Updated 1/13/21

Hi! Thanks for looking at my bio. I'm a former NYU debater and former president of the NYU policy team. My experience in policy debate has been 4 years of college debate, 3 years of which were open, and I have coached for 4 years. I have coached for Success Academy Midtown West for 2 years. I am currently a law student at NYU Law.

As a debater, I did just about every form and style of debate (everything from 6 min of politics DAs in the block to performance args with narratives and/or poetry), but I honestly do not have a particular preference for arguments anywhere on the spectrum. As a judge, I view my role primarily as an evaluator of the arguments presented before me in the round. If you decide for whatever reason (consciously or unconsciously) that it's not in your best interest to frame the round for me, I'll default first to the flows and if you've messed those up too much, then my secondary default is to vote for the side that has done the best debating overall by some fun arbitrary standard I'll invent for you and if neither side did a particularly great job debating according to that standard, I'll vote for the team that was the better collaborative pair in the debate space.

T: Yup, it’s a voting issue, and it's an a priori one so just go ahead and answer it however you want, but at least answer it. Counter-interps are probably a good idea if you’re aff, but you can convince me otherwise if that's not the path you want to take in answering it. I'll gladly entertain any T arguments, but I expect a full warranted out standards and impact debate coming off the violation. Small tricky affs are small and tricky, so if T is your generic go to, take the time to explain how they untopical and why that has significance for the round don't just cry that they're unfair for 5 minutes because all that will do is just make me very sad and I'll be wishing that we were having a different debate than the one we're having.

Disads: Turns case arguments are great, and I love to see them. Note, I'm generally pretty generous with allowing links on DAs to affs until they're contested. Neg, be tight on your internal link story. If your explanation of the DA doesn't make sense to me, I'm not going to pull the trigger on it if the aff is winning a reasonable part of their case. Note, if it’s a particularly bad DA, aff’s don’t need evidence to answer it.

Kritiks: I like these. A lot. They're pretty neat and let you do a lot of fun tricks. However, to go for these, I think you need a clear explanation of how the K functions, and you still need to do impact calculus. There has to be at least one clear link articulated consistently from the block to the 2nr. If you don’t understand the K, I probably won’t understand your articulation of it either.

Framework: Specificity is important for the negative. Point out exactly how we should frame the debate, why that’s a good idea, and any in round abuse. Don’t neglect the line by line in these debates. Role of the ballot args are nice when they meet the following criteria: they're consistent, make sense, and are carried through the round.

Counterplans: These need to have a well-articulated net benefit. Other than that, anything goes.

I will typically not judge kick the CP or the K alt. Just do the basic work of kicking out of these if you're not going for one, never assume I'll do work for you that favors you.

Debate is supposed to be both fun and educational. Enjoy your round, and try to make it fun for everyone in the room.

I really enjoy clever jokes and entertaining CXs.

Background: CUNY Debate- 4 years; NDT Qualifier and CEDA Quarterfinalist in 2015. Been judging high school for about 3 years.

Overview: I am a kritikal leaning judge but will vote on more middle of the road arguments. I try to vote on the arguments presented in the round as much as possible, whether that be Framework, Performance/Kritikal affirmatives, Heg affirmatives, Russia Disads, XO CP, etc. Quick Notes:

-The key is to tell me how to differentiate between the world of the affirmative and negative (Framing).

-I lean towards truth over tech but that doesn't mean you shouldnt be answering all their arguments. 

-I see the debate through a offense/defense paradigm. I don't often vote on defensive arguments.

-Prep ends when the flash leaves the computer.

Kritiks: 

-My favorite sort of debate.

-I have run both high-theory ivory tower stuff as well as not as high-theory related stuff.

-I will not mention which authors I am most familiar with because I expect the same amount of in-depth explanation and contextualization from whichever kritik you pull out. Need to have a contextualized link and impact to have any value. 

-I am fine with voting for a kritik without a conventional alternative. But, just saying "reject the aff because they are capitalist" doesn't have any solvency. Bring some solvency to the action of rejection if you aren't going for an alternative proper.

Framework/Non-Traditional Affirmative:

-I haven't been topical since my first semester as a debater BUT I do have a great deal of respect for framework arguments. If this is your best option, that you strongly believe in, go for it and I will happily pull the trigger if you win.

-I am usually cool with whatever people choose to talk about but I do appreciate at least a minimal relevance to the topic. Metaphors aren't very persuasive in doing this. Topic education is good. Topical versions of the affirmative are thus both persuasive and almost necessary to win framework. 

-I find framework more persuasive as a method debate rather than a fairness debate. 

DA/CP:

-I group these to help illustrate that I may not have the deepest knowledge about the different DA/CP scenarios you come up with. However, I tend to learn the most new information in these rounds and so actually find them very interesting and important.

-The more specific the link, internal link, impact are the better your chances. Affirmatives can win a DA debate in front of me with terminal defense againt really generic links/internal links. 

Topicality:

-Dont judge too many of these but I do have a fairly good understanding of the warrants behind it. Would vote here.

-I would rather you debate the aff on a DA/CP/K level though. Or see last point on FW in terms of a topical version. 

If you want to know more about how I view debate, I have been taught by Tommye Weddington, Vik Keenan, and Willie Johnson.

