here - College of Arts & Sciences - Bethel University

Jones, Steven
Grove City College
Background of the critic:
I debated in both high school and college, and have kept up with it for some two decades
now. I'm a professor of social science by vocation, but I also serve as the debate coach at
Grove City College. I have probably judged 50 or so parliamentary debates in the last
two years, and more than that if you count LD rounds.
Approach of the critic to decision-making (for example, adherence to the trichotomy,
stock-issues, policymaker, tabula rasa, etc.):
I tend to be a stock issues guy, but most of the time I find that debaters prefer me to adopt
a policy maker paradigm, and that's fine too. In value rounds (which I actually like if
they're done well) that can get a little tricky. I generally prefer policy cases if that's what
the resolutions seems to call for. I give the government a lot of leeway on topicality, but
once it's lost the round is over. There must be in-round abuse for me to take topicality
seriously. Counterplans are fine. I keep a pretty tight flow, but superior analysis and
argumentation will beat the line by line if it's pretty shallow.
Relative importance of presentation/communication skills to the critic in decision-making
:
I don't mind moderate speed, but your presentation should be intelligible. In its best
moments, debate is a model for constructive public discourse...if your presentation
undermines such discourse you can assume that I won't find it persuasive. I find it
nonsensical to cultivate skills that will only serve you in this one activity. I'll tell you if
you're going too fast.
Relative importance of on-case argumentation to the critic in decision-making:
Pretty important. Though I have no trouble voting on off-case positions, I don't like to
see Opp teams totally ignore the case.
Openness to critical/performative styles of debating:
Generally I will not use my ballot to advance an agenda other than the one established by
the resolution. I'm open to critiques, but they should be well thought out and have
specific relevance. I expect you to make arguments...if you want to perform, I'm not the
judge for you.
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