Weiss,+Samantha

PV Peninsula High School

Speed: I will enjoy the round more if it is at a more conversational pace. If you feel the need to speak very quickly, then please be clear and look up frequently to make sure that I'm keeping up. I will say "clear" a couple of times but I find that it rarely has more than a fleeting effect on the debater's speed or clarity.

Theory/Topicality: Theory shells seem rather inflated to me. I much prefer you just explain what the violation is and how this is impacting the round unfairly or negatively. If you find you've been left no ground to make other arguments and you have to go all in on why your opponent has skewed or rigged things then you may do so. I will add that I prefer a strategy that allows the topic to be debated on substance rather than on theoretical issues about debate.

Kritiks: I am not biased against nor in favor of them. Some very effective and powerful advocacies have been written by our debaters that highlight important issues that we all need to think about. They can make for an exciting twist, particularly when a topic seems particularly narrow in it's ability to offer up a wide array of case positions.

Some other things about my judging:

--I like having a standard to evaluate the round. I understand the trend toward net benefit defaulting but I find too often that I'm left to weigh different things entirely and neither debater is telling me why I should prefer the apple over the orange.

--Ideally, my ballot will sound like the winning debater's crystalization of the round. I try to evaluate the round in the order that you tell me to.

--I like debaters to be courteous to one another. I don't like when a debater mischaracterizes another debater's arguments (I understand that this is sometimes unintentional though) or misuses an author's work.

--I will only call for evidence if I'm asked to (if, for example, an opponent wants to call out an example of academic dishonesty or if it is impossible to resolve contentiousness without doing so.

If you have any more questions about my judging philosophy, feel free to email me at: weissteach@hotmail.com