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Copper Classic

2018 — UT/US

Open Policy Paradigm List

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Justin Baker Skyline 6 rounds

Maddie Barker Rowland Hall 6 rounds

Last changed on Sun February 3, 2019 at 12:10 PM EDT

Rounds on the topic: 12

Tournaments I’ve judged at (2018-2019):

Greenhill

Local Utah Tournaments

Affiliation: Rowland Hall

General Notes:

Yes, I want to be on the email chain madisonbark@gmail.com
Generally, I flow on paper.
I will try my best throughout the debate to make a fair decision and treat both teams with respect. I will expect you all to do the same when it comes to talking to each other and talking to me.
Prep should end when the email is sent.
Don't be mean. It’s okay to explain why the other team messed up but I’m not persuaded by “that was the worst 1AR I’ve ever heard” type comments.
Speak clearly and don’t spread through your blocks. If I can’t flow you then I can’t vote for your arguments.
I prefer depth over breadth.
In the 2AR and 2NR spend time on the things you want me to evaluate and vote on. Write my ballot for me in your 2AR/2NR.

General Arguments

1. K Affs – Need to have some type of advocacy

2. Performance – I’m not going to penalize a team for “dropping it” because there was no clear definition of what it meant.

3. Framework/T-USFG: My preferred strategy against K Affs along with one other argument that is a viable 2NR.

4. Kritiks – Should not morph into different kritiks after the 1NC. Advocacies can’t change in the middle of the debate. I will hold the 1NC to whatever their alternative was. I like new page overviews on the kritik. If it’s one off kritik help me figure out what you’re answering in the neg block, it isn’t as clear as you think.

5. Topicality – Tech over truth. Even if the aff might be reasonably topical I would rather vote on a team that explains why their interpretation is best for the topic.

6. Counterplans – I will judge kick them if you tell me to.

7. Specific Arguments I do not like. (As I judge more rounds I will add more to this list):

a. Agamben

b. Death Good

Substance

DA’s: My ideal 2NR against a policy aff is usually a DA or a CP and DA. Be tricky and smart about the arguments you make. Keep your evidence as updated as possible. Clearly explain the internal link, I’ve seen way too many politics debates where it’s like “republicans win the house and then extinction from nuclear war” and it’s just very unclear how we get there and I don’t like that.

CP’s: I’m sympathetic to CP theory but it’s kind of unlikely I’ll vote on it unless you spend some time there and it’s just conceded or if it is a blatantly “cheaty” cp. That being said I like tricky counterplans because I think it shows that you’ve really thought out your strategy against the affirmative.

Theory: I don’t really like theory that much but I will vote on it. I find international fiat theory and other things like that kind of annoying. I do not like things being made voters for no coherent reason whatsoever. Be judicial in the amount of theory you read and the things you make voting issues. I won’t vote for something super blippy if it’s at the top of the 2AR/2NR for one second. If you're going for theory I think you should go all in and commit to it as a strategy. I don't mind if you go for it especially if they dropped it because it makes my decision really easy but for me to vote on it you need to spend time on it.

Topicality: I like topicality. I’m willing to vote neg on T if they win the T debate regardless of whether or not the aff is logically topical. I really like T debates and I think that it’s one of the best parts about debating the topic. If you just want to throw t into the 1NC to make them answer it but have no intention of going for it that’s fine but if they scandalously under cover it just go for it. I hold a pretty firm line on no blatantly new answers in the 2AR, especially on T.

K Affs: I would prefer the aff have an advocacy statement. I'm not going to say that I'll never vote for an aff without an advocacy statement but based on my past record I am more sympathetic to framework. I have not historically been a huge fan of performances especially if they don't come with some substantive explanation of why the performance is necessary to your advocacy. The aff should not change significantly in the 2AC. I am much less likely to vote on framework if you clearly illustrate how your aff connects to the topic. Be tricky with framework. The key to winning a framework debate running a K Aff (to me) is adequately defending why the type of education you create is valuable.

Framework: I really like framework, I think one of the best parts about debate is debating how the game should be played. The amount I lean towards framework really depends on the execution of the affirmative. I am very sympathetic if the aff has no relation to the topic or if the aff is intentionally vague and changes throughout the debate in order to prevent you from meaningfully answering it. I am very persuaded by procedural fairness and TVA arguments.

K’s: I don’t know a lot about philosophy so if you want me to vote for you I need an explanation of your argument. I hate when kiritks become something blatantly different than the 1NC in the block. I prefer more concrete kritiks over postmodernism. Don't expect me to have any understanding of what you're saying if you don't explain it well. I hate giving an RFD where a team is clearly frustrated about not getting my ballot and the primary reason they didn't get it is because they got so lost in the jargon of whatever philosophy they were reading that they forgot to connect it to the debate.

Speaking Tips

1. Don't spread through blocks.

2. Speed is not the end all be all. It’s good to be fast but not good to be un-flowable. Good debaters are fast or clear, great debaters are fast and clear. Be both.

3. Organize your speeches. The easier you make it for me to understand how you see the debate the easier time I will have voting for you.

4. Points

a. 27 and below: I didn’t like something you did in the debate enough to dock your speaks for it. You did something offensive or mean. I will talk about it after the round, your coach might hear about it after the round. It may have caused you to lose the debate or just for me to be upset.

b. 27-28: your speaking style, clarity, or execution in the debate had significant issues.

c. 28-29: You spoke well and I expect you to do well in the tournament. There were some small issues but overall I think you are a good debater.

d. 29 and up: I expect you to break and or possibly win a speaker award. You killed it. I was impressed.

Other philosophies of people who influence my view on debate:

1. Mike Shackelford

2. Joey Amiel

3. David Walter Bernstein

Sara Beth Brooks College Prep 3 rounds

Last changed on Mon January 22, 2024 at 4:45 AM PDT

Officially dragged back into the activity by the pandemic. I'm doing some administrative work for the Sacramento Urban Debate League. Don't expect to find me on your pref sheet but feel free to contact me at sarabeth@sudl.org if you have research questions.

Officially retired. Feel free to contact me with research questions but I'm no longer actively involved in the activity. - May 2019

I debated policy for 5 years in college and qualified twice to the NDT for UNLV. I coached policy for College Prep (Oakland) for 3 years, and policy for Wake Forest for a year.

I also have several years of high school public forum experience and occasionally judge and coach those debates, but I am not actively coaching the 2018-2019 topics.

A little more about me: white, crip[pled], queer, femme, she/her or they/them pronouns.

Three Important Things

a. If you need to communicate an access issue to me before the debate, please send me an email before the round. This is a private way for you to give me information that you do not want to share with the entire room (for example, if nonverbal communication isn't accessible to you).

b. I have an auditory processing disorder. I can flow fast, technical debate but please do not sacrifice clarity for speed. If I have to call clear repeatedly, I will just stop flowing. If music is a part of your arguments please turn the volume down a bit so that I can hear you (I understand that music/audio are important and vital to certain argumentation; you do not have to turn it off -- just adjust the volume in front of me).

c. I will listen to almost anything, with a couple of caveats; I am not interested in hearing arguments like racism good or rape good, etc, or in hearing arguments or jokes about suicide. Also if appropriating culture or literature that doesn't belong to you is the strat, please don't pref me.

Everything Else

Debate is a communicative activity. Pick an argument and defend it, and answer the other team's arguments. Be persuasive. Make claims, back them up with warrants, and please compare impacts. Make jokes. Speaker points will go up. Cards are good, contextual analysis using cards is better, comparative claims contextualized to the evidence in the round is best. I don't read much evidence so don't count on me to read the 16 cards you shadow extend in the rebuttal; it is your job to tell me why a few of them tip the debate in your direction.

As a competitor I read everything from elections to Baudrillard, but had the most competitive success with structural criticisms about ableism and disability. I valued fast, technical debate and I appreciate and understand those debates. I also did performance debate for a year and have read a lot of critical race theory, critical disability studies/crip studies, gender/queer theory, and colonialism literature. Yes I will vote on in-round rhetoric arguments, so do not use racist/cissexist/ableist/homophobic/transphobic language. I will be very persuaded by a well-constructed argument about it from the other side.

