I am non-interventionist.  It is up to the debaters to persuade me that they/he/she have won the round.  That being said, do not assume that I understand jargon, acronyms or shorthand as substitutes for fully developed arguments.  I have no ideology as to speed, but I will make no apologies if I fail to understand speeches.  In L-D I vote as guided by the ballot and/or league rules.  As a default, LD is a value based debate and I will vote accordingly.  In CX, there is more room for the debaters to define the round.  In PFD, because there is no burden of proof, I will vote in whichever direction I was more persuaded from the outset of the round.

I am a non-interventionist judge. I only judge on evidence and arguments presented in round by the debaters. Speed is fine but enunciation is key as are strong tags. Not my responsibility to tell you in round you are not clear. I willl vote on any argument as long as it is justified.

LD and PF: Although I list myself as "Traditional," I am open to different arguments as long as they are explained well and related to the resolution. I believe that we are debating the resolution, not fixing society's ills. Yes debate will enable us to fix society's ills but a competition round is not where that will occur. Debate theory can be interesting to judge, but again, needs to still be connected to the resolution. Also, be sure that the theory you're arguing is correct and logical. In terms of speed, to me it's not speed it's clarity. If you are going 97 miles per hour and have to constantly repeat yourself because you trip over words, maybe going 60 is better.

Congress: As a scorer or Parli, I look for good speeches with good evidence and analysis, but also continuous participation. I believe Congress is an overall package, including activity with questioning, motions and amendments. PO's should be able to move the chamber along smoothly, and fairly. However, they must also recognize that sometimes this may be a new experience for someone in the chamber, and be sure that everyone understands how the PO is maneuvering the chambers, not just assume that it's just standard operating procedure for everyone. Be good to each other and you will often stand out from the competition.

I was a former competitor in Original Oratory, Congress, Commentary, and Impromptu. I have also made it to the State Tournament for Impromptu advancing to the quarterfinals round. Also, I was the previous president of the Speech and Debate team at Deer Lakes High School. I have judged for numerous years in the Pittsburgh District and other online tournaments after high school. In 2019-2020, I was the coach for the Deer Lakes High School Speech and Debate team.

Judging Experience

I am very familiar with all of the types of speech events. For debate events, I have judged as a parliamentarian in Congress as well as judged numerous rounds of Public Form debate and Lincoln Douglas. My main area of interest in judging is primarily speech events.