Cotys+Paradigm

__Coach Coty McLaughlin__ Dirigo High School Dixfield, Maine 1. What is your educational and/or professional background? I am currently a junior at University of Maine at Farmington College. I participated in debate during all four years of high school and am now the Coach for the Speech Team at Dirigo High School, while also helping out with the Debate Team and have been doing this for the past 2 years. 2. Estimating, how many rounds of Public Forum or Student Congress would you say you have judged in the past? Student Congress- None & Public Forum- >20 3. Estimating, how many rounds of LD and Policy would you say you have judged in the past? Policy- none & LD- <20 4. How heavily do you consider "dropped" arguments? (Arguments that an opponent does not respond to. Feel free to comment) It depends on the relevance that it has with the value. I feel that if a student drops an argument, it should count for something, but if the person who drops the argument properly argues the other contentions as well as the value and criterion, it might not weigh as heavily. 5. How important is evidence in your decision? Evidence is very important to me. If a student pulls something out of the air and doesn’t defend it, how do we know that they didn’t just make it up? We (the judge and opponent need to know where they got their material(s)) 6. Do you prefer: Philosophy Only, Carded Evidence only, No Evidence, Or blends of cards and philosophical concepts? I like having a blend of everything 7. What is your preferred speed of delivery (1 being Bill Clinton slow, 10 being "spreading". Feel free to comment)? If the student is speaking too fast, I might end up losing you, but if the competitor is speaking clearly, I can follow very easily 8. On a scale of 1 to 10, how important are formalities for you? (How you refer to your opponent, organization, formal attire, etc. Feel free to comment.) Referring to the opponent as he/she upsets me. Even though “my opponent” can be tiring, it is more professional. Organization is very important to me. Stating what they are speaking about is something I look for because it helps for an easy flow. If a student is wearing ratty clothes, it bothers me, but nice jeans and a dress shirt would be fine. Wearing a suit is a big plus. I would rather have the competitors wear nice dress clothes/ suits because it looks more professional. 9. At the end of the day how does a debater win your ballot? The main point would be the value clash. If both opponents drop the values, I then go on how they argue their contentions 10. Are you a former debater? If yes, what events did you compete in and for how long? I competed mostly in LD, but my senior year in high school I did public forum for a few tournaments 11. On a scale of 1 to 10, How important are the impacts of the debate to you? (1 being none, 10 being the most important aspect of round. Feel free to comment) About 7/8 12. Do you have any "pet peeves" when it comes to debate? If so, what are they? I dislike when a student uses the words; um, ah, oh, and other words along the same lines. Also, playing with hair, pencils, etc. while the other person is speaking. I believe that is very rude and should not be done. Another thing that would upset me is if the person moved around too much while they are speaking. 13. On a scale of 1 to 10, how detailed are your "flows"? (1 being that you don't flow/don't know what flowing is, 10 being that you are a former policy/lder) When I was debating I didn’t use a flow sheet because I like to take as many detailed notes as I can and I tend to write very big and messy, but I can flow while using regular paper. 14. Do you have any preferences? Any things that you like debaters to do? If so, what are they? I like it when the debaters states what they are going to talk about before they begin their actual speech. 15. What speech events have you judged in the past? I have judged all 13 speech events and have even done a few at the past two National Tournaments (Birmingham and Albany) 16. What does the ideal speech look like for you? Well organized, with smooth transitions & they make me think. I like to be impressed. 17. On a scale of 1 to 10 how important is eye contact during the speech? 10 18. How does a speaker get the 1 in the round? Doesn’t drop anything during the round, gives a good constructive speech, and argues the values. Also, they use all their time!