Novice JV Opener Glenbrook South
2017 — Glenview, IL/US
Novice Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideAbout Me - I have debated policy at Glenbrook South for three years.
**Please put me on the email chain - aaralis27@gmail.com
Top Level - If you don't flow, I will dock speaker points. Be nice to your opponents; debate should be an inclusive activity where everyone feels welcome. I will not vote on any offensive arguments.
Topicality - I think topicality can be a really convincing negative argument if done properly. You need to extend your impacts throughout the debate and explain why the world of debate under your interpretation is better than the aff's counterinterpretation. I think that the best aff arguments are based off aff ground and overlimiting, but I can be convinced otherwise.
Counterplans - I am fine with any type of counterplan as long as there is some sort of solvency advocate. The more specific to the aff the better. I think solvency deficits can be the weakest part of counterplans, especially ones that aren't specific to the aff, so be sure to address them thoroughly.
Theory - Theory debates are not my favorite, but if the negative team is being abusive, then you should go for theory. It is important to extend your impacts throughout the debate and explain how they ruined topic education and decimated ground. I think the limit for condo is three, but I can be convinced three is abusive.
Disadvantages - I'm a big fan of disadvantages. I prefer there to be specific links. I think the aff team should extend some type of offense on the disadvantage because its hard to win there is a low risk of a disadvantage with defense only. That being said, impact calculus is the most important part for both the aff and neg.
Kritiks - These are not the type of debates I like to judge. Other than the Capitalism K, I am not familiar with kritiks. This means if you go for a kritik, you really need to explain to me which part of the aff you disagree with and why that is bad. Specific links are a must and a link of omission is not a link. I tend to lean aff on framework, but I can be persuaded otherwise.
Final Thoughts - With all this being said, you should run whatever you feel comfortable with and whatever your style is. The most important thing is to have fun!
I'm pretty done with debate and don't anticipate judging again any time soon unless my career takes a very unfortunate turn.
It's been an interesting time - acknowledgements to the following people:
Rubaie
Muse
Spencer
Ryan
Snelling
Put me on the email chain: dustyn.beutelspacher@gmail.com
Affiliations: Debated at Niles West in high school, UTD in college. Now coach for UTD and Greenhill school
LD exception - If an argument can be described as a 'trick', please dont read it in front of me. Likewise, if your theory argument is based on something you opponent didn't do, it is probably unpersuasive to me.
TL;DR:
Go for what you want to go for, if you got a K aff, make sure you can beat framework, if you go for a process cp, make sure you can beat theory, etc, etc, I will try my hardest to adapt and judge the round as objectively as possible.
I love line-by-line. The more you engage with your opponent's arguments, the more likely you are to win and the higher your speaks will be.
I won't vote on things that happened out of round or in other debates.
You can insert rehighlightings of the other team's evidence, text of a card only needs to be read once for it to be evaluated.
No racism/sexism/etc, be nice. Don't do that thing where you delete tags or read new affs on paper or stuff like that to make your speech harder to read.
Longer:
I've become more willing to comb through evidence over the years, but it's mostly out of curiosity since debaters seem to be getting better at spinning ev, obviously I have my limits, but the debate includes the debate over the evidence.
I think conditionality is good, it seems to be necessary in this day and age when topics are very broad. I've become more neg biased recently but maybe it's just my disillusion with one unwarranted sentence of condo bad somehow becoming an entire 2ar. Condo in general seems to have gotten significantly more shallow. There probably is some point at which condo becomes bad, but I can't truthfully see myself voting for condo bad absent some egregious neg strategy or technical error.
Since it has come up more than once, my stance on judge kick is that I will presume judge kick if nothing has been said on theory, if the aff wants to win no judge kick, then you must at least make the arg in the 1ar.
You get infinite condo against new or undisclosed affs.
I personally don't particularly like process cps, this is a sliding scale, as consult ICJ or a commission cp seems less competitive than something like a states cp on face, but it seems like people are either unwilling or unable to actually invest time in theory in the 1ar anyways, so it often doesn't matter. I think fiating multiple actors (think both USFG and the states, not the states cp, or fiating compliance with another actor whom you fiat) is probably cheating, but I can be convinced otherwise. I tend to lean neg on theory questions despite all that
I like Ks the more specific the link analysis is. I tend to think of Ks as one or multiple thesis statements that, if won, should theoretically disprove the aff. This means the more you pull warrants from cards, explain the aff in the terms of your K, etc, the more likely it is that you beat the perm since that explanation makes links a lot more salient. That's a lot more persuasive than big aff/neg framework pushes to me
FW/T vs K affs. Since this is the only portion of a paradigm that matters for most pref sheets, yes I will vote on framework, yes I will vote against it. These debates seem to come down to impact comparison, as usually it seems hard to win either topical affs are necessary to prevent the entire collapse of this activity, versus framework is genocide, which makes winning as much of your impact quite important. Fairness impact seem to make intrinsic sense to me if debate is a game, but im not sure why that is a catch-all win if the aff wins debate rounds have impacts.
On a side note, I hate long overviews. Overviews should be for args that either: a. Are significantly more important and necessary for your argument to work, or b. Don't make sense when on the line-by-line (eg, meta-framing for how I should evaluate a debate). If you can do it on the flow, do it on the flow.
Debated Maine East H.S. 2009 -2012, Coach/Judge 2012 -
Debate is an educational game where everything in debate is debatable i.e. should I prefer tech over truth, do I need a plan text. Be nice to each other, try your best and have fun. Prefer debates were debaters are challenged to think in new ways. Do not be deterred from going for any argument because of what you read here. I’m open to listening to and voting for any argument even debates about what debate should be i.e. k of debate. Just because I stated that I will listen to / vote on / prefer something does not mean that it is an automatic win. If I do not understand something I will not vote on it.
Has been said in many different ways by many different individuals: debating / coaching for a school without many resources and understanding the experiences of similar schools competing against schools who are well resourced, I tend to be sympathetic to arguments based on inequities in policy debate. I will default to a policy maker but am open to other ways of deciding the ballot. I will go off the flow and will try not to intervene, however I might default to my opinions below (which are not concrete).
I will vote for the least complex way to sign the ballot. Explaining your arguments / ideas and keeping the debate organized by road mapping, sign posting, and line by line are key and will help your speaker points. Other things that are key and help to explain / frame the debate are: overviews with impact clac, turns case/da arguments, framing of arguments and the debate, impacting out arguments, and in-depth analysis of arguments. Likewise, overall analysis and framing of evidence / arguments / warrants / qualifications / the round, is key. “Even if” statements will help with speaker points and to frame an argument. Do not assume that I know an argument, author, or specific terms. Analytics, defensive arguments (even without your own evidence) are able to reduce any argument/evidence to zero risk or close to it. If I do not understand a part of the argument or it is not explained/major gaps in your logic I will be less likely to vote on it, even if it is dropped. Explain to me why you should win the round and what this means for both you and your opponent’s arguments. Speed is ok but need to clear. Do not sacrifice clarity for speed. Emailing speeches does not count as prep time as long as it is reasonable and send it all in one doc. Have cites available after the round. I will vote down teams/dock speaker points for rudeness, racist, sexism, unethical, offensive and unacceptable arguments / behavior.
Look at / debate / answer the actual warrants (or lack thereof) in the cards not what the card is tagged as. Comparing evidence / qualifications with explanations as to whose is better helps me to evaluate an argument (even just reading evidence and pointing out its inconsistency is great (will help your speaker points)) and is something that I find is missing in a lot of debates. If their evidence is bad point it out. I will read evidence if call for or if I believe there is an issue with it.
Cross x – Tag Team is fine if both teams are ok with it. Overtaking your partner’s cross-x might result in lower speaker points. Be sure to carry cross-x into the rest of the debate. If you indicted a piece of evidence or proved that an argument does not work, say so in your speech.
Theory – Just like any other argument dropping theory is not an auto-win. If a part of the theory is not explained well enough or the other team points out that it is not explained or missing, I will be less inclined to vote for it. Will vote on all types of theory, but need to explain the theory, in-round abuse (why what they did was bad), voters, fairness, education, impacts and why I should either reject the argument or the other team. Do not just re-read your blocks. The more specific the theory is to the argument / abuse / voters / round, the better.
Topicality – Overviews help. Tend to lean affirmative (Neg has the burden) unless there is a clear: violation / definition, bright line between topical and untopical, impacts for allowing the affirmative and others like it to be topical and in-round / potential (prefer in-round) abuse. Will default to competing interpretations. Explanation on all parts of the flow are key i.e. definition, bright line, topical version of the affirmative, case lists, reasons to reject the team (in-round and potential abuse), standards, ground, limits, voters, fairness, education, and impacts. Reasonability, clash / lit checks, race to bottom, etc. are able to reduce the chance of voting on topically. Will vote on aspec / other spec arguments however, need to show abuse in-round.
Speaker points – My range is 27.8- 28.5, this does not mean that I will not go above a 28.5. The road to better speaker points is in this philosophy i.e. know your arguments, be clear, do line by line, point out inconsistency in arguments and evidence, extend / explain / compare warrants and or qualifications (or lack thereof), road map, sign post, impact clac, frame the debate and the other things that are listed in the various sections.
Plan text / Counterplan text – Should be written down. Check how they are written. Will vote on plan flaws and counterplans that change the plan text with a net benefit.
Affirmative – Two things are key: good overviews with impact clac and in-depth case analysis.
Counterplan – Use overviews. Make sure that there is a clear net benefit and/or solvency deficit.
Disads/advantages – Good overviews with turns case /da along with impact analysis/clac where opponent’s impacts/arguments are considered. Disad links should be clear and specific to the case. All types of turns (link, impact and straight) are also a good idea.
K–Explain. Have a general idea on the basic k, not a k hack, but will vote on them (including k of debate arguments / debates about what debate should be). The k needs to be specifically explained not just in terms of what the idea of the k is, but what is the framework, link (the more specific and clearer the better), impact and alterative (not only what the alterative does but how its solves the k and plan’s impact (i.e. root cause) and what does the world of the alterative looks like). A good overview of the k and framework helps a lot. The affirmative should always question the alterative.
K affirmatives and framework - Will vote on k affirmative and k of debate arguments / debates about what debate should be. Needs to be a clear role of the ballot and clear reason why your version of debate is better. Totally fine with looking at images, listening to music, narratives, stories and other things. Debates are more interesting when: the neg does not just read framework / k but engages with the affirmative and the affirmative k the negative positions through the lens of the affirmative. Framework and disads to framework have to be explained, show how your interpretation of debate solve or root causes the other side’s impacts, impacted out fairness and education, have analysis to show which style of debate is the best and show why the affirmative or argument should be or not be in debate.
