Tabbert,+Leah

I am a graduate of Appleton East, class of '08. In high school I did four or five LD tournaments, but I spent most of my time in PF. I judged most of last year, in the PF and LD pools, occasionally out-of-state. Currently a sophomore poli-sci/philosophy double major at St. Norbert College.

LD paradigm -

Speed - Despite my PF background, I can handle some amount of speed. What is important is that you signpost and don't jump all over the flow, otherwise I won't take the trouble to search for the best place to flow your arg. Just slow down for a half second to signpost and I'll be fine. And of course be clear.

Value Debate - I view the values debate as very important in the round, but be warned that you cannot win on that alone. If you win your value and value criterion, but get trounced on the case proper, you have not achieved your value and will lose a lot of ground. Yeah justice is great, but if your side's world clearly breeds genocide, you're going to lose.

Coverage - the big picture is weighed more heavily than the line-by-line. A tiny, insignificant dropped argument will not be a big voter for me. This means that finding quick, mediocre arguments to answer everything will do less for you than winning the big arguments with good, well-reasoned points. And I will take into account the quality of the argument. If there is a glaring logical fallacy there, at least preempt it. You are (hopefully) intelligent enough to know that your arg is flawed, so don't sell yourself short.

Rebuttals - When the clock is running down, choose crystalization over line by line. Its a hassle to have to comb the flow for winning args after the round, and its more subjective. You should prefer telling me what is key to me deciding which args I like best.

Basically - There's a reason I didn't debate policy. Technical debate is necessary and important, but at some point you have to tie it all together and be persuasive. Otherwise, debate is less like entertainment and more like math.

Questions, concerns, clarifications and such, email me at leah.tabbert@snc.edu