Alexander,+Nithin

I debated four years in high school at Brookfield East in Wisconsin primarily in LD, but did a little PF as well. In college I have also done some College Parli at Stanford. I am currently a sophomore in college, so I have been involved in debate for 6 years. I have been judging primatily LD since I have graduated.

My philosophy while judging is that I enter every round tabula rasa, as much as I humanly can of course, and it is up to you to engage with all the arguments presented by your opponenet. You should tell me how I should judge and persuade me as to why your way is better than your opponent's.

Since I am really open to however you want to frame the debate and engage your opponent I am open to whatever you want to bring to the debate, whether that's kritiks, theory, counterplans, etc. In high school I was a traditional LD'er that focused primarily on tournaments like NSDA and NCFLs, so I am not entirely used to these sorts of arguments. But if you present them clearly, explain their importance, and, if relevant, how they should impact the use of my ballot then I am very open to accepting them. Unfortunately the main effect of me being a traditional LD'er is that I didn't attend a school with a policy team or training in spreading. I can understand fast talking, but I cannot understand speedy spreading pretty much at all. If you would like a signal from me when you are going fast then you can ask me for that before the round, but please be prepared for that. Remember that if you aren't understandable to me I won't be able to take your arguments into account effectively and may miss a vital piece of evidence or analysis.

For speaker points I will start at 27, unless you are insulting or a very poor speaker I will not go below this. 28 would be a good job. 29 great job. 30 you are a fantastic speaker and deserve some sort of recognition.

As for people who look for tiny advantages, like taking forever to get ready to speak, going overtime, etc. I do get annoyed by this and will dock speaker points. I do not call for cards usually but if there is a major issue being presented with a card and team asks me to call a card I will take a look at it. Overall be respectful and thorough and it will be great. Have fun!