Sauerwein,+Daniel

ASSISTANT COACH, PARKWAY CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

To begin, I will offer a little info about myself. I am currently a Political Science major at Saint Louis University, and founder of the Saint Louis University Debate team. I debated all four years of my high school career, and consider myself to be very familiar with speech and debate activities. I have judged LD before and have a few things I look for during a round.

Here are my stances on a few aspects of Lincoln-Douglas Debate.

1. Spreading/Speeding:

This is my number one pet peeve when it comes to LD. I absolutely hate speeding and I will not flow arguments that are made in a hasty manner. If you speed, expect me to penalize you heavily in speaker points. Also, spreading in front of me doesn't behoove you as I will not listen to any of your arguments, thereby giving your opponent a distinct advantage. I reserve the right to vote you down if you spread.

2. Value/Value Criteria:

There must be a clear link between your value and value criteria. If the link between them is not apparent, I will choose your opponent's value and value criteria over yours. I enjoy clash between values. Show me why your value is better. I expect you to link each of your contentions back to your value and value criteria. If there is no value or value criteria offered by you, I will evaluate the round according to your opponent's value/value criteria.

3. Evidence:

I like to see tangible evidence supporting your points. If your opponent offers evidence and you do not, I will side with your opponent on that point. However, I do not like to see evidence become the main issue in the round. LD is a philosophical debate after all. And just so everyone is clear, the evidence you present in round MUST be legitimate. If the legitimacy of evidence becomes a big issue in round, I will call for the evidence in question at the end of the round. If I find that the evidence was misinterpreted, distorted, altered, or falsified, I will notify the tournament authorities and will be seeking proper disciplinary action which may result in your disqualification from the tournament. Don't make up evidence, guys.

4. Speaking:

When evaluating speaking, I take into account both argumentation and delivery. I look for clear and concise reasoning and analysis, and smooth delivery. Act professional while in round. If you are disrespectful to your opponent in round, I will penalize you heavily in speaking points, and I will consider handing you a loss without even looking at your arguments.

5. K Arguments:

I know Ks are generally only used in policy, but I have seen some LD debaters try to pull them off. I hate kritiks, as I feel they take the fairness and educational purpose out of debate. As such, I will typically vote you down just for attempting to run a kritik. However, there have been instances in the past when I have voted for a kritik. My advice is this: If you are going to run a K, you better be prepared to win it. By win, I mean convince me 100% without a reasonable doubt that the resolution itself is not conducive to debate and is inherently unfair. This is the ONLY time I will consider listening to a kritik. However, if you do not convince me, or I feel that your links are too far-fetched, I will vote you down. With me in the room, Ks are a double edged sword. Be careful.

6. Plans/Counterplans:

As per NFL rules, LD is considered to be a value debate that focuses on ideals rather than concrete proposals of implementation. As such, plans and counterplans are not allowed. If you run a plan, counterplan, or any argument that even vaguely REEKS of policy, I WILL drop you immediately. Remember, this is LD debate, not a maverick version of policy.

7. Technology in rounds:

It's ok for you to use technology in rounds provided you allow access to evidence and cases during the round. Make sure to turn wifi off during the round too. If I catch you using wifi during the round, you will lose the round, your coach will be notified, and the tournament chair will know of your misconduct.

8. Decorum:

This is a public speaking activity. Thus, I expect you to follow basic rules concerning presentation. For starters, STAND WHEN YOU SPEAK. Also, facing me during your speech would be nice.

These are what I look for when judging LD. I also flow rounds, just so you know.

Oral Critique and Paradigm Clarification:

I will give oral critiques at the end of each round for the purpose of helping to improve your presentation. At the beginning of each round, I will ask if you wish for me to clarify my paradigms. If you have no questions for me, I will assume you have read my paradigms and that you are prepared to follow them to the letter. I will typically disclose at the end of the round.

Good luck and have fun!

Daniel Sauerwein, Assistant Coach Parkway Central Speech and Debate Team