Leonard,+Wirtjo

Affiliation: Woods Cross High School, Weber State University, Legacy Jr. High

First off a couple of things. I believe that the beauty of debate is how we can use the discussions that we engage in to improve ourselves and change the world around us. Forensics goes far beyond the debate space, something important to keep in mind. As a general principle I'm pretty open and I'll vote on whatever you decide the round comes down to, it's your debate space, and your time to shine, whether that means you run a narrative, a traditional stock case, sit or stand, flex prep, That's all up to you, be yourself and have fun with it.

__ Background: __ I debated in a fairly traditional LD circuit, and it’s likely that for the most part I will continue to judge within those circuits, but I wanted my philosophy to be out there for more progressive debaters. If you are a more traditional debate feel free to skip down towards those areas more relevant. Even though I’m fond of progressive debate, that in no way means that the ballot will be skewed to the more progressive debater so feel free to be traditional as you want.

__ Topicality: __ I feel that T is becoming an ever increasing important part of debate to maintain opportunity for equal engagement and to prevent abuse, that however does not mean that I'm always going to vote on it especially if you use it as a time suck. (Anything else refer to theory)

__ Theory: __ I'm fine with it, but before you go for it, see if you think that you can win on impact calc, framework, etc. Before you read it. I generally default to drop the argument before I drop the debater depending on the argument, but you can convince me either way.

__ Kritiks: __ I'm fond of critical arguments and outside the box ideas in general, but there are a couple of things to note. Just because you decide to read it doesn't mean that I have heard/read it before, so if you decide to make critical arguments, make sure that you not only slow down, but you explain them clearly and concisely, that will make the round all the better for everyone involved. Secondly have a good link, don't run the same generic cap K every round for every topic. Other than that, feel free to go for the K :)

__ Speed/Clarity __ : For the most part speed isn’t the issue, clarity is. If you’re clear, I would say that for the most part I will be able to follow you. However, slow down for taglines, authors and especially if you’re running intense critical literature. This means if you’re running Lacan, Foucault, etc. SLOW DOWN I do however believe that competitive equity is an extremely important part of debate and thus it becomes extremely crucial that a traditional opponent knows and understands what the hell you’re doing if you decide to run more critical arguments, and for that reason, please flash your cases. Also… no clash is boring.

__ **Things I like:** __ Voters, Clash, Impact weighing, Topical links, Critical arguments, Real world application, Being polite, Funny pop-culture references, Incorporating music into your round. Flashing cases if its a progressive debate round.

__ **Things I dislike:** __ Really anything that could make the debate space hostile, that would be ablest, racist, sexist, homophobic rhetoric. (Debate is about coming together and sharing one another's differences, not about further exasperating the social problems that debate attempts to solve.) Not giving a road map/signposting, going for the perm late in the round, stealing prep time. If there's anything else feel free to ask :)