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Woodward Academy One Day Tournament

2019 — College Park, GA/US

Policy Paradigm List

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Kevin Bancroft Chattahoochee High School 4 rounds

Wiley Barzelay USN 4 rounds

Christopher Cheek USN 4 rounds

Last changed on Fri January 12, 2024 at 8:14 AM EDT

New (14/9/22)

I currently debate at Boston College (class of 2025) and formerly debated at the University School of Nashville (class of 2021). I lean more heavily towards policy arguments than I think your average judge my age does. Most important to me is that you explain your argument and (at the end of the round) why your argument means you win and your opponent loses. For policy kids this means I will vote on cheapshots and theory - if you explain it better than they do then you win regardless of what people in the debate community generally believe about a theory argument. For K folks, ff I can't explain what you're arguing and how its related to the topic at the end of the round after you've spent 36 minute spreading at me, then I am extremely unlikely to vote for you (this goes for weird process CPs and items of that nature as well). I will not automatically disregard arguments with trivial significance to the topic but I'm unlikely to give them much weight so do with that information what you will or won't. Also I like debate to be fun as well as all the other stuff so if your personality in the round is being mean to opponents or your partner I suggest you find a better personality. I also don't know anything about the HS topic so don't assume I know anything.

Old (this is quite detailed so if you're looking for something specific it might be here if it's not above but it's old and my opinions may have slightly changed)

Short:

Yes I will vote on your ASPEC and your bad T if you argue it better than they do

I have no topic knowledge about water beyond what I remember from AP Chem

You should probably at least skim the long (or don't it really is quite long and I sort of hate it. Just know that I'm a policy leaning judge and I'm generally going to vote for the argument that has been argued more skillfully except in edge cases)

Long:

I used to be a debater for University School of Nashville. Then I graduated and now I’m a freshman at Boston College. I've been a 2N since Gerald Ford Impeachment DA was all the rage.

Here are the reasons I like debate:

1) It's fair

2) It's educational

3) It's fun

I like to have fun. Talk to me when debate is not underway.

The opinions below are mine but they aren't written in stone - if you're good at something and you win it I'll probably vote for you.

With that in mind here are my thoughts on various debate arguments so that my paradigm looks more professional and has a small sliver of utility.

DA: These are my main game and they're great. Know your scenario, you need to be able to explain it because I probably won't vote on it if I don't know what it is I'm voting on. That said if they drop it then obviously you don't need to walk me through it.

CP: Also safely in my realm of enjoyment. I like ADV CPs best but I understand that some people prefer process or conditions. Aff, if you plan to go for theory here you need to do a very good job of it - that means slowing down and actually line by lining their responses from the block and 2NR. I'm pretty sympathetic to the neg on most theory questions as a 2N myself so don't try to go for Process CP as a reason to reject the team.

K: Be careful here. The only K I have successfully deployed in a round is the Ahmed 12 Security K (BTW he is not a 9/11 truther). I also have become less partial to framework debates as I continue to debate. With that said if your strat is one off Bataille Death K, don't expect me to just ignore your speeches, but I like to understand what I'm voting for and sometimes K teams expect me to fill in the gaps - I have neither the knowledge nor motivation to explain the K for myself to vote for you.

T: I love T but I don't love most T debates. I'm not going to throw out any interpretation on face just because I think it might be overlimiting. Try to spend your time comparing your vision of the topic with their vision of the topic not just reading your generic T blocks. A caution to Aff teams, I find reasonability to be pretty unpersuasive in debates, I would far prefer you just win by proving your interpretation is better.

"Kritical Affirmatives": You might guess I'm not a massive fan of these. In most rounds I'm more likely to side with my fellow nerds saying you broke the rules rather than voting on the epistemic cartographic lense of violence DA. Does this mean you're screwed if you read a K aff and they read Ericson 03? Not necessarily but you are going to need ace explanation of your DAs to framework and why I should prefer your method and vision of a topic without the USFG. View framework as a larger version of the T flow and compare your vision of the topic with theirs. Aff; what could the neg team conceivably read in your version of the topic? Neg; how could they access the harms they address within your interpretation of the resolution?

ASPEC, OSPEC, USPEC, etc: Don't. If this is your 2NR don't expect to win. The only way these could possibly be good in a round is if they supplement another argument you're reading like a Politics DA or Agent CP. Unless you are killer at explaining these and the Aff refuses to touch the flow the whole debate, you are not going to win.

Swearing: It's fine, I understand it's how some people express themselves. I'm not your mom so it's fine to swear. Let's avoid slurs though, it's just not cool in an academic (or really any) environment. However, I find especially in debate that some swear because they can't think of a more descriptive or interesting verb or adjective. "The US economy is f-ed" seems a load less persuasive than "The US economy is moribund." On that note if you can correctly use a word I don't know in round I'll throw you 0.1 extra speaks.

