Eric,
If you look in the scale box (Edit Frame), you'll see a circular objext in the middle. If you click on one of the handles, you'll see this circle move to the opposite corner. This now scales in one direction. You can also look at the scale function under the tranform menu. There you can go down to 1d also.

It is true that the original curves allow the updating of the geometry they created, but once deleted, you must use the tools in the menu or the edit frame.

Burr.