Updated 3-7-24

Congrats on attending Nationals. Being at a university with the resources to send you cross-country to represent them is an immense privilege Thank those responsble including partners, teammates, coaches, parents & especially your opponents. People matter. Celebrate, respect and appreciate them while you can.

(NEW) TLDR: K Affs, FW, DA/CP strats, K strats, Procedurals - Fine. You do you. Condo- Ok w Limits (read CP stuff below) Base points - 28.7 If you care about pts a) look at who got 29.4+ from me to see what I like. b) 2NRs that don't spend time on case do so at their own risk. When I'm online, a) get verbal/visual confirmation before you speak b) slow down 10%. Won't litigate past debates, social media beefs etc on my ballot. PRE-EMPT- Read no further at your own risk.

General Approach: Add me to the chain if you have my email already. Start the rd when your opponent has the doc up once you confirm all parties are ready. I don't follow along with your speech docs. Flowing on paper. Pen time good. Be organized, Be considerate. Be ready. Recuts of opponents' ev need to be read in round not just inserted into the doc to be assessed on my flow. Good debaters work extremely hard so I will make every effort to be very thoughtful and conscientious as your judge. Whatever decision allows me to inject myself the least into the interpretations of issues in the round is the one I will attempt to make. Compare positions, ev and tell a story in your last rebuttal that frames the round the way you wish me to decide it. I’ll vote where you tell me if it's coherent. If you have multiple stories, prioritize them. Don't rely on my post-round reconstruction. If you only spend 10 seconds on a key point in your last rebuttal, don't expect me to spend much more than that evaluating it. Most rounds come down to impact assessment and warrant comparisons. An author’s name is not an argument. Provide warrants for why your ev is better than theirs.

Tech vs. TruthTech over truth is an inflection point not a value system. My voting record reflects a tech leaning apparently but that's more reflective of how truth is framed in the 2AR vs. my role to protect the neg. My ballot really comes down to the skills and execution of the particular debaters.

The Aff: Do what you want in terms of policy, K or performance. Explain advantages to your model over theirs. Tell me how to evaluate your affirmation prior to the 2AR if you are performing. Make sure that the role of the ballot is articulated and extended and not a 2AR surprise. My evaluation will come down to offense on the FWK flow based on impacts identified by the debaters unless it's one of those rare rounds where the neg has a viable, specific strat.

The Neg: Well-developed, evidence-based strategies are awesome and will be rewarded. 90% of affs, both kritikal and policy have lit that goes the other way. Cut cards and forward options along with T/FW. If you want to defend your right to a Deterrence DA link or a certain interp, go for it. Presumption matters and is underutilized.

TOPICALITY/FWK: I’ll vote either way on T/FW if you win the relevant impacts to your model of debate e.g. EXTERNAL (why is it or is it not productive?) or INTERNAL (what does it communicate or provide you with in the debate space of importance?). You're more likely to have faith in the credibility of your definition and implicit approaches to the topic than I am so be prepared to defend them. Not a fan of: violations that morph in the block unprovoked, crummy counter-interps or generic TVAs that disregard this 1AC. T against policy affs is underutilized. Elevate your answers from the crap you read in HS. It's disingenuous for experienced debaters to say K-affs about AB, Set Col. or Trans Life were unpredictable or that FW is the ultimate form of violence in the world.

DISADS Fine obviously. Providing reasons why the DA turns case is always a good idea. CAVEAT - Including this since it's come up 2x this year. If there is an Existence question relating your DA or aff story (e.g. a rumored "secret" weapon system, Aliens are coming, etc), try or die only kicks in if you win the Existence question as a precursor.

CPs Smart CPs with solvency advocates improve your strat. If you regularly read CPs with conditional planks leading to 10 different versions or more than 3 conditional advocacies in a rd, I'm not the right judge for you. New or undisclosed 1ACs lend credence to more condo options. Feel free to take advantage of teams that read & react without studying your CP text carefully. Sympathetic to "1AR gets new answers" vs CPs with no 1NC solvency ev. or process CPs with no relqtion to how the US government works. I welcome solvency deficits if the AFF is correct on function indicts. I don't judge kick without specific instruction.

K: For teams that generate links from messed-up, in-round behaviors or focus on the debate space-all good. If teams defend external claims and impacts, winning anti-blackness is a superstructure or capitalist gov't solutions have failed on-balance is necessary but not sufficient. Quality examples are essential and readily available whether you're discussing micro-political movements, capitalism, racial injustice, colonialism, sabotage, disability and/or militarism. Your arsenal needs solid answers to scalability, empirical solvency, and why gov't action will not inevitably be needed. Include good reasons why the K turns case. 3 page long cards don't equal explanations.

Topic Specifics Spent 4 years working with Rev Vernon Nichols at the UU-UNO when he chaired the NGO Committee on Disarmament learning about prolif, movements and miscalc. As far as the 2023-24 topic, I read lots of topic lit from both traditional and nontraditional sources and have judged too much.