Glenbrook North '19
Indiana University '23 (not debating)
Vrotherhood
*2020-2021 ZOOM UPDATE*
email: plebplebpleb16@gmail.com
Please go extremely slow, like barely any spreading. I have been out of the activity for 2 years or so and audio quality/internet connection lag makes full speed spreading this year not an option. I will ask you to slow down. If I ask you 3 times you're maxed out at <27. If I have to ask both you and your partner more than 5 times you're getting 0 speaks, nonnegotiable.
Please strike me if:
1. You present an affirmative case without a topical plan of action and a rationale justifying that plan (ie. if your plan doesn't start with "The United States federal government should" then you're better off not having me in the back of the r[Z]oom).
2. You present negative arguments which do not justify a rejection of the affirmative's proposed plan of action
3. You debate in ways that show absolute disregard for decorum as defined by the American Debate Association:
Debaters and judges should refrain from the use of profanity during debates. Debaters and judges should treat one another with civility during debates and when debate decisions are revealed and discussed. Debaters and judges should treat one another with generosity, respect and kindness. Debate is an extrascholastic academic forum and debaters and judges should treat it as such.
Thoughts about debate:
Topicality: Legal precision logically trumps all other standards. Your disliking of resolutional wording doesn't give you the right to exclude or include affirmative cases.
Disadvantages: During my tenure in debate, I found most disadvantages to not be intrinsic to the affirmative's plan of action. Not enough 2As exploit this argument in my opinion.
Counterplans: All theoretical objections to counterplans are inherently arbitrary and illegitimate assuming the negative wins that negative fiat is legitimate. Counterplans ought to be tested via competitiveness, not theoretical legitimacy.
Critiques: I'm really not a huge fan and found most of these arguments to be either grossly generic and/or borderline immoral.
In all cases, with the exception of maverick situations, one debater shall give 1 constructive speech and 1 rebuttal speech. The first partner to speak in a speech is the only one whose words count. This is non-negotiable and will be met with punitive speaker point reductions if violated.
adcandelario0422@gmail.com
Harvard 24'
6 years of Policy Experience - I know nothing about this years topic, do with that what you will.
I like K v K debates.
I think the most convincing internal links in framework debates is clash and impact is education.
I enjoy impact turns to framework.
All K arguments are fine w me - I am more familiar with identity arguments than the post-modern french existentialist.
I hate voting 1 sentence voting issues/ framing DAs but I will.
Dedev debates are fun!
Warming impact turns are not fun!
kicking the aff in the 1ar and impact turning a K or DA is fun!
I love when debaters can recognize how many arguments are interacting with eachother in a round and make smart cross applications.
Thoughts on the big things.
Feelings----------------------------------------X--Dead inside
Policy-----------------------------------X----------K
Tech------------X----------------------------------Truth
Judge Kick----------X-----------------------------No Judge Kick
Read no cards-----------------X------------------Read all the cards
Conditionality good----------X--------------------Conditionality bad
Politics DA is a thing--------------------X--------Politics DA not a thing
Always VTL---------------------------------X------Sometimes VTL
UQ matters most------------------------------X--Link matters most
Fairness is a thing---------------------X----------You're racist/ The world doesn't actually exist
Not our Baudrillard-------------------------------X Yes your Baudrillard
Limits--------------------X--------------------------Aff ground
Presumption----------------X----------------------Never votes on presumption
Longer ev--------X---------------------------------More ev
CX about impacts----------------------------x----CX about links and solvency
AT: --x------------------------------------------------------ A2:
no alt---------X---------------------------------alt
turns case X---------------------------no turns case
shaking my hand-----------------------------------------X Don't touch me
P.S.
Debater Things -
- Yes Im good with speed.
- I flow you not your speech doc.
- speed is a tool not debate.
- Card Clipping/Stealing Prep - its a no-no. If your caught-I will talk to a coach. For novice debates, I give more lee-way with "end prep-to speech" time because I understand your all new at this but will say something.
- Racism, Sexism, Homophobia, etc. Is a D-Rule. I will legit drop you to 20's, vote you down, and not think twice.
- Death arguments are fine in front of me
-CW/TW is a must
Kelvin K Castro
He/Him/His
add me: kelvinkennycastro@gmail.com
Emory University '23
Solorio '19
tl/dr:
- I love to see clash and engagement with evidence, read your blocks but do more than just that.
- I was mainly a policy-orientated judge, not to say I hate critiques and arguments of that genre, just that I'll not be as knowledgable or the best judge to have if that's a centerpiece of your style.
- Be nice to each other.
- I prefer topic-orientated strategies, if you could read your counterplan on any debate topic that should be a sign.
- I like offense-defense where it makes sense.
- Tech almost always beats truth.
- I'll save my feedback for the ballot, but please ask if you have questions or want it after the debate.
This is just a collection of my thoughts on debate, not a strict rule for what I think you should be doing.
Topicality:
- I'll always be less knowledgeable about your topic than you so going for topicality in front of me is probably not the best for any of us but do what you gotta do.
- In past I tended to find topicality hard to win by the negative but right now I'm unsure what the topic has or should be like.
K's (NEG):
- Needs to be explained.
- fw debates should have clash if it's a focus of the debate, stop forgetting it or overspending time on it. If it's a wash I typically default to weighing some of the aff.
- I usually separate the flow by (overview/fw/k-proper) but you don't have to.
- My knowledge of K’s is probably less than ideal if this is a center point of your negative strategy.
- Please don't just say "the overview answered it," to every argument. I think it's best to either directly reference what claim in the overview would respond to what or just do all that work as you go down the line-by-line. Trust me, you don't want me connecting the dots together for you on a ballot (if I try at all).
- Taking it easy on the line-by-line in the block is pretty wild for me and expect the 2nr's claims to be shot down as "too late to respond" in my ballot.
- Don't forget answering typical theory voters (floating piks bad, vague alts, etc.) this should be easy and extremely annoying to resolve in cases when the theory arguments go dropped and clearly not applicable to the neg's version of the K.
- I'd prefer explanation over card-reading in most k debates I'm in.
- I don't think you automatically lose without an alt in the 2nr.
- If your claims revolve around the reps/discourse/assumptions/etc. of the aff, PLEASE tell me what exactly you're referring to, picking out specific lines/choices of the 1AC/qualifications of authors/etc. will increase your speaker points in my book.
- Lastly, I probably won't understand your jargon.
Policy Affs vs K's:
- I don't vote on aff binary 'no k's' fw please stop reading this it isn't the early 2000s.
- Permutations are powerful but literally impossible to understand if you stick to tagline "do both" or "all other instances" jargon, please lay out what's compatible and how it would look like.
- Just as I hold a high burden for the neg to stick to line-by-line/direct references, the aff must equally respond to the neg.
- Even in these debates a conceded argument is a conceded argument.
- Stop calling everything a "link of omission" if it's blatantly not true.
- Any 2AR that overcovers the conceded case is helping no one.
K's (AFF/NEG):
- CX is extremely valuable and I will listen closely, I will pick up references to it if brought into a speech and reward that.
- Not a fan of calling people directly racist/sexist/etc. just for making policy arguments but I will feel no sympathy checking people if they're legitimately acting this way.
Counterplans:
- I tend to prefer the offense defense model. If the aff doesn't have any offense against the net benefit I tend to justify any solvency deficit in the neg's favor.
- I think sufficiency solvency framing should be answered by the aff but it's not a guarantee 100% solves case for the neg, you still got to do the work.
- Condo only theory argument I don't buy "reject arg not team." that's literally what they want... but if no one points that out I won't intervene. I'm generally in favor of condo being good. More than 3 condo positions get into hazy territory.
- Cheap shot theory arguments exist and can be won, but you shouldn't expect better speaker points because of it. RVIs are fake.
- Consult/Agent/PICs/etc. are all theoretically debatable. Do what you want and be good at it. In the case of process counterplans, the theory/perm debates will matter a lot, I'll expect more than just both teams reading your blocks and moving on without clash. Having a card saying "we're the core of the topic" is helpful but don't overassume its importance in contrast to better debating. Honestly reading cards on theory other than definitions is pretty confusing for me I really don't care if a professor thinks fairness is more important than education.
- Adding planks to a counterplan in the block seems fair to me. Block UQ counterplans are meh.
- I believe the aff gets to decide how they articulate the plan, which ultimately ends up being important in my analysis of PDCPs. I'll give leeway for the aff in 1ac cx for questions such as "who implements the plan." That being said, the neg should definitely be asking this regardless of the answer if an agent CP is one of your neg box options. This is a case where I lean towards truth in the case of what your solvency authors say if this becomes a center point for the neg.
- Having a solvency advocate is good, not having one isn't a dealbreaker if you can explain why.
- Presumption flips aff is real.
- PIKs are probably not good.
- FIAT is a funny concept and I'm open to hearing the explanations from both teams on it.
- 2ac theory is generally a non-risk to me but don't overdo it either.
General:
- Tech about always beats truth.I think this is less so the case when we get into topicality and theory debates. I find myself increasingly willing to hear out 'late' arguments if they're blatantly true, but I'll always try to prioritize the better debating and leave myself out of it.
- Generally, have a high bar for voting on presumption.
- I don't think every argument needs to be carded.
- The most important part of any offcase in front of me is generally the link and internal link, large disconnects between evidence are generally the issue and I'll be looking mainly at your explaination to connect the dots, without it I'll likely be highly skeptical of large jumps unless it's conceded. I reward teams that can point those out.
- Politics is on a case-by-case basis. You need the goods; evidence quality is highly emphasized in my decisions now. Additionally, if it's a bad politics DA I'll most likely hold the bar high for the neg if it's a straight case vs DA debate but don't think they're unwinnable especially when with a counterplan. I like to see evidence that postdates the other team's only if it actually says what you claim.
- It's fine to read 1 card DA's or K's but don't massively overhype what the card actually is saying in the tag or explanations. Especially the case for Econ DAs, I'm not an economist but I'm kind of bewildered by how the smallest of internal links suddenly leads to economic disaster and nuclear war.
- I don't envision this being a dealbreaker but cards that have 1-2 lines highlighting are highly suspect to me. I'd prefer better cards than more cards.
- The speed k or a variation of it is extremely non-convincing for me.
- I default to judge kick unless told otherwise.
- Expect me to want a card doc if the debate is close/important (break round) I won't ever ask for it but getting me one will help your speaker pts
- If you try to tell me you read cards you clearly didn't, your speaker pts will drop.
