in the future, and may never attend another event, it doesn't bother me if people thousands of miles away, who did not attend the tournament, criticize me. I hold your complaints in as much value as they are worth.
Edit: Also, weren't you the TD for the Basileus tournament? Wouldn't that be pretty much the most obvious example of why repeating questions is bad, a lesson you experienced firsthand?
Fred Morlan
University of Kentucky CoP, 2017
International Quiz Bowl Tournaments, CEO, co-owner
former PACE member, president, etc.
former hsqbrank manager, former NAQT writer & subject editor, former hsqb Administrator/Chief Administrator
University of Kentucky CoP, 2017
International Quiz Bowl Tournaments, CEO, co-owner
former PACE member, president, etc.
former hsqbrank manager, former NAQT writer & subject editor, former hsqb Administrator/Chief Administrator
- Maxwell Sniffingwell
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Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
Seriously?leftsaidfred wrote:Edit: Also, weren't you the TD for the Basileus tournament? Wouldn't that be pretty much the most obvious example of why repeating questions is bad, a lesson you experienced firsthand?
Greg Peterson
Northwestern University '18
Lawrence University '11
Maine South HS '07
"a decent player" - Mike Cheyne
Northwestern University '18
Lawrence University '11
Maine South HS '07
"a decent player" - Mike Cheyne
Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
So says a player who attended that tournament (not Basileus).cornfused wrote:Seriously?leftsaidfred wrote:Edit: Also, weren't you the TD for the Basileus tournament? Wouldn't that be pretty much the most obvious example of why repeating questions is bad, a lesson you experienced firsthand?
Fred Morlan
University of Kentucky CoP, 2017
International Quiz Bowl Tournaments, CEO, co-owner
former PACE member, president, etc.
former hsqbrank manager, former NAQT writer & subject editor, former hsqb Administrator/Chief Administrator
University of Kentucky CoP, 2017
International Quiz Bowl Tournaments, CEO, co-owner
former PACE member, president, etc.
former hsqbrank manager, former NAQT writer & subject editor, former hsqb Administrator/Chief Administrator
- Chico the Rainmaker
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Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
Yes.cornfused wrote:Seriously?leftsaidfred wrote:Edit: Also, weren't you the TD for the Basileus tournament? Wouldn't that be pretty much the most obvious example of why repeating questions is bad, a lesson you experienced firsthand?
James(NotI)
Tufts '10
Tufts '10
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Re: Ghetto Warz discussion
Oh hey, thank you Mik Larsen for gracing us with your presence.rylltraka wrote:For those spouting off, the questions taken were taken from a previous year's packet which was not read at Ghetto Warz IV, as it was saved for a finals round which was not necessary.
My apologies for recycling questions, but my particular situation, having nine and a half packets at four in the morning (because of various deficiencies in contributions from other teams and members of my own) induced me to use those questions. Had I known it would come to that, I would never have allowed them to be posted; as it was, it caused no problems whatsoever in the tournament, which went smoothly and without incident.
As I have no intention of ever running a quiz bowl tournament in the future, and may never attend another event, it doesn't bother me if people thousands of miles away, who did not attend the tournament, criticize me. I hold your complaints in as much value as they are worth.
Mik Larsen
TD
(In response to your interest, Dwight, other than a few minor bits which were easily solved in editing, I thought UCI submitted an excellent packet, and I can't recall any complaints from play).
As other people have said, there's really no excuse from recycling last year's questions, given that they were available after the tournament. So what if the packet wasn't read? It was distributed; in this age of Internet, everyone should realize what this means.
But what's really choice here is your response, which makes it look like we falsely accused you of eating babies. Dude, you copied questions from a previous year's set and apparently didn't edit any of the stuff that came to you. I guess we should all be grateful that you're never editing another tournament (although there's no evidence you actually edited any other ones either). Also, you aren't exactly making it easy for your team to obtain the assistance they will sorely require in the future if they're ever going to run another event, although, if the rest of your teammates share your editing ethos, they'll probably just copy 1988 Terrapin anyway and hope no one notices.
Yeah, what a bunch of fools we are for caring about stuff like question quality and plagiarism. I guess you sure showed us all with your cool apathy. Good riddance.
Jerry Vinokurov
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance