Gates,+Mason

Experience Sky View High School: LD 2004-2007 Utah State University: Parli 2007-2008 Juan Diego Catholic High School: LD Coach 2008-Present Leland Monson High School Debate Institute: 2009 LD lab leader

Philosophy

I am fine with speed, but keep it clear and slow down for tags, but speed is certainly not necessary and just because you are fast doesn't mean you win my ballot. I will evaluate any type of argument in the round as long as it has clear warrants and impacts as well as links to the resolution (please make your impacts significant). Rights violation can be a good impact, but I need to know why that is specifically bad, and usually that requires the use of more concrete impacts (It is difficult for most judges to evaluate the idea of rights versus someone who has an actual body count, but if you have a reason why we should look to your argument first, then by all means run it.). Some sort of criteria debate is necessary so I know how you want me to evaluate the round. I don’t care if you use your own criterion or opponents, but you need to give me something to work with. If the criteria debate flops (which I hope will not happen), then I will vote on the impact debate in a basic cost-benefit analysis framework. If you choose to run super critical arguments (e.g. Ks of debate or performative debate) make sure you tell me specifically why you win in that context, and know that my threshold for that sort of debate is pretty high. Your argument has to be very well structured. It is difficult for me to believe that debate is bad when you spend time and money participating, but if you have solid arguments for it and/or you want to take a chance that it goes dropped, I will still vote on it. I don’t like to vote on T (the benefit of the doubt goes to people being at least a little bit topical), but if someone is obviously untopical, or it is dropped, it can still win the debate as long as you give me legitimate reasons. The same goes for theory debate. Please avoid bad theory if at all possible. Make it clear, and well constructed if you choose to run it, but unless I am told to evaluate it first, I will probably look somewhere else on the flow.

Overall, debate is a great activity, and I stick with it because I think it is important for people to be educated to think critically. I am not going to tell a debater how I think the activity should be ran, or which arguments are legitimate. I expect debaters to come prepared and ready for a good round, and my place in the round is to tell tab which debater did a better job in the rounds I am assigned.