Pet Peeves that lower points: 1-STEALING PREP TIME -It's a nasty habit. You are taking time from my life that I will never get back. 2-POOR TECH PREP- I have sympathy for unexpected tech issues not poor preparation that delays the tournament. If you're debating online: a) Check your tech between rds for charge etc. b) Have a back-up (phone, tablet, etc.) in case of lmid-speech malfunctions c) Get verbal/visual confirmation everyone is back before starting speeches d) don't record people without permission e) slow down 10-20% because it's hard to hear/decipher stuff online 3--OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE in your speeches. Don't have a bright line but if you need to ask, you're probably excessive. 4--SLOPPY SOURCING. You say “Read the Jones 10 ev after the rd!” I read it and it sucks. In the post-round, it becomes “I meant to say Roberts, not Jones,” or “There were 3 pieces of Jones ev I meant the 1AR card.” That's a "you" problem. Effective communication good.

Please add me to email chain: cedricbonsol(at)gmail(dot)com.

Bravo High School 2015 (Shoutout LAMDL and sending my love to other NAUDL folks <3)

University of Rochester 2019 (on and off)

NUTSHELL:

I used to ask opponent teams to slow down when I debated and ran ableism arguments. I cannot keep up with speed as well as other judges. Please speak CLEARLY and SLOW DOWN on tags or lists of subpoints if you want me to flow and evaluate it well. I won't consider it my fault if I say "CLEAR" or to slow down multiple times and I still can't catch your arguments.

The meaning of debate and how I should evaluate arguments is under your control. If you instruct me how to understand the debate space/round, my role, and your roles, I will listen to you.

Argue whatever you want. For me, the only rules to enforce are speech/prep times. Other than that, what you do with those speech/prep times is what you make it. Simply convey to me the purpose of our time/space together for the next 2-3 hours.

While I’m tech over truth, I stylistically tend to enjoy nontraditional, "performance" argumentation. [Insert obligatory "still do the work / I'll still weigh traditional args, FW, T equally"]. I’m probably going to need first and foremost a direct “technical” answer to this framework if you want me to evaluate the rest of the round through some other method of evaluation (without line-by-line or other traditional “tech”) before you address the rest of the debate.

OTHER DETAILS:

If you integrate my direct interaction/participation into your performative argumentation, I'm probably going to enjoy that a lot.

Most of high school, I ran traditional policy args. Most of college, I ran kritikal/nontraditional args.

I find myself in a minority of judges who actually enjoy (secondarily to deep, developed clash) watching frivolous, trolly, or cheesy gimmicks/tricks. If you run such an argument, I'm assuming you're acknowledging any competitive compromise. Just be sensitive and don’t run death good vs a Settler Colonialism AFF in front of me. We'll see how long I keep this on my paradigm.

Unless told otherwise, I won't assume evidence is limited to traditional "cards".

Unless told otherwise, NEG gets the status quo as a default (and presumption) and I will judge kick CPs/counter-advocacies.

Unless told otherwise, cross-ex is binding.

Unless told otherwise, tag-team CX is okay, ins and outs (instead of 1s and 2s) are okay, prep time can be used for clarification questions.

Explicitly kicking off-case positions you are not going for in the 2NR is the safest option to avoid my confusion.

I am open to being convinced that an alt is unnecessary for your K (e.g. framework, K as a DA).

I debated four years in high school and three years for the New York City Coalition under the City University of New York. I continue to coach and judge for the City University of New York for the last seven years.

New Trends: I come from the debate world of tubs and expandos. I do not take prep for jumping. I do not want to be on the email chain. Debate is about convincing the judge. Therefore,  you have to explain your evidence in comparison to the other team. I do not read evidence because I flow the warrants of the evidence. Please be very clear when reading.

Framework: I do not mind as long as it is impacted and there is clash on the interpretation vs counter interpretation.

Disads/cps: I do not mind. However, on disads,  you need to explain the internal link to the impact. I won't just vote for you because you said nuclear war. For cps, I like when negative teams have creative ways to solve for the aff. As far as theory,  I am not that incline to vote on these args but in some instances theory args have been very well articulated and I have voted on them. These debates can not be two ships passing in the night.

Kritiks: I believe the negative have the ability to win this argument without an alternative. However, I like alternative versus solvency debates.

Performance: I believe debate is a space where students have freedom of expression.  While making your arguments, you need to indicate how I'm suppose to situate myself within the round.

Your stylistic approach to debate is entirely up to you. I'm just there to adjudicate the round. Have Fun!

First, yes. Please include me on the email chain: angela.cammayo@gmail.com. Thank you.
Experience: NYU Debater 2013 - 2017, Coach / Judge 2017 - Present

Overview

"If you want to achieve enlightenment, you're gonna have to go through me"
I'm just kidding on this one, my friend sent this meme to me and said it'd be great to include on my paradigm

Whatever you do well. I will do my best to listen and evaluate those arguments fairly in the context of the round. Feel free to run whatever you're comfortable with, but remember that you are responsible for your scholarship. I strongly believe that debate offers so many valuable skills -- research and critical thinking being some of the most important.

Remember, debate is game. So have fun.

Details
T- Great if you run it and go for it, but you need to win the topical version of the aff and a violation of your interp to have a shot. I will not vote on it just because the other team drops it. Note: FW is about how you debate. T is about the terms you debate. They're not the same thing. Don't conflate them.