Topic Knowledge: I would hope to have a pretty substantial grasp of it. If a small operational difference is the key to your argument you should probably make sure that I know what it is. However, I know the F-35C has the largest range of any of the F-35 series because it has larger wings and fuel tanks to generate sufficient lift to take of from Navy air craft carriers so I’m no slouch with knowing about the Military Industrial Complex.

Speaker Points: These are really fiddly and it's hard to know what to evaluate. I fall into the category of judges the old guard complains about for inflating speaks. I'm pretty sympathetic to debaters so don't expect to get terrible speaks unless you do something truly egregious. Impress me in how well you know your arguments and/or can articulate them and I'll reward you with higher speaks. Have fun and I'll reward your speaks as well, debate should not be a monotone yelling activity. You are a real person, not a robot, you have a personality - don't mask it away beneath blocks and a laptop screen.

Clipping: Everyone says don't. I agree with everyone here. If I catch it you lose mad respect and speaks, if they catch it and have evidence you lose.

Reason for Decision: At the end of the round I'll write and tell y'all who won and why. I will try to reconstruct the debate from what the 2NR and 2AR highlight as key points. I'm a big fan of judge instruction. I'll go off my flow and I'm unlikely to read evidence unless you ask me to in your speech. I'm going to try and give speech by speech comments for every round I judge - we'll see if I keep doing that as I judge more rounds. Ask me any questions you have about my decision or how you could have made something better or more persuasive.

Niles Clancy USN 4 rounds

Last changed on Mon December 2, 2019 at 7:06 AM EDT

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

---------->NOTICE: If you change your 1AC or 1NC to Corbel (font) your speaker points will increase by 0.5<------------

Bio: I am a student at the University School of Nashville (USN '21) and have been a varsity debater for 3 years. I love watching good debates, where everyone in the round is respectful and prepared. I attended four week at SDI last year, and four week at DDI this year. Also, you don't have to take yourself to seriously, and jokes are fine as long as they are related to the round. I am a pretty tabula rasa judge, so I'm not against any one argument.

---------------------------------------------------V Check below for specifics. V--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tech vs. Truth: I lean more on the tech side personally, so any argument you want to win on is fine, but needs to have nuanced explanation. I have no problem voting for theory (The best theory debates are specific to the round, not just blocks btw).

Clash: I love debates with heavy clash, as it makes debates more fun to both watch and decide. Trust me, IMPACT CALC WINS DEBATES. I cannot stress it enough.

Evidence Comparison: Please do this. The best way to convince me that your evidence is better is to use both the words in your card, and the thesis of the actual argument its author is trying to convey. Harping on how the other team didn't highlight a few words in a card, or power-tagged it is only good if it's explanation proves the other team's conclusion CONTRADICTS that of the author (rehighlighting is a good way to prove this, and is usually persuasive).

Condo: Go for it if you want, but I personally can only see myself voting for it if it's dropped, or if it has great explanation in the 2AC and 1AR on the impact level (in-round abuse would be great).

T: Topicality debates are fine and I actually enjoy them, but reasonability is only persuasive if the interp and counter-interp are similar.

CP/DA: Great strat, nothing else to mention besides if you want me to vote for 1% risk framing you need to be winning the impact debate.

K: Cover all of the bases on the K: framework, perm, alt, link, and impact. I will vote for any K with a solid link explanation early in the round, and examples from the 1AC of the aff's flawed assumptions. Don't pref me for K-aff debates, but if you want to run one you're gonna have to explain it really well.

DO NOT CLIP CARDS. For real, don't do this. If the other team proves you did you lose the round instantly.

Etiquette: Assertiveness is necessary in debate for ethos, and sometimes cross-ex can become terse (which is fine), but as long as no one is being demeaning, or belittling others, all is well. Remember that you can call arguments stupid, but not the team that runs them.

Ashley Clay Pace Academy 4 rounds None

Blake Deng Woodward Academy 3 rounds

Last changed on Sun January 14, 2024 at 12:31 PM EDT

Procedural Stuff

Call me Blake or BD instead of Judge, I don't like feeling old

Email chain: blako925@gmail.com

Please also add: jchsdebatedocs@gmail.com

Add both emails, title the chain Tournament Rd # Your Team vs. Other Team ex) Harvard Round 4 Johns Creek XY vs. Northview AM.

