Mehlman,+Dana

I debated for New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, Illinois from 1992 through 1995. During my freshman and sophomore years of college (1995-1997), I judged several tournaments at all levels of competition, but predominantly at the novice and junior varsity levels. I have been away from debate for several years, and I am now just getting back into the swing of things – but I have kept up with coaches and former debaters in the interim.

Education: University of Florida Levin College of Law, J.D., 2010 University of Florida Levin College of Law, Certificate in Environmental and Land Use Law, 2010 University of Illinois, M.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2001 University of Illinois, B.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1999 New Trier Township High School, 1995

My Judging Philosophy: I will generally vote on any type of debate argument so long as the team thoroughly explains their argument, extends it throughout the entire round, and explains why it is a voter. I try to enter each round with a clear slate, and as long as you can put together a good story for me, and tell me why to vote for you and why you win – I am likely going to buy your story. If you are going to be running complicated arguments – take the time to slow down and make sure that everyone in the round understands what you are saying – particularly me. If I have no idea what your argument means, where you are going with it/went with it during the round, or why it is important to the round I am not going to vote on it. It is your job as a debater to pull everything together for me – my worst rounds are the ones when it ends and I just sit there – looking blankly at my flows, and I have to recreate the entire debate to determine who wins. This is part of the debater’s job – they should be wrapping up the debate with a neat little bow and delivering it to me in their final rebuttal. That way, I at least have a starting point for making my decision.

It is //really// important to me that the debaters treat each other with dignity and respect. I will penalize teams that yell or scream at an opponent, or behave in other manners that are demeaning to opponents and/or the competition of debate itself. Debate is a game, and it is supposed to be fun. If you are making it so that nobody can have fun – you are ruining the game and you will upset me.