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Re: Case lists

Regarding case lists, Love Child says:

>Why do the coaches promote the element of surprise (a wonderful adjunct to
>dialectic; Socrates would like it almost as much as hemlock) and discourage
>pre-round preparation like this? It seems to me that a good-faith system of
>revealing has done wonders for NDT debate. Why does CEDA try to withhold
>that info?I am in agreement with Love Child regarding case lists.

I do not believe CEDA (but maybe some individual members) tries to withhold
case lists or prohibit disclosure.  My experience, both nationally and
regionally, has been that disclosure is fairly routine.  I distinguish,
however, disclosure of case lists "after tournaments" with disclosure "at
tournaments."  With respect to "at tournament" disclosure, I believe a team
or coach would be foolish to disclose a new case.  I would point out
Harvard's upset of Dartmouth A in the semifinals of the NDT 1n 1992 as an
example (with disclosure, this case shouldn't have made it out of prelims at
any tournament).  Debate really isn't an intellectual search for truth, it's
a game.  I would add that my own perception of total discloure is that it (1)
makes debate boring and (2) increases judge intervention by creating a
"search for truth" atmosphere.     

>Tuna's case list notice mentioned a discussion which had culminated in a
>decision to omit from the list an accounting of who was running what. He
also
>quipped that if this information were made available, it would
>"disadvantage" certain teams.

Having not been aware of such discussions, I am announcing my intention to
post such information.  Given that I have already read dicussions of specific
strategies last fall, I do not believe it disadvantages any team.  I do not
understand what is different about this forum that mandates such secrecy.

-Murphy 
 (513)529-2278
Archive created by Jonathan Stanton (jonathan@cs.jhu.edu)
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