***Email – nicholasindiero@gmail.com***

I am a University of Houston policy debater. While in high school I did CX debate for 2 1/2 years and LD debate for 1 year, and I am now also working with the Langham Creek High School Debate Program.

I would not say that I have any unusual opinions on any style of debate, so don’t be too worried about unusual judging tactics on my end. However, if you disagree with my decisions in regards to my decision or want me to elaborate on the round, my email is listed above to ask questions. I also would like to be included in the email chain – it makes it easier for me to follow the debate, which might just save you a few speaker points at worst or the round at best if I can’t understand you well.

Personal Likes and Dislikes:

Likes:

LOVE overviews. Summing up everything into a nice, easy-to-digest segment makes my job easier and shows me that you are more than capable of interpreting the argument past the text itself. I am a very big believer in Albert Einstein’s quote: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”, especially when K arguments can oftentimes be presented as a haphazard array of philosophy jargon when not used properly.

I enjoy creative/unusual arguments. My high school years were full of experimentation of unusual arguments and things that are outside the norm. So long as you are not being discriminatory or hurtful (i.e., sexism good, racism good, etc.), I am okay with hearing something new as opposed to the same old boring Disadvantages and Counterplans.

Dislikes:

I have no tolerance for any personal slander towards anyone else within the round based on race, gender, identity, orientation, religious or ethnic backgrounds, etc., and if I see it occur during the round, I will be certain to have it recorded on my judge sheet as to why you were voted down, why the round ended early, and why your speaker points were nonexistent.

A few more things to note:

- I will not be keeping time, that is the responsibility of the debaters in the room.

- I will not hesitate to say “slow down” or “clear” during your speech if necessary.

- Flex Prep and Open CX are both okay by me, but make sure everyone in the room is understanding of that.

- I am a diabetic that wears an insulin pump which might beep or otherwise make noise during a round. If it does, I will tell you to keep going if you stop and will tend to it as quickly as possible to minimize the interruption during the round. I let you know this because I don’t want you worrying about it or thinking it is a timer on my desk.

- Do not be alarmed if I do not have a lengthy RFD for your round; a short RFD does not mean your round was bad or not worth talking about. Truth is, I imagine if you are reading paradigms of your judges, you are probably not a terrible debater, but I will not do a whole lot of in-depth RFDs for time-saving purposes for both you and the tournament itself – I know everyone is on a tight schedule at these events and think that it is much more valuable for you as a debater to be probably rested, fed, and prepared for your next round and for the tournament to move along without interruption then it would be for me to tell you why I made my decision for the round, especially when I am more than willing to provide said reasoning over email if you are interested in what I have to say.

Accessibility - Don’t feel too stressed about the round. If there is any way that I can accommodate for disabilities or stress, let me know, and I will try my best. I don’t want the debate room to be an environment that is physically or mentally painful to exist in, so let me know what I can do if at all possible.

High Speaks - As long as you can maintain a good speed relative to your skill level and are consistently both easy to understand and comprehensive in your arguments, you will gain fairly good speaker points. +3 speaks and an optional crisp high-five if you can find Shostakovich's "DSCH" motif in his 8th Symphony and prove it to me - it is supposedly there, but I can't find it for the life of me.

Have fun, and let the debates begin!

TOC Conflict List:

Coach for Break Debate: Conflict List---Barrington AC, Carnegie Vanguard LH, Durham SA, Flower Mound AM, Garland LA, L C Anderson LS, L C Anderson NW, Lexington MS, Lynbrook BZ, Lynbrook OM, Monta Vista EY, Oak Ridge AA, Sage Oak Charter AK, Scripps Ranch AS, Southlake Carroll AS, St Agnes EH.

If you're looking for a cost-effective speech/debate camp, come to the UH Honors Debate Workshop (HDW). We have top faculty from across the nation and an intense two-week course for CX, LD, PF, WSD, Congress, and IEs.Can't recommed this enough, truly astounded by the quality of faculty really great value and amazing deals for commuters in houston. Check out the website for more info: https://uh.edu/hdw

Background ---

UH '26

Conflicted against Seven Lakes HS, Barbers Hill HS, and anyone in Break Debate.

Policy debater at the University of Houston 1x NDT qualifier

Coach for Seven Lakes HS and Break Debate

Put me on the email chain --- debatesheff@gmail.com

If I am judging PF also put sevenlakespf@googlegroups.com

Overall perspective ---

Please don't call me judge---Bryce is fine

I will vote on anything. I have done extensive policy and K debate so it is naturally my preferred styles. I am open to other styles of debate and will vote on anything just might be less comfortable.

I hate deadtime in debates. It makes me increasingly frustrated when there isn't a timer running and it seems like no one is doing anything. To minimize this please have the email chain with the speech doc sent AT START TIME. If the email chain is sent at start time (WITH A DOC PF DEBATERS) both teams will get .2 speaks boost.

thoughts---essentially the same for policy and LD.

--- K affs being vague and shifty hurts you more than it helps. I'm very unsympathetic to 2AR pivots that change the way the aff has been explained. Take care to have a coherent story/explanation of your K aff that starts in the 1AC and remains consistent throughout the debate

--- Inserting rehighlightings is fine as long as you explain why it matters in the speech. I usually read ev while making decisions.

--- I'm more convinced by affs that commit to, and defend, an action coming out of the 1ac.

--- Ks should prove the plan is a bad idea.

--- I'm not convinced by CP theory arguments like condo or PICs bad. Private actor fiat, multi-actor fiat, or object fiat definitely have merit.

--- I default to judge kick unless 1ar and 2ar convince me otherwise.

--- I will not adjudicate anything that didn't happen in the round.

--- New affs bad is a bad argument.

--- Qualified authors & solid warrants in your ev are important. Evidence comparison and weighing are also important. In the absence of evidence comparison and weighing, I may make a decision that upsets you. That is fundamentally your fault.