I like all different styles of debate, so read arguments you are comfortable with and I will do my best to evaluate the debate in front of me. Speaker points are almost always between 28 and 29, adjusted for division; above or below indicates a unique round. Please remember that I am an imperfect being in the service of the imperfect god of debate, but I do promise to be attentive, work hard to understand your arguments, and try to give an RFD focused on education and how to improve for the future. One last thing: I give long RFDs, #sorrynotsorry.

Devon Cantwell SLC West HS 5 rounds

Last changed on Fri January 5, 2024 at 1:27 PM EDT

** Updated for the 2023-2024 Academic Year**

She/Her/Hers

Evidence: Apparently I need to put this on here now, but evidence standards will always be an a priori issue to evaluation for me. If there is a procedural argument that is brought up on the standards for evidence (example: distortion, not being able to access source for evidence, clipped evidence, or non-existent evidence). I will default to NSDA evidence standards unless there are other standards governing evidence evaluation. I will also only evaluate evidence that has been brought up on an ethics violation. Once an evidence ethics argument has been made, I will stop the round and vote immediately on that issue before anything else in the round proceeds. I see evidence as a core ethics argument that impacts the ability to go through anything else in the round and impacts my ability to trust any evidence that has been read by a team with evidence issue.

General Background: I’ve been in the world of policy debate for about 15 years, ranging from participation to coaching. Way back in the day, I debated at both Topeka High and Washburn Rural HS. I also debated in the regional circuit for University of Kansas for a few years and coached in Kansas, Alabama, and Mississippi. I have a deep love for the activity. I am currently working on a Ph.D. in Political Science and I study immigration surveillance as part of my research.

Topicality/Procedural Issues: I vote on these. While I default to competing interpretations, it's important that you are answering all levels of the argument-- including the impact level of the debate. If you are negative and hope to win the round on T, you need to make sure you have a complete argument out of the gate to vote on. I should see a definition, interp, link, and impact level to your argument and I should see the aff responding to these. Cross-apply this to any procedural argument as well (such as ASPEC, condo bad, etc.)

Disads- There needs to be a terminal impact (or at least solid analysis as to why that impact outweighs aff impacts in the round), a risk/okay probability of the disad happening (otherwise, why does your UQ matter?), and a plausible link to the aff. Generic DAs are fine, but there needs to be a plausible link, even if just at an analytical level.

Counterplans-- I tend to be alright with CPs and lean negative. I think most are generally smart. However, that being said, the CP needs to be both rhetorically and functionally competitive. I think Affs can/should be held accountable for clarifications made on positions and that those links apply across both CP and DA grounds.

Kritiks-- I'm fine with these, however, keep in mind that I am studying political theory in a Ph.D. program, so if your whole knowledge of your K is from a long series of back files on the K or from reading a few paragraphs of Nietzsche, this might end badly for you. I tend to prefer Ks with wider reach (capitalism, feminism, racism, etc) and less so Ks of particular authors, mostly because they are generally done poorly. If you run a K, it is EXTREMELY important that you provide a clear narrative of a) the role of my ballot, b) the world of the alternative, and c) how I should prioritize impact calculus in the round.

General Notes:

- If you are going for more than 2 major things in your 2NR/2AR, there is a low chance you are going to win the round. Similarly, if you don't provide an impact calculus, you likely will not like the decision I make at the end of the round.

- Negative strategy-- there needs to be some sort of offense in the round. A defensive strategic approach has rarely won my ballot.

- Please don't be unpleasant during the round. I can almost guarantee that if you are, it's not aligned with the quality of your argumentation and it's just going to be a long round. For me this looks more like arrogance or intentional cruelness-- I'm fine with bluntness, anger, frustration, etc. If you are unsure what I mean by this, please ask.

- I pay attention to the rhetoric used in the round. Slurs and derogatory language will almost assuredly earn you lower speaker points.

- Both teams should start impact calc early, use this to frame your speeches and line by line, and use impact calc to prioritize voting issues and role of the ballot.

- I reward debaters who make an effort to deeply engage with the topic area and issues.

- Squirrel affs are rarely good affs. They generally have poor structure, poor solvency or advantage foundations, and generate poor debate. I would rather see a super mainstream topic that prompts a lot of clash in the round than an aff that is poorly written for an ambush factor.

- In more policy-centered debates, I may err more on the tech aspect of the debate. In other cases, I may give some leniency on tech if the arguments are "true" (understanding that truth can be a subjective value).

- I'm starting to realize through my working social justice that I'm more easily affected by detailed narratives of sexism, racism, ableism (esp. invisible disabilities), and sexual assault. Trigger warnings aren't very helpful for me as a judge (I don't have a choice to opt out of them and I don't think that I would want to) but know that I may ask for a minute to just breathe or get some water between speeches, so I can have a clear head for the next speaker if there is a particularly vivid or powerful speech. This is by no means a common thing that I do, but I did want to add this to affirm the value of self-care in this activity.

- Add me to the email chain: devon.cantwell@gmail.com

- I flow on my computer, so please make sure you take a beat at the top of flows before jumping in and please slow down to about 70% for analytical arguments, especially if they are fewer than 5 words. I have physical pain in my joints, especially at the end of long days of judging. This doesn't make my ability to assess your arguments any less, nor does it impact my competency. I will do my best to say "slow" if my joints can't keep up.

- If you think you might want my flow of the round, I'm happy to send it. Please try to give me a heads-up before the round starts, as I organize my flows a bit differently when they are being distributed. Also, send me an e-mail after the round to remind me to send it to you.

TL;DR: You do you. Have fun. Be a decent human in the round. Learn some things.

Marley Dominguez SLC West HS 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat January 19, 2019 at 3:01 AM MDT

Marley Dominguez

Please put me on the email chain - marleyixchel@gmail.com

Background:

Juan Diego Catholic H.S. (2N/1A) - 3 years of national policy debate

*Copper Classic Note - 2018-19 H.S. Topic: This is my first time judging on this topic, so please clarify any acronyms or complicated topic-specific jargon.

Arguments:

K Affs- Mostly what my partner and I read during hs but that doesn't mean you should worry about reading a policy, plan-based affirmative with me in the back. I'm good with both and prefer you to do what you do best. K affs should have some relation/be in the direction to the topic and have good solvency mechanisms.

Case Debate- V important! Good case debate looks like case DAs/case turns for the neg and a case flow in every speech for the aff.

Framework- I think this is definitely a good strategy against K affs, but prefer it to not be the only strategy coming out of the 1NC, but more so that it engages the affirmative. Include a topical version of the aff and why it's a better method to solve the impacts that the affirmative outlines. Fairness and predictability as impacts against K affs aren't as persuasive to me, but making arguments about why the tools/skills policy education gives you is key.

Kritiks- This is what I'm most familiar with, but specifically Ks in the gender/feminist literature base. If you choose to run a K make sure there are multiple links specific to the plan, turns case arguments, and a good explanation of the alt and how it implicates the impacts of the aff. A good explanation of the alt and the links are especially needed for high theory/postmodern Ks, as I have limited knowledge on this lit base.

Disads/CPs- Make sure to have a strong link debate. Include impact comparison & calc. Disads specific to the aff is cool just make sure to explain the internal link chain in the block so we're all on the same page. The CPs function should be clearly explained in CX/the block.

Topicality- While T is the argument I have least experience on, don't be afraid to go for it if the aff is v untopical. Be sure to slow down when reading T so I can catch everything. Impacts are super important in a T debate, and must be thoroughly explained (ie. not just saying "limits").

Speaking Style/Points

Similar to a lot of paradigms, it is best when speakers write my ballot in the final rebuttals (ie. frame what is the most important part of the debate and why you win.) This makes the decision a lot easier, but also allows you to focus on the larger question of the debate.

If you read theory, slow down when you get to it so I can actually flow what you're saying.

Clarity > Speed.

Have fun, be respectful of others, and be nice. Any offensive/violent/overly aggressive speech or behavior won't be tolerated.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or ask me questions before the round.

