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SSDS: Ans. Halverson pt. 2


In response to Halvarson's 18 July 00:35 post.

1) Halverson said "If you work, you win. Simple enough. Easy concept
to understand, I think."
Response: Grant that there is a relationship between working and winning,
among other factors.  I'm not denying that, I'm arguing that winning is not
the ultimate priority.  Rather, we believe that education should be paramount.
Once again, you've overlooked education.

2) Halverson said "Whether or not you get walk-on student is a measure of
how much you want to succeed, in other words, how hard you work."
Response: Sounds like an assertion of someone who is not in the trenches 
promoting debate to _true_ novices, in an attempt to expand the activity.
I've personally had 3 people in just the last 5 days decide not to compete
because of the breadth of the topic. I see this as a loss (they explicitly
said they would debate next year, provided that they liked the topic better).

3) Halverson said "you misquoted me." (regarding the quote "me to defend
or answer an attack on someone defending CEDA", after which I began referring
to him as the Great Defender.
Response: Anyone, including Halverson, can check the archive for his last post
on the 17th of July and verify the accuracy of the quote.  But this point
doesn't really matter anyway.

4) Halverson said "If you're going to leave, I'm not holding you here. That's
all I'm saying. Leave."
Response: Sounds like your borrowing lines from your personal relationships,
believe me I have no wish for you to hold me. But to the serious point, you're
failing to totally realize the implications of the SSDS. As an open-minded 
organization, it is philisophically possible for us to remain associated
with CEDA/NDT.  It is the hostility and resistance to change of individuals
like Mr. Halverson that drives us away, as we represent not only ourselves,
but the potential of debate. We, the SSDS are moving for change, whether
the revolution changes CEDA/NDT or creates a new organization, change will occur.

5) Halverson said "If anyone is being closed minded, it is those who composed
the heart of the "revolution." They are the ones being exclusionist by segmenting debate and not taking every possible avenue for reform available until they
are exhausted."
Response: Explicitly, we've repeatedly encouraged participation of all people,
including established debators, teams, struggling programs, and those who
haven't yet experienced the activity. As opposed to posts such as Halverson's
which encourage us to either conform or get the hell out. Decide for yourself
which is exclusionist.


The opportunity to change is at hand, speak out now!

Bob Alexander,
SSDS

"Don't criticize what you don't understand son, you've never walked a mile
in that man's shoes" -Elvis Presley
Follow-Ups:
Archive created by Jonathan Stanton (jonathan@cs.jhu.edu)
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