Serrano,+Nicole

Nicole Serrano Name = Nicole Serrano Affiliation = Dallas Urban Debate Alliance School Strikes = Lexington, Nicolet, Hanover, MBA CXphilosophy =

This judge philosophy likely needs to be updated in many ways, but for short term, I want to update my paperless thoughts. My beliefs will model identically to what we agreed upon at Dartmouth noted here - I would add to those rules that I highly recommend that students VERBALLY mark cards that are read electronically.

Last thing that may be useful to know is that I flow cx - more like take notes. I find it helps me keep my mind in the game, but as a result, please use it for useful questions.

I think a judge's role is to decide the round as much as possible upon the arguments presented in the round. I don't believe that anyone is totally impartial, but I will try to be as much as possible. Generally, I use conventions such as flowing, arguments not answered are considered "true," and a structure of cause-and-effect. I am willing to engage you in another form of debating provided you explain to me what my role is, and why it is superior to the form of debating in which the other team would like to engage me. Here is a list of things you should and should not do in front of me to win my ballot and/or get good speaker points - DO speak clearly, enunciate, and in a flowable manner. I will indicate to you verbally and non-verbally if I cannot understand what you are saying. I expect to be able to understand the text of the cards as much as I do the tags. - DO mark your cards as you are reading them. I believe that it is important to indicate what parts of cards you read as you go. It may be an innocent mistake, but it is difficult for the other team to prepare if they have to wait all of cross-x for you to mark your cards - DO explain your arguments. For kritiks, the links and the impact are important, clearly, but often teams fail to explain their alternative and what that means I am voting for. For all arguments, explain the impact and the implication to your arguments in relation to other arguments in the round. - DO be polite and respectful of the other team. Nothing will lose you speaker points faster than insulting the other team, your partner or any person or group that may not be present. I appreciate debates that are emotionally charged and are self-reflective, so please feel free to run those arguments. I simply believe that it is possible to debate from the heart without throwing daggers at another person, so please be respectful. - DO NOT steal prep time. I promise I will give comments at the end of the round, not just to explain my decision, but in some way to help you either understand the argument better, give you an idea how to pick up my ballot in the future, and hopefully improve your understanding and/or skill of debate. I think the most important role of the judge is not to decide the round, but rather to provide constructive feedback to the debaters. In exchange, please have the round run on a timely manner so I can have enough time to provide you with comments, not push the tournament behind, and coach. - DO NOT "steal" your partner's cross-x. Open cross-x is fine, but if one person on a team asks and answers all the questions, it is unlikely that the non-participator will receive high speaker points. This does not mean you shouldb e shy about answering or asking a question. Its just that someone who never answers or asks a question is unlikely to get many points. And someone who doesn't let their partner get a word in edgewise, unlikely to get a 30 no matter how good they are. Other than that, debate your best and have fun! Nothing makes me feel more like giving out a LOT of speaker points than a debate where all four debaters are nice and fun and whom create a fun atmosphere of which to be a part. If you have any specific questions, please feel free to ask.