Zellers,+Mark

I am a parent of a competitor of the Mountain View/Los Altos High School Speech and Debate Team. This is my second year judging LD Debate. However, I spent some time on the model congress team (that's what it was called back then) as a High School student.

I'm a traditional parent judge with some, but not a lot of knowledge on the topic. I can flow, but if you are unclear or stumble a lot then don't always expect that it'll say what you want it to say. I try to evaluate the round based on whose arguments seem to provide the best justification for affirming or negating the resolution. That means that you should be persuasive and provide good crystalization in the closing speeches - try to write my ballot for me. I don't really understand theory so if your opponent is being really unfair or something and you absolutely have to run theory, please be sure to explain to me how theory works and why I should vote for something that doesn't affirm or negate the resolution. Of course, I might not vote on it and your best bet is to reasonably take out your opponents position and tell me why yours is better. I am not impressed by speed, and if you go too fast I might miss some important point.

When assigning speaker points, I look to respect, fluidity, tone, courtesy, and argumentation. Please do not argue anything that is clearly offensive or absolutely morally reprehensible in front of me. I will be inclined to vote against these positions as well as giving you low speaker points.