Well, the main reason to use the "horrid parameters system" is because it's more efficient.
The DataEnvironment's way of getting parameters is by using the Refresh method, which you can also use if you want to avoid said "horrid parameters system." It does require an extra round trip to the database, so it's less efficient. But what it will do is go and look up the parameters for you refresh the parameters collection of the command object with the result.
Bob Rodes