GREG ACHTEN
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Pepperdine University
District 1
5 years judging
50+ rounds on topic

The main thing you should know about me is that the execution of the argument is almost as important as the quality of the argument. A really good disad with good cards that is poorly explained and poorly extended is not very compelling to me. Also there are certain words that are value laden for me. These include but are not limited to turn, moral imperative, deontology, and decision rule. These words and phrases should sound alarm bells in your mind when you hear them because if you drop these kinds of arguments you are going to lose. That doesn't mean you should stand up and say "turn --the disad is stupid which is a deontological moral imperative" and expect to win. But these are phrases that are value laden in our community as well as in my mind and you need to be on top of this kind of stuff. As to other preferences, I am a pretty critique friendly judge. I will fairly listen to and evaluate critiques and have found myself voting on critiques an awful ot this year. I am also more prone than other judges to vote on topicality. I take a fairly strict view of the topic and am willing to enforce that view when teams do a good job of arguing topicality. One thing I should say about Topicality though is that in order for the negative to win, they need to be able to articulate the specific ground they are losing due to the affirmative's interpretation. Other than that speed is fine as long as you're clear and not some mush-mouthed freak. Evidence is extremely important. I have noticed a disturbing trend towards people reading short cards with little or no explanation in them. If your cards suck you're in trouble. Also if your cards suck you can pretty much guess your points are going to suck too. Cross examination is very important. Cross-ex should be more than I need this card and what is your third answer to X. A good cross -ex will dramatically increase your points, a bad one will hurt them. Everyone in the debate should be courteous. Rude behavior will only be tolerated if it is really funny and I am the judge of that.