1AC should be sent at round start or if I'm late (sorry in advance), as soon as I walk in the room

If you go to the bathroom or fill your waterbottle before your own speech, I'll dock 1 speaker point

Stealing prep = heavily docked speaks. If you want to engage your partner in small talk, just speak normally so everyone knows you're not stealing prep, don't whisper. Eyes should not be wandering on your laptop and hands should not be typing/writing. You can be on your phone.

Clipping is auto-loss and I assign lowest possible speaks. Ethics violation claims = round stoppage, I will decide round on the spot using provided evidence of said violation

Topic Knowledge

I HAVE ZERO TOPIC KNOWLEDGE.

I HAVE ZERO TOPIC KNOWLEDGE

I debated in high school, didn’t debate in college, have never worked at any camp. I currently work an office job. Any and all acronyms should be explained to me. Specific solvency mechanisms should be explained to me. Tricky process CPs should be explained to me. Many K jargon words that I have heard such as ressentiment, fugitivity, or subjectivity should be explained to me.

Spreading

I WRITE SLOW AND MY HAND CRAMPS EASILY. PLEASE SLOW DOWN DURING REBUTTALS

My ears have become un-attuned to debate spreading. Please go 50% speed at the start of your speech before ramping up. I don’t care how fast or unclear you are on the body of cards b/c it is my belief that you will extend that body text in an intelligent manner later on. However, if you spread tags as if you are spreading the body of a card, I will not flow them. If you read analytics as if you are spreading the body of a card, I will not flow them. If I do not flow an argument, you’re not going to win on it. If you are in novice this probably doesn't apply to you.

While judges must do their best to flow debates and adjudicate in an objective matter that rewards the better debater, there is a certain level of debater responsibility to spread at a reasonable speed and clear manner. Judge adaptation is an inevitable skill debaters must learn.

In front of me, adaption should be spreading speed. If you are saying words faster than how fast I can move my pen, I will say SLOW DOWN. If you do not comply, it is your prerogative, and you can roll the dice on whether or not I will write your argument down. I get that your current speed may be OK with NDT finalists or coaches with 20+ years of experience, but I am not those people. Adapt or lose.

No Plan Text & Framework

I am OK with any affirmative whether it be policy, critical, or performance. The problem is that the 2AC often has huge case overviews that are sped through that do not explain to me very well what the aff harms are and how the advocacy statement (or whatever mechanism) solves them. Furthermore, here are some facts about my experience in framework:

I was the 1N in high school, so I never had to take framework other than reading the 1NC shell since my partner took in the 2NC and 2NR.
I can count the number of times I debated plan-less affs on one hand.
As of me updating this paradigm on 01/28/2023 I have judged roughly 15 framework rounds (maybe less).

All the above make framework functionally a coin toss for either side. My understanding of framework is predicated off of what standards you access and if the terminal impacts to those standards prove if your model of debate is better for the world. If you win impact turns against the neg FW interpretation, then you don't need a C/I, but you have to win that the debate is about potential ballot solvency or some other evaluation method. If the neg wins that the round is about proving a better model of debate, then an inherent lack of a C/I means I vote for the better interp no matter how terrible it is. The comparison in my mind is that a teacher asked to choose the better essay submitted by two students must choose Student A if Student B doesn't turn in anything no matter how terrible or offensive Student A's essay is.

Tech vs. Truth

I used to like arguments such as “F & G in federal government aren't capitalized T” or “Period at the end of the plan text or the sentence keeps going T” b/c I felt like these arguments were objectively true. As I continue to judge I think I have moved into a state where I will allow pretty much any argument no matter how much “truth” there is backing it especially since some truth arguments such as the aforementioned ones are pretty troll themselves. There is still my job to provide a safe space for the activity which means I am obligated to vote down morally offensive arguments such as racism good or sexism good. However, I am now more inclined to vote on things like “Warming isn’t real” or “The Earth is flat” with enough warrants. After all, who am I to say that status quo warming isn’t just attributable to heating and cooling cycles of the Earth, and that all satellite imagery of the Earth is faked and that strong gravitational pulls cause us to be redirected back onto flat Earth when we attempt to circle the “globe”. If these arguments are so terrible and untrue, then it really shouldn’t take much effort to disprove them.

Reading Evidence

I err on the side of intervening as little as possible, so I don’t read usually read evidence. Don't ask me for a doc or send me anything afterwards. The only time I ever look at ev is if I am prompted to do so during speech time.

This will reward teams that do the better technical debating on dropped/poorly answered scenarios even if they are substantiated by terrible evidence. So if you read a poorly written federalism DA that has no real uniqueness or even specific link to the aff, but is dropped and extended competently, yes, I will vote for without even glancing at your ev.

