Experience. Policy debater at Copper Hills High School for 3 years under Scott Odekirk  

One year of experience debating at Weber State University  

Although I haven’t judged any tournaments this year, I am pretty up to date on the topic lit  

I think debate is an activity that should teach participators, and critics alike how to be better advocates in the world. I, of course have my idea of what "better" means, and what "advocate" means, but if I'm judging, I'm going to vote for the team who better advocates what they are proposing (whether it's state action, or a wild K). I consider myself a K debater, but that doesn't mean I won't vote for a topical plan, or the good old Counterplan/disad. As long as you defend your position well enough, anything goes.

General Arguments:

Go for what you want, what matters more is how you develop the argument, and explain it. If you want me to evaluate certain arguments over others, let me know what's up in round.

T: T debates are fine, I don’t think my threshold on T is high in either direction. That being said, I’m less willing to pull the trigger on T when teams don’t impact T beyond buzzwords. I’m not saying you can’t label standards with those words, I just think you should probably explain why things like education or fairness are important to debate.

FW: I love framework, and honestly I notice myself swaying a little more towards the negative in a K aff v. fw debate, but all the  Aff has got to do is do good job at telling me why fw is bad. Impact turn the ish.

Theory: Theory args are acceptable, if you can articulate a scenario for abuse. I’ll probably default most theory args might not be reasons to reject the team, but that all depends on how you frame that argument. I'm definitely a critic that you can go for theory in front of.

Counterplans: Counterplans are fun, make sure they’re competitive, make sure there’s a net benefit. Shadier counterplans like word PICs aren’t my favorite arguments, but I’ll vote on them if you articulate a net benefit.

Disadvantages: CP/DA debates might be my favorite negative arguments in debate, make sure your disads are either net benefits to the CP or are packaged with some case turns/impact defense, otherwise the aff will probably beat you in a body count debate.

THE KRITIK: K’s are fine, just be willing to put in the work necessary to explain the argument. I know all of the greatest hits, (Marx, Security, Baudrillard etc). but there are things I might not understand without some explanation. You don't need an alternative to win on a Kritik if you can phrase it as an effective enough case turn, that being said, having an alternative makes it much easier to resolve those debates if your alternative can resolve the impacts of the case.

Case: Case debates are underrated, but do what you have to do for your negative strategies. Read impact defense. Case debates make being a critic that much more fun.

Impacts: Comparative impact calc is something that makes resolving debates much easier for me. Questions of magnitude, timeframe, and probability are important and you should talk about those, but take it to the next level and talk about how your impacts interact with each other.

Delivery:

Speed is fine, clarity is better.

Don’t hide behind your laptop for the whole round.

Don’t prep steal.

Don’t be a jerk to other debaters, don’t be a jerk to your partner.

Maybe try and have a little fun, who knows.

Speaker Points:

I don't think a speech deserving of a 30 exists. I'll probably stay within 27-29 speaker points. If you're a meanie I'll probably dock your speaks. Yeah, I said meanie. 

Email for questions: davidbessey11@gmail.com

I am primarily a policymaker judge, with a stock issues influence. If you have no idea what this means, you need to ask your coach. Whether you know what it means or not, everyone needs to learn how to adapt to judges.

While I am an experienced policy debater, after my debate career, I experienced a traumatic brain injury. This makes some things harder, but in all reality, I think you should debate this way anyway. EXPLAIN your knowledge of every piece of evidence or analytic that you bring to the table. ARTICULATE/EMPHASIZE the taglines and analytics, because if I can't flow it, you don't get credit for it. What's more, part of my brain trauma was to the right hemisphere which impacts my understanding of most Kritiks, so it's safer not to run Ks in front of me, sorry! I thoroughly understand UTIL.

I'm mean with speaker points. I feel that 30 speaks should be triumphant, not expected. HUGE bonus points if you can make me laugh, if you make fun of someone, if you reference Psych, quote Brian Regan, and if you keep speech times short. You absolutely should not feel like you need to ever fill up all of the speech time, say what you need to say; if it takes all 8/5 minutes, great, if not, perfect, sit down. Ask questions. If you don't know if something is allowed, try it anyway.

P.S. Speechdrop.net is my favorite way of sharing evidence.