Ks- Have a clear alt, explanation of external impacts and how it solves.

DA/CP- Have fun. But if your CP contradicts other positions in the round, it's fair for the aff to generate offense about your advocacy choices.

Non-traditional---Foregrounding identity to advance scholarship is great, using identity claims just to commodity the ballot is not (you know know who you are).

Ballots
Yes, as with most judges, I want the easiest ballot. However, I believe the Role of the Ballot free to debate. So debate it in round and if you win, I will view the round through that lens. If you go for too much in the 2NR or pick a strategy that takes out your own offense, I will not vote on it just because the aff drops it.

Bio: I debated for four years in high school, as well as for Emporia, KCKCC, and UMKC in college. I have just finished law school and am a graduate assistant for Cornell studying labor relations. 

I want you to engage in whatever form or style of debate you would like. I endeavor to judge the debate based on the arguments in the round and limit my bias and argument preference as much as possible. 

I like performance debates and think that they can be really good and fun to watch. I tend to enjoy these debates the most when they are related to the topic. I also like theory and topicality debates. I often went for T and theory arguments as a debater. Although, I will say that I will not vote on a theory argument just because it is not answered by the other team. Obviously, the other team dropping your warranted theory argument will make it much more likely that I will vote for you. But please develop and impact your arguments. 

Counterplans: I am predisposed to think pics are good and conditionality is bad. But again, I will judge the debate based on the arguments in the round. 

I am fine with K debates and think that they are strategic. I am not familiar with the intricacies of deleuze/zizek/baudrillard etc. Please explain your arguments to me in a way that I can understand without holding a degree in philosophy. I am not predisposed to vote for performative contradiction arguments, but again I will vote for them if they are won. 

I debated for CUNY for three and 1/2 years so I ran a decent amount of arguments dealing with policy but not so much in the critical aspect of debate rounds. I vote on anything as long as it is given to me in the rebuttals clear, concise and logical. Even though I am not profound in certain kritiks, as long as they are explained to me then I will most likely vote for it, unless I disagree with the viewpoint of that kritik. My viewpoint deals with race arguments and how it prevents certain impacts such as genocide. I am really patient so I will not take time for jumping files but please make sure that it doesn't prolong the round for too long. Please be sure to accommodate for the other team if all your files are on the computer and you flow on it as well.

Please add me to the email chain: john.dellamore@gmail.com

Experience: I did policy debate in high school and college.

Overview: I am fine with anything you want to read. I did strictly policy (CPs/Das/T) in high school and then leaned more towards Ks in college. I have read every K from Security to DADA. Impacts need to be well extended and weighed and my role as the judge should be made clear by both teams.

Most important thing for me: I love debate. I think the community has its flaws but is unique in the sense that there aren’t many places where a bunch of really smart students can come together and discuss anything from Chinese politics to DeleuzeandGuattari. I understand if teams make arguments about the flaws in debate and more than often I believe they are true. But on the other side, I think debate offers so many valuable skills, research being one of the most important, and should exist.

Specifics

Framework (read on theneg, “you have to read a topical plan”): I really enjoy framework debates. I really go either way on this. I rarely defended a stable plan text and understand the merit in that. I also have read framework on the negative many times and understand that as well. I believe a good framework debate comes down to well impacted education arguments. I understand the merit in “but the state is bad” argumentsbut I don’t believe that is enough, especially if the negative wins a topical version of your plan.

T: I believe competing interpretations are great because the negative can always find a definition that excludes the aff. Like framework, I believe a good debate comes down to the educational impact level. Simply extending “key to ground"isn’t enough.I am not totally sold on just fairness impacts. I believe fairness is just an internal link to participation and clash but is not an impact within itself. Finally, I really like affirmatives that address the topic through a tricky wording in the plan text. This creativity, I believe, is a great skill andleads to creative debate that negatetopic staleness.

DA: I really like DA debates and wish I could have had more of them myself. The best DA debates are ones that come down to the pieces of evidence. As I said above, one of debates greatness merits is the research and there is nothing better than a DA debate to show off the amazing research you’ve done. I think the other really important part of a DA is explaining the story. Saying that “Immigration brings in more high skilled workers and that is key tohegwhich is key to preventing nuclear war” isn’t really enough.

CPs: I love topic specific, alternative solvency CPs. The affirmative reads a lot of evidence and more often than not the authors will come up with different solvency mechanisms. CPs thatgooff of this are awesome. Advantage CPs are cool too, especially when they are very specific and the negative can explain the solvency on the CP better than the affirmative on their case. I have read Consults CPs, agents CPs…(anything that steals the plan) and I like them but also believe that they should be germane to the case/topic. Reading Consult NATO against every Affcan lead to a very stale debate. I like theory onthese CPs, especially ones that make “stale education” arguments.

Theory: Condo is probably a good thing but if theaff wins theneg is being abusive with it, I will voteon it. CP theory is good (as stated in the CP section). I will listen to whatever theory you want just make sure it is impacted well.