That being said, this will also reward teams that realize your ADV/DA/Whatever ev is terrible and point it out. If your T interp is from No Quals Alex, blog writer for ChristianMingle.com, and the other team points it out, you're probably not winning the bigger internal link to legal precision.

Case

I love case debate. Negatives who actually read all of the aff evidence in order to create a heavy case press with rehighlightings, indicts, CX applications, and well backed UQ/Link/Impact frontlines are always refreshing watch. Do this well in front of me and you will for sure be rewarded.

By the 2AR I should know what exactly the plan does and how it can solve the advantages. This obviously doesn't have to be a major component of the 1AR given time constraint, but I think there should at least some explanation in the 2AR. If I don't have at least some idea of what the plan text does and what it does to access the 1AC impacts, then I honestly have no problem voting on presumption that doing nothing is better than doing the aff.

Disads

Similar to above, I think that DA's have to be fully explained with uniqueness, link, and impact. Absent any of these things I will often have serious doubts regarding the cohesive stance that the DA is taking.

Topicality

Don't make debate meta-arguments like "Peninsula XY read this at Glenbrooks so obviously its core of the topic" or "every camp put out this aff so it's predictable". These types of arguments mean nothing to me since I don't know any teams, any camp activities, any tournaments, any coaches, performance of teams at X tournament, etc.

One small annoyance I have at teams that debate in front of me is that they don't debate T like a DA. You need to win what standards you access, how they link into your terminal impacts like education or fairness, and why your chosen impact outweighs the opposing teams.

Counterplan

I have no inherent bias against any counterplan. If a CP has a mechanism that is potentially abusive (international fiat, 50 state fiat, PICs bad) then I just see this as offense for the aff, not an inherent reason why the team or CP should immediately be voted down.

I heavily detest this new meta of "perm shotgunning" at the top of each CP in the 2AC. It is basically unflowable. See "Spreading" above. Do this and I will unironically give you a 28 maximum. Spread the perms between cards or other longer analytical arguments. That or actually include substance behind the perm such as an explanation of the function of the permutation, how it dodges the net benefit, if it has any additional NB, etc.

I think 2NR explanation of what exactly the CP does is important. A good 2N will explain why their CP accesses the internal links or solvency mechanisms of the 1AC, or if you don't, why the CP is able to access the advantages better than the original 1AC methods. Absent that I am highly skeptical of broad "CP solves 100% of case" claims and the aff should punish with specific solvency deficits.

A problem I have been seeing is that affirmatives will read solvency deficits against CP's but not impacting the solvency deficits vs. the net benefit. If the CP doesn't solve ADV 1 then you need to win that ADV 1 outweighs the net benefit.

Judge kick is not my default mindset, neg has say I have to judge kick and also justify why this is OK.

Kritiks

I don't know any K literature other than maybe some security or capitalism stuff. I feel a lot of K overviews include fancy schmancy words that mean nothing to me. If you're gonna go for a K with some nuance, then you're going to need to spend the effort explaining it to me like I am 10 years old.

Theory

If the neg reads more than 1 CP + 1 K you should consider pulling the trigger on conditionality.

I default to competing interpretations unless otherwise told.

Define dispositionality for me if this is going to be part of the interp.

Extra Points

To promote flowing, you can show me your flows at the end of a round and earn up to 1.0 speaker points if they are good. To discourage everyone bombarding me with flows, you can also lose up to a full speaker point if your flows suck.

Jessie Dietz The Galloway School 4 rounds

Last changed on Sat January 30, 2021 at 8:41 AM EDT

Emory '24

Email: jessieldietz@gmail.com --> Add me to the email chain!

Top:

1. I am a first year at Emory and am debating in college. In high school, I generally read policy arguments, but I am willing to listen to anything as long as you explain it well.

2. I have not done much research on the criminal justice reform topic, so please adjust explanations and acronyms accordingly.

3. I have not judged many PF rounds. If you are a PF debater, go as fast as you want, just do good line by line, evidence comparison, and write the ballot for me in the final focus. Also please, I am begging you, use crossfire strategically.

General:

1. Tech>Truth. A dropped argument is a true argument, and I will probably give you 100% risk of it. That being said, you still need to impact the dropped argument out and explain how it interacts with the rest of the debate (i.e don't just say they dropped something --> explain what that means for the round).

2. I appreciate good evidence, and I will probably read your evidence after the round, but I don't want you to be solely reliant on it. You have to actually know your arguments to persuade me. Don't just extend taglines-- actually explain the warrants of your evidence and think about how your arguments interact within the round. I probably won't give your arguments that much weight if you don't explain them.

3. Write the ballot for me in your 2nr/2ar. Think about what you are winning and what you are losing and then tell me why what you're winning matters more. If you do this well, I will likely use it as one of my reasons for voting for you.