- I will read ev and use your guidance on the flow to decide comparisons but will mainly look at your explanation of it.
- Calling a card “bad” does not warrant me reading it, give me a thing to look for when I’m re-reading and you’ll probably do well when I’m explaining how I evaluated evidence.
- Smart choices and cross-applications will impress me. Bold decisions done with confidence will impress me. Your complicated vocabulary will not impress me. Belittling your opponents or cutting them off every opportunity during cross ex will not impress me.
- 2NR/2AR should be clear on what you want me to vote on. Big picture debate framing is what I like to see, but don't sacrifice what you need to do on the flow for this.
- Please don't bully your partners, debate is meant to be fun and cooperative. If it becomes obnoxious the harasser's speaker points will suffer horrendously.
- No -Ism's, as mentioned earlier I'll give the benefit of the doubt but if it's clearly intentional I'll drop the team.
- I'll trust yall to keep track of your own prep/speech times.
- Speaker Points- clarity is key, don't sacrifice this for speed. Taking forever after prep-time is called to send a document is a bad look.
email: wesleychen121@gmail.com
I go to uchicago and debated at gbn. My philosophy is that persuasion is the most important aspect of debate, so I must believe in the correctness of your argument to feel comfortable voting for it. Consequently, I value evidence/explanation quality extremely highly and I might be more interventionist than the average judge. Obviously I'll try to divorce myself from pre-existing beliefs (e.g. warming good/bad, econ growth good/bad, etc.) but I will apply logic to your arguments and determine if they are plausible. The reason I say this is because there is a proliferation of arguments that are constructed via stringing together unrelated cards and filling in the blanks with explanation. An example is if you read the politics disad, you must have a card saying that x thing happens for y reason, the plan causes y reason to not happen, and that x thing is good. Otherwise, I will not consider it a logically complete argument and won't evaluate it as a reason to reject the aff. Please debate with arguments rather than tricks.
Preferred 2nrs
1. Disad/turn
2. CP based strat
3. Kritik
4. Topicality
I always prefer arguments that relate to the real world over arguments that depend upon the structure of debate to work.
Theory
Make sure your impacts are tied to differences between conceptions of debate (e.g. time skew isn't persuasive because it arises under any conception). Condo is the only voter but rejecting an argument can result in the ballot (e.g. if the neg only goes for a PIC and the aff wins PICs bad, rejecting the PIC is an aff ballot).
Counterplan
The best answer to the counterplan is a solvency deficit. Besides PICs, I like multi-plank advantage counterplans where any plank can be kicked the most.
Kritik
Kritiks must demonstrate causality. Not persuaded by most procedurals. Not going to evaluate arguments about things debaters/coaches/schools have done out of round because the ballot isn't a corrective for that.
Disad
Most disads are logically incomplete. I'm fine for weird turns but the probability debate becomes important, which includes author qualifications and plausibility.
Topicality
Topicality is a good strategy and necessary for debate to function. You shouldn't be afraid to make topicality the a-strat in front of me. You should frame your impacts/internal links through the lens of predictability.
Please explain why you are reading a TVA vs. a planless aff because I don’t understand how it's a useful argument in that context. Framework is a good strategy and probably the only one that you can go for unless you know how the aff will respond to your position.
Impact Framing
I find the following persuasive:
1. Death is bad
2. Util is the only way to compare impacts (although what’s “good” is debatable)
3. Probabilistic predictions are possible
4. Consequences matter
Speaking
Don’t waste time, but I'm not a self-righteous asshole who hates small-talk. Technical debate comes first but rhetoric decides who's right. Ad-hominems, saying that the other team's args are bad, hyping up your/your partner's speech, etc. are neither arguments nor persuasive. Hiding stuff in other shells makes me want to vote against you. Racism and sexism are auto-drops. If you make a claim that the other team is racist/sexist, I will stop the round, determine if you are correct, and act on that determination.
If you make a reference to Scotty P's blog or Lincoln Garrett's blog I will view you in a better light.
i go to glenbrook south and usually run kritikal arguments, but please do not change your argument style for me.
i enjoy watching policy debates, but you just might have to explain the da/cp to me more in depth.
please flow and be present in the round! if you don't show you care, i won't either.
i think a lot of debates come down to impact work done in the 2ar/2nr - so please do impact analysis in these speeches.
overall, i will pretty much listen to any arguments unless it's problematic+offensive.
please be nice in round! it is important, and it will help your speaks. confidence is key, just please be respectful.
also, feel free to email me with any questions - maddiedm1340@gmail.com. most importantly, try your best and have fun! :)
niles west '19
University of Michigan '24
she/her
put me on email chain - nadia.f427@gmail.com
last update: January 2021
if you have any additional questions please email or ask me
background!
I debated competitively at Niles West for 4 years. I was a 2a/1n for most of my career but was a 2n/1a for a couple of months. I was a policy debater in high school, but my partner and I did go for the k often. I received a bid to the toc and have been in many bid rounds. I don't know the topic at all.
aff!
Explain your aff to me with a clear story. Use your impacts and extend them throughout the debate, I love impact debates. I really like it when teams use their aff to answer off case positions and make cross applications in the 2ac.
neg!
My main thing is to have applicable arguments against the aff, I don't like arbitrary off case that are just 1nc fillers. I am fine with reading as many off as you want, but I hate big a 1nc that is just to spread the 2ac thin. If you have a big 1nc at least have a strategy that goes along with it. I don't like huge neg blocks, but I get it sometimes.
cp!
Love love counterplan debates, but I am picky. Advantage counterplans are my favorite and I will be very happy with a smart one, but giant adv multiplank cp without a real solvency advocate are ehhh. Process cp are good IF competitive, so please have a clear cp competition debate if that is your strat. Please don't forget the net benefit debate though! I think net benefits are a huge part of the cp debate. I lean aff on cp theory.
k!
I am not a good judge for the k. Please extra explain things for me, I do not know all of your k jargon. Keep the debate clean and have a real link/impact.
t!
I love a good T debate. I am not super knowledgeable on the arms sales topic so please explain your interps for me. I lean aff on reasonability. I don't like aspec, sorry. Impacts to your standards are super important to me.
da!
DA and case debates are awesome. I am tech over truth, except when it is too true. Love love turns case and case turns da arguments!
k aff!
I don't love k affs. I am better for k affs with some topic relevance and think those are the more strategic. I am neg leaning on fw, but I will vote for aff cause tech over truth. Please explain your aff to me because the chances of me understanding your aff are very low.
theory!
I love condo debates and think 2-3 condo worlds are ok. I am down to hear any theory debates, but they need to be full arguments and not fake small theory arguments. Either go all-in on theory or not at all.
speaks!
Don't clip and be nice and respectful to not only me but especially to your opponents! If you say anything racist, sexist, or hateful I will vote you down and give minimum speaks. Please have a subject line clarifying the tournament and round on your email chains! Other than that, just be clear & smart and you are good. If you know me then you know what jokes to make to help your speaks.
4 years of policy debate at Glenbrook North
Order of coolness:
Super wuper cool--DAs with sick turns case, affs with a framing page used well (utilizing each card on the page), cheaty counterplans, aff specific DAs/CPs, line by line, impact calc on every flow including theory and T, rehighlighting cards the opponent used
Super cool-- generic/topic DAs, extinction affs, normal policy stuff, framework
Cool-- Ks on the neg
Not so cool but will still vote on with plenty of explanation-- affs without a plan, high theory or identity Ks
Not cool--Interrupting speeches or CX excessively, not flowing, no clash
Super wuper not cool--Gabe Burdeen
Stay cool fellas!
Victor Garcia
Solorio '19
DU '23
add me to the email chain--- victorgarcia657@gmail.com
T- Usually not the best idea, but don't let that discourage you. If you go for T it needs to be all 5 minutes of the 2NR unless the aff mishandles it completely. I usually default to reasonability so the neg needs to do a good job to convince me otherwise. That being said if you're Aff you need to describe reasonability well enough for me to be cool with it. I think T is underused against tiny affs or affs that are clearly untopical and abusive. Paint the picture of what debate looks like under your interp.
Disadvantages- Disads are great. Do updates, the uniqueness debate matters a lot, I will default to the more recent card unless the other team proves that card to be trash. Generic links are okay in the 1NC but the block should have more specific links to the aff otherwise I will be less inclined to believe the DA links or I will default to more specific link turn/no link arguments. Internal links matter a lot! Most DA's have trash internal link evidence, the worse part of a tricky DA with a lot of parts is the internal link. Proving the internal link to be good/bad will do a lot for you in the debate. Impact calc matters, it helps me decide which impact is more important.
Counterplans- Legit unless proven otherwise. There needs to be a net benefit to the CP, please don't just say "it solves better than the aff" I will vote on the perm. Saying perms are severance or intrinsic is good but explain why, don't just say that as your response to every perm. The more specific the CP the more I like it, but if you want to run the generic CP of the year that's cool too. PICs, process, agent, consultation, etc are all fine.
Kritik- Specific links matter a lot. I understand the basic K's more than postmodern and other K's. However, I am open to any kind of Kritik. The alt and the link need to be explained extremely well for me to vote for you. Reading Baudrillard, Bataille, etc need more explanation than reading cap, security, etc. Links of omission suck and don't make the debate a root cause debate. Framework debates are fine, make sure to focus on the impacts, not just the violation or your interp. Fairness is probably more of an internal link to impacts like education. There needs to be clash in this area otherwise it comes down to what I personally believe not what happened in the round and I tend to let teams get their Kritik. Neg fiat on Alts are kind of sketch but if the aff doesn't call the neg out on neg fiat then I will default to the alt happening. Even if the neg is winning parts of the K you need to explain the alternative in depth. If your K doesn't have an alt you need an explanation as why affs make squo worse or why squo solves now.
K Affs- K affs are cool with me, I need the aff team to tell me why their aff should be allowed to be read. I want specific reasons why debate is a place to talk about their topic. Neg teams should not focus on why the state is good but rather why even if the state is bad they are the only ones that can still do good things for what the aff talks about. Aff teams need to tell me what voting aff does and clearly explain their method(if there is one). I love framework but you should try your best to engage with the aff. That was my strat against all K-affs. Topical versions of the aff are great for the neg, if there is a solid TVA then I become more inclined to vote neg. Impacts matter the most here, both teams need to explain the type of education that debaters will garner and why its good. Aff needs to explain the ground that neg teams have against the aff and don't just say "the cap K". Neg teams need some generic case answers against antiblackness affs, queer affs, etc. I don't think that neg teams should have specific case answers against every K- aff but many have similarities where cards can apply while not specific to the method.
