ATTN: All NDT Participants

[Gary N. Larson]

Dear Colleagues,

I have a big favor to ask.  Prior to this year's tournament, I recieved
approval from the NDT Committee to do research on the NDT tournament with
respect to the coding systems that are used for mutual preference judge
assignment.  As you know, the NDT used a 6-category system (A+,A,B+,B,C+,X).
During the season, tournaments use a wide variety of coding systems:
4-category (ABCX), 9-category (essentially A+,A,A-,B+,B,B-,C+,C,X),
ordinal - and within each of the categorical systems different percentages
are used as well as variations between counting slots (1,2) and counting
names.

The goal of my research is to quantify the levels of preference and
mutuality achieved by each of the systems, particularly to determine whether
purported improvements in preference and mutuality achieved by increasing
the number of categories justifies the potentially increased coding time.
Using the NDT pairings and judge assignments as a control, I would like to
evaluate a number of alternatives.  To obtain the appropriate data, I need
an ORDINAL ranking of all of the judges in the pool from each of the teams
at the tournament.  While it would have been ideal to receive these rankings
prior to the tournament, the judging pool was not set until less than 24
hours prior to registration and completing my ordinal rankings would have
potentially interfered with critical pre-tournament preparation.  It is
important, however, that I receive rankings from every team that
participated in the tournament, that you complete the rankings AS IF you had
done them prior to the tournament, and that you exercise due care in your
rankings.

RANK each judge in the order in which you would prefer to have them judge
you in a debate round.  For this exercise, it is important that you rank the
judges in the actual order of your preference rather than based on some
strategy that you might employ at a tournament that you might believe would
give you a better chance of receiving judges you most prefer.  If you
believe that 2 or more judges are TIED in your preference ranking, you may
indicate them as such.  For instance, you could have 1,2,3,3,3,6,7,7,9,10.
If a judge is CONSTRAINED, code them as Y.

Please respond to my e-mail by putting your ranking IMMEDIATELY in front of
the slash for each judge.  If it is easier for you to process the list in a
text editor or a spreadsheet, you can cut and paste the list into such
software and return it as an attachment.  As long as you don't change the
numbers after the slashes, the list does NOT need to be returned to me in
the same numerical order as I'm sending it.

Thanks for your participation.  If you have questions, don't hestitate to
ask.

Please complete your rankings and return them to me by April 13th at the
absolute latest.