Josh Eames SLC West HS 4 rounds None

Dylan Frederick SLC West HS 6 rounds

Emily Gordon Rowland Hall

Last changed on Mon April 13, 2020 at 10:15 AM EDT

Rowland Hall ‘16

Harvard ‘20

Rounds on Arms Sales Topic: 0 (I was a lab leader at a policy camp this past summer, so I'm familiar with the basics of this topic); I'm a very cool and chill judge in my humble opinion. Just finished watching Tiger King, so I appreciate any references.

Here are my thoughts about various debate arguments in the words of Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do.” I will provide you with lyrics (poetry really) and then explanations about my debate thoughts relating to the song. Ask me if you have any questions (Taylor Swift related or otherwise)!

“Look what you made me do” – this lyric accurately sums up my feelings about judging – I will vote however you tell me to vote – Please make smart well-warranted arguments supported by evidence, and I will happily vote for you. I will vote on almost any argument (as long as it is not morally problematic), so don’t worry about me. That being said, here are my preferences:

Topicality:

“I don't trust nobody and nobody trusts me” – I don’t trust any aff to be topical (joking!). I really like T, but I don’t have a lot of experience with the education topic, so keep that in mind. I like competing interpretations but can be persuaded to vote on reasonability. I think small topics can be great but so can big topics. Paint a picture for me of the world of your interp like how Taylor Swift describes how she is rising up from the dead to come for her enemies. Evidence comparison is undervalued in T debates.

DA’s:

“You said the gun was mine” – Debaters often leave so much up to judges in these debates, which is often frustrating to all parties. Please compare your impacts to the aff’s. Turns case arguments that operate on multiple levels are very persuasive to me.

Case:

“The world moves on, another day, another drama, drama
But not for me, not for me, all I think about is karma” – I think that big silly impacts (drama) can easily be defeated with smart analytics (karma). I like logical internal link presses and find them very persuasive.

“I don't like your kingdom keys

They once belonged to me” – I went for the security K, settler colonialism K, ableism K, Death K, and probably some more. However, don’t assume I know your K lit. I enjoy K debates when links are highly contextual to the aff. Otherwise, K debates can be quite frustrating and harder to win if the aff can win that the neg hasn’t proven the aff is a bad idea. I can be convinced that the neg doesn’t need to win an alt, but I think that it’s super helpful to. I think affs get to weigh their impacts usually but maybe not always. Please do not presume that everyone in the room knows K buzzwords and actually explain what they mean if you want me to vote on them.

CP’s:

“I don't like your perfect crime” – how I feel about CP’s that steal the aff. I’m not a huge fan of process CP’s. I think the states CP is fine to test the fed key warrant, but maybe it’s not.

“Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time” – I’ll kick CP’s for you if you tell me to. I don’t think that CP’s always need solvency advocates. The best CP’s are in aff solvency cards though.

Theory:

“Isn't cool, no, I don't like you (oh!)” – generally how I feel about aff teams that go for condo – I’m just kidding. A little. I think 2-3 condo are fine. Being neg is hard and affs should be able to answer multiple CP’s with defenses of their internal links. Most theory arguments are a reason to reject the argument not the team.

No Plan Affs:

“I'll be the actress starring in your bad dreams” – if you don’t tell me how to vote in these debates! I believe debate is a game. The role of the ballot is to vote for the team who did the better debating. I really like fairness as an impact (“Don't like your tilted stage”) if explained well, but I’m also a fan of arguments about the importance of research (“I've got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined; I check it once, then I check it twice, oh!”)

I think topical versions of the aff and switch side debate arguments are often persuasive and should be answered specifically by the aff rather than with sweeping claims like cross apply the case. When you are neg, I think you should answer the case and contextualize your impacts to the aff. When you are aff, if you make totalizing claims (ie "antiblackness is ontological") the burden of proof is on you, not the other team to prove that it's true.

“But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time” – I think engaging with critical affs is great and smart – It’s important to tie the aff down to something to generate competition though.

I err on the side of tech over truth.

If you are nice to the other team, explain your arguments, and compare impacts, I think that we will all enjoy the debate.

Amanda Guffey McQueen HS 6 rounds

Brock Hanson Rowland Hall 6 rounds

Last changed on Mon February 10, 2020 at 11:26 AM MDT

Brock Hanson

Precious Assistant coach, Rowland Hall St. Marks — five years

Debating Experience

High school - Three years, Nationally

Policy Debate

Role as judge in debate — I attempt to enter debates with as little preconcieved notion about my role as possible. I am open to being told how to evaluate rounds, be it an educator, policymaker, etc. Absent any instruction throughout the round, I will most likely default to a role as a policymaker.

Purpose of philosophy — I see this philosophy as a tool to be used by debaters to help modify or fine-tune specific parts of their strategies in round. I don’t think that this philosophy should be a major reason to change a 1AC/1NC, but more used to understand how to make the round as pleasant as possible.

Evaluative practices and views on debate round logistics

Prep time — Prep ends when the flash drive leaves the computer/when the speech-email has been sent. I expect debaters to keep track of their own prep time, but I will usually keep prep as well to help settle disagreements

Evidence — I would like to be included in any email chain used for the round using the email address below. I will read un-underlined portions of evidence for context, but am very apprehensive to let them influence my decision, unless their importance is identified in round.

Speaker point range — 27.0 - 30. Speaker points below a 27 indicate behavior that negatively affected the round to the point of being offensive/oppressive.

How to increase speaker points — Coherence, enthusiasm, kindness, and the ability to display an intimate knowledge of your arguments/evidence. Cross-ex is an easy way to earn speaker points in front of me - I enjoy enthusiastic and detailed cross-ex and see it as a way to show familiarity with arguments.

How to lose speaker points — Being excessively hostile, aggressive, overpowering, or disengaged.

Clarity — I will say ‘Clear’ mid-speech if I’m unable to understand you. I will warn you twice before I begin subtracting speaker points and stop flowing - I will attempt to make it obvious that I’ve stopped flowing in a non-verbal manner (setting down my pen, etc.) but will not verbally warn you.

Argumentative predispositions and preferences

Affirmatives - I don’t think affirmatives should be inherently punished for not reading a plan text, as long as they justify why they do it. I am probably more interested in ‘non-traditional’ affirmatives than a big-stick Heg aff.

Counter-Plans — Speeding through a 20-second, catch-all, 7 plank, agent counter-plan text will not be received well in front of me. However, super-specific counter-plans (say, cut from 1AC solvency evidence) are a good way to encourage debates that result in high speaker points.

Disadvantages — Specific, well articulated DA debate is very appealing to me, but super-generics like spending are a bit boring absent an aff to justify them as the primary strategy.

Framework — Engagement > Exclusion. The topic can be a stasis point for discussion, but individuals may relate to it in very different ways. (See Role as judge in debate)

Kritiks — Easily my 'comfort-zone' for debates, both for the affirmative and negative. Creativity in this area is very appealing to me, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that that whoever reads the best poetry automatically wins. Be smart and articulate about your arguments, and make it seem like you care about what you're talking about. The 'K’s are cheating and so they should lose' -esque arguments aren’t especially compelling, but if you can intelligently explain why the hippy-anarchists sitting across from you should go back to their coffee shops and beat-poetry, I'll vote on it. Performance as a method of supporting arguments is welcomed and enjoyable insofar as it is grounded in arguments.

Theory — I think specific, contextualized Theory arguments are much more persuasive than generic, broad-sweeping theory claims. Spending 5 minutes on Theory in a rebuttal does not grant you an instant ballot, inversely,15 seconds of blippy violations it at the end of the debate makes it difficult to pull the trigger absent blatant concessions. I’m more comfortable and better versed in regards to theory arguments than with topicality. I am very persuaded by arguments against performative contradiction. I understand the strategic utility of having multiple lines of offence in a 1NC, but would prefer to evaluate 1NC’s holistically as a constant thought.

Topicality — Topicality is perhaps where I’m least experienced from an argument standpoint, and thus don’t particularly enjoy topicality debates, I do, however understand its utility against blatantly abusive affirmative. In-round abuse is more persuasive than potential abuse.