CX- Try to be kind, I know things can get heated sometimes but don't be rude.
Random: I'm open to all arguments as long as they are not offensive, some arguments will take more convincing than others. Tech almost always comes over truth. Any more specific questions ask before the debate starts. Good luck and have fun!
Avy Gaytan-Aranda
Solorio Academy HS '19
UIUC '23
Short Version
-Tech over truth
-No judge kick
-quality over quantity of evidence
-default my paradigm as a policymaker but open to all arguments
-clash is key to any good debate
-Neg gets presumption
-email chain: amoravyg@gmail.com
Long Version
Short background about me: I debated for Solorio academy(Chicago) for four years. I debated in both the UDL and national circuit. I ran mostly policy through the first half of my career, however my junior and senior year my partner and I became more flex. With that being said, I have debated the most sketchy counterplans all the way to postmodern Ks. I am not familiar with the new topic, my knowledge solely comes from judging so you must provide substance in your debates rather than just jargon.
Affs- K affs: Although I always liked and read Ks, I find it really hard to read K Affs. Not about understating, rather how they are used. Hence, when you read a K AFF do not just stand up and explain what is that you are criticizing but also explain the utility of the aff itself. Make sure to implicitly describe the need to not use a plan, and the need to have the discussions that are being had, because otherwise i will likely lean neg on framework. I genuinely don't have a preference for any form of affirmation of the resolution, you can do any form of performance in front of me.
-By any means feel free to run any aff that you want in front of me.
Ks- I want to hear a good explanation of it, defended well, also explain why it matters more than any other arguments in the round. How the alt solves better ..how the K fw suits best for the round...how it outweighs the aff..how it is a issue in the world of the debate round and the real world, etc. Neg, in order to have weight of the K trough the round, articulate a link, wait, articulate MULTIPLE links on the K, without a link you can't win K. Go beyond the techy sutff and K jargin and go further on, expand on the literature authors and their ideas, and connect them to the debate round, to engage not only with the people in the round, but to orient yourself as debater. In other words have a cohesive understanding of the K. Preference wise, even though I have been policy most of my debate career (so far), I do read K literature on my spare time, so with that being said, I am knowledgeable with Stuff like Wilderson, Sexton, Baudrillard, Agamben. The evidence of the kritik should be pretty extensive and well Also, I encourage to defends a solid solvency mechanism aka a strong alt, otherwise, I view myself judging a non-unique disad. Having a solid alternative is literally the most compelling thing when leveraging a framework and the impacts of a link because it makes it easy for me as a judge to prefer it over any fiated plan. With that being said I don't like voting for kritiks with weak alternatives, because I view it as a burden of the neg to prove how the alt overcomes the link story and the premise highlighted in the kritik, well at least explain how they substantially change the sqou described in the world of the K. Overviews are nice when making the extension of the K in the later speeches of the debate, however be aware of how long it's going to be, should be no more than 45 seconds.
- If you go one off K, do your thing, but a major thing! Learn how to split the block please.
- Any death drive, death good stuff is probably not good in front of me (not with that, nor I like that).
- I probably wont vote for you regardless of how well you defend if you read the following: Time Cube, death good, shreck.
Theory, theory is awesome, theory is the most amazing thing in debate. In my opinion theory debate is underrated and underused in modern debate. However if you are reading theory make it interesting. That being that I love theory on CP debates.
Regarding T, CPs, DAs, etc make sure no nonsense argument to waste time. By that I refer to, run an argument you are comfortable with and don't run random arguments just to catch the other team off guard ,be very strategic.....
- I am very sympathetic towards condo, because I believe in teams reading plus 6 off just to catch other teams not responding to args. However going for condo just because it was dropped is not enough to win my ballot, there has to be substance regarding as to why condo matters specifically in the context of the round and why it matter overall.
Be strategic...
For example....Don't run Baudrillard and a heg DA with a war impact, c'mon, it's pretty self explanatory why not.
CPs- Big fan of consults CPs, Not voting for a counter plan without a net benefit...Also, a MUST when reading a CP, don't just prove how phenomenal a CP is independently, but prove to why the CP is specifically competitive with the Solvency of the Plan. Consider not getting too caught up in the explanation of how the CP works, but rather include comparative analysis to the 1ac, and distinction to the net benefit. Also, yes counterplans could get messy and stuff but overviews are helpful in later speeches in the debate if you want to make the CP a possible 2NR strategy. For AFF teams, theory is phenomenal against counterplans in front of me, I tend to believe that just like the 1ac, the counterplan should be questioned and attacked as much as possible the 1ac. That being by either perms, CP specific DAs, theory, etc.
Multi-plank counterplans are really tricky and fun, however, they could get sketchy, I don't think plank kicking is a thing, you either defend the full counterplan or none of it.
- Functionally competitive CP's are better in my opinion; easier to defend and to debate thoroughly.
Theory on CP's such as agent, delay, or int. fiat probably have some truth value considering how abusive CP's could get, however I don't think that 5-20 second extensions are enough for me to vote for any of the theory arguments on CPs
DAs- Even if I believe your DA is bad/ or non uq, I will still give your 100% risk until proven otherwise.
-Not a fan of the courts DAs, because most of them a false and exaggerated. If you read these, please give me a good link story that is coherent to the aff, thus multiple links make it strong for not only picking fewer in the debate, but using them as case turns if mishandled by the affirmative. Impact analysis along with a strong internal link story will probably be the most important when trying to get my vote because it is up to the aff or neg to either prove why such impacts matter more or less than the others.
-Politics are nice.
T- if you are going for T in the 2NR, you better go for it all 5 minutes, I expect some serious analysis on T if you end up going for it in the 2NR. Definitely a winnable argument considering it is the negatives job to prove that the aff doesn't work/ is not topical to begin with.
- consider having a debate past the interpretation and the "they say-we say" stuff, but prove your voters as being true.
- By default I think reasonability is good, so it's your job to convince me otherwise.
- Set the bar as to why T is an independent reason to not evaluate anything but the argument in the round.
Framework- Awesome!!When reading/going for framework, please have a solid interpretation. Having a vague interpretation makes it hard for me as the judge to validate arguments you claim to solve for. Moreover, when going to framework please engage into a line by line, nonetheless I won't feel convinced that your idea of what debate should be is true or convincing. Why is voting the other team bad for debate? what are the impacts of not having your framework? what makes your framework best for the debate? Please answer these questions when articulating the argument in your speech. Additionally, I don't really buy the "screw debate", "f debate" "debate is bad" framings of debates and rounds. However I do like when frameworks present a challenging paradigm for the round such as "Debate should be a sight of x or y" or "engaging in this form of debate is key because..."
- I also think fairness is not an impact; coming from a small school, it is pretty evident that there is things outside the round that make debate pretty unfair.
Moreover, I find that now days framework debates are very reciprocal..either "aff should defend a hypothetical USFG plan", or "we should test the aff's orientation before anything". Those debates can get boring, try to expand and have creative interpretations, to have clashful and more concise debates. Which overall are way better than having broad big impact debates.
-impact wise...explain how procedural impacts outweigh pre-fiated impacts
Moreover, clash is always the key to a good debate round, thus making it not just educational to you as a debater but to me as a judge too.
In round stuff/Random
- PICs are fine with me but don't be abusive.
-Jokes are nice
-Never make fun of opponent
-Never card clip (although there is some leeway for novices)
-If I suspect any stealing of prep during flashing or w.e, I will be Conor Cameron with time through the rest of the round.
- Remember that debate is not a reading game, it's a thinking game. Thus, warrants win you debates not cards.
-AFF: always disclose affirmative case before the round if asked by the negative team.
Updated for UMich 2018
TL;DR-- "usfgshould@gmail.com"- Anthony Valiaveedu - Jon Voss
Actual email is bagman91999@gmail.com
Longer version:
My philosophy is no different than that of any other very, very policy judge. Don't read a K and you can do what you want.
I have almost no experience with the immigration topic so super specific topic intricacies are going to need to be explained to me.
Some more specific thoughts
Topicality: I like limits. Aff proliferation is kinda bad so if your interp can solve prolif decently, I'll probably like it. Clearly articulate standards and impacts and I'll vote for it.
Critiques: I have no experience with reading or researching K's and because of that I really don't like them. It'll be hard to win a K in front of me.
Counterplans: Read anything. Counterplan debates are the best.
Disads: Nothing like a good DA and case debate. I miss those especially after the EduTrashtion topic.
Framework/K Affs: See the fake email address above.
Theory: Very under utilized part of debate for anything other than a time skew. I went for condo bad a few too many times when I shouldn't have but that's because the theory debate is fun. If you extend theory, go slow please. It sucks to flow.
Email: dylan.goldberg2@gmail.com
Put me on the email chain.
I debated for four years at Glenbrook South, where my partner and I almost exclusively ran policy centric arguments. While I always vote off the flow, that policy focus is certainly going to influence how I decide debates.
Counterplan and disad debates are the area I feel most comfortable, given that I have the most experience in those areas. For disads, the links is the most important part of the debate, and generally the hardest to win. I'll vote on contrived politics disads, though it's going to be harder to convince me of something that's absurd than a more well thought out topic relevant disad.
Critical debate is an area I feel a lot less comfortable in, though if that's what your good at, just know to explain concepts a little bit more. I'll listen to anything, though if you run a critique I don't understand it will be a lot more difficult for me to decide in favor of it. If you're aff against a K, I generally find impact turns to be more persuasive than link defense, though as always keep that within reason (I will never evaluate racism good).
T vs. Policy aff's: I was never the best T debater, though that doesn't mean I won't evaluate the argument. I find reasonability to be fairly persuasive, though if there's enough limits offense
T vs. Planless aff's: Coming from a policy background, I generally find argument refinement or fairness to be persuasive, but that doesn't mean I won't vote off the flow. If you can't defend why fairness should be a prior question, don't expect my policy bias to change how I vote.
Be nice, be respectful, and have fun. Debate's an amazing activity, enjoy it.
Solorio High School '19, currently enrolled at UIUC
Add me to chain: steveguz29@gmail.com
Pronouns: he/him/his
Respect people's pronouns
I debated all four years of high school. My first experience with the topic would be the first round of the first tournament I judge in.
I'm open to any argument types, but I am more comfortable with CP+DAs. With K's, I'm most likely unfamiliar with the literature, so make sure to thoroughly explain the it. T's are fine.
Affs: prefer plan texts, but I'm open to judge K Affs, but be aware that I may be unfamiliar with them.
