| Subject: FX Boxes, Items Filed |
Author:
MikeKnight
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Date Posted: 17:27:11 01/02/02 Wed
In reply to:
Paul
's message, "Wow" on 21:36:07 01/01/02 Tue
Melody is getting a bit feisty here...
Seven FX boxes are not actually true by any means. Melody relies on this formula:
Africa/Middle East = 1.5 (bigger box)
The Americas/Former Soviet Sphere of Influence = 1
Asia = 1
Eastern Europe/Western Europe = 1
US FP/Global Issues = 1
Intros / Terrorism = 1
"Filing Box" = .5
This isn't actually true at all... the boxes were built to run completely independent of each other (US and Foreign - and respective "regional boxes")
Africa/Middle East = 1
Americas/Former Soviet Sphere of Influence = 1
Asia = 1
E/W Europe = 1
USFP/Global = 1
That equals 5 boxes, still a lot. The terrorism/intro box was originally a US and Foreign Box both; the intro part is still US, but the USXers have copied my terrorism section and added it too theirs (again going on independent boxes at state/nats). The "filing box" has quote book, foreign affairs, dictionary, and the world fact book; these are both foreign and domestic utilities.
Why 5 Boxes? The often-asked question at many tournaments is "why do you have so many boxes?" rather than going into explanation there, I usually say one word or two to get them to stop talking. But here's why we have 5 boxes: the Paul Musgrave/Evan Hart boxes were 2, should've been 3 because they were pretty full. The reasons why we know have more boxes than they are because everything is hanging file "foldered" and is incredibly meticulous. I took all the Musgrave files, the CDE file list, and my own knowledge of geography/foreign affairs to come up with a list of every "dream file" I could have. This list was chopped, and I ended up with 3 boxes my junior year and 4 by the end because they were too full. After nationals (and Texas) I became obsessed with more/better boxes and actually cut down the list of countries but added a USFP section (nationals topic-area). That meant the boxes would have to at least be expanded to 4. Then, I realized the Middle East file was too big to be grouped with Africa, so I bought a bigger box for that section. This meant I had an extra black box. So rather than wasting the box, I converted from having 3 issues in each box to having 2 issues in each box; and we arrive at the number 5, which can be (as I learned because of flight limitations at Texas) be packed and I mean packed in 2 boxes.
The USXers have 3 boxes; they actually need another one because of the addition of terrorism. If they used hanging file folders (color coded of course) I would estimate it would be around 5 boxes (I did a cost analysis at the beginning of the year and determined it was not worth it). The US boxes are actually really good; other than they are forced to file Newsweek, US News, and Time as per my recommendation. The FXers are incredibly obsessive about our boxes (we've (mainly I) invested over $100 in them).
In conclusion, the boxes are actually pretty close in size: logically, foreign should have more than domestic.
What the FXers are filing, mostly daily:
Financial Times
New York Times
Times of India
Jerusalem Post
Christian Science Monitor
Washington Post
Washington Times (editorials only)
The Economist
The Guardian
Foreign Affairs
Foreign Policy
Business Week
An occasional IHT
And a partridge in a pear tree
Thanks for the link.
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