Roehrich,+Carol

Carol Roehrich, Coach, Traverse City (MI) Central High School (7 years)

High school debate should be a positive, educational experience. I have no tolerance for rude or mean-spirited debates, and will reflect my displeasure in speaker points. I will reject policies that are proven to be theoretically abusive if the abuse arg is made and won. I expect stock issues to be addressed within the context of the plan, CP, or K. I vote primarily on Impact Calc. Tell me WHY you have won the round. I will vote on the K if the debaters advocate a useful policy action, but I'm not crazy about K's. I will listen to and evaluate theory args if they are topical. I will evaluate any argument objectively and as fairly as possible. I allow tag-teaming and shadowing, but I do believe each debater should be giving 3 speeches/round, so I tend to lower speaker points if one team member is always doing the majority of the talking/prompting/interrupting. Politeness is a bonus. If you are speaking too fast or unclearly, I will say, "Clear" and expect you to adapt. If you don't, I won't be flowing what I cannot understand. I'm also not a fan of a group of people prepping debaters, telling them what to run, etc., even if the debaters don't know why or what they're being told to run. I'm more impressed by debaters who can choose what to run on their own after listening and flowing their opponents' speeches. I believe that's one of the most educational aspects of policy debate.