4. CX is important. Use it strategically.

5. Re-highlighting your opponents cards and good evidence comparison will earn you higher speaks.

6. Don't try too hard to adjust to my paradigm. I will listen to pretty much anything. There are some arguments I am more well versed in, but as long as you explain stuff to me, I'm fine with anything. Do what you feel most comfortable with because that will make for a better, more nuanced, and clash-filled debate.

7. Death is probably bad.

Case:

I LOVE a good impact turn debate. Probably more than most people. If you can do that well, I will probably award you high speaks.

You should probably engage in the case debate unless you're just going for T or framework. Otherwise, it makes weighing your disad or cp solvency against it much harder. If you don't contest the case, I'll probably default aff.

Probably more aff leaning on T but that doesn't mean you can't win on T in front of me.

I think it is strategic when teams read T as a double bind to prove the link on a DA (i.e reading T subs with a DA so either the aff is substantial and links to the DA or it isn't and is not topical).

I tend to default to reasonability, but if you explain why I shouldn't, I won't.

Ground: Be specific about what ground you are losing as a result of the aff. Don't just say the aff skews neg ground, explain how it skews ground, what you lose as a result, and why that is bad.

Limits: probably what I'll make my decision based on. I am persuaded by arguments about both the research burden placed on the neg as a result of the aff and the topic education that the negs interp takes away for the aff.

I'm fine with K's. Please just explain things to me really well.

Framework: Read it. Explain why your framework for debate is best and why theirs is trash.

Alt: PLEASE explain the alt well. Tell me why it solves and what it means. Vague alts are probably bad and moving targets.

PIK's: Don't love them, but I'll vote on it if you explain it well or if it's dropped.

CP:

CP's= great

Love a good CP/DA debate.

You must explain why the CP solves better, why it doesn't link to the net benefit, and why it is competitive.

Make perms, but don't just proliferate them into the round without any explanation of why they solve. Be strategic.

Judge kick seems silly, but I'll do it if you tell me to.

Condo: Generally neg leaning on this. That being said, if someone runs multiple condo CP's or if the CP has 5 or more condo planks, that's probably abusive.

DA:

DA's= great.

Do comparative impact calc (your impact doesn't have to have a super high magnitude, risk, and timeframe to win the debate-- just explain why what the impact does have is more important than what it doesn't).

Explain why the DA outweighs.

Make turns case arguments. I love turns.

Theory:

I like theory debates. Just go slower and explain your arguments well. It makes or breaks the debate.

Speaks:

I'm usually pretty generous with speaker points

Clarity over speed. I won't flow arguments I can't understand. If you can be both clear and fast, awesome! Love that!

Be nice, don't steal prep, and don't cut people off in CX before they even answer you (obviously if they're going on a tangent, you can move on but let them at least somewhat answer your question before cutting them off)

Don't clip cards. I will be sad if you do. I get that sometimes it's hard to get through your speech, but in an ideal world, you would have practiced your speech enough to be able to get through it without clipping anything. If you need to mark a card, say "mark card at [the last word you said]" and then send out the marked version after your speech.

Work hard and have fun!!! I want to see you love what you are doing!

Ashna Ghanate Woodward Academy 4 rounds

Last changed on Sun December 3, 2023 at 6:30 PM EDT

Woodward Academy '22

Dartmouth College '26

Email chain: ashna.ghanate@gmail.com

Important

The very most important thing to me is that everyone in the round has fun, learns something, and is respectful. Debate is a wonderful activity, and we should all be grateful for the opportunity (Especially when a lot of people can't do what they love anymore)! Your gratitude is proven through your etiquette.

Short Version + Novices

Win on clarity, clash, and argument comparison.

Flow, be nice, be clear, have fun, and send out analytics.

Please feel free to ask questions!

Longer Version

Case

Impact turns that are reasonable (LIO bad, economic growth bad, etc.) can make for extremely fun, nuanced debates.

Kritiks

I think you should explain your argument well. It's also important that you try to make affirmative specific links.

I personally believe critiques are better with framework that is about weighing the plan vs the competitive alternative. The kritik can also become a "DA". You can still get critiques of representations under this interpretation - just win that representations steer policy implementation. In round debating outweighs this opinion, though.

Topicality vs. USfg Action Affirmatives

It's important to emphasize why your model of debate is better. I think the smaller the case, the more persuasive topicality is. No real predispositions (although I think precision debates often become a wash).

Topicality vs. Critical Affirmatives

I'll most likely defer to the process of debating.

If you are confused about the affirmative, I probably am too. Just point it out.