Feel free to ask before round or email me if you have any questions

Brock Hanson

Debate.brock.s.hanson@gmail.com

Yumasie Hellebuick Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Tue October 25, 2022 at 8:50 AM MDT

3 years of CX at Bingham High School

3 years of CX at the University of Wyoming

Yes, add me to the email chain/contact: yumasie.hellebuick@gmail.com

I do not presume the aff, neg, or what debate should be. Debate is anything you want it to be, you just have to defend and give reasons why I should think debate should be understood that way instead of the other teams interpretation. I flow every speech, including cross-examination.

CX -

Topicality: I vote on competing interpretations, but also can vote on why I shouldn't evaluate it. Prove in-round abuse and why I should prefer your interpretation of the topic. No plan text? That's fine-just defend the lack there-of or why you don't have to defend those. The more nebulous your cross-ex responses are, the more likely I am to vote against you. Explain to me what voting aff means. What does voting aff mean for you, the debate community, or society writ large?

Theory: I vote on dropped theory arguments with warranted impacts. Like topicality, I would like for you to slow down and prefer depth > breadth.

Kritiks: I vote on these if there is a well articulated link to the aff and the implications that occur from so. While i've read a plethora of books, I like in-depth articulation than jargon. Impact claims should be more than "root cause of violence" and there should be some explanation of the impact in terms of the aff. I don't think you need an alternative, but if you are going for one please explain it.

Counterplan: I vote on these and assume all are competitive unless said otherwise.

Disadvantages: I vote on these when there is an explicit judge direction of why I should evaluate your impact claims first and a link.

Judge Direction: Making my decision easier through impact comparison, what is a prior evaluation, etc are all things I love. What did the other team handle so poorly they should lose the debate? I'm generous with speaker points. Public speaking is a learned skill, and should be awarded.

John Hines College Prep 3 rounds

Last changed on Mon March 11, 2024 at 11:46 AM PDT

John Hines
DOD at Head Royce
20+ Years Judging/Coaching

UPDATE--1/2/24

Commencing old man ranting at clouds:

So, it appears my addendum from 6 years ago was just marking the beginning of the end of line-by-line debate.

After returning from a four-year hiatus, I discovered last year that flowing and line-by-line debating are essentially a thing of the past that current debaters don't even really realize they aren't actually doing.

I blame the judges who started flowing directly from the speech docs and decided they no longer needed to hold debaters accountable for what actually came out of their mouths.

So, we now have a community of JUDGES who never actually learned how to flow or debate line by line, either.

This creates a fundamental problem for me. I have no idea how to evaluate debates when everyone else in the room is just reading and responding to the speech docs without knowing whether the judge who actually listens and flows is getting things down on the flow where they belong.

I honestly have no idea how judges today decide debates fairly and objectively based on what was actually said in the debate.

So, I'll summarize everything else below very simply here:

If you don't flow, I probably won't vote for you.

If you don't debate line-by-line, I probably won't vote for you.

If you don't care whether I'm trying to flow the words coming out of your mouth, I probably won't vote for you.

If neither you nor your opponent flows or debates line by line, I will be forced to vote for somebody, but I will have ZERO TOLERANCE for someone who didn't flow or debate off the flow, post-rounding me for why I didn't vote theway they wanted me to vote.

Addendum--10/15/17

Line-by-line debate is actually a thing. It's a skill not a referendum on you as a person or what I think about your arguments. It's a method of clash that allows judges to decide rounds with minimum intervention on their part. If your approach to debating line-by-line includes extensive overviews, "cloud clash," and requests for me to pull out new sheets of paper I am probably not a very good judge for you. I will do my best to evaluate the round in front of me, but if you chose to abandon the line by line please know that you have asked me to insert my subjective views of debate into the round and you are not likely to be happy with the outcome.

Standard philosophy begins here:
Rather than list off a series of personal beliefs about arguments, an explanation of how I decide debates seems more productive. Three keys to debating well in front of me:

1. Make Arguments. I tend to decide debates within 20 minutes of the end of the round. I will call for VERY few cards after the debate as I prefer to make my decision based upon what you argued in the last rebuttals rather than what I think about the quality of your cards. I will not re-read every card read in the debate. I will not read portions of evidence not read in the round by debaters. I will not read cards handed to me that were not extended in the last two rebuttals. I will resolve arguments consisting of disputes over interpretation of warrants in evidence by reading those cards. I will make sure arguments extended in the last two rebuttals can be traced back across the flow to the point they originated. I will make sure cards handed to me were extended properly during the debate before reading them. I will keep a careful flow of the debate and will do my best to vote based upon warranted arguments extended throughout the debate. Your job is to speak clearly and coherently and to dispute the warrants within your opponents’ arguments with analysis and evidence.

2. Make Choices. Most debates come down to a couple of key issues which need to be resolved by me; awareness of these nexus issues and the ability to clarify how they should be resolved is the key to your success. Does the perm on the CP avoid the links to the net-benefits? Does the solvency deficit to the counter-plan outweigh the net-benefits? Who controls the question of uniqueness (both at the link and impact level)? Can the alternative to the criticism function simultaneously with the plan? I prefer to intervene as little as humanly possible. Your ability to accurately frame the nexus issues of the debate for me will reduce the need for me to resolve these questions for you and make me a much happier judge.

3. Don’t be a Jerk. As Ed Lee of Emory says in his most recent Judge Philosophy--"Respect is non-negotiable for me". I work VERY HARD as a judge. I flow on paper, I generally keep my computer closed the entire debate and I try to pay very close attention to everything you say. I spend time constructing my post-round discussion to be clear, concise, and educational. I do not take kindly to debaters or coaches who wish to interrupt and argue with me before I've reached the conclusion of my RFD. I promise to give you plenty of time to ask productive follow-up questions. Lately, I've become even more concerned with in-round comity. Rudeness and snide remarks during cross-ex, insulting the intelligence and goodwill of the other team, and other derisive and insulting behavior towards opponents will not be tolerated. To once again quote Ed - "If you are engaging your opponent in a way that you would not if you were in front of one of your professors [teachers] or the president of your university [principal/head of school] then you should not do it in front of me." I love seeing passionate engagement with argument, but quickly become physically uncomfortable when passion turns into hostility. If you are confused as to where this line resides watch my non-verbals...it will be very obvious.

Finally, on the question of "What kinds of arguments do you prefer" I'll answer by agreeing with Jarrod Atchison on the importance of FLEXIBILITY as a debater. To quote his ballot from a recent NDT final round "Debater flex is the past, present, and the future":

Jarrod ATCHISON, Director of Debate and Assistant Professor of Speech and Drama at Trinity University (Incoming DOF at Wake Forrest), 2008
[Judge Ballot from the Final Round of the 2008 National Debate Tournament, Available Online at http://groups.wfu.edu/NDT/Results/JudgesBallots2008final.htm, Accessed 03-16-2010]

7. Debater Flex is the wave of the future: I would have loved to have been a part of the Dartmouth coaching staff and squad when they were brainstorming a negative strategy for this debate. Although they had an extremely limited amount of time, they had two fantastic debaters in Josh and Kade that could execute a wide range of arguments leaving no option unavailable. In this debate, they had two case specific counterplans, a well developed kritik, two topicality arguments, etc…This debate reminded me that debaters who self identify as “policy” or “kritik” are missing out on a wide range of ways to win. Forget the labels, just think of everything as an argument. Some arguments require more understanding than others, but they are just arguments. If you want to be able to take on a new high tech aff with less than 45 minutes of prep before the final round of the NDT, the last thing that you want to tell your coach/partner is “I can’t argue __.” Debater flex is the past, present, and the future and I hope that students will see Josh and Kade’s 1NC as an example of how important it is to be versatile.