K: My favorite type of debate and the one I am most familiar with. I have read tons of Ks and heard even more. If you read a new K in front of me, even if you think it is stupid, I will consider voting on it and always LOVE HEARING NEW PHILOSOPHIES. Please show that you know the theory of whatever you are advancing. I will go into some specifics on each part of the K. The most important thing on a K is making it germane to the aff. Don’t just say “they conceded our warming link." It is best when you use examples from history as to why the aff is just another example of x.

-Framework: I am open to both sides. Ks can lead to generic debates but theaffhas to be held accountable for assumptions.

-Links: links that are explained as turns case arguments or separate impacts are awesome. Shows you really know the philosophers. Use examples as I said above.

-Impacts: Just extended them and do impact calc.

-Perms: Theaffhas the potential to be abusive here. I believe that theaff should be held accountable for everything in the 1ac so “severing reps” arguments hold little weight with me. If the other team drops it I will vote on it but give me a reason to. Also, a good perm do both with net benefits to the perm is awesome. If you can explain why the net benefits are good and outweigh any risk of the link I will be very impressed.

-K tricks (serial policy failure, reps first…): Love them. Just impact them well and give examples of how theaff leads to serial policy failure or what not.

Nicholas Fiori

Hunter College/The New School

Policy Debate Coach

Years judging: 13

Feel free to run whatever you want in front of me. I believe that judging is about evaluating the arguments made in the round while recognizing the impossibility of strict objectivity. Adjudication inevitably involves filtering the round through one's ethical lens and orientation towards debate and the world at large. Debate can only stay relevant and generative by responding to challenges leveraged against it by debaters and coaches. These challenges require my radical openness and fair, thoughtful consideration of the arguments made in the debate.

I will evaluate my flow and then call for relevant cards.

If you think an argument is a round winner it should be in your final rebuttal, do not assume I will evaluate an argument implicitly extended in a piece of evidence. Extension of specific warrants, not just tags and cites, is preferable. I am not the best at flowing author names so make sure evidence is referenced in some other way as well.

I will try to list my predispositions below. If you believe the debate or an argument should be evaluated differently make that part of the debate and I will adjust my calculus accordingly.

Framework: I enter the debate assuming that the affirmative should have a plan/advocacy/political position from which contestation can be grounded. I default to whatever framework is presented, explicitly or implicitly, by the affirmative. The negative gets whatever the aff doesn’t do and should argue why the aff is a bad idea and/or offer a competing policy/alternative advocacy/political program.

If you believe the debate should have an alternative framework, the outcome of the debate over that framework will ultimately determine my lens for evaluating the round.

Topicality: I will default to evaluate topicality based on competing interpretations if no other lens for evaluation is presented in the debate. Topicality arguments that are divorced from a discussion of the actual debate season are increasingly unpersuasive.

Theory: When logical, my default on theory is that it is a reason to reject the argument not the team. If you think it is a voting issue, say that and give me a good reason. Slow down on individual arguments. If a theory argument is dropped but he offending team, extended properly, and actually applies to something the other team has done in the debate, it will most likely determine the way I vote. However, dropped theory arguments that do not actually respond to something the other team has done in the round will automatically determine by ballot.

Impact Evaluation: I think offense/defense is mostly inevitable and that the arguments in the debate either fall into that matrix or change how they are evaluated. However, that does not mean I do not believe that a team cannot win zero risk of a scenario. My threshold is relatively high, but I find 100% defense argument increasingly persuasive.

If you disagree with any of my own pre-dispositions, you should make that part of the debate. The above is merely for you to understand where I start from as a judge, not where I end up when I go about deciding the round.

SHORTEST VERSION: THINGS I BELIEVE ABOUT DEBATE

_______________________________________________________

Lawful Good -----|----Neutral Good -----|----Chaotic Good

1AC Plan Texts, ----|----- Case Debate,------|----Performance Debate,

Open Debaters -----|----Novice Debaters----|----JV Debaters

_______________________________________________________

Lawful Neutral ---|---True Neutral------|---- Chaotic Neutral

Topicality -----------|----Counterplans ------|------Dispositionality

_______________________________________________________

Lawful Evil -------|----Neutral Evil ------|-----Chaotic Evil

Framework args ---|----Standard Nuke ----|----- Baudrillard

from 1996 that ----|---- War Disad

say no K's

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SHORT VERSION:

You are prepping and don't have time to read everything, or interpret. So this is the stuff you most need to know if you don't know me :

1) I run The New School program. The New School is in the Northeast, around the corner from NYU where I actually work full time. (CEDA has Regions, not Districts. The NDT and the Hunger Games have Districts.) I care about things like novice and regional debate, and pretty much only coach for resource poor programs. You need to know this because it affects how I view your ETHOS on certain "who are we" arguments.

2) Email: vikdebate@gmail.com. Skip the rant below about want/need to be on chain.

3)SLOW THE HELL DOWN, especially ONLINE. I flow on paper. I need PEN TIME. I am not reading along with the doc unless the connection gets bad or I have serious misgivings.

4) Do what you need to do to make the tech work.

5) Do what you do in this activity. Seriously, especially in novice, or on a panel, you are not 100% adapting to me, so change how you debate those things a bit maybe, but not what you debate. To help with that:

6) Yes, my threshold for "is there gonna be a nuclear war" is WAY higher than it is for "what we talk about in the debate round going to affect us personally". I will vote on the wars, but I don't enjoy every debate about prolif in countries historically opposed to prolif. That isn't "realism" - that's hawk fetish porn. So if this IS you, you gotta do the internal link work, not read me 17 overly-lined down uniqueness cards.