Procedural fairness is an impact. This opinion can be changed for the ballot by in-round debating.

I think a lot of teams forget that you can read a topical affirmative that is also non-traditional/changes the debate space/creates good pedagogy.

Theory

I enjoy good theory debates. I have no real reservations, but try not to be silly.

Counterplans

I enjoy counterplan debates! Competition debates don't bother me that much, and I think they can be really fun.

Misc

Card/evidence quality matters a LOT.

I don't think framing debates matter as much as some people would like them too. For example, if you are saying "util outweighs," that doesn't mean that just because you think the affirmative has a "small" impact and the DA accesses extinction, I should vote negative. Mitigate the risk of case. Conversely, if you are reading an affirmative and say "probability should come first," I do not think you can just assert that the DA is low probability. You need to actually prove that the DA is low probability.

Intrinsic permutations can be justified.

Nishita Ghanate Woodward Academy 4 rounds

Last changed on Wed March 20, 2024 at 9:28 PM EDT

Woodward Academy '20

University of Virginia '24

Email chain: ghanate.nishita@gmail.com

People who taught me how to debate and their paradigms:

Bill Batterman: https://www.tabroom.com/index/paradigm.mhtml?judge_person_id=10298

Maggie Berthiaume: https://www.tabroom.com/index/paradigm.mhtml?judge_person_id=1265

Meta Comments

1. Respect your opponents. Don't do silly things or make fun of your opponents.

2. The document that you send out should be the exact same document that you are reading from your computer. Not only will you be depriving me the opportunity to read along with you, but you will also be giving me the impression that your arguments are bad enough that if your opponents knew what you were saying they would win.

3. I care the most about clash and nuanced arguments. The best debates are ones with aff-specific strategies that show off what both teams know about the topic. I am not impressed by winning debates on State CPs that fiat out of everything or affirmatives without a solvency advocate with contrived advantages. Engage the literature.

4. I read evidence at the end of a round. It doesn't make or break my decision, but I definitely would lean more to the side of being a "truth over tech" judge.

5. You can win absolute defense in front of me. It's hard but not impossible especially if your opponent reads cards that clearly conclude in the opposite direction or leave out an internal link.

Critiques

If the point of your kritik is to say words that your opponents won't understand, I will not understand what you are saying either. Avoid jargon. Try to explain your arguments more. I am familiar with the most common critiques (capitalism, anti-Blackness, settler colonialism, militarism, feminism, abolition).

I think aff-specific kritiks or generic kritiks with aff-specific links can be an amazing strategy especially if it's a core of the topic kritik (IE the abolition K on the CJR topic). However, I think too many "K teams" get away with reading silly links, links of omissions, serial policy failure, the fiat double bind, or any other K trick you can name. The best K debates are the ones that actually pinpoint something that the aff has done or something in their plan that is in fact bad. I'm not saying that all links should be to the plan, but I am saying that all links should be grounded in the 1AC. If the goal of your kritik is to clash with the aff from a new angle (IE reform vs transformative justice), you're on the right track.

Topicality

For not trying to be topical teams:

I think that teams should read a plan text especially in sub-varsity levels. Debate isn't a forum designed to provide a survival strategy or create a community of resistance. It is inherently a competitive space. Teams that do choose to read a non-topical aff should be prepared to defend every part of the 1AC through the end of the 2AR. CX is binding and I will hold you to what you say regardless of what you say in later speeches.

For teams with a plan text:

I enjoy T debates with concise impacts that actually attempt to exclude affs that shouldn't be a part of the topic. For this reason, T-Substantial is extremely persuasive to me given how well it limited the immigration and arms sales topic. As such, giving me a case list of not only what you include but also what you exclude is going to be extremely persuasive. But, I'm probably not going to vote on an interpretation that excludes a core of the topic aff.

'Planicality' is a non-starter for me. It's silly to think that adding the word substantial (or any other words in the resolution) all of a sudden makes your plan topical. It encourages poorly written plan texts that are incredibly vague so the aff can spike out of DAs while also doing all kinds of things that have no relation to the topic. It also poses an unfair burden on the neg as they now not only have to defend T to limit the scope of the plan, but also win substance as well.

Theory

I generally believe that the only voter is conditionality(No, {insert letter here}SPEC is not a voter), but I can be persuaded that some other theory violation is a voter especially if the theory violation is egregious.

Hiding ASPEC (not putting it on a separate flow) is a great way to lose speaker points for both negative debaters. Calling out your opponents and making hidden ASPEC an RVI is a great way to add to your speaker points.

Impact debating matters just as much in theory debates as it does in any other debate. If you don't have an impact and articulate why it matters more than your opponent's, I will likely not vote for you.

