Kalla,+Nick

I debated for four years at Stony Point High School in Round Rock, TX. The first was in CX and the last three in LD. During that time i debated on the TFA circuit and competed at a few national tournaments. I have judged for the last 3 1/2 years consistently and i am currently coaching the Stony Point team as i did last year for the previous 2 years.

I am okay and will vote off of any argument (i.e. you can run any type of topicality, off case position, Kritik, overview position or anything else you can think of) as long as it is explained and warranted to why it is a voter and/or why it comes pre-standard. I'm also Okay with speed just be clear. When running a Kritik I would like it to have an alternative or a reason for why you would not need one. Also if an argument you make is not well explained or impacted i will not vote off of it.

When it comes to evaluating Theory, I view Theory arguments as what arguments I can and cannot evaluate in my decision making process. The only way I will autovote down your opponent if you are winning the theory argument is if you clearly explain to me why he or she should be voted down prior to any argument about the topic. Unless i will just default to the idea that I should just not evaluate their argument that violates theory in my evaluation of the round. For example If the Neg runs some truth testing prestandard and the aff wins that truth testing is bad, i would simply not evaluate the prestandard arg, however I would still evaluate the other args the negative makes. I really like theory debates and think they are good for debate as long as they are organized and are easy to flow, ie focus on 2 standards at most explain which standard is the most important and give reasons why.

How to get a 30 from me/ Rant: Don't stop prep time then organize your papers, take your big gulp of water, stand up then waste some more time, it is super annoying when a debater extends their prep time 30 seconds when they do this. Don't stop CX time when asking fore opponets case it is a question and thus should be a part of CX time. To avoid this pick up the papers as they finish them. Easiest way to get a 30 from me as soon as you are sure you have won the round please sit down, it is just impressive when a debater wins the round and knows they did and they dont need to use their entire 1AR, NR or 2AR time. Run a unique position this topic and the JAN/FEB 2011 topic are boring.

The way I evaluate a round is that I first look to pre-standards issues, Then if a winner can't be determined there I look to which Criterion to use and see who is winning offense back to it.