Fierro,+Julio

West (UT) '13 Harvard '17
 * Julio Fierro**

Experience: I debated for West High in SLC, Utah for four years in LD until graduating in 2013, focusing primarily on the national circuit for the latter two years. I actively judged my freshman year of college and somewhat my sophomore year but have dropped off since then.

NOTE FOR HARVARD 2017: It's been over a year and a half since I last judged/coached/did anything debate related besides cut a few cards for my high school. I also have not practiced flowing at high speeds in said time span so please don't go all out in terms of speed. That doesn't mean you need to speak really slowly but don't spread at full speed if you 1) want your argument to make my flow and 2) want me to understand it. I'll yell clear and/or speed a couple of times before ultimately just giving up and getting as much as I can, which you may or may not be happy with. **Slow down on tags, authors, and analytics! TL;DR: 6/10 on speed**

General: Despite coming from a fairly lay local circuit, my preferred style of debate has always been progressive. That being said, I won't be biased against you or be upset if you prefer to debate a traditional round. My role isn't to dictate what type of debate you want to partake in or have my personal preference affect the ballot.

Framework: Really important. I grew to love it as my career progressed and continued to love it even more as a judge. I most likely (read: 99.9%) won't vote on substance unless there's a framework through which I can evaluate it. If you're reading a super-dense or philosophical framework, please slow down. I haven't read much philosophy since I stopped debating and am less likely to understand it now compared to when I was actually debating.

DAs/CPs/Plans/Util: Love these debates and the easiest for me to follow. **Weighing arguments, a clean link story and having clear impact calc/analysis is key in these debates.** If you have conflicting FWs, I'll start up top and work my way down to substance.

Kritiks: Ran a fair amount of them. Don't assume I'm familiar with the literature, so make sure to take your time to explain it and, again, slow down if you're reading dense philosophical literature. I'm most comfortable with stock k's but will vote on micropol, identity etc. as long as you understand what you're saying and you clearly explain the alternative. The amount of kids that run K's without knowing what the alt actually means is ridiculous.

Theory/T: I was never a fan of these debates and I'm not the most experienced person when it comes to these types of arguments, so I'm not the best person to run it in front of. I default to drop the argument, competing interps and no RVI. If someone argues/runs theory as a reason to drop the debater, however, I will consider it an RVI but I still expect the opponent to show me why/how they win the theory debate. If you're running unnecessary theory solely for a strategic purpose, while there's a chance I still might vote on it if you win it, it will reflect poorly on your speaks. Please spare me having to listen to another round where theory is simply used as a sketchy argument to overwhelm an opponent or prevent actual substance debate in lieu of some potential abuse. Theory should be used if there is actual abuse going on in round and you can clearly show why said abuse is bad. As for T, I've never voted off of it over substance but you're free to try change my mind (though it'll likely be an uphill climb).

Extensions: I won't do this for you, so please extend. I have a fairly low threshold for extensions, just make sure to explain why it matters.

Buzzer beaters:
 * Don't be an ass to your opponent (especially if they're a novice/less experienced debater).
 * I'm a huge sports guy (see kicker above), so witty sport references will help your speaks.
 * I start speaks at 27.5 and adjust up or down accordingly but rarely dip below 26 or go above 29.
 * Flex prep is dope.
 * You have a minute to swap evidence before I start prep, so be prepared.
 * No stalling tactics while flashing files or during XC (yes, this happens alot)
 * No racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, personal attacks etc.
 * I don't like to time or give hand signals, so time yourself. Also, once the alarm goes off, don't continue to ramble on for 20 to 30 seconds because I won't flow it.
 * Please don't try to argue with me post-round. I am more than happy to answer questions in a calm fashion but I will not have a debate about my decision.

Feel free to email me if you have questions before round or when trying to figure out if you should pref me: jfierro01@college.harvard.edu. Just make sure the subject is something along the lines of: "[tournament name] paradigm questions".