I will not judge kick unless the neg explicitly asks me to and the aff doesn't provide a theoretical reason not to. Keep in mind that if the neg has "dropped" the aff's advantages, a judge kick only benefits the aff.

Counterplans that compete off of certainty or immediacy are likely not competitive. Permutations, even perm: do the counterplan, do not have to be topical, as in they only have to meet definitions of the words in the plan. Similarly, I don't think Agent CPs are competitive unless the aff has specified their agent or read an advantage to their agent.

Disclaimer

While these are my general opinions of debate, I am by no means a norm setter or emotionally attached to them. I can always be persuaded by what happens in a debate round.

Jadon Grossberg Henry W Grady HS 4 rounds

Last changed on Wed February 24, 2021 at 10:15 AM EDT

UPDATE FOR Arizona Div 1 State Championship:

I really haven't debated for 2 years so I'm not really familiar with the topic at all, don't expect me to know any of your abbreviations. This update is based on my friends telling me about the AZ circuit so please prove me wrong but for this tournament please be aware of the following:

I will vote you down if you clip

If you run a K, you have to know what you are doing. You will get bottom tier speaks if you mess this up and most likely loose.

Please provide a round o/v and write the ballot for me in ur last speeches. Tell me why you are winning they key parts of the debate and why that means u should get the ballot.

+.2 speaker points for asking me about any aff I ran in 2018-19 (check 2018-2019 NSDA DV wiki) ; Just tryna encourage reading the paradigms and wikis :).

Actual Philo:

Hey y'all, my name is Jadon Grossberg and my pronouns are He/Him.

I'm happy to be judging y'all!

TL;DR:

I'm good with anything including critical affs and neg positions. I'll vote on anything except things that are blatantly offensive (i.e. racism good) and I'm pretty tech over truth (a dropped argument is a true argument). And I feel like speaker points distract from the purpose of the debate so I'm pretty generous but I'll award extra points to teams that can make me laugh. That being said, if you're not good enough to pull jokes off in debate yet, don't try.

Lastly, I don't tolerate bigotry and aggressive social behavior. It's a high school afterschool activity, don't take yourselves too seriously.

Now the long of it:

Debate experience: I debated for 3 years at Desert Vista Highschool in Phoenix Arizona and 1 year for the Atlanta Urban Debate League Debate Ambassadors. I was a 2N and 2A for equal amounts of time so I'm familiar with both thought processes. I predominately ran identity based Ks (mostly MMM/Asian Identity) but also dabbled in some other lit. My partner ran mostly Pomo so there's that too.

The K: Things I'm (at least kinda) familiar with: Baudrillard, Asian Race lit, BIFO, Death good/saying death is bad is bad, Set col, Anthro, cap, scriptocentrism, and maybe some more that, I can't remember. I like it but make sure you work the framework very well. I'm also persuaded by perms and no links if the links are not contextualized to the aff through either good evidence or amazing analytics.

Policy: IDC just try to spice it up. IMPACT CALC.

T: I like T, I'm persuaded by arguments that refine how debates should go. However, I will vote for who wins the theory, don't think I'll hack for Aspec.

PIK: I like them, I think they're funny. If you run them right and answer theory very well I'm persuaded.

Speed: I'm ok with spreading, that being said, I'm not a fucking wizard. If I can't understand what you're saying I will say clear. If you continue at that speed after 2 "clear"s, I will stop flowing.

Lucas Heckers USN 4 rounds

Last changed on Thu October 29, 2020 at 6:49 AM CDT

Email: lucasheckers21@email.usn.org

Hello, I'm your judge nice to meet you.
I’m a 2n/1a debating for USN.

Run what you want, just explain it well and tell me what to do with it.

Okay, I lied go for presumption.

I've kept the only important part of my old paradigm:

Speaks: These are arbitrary IMO so if you get good speaks, good job, but if you don't it's not a huge deal. I'd like to think I give good speaks, but here are some tips if you're a tryhard

- For novices if you're pretty competent you'll get good speaks, and if you exhibit any of the tendencies listed below you'll get even better speaks.

- Get better at debate. Winning should always come first over speaks. People who win generally get better speaks than those who don't. But good speakers don't always win.

- Be a nice person (especially to your partner)

- Crack a joke or two if you want (flight of the concords reference is a bonus)

- Know what you're talking about or pretend to (huge for novices lying through your teeth can get you very far at this level)

- Judge direction and analysis will not only convince me to vote a certain way but are also signs of a good speaker

- Organized clash/line by line and warrant analysis is huge for speaks (do not get lost in their arguments though, purely responsive speeches are not super persuasive)

- Look interested and flow the debate

- If you win the debate without spreading at all but your opponent does, I will give you high speaks because it's mildly entertaining. Also, it does objectively sound better.