Adam Jensen Hire 3 rounds

Elliot Kovnick Hire 3 rounds

Last changed on Sat October 31, 2020 at 2:58 AM MDT

The philosophies of the judges I most admire tend to explain relatively little in terms of which arguments debaters should run. Objectivity is an ideal I will strive to reach in my own judging. However, while I strongly believe that debate should be entirely about the debaters, I also understand that we all have biases that cause us to make decisions counter to our ideals for judgement and that it would be irresponsible of me to suggest otherwise. I tend to believe that the best way to know what those biases are is through looking at what judges empirically vote for. You're probably best served by looking at my past judging history. Otherwise, I will just tell you some general statements about things I, myself, have done in debate/personally believe about debate, and you can interpret these as biases or not, as you will, knowing that I will actively attempt to prevent them from affecting my decision.

My debate history/education/general preconceptions --

I debated in high school and part of college. Since then, I coached high school debate for awhile. Now, I judge occasionally. As a debater, I tended to read postmodern arguments (Baudrillard, Bataille, etc). I read a bit of Afropess in college. I coached kids reading policy and k arguments. I also graduated pretty recently with a degree in rhetoric (sorta like philosophy but a bit more in the postmodern direction). Since leaving debate, my personal reading has drifted away from critical literature towards more things about policy. related to Ks/debating against Ks --

I'm very conflicted in terms of what I actually believe -- in an outside of round sense -- about framework as a strategy against k affs, because although I, myself, have read mostly kritikal affs and think there are educational aspects to them, I do think there are also some benefits to a more limited topic. I have found that, in my own prep, it has been easiest to effectively prepare against an opponent when their affirmative is at least related to the resolution; however, I have also read affirmative's unrelated to the resolution. Framework is neither engagement with the aff nor is it not engagement with the aff; it is one or the other depending on how it is read. There is no "most" important part of a K. It is illogical to claim that the link is more important than the impact or vice versa (because you can't make monolithic statements about rounds, "Ks" as a category, or even with regards to any individual K, especially given that the parts are dependent on each other...). In a similar vein, I do not think winning an alt is necessary to win every K (although, it is necessary to win many and perhaps most).

Things related to T/Theory --

I'm super interested in T and theory. Debaters don't read either of those positions enough. Also, I don't think debaters, in high school, read enough cards on topicality. People should have more nuanced theory interpretations that are as specific to their position as possible. People shouldn't read "cheating" CPs, but they would win more if they did.

Things that are miscellaneous in nature --

Generally, the more disclosure the better. CX is undervalued. Defense is too. Zero risk is possible but unlikely. Avoiding extinction is maybe the highest collective human imperative, but the ways that debaters get to supposed extinction impacts are almost always inane from a realistic perspective. In terms of the tech/truth question, I used to debate in a pretty techy way that was very centered on the flow. I'm not even really sure what it would mean for someone to vote on truth over tech. If judges are rated on a scale of "willingness to vote on an argument they know is ridiculous if it is well executed," I am probably one standard deviation above the mean in the direction of willingness to vote on absurd things. Realistically, most debate arguments are a bit silly when you really look at them, but we are willing to suspend disbelief for certain things and not others. I generally try to suspend as much outside disbelief as I can and just understand the debate as a sort of internally coherent text.

Finally, I love bad jokes, particularly puns. If you make them, I will not intentionally give you more speaker points, but I will be amused and maybe even like you more as a person. I, however, cannot control if said positive impression unconsciously causes me to give you more speaker points in an unintentional way.

Jeremy Lam Salem Hills HS 6 rounds

Last changed on Fri October 4, 2019 at 10:47 AM MST

He/Him/His/They/Them

I've done forensics for 4 years in a lot of different events. I competed 3 years in high school and one year in the collegiate parliamentary circuit. Overall, I'm familiar with the mechanisms of debate and comfortable with procedurals and critical arguments.

Send Files to jeremylm21@gmail.com

Specifics:

Speed:

My first language isn't English and have severe ADD, so if you spread too quckly or are unclear I will not be able to flow you. I won't flow from the file you send me on my computer, I only do so to check evidence. Although, I will "clear" and "slow" you a few times before I stop flowing. Overall, you can go fast as long as you're clear on tags, and if you're not then I will clear/slow you. SLOW ON TAGS AND CITES. I would also prefer if you didn't spread in rebuttals.

Make the round accessible to everyone, I won't accept spreading if it's used to create a barrier against those who aren't familiar with speed. Slow or clear when your opponents ask you to.

HOW TO GET CRAZY HIGH SPEAKS:

Most of my formal debate experience comes from collegiate parliamentary where cards and evidence are not used. This means a couple of things: first is that I heavily value analysis and strong warrants, second is that I'm terrible at flowing citations. In your constructive speeches it is very important for you to label each part of the argument (i.e. uniqueness, links, impacts) in each position which makes it easier for me to flow. Thus your extensions should look like "Extend the link analysis on advantage 1," instead of "Extend the xxx card."

Theory:

My threshold for theory is relatively low compared to formal policy judges. Just like all most arguments, if you can warrant it, I will flow it. The same condition applies to reverse voting issues as well. When answering theory I use standards for measuring abuse in-round, so be sure to do sufficient analysis on them and be thorough in the voters. I'll leave the evaluation debate up to you.

Kritiks:

I think K's, K Affs, and Performance Affs are intriguing and awesome. However, I am not familiar with most of the literature base with the exception for basic critiques, like Capitalism. The best way for you to win critical arguments with me is to include an analysis that treats me like I'm 10 years old. Referring back to the Speed section, my first language isn't English and I have ADD, so when you use intricate vocabulary while speaking quickly, I probably won't be able to follow your speech.

It's important that your framework is strongly warranted. My unfamiliarity with critical literature makes it so I default to a policy framework if the framing of the K isn't explained well. You'll also have to convince me the alt is better than the plan, it's usually not enough for me to vote on the K as a linear disadvantage.

Side Note: Please don't run identity criticisms without being a part of the specified marginalized identity that you are using unless you have a specific method to engage in the discussion. Commodifying the struggles of a marginalized group won't win you the ballot.

In/Out of round conduct:

USE TRIGGER WARNINGS (sexual assault, violence/gore, racial slurs, etc.) AND TELL EVERYONE ABOUT THEM BEFORE THE ROUND BEGINS. I will not stand for malicious actions towards other competitors, if you fail to use someone's correct pronouns on purpose, call them racial slurs, or blatantly disrespectful, I will reflect it on the ballot. I understand that in-round aggression is inevitable, but please keep it to a minimum. I view debate as a safe space for debaters to voice themselves in ways they otherwise wouldn't have outside of the activity, please treat it as such.

I don't care if you sit/stand for cross. If you take too long to flash evidence I will count it towards your prep.

Unless told otherwise, I usually disclose at the end and give critiques. I also save my flows for the day, so if you have questions outside of round I'd be happy to answer them or give feedback.

LD:

Everything that I wrote above applies in this event, if it's a progressive round. Although, it's important to mention that I do not think that specific debate formats should be limited to a single style of debating, thus progressive or traditional methods of debating are both fine with me; if you want to treat an LD round like a Policy round, then go for it. I'm not super familiar with the format of LD debate so please time yourselves. Additionally, you will have to warrant the hell out of your Value/Criterion and tell me why it's more applicable to the topic and why it's better than your competitor's, I expect a lot of clash in this area.

Overall:

Speak clearly, warrant your arguments, be respectful, and have fun.

Will Matheson Rowland Hall 6 rounds

Hunter McFarland Hire 6 rounds

Ben Moss Copper Hills HS 3 rounds

Last changed on Fri January 9, 2015 at 12:26 AM UTC

Judging Philosophy

High School debate experience: 2 year of policy debate

Colligate experience: 1^st year at Weber State

My name is Benjamin Moss any further questions contact email benmoss54@gmail.com

Generals:

I give the debaters the luxury of running the debate round unless you specifically ask, I don’t like to see people abuse there prep time so as soon as the speech is ready and time stops prep is over. If you continue prepping you speaker points will drop. When It comes to general arguments I’m not picky being newer to the game, I like to have you as a debater explain your arguments to me versus being block or card heavy. First when you’re reading if you are unclear I will tell you to clear up, If you don’t clear up I will disregard that evidence because I won’t do your work for you.