/3 Achten - Pepperdine  8+0+0
/4 Angat - George Mason  4+0+0
/5 Arbenz - Chico  6+0+0
/6 Arnett - Berkeley  6+0+0
/7 Baker - NYU  6+0+0
/8 Bauschard - Boston  6+0+0
/9 Bellon - Georgia State  5+0+0
/10 Berry - Georgia    8+0+0
/11 Breshears - Texas  5+0+0
/12 Brossmann - John Carroll  5+0+0
/13 Brovero - Northwestern  4+0+0
/14 Burk - Texas  5+0+0
/15 Butt - John Carroll  7+0+0
/16 Carver - Eastern Utah  8+0+0
/17 Clemmons, Steve - Weber State  8+0+0
/18 Collier, Linda - UMKC  3+0+0
/19 Coulter, Ben - Samford  8+0+0
/20 Covey - Wake Forest  5+0+0
/21 Davis - West Georgia  2+0+0
/22 DeLaughder - Emporia  6+0+0
/23 Deatherage - Northwestern  4+0+0
/24 Dennis - Weber State  8+0+0
/25 Dunbar - Baylor  8+0+0
/26 Dutcher - Catholic  8+0+0
/27 Emerson - Texas  5+0+0
/28 Falconer - Baylor  4+0+0
/29 Finch, Jay - George Washington  8+0+0
/30 Fitzmeyer - Emory  1+0+0
/31 Foy - Eastern Utah  8+0+0
/32 Frappier - Gonzaga  4+0+0
/33 Fritch, John - SW Missouri  4+0+0
/34 Galloway - Georgia    6+0+0
/35 Garen, Kiva - Dartmouth  4+0+0
/36 Gerber - Kansas  8+0+0
/37 Green, Justin - Kansas State  5+0+0
/38 Grove - Northwestern  4+0+0
/39 Guevara - Bakersfield  8+0+0
/40 Hall, Heather - Georgetown  8+0+0
/41 Hall, Mike - Liberty  6+0+0
/42 Hall, Sherry - Harvard  2+0+0
/43 Hanson - Whitman  8+0+0
/44 Harris, Scott - Kansas  3+0+0
/45 Harris, Sean - UMKC  3+0+0
/46 Hathaway - Chico  6+0+0
/47 Heftman - Emory  8+0+0
/48 Heidt - Emory  8+0+0
/49 Helwich - Pittsburgh  6+0+0
/50 Hernandez - Michigan  7+0+0
/51 Herndon - Kansas State  5+0+0
/52 Hester - West Georgia  7+0+0
/53 Hingstman - Iowa  6+0+0
/54 Hoe - North Texas  4+0+0
/55 Holland - Wichita State  7+0+0
/56 Igiel - Georgetown  8+0+0
/57 Jarman - Wichita State  8+0+0
/58 Jenkins - UMKC  3+0+0
/59 Kahl - Michigan  5+0+0
/60 Katsulas - Boston  6+0+0
/61 Kawamura - Cal Poly SLO  6+0+0
/62 Kerr - Catholic  8+0+0
/63 Khan - Florida State  6+0+0
/64 Kimball - Northwestern  4+0+0
/65 Klemz, Aaron - Illinois State  8+0+0
/66 Kuper - Puget Sound  6+0+0
/67 Kuswa - Texas  4+0+0
/68 Lacy - Whitman  8+0+0
/69 Langwell - Iowa  6+0+0
/70 Lavelle - Miami, Ohio  8+0+0
/71 Lawrence - Liberty  6+0+0
/72 Lotz - Berkeley  7+0+0
/73 Louden - Wake Forest  6+0+0
/74 Lundberg - Emory  4+0+0
/75 Lupo - Emory   4+0+0
/76 Lyle - Wake Forest  4+0+0
/77 Magariel - Michigan State  8+0+0
/78 Mahoney - Hired  6+0+0
/79 Mancuso - Northwestern  8+0+0
/80 Marlow - Weber State  8+0+0
/81 Massey - Arkansas State  8+0+0
/82 McBride - Northwestern  4+0+0
/83 McChesney - Bakersfield  8+0+0
/84 McCullom - Kansas  6+0+0
/85 McNabb - Emory  5+0+0
/86 Mika - Wake Forest  4+0+0
/87 Miller - Arkansas State  6+0+0
/88 Mitchell - Pittsburgh  6+0+0
/89 Moore, Matt - Gonzaga  8+0+0
/90 Morgan - Pepperdine  8+0+0
/91 Morris, Eric - Kansas  8+0+0
/92 Morrow, Cody - Michigan  8+0+0
/93 Mueller - Weber State  2+0+0
/94 Neal - North Texas  7+0+0
/95 Newnam - Emory  4+0+0
/96 Nicholson - Georgia State  8+0+0
/97 Nixon - Baylor  8+0+0
/98 O'Donnell - Liberty  4+0+0
/99 O'Leary - Concordia  6+0+0
/100 Opsata - USC  8+0+0
/101 Page - Texas  6+0+0
/102 Panetta, Ed - Georgia    6+0+0
/103 Parcher - Georgetown  8+0+0
/104 Partlow - Kansas  6+0+0
/105 Patrice - NYU  6+0+0
/106 Perkins - Harvard  4+0+0
/107 Peterson - USC  4+0+0
/108 Pfister - Dartmouth  8+0+0
/109 Phares - Wayne State  8+0+0
/110 Pineda, Richard - Wayne State   6+0+0
/111 Pudelski - Catholic  8+0+0
/112 Renegar - Berkeley  8+0+0
/113 Renken - Wake Forest  8+0+0
/114 Repko, Biza - Michigan  5+0+0
/115 Repko, Will - Michigan State  4+0+0
/116 Roland - Emory  4+0+0
/117 Rollins - Texas  5+0+0
/118 Russell - Dartmouth  6+0+0
/119 Salinas - Wayne State  5+0+0
/120 Saloom - West Georgia  8+0+0
/121 Scannapieco - Michigan  5+0+0
/122 Schwartz - Wake Forest  5+0+0
/123 Shaffstall - North Texas  7+0+0
/124 Shanahan - Ft. Hays State  8+0+0
/125 Sharp - USC  4+0+0
/126 Siemers - UMKC  3+0+0
/127 Skiles - Iowa  6+0+0
/128 Skillin - Baylor  8+0+0
/129 Slusher - Gonzaga  4+0+0
/130 Smith, Chris - Miami, Ohio  5+0+0
/131 Smith, Geoff - Gonzaga  8+0+0
/132 Smith, Nate - Northwestern  4+0+0
/133 Smith, Ross - Wake Forest  4+0+0
/134 Snider - Michigan State  8+0+0
/135 Sohrn - Northwestern  6+0+0
/136 Solt - Kentucky  4+0+0
/137 Southworth - Redlands  8+0+0
/138 Sparacino - Dartmouth  4+0+0
/139 Stables - Georgia    4+0+0
/140 Stanfield - Kansas State  5+0+0
/141 Stannard - Wyoming  8+0+0
/142 Starr - Dartmouth  8+0+0
/143 Sternhagen - Concordia  6+0+0
/144 Stetson - Texas  6+0+0
/145 Steven, Monte - Harvard  6+0+0
/146 Stevenson, Ron - Wayne State  5+0+0
/147 Stoughton - MIT  6+0+0
/148 Strange - Dartmouth  6+0+0
/149 Symonds - Puget Sound  6+0+0
/150 Tate - North Texas  6+0+0
/151 Taylor - Emporia  6+0+0
/152 Thompson - Kansas  8+0+0
/153 Tiffee - SW Texas State  8+0+0
/154 Todd - USC  7+0+0
/155 Varda - Florida State  8+0+0
/156 Vega - SW Missouri  4+0+0
/157 Voth - Miami, Ohio  5+0+0
/158 Wade - Emory  4+0+0
/159 Walters - SW Missouri  4+0+0
/160 Weiner - George Mason  4+0+0
/161 Wells - Kentucky  8+0+0
/162 West - Kansas State  5+0+0
/163 Whalen  - Berkeley  8+0+0
/164 Wiese - Iowa  6+0+0
/165 Winebrenner - Cal Poly SLO  6+0+0
/166 Woidan - Michigan State  4+0+0
/167 Woodard - Mercer  6+0+0
/168 Zigelmueller - Wayne State  4+0+0
/169 Zompetti - Mercer  6+0+0