T: feel like they are underutilized especially in the beginning of the year. If this is a 2nr argument, make sure it's the priority (3+ minutes). I default to reasonability if that part of the debate isn't debated well enough.
DA: bread and butter. Explain the story. Link is more important than uniqueness unless proven in round. Impact calc key.
CP: again, bread and butter. Prove to me why the CP solves and is better (net benefit) and I'll vote for it. Don't abuse the number you read, then I give more leeway to Condo theory arguments. Aff prove why the CP can't solve, or prove there's no net benefit. Neg needs to prove it's not possible to do both, else i err aff.
K: I've debated against then, went for them before, but it's not my best offcase. Explain the story of the k and how the alt solves. I give more leeway for giving the Aff the option of weighing impacts in framework unless proven differently.
Theory: I'm fine with it. Prove in-round abuse, else I err the other side.
I prefer to be called Steve, not judge. I won't be annoyed or anything, just a preference
Tech over truth.
Don't be discriminatory to any group of people.
Read Death K but I won't be amused nor happy.
I give +0.2 speaks if you are able to roast Conor Cameron in your speeches
Niles North HS 19'
University of Kentucky 23'
The affirmative should read and defend a topical example of the resolution and the negative should negate the affirmative's example.
I will flow and vote based on the things you said. NEGs can say whatever but the more it says the plan is bad the better. Conditionality is probably good. If you say death good you lose.
If you can’t defend your argument in cross-ex, you probably shouldn’t go for it.
flow and be nice
I debated at Glenbrook south for all four years. My first two years were policy and the last two were strictly kritikal. Therefore I'd say I understand both sides of the spectrum and am really willing to vote on anything. Run what you'll be best at. For my last two years of highschool I ran a narrative aff kritiking the debate spaces and it taught me a lot. All this being said, if you say anything blatantly offensive (racist, homophobic, sexist, ect.) I will dock speaker points and possibly vote you down depending how the round plays out. Warming is real. I tend to lean more truth over tech but I won't do work for you. Speed is fine- be clear and I'll always want to be on the email chain.
I run offices for the democratic party across the country. I am the perfect example that you can still gain all of debates policy education while not reading a plan text.
DA's: I love a good disad with CASE SPECIFIC LINKS. If the link is just that any increase in immigration will trigger the link- I probably won't buy it. I need a very good Uniqueness debate and reason why the plan specifically causes something bad to happen.
CP's: I'll definitely listen to any good counterplan debate as long as the net-benefit is clear. States on the immigration topic is a bit iffy.
K's: Love, if you're pulling k tricks though- make sure everyone understands whats happening. Make the alt very clear, what the world of the alt looks like, and slow down during the block to explain the k throughly. You should pick their aff apart to find quotes that illustrate the links, I'm pretty unlikely to buy the aff links unless you can find at least two quotes from the 1ac. If you extend the alt until the 2nr and don't tell me I can kick it and vote on the k as a DA to the aff if you're not winning the alt, then I have to evaluate alt solvency.
Fiat isn't real obviously but the knowledge we get from each round is important. The aff gets the aff but should have to defend the implications of the aff passing.
I am well versed in settler colonialism, psychoanalysis, fem, queer theory, and baurdrillard. That being said, I won't make arguments for you or do work for unexplained arguments. Don't just throw around jargon.
Non- topical/k affs: Love these, don't run one unless you really understand it though.
Topicality: not a huge fan of these rounds. I'd say unless you can convince me the policy aff is blatantly untopical and that skews the neg in some way- I'd say choose a different 2NR choice. I do thing vague plan texts help the neg in a T round though.
Framework: Fairness is probably not an impact. I'll vote for whoever does the better debating on this.
Theory: love it. Won't vote on condo unless there are at least 2 conditional advocacies. More likely to vote on 3+ though. Some counterplans are probably abusive. Hash out a good theory debate- I find them interesting.
People don't go for presumption enough.
Hope this cleared some things up, if you have any more specific questions you can email me at nkkaravidas@gmail.com
Glenbrook North '18
University of Michigan '22
Put me on the chain
jackkuss11@gmail.com
1. You should probably read a plan
2. Process CPs are ok
3. I think the majority of non-old person Kritiks (ks that arents like neolib, security, Agamben or something) are poor arguments, however, if you do the better debating, you win
4. Condo may actually be bad, but don't be afraid to push the limit
5. If you make a joke about Jonah Jacobs, you will get +.1 speaker points
6. Condo > T (sort of)
7. Counterplan do the plan is acceptable if presumption goes neg
8. I'm cool with 10 off
9. I will not kick a counterplan for you, you must say judge kick
10. Do what you want and I’ll listen, I’m always down for some good memeing
Background/Top-Level:
He/him/his
I am beginning to judge more events other than just policy but I have almost zero experience with other forms of debate.
Please include me on the email chain: joshlamet@gmail.com. Everyone gets plus .1 speaks if I'm not asked to be put on, and I'm just automatically put on the chain. Ask me any questions about my paradigm in person or via email, although I try to update it regularly with the most important stuff.
School conflicts: Minnesota, Glenbrook North, Como Park
I don't care what you read as long as you convince me to vote for you, I will.
Stuff related to online debating:
Don't delete analytics from the speech doc, please. I'll probably dock your speaks if I remember to. Online debate is harder to flow than in-person so it's good practice if you want me to catch everything you're saying.
Please slow down a little (especially on T and theory*) because the number of arguments I flow is rarely equal to the number of arguments the speaker actually makes, and those numbers will be much closer to each other if everyone prioritizes clarity and slowing down a bit. Don't just read this and think you're fine. Slow down, please. I know half of all judges ever have something like this in their paradigm but I'm a slower flow than average because I flow on paper.
Sliders:
Policy------------------x-------------------K
Read a plan-------------------------------x---------Do whatever (probably at least sorta related to the topic)
Tech--------------x----------------------------Truth -- I hate myself for it, but I am kind of a truth-orientated judge in that I really don't want to vote for silly args, and the worse an arg is, the more leeway I give to answering it
Tricks---------------------------x--------------Clash
Theory-------------------------------------x--------- Substance -- condo is really the only theory arg that gets to the level of "reject the team", I simply feel that most other theory args are reasons to reject the arg, not the team. Unless the negative goes for the CP/K to which the theory applies in the 2nr, it's a tough sell for me to vote on, "They read [insert abusive off-case position], they should lose".
Conditionality good--------x---------------------Conditionality bad -- this being said, I would much rather see 4-6 good off, than a 7+ mix of good and bad
States CP good (including uniformity)-----------x----------------------50 state fiat is bad
Always VTL----------------x---------------------Never VTL
Impact turn (*almost) everything-x-----------------------------I like boring debate -- to add to this, I'm a huge sap for impact calc and specifically rebuttals that provide a detailed narrative of the impacts of the debate and how they interact with the other team's. Impact comparison and impact turns are often the deciding factors for me in close debates
*Almost meaning I'll vote on warming good, death good, etc. but not on args like racism good or ableism good. Why don't people read death good anymore? I am an edgy teenager at heart and could be convinced the human race should go extinct.
Limits---------------x-------------------------------Aff Ground
Process CP's are cheating----------------------x---------------Best fall-back 2nr option is a cheating, plan-stealing CP
Lit determines legitimacy-------x-----------------------Exclude all suspect CPs
Yes judge kick the CP--x-------------------------------------------Judge kick is abusive -- as long as the 2nr says to kick the CP, I'm gonna kick it and just analyze the world of the squo vs the aff and I'm pretty sure there's nothing the aff can really do if condo bad isn't a thing in the round. Heck, I judged a debate where the CP was extended for 30 seconds and not kicked but I still voted neg because the neg won a large risk of a case turn. What I'm saying, is that when you are aff and the neg goes for more than just the CP with an internal NB, beating the CP doesn't equate to winning the debate outright
Presumption----------x--------------------------Never votes on presumption
"Insert this rehighlighting"---------------------x--I only read what you read
I flow on my computer ---------------------------------------x I'm gonna need to borrow some paper
I try to give out speaker points that are representative of how well you performed in the round compared to the tournament as a whole. I try to follow the process detailed here, but I often find myself handing out speaks sort of indiscriminately. Getting good speaks from me includes being respectful and making good choices in the rebuttals (smart kickouts, concessions, and flow coverage).
Clash! I like judging debates where the arguments/positions evolve about one another as opposed to simply in vacuums.
Don't be sloppy with sources.
Random things I am not a fan of: Excessive cross-applications, not doing LBL, email/tech issues, making my decision harder than it should be, and 2ACs and 1ARs that don't extend case impacts (even when they're dropped).
T-USFG/FW:
Fairness is an impact----------x-------------------Fairness is only an internal link -- My threshold is usually how close your aff is to the topic in the abstract, i.e. econ inequality and nukes. I do feel like in the end the main goal of doing debate is to win. The activity serves a ton of other purposes but at the end of each debate, one team wins, and one team loses. This doesn't mean that I think reading a planless aff is unfair and can be convinced that a "fair" debate produces something bad, but it's going to be very hard to convince me that debate is not a game.
Topic education is decent for an education impact but policymaking and policy education are meh. Critical thinking skills can also be extracted from debate and critical skills about calling out state action and for revolution planning.
If you don't read a written-out advocacy statement: Impact turn framework---------x---------------------------Procedural
Debate and life aren't synonymous but I understand that many of your lives revolve heavily around debate, so I will respect any arg you go for as long as you make smart arguments to support it.
Kevin Le -- Lay Judge
OTHER STUFF: TSMDebateKL@gmail.com --> ALWAYS include me on the email chain
Note: I have not debated nor researched the current high-school topic, keep this in mind when you're explaining and contextualizing your arguments. I have not judged since I last debated, please slow down. I will not catch everything and then it's on y'all. I am ESPECIALLY unfamiliar with the virtual debate so please be patient with me.
-- I HATE it when teams don't flash analytics. Debate isn't about outspreading the opponent and hoping that they drop something. You should be able to out-debate them even when they have all your arguments and it also helps me out to flow when you're going 100000000 mph during your speech.
-- Tag team is fine as long as you don’t start taking over cross-ex.
-- If you're referring to me, please call me Kevin.
-- I do not count flashing time (or general tech screw-ups) as prep time and quite frankly I am not a fascist about this kind of thing as some other judges, just don’t abuse my leniency on this.
-- If you are running more than 5 off-case positions, you need to rethink your strategy. Run it at your discretion, but know that I will be more likely to evaluate in-round abuse (on theory debates) as legitimate and a reason as you why your model of debate is bad.
