Rajwani,+Tanweer

Background: I am a policy debater at the University of Houston. I debated in high school for Dulles High School from Sugar Land, Texas.

My role as a judge is to be a listener. I will evaluate the speeches given by the debaters with the following principles in mind:

1) The debate round is for the debaters - The debaters should present an argument and a reason why I should vote for that argument. What arguments you read should be based on what arguments you feel most comfortable reading, not what arguments you think I want to listen to. I will listen to all arguments presented in the round and then vote for them based on the method of framing presented to me by the debaters. 2) Method of framing - The debaters should provide a clear method of how I should frame the arguments being read in the round. If your opponents provide a counter method of framing that is competitive, then the debaters should provide substantive reasons for why I should prefer their method. 3) Comparative Analysis - Often times I judge rounds where the debaters provide a thorough explanation of their arguments but fail to engage their opponents' arguments. I would like to hear more debates where both sides engage in each others arguments and comparatively provide reasons for I should prefer one side or the other. 4) the Resolution - the affirmative should represent an affirmation of the resolution. How the resolution is interpreted by the teams is up for debate and should be debated in round with the above points in mind.