7) I am more OFTEN in K rounds, but honestly I am more of a structural K person than a high theory person. Yes, debate is all simulacra now anyway, but racism and sexism - and the violence caused by them - ARE REAL WORLD. Your ability to talk about such things and how they relate to policies is probably one of your better portable skills for the modern world in this activity.

8) Performance good. Literally, I have 2 degrees in theater. Keep in mind that it means I am pretty well read on this as theory. All debate is performance. (Heck, life is performance, but you don't have time for that now...). My pet peeve as a coach is reading through all the paradigm that articulate performance and Kritikal as the same thing. It.Is.Not. Literally, it is Form vs. Content.

9) Winning Framework does not will a ballot. Winning Framework tells me how to prioritize or include or exclude arguments for my calculation of the ballot. T is NOT Framework (but for the record I err towards Education over Fairness, because this activity just ain't fair due to resource disparity, etc, so do the WORK to win on Fairness via in round trade offs, precedents, or models.)

10) Have fun. Debate can be stressful. Savor the community you can in current times.

PS: I am probably more flow focused than you think, BUT I still prefer the big picture. Tell me a story. It has to make sense for my ballot.

---------------------

Previous Version

The 2020 Preamble relevant to ONLINE DEBATE:

1) Bear with my tech for September for the first round of each day - I work across multiple universities and I am still sorting out going across 3 Zoom accounts, 5 emails accounts, and 2 Starfish accounts for any given thing. Working from home for 6 months combined my day-job stuff into my debate stuff, so I may occasionally have to remember to do a setting. This is like the worst version of a Reese's peanut butter cup.

2) Look, it would be great if I COULD see you as you debate. I am old - I flow what you say and I don't read along with the speech doc unless something bad is happening (bad things include potential connection issues in 2020, concerns over academic integrity/skipping words, and you don't actually do evidence comparison as a debater when weighing your cards and theirs). I don't anticipate changing that in the online debate world. But also, tech disparity and random internet gremlins are real things (that's why we need so many cats in the intertubes), so I ALSO understand if you tell me the camera is off for reasons. That's cool.

3) Because of connections and general practices - SLOW DOWN. CLARITY is super important. (Also, don't be a jerk to people with auditory accommodation needs as we do this). Trade your speed drills for some tongue twisters or something.

4) Recording as a back up is probably a necessary evil, but any use of the recording after a round that is shared to anyone else needs explicit - in writing, and can be revoked - permission of all parties present. PRACTICE AFFIRMATIVE CONSENT. See ABAP statement on online debate practices.

5) I have never wanted to be on the email chain/what-not; however, I SHOULD* be on the chain/what-not. Note the critical ability to distinguish these two things, and the relevance of should to the fundamental nature of this activity. Email for this purpose: vikdebate@gmail.com .

(Do not try to actually contact me with this address - it’s just how I prevent the inevitable electronically transmitted cyber infection from affecting me down the road, because contrary to popular belief, I do understand disads, I just have actual probability/internal link threshold standards.)

((And seriously Tabroom, what the F***? First you shill for the CIA, and now you want to edit the words because "children" who regularly talk about mass deaths might see some words I guarantee you then know already? I was an actual classroom teacher....debate should not be part of the Nanny State. Also this is NEW, because the word A****** used to be in my paradigm in reference to not being one towards people who ask for accessibility accommodations. ARRGGHHH!!!))

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Things I am cool with:

Tell met the story

Critical Args

Critical Lit (structural criticisms are more my jam)

Performative strategies - especially if we get creative with the 20-21 format options.

CP fun times and clever intersections of theory

A text. Preferable a well written text. Unless there are no texts.

Not half-assing going for theory

Case debate

Reasonability

You do you

Latin used in context for specific foreign policy conditions.

Teaching Assurance/Deterrence with cats.

Things that go over less well:

Blippy theory

Accidentally sucking your own limited time by unstrategic or functionally silly theory

Critical lit (high theory … yes, I know I only have myself to blame, so no penalty if this is your jelly, just more explanation)

Multiple contradictory conditional neg args

A never ending series of non existent nuclear wars that I am supposed to determine the highest and fastest probability of happening (so many other people to blame). You MAY compare impacts as equal to "x number of gender reveal parties".

Not having your damn tags with the ev in the speech doc. Seriously.

As a general note: Winning framework does not necessarily win you a debate - it merely prioritizes or determines the relevancy of arguments in rounds happening on different levels of debate. Which means, the distinction between policy or critical or performative is a false divide. If you are going to invoke a clash of civilizations mentality there should be a really cool video game analogy or at least someone saying “Release the Kraken”. A critical aff is not necessarily non Topical - this is actually in both the Topic Paper for alliances/commitments and a set of questions I asked at the topic meeting (because CROSS EX IS A PORTABLE SKILL). Make smarter framework arguments here.

Don't make the debate harder for yourself.

Try to have fun and savor the moment.