-- You should speak more slowly. You will debate better. I will understand your argument better. Judges who understand your argument with more clarity than your opponent's argument are likely to side with you. If you are going too fast or are unclear, I will let you know. Ignore such warnings at your peril, as with Kritiks, I am singularly unafraid to admit I didn’t get an answer and therefore will not vote on it. I'm average at flowing but may miss tricks/theory if you don't make them especially clear. If I can't understand your argument -- either due to your lack of clarity or your argument's lack of coherence, I will not vote for it. The latter is often the downfall of most negative Kritiks. I'm a 4/10 for speed and maybe even a 5 if I'm fully awake.
-- I will read evidence if it is challenged by a team. Otherwise, if you say a piece of evidence says X and the other team doesn’t say anything, I probably won’t call for it and assume it says X. However, in the unfortunate (but fairly frequent) occurrence where both teams just read cards, I will call for cards and use my arbitrary and capricious analytical skills to piece together what I, in my semi-conscious (and probably apathetic) state, perceive is going on. -- I generally will vote on anything that is set forth on the round.
-- I will not hesitate to vote against teams and award zero points for socially unacceptable behavior i.e. evidence fabrication, threats of violence, racist or sexist slurs, etc.
-- You can't clip cards. This is non-negotiable. If I catch it, I'll happily ring you up and spend the next hour of my life doing anything else. If you're accusing a team of it, you need to be able to present me with a quality recording to review. The burden of proof lies with the accusing team, "beyond a reasonable doubt" is my standard for conviction.
TOPICALITY: Enjoy. I believe it is the NEG's burden to establish the plan is not topical. Case lists and arguments on what various interpretations would allow/not allow are very important. I have found that the limits/predictability/ground debate has been more persuasive to me, although I will consider other standards debates.
DISADVANTAGES AND ADVANTAGES: Mostly fine with most DAs, but not a big fan of politics DAs.
COUNTERPLANS: Okay. Case-specific CP's are preferable that integrate well (i.e. do not flatly contradict) with other NEG positions. The AFF has the burden of telling me how a permutation proves the CP is non-competitive.
KRITIKS: Not a fan, but I have voted on them numerous times. I will never be better than below mediocre (3/10) at evaluating these arguments because I don’t read philosophy for entertainment. To win, the negative must establish a clear story about 1) what the K is; 2) how it links; 3) what the impact is at either the policy level, or: 4) pre-fiat (to the extent it exists) outweighs policy arguments or other AFF impacts. Don’t just assume I will vote to reject their evil discourse, advocacy, lack of ontology, support of biopolitics, etc. Without an explanation, I will assume a K is a very bad non-unique DA. As such it will probably receive very little weight if challenged by the AFF. You must be able to distill long boring philosophical cards read at hyper speed to an explanation that I can comprehend. I have no fear of saying I don’t understand what the hell you are saying and I will not vote for issues I don’t understand. I don’t have to impress anyone with my intelligence or lack of. If you make me read said cards with no explanation, I will guarantee that I will not understand the five-syllable (often foreign) philosophical words in the card and you will go down in flames. I do appreciate, if not require specific analysis on the link and impact to either the AFF. If you can make specific applications (in contrast to vote negative b/c the state is bad), I will be much more likely to vote for you.
PERFORMANCE-BASED ARGUMENTS AND KRITIK AFFIRMATIVES: No topical plan that starts with "The United States federal government should..." No win. This is non-negotiable. If your AFF does not contain a topical plan and the negative raises even a minimal framework objection, I will vote negative. Especially on a topic where the AFF can critique some vestige of US [INSERT TOPIC HERE] policy and then read a plan to increase/ban that thing, it is a LOW requirement that the affirmative finds a topical way to make its desired argument.
GBN '19
Tulane '23
Add me: danlevindebate@gmail.com
Top Level
Although I am very familiar with NATO, Isidore Newman will be the first time I judge this topic. That being said, if there is anything that I should know (acronyms, programs, important concepts, etc.), use your speeches to explain it.
I'm fine with almost any argument, so long as it is explained coherently and has a claim, evidence, and warrant behind it. Ultimately, just be nice, be prepared, and have fun.
Topicality
Not sure how big it is on this topic, but I am a big fan of T debates. I think legal precision is probably the best way to win T debates (regardless if you're aff or neg)- I'm persuaded by the argument that legal precision controls the internal link to whatever other impacts there are (fairness, education, etc.). Also, intent to define is key. Don't hesitate to call out your opponent's evidence if it is taken out of context.
CP's
Great argument. Agent, conditions, process, etc. are all fine with me as long as it's tied to the rest of the debate. That means that at some point a card needs to be read by the neg that ties the CP to the aff, or at the very least the resolution. Solvency deficits can be devastating if they're explained well, and certainly should be part of your aff strategy. Likewise, having quality evidence on the neg that establishes solvency makes your CP much more viable. Advantage CP's are underused and can be super effective when coupled with a DA. In terms of theory, I am generally neg leaning, but can be convinced otherwise. The only argument I may be aff leaning on, depending on the situation, is condo. Aff, if you're going to go for it, don't make it a generic, theoretical debate over the merits of conditionality. The best way to execute condo is to make it as specific to the round as possible, and provide concrete examples of how the neg's use of condo was abusive.
DA's
Any and all disads are fine. I frequently went for DA and case as a 2n and I think it's a strategy that's not used enough. Obviously impact calc is super important, not just fleshing out your own impact but also comparing it to theirs. I can be persuaded to vote aff on defense alone, especially if the case debate is executed well, but you'll probably be more successful if you go for a link or impact turn.
Kritiks
The K can be an extremely effective strategy, and I will definitely listen. While I am familiar with most K literature, the more high theory it gets, the larger the burden is on the neg to explain it. At the end of the day, if I can't comprehend your argument, I'm not going to vote for it. My favorite K to read was set col, but I'm fine with anything. For both sides, be respectful to your opponents and do not personally attack them. Also, be direct about what your argument is and don't be shifty. I'm not going to vote on K results in the aff post-alt or fiat double bind, so your path to victory is much more clear if you focus on the actual substance of the kritik. For most kritiks, I think the neg has a pretty high threshold to establish a link, so make sure you read evidence that puts your K in the context of the aff, and have specific examples of what the aff does that links to your argument. If you're aff, use your c-x and speech time to point out the lack of a link and also attack the alt. A lot of alts are simply buzzwords that can't be explained, or, if they are comprehensible, have clear, significant DA's to them. If you're neg, take the time in your speeches to explain what the alt does, how it solves your impacts, and why it's preferable. I'm ok with K affs, but I think it's definitely an uphill battle for the aff if the neg has a solid framework argument. If you plan on reading a K aff, tie it to the topic, have a good defense of why it should be a part of the debate, and explain why the impacts of your aff matter, both in terms of the "real-world" impacts as well as the impacts that your aff has on debate as an activity.
robbielevin515@gmail.com
Debated for Niles North and Indiana University.
Put me on the email chain, liamjlorenz@gmail.com
I am open to any arguments, as long as they are explained and extended well. I'm not one of those people that "won't vote on death/extinction good" or "will never pull the trigger on ASPEC". I approach the debate from an unbiased mindset. If you out-debate the other team, and I have you winning on a technical level on my flow, I will vote for you.
That being said, I do have some small inherent preferences as a debater, which I feel make for better debates - displayed here in a chart copied from Jeff Buntin. However, these are merely preferences - if your style of debate does not align with the opinions in this chart, that does not mean I won’t vote for you. I will likely understand all of the arguments in debate, and pay close attention to technicality.
Policy-----------O--------------------------------K
Tech-------------O--------------------------------Truth
Conditionality good---------------O---------------Conditionality bad
States CP good---------------------O------------States CP bad
Limits---------------------O------------------------Aff ground
You should flow all arguments, and doing explicit line-by-line will help everyone in the debate, including your chances of winning and getting high speaker points. Stray away from under-developed embedded clash/unnecessarily long “overviews"; the more flowable you are, the better your chances of winning are.
Jasmine K. Mendez
Former Solorio Debater (Solorio '19)
Current Sarah E. Goode Debate Coach
@RCC/NatCir:I will not vote on something I do not understand by the end of the round. If you are going for an argument, you should be able to explain it adequetly. This goes for K's, CP's, Da's, and Affirmatives.Tell the story.
@k-aff teams:I have a very low threshold for the negative framework debate against a K-Aff. It is your responsibility as the team that chose to read a K-Aff to prove why this round is key, what my role as the judge is in your literature, and (especially) what your mechanism is. If you do not do that work and expect me to do it for you then I will err the side of the neg on framework.
** Forewarning: RUN K'S AT YOUR OWN RISK* My understanding of K's isn't the best and my understanding of framework is just as great which means that you need to be able to make a lot of things both clear for me and structured--> being able to have great clash on specific arguments in the K and being able to explain why it means that I prefer your arguments or vote for you or evaluate your arguments first is much appreciated.
Generally: Truth over tech. I am good with speed but prefer articulation and analysis of arguments more than I prefer a card dump in speeches. In terms of arguments, DA's and CP are probably the best things in front of me; however, I was once a Fem debater for 2 years and dabble in the Cap K. That said, make sure that you are able to explain the link and alternative to me! T should be 5 minutes in the last rebuttal if you're going for it and must be articulated well, give me a clear reason as to why allowing this specific aff is dangerous to debate as a whole.
Affirmatives: Saying that I am not great with planless affirmatives would be an understatement. I usually will vote for topicality against such affirmatives than I would vote against it.
Disadvantages: I tend to understand politics DA's well. DA's with weak or ridiculous I/L can be hard for me to evaluate but I will tend to gravitate more towards the link debate. It is your burden to prove the magnitude and likeliness of the DA, "I will not assign zero OR 100% weight to an advantage or a disadvantage" (CBC, 19)
CP: It is your burden to prove that a CP is theoretically illegitimate. When debating counterplan theory, both sides must have an interpretation of what a negative can and can't do. Conditionality is also difficult to win unless in round abuse can be proven.
Topicality: If the negative is able to effectively construct a strong limits story with a specific caselist and terminal impact work. I'm less inclined to vote on aff "education" standards because I do believe that simply reading the aff as a counterplan or some topical version of the aff can resolve that. In the final rebuttals (specifically the 2AR) I will never be persuaded by the "come on judge" but rather prefer a substantiated explanation as to why their counter-interp is good for debate.
Kritiks: I will vote on the K when the neg wins that the impact to the k outweighs and/or turns the case or when the neg wins some framework interp that mitigates aff offense. I will lean towards the aff on framework unless a neg framework standard that isn't solved by weighing the impacts to the links vs. plan.
