Hix,+William

I debated for 4 years at Grapevine High School and graduated in 2008. I competed at local TFA tournaments and on the national circuit, qualifying for NFL Nationals and receiving an at-large bid to the TOC. I am currently an undergraduate at Dartmouth studying government and economics.

I come into the room expecting the debaters to setup a framework to evaluate the round. If no case is made to structure the debate otherwise, I will choose a standard and then decide which side has greater offense explicitly linking to that standard. You must clearly label any pre-standard arguments and provide sufficient justification for why they come before the standard. I hold theory to a high burden of proof and need to be shown in-round abuse before voting on it.

Just like ogres and onions, arguments have layers; please explain to me how the arguments in the debate function and make warranted, impacted extensions in your rebuttals. Make cross-applications direct, clear, and warranted. If neither side is able to extend offense linking to the standard, I will negate because the affirmative has failed to meet their burden of proof. Alternatively, if both sides extend offense linking to the standard but fail to weigh, I will affirm because there are clear benefits to supporting the resolution which haven't been fully counteracted by negative offense.

I am not very familiar with critical positions and literature and prefer to hear on-topic argumentation. This keeps the debate somewhat predictable and generally makes things fair and generates plenty of clash. If I don't understand an argument or can tell that you are talking in circles for the sole purpose of confusing your opponent, I will not vote on that argument and may reduce your speaker points. Nonetheless, I enjoy hearing unique approaches to the topic and will appreciate it if you spend the time to develop a cogent, interesting case.

Debate is an intellectual activity but I consider it a well-structured game. I will do my best to flow every round and can generally handle speed. If your opponent makes a new argument in the 1AR or NR I expect you to call them out in the NR or 2AR but will not give much credence anyways to an argument I cannot cleanly extend with warrant and impact intact from a previous speech. If you are exceptionally fast or start to slur your words while trying to cover everything in the 1AR, I will yell 'speed' or 'clear', respectively. After the first time, though, I will just set my pen down and stop flowing until you settle into a more comprehensible speaking style. It's a good idea to watch how I react to arguments during your speech; I won't even try to keep a poker face because I believe in rewarding debaters who are willing and able to continuously react and adapt to different situations.

In general, evidence is important. While every good case will have supporting analytics to explain their position, only the best will be able to dig and find a great article with professional credentials that can delve into some of the more sophisticated nuances of a position. I think that academic integrity is very important and expect you to be able to produce full citation and the complete quote in context. Very rarely will I call for evidence after the round; if you can clearly state your position during the constructive and defend and extend it during the rebuttals, there should be no reason for me to have to see it.

Finally, I will use speaker points to gauge how you present yourself during the round and advance your position. The day that debate becomes boring is the day I will stop judging so please make your round interesting. I encourage you to show some personality and inject humor into the activity; CX is a great time to do this and should not be underestimated as a way to gain the strategic upper hand. Most importantly, you should try to make the round clear for me and tell a story about how I should sign the ballot. You're welcome to ask me questions before the round and encouraged to do so after I give a decision if there's anything you don't understand. Good luck!