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*Judges should be on the chain/what-not for two reasons: 1)as intelligence gathering for their own squad and 2) to expedite in round decision making. My decisions go faster than most panels I’m on when I am the one using prep time to read through the critical extended cards BEFORE the end of the debate. I almost never have the docs open AS the debaters are reading them because I limit my flow to what you SAY. (This also means I don’t read along for clipping … because I am far more interested in if you are a) comprehensible and b) have a grammatical sentence in some poor overhighlighted crap.) Most importantly, you should be doing the evidence comparisons verbally somehow, not relying on me to compare cards after the debate somehow. If I wanted to do any of that, I would have stayed a high school English teacher and assigned way more research papers.

I am a third grade teacher in Newark, NJ. I like topical affs, good critique, and clear road maps. You need to make your argument clearly, because I will not be reading your cards. I won’t do the heavy lifting for you.

Speed: fine so long as you are clear on front lines especially. Clarity is the most important thing.

Cross-X: Open is fine.

Decorum: Be kind and respectful to one another. 

Fairness: Don’t cheat. Pet-peeves Include stealing prep, unmarked cards, and clipping. My advice is don’t steal prep and mark your cards on whatever you are reading from.(paper or your laptop).

Argument issues: Topicality – I’ll vote on it and against it. It is the obligation of the debaters to tell me why topicality matters, why their interpretation is best for debate, and what cases their interpretation allows for and does not allow for.

Disads – Cool.

Counterplans – Cool

Kritiks – Explain your link story. Be detailed not just generic on how the aff’s discourse and framing are bad. In addition, if you claim to have an alternative tell me what it does and how it functions. It is not enough to say, “Reject the aff and vote for the revolution.”   

Overall, tell me how I should evaluate the arguments in the round. 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Other than that, happy debating 

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Yes, include me on the email chain. zhaneclloyd@gmail.com

Brooklyn Tech: 2011 - 2012 (those three novice UDL tournaments apparently count), 2017 - 2021 (coach)
NYU: 2014 - 2018
The New School: 2018-2020 (coach)

***I used to keep my video off for rounds, but I've since learned that it's a mistake for the morale of the debater as well as for confirming whether or not I'm actually in the room. If my camera is off, I am not in the room. Please do not start speaking***

I currently work a full-time job that has nothing to do with debate. I still judge because that full-time job does not pay enough (does any job nowadays?) and I've built community with people that are still very active in debate, so seeing them is nice. It is also means I'm VERY out of touch with what the new norms in debate are. But everything below still applies for the most part.

In case you're pressed for time

1. Do you. Have fun. Don't drop an important argument.

2. If there is an impact in the 2NR/2AR, there's a high chance you've won the debate in front of me. I like going for the easy way out and impacts give me the opportunity to do that. Impact comparisons are good too. NEG - LINKS to those impacts matter. AFF - how you SOLVE those impacts matter. Outside of that context, I'm not sure how I should evaluate.

3. I flow on paper, so please don't be upset if I miss arguments because you're slurring your words or making 17 arguments/minute.

4. Don't assume I know the acronyms or theories you're talking about, even if I do. This is a persuasion activity, so no shortcuts to persuading me.

5. Obviously, I have biases, but I try not to let those biases influence how I decide a round. Usually, if debaters can't accomplish #2, then I'll be forced to. I prefer to go with the flow though.

6. If at the end of the round, you find yourself wanting to ask my opinion on an argument that you thought was a round winner, know that I have one of two answers: I didn't consider it or I didn't hear it. Usually, it's the latter. So try not to make 5 arguments in 20 seconds.

7. There's no such thing as a "good" time to run 5+ off, but I'll especially be annoyed if it's the first or last round of the day. 10+ off guarantees I will not flow and may even stop the round. I'm not the judge for those type of rounds.

8. I've grown increasingly annoyed with non-Black debaters making "helping Black people" as part of their solvency. A lot of you don't know how to do this without either a). sounding patronizing as hell or b). forgetting that "helping Black people" was part of your solvency by the time rebuttals come around (#BackburnerDA). I'm not going to tell you to stop running those arguments, but I strongly recommend you don't have me in the back of the room for them.

**ONLINE DEBATE**: You don't need to yell into your mic. I can hear you fine. In fact, yelling into your mic might make it harder for me to hear you. Which means you may lose. Which is bad. For you.

If you're not so pressed for time

I debated for four years at NYU and ran mostly soft left affs. I think that means I'm a pretty good judge for these types of affs and it also means I'm probably able to tell if there is a genuine want for a discussion about structural violence impacts and the government's ability to solve them or if they're just tacked on because K debaters are scary and it makes the perm easier.

I do think debate is a game, but I also think people should be allowed to modify the "rules" of the game if they're harmful or just straight up unlikeable. I've designed games from time to time, so I like thinking about the implications of declaring debate to be "just" a game or "more than" a game. Now to the important stuff.

Speed: Through a card, I'll tolerate it. Through a tag or analytics, I'll be pretty annoyed. And so will you, because I'll probably miss something important that could cost you the round. When reading a new card, either verbally indicate it ("and" or "next") or change your tone to reflect it.