Some things about me:
I debated for Niles North from 2015-2019. I'm attending St. Olaf with a double major in Political Science and Women and Gender Studies on a Pre-Law track.
I went to NDI two years in the Sophomore and top policy lab and UMmich 7 week K lab my senior year.
My email is hgniederman@gmail.com.
Please add me to any email chain and email me after round if you have questions.
If you are unclear on any of this paradigm's contents feel free to ask for clarification before round if there is time.
Overall things:
1. If there is any rudeness in the round that makes the debaters or myself uncomfortable I will either dock the speaks of the person or team participating in rudeness or even stop the round/issue a warning.
2. There's a difference between being competitive and cheating. Things like messing with the format of your speech docs to make them difficult to understand, being distracting during the other team's prep or speeches, or cutting people off unnecessarily will make me most likely dock your speaks or just be annoyed.
3. Please don't call me judge, call me Hannah.
4. Please don't shake my hand after round.
5. Making jokes, having strong ethos, being confident, being interesting to listen to and easy to flow will make me impressed and more likely to swing your way when I'm deciding speaks or the round overall. Also please speak loudly.
6. Racism, sexism, misogyny, or another unacceptable language is not tolerated.
7. Please try to refrain from using language that includes slurs, descriptions of sexual assault, or descriptions of suicide. Use warnings/ask for permission before doing this if you think your arguments fall into this category.
8. Flow!!! The only time you don't have to flow is if you are the 1n and it's during the 2nc.
9. Please keep time for your speeches and prep. If you want me to time prep for you I can, but you have to ask.
10. ** For novices ** Debate, especially in novice, is about fun and learning, not about being ruthless. Remember that!!!
How I debated:
In my four years as a debater, I solidly considered myself a flex debater. My range of argumentation went from the topic CP's and DA's of the year to reading an Autoethnography Settler Colonialism aff for part of my senior year. Take all this with a grain of salt however.
Argument Specific Things:
T- I will vote on T if you extend it properly with a good interpretation and a reasonable view of the topic. However, if an aff is clearly topical then don't try to make more work for yourself by going for T. You must define your scope of the topic and impact out your limits arguments in order to have the easiest time winning on T. T is not my favorite thing to watch a round on however. Also if you are incredibly fast, please don't read T args at full speed.
DA- Impact calc and explanations of the world of the DA are incredibly important. I cannot evaluate a DA that is not extended in its entirety (UQ, L, IL, !) and properly weighed against the aff.
Case- I love a solid case debate, especially one that incorporates good line by line. I am a 2A, so I always think aff teams should treat case like their baby and spend a reasonable amount of time extending all necessary parts of their aff in all of their speeches. I cannot vote on impacts that do not have an explanation attached to them (ie. if you say warming is the biggest impact in the round but don't explain how your aff is connected to this, you cannot win that you reasonably solve it). Please put both cards and line by line on case in any 2AC's and 2NC's.
CP's- I'm not a huge fan of PIC's or cheaty counterplans. I'm definitely here for a good CP debate if the neg puts in work. For the aff, focus on explaining the world of the perm and any solvency deficits, plus anything else you deem important.
K's- I love K's and watching/judging/debating in K rounds. I'm open to basically any K if you explain it well enough (especially if it uses lots of not common jargon). Please have a reasonable alt and a good link to the aff. HOWEVER I would warn that I don't vote for death good. I do love identity args and solid topic K's, so keep that in mind if that's your jam.
I am an impartial judge and will accept all reasonable arguments. I care about the eloquence of your speech more than your speed or amount of evidence. I will listen to all arguments that are reasonable with an open mind.
--Senior at Glenbrook South HS -- my email is sabinaroberts481 [at] gmail [dot] com
*** Everything below is meant to provide you with an idea of how I view debate, but I would much rather listen to you execute a strategy you are familiar with well than you over-adapt to some of my predispositions. I tend to be a very expressive judge - take that as you will. I will dock speaker points to rude debaters. ***
Kritiks: Sure. I like explanations of your k on a thesis level as well as how it interacts with the aff. K affs are not my favorite, but judge intervention frustrates me as a debater, so I am wary of it while judging. Procedural fairness is True, but I do have a high threshold for voting on it. I also think topic education is dope and underutilized. I think there should be a role of the negative in every debate--depending on the aff, that might mean a counterinterp might be a better 2ar strategy than solely an impact turn to T. Tell me what my ballot does/doesn't do.
Theory: <3. I randomly enjoy theory debates if well executed. I've been both a 2A and 2N so I'm totally down to vote on theory on the aff or let the neg do whatever they want. It just depends on how it's debated.
Topicality: See the 2N/2A thing above--I've defended barely topical affs and my favorite 2NRs were also T. I love a good T debate either way. Reasonability is just true but no one explains it well or goes for it enough.
Speaker Points: I believe I am someone who gives generally higher speaks. I reward debaters who are kind, funny, and smart. CLARITY is super important to me! I literally cannot emphasize that enough. Remember that speed doesn't matter a ton if you are clear and efficient. (I feel you, slow debaters.)
If you add me to the email chain without asking, I'll give you extra .3 speaks.
*** Quotes from coaches that I vibe with ***
"Fairness is the only thing I care about. It's both the single strongest internal link to every other thing debate can do for you and a standalone impact. It isn't that I don't think debating government policy is not useful for other reasons, but you only have 5 minutes in the 2nr to prove that your model of debate is a valuable one." -- Jon Voss
"In my experience as a debater and judge, ignorance of tech resulted in a callous dismissal of arguments as “bad” and increased judge intervention to determine what is “correct” instead of what was debated in-round and executed more effectively. That said, truth is a huge bonus, and being on the right side makes your task of being technically proficient easier because you can let logic/evidence speak a little for you." -- Tyler Thur
"Is Fem IR beatable? no" -- Scott Phillips
"Flow." -- Michael Greenstein
Novice:
The best way to get my ballot is to debate your best and have fun! I don't have any super strong argumentative preferences.
Being nice to your partner and your opponent > trying to seem smart.
(Some of these may be complicated by online debate but) Extra speaker points if you:
- show me your flow after the debate (extra extra points if it looks good)
- make arguments in your speech off the flow (not in your typed blocks or cards)
- mention that you read this paradigm before the debate
- make a joke in your speech (extra if it's funny, negative if it makes fun of the other team)
Varsity:
Put me on the email chain--dundermifflindebate@gmail.com
I am most comfortable deciding T/CP/DA debates, but I'll listen to almost anything.
If you give your final rebuttal without a computer, I will boost your speaker points by .2.
Freshman at the University of Chicago
Debated for three years at Niles North
Being South Asian, I do love hearing race and colonialism arguments. Sympathetic to arguments about ivory tower positions/armchair philosophy. I don't tolerate sexism/homophobia/etc. Be respectful. This means watch your tone, word choice when speaking to or about your opponent, and most importantly, your facial expressions.
Avoid topic jargon. Provide a weighing mechanism and parameters as to how the round should be evaluated. Not a fan of theory.
Yes email chain: sara.tsiddiqui@gmail.com
Glenbrook South '19 | University of Michigan '23
General
Be organized. Do line-by-line, impact calc, judge instruction, and evidence comparison. Do not just read evidence in the 2AC/2NC/1NR. Smart analytics can overcome bad evidence.
Inserting rehighlightings is okay as long as the rehighlightings are short and the implication is explained in the speeches.
For everything below, I can be convinced otherwise through good debating. Feel free to ask clarification questions pre-round!
Case/DAs
I love good case debating. No, this does not just mean yes/no impact. Yes, this means debating the internal link to advantages (and disadvantages). Debates can easily be won or lost here, and internal link comparison in the final rebuttals is underutilized.
Case-specific DAs are preferable, but politics can be good with decent evidence and persuasive spin.
Rider DAs are not DAs.
CPs
Advantage CPs are preferable to Agent CPs/Process CPs. PDCP definitions (from both sides) should have specific standards/theoretical justifications.
Condo is (probably) good, kicking planks is (probably) good, and judge kick is the default unless debated otherwise.
2NC CPs are good against new affirmatives, but against non-new affirmatives, the 2NC should justify their new planks. The 1AR can convince me this is abusive (especially if the 2NC is adding new planks to get out of a straight-turned DA).
Most theory arguments are reasons to reject the argument, not the team unless debated otherwise.
T
It is important for both sides to map out what topics look like under their interpretations, especially at the beginning of the season. What affirmatives are included? What negative argument are guaranteed? What does each interpretation exclude? Examples help frame the round!
Evidence quality matters much more in these rounds!
T vs K Affs
Debate is a game, and competition/winning drives our participation in debate. The strongest impacts to T are fairness and clash (iterative testing, testing etc). Negative teams have had success in front of me when they utilize clash to link turn affirmative offense.
Specific TVAs are good. You do not need evidence as long as you have a plan text and explain what debate rounds would look like under the TVAs.
Ks
I am most familiar with Anti-Blackness, Capitalism, and Settler Colonialism literature, and not as familiar with Baudrillard, Bataille etc.
Please do not give extremely long overviews. Root cause claims, impact comparisons at the top are smart and strategic, but the rest of the "overview" can be incorporated into the line-by-line later on the flow.
Impact out each link!
Overall:
-Please flow. It makes it easier for me to flow.
-Time your own prep and speeches.
-Don't be rude to your partner or the other team.
-Try to use all of your speech time.
-Give a roadmap before your speech and stick to it.
CPs:
-I like them. I think they're good arguments to make. If you read one, make sure you understand it and how it functions. Make sure it's competitive and that it has an external net benefit.
DAs:
-I like these too. Make sure you understand the internal link chain of your DA and have a decent impact card. Specific links are good too, so if you have them, read them.
Ks:
-I'm familiar with Ks, but I didn't read them very much. I will vote on a K, but as with any argument, you need to explain it.
T:
-I will vote on T if it is extended throughout the round. Make sure you explain the voting issues, your interpretation, why it's better for debate, and why the aff violates your interpretation.
Speaker Points:
I don't generally give below 27.5 speaker points. That being said, if you're rude to your partner or your opponents or if you say something offensive, you will get less than that.
