Peretz,+Grant

Grant Peretz - University of North Texas

Background: I was a policy debater at Glenbrook South from 2004-2008 and at the University of North Texas from 2008-present.


 * Almost everyone has some clarity issues. You're thinking "he's not talking about me." Yes I am. Make a __concerted effort__ to be clear. I probably __will not__** **say "clear." If you are not clear enough to understand, I will not flow what you say.****

This is a list of things I think impact the way I judge debates, in descending order of importance (i.e. - you can stop reading whenever they stop being helpful.)

1) I prefer watching debates where people make arguments that they are comfortable with and good at. I find that those debates are both better and more interesting than when people try to narrowly adapt their strategy to fit the judge. The caveat to that statement is arguments that are racist, sexist, homophobic, or otherwise extremely offensive. I can't imagine a situation in which I would vote for an argument like that and not give you the lowest possible points. That includes situations in which those arguments are not answered.

2) Absent situations like those above, I will try as hard as possible not to intervene in my decision. Above all else, I believe that means not creating entirely new arguments for debaters. I will take arguments from various parts of the debate and apply them elsewhere if --- A) it is absolutely necessary to resolve an issue --- *and* --- B) it is absolutely necessary to avoid inserting my own arguments to make up for a lack of arguments by the debaters.

3) Clarity is (obviously) important. I won't necessarily yell "clear" if I can't understand you, although if you look at me I will certainly not be flowing which should be indication enough.

4) An argument consists of a claim and a warrant. Anything you say must rise this threshold before it requires a response by your opponent. "Condo's bad strat skew time skew reject the team" are just words, and do not require a response. Feel free to ask me at any point in the debate if I consider something that was said an argument.

5) Risk calculus is extremely important and similarly under-utilized. That doesn't mean MagnitudeTimeframeProbability (although those are also necessary.) It means assessing the importance of those various things given the mitigation that occurs in the debate. For instance, why does your solvency deficit to the CP outweigh the risk of the Disad. For a lot of people, correctly assessing those risks and applying them to the rebuttals is a major step forward.

6) Regarding theory, I don't think I can say it better than Calum did, so read this: " Offense/defense isn’t always appropriate for theory arguments. The team that makes the argument has the burden to show that it’s okay to do that, but they don’t need to prove that something is particularly good—just okay. Theory arguments should be rooted in something fundamental. There are hypothetical benefits of debate, then practices that further them, then specific arguments that are examples of those practices. These principles rarely result in a counterinterpretation that isn’t an arbitrary, self-serving turd shat gracelessly into a shallow theory debate." Reference: http://judgephilosophies.wikispaces.com/Matheson%2C+Calum

7) A well-warranted argument is almost entirely as good as a piece of evidence. I probably won't vote for you just because you have a card and your opponent doesn't, unless that card establishes an objective fact that is relevant.

8) Arguments that are intentionally vague early in the debate and then made to be something concrete and mostly unrelated later in the debate will be viewed with suspicion and generally irritate me. Don't let that alarm you, it doesn't mean if I don't understand your argument until it's explained a little better in the 2NC that I will hate you. This only occurs in a very limited number of debates involving critical teams that think it's cool/strategic to play smoke and mirrors until the 2NR. Trust me, if this applies to you, you will KNOW it. And so will I.

If there's anything that's not covered here, feel free to ask.