Planless affs: Even in a game, some people just don't want to defend the government. And that's perfectly okay. But I would like the aff to be relevant to the current topic. Though I do understand that my definition of "relevant" and a K debater's definition of "relevant" may differ greatly slightly, so just prove to me why the aff is a good idea and why the lack of government action is not as relevant/bad/important as the negative's framework makes it seem.

CP: Wasn't really much of a CP debater and I don't really coach teams that run CPs, except the basic novice ones that come in a starter kit. I think they're a fine argument and am willing to vote on them.

DA: You could never go wrong with a good DA. DAs, when run correctly, have a really good, linear story that can be extended in the neg block and could be used to effectively handle aff answers. Feel free to go crazy.

Ks: I can't think of a neg round where I didn't run a K. I've run cap, security, queerness, and Black feminism. But please, do not talk to me as if I know your K. If you're running pomo, I most definitely don't know your K and will need to be talked through it with analogies and examples. If you're running an identity K, I probably do know your K but expect the same from you as I expect from a pomo debater. Cap, security - you get the memo.

T: My favorite neg arg as a senior. I'm always down for a good T debate. I do think that sometimes it's used as a cop-out, but I also think that some affs aren't forwarding any sort of plan or advocacy. Just stating an FYI and a neg can't really argue against that. So T becomes the winning strategy.

Framework: Not exactly the same as T, but I still **like** it. Please just call it framework in front of me. I've heard various names be used to describe it, but they're all just arguments about what should be discussed in the round and how the aff fails to do so.

Theory: Important, but the way debaters speed through their theory shells makes me question just how important it is. Again, slow down when reading theory in front of me so it's actually an option for you at the end of the round.

I just graduated as a policy debater from Wilkes University. I am really excited to start judging! As a debater I really loved arguing policy cases; I loved the speed and did not mind getting a litte snarky in cross-X.

All affirmatives have the burden of proof, and I like to see clash on the case side. For the negative, solvency arguments are very important to win here. I am okay with disadvantages and counterplans, and on kritiques, while it is not always the case, you can win with a real world advantage.

Overall I like to see analytical argumentation and I do not enjoy when students just read cards and cannot answer questions about what they read in cross-X. The proverbial "oh I don't know, my coach just told me to read it" is NEVER an acceptable response.  

I am a fourth year policy debater at CUNY Baruch.

I am not a blank state and will not pretend to be one.

Everything you say will be filtered through my world view.

Therefore, there needn't be any judge adaptation;

because the only thing you can do and be is you.

I suggest you be and do the best you can be and do

The rest will fall into place.

I will make sure I give you my full attention

and if you pay close attention you will realize

that my face will reflect if there is any confusion

as that will be the justification for my decision.

So be clear

be articulate

have fun

and debate.

I was a policy debater and I love to hear cases that present those real world scenarios.  My Aff philosophy places the burden of proof on the affirmative case for solvency and impacts.  Many times you can win because the Neg does not address case advantages and impacts.  Good impact calculus in the rebuttals is all that is required.

I like an aggressive cross-X and I will not chastise anyone for being snarky unless you get personal.  I like speed, but I need to clearly hear tags and cites.  Don't rush through these or I will stop flowing.  Analysis is critical.  It is not possible for me to read all of the evidence, so you need to tell me how it pertains to your case.

NEG Philosophy -- I am pretty happy with anything you want to put forth.  Disadvantages and CounterPlans can often beat the 1AC.  On K's, I really like to hear a real world impact in the alternative.  I can easily vote for that.  Otherwise, I will give more weight to the AFF impacts.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

I'm the assistant director of forensics at the University of Rochester. I'm also a history grad student. I think more debaters should be historians.

There will very likely be a pigeon judging with me. You are free to bring seeds to give to him if they're not covered in sugar or salt. No speaker points or anything, my birds don't get paid to judge debates.

Any and all styles are great since I love it when folks that come out swinging strong for their positions. When y'all can actually be RESOLVED, that's that kind of debate speech I love to see.

A few loose thoughts:

- I don't like it when people ask for high speaker points. If you want a 30, give me a speech that makes me think you're better at debate than Gabby Knight or Kaine Cherry. I'm going to ignore any requests for high speaker points, even if your opponent tells me to follow your instructions. My immediate thought when someone makes this an argument is めんどくさい

- There's a trend of teams not sending out taglines/plan texts on email chains/docs, don't do that. While I still have an aversion to paperless debate, if we're going to be debate cyborgs, be open with what your evidence/positions are so your opponents can engage in good faith.

-I do my best to keep a tight flow, but that said, please slowdown for interps/counter-interps/plan texts, especially if you're not emailing those out and you expect me to say something about that debate.

- I tend to think conditionality is good, since I think Affs should be able to beat the squo or a counterplan/alternative but I have voted on condo bad in the past.

- I'm generally not persuaded by new affs bad theory. Not saying I won't vote on it, but I'm not a fan.

For LD:

In the off chance I'm in the LD pool, I did conservative value-criteria debate during my time in high school and I'd be lying if I said I liked it. That said, I heard rumors of circuit LD and how y'all seem to have a low threshold for theory arguments and that sounds appalling. I like substantive arguments. I like kritik arguments.

Read that as you wish.

Policy > LD.

Also, I strongly suggest y'all check out Keiko Takemiya's To Terra. It's really good.