Sarff,+Gail

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I have coached debate for 32 years. My primary emphasis has been policy debate, but I have sent teams to state in LD numerous times and I have judged LD at a number of tournaments. My broad philosophy is the same for either type of debate: this is a student activity and I will try to judge the round I see with as little intervention as possible. Since I am entering this philosophy for Glenbrooks and I will be judging LD there, the following information may be helpful: I have judged through the more conventional years where value and criterion was heavily emphasized. I have also judged more recently where LD has taken on more aspects of the policy paradigm with counterplans, topicality, advantages, etc added to the debate. What is generally true for me is that the debater who tells the most compelling story will usually win the debate-so warrants for arguments and examples of how a value plays out in a human world helps me to decide which value might best serve humanity. Although I am an older judge, a speaker should not be afraid to debate the positions s/he feels comfortable with- I enjoy hearing a variety of arguments, so I don't punish student choice-I just try to decide who did the better job of debating through the old skills of analysis, extension and persuasion.