Lawrence,+Robert

Debate Background -- 4 years Charles Page HS outside of Tulsa, OK, 4 years at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK. NFL alternate to nationals, 3rd at State (twice), Coached 1 year at Ponca City HS, OK. 9 years running a lab at Cameron University. I've also coached or assisted with programs in the Tulsa area, and judged fairly consistently for 15 years.

Generally, I'd say my high school experience consisted of mostly in-state competition, with 6 or so trips to national circuit tournaments where we broke a few times. My college experience is mostly in CEDA at regional tournaments with some national circuit exposure.

Paradigm -- I've called myself tabula rasa for a long time. I prefer the debaters to explain why debate ought to function with their framework. However, I view nearly all theory arguments as paradigm debate. If you tell me on Topicality that theory shouldn't be considered because it takes away from the substantive parts of the debate, I'm going to remember that on your kritik or counterplan. Hence, the paradigm debate is ever present.

Kritiks -- I'll listen to any kritik, but my preference is for something that is at least related to the case or resolution. I also think that kritiks that have a consciousness raising element to them (changing the mind of the judge as an impact) have a higher burden because you then have to actually convince ME of it's validity, rather than arguing it would change the mind of potential others. I also think kritiks have become a crutch in debate. Once they are in the round, everything else seems to revolve around them, which makes good debate on the disad or case scenario less likely. Consequently, I can be persuaded with good framework debate. You don't get a pass, but I'd love to see a round with solid scenario debate once in awhile.

Delivery -- I don't mind speed as long as it's clear. I really hate arrogance. You can win without being rude. I will tank speaker points for rudeness, I will not listen to hate speech or abusive language. You will lose. I have ignored an occasional slipped curse word, so long as it isn't hateful or becomes a habit. There's a huge difference in my mind between "Oh sh*t I forgot the perm" and using racist, sexist or homophobic language. By the way, that is NOT an invitation. It's still unprofessional.

Political -- for what it's worth, I've voted Dem in every presidential election and the majority of local ones.