Cally Tucker
Gbn '19 (Fourth year debater)
Put me on the email chain and feel free to email me after round with any questions- callytucker8@gmail.com
Overall things to keep in mind
- Be clear
- Please do not shake my hand
- Be respectful of both me and the other team. It will impact your speaker points if you are being rude/disrespectful throughout the debate. That being said, offensive comments will not be tolerated. I will issue a warning/stop the round at any point if I feel the need too
- Please flow
- Time your own prep, speeches and cx
- Don't be rude during cx, do not repeatedly bombard the other team if they don't answer your question to your liking. Tag team is fine, try to answer yourself, if you can't, defer to your partner
- Spread, but don't let that get in the way of clarity. If you need to slow down to be more clear, then do it
- try to debate off your flow in the 2ar, 2nr
- give a road map before the speech
- use all speech time
- your arguments are only as good as what I have on my flow
Cp's
I like them and read them a lot and you should too. If you are reading them, make sure they are competitive. Against them, theory (condo bad, dispo bad, process cp's bad, 50 state fiat bad, etc), perms (make as many as you can), and defense. Make sure your cp has a net benefit, and make sure that it works. I don't like consult cp's (possible cheating) but if you really sell me on it, I will consider voting on it.
Da's
Make sure your link story is clear and that your impact card is decent. If you are extending them into the block, make sure you have impact calc throughout at the top and line by line for any args they have. Against disads, have good defensive arguments and explain why it doesn't link. If their link story is bad, or their unq is bad make sure to point it out and tell me why.
K's
I will vote on them but I don't read any others besides neolib often. I am familiar with most, (most likely familiar with any you novs will run or JV). Make sure your alt is well explained and why it is effective in and out of the round. If the alt is to just reject the 1ac, you need to really sell me on why that is important to the ideology of your kritik. If you are against a K, read framework and explain why their alt is bad. Most alts are not very good, but you again have to sell me on this and explain it. AFF: Read condo and make perms.
Topicality
Topicality is good. I'll vote on it if it was extended well and the voting issues were explained throughly. Make sure you also explain your interpretation. TVA's are good.
Speaker points
I generally stick to 27.5+. being rude, really arrogant or disrespectful will significantly dock your speaks. If you get below a 27.5, it is for a reason, and if you'd like to contact me with any questions as to why, you can email me.
gl
Carlos Urquizo
UIUC'23
Solorio Academy HS'19
About Me: I debated for four years on the national circuit and in the Chicago Debate League. I used to be pure policy but I integrated the K into my negative strategies later in high school. I am open to most types of arguments and will vote for a variety of arguments. I will vote for critical arguments just as much as policy stuff.
T: Don't go for it.
Disadvantages: Disadvantages are good but I like to see a link specific to the aff if its possible. The internal link debate will matter a lot to me, if I dont understand the DA, then it doesnt matter if the 1AC links or if the impact to the DA outweighs.
Counterplans: I think most counterplans are legit, but they always need a net benefit and internal net benefits are not enough for me. I need you to win the net benefit for me to vote on the counterplan. Prove to me why the CP is clearly a reason to reject the Plan. Textual competition is not persuasive to me.
K: do good analysis and tell me what the K is, I also need specific links to the affs. This generally much easier for things like the cap K. Root cause debates are not good. Framework matters and I will not vote for the aff if you dont read it. Fairness is not an impact, but use things like that as an argument to support the impact. For the aff, tell me why the negatives kritik is bad for you and bad for debate and what that does for debate overall and why its bad for future debates not just what is happening in your round. there needs to be an intepretation from both sides - I think this debate requires proper clash or else i think it just proves the affirmatives claims. I also need to hear reasons why debate is good.
K AFFs: I like K affs, I dont like hearing arguments like the state is good but rather tell me reasons why the state is redeemable if this debate does happen to occur. I think its valuable to prove why your respective model of debate is best. For the AFF, i think its extremely important for you to be ready for things outside of framework or T. For the negative, read Topical versions of the affirmative. The best way to debate K affs is to beat the substance of the argument, and i would suggest not to go for framework because the aff will have way more offense on that debate. The K aff will usually not be bad for debate in my opinion.
Misc: I try to be a nice judge and I'll be extremely respectful to both teams. My goal during the rounds is to make sure everything goes right, while making it as fun as possible; furthermore, my goal at the end of the round is to give as much feedback and constructive criticism as I can.
My understanding of the topic: "There are over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation. That's one firearm for every twelve people on the planet. The only question is: How do we arm the other 11?" - Lord of War (2005)
People who influenced my understanding of debate: Tara Tate, Jon Voss, Tyler Thur, JP, Jake Lee, Cicero, Nimil Patel and DHeidt.
"Policy Debate is increasingly neither... I do not mind when it is both." - Repko
Debate is a persuasion activity - persuade me.
I am one of the few people around that am more convinced with a link overview in why the affirmative causes the link to occur rather than an impact overview. Note that impact calc still plays an important role in my decision calculus. I also put evidence quality in a high standard when looking at questionable evidence post-round.
Conditionality is probably fine, Counterplans that do the plan are probably not.
Email: anthonyvaliaveedu@gmail.com
Remember that "there are only two tragedies in life. One is not getting what you want, the other is getting it."
Name : Lauren Velazquez
Affiliated School: Niles North
Email: Laurenida@gmail.com
General Background:
I debated competitively in high school in the 1990s for Maine East. I participated on the national circuit where counterplans and theory were common.
Director of Debate at Niles North
Laurenida@gmail.com
ME
Experience:
I competed in the 90s, helped around for a few years, took a bit of a break, have been back for about 7 years. My teams compete on the national circuit, I help heavily with my teams’ strategies, and am a lab leader at a University of Michigan. In recent years I have helped coach teams that cleared at the TOC, won state titles and consistently debated in late elim rounds at national tournaments. TL/DR--I am familiar with national circuit debate but I do not closely follow college debate so do not assume that I am attuned to the arguments that are currently cutting edge/new.
What this means for you---I lean tech over truth when it comes to execution, but truth controls the direction of tech, and some debate meta-arguments matter a lot less to me.
I am not ideological towards most arguments, I believe debate structurally is a game, but there are benefits to debate outside of it being just a game, give it your best shot and I will try my best to adapt to you.
The only caveat is do not read any arguments that you think would be inappropriate for me to teach in my classroom, if you are worried it might be inappropriate, you should stop yourself right there.
DISADS AND ADVANTAGES
When deciding to vote on disadvantages and affirmative advantages, I look for a combination of good story telling and evidence analysis. Strong teams are teams that frame impact calculations for me in their rebuttals (e.g. how do I decide between preventing a war or promoting human rights?). I should hear from teams how their internal links work and how their evidence and analysis refute indictments from their opponents. Affirmatives should have offense against disads (and Negs have offense against case). It is rare, in my mind, for a solvency argument or "non unique" argument to do enough damage to make the case/disad go away completely, at best, relying only on defensive arguments will diminish impacts and risks, but t is up to the teams to conduct a risk analysis telling me how to weigh risk of one scenario versus another.
TOPICALITY
I will vote on topicality if it is given time (more than 15 seconds in the 2NR) in the debate and the negative team is able to articulate the value of topicality as a debate “rule” and demonstrate that the affirmative has violated a clear and reasonable framework set by the negative. If the affirmative offers a counter interpretation, I will need someone to explain to me why their standards and definitions are best. Providing cases that meet your framework is always a good idea. I find the limits debate to be the crux generally of why I would vote for or against T so if you are neg you 100% should be articulating the limits implications of your interpretation.
KRITIKS
Over the years, I have heard and voted on Kritiks, but I do offer a few honest caveats:
*Please dont read "death good"/nihilism/psychoanalysis in front of me. I mean honestly I will consider it but I know I am biased and I HATE nihilism, psychoanalysis debates. I will try to listen with an open mind but I really don't think these arguments are good for the activity or good for pedagogy--they alienate younger debaters who are learning the game and I don't think that genuine discussions of metaphysics lend themselves to speed reading and "voting" on right/wrong. If you run these I will listen and work actively to be open minded but know you are making an uphill battle for yourself running these. If these are your bread and butter args you should pref me low.
I read newspapers daily so I feel confident in my knowledge around global events. I do not regularly read philosophy or theory papers, there is a chance that I am unfamiliar with your argument or the underlying paradigms. I do believe that Kritik evidence is inherently dense and should be read a tad slower and have accompanying argument overviews in negative block. Impact analysis is vital. What is the role of the ballot? How do I evaluate things like discourse against policy implications (DAs etc)
Also, I’m going to need you to go a tad slower if you are busting out a new kritik, as it does take time to process philosophical writings.
If you are doing something that kritiks the overall debate round framework (like being an Aff who doesnt have a plan text), make sure you explain to me the purpose of your framework and why it is competitively fair and educationally valuable.
COUNTERPLANS
I am generally a fan of CPs as a neg strategy. I will vote for counterplans but I am open to theory arguments from the affirmative (PICs bad etc). Counterplans are most persuasive to me when the negative is able to clearly explain the net benifts and how (if at all) the counterplan captures affirmative solvency. For permutations to be convincing offense against CPs, Affs should explain how permutation works and what voting for perm means (does the DA go away, do I automatically vote against neg etc?)
Random
Tag team is fine as long as you don’t start taking over cross-ex and dominating. You are part of a 2 person team for a reason.
Speed is ok as long as you are clear. If you have a ton of analytics in a row or are explaining a new/dense theory, you may want to slow down a little since processing time for flowing analytics or kritkits is a little slower than me just flowing the text of your evidence.
I listen to cross ex. I think teams come up with a lot of good arguments during this time. If you come up with an argument in cross ex-add it to the flow in your speech.
Introduction-
My name is Marcus Williams and i'm a senior at the University of Kentucky.
My email is marcusvwilliams.ii@gmail.com . You can email me with any questions you have. If you do email chains you can also add me to it before the round.
General -
I really enjoy debate and I think it should be a fun activity that everyone should be comfortable doing. With that being said, I am open to all arguments that teams make. I have NOT done any debating or research on this years high school/middle school topic, but that doesn't mean I am clueless to how things work. It just means you need more explanation.
Disads -
Do impact and framing work. I prefer specificity when it comes to link arguments. Generic link arguments can get it done with nuance, but I am lenient to aff no link arguments if they press your very general evidence.
Topicality -
Topicality should be treated as a disad, meaning that you should do similar impact calc. Violations should be aff specific. T debates can be kinda confusing if you are just repeating your arguments without answering the other teams, so make sure to do comparative work.
Counterplans -
Generic counterplans are fine. Ensure you isolate all 1AC internal links early on and how you resolve them in advance.
Theory -
I am persuaded by a lot of aff theory arguments however, I find I vote neg a lot more in theory debates because of a lack of impact comparison and technical drops. going for one liner theory arguments are fine if their dropped, but they have to be clearly communicated and substantiated with an impact.
Kritiks -
let em rip