Tabora,+Ryan

Affiliation: Marquette University HS (Milwaukee, WI)

I do not have any competitive debate experience - I did not debate in high school and I do not currently debate in college. My involvement in debate began through my friends/roomates; I have been judging now for two years at tournaments in Wisconsin, primarily in Public Forum and Lincoln-Douglas divisions.

In this sense, I am a "lay" judge. That said, I am a college student and am much more laid back than those you would typically identify with the "lay judge" label. I do my best to flow your arguments and to decide debates without intervention of my personal opinions. However, I cannot yet follow high-speed debates as well as I would like and I do not have the same shared background in jargon/philosophy that many debaters do. This means that you need to explain your arguments more than you might need to in front of other judges and that you should slow down a bit if you typically are a fast debater. I am most comfortable judging Public Forum-style LD debates -- slower, clearly structured, and topic-focused. I am more than willing to evaluate debates that include more complicated arguments, but I can't promise that I'll be able to do so at the level that you would prefer.

Regardless of the content and style of your arguments, I will work hard to make the best decision that I can. Good luck.