Here's the thing. Debate is 200% about learning and providing a good, uplifting and positive experience for everyone. Don't be jerk. Attack the arguments and not the people making them.

That being said, all is fair in a policy round. Give me clear voters at the end and speak clearly. Theory arguments are my least favorite but if that is where the round takes you or that is your expertise, don't let me stop you. I'm here to learn just like everyone else.

Olivia Kavapalu

Debated for: Bingham, UT in CX and LD

Please add me in the email chain: ojkavapalu@gmail.com

Overview:

Y'all haters corny with that illuminati mess

Paparazzi, catch my fly, and my cocky fresh

I'm so reckless when I rock my Givenchy dress (stylin')

I'm so possessive so I rock his Roc necklaces

My daddy Alabama, momma Louisiana

You mix that negro with that Creole make a Texas bamma

I got a hot sauce in my bag, swag

I see it, I want it

I stunt, yellow bone it

I dream it, I work hard

I grind 'til I own it

I twirl on them haters

...

You know you that bitch when you cause all this conversation

Always stay gracious, best revenge is your paper.

- Queen Bey

Line-by-Line:

Tabula Rasa. I will adapt to you rather than you to me. It's not my place as a judge to exclude or marginalize any sort of argument or framework. I will vote on K, T, CP, case, FW, performance, theory, DA's.... whatever. I personally enjoy hearing a good K debate, not that I'm more inclined to vote on this genre of argumentation especially if the articulation/construction is handled poorly. Down for the K, performance, or topical aff. Anything goes with me.

I'm big on organization. Hit the line by line hard. Don't just give me 3 min overviews or read a bunch of cards off the line, then expect me to conveniently find the best place on the flow for you. Do the work for me. I flow on paper OG style, so don't drop arguments. I can handle any level of speed, but be clear.

I will work hard to make the debate accessible and a safe place for you and your arguments. If you have access needs during a debate, wish to inform me of your preferred gender pronoun, or if there is anything you wish to communicate privately, please let me know or send me an email.

My judging philosophy is very short for a reason. Its your debate, not mine. Just stay organized and tell me where and why to vote. Write my ballot in your 2NR/2AR.

To LD:

In addition to what you should have read above, I'm big on the FW debate. You could have the most glorious plan/K but if I think the FW articulation is lacking, don't expect to win. Stretching the resolution is fine but know that I expect a strong T debate.

Side notes that may be worth your time:

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

30-You sound as good as or better than Morgan Freeman, you have the eloquence of Shakespeare. You could convince the Pope that God doesn't exist.

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.

Honestly, I copied most of this stuff from other coaches wiki's (names given here) - Mark A. Hernandez Sr., Hannah Shoell, John Shackelford?

Hmu if you have any questions or want to hear my thoughts on Beyonce and Jay-Z latest collaborative album or analyze the conditions that lead to the low concentration of Pacific Islanders in debate. I'd love to chat.

Email: nadia.sabry.155@gmail.com

Debated for three years at Bingham HS ‘19

General:

-Be nice, have fun

-I am very expressive so you can probably tell how I feel about whatever is going on at anytime

-Disclosure is important

T

I like T a lot but that means I have a higher threshold for it. I’ll evaluate through competing interpretations.

K Affs/FW

I usually lean neg on these debates because I consider fairness to be an impact and debate is a game. I love topic specific Ks that the debaters are passionate about. I see debate as a game, but you can convince me to vote otherwise

DA

Not a huge fan of politics. The more specific, the more I like it. If you are winning the counterplan, the lower the threshold I have for a link.

I like clear and thorough internal link analysis.

CP

I love cps that steal from the aff evidence. Explain what the perm is. Neg fiat is good.

K

I think framework is one of the most important things here. I’m familiar with many identity based arguments and enjoy postmodernist literature, so read whatever you want. Explain your alts.

