Re: Exhaustion/ban lexis at touney's (fwd)

[Steven Hunt <hunt@lclark.edu>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 5 Mar 1997 07:22:09 -0500
From: Cori Dauber <cdauber@EMAIL.UNC.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list NDT-L <NDT-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Exhaustion/ban lexis at touney's

Yes, folks make their own choices, and we all got ourselves into this
mess. But this begs the question: can we, as a community, examine our
practices so that what it takes to be competitive is feasible for more
folks? To tell those of us who are tired after fifteen or so years on the
road that we should chose to get more sleep is no solution at all when we
want to be there for our kids and other coaches are pushing harder. This
is not about wanting to do well without working hard. The great joy of
debate is that excellence comes through commitment and dedication and not
just native potential but we are commiting and dedicating ourselves into a
state of exhaustion that is becoming for many too high a price.

On Tue, 4 Mar 1997, Chris Lotz wrote:

>
> While I tend to agree with Joel that the bulk of the strain and
> fatigue at tournaments is due to the preparation and research
> involved, rather than the number of rounds, I must say that I
> disagree with his proposal to ban the use of Lexis at tournaments.
> First of all, I have no idea how this restriction could be enforced.
> Are we going to have the Lexis Police conduct suprise inspections of
> hotel rooms to verify that the service is not being used?  Secondly,
> and perhaps more importantly, for many, the best or only time for
> effective and extensive research occurs immediately prior to the
> tournaments.  I, for one, am usually swamped during the week with
> massive amounts of schoolwork, and often reserve the bulk of my Lexis
> research for the weekends and late nights prior to tournaments.
> Quite frankly, if the use of Lexis were to be prohibited at
> tournament time, our debate squad would be left with virtually no
> evidence or updates.  Further, I think a restriction on Lexis usuage
> at tournaments would be especially onerous for smaller squads, as
> they often have far less manpower (or womanpower, please excuse my
> choice of rhetoric) or person-hours to conduct research during the
> week as do larger squads.  Consequently, during the days and hours
> directly preceeding debate rounds, I think Lexis can be an invaluable
> asset to debaters.
>
> The real solution to all these problems (8 rounds versus 6, late
> night research, etc.) is to allow individuals and squads to make
> their own choices, rather than relying on the restrictions imposed by
> others.  In other words, if someone wants to host an 8 round
> tournament, and debaters want to attend, then those people should do
> so.  On the other hand, if 6 rounders are your fancy, then choose to
> host and/or attend those.  Likewise, if you wish to stay up late to
> do Lexis work, then that is your choice, and you should be prepared
> to accept the consequences (probably increased fatigue).  However, if
> you would rather spend your time catching a few more z's, then do so,
> and accepts the consequences of that decision (possibly fewer cards
> or updates).  The point is that we should allow individuals to tailor
> their own schedule to fit their own needs.  All this debate about the
> causes of fatigue at tournaments is interesting and enlightening, but
> we must, above all, be wary to impose a one-size-fits-all solution.
>
> Thanks for listening,
> Chris Lotz
> Trinity debate
>

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