I Flow on paper in columns

Voting:

There are specific arguments that I like more I do tend to understand straight up arguments more, though if you have a kritik it’s not like I won’t vote on it. Again once you present your kritik I expect you to explain it not just specifically for me but I enjoy debates that are more even where both side understand the argument and can debate it well. I will vote on theory arguments but you do have to explain why they out way the affirmative or the negative strategy.

Argument versus Argument:

Straight up debates: I like to see all arguments on a flow but especially straight up impact debates, if you can show me how the debate applies or cross applies to specific arguments. I also love to see the impact level of the debate, tell me why things out ways and why they do. I’m not the type of judge that won’t buy into an argument, but again if you don’t explain why the impact matters in the round I’m going to have a hard time voting on it.

Kritik versus Straight up: Being young in a debate nature I prefer policy debate, but this is where It comes down to weighing the kritik versus the policy plan and why it’s important to way this argument in the round. I do tend to like kritiks that have links to the affirmatives discourse on an argument. Though I’m totally open to debaters running any arguments. I like the ability for debaters to show tons of creativity and style in rounds, I feel like no debate truly is all that good if you don’t truly buy into some of the arguments that you run.

Kritik versus Kritik: Again not as familiar with critical affirmatives but I tend to love creativity in these strategies going around the debate world today. I tend to lean more on the negative side on these arguments because I tend not to know why to vote on the affirmative. But when it comes down to who wins the round it’s truly all about execution the team that executes the debate the best on the critical side wins, fair and simple tell me why and how you want me to vote and do it better than the other team and you’ll likely win.

Henry Olson East HS 6 rounds

Ashton Poindexter Hire 6 rounds

Kelli Purser Copper Hills HS 6 rounds

Catherine Shackelford Juan Diego Catholic High School 4 rounds

Last changed on Sat February 15, 2020 at 8:19 AM EDT

Please include me on the email chain: jdutdebate@gmail.com

Do what you do best. I’m comfortable with all arguments. Practice what you preach and debate how you would teach. Strive to make it the best debate possible. I reward self-awareness, clash, good research, humor, and bold decisions. I will not tolerate language or behaviors that create a hostile environment. Please include trigger warnings for sexual violence. Feel free to ask me any questions you have before the round.

Specific things:

Speed - I'm comfortable with speed but please recognize that if you're reading typed blocks that are not in the speech doc at the same speed you are reading cards, there's a chance I will miss something because I can't flow every word you're saying as fast as you can say them. Slow down just a bit for what you want me to write down or include your blocks in the doc. I will say "clear" if you are not clear.

Topicality- I enjoy good topicality debates. To me good topicality debates are going to compare impacts and discuss what interp of the topic is going to be better for the debate community and the goals that are pursued by debaters.The goals and purpose of debate is of course debatable and can help establish which impacts are more important than others so make sure you're doing that work for me.

Counterplans- I enjoy creative counterplans best but even your standard ones will be persuasive to me if there is a solid solvency advocate and net-benny.

Theory - In-round abuse will always be far more persuasive to me than merely potential abuse and tricksy interps. I expect more than just reading blocks.

K- I really enjoy a good critical debate. Please establish how your kritik interacts with the affirmative and/or the topic and what that means for evaluating the round in some sort of framework. Authors and buzzwords alone will not get you very far even if I am familiar with the literature. I expect contextual link work with a fully articulated impact and alternative. If your K does not have an alternative, I will weigh it as a DA (that's probably non-unique).

Performance - All debate is a performance and relies on effective communication. If you are communicating to me a warranted argument, I do not care how you are presenting it.

John Shackelford Rowland Hall 6 rounds

Last changed on Wed January 3, 2024 at 8:43 AM MDT

John Shackelford

Policy Coach: Park City, UT

***ONLINE DEBATE***

I keep my camera on as often as I can. I still try to look at faces during CX and rebuttals. Extra decimals if you try to put analytics in doc.

I end prep once the doc has been sent.

GO SLOWER

****TLDR IN BOLD****

Please include me in email chains during the debate (johnshackelf[at]gmail). I do not follow along with the speech doc during a speech, but sometimes I will follow along to check clipping and cross-ex questions about specific pieces of evidence.

Here is what an ideal debate looks like. (Heads up! I can be a silly goose, so the more you do this, the better I can judge you)

- Line by Line (Do it in order)

- Extending > reading a new card (Your better cards are in your first speech anyway. Tell me how the card is and how it frames the debate in your future analysis)

- More content >Less Jargon (avoid talking about the judge, another team, flows, yourselves. Focus on the substance. Avoid saying: special metaphors, Turns back, check back, the link check, Pulling or extending across, Voting up or down. They don’t exist.)

- Great Cross-examination (I am okay with tag team, I just find it unstrategic)

- Compare > description (Compare more, describe less)

- Overviews/Impact Calc (Focus on the core controversy of the debate. Offense wins)

- Engage > Exclude

- Clarity > Speed

- Making generics specific to the round

- Researched T Shells (Do work before reading T. I love T, but I have a standard on what is a good T debate)

- Arguments you can only read on this topic!!

Popular Q&A

- K/FW: More sympathetic to Ks that are unique to the topic. But I dig the 1 off FW strat or 9 off vs a K.

- Theory: Perfcon theory is a thing, condo theory is not a thing. I like cheating strats. I like it when people read theory against cheating strats too.

- Prep time: I stop prep time when you eject your jump drive or when you hit send for the email. I am probably the most annoying judge about this, but I am tired of teams stealing prep and I want to keep this round moving

- I flow on my computer

Want extra decimals?

Do what I say above, and have fun with it. I reward self-awareness, clash, sound research, humor, and bold decisions. It is all about how you play the game.

Cite like Michigan State and open source like Kentucky

Speaker Points-Scale - I'll do my best to adhere to the following unless otherwise instructed by a tournament's invite:

30-99%perfect

29.5-This is the best speech I will hear at this tournament, and probably at the following one as well.

29-I expect you to get a speaker award.

28.5-You're clearly in the top third of the speakers at the tournament.

28-You're around the upper middle (ish area)

27.5-You need some work, but generally, you're doing pretty well

27-You need some work

26.5-You don't know what you're doing at all

26 and lower-you've done something ethically wrong or obscenely offensive that is explained on the ballot.

All in all, debate in front of me if your panel was Mike Bausch, Mike Shackelford, Hannah Shoell, Catherine Shackelford, and Ian Beier

If you have any questions, then I would be more than happy to answer them

Mike Shackelford Rowland Hall 6 rounds

Last changed on Wed January 3, 2024 at 2:48 AM MDT

Mike Shackelford
Head Coach of Rowland Hall. I debated in college and have been a lab leader at CNDI, Michigan, and other camps. I've judged about 20 rounds the first semester.

Do what you do best. I’m comfortable with all arguments. Practice what you preach and debate how you would teach. Strive to make it the best debate possible.

Key Preferences & Beliefs
Debate is a game.
Literature determines fairness.
It’s better to engage than exclude.
Critique is a verb.
Defense is undervalued.

Judging Style
I flow on my computer. If you want a copy of my flow, just ask.
I think CX is very important.
I reward self-awareness, clash, good research, humor, and bold decisions.
Add me to the email chain: mikeshackelford(at)rowlandhall(dot)org

Feel free to ask.

Want something more specific? More absurd?

Debate in front of me as if this was your 9 judge panel:

Andre Washington, Ian Beier, Shunta Jordan, Maggie Berthiaume, Daryl Burch, Yao Yao Chen, Nicholas Miller, Christina Philips, jon sharp

If both teams agree, I will adopt the philosophy and personally impersonate any of my former students:

Ben Amiel, Andrew Arsht, David Bernstein, Madeline Brague, Julia Goldman, Emily Gordon, Adrian Gushin, Layla Hijjawi, Elliot Kovnick, Will Matheson, Ben McGraw, Corinne Sugino, Caitlin Walrath, Sydney Young (these are the former debaters with paradigms... you can also throw it back to any of my old school students).

LD Paradigm

Most of what is above will apply here below in terms of my expectations and preferences. I spend most of my time at tournaments judging policy debate rounds, however I do teach LD and judge practice debates in class. I try to keep on top of the arguments and developments in LD and likely am familiar with your arguments to some extent.