Steven Sanchez

4 Years/Weber State University, 3rd year out.

Overall Philosophy:

• Run whatever you like. I am open to all arguments just as long as you execute them well - I'll provide exact criteria to what that means to me:
• A. You have been able to explain your argument at a basic audience comprehensive level.
• B. You have developed your arguments throughout the debate to adapt and provide the best application to the learning or outcome of the activity and have shown why your argument carries greater significance to what that outcome is.
• C. You have demonstrated a strong understanding of your opponents strengths and weaknesses and have identified why you win and why they lose this debate. I have no problem adapting to your style/preferred strategy. I prefer to evaluate the debate based on what information I am given from you instead of having to assert my own understanding, so please note that my decision rests heavily on the information provided by you on paper.
• Significance is key - this helps me understand what the meaning or outcome of this momentary learning experience at a tournament is about and what the intended purposes of your arguments are. I find that impact comparison oftentimes streamlines a lot of the information provided and helps me understand what the significance of your argument is.
• Bonus points if you have specific links with a strong evidence - I think it shows that you care to research your opponents and demonstrates hard work outside of the round, which enhances your credibility in front of me.
• CX is very important to me. Pressing on the hard questions and using this time wisely to demonstrate your knowledge (or lack of theirs) will earn you additional speaker points. I flow this too.
• I have rarely voted on potential abuse, and I don't find those arguments compelling unless you can prove why the potential margins of error will result in poor debatability/education. Specifically tailored theory arguments are always preferred.
• I always found that technical strategic moves are good - I think that it shows you have game knowledge to finesse on your opponents, so use their non-responsiveness or mishandlings to make the different sheets of paper come together in cohesion and it will be rewarded.
• Make me believe in your argument just as much as you do. Your speaking has a lot of power, so be sure to speak as clearly, assertively, and as passionately as you can. Being an effective speaker will always help you stay ahead/catch up in the debate.

you can always include me on the email distro and/or reach out with any questions- stevengsanchez1@gmail.com

Just tell me how to vote I don't really have an inclination to anything.

Add me to the chain at zeeht@duq.edu or use SpeechDrop.

At the outset, I debated three or so years between Policy and Lincoln Douglas (LD) debate in high school, three years on the NFA LD circuit in college (Utah), a little bit of coaching here and there (CCHS and Harker), and am currently a (1L year) law student at Kline.

At a high level,I generally view myself as prioritizing technical concessions over truth, and a well-developed technical debate with in-depth analysis is always encouraged.

As far as arguments and "unconventional cases",arguments are arguments; performance, advocacy, non-traditional, soft left, etc. are all arguments. Questions such as "Does policymaking outweigh individual resistance?" or "Does activism come before ground?" are questions that are usually answered on a round-to-round basis.

I love critical evidence arguments (huge speaker points here), whether it's arguing a team's evidence doesn't say what the team claims it does, a parallel compression between two pieces of evidence, or even a comparison of the persuasiveness of the authority behind the evidence. You gotta go further than, "their evidence is power tagged ... next!" No no, explain the warrant as to why it does so.

On topicality, ever since I entered law school, I've warmed up to T debates. As a prior issue, you must actually prove abuse. For example, when you say negative ground, the negative team must actually be suffering from a lack of readiness, and explicitly explain why that is. Or, if you say fairness, why is it unfair and why should I be willing to vote a team down for being unfair? With that said, I will tend to apply either 1) the most widely accepted reasonable interpretation of the word in question (community reasons) or 2) the most legally and academically sound definition.

Next on the K, I enjoy the K. When judging the K, I generally analyze the round through framework. Each side should have a well-warranted framework argument as to why I should view the round their lens (e.g., policy making over epistemology, ontology over individual resistance, or even government fiat over subject formation). I will filter the rest of the Kritik through the lens of whomever team wins framework. Oh, and I frankly have no opinion on whether alternative fiat's a thing.

Finally, the DA/CP. I tend to avoid voting on a 1% risk of the disadvantage means a negative ballot argument. I find that debaters generally lack the warrant development and explanation as to why their disadvantage matters and I won't do the work for them. If you're going for a disadvantage, timeframe and likelihood matter. Actor, consult, etc. CPs are great, while well-developed analyses on actor CPs with warrants are even greater.

On LD and PF, the inclusivity of LD debate means that speed must be agreed upon between debaters. If you ignore the accessible standard of speed that your opponent has set up for you, I have no problem dropping you off of a ten-second speed theory shell. PF calls for an accessible and public-based style of communication. This means eloquence, persuasion, and easy-to-flow argumentation will be rewarded far more than tech and speed. Of course, this does not mean discounting the role of warrants in your argumentation.