[CQ-Contest] Contesting and Ethics

[Warren C. Stankiewicz]

As the season (as K5ZD once so eloquently put it) draws to a close for the
year, once again a great hue and cry has arisen over the state of contesting
and ethics.

Apparently, some would like to see anyone who participates in a contest
submit their log within milleseconds of the contest end, open their logs for
all to see, and form ad hoc vigilante groups to roam the countryside with
Rettisnitches at the ready to discipline miscreants who don't follow the
strictest rules of what is considered fair play.

I would like to propose two things:

Someone much wiser than me once said talking about ethics in contesting is
like lips on a chicken. There will always be some who are willing to push
the envelope, and some who view that very envelope-pushing as morally wrong.

And everyone, of course, is welcome to their opinions. I, however, don't
think these "ethical" issues are as large a problem as some may claim. I
certainly do not think (and have stated previously) that the current
puritanical streak concerning such common-sense ideas as checking your log
for stupid mistakes before sending it in, and the folly of checking every
single possible log, are truly productive.

Again, these are not the pressing issues. The truly pressing issues facing
the contesting community are getting more people to contest. (Especially on
CW). The more idiosyncracies and rules we apply to this segment of the
hobby, the more opaque the process will become to the "casual observer", and
as they lose interest, our numbers decrease.

I dearly dream we one day would see more conversations on what attracted
each of us to contesting, and how to use those attractions to entire more
hams to the pursuit. 

With malice towards none,

Warren, NF1J/6