Theory: I'm unlikely to vote here. Most theory debates aren't impacted well and often put out on the silliest of points and used as a way to avoid substantive discussion of the topic. It has a time and a place. That time and place is the rare instance where your opponent has done something that makes it literally impossible for you to win. I would strongly prefer you go for substance over theory. Speaker points will reflect this preference.

Speed: Clarity > Speed. That should be a no-brainer. That being said, I'm sure I can flow you at whatever speed you feel is appropriate to convey your arguments.

Disclosure: I think it's uniformly good for large and small schools. I think it makes debate better. If you feel you have done a particularly good job disclosing arguments (for example, full case citations, tags, parameters, changes) and you point that out during the round I will likely give you an extra half of a point if I agree.

Stephanie Shelton East HS 6 rounds

Jordan Stephens Green Canyon High School 6 rounds

Riley Talamantes Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Fri January 12, 2024 at 4:53 AM PDT

riley.rosalie@gmail.com ; 7 years of policy debate experience

Debated at the TOC level in high school for 4 years, debated at the University of Wyoming from 2017-2021

Judging 2021-Present (Policy, CARD, sometimes high school policy & LD)

Over the last few years of judging policy and CARD, I find myself being a big picture type judge. While I still believe that a dropped argument is true and I can follow tricky framing arguments on the flow, debaters need to provide clear judge direction in the rebuttals on what those arguments mean and how I should deal with them at the end of the round. I am most persuaded by teams that go for fewer arguments in the rebuttals, spend time impacting/fleshing them out, and telling me how it implicates the rest of the debate.

Impacts need to be fleshed out in the final speeches. I need to know what is triggering the impact, where some war is happening, why it's uniquely coming now, etc. I find myself voting for teams that spend a lot of time in the final rebuttal giving me specific details on their impacts, how they can be avoided, and doing impact comparison with the other team. Same goes for more structural impacts. Use your evidence! The details are there but they need to be brought into your analysis.

Case engagement is one of my favorite aspects of debate. I find the block not spending as much time on case, and it makes the debate a lot closer than it should be. If you read one off vs. a policy aff, reading impact defense, solvency take outs, and evidence indicts to these policy teams will go far in front of me. If you are aff, I am persuaded by teams that know their ev in/out and consistently talk about their aff (thorough impact explanations/comparison, drawing me a picture of what the aff world looks like, talking about the aff on other sheets, etc).

If you want me to vote on a role of the ballot/judge, there needs to be clear weighing and impact extension as to why this plays an important role in the debate. Evidence comparison and indicts are also great weighing mechanisms that I find are underutilized.

For kritiks v. policy affs, I prefer teams that give extensive analysis of their evidence and provide specific examples to contextualize their link with the aff, rather than dumping a bunch of cards or shadow extend arguments. If you read psychoanalysis or other high theory, I am going to need a lot of explanation on some basic concepts so please keep this in mind.

With counterplans, I default to judge kick unless told otherwise.

If you want to have some fun with what you read, I am all for it! I love impact turns including nuclear war good, untraditional styles where you’re playing games instead of debating with speech times, etc. – so long as there is a metric for how I as the judge evaluate the debate I am here for it.

--- LD ---

While I have not competed in LD, I have judged numerous varsity LD rounds from the local to national level. I do not have a preference to a style in which you debate the topic, i.e. philosophical, kritikal, traditional, etc., however, I do care that you debate the topic in some way.

Here are some thoughts that I have about particular arguments but also how I evaluate LD debates:

1. I view the value-criterion as the framing for the debate and typically go to that debate first so I can filter the rest of the debate through this framework. In some debates it matters, others it doesn't (especially if the teams agree on/have similar value-criterions).

2. I am going to take a bit from a former coach's paradigm because I believe this is something I encounter a lot in LD: "too many debaters do not do their evidence justice. You should not expect me to read your evidence after the round and realize it's awesome. You should make sure I know it's awesome while you read it...Debaters who concentrate on persuading the judge, [by thoroughly explaining their evidence and why it matters in the debate], will control the narrative of the round and win my ballot."

3. I do not like when debaters will read/extend a bunch of arguments that do not provide a good warrant or reason why the argument matters. I would rather the 1NC read 1 less off case position in favor of more developed case analysis, impact calc, or fully complete arguments. I would rather the 1ar make 1 less theory argument in favor of actually explaining what the words "perm do both" mean, why the case outweighs, and sinking time in where it matters.

4. Impacting out your arguments and doing impact/evidence comparison in the final rebuttals is very important to me. Tell me why your arguments matters, why they are a priority, and overall why you won the debate. Ships passing in the night or blippy extensions are not advantageous for you.

5. Conditionality is probably bad in LD, but it's not that hard to defend condo good and I think most of these counterplan issues are best resolved at the level of how competitive they are with the aff, not theory. Again, sink time into arguments where you feel confident in going for them and explaining thoroughly in your final rebuttal.

6. I do not discriminate against certain arguments but if you read Kant, I am probably not the judge for you. I have judge a few of these debates and they are pretty confusing to me. If you are a Kant person who gets me as a judge, I need a lot more explanation on some of these buzzwords. I am also convinced that many students who read Kant don't really go for an impact or tell me how it relates back to the resolution so please do these things.

Zach Thiede Copper Hills HS 3 rounds

Lindsay Van Luvanee Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Sun January 14, 2024 at 11:10 AM CDT

I debated throughout high school and then at Idaho State University for 5 years. I then coached at Idaho State University for 2 years, Weber for 1, USC for 1, and am currently with Houston.

I am a firm believer that debate is for debaters. I've had my time to make others listen to whatever (and I mean absolutely whatever) I wanted to say, and it's my turn to listen to and evaluate your arguments, whatever they may be. While I'm sure I have my limitations, make me adapt to you instead of the other way around.

I try my damnedest to line up all the arguments on my flow. I am, however, open to alternate flowing styles. I really do prefer when debaters make specific reference of which argument(s) they are answering at a given time regardless of flowing style. I also flow the text of cards.

I prefer not to call for evidence (although I would like to be on your email chain... misslindsayv@gmail.com). This means explain, explain, explain! Tell me what the card says; tell me why I should care and how I should apply it. That being said, I do not think that cards are always better than analytics.

Be prepared to defend all aspects of your argument.

Everything is open to (re)interpretation. For example, some questions that may be relevant to my ballot include: What is the purpose of debate? How does this affect the way that impacts are evaluated? These kinds of top-level framing issues are the most important to me.

This means things like framework and T (fun little-known fact: I've always found topicality in general super interesting--I love the nit-picky semantics of language) can be viable options against K affs. However, you are better off if you have a substantive response to the aff included as well.

I'm still kind of deciding how I feel about how competition functions in method debates. I think the most accurate depiction of what I think about it now is this (and it all obviously depends on what's happening in the debate/on the flow, but in general): I'll probably err that the affirmative on-face gets a permutation to determine if the methods are mutually exclusive, and so that means the best strategy for the negative in this world is to generate their links to the aff's method itself to prove that mutual exclusivity.

I'd really appreciate it if you could warn me in advance if there will be graphic descriptions of sexual violence.

Charlee Wambolt Eagle HS 4 rounds

Last changed on Fri January 22, 2021 at 3:17 PM MDT

3 years of high school policy debate experience, was the 1N/2A most often until I started being double 2s. Flashing/emailing is not prep. I can probably follow anything, but slow down on tag lines especially if you want to make sure I write them down.

If you want me to clarify anything email me at wambolt.charleee@gmail.com.

Tag teaming is fine.

Things that raise speaker points: Being confident but also respectful, signposting clearly, being organized in your roadmaps, slowing down and being clear on tag lines, general kindness, not doing the things that hurt speaker points, etc. I won't go giving out 30s super easy, but I have no problem with 28s/29s.

Things that hurt speaker points: Laughing at the other team’s arguments, not being respectful, talking loud while the other team is giving one of their speeches, being unclear (especially on tag lines), etc. Also, any form of racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/etc language will dramatically lower your speaker points, and I am willing to give double losses in this case and really this case only.

