Cook,+Melissa

Affiliation: Homestead

Background: Club at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Second year as a coach for Homestead.

Paradigm: Policy, but I will look closely at Stock Issues. All I mean is that I do expect teams to argue Stock Issues, but that if one stock issue goes to the neg, but the debate and plan is leaning overwhelmingly aff, I will vote Affirmative. I appreciate you telling me how the information that you just read pertains to the debate. Reason being, I know what you just said and how it pertains, but do you? I’ve seen way too many negative teams get up there and run DAs that they know nothing about. One good analytic can make or break a round. I also look for civility in rounds. Not necessarily an overdrawn formality, but don’t talk to your partner about the other team being stupid. I’m right there. I can hear you. Be nice, be respectful. That whole golden rule thing that you learned in kindergarten.

T: I voted on T a few times last year, but I haven't yet under this resolution. You’re here to debate a resolution dictated to you, not one of your own choosing. Don’t argue about the definition of simple words (‘the’, ‘a’, ‘or’) and don’t argue that we shouldn’t be debating this resolution in the first place. As a neg, feel free to run T, but if the affs can come back with a definition that fits their plan and is from a reputable source, that’s good enough for me – I will take the aff definition. A note about longevity of evidence: generally speaking, the newer the better; however, if a particular idea is generally accepted as having stood the test of time, I think that there is a lot to be said for that.

CP: CPs should not be topical and the plan and CP should be mutually exclusive. Overall, I want affs to be affs and negs to be negs. I do NOT want to see a neg team run only a CP, but if it fits, run it. PICs tend not to work.

Cross-Ex: Should be one-on-one. I will allow open cross-ex under 2 conditions. First, both teams must agree to it. If one out of four doesn’t want open, it won’t be. Second, it should be primarily one-on-one, with just a little help from the teammate. You will be judged as a TEAM, and having one fabulous debater will not make up for a lazy one.