Lexis access

[Cori Dauber]

What, no newspapers?

On Tue, 26 Aug 1997, MWilliams wrote:

> Small/micro programs have been complaining about the abusiveness of Lexis for years. The response from the debate community has been "tough-shit," "Life's
> unfair, deal with it," and you can always go to the library. Call me cynical, but I doubt that the largew programs are going to cut us any slack. Hell, without
> access to Lexis/Nexis, the ability to debate SEA would be cut in half. I personally will be glad to see Lexis go away. It has been a matter of unfair advantage
> for a number of years. And, anyone who has used the internet will tell you it ain't no Lexis.
>         I think Dr. Church's suggestions are great. However, my personal
> experiences with the Lexis/Nexis corporation has been one of utter frustration.
> In case y'all did not know it, they are out to make a PROFIT. The bottom-line
> is the bottom-line for the comp[any. If they could make a profit by offering
> the service at a reasonable price, they would do it. But they do not have to, sono amount of letter writing and the wringing of hands will stop the hands of
> corporate america's profitmaking.
>         One suggestion I have that would somewhat mitigate the growing disparity between the lexis haves and have-nots is a "source date cut-off" for the
> tournament. For example, the MTSU tournament is September 26-28. The tournament
> director could specify that no evidence can be used that is after September 25,
> 1997. This would limit the advantage teams derive from lexis when they cut cardson the saturday night before outrounds simply so they can post-date other teams on the brink stories for disads. This is the one primary advantage of Lexis
> that has always ticked me. While schools can still use lexis, they should not be able to use them at tournaments. Yes, enforcement is a problem--but so is enforcing community norms regarding evidence out of context, or transfers.
>         By the way, my wife thinks its a "hoot" that teams that have blown
> off smaller schools complaints will now be crying for Informational Jusstice.
>                 Have fun on the Infobahn!
> Scott Elliott
>