I love T and Theory! It's weird, I know, but I just do. I love all arguments though, so just do what you want - honestly.

Please explain what the permutation looks like, don’t just say perm. Conditionality is a debate to be had.

On Kritiks: There is power in performance and other pathos-driven strategies. Honestly similar to T/Theory, I know this may be an unpopular opinion, but I think that these are more real-world than anything when done well. But please don't perform just for the sake of performing, make sure it has a purpose. I've heard the stories about people standing on desks, burning papers, screaming in other people's faces, even wrecking a laptop or doing other things to be memorable-- this is not what I support. I'm talking about performances that could require some theory to defend, performances that redefine the rules of debate and open doors for new stories to be told and new messages to be shared- not ones that redefine the rules of basic human decency or put anyone in danger in any way (including yourself). I will still be expecting some form of voters or line by line or some reason to vote for you if you do a performance, I won't do work for you. Other Ks can win too, don't feel pressure to perform. Also, be prepared to explain any jargon that you use. I'm not a psychology major, and you probably aren't either, so don't expect these words to be as self-explanatory as your debate coach said they were or whatever.

Curtis Wardle Sky View 3 rounds

Last changed on Fri March 19, 2021 at 8:07 AM MDT

Curtis Wardle

curtiswardle@gmail.com

435-757-6164

TLDR: debate however you would like in front of me. I'll evaluate whatever you give me to the best of my ability.

Speed: 6. If you aren't clear, then it makes my job infinitely harder. If you spread through the standards on T, Theory, and other analytic arguments, I won't feel guilty if it doesn't make it onto the flow. I can only evaluate what I was able to flow.

K: cool

CP: Cool

DA: Cool

FW: Cool

T: Go for it

Performance: Go for it.

Over/underviews: Please

Non Topical affs

I am open to new uses of time, performance, and affs that are not topical. However, I feel it is the burden of the affirmative to provide solid framework telling me to evaluate the round differently than if I were a traditional policymaker.

Topicality I'll be honest here. As aff, I was frequently non topical and as neg I read T all of the time. I am okay with T hacks, and I won't punish an aff outright so long as they can provide ample reason why their aff would be preferrable to the topic. I will default to competing interps on T debates generally.

Debate authors: this is my pet peeve. Debate people are great for advice at camp, they're not gods on the T flow. Cut it out. "Don't use me in round," Steve Knell, 2015

Kritiks

I don't really feel like I should have to put a section in here for K's but, here we go. I was a K hack that read Queer Theory/Ableism all of senior year. I believe that the K is a valid argument, and provides great (if not real world value,) intellectual value. I am familiar with queer, fem, and ableism literature as well as biopower. If you choose to read other identity critiques or something that isn't a "generic K," I may call for evidence. I will evaluate arguments I am unfamiliar with to the best of my ability.

Perm

Most CPs are totally able to be permed. I require debaters explain how the permutation is functional first, and evaluate whether or not the perm harms the integrity of the kritik if that becomes relevant. I am happy to grant perms, but if you do not tell me how the perm would function, I will most likely conclude neg.

Honestly, disads are my least favorite arguments. If you want me to vote for it, you're best going for a CP/DA strategy.

Andre Washington Rowland Hall 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat November 3, 2018 at 4:06 AM MDT

Assume I want to be added to your email chain: andre.d.washington@gmail.com

Andre Washington
Rowland Hall St. Marks
Assistant Coach

IMPORTANT CHANGES: After 5 years of judging a wide range of debate styles, I think I've come to the conclusion that I just can't connect with or enjoy the current iteration of HS high theory debate. Being able to act as an educator is an important reason for why I judge, and I don't think I can offer that in your Baudrilliard debates anymore.

This will be my sixth year with the program at Rowland Hall, and 10th year of debate overall.

I love debate and want students to love it as well.

Do what you want, and do it well. ---

Kritiks: Despite the revision above, you absolutely should still be reading the K in front of me. I am fine with the K. I like the K as it functions in a greater neg strategy (ie, I'd rather judge a 5 off round that includes a K than a 1 off K round). However, I went 1-off fem K in highschool for many rounds, so I am genuinely pretty accepting on this issue. Given that I don't spend a great deal of my time working through K literature, I think it's important that you explain these to me, but that's basically what a good K debater should expect to do anyway.

Disads: I cut politics every week. I love both sides of the politics debate and can benefit you as a judge on how to execute these debates well.

Counterplans: Counterplans of all shapes and sizes are a critical place to form a strategy and I enjoy these debates. Theory is to be argued and I can't think of any predisposition.

Topicality: I think that debaters who can execute "technical" args well are enjoyable enough to watch and judge, and I think I can probably benefit as a judge to any technical debater. I think that any violation, on face, has validity and there are no affs that are so "obviously" topical that they cannot be beaten on T.

Kritikal affs: I am not ideologically opposed to K affs at all and even enjoy these debates, although I primarily work on and with policy affs so I would say explanation is still key.

Framework: I find that good framework debaters know how to make the flow accessible to the judge. I think that there are a number of compelling claims and debates to be had on framework, and they can be just as strongly argued as anything else (including your kritik or kritikal aff).

Christian Weinrich Hillcrest HS 6 rounds

Last changed on Fri January 12, 2018 at 10:18 AM MDT

TL;DR: I did policy for 4 years in high school, but I debated in southeastern Idaho which is a stylistically conservative circuit. As a result, I'm familiar with policy jargon and I understand how (most) arguments interact, but speed and K will probably lose me. I love T. I will vote how you tell me to vote, so pleas tell me. Be nice. Ask me any questions you have.

Speed: I come from a circuit where 95% of the judge pool was comms/lay judges. Speed reading was rare. You can totally cruise through the body of cards, but please slow way down for anything you want me to flow, especially analytics and tags. I will do my best to let you know what is too fast by saying "clear" when you read, but just be prepared to go significantly slower than you might normally.

K: I rarely debated K and have hardly ever judged a round where K made it to the 2NR. This is not to say you can't read a K or that I won't vote on it, but be aware that you will need to really break it down for me and explain how the K operates in the mechanical context of the round. (What is the relative weight of each flow? What is the role of the ballot? How do I prioritize the order of my evaluation? How does the K alter the impact calculus?) Unless it's a generic K like cap or security, do not expect me to be at all familiar with the literature.

T: I love good T debate. Provide good comparative analysis at the interp and violation level. Treat standards and voters like any other impact: weigh them out, turn them, attack the internal links between standard and voter. T and theory are flows where you can really show off your analytics, so show off. It is the aff's burden to prove they are topical. I default competing interps and I will vote on potential abuse, unless someone tells me otherwise.

DA: A good DA has case specific links. Give me lots of impact calc. I prefer solid internal link chains that don't necessarily end in apocalypse, but impact calc will change my mind.

Theory: I'm more experienced with T than theory, but I still love theory. I have no problems voting on theory if you are winning and have done sufficient analysis on the voters. All my thoughts on T apply here as well.

CP: I have no strong feelings on counterplans as long as you can justify your CP mechanism at the theory level. By default, I will only evaluate one negative advocacy in the 2NR so if you go for the CP be aware that I won't evaluate the status quo as an alternative to the 1AC, and the neg will lose presumption by advocating the CP in the final speech. If you disagree, convince me.

Case: Policy options need to meet all stock issues and 'non-traditional' affs will need to justify their method of engaging the resolution. Keep in mind that a K aff might be more confusing than convincing for me as a judge. As with DA's, I prefer logically consistent internal link chains over large magnitude impacts, even if those links chains have less impressive terminal impacts.

<27 is unethical behavior. 27 is average speaker points. 30 is perfect.

I will expect teams to time themselves and each other. Prep ends when the flash is out of your computer or the email is sent.

You don't need to include me on email chains. If I need to see evidence, I will ask to see it after round.

As a final note, be nice. It really makes it miserable for everyone in the room if you are being rude to your opponents (or your teammate). It's ok to be passionate, but there is a pretty clear distinction between being emotionally invested in a round, and taking out your frustrations on the other team. I prefer to base my decision on the contents of the round, but if someone is behaving especially poorly I will drop them for it without hesitation.