Lambrecht,+Kat

My policy debate affiliation started in high school, during which time I competed for three years in policy- qualifying for nationals twice and also making it to the final round of policy at state twice, winning once. Since I graduated in 2006, I have been assistant coaching policy debate and forensics in general. The goal that I have for my students and for the debate community at large is to use debate as an outlet for intellectual development that carries over into all facets of life. An important community is developed around debate, and students deserve a safe place to express ideas, grow, and learn. Because I feel this way, I would identify as a tabula rasa judge- it’s your activity, you should have the freedom to run what you want. There are few bad arguments, but many ways to argue them badly, especially if you don’t understand them. Additionally, if the worst argument in the world is run and left unanswered, I take not intervening as a judge very seriously- what’s on the flow is what counts and if the impact analysis outweighs I will vote in its favor. Having said that, I do tend to be more impressed with analytically based argumentation than straight up card debate- spreading through ten cards isn’t as valuable to me as running a couple of cards with some solid logical argumentation, it shows you’re thinking. Along the same line as this, I really don’t value spreading at all because I think it leads to a world where someone can win a debate because they are faster instead of smarter, which is contrary to all things I hold dear about the activity. I also have a tendency to laugh at silly spreading habits, losing track of the flow and that never ends well. I understand that sometimes a 1AR or a 2AC may have to speak more quickly than normal to answer all of the arguments presented, but that is not a green light to hyperventilate and sound ridiculous. The last thing that I would mention is that the fastest way to lose a round when I am your judge is by being mean, disrespectful, or overly arrogant- none of those things make you a better debater, but they all make you a person less worthy of a vote and certainly less worthy of high speaker points. Be nice. Have fun. Learn everything you can.