Misc stuff:

- I will listen to any argument you make, just know that a lot of them are objectively bad. I’ll be a tabula Rosa until the other team points that out, but the threshold for answering a stupid arguments is very low.

- I’d say judge directions is arguably more important than clash. I think the education from this activity comes from persuasion, critical thinking, and argumentation. Clash is obviously how we access those things, but a top level filter for how I evaluate clash achieves it as well and is higher in the sequence of evaluating arguments. I’d also argue judge direction is the best way to prevent judge intervention. If you write my ballot for me, I won’t have to paper through the flies and construct a narrative for victory based off of isolated victories on the flow.

- If you don't send me your analytics in the speech doc, don't blame me for not flowing all of them.

- Go for limits on T and framework. You can win the other arguments in front of me, but they’re mid compared to limits. I also don't care about how relevent your aff is to the topic. If you debate T poorly I will vote you down on it.

- I'm okay for K affs you just have to be clever (when it comes to your relation to the resolution or lack thereof and your justification for it). I find framework debates to be quite enjoyable; both sides of the argument are quite interesting. I think it really serves the aff to get into the weeds of the debate and question the epistemic value of resolutional debating beyond the "Fairness DA" and explain what debate looks like under your interpretation. Obviously framework DAs have their purpose, but there's much more to the debate than that, and make sure your model solves them.

- I much prefer cps that actually compete with the aff: Counterplans that Jack the solvency mechanism of the plan legitimately make me question the epistemical value of the activity. The same mentality applies to textual competition, it’s dumb.

- Framing debates are done way more on the DA and case flows than the “framing” flow in my opinion. These debates require contextualization especially in the case of the team that is framing the “smaller” impact.

- If you read the Kasparov card, there is a solid chance I will stop watching the debate and start watching chess highlights.

- You can call me Lucas, but you can also call me judge. I as a debater thought that it was kinda odd to call judges by their names. Do whatever floats your boat.

-A lot of judge’s paradigms talk about their enamorment with the activity of debate. I’d say that it definitely made me better at things I used to suck suck at, so it’s okay I guess.

Ben Jablonski Montgomery Bell Academy 4 rounds

Last changed on Fri January 29, 2021 at 6:01 AM CDT

MBA '18

Emory '22

bjablonski20@gmail.com

In Short

Fairness is an impact and affs should have plans

I do not like T against affs with plans

Higher threshold for voting / rejecting a cp on theory

The long paragraphs below are my general leanings when judging a debate -- all of this goes out the window with uneven debating

CJR Specific

I know nothing about this topic. I have judged three rounds on it, and they were Georgia Novice Packet debates. Please do not assume I have any basic knowledge about anything related to this.

Top Level Stuff

1. Send a doc after the round with the relevant cards. If you find yourself speaking for 20 consecutive seconds in any speech from the 1ac to the 1ar without a card, something has gone wrong.

2. Framing contentions -- I am not a good judge for framing contentions that just say util bad, consequences bad, predictions bad, nuclear war isn't bad; the neg should go for a DA and case

CPs and theory

States, international, multiplank, multiactor, pics, CPs without solvency advocates are good

Process CPs are good when grounded in topic literature. I do not have a predisposition on theory here.

Condo -- Aff teams seem too scared to extend it. A lot of times it truly is the most strategic option.

Advantage counterplans are underutilized - I feel people either stop fiat-ing a dozen planks too early, or they forget about all of the planks except for one or two

I'm apprehensive about kicking the CP for the neg

The flow is important. 7 minute overviews will never be a good idea. You've probably answered their args somewhere along the way, but it sucks

FW should be a small investment of time -- I will weigh the aff in most situations

Planless affs

I think the aff should defend the hypothetical implementation of a topical plan. Most affs in these debates have little to no offense. I think fairness is the best impact, and other neg impacts link to aff offense that I don't think link to fairness. In these debates, the impact turns rarely make sense to me. You must have a reason that the process of debating the topic is bad not just a reason that the topic itself is bad.

Not a big fan - I'd prefer just about any other debate

Reasonability -- i think this could / should be the first minute or two of the 2ar, explain how reasonability turns all of their limits, ground or predictability arguments. I find substance crowd out to be true. I think it outweighs the minimal difference between the two interpretations.

Misc

I will not vote on arguments about things that happened outside of the round.

I am not a fan of spreading bad arguments.

Dorien Laurens Henry W Grady HS 4 rounds

Last changed on Sat March 16, 2024 at 2:36 PM EDT

hey! dorien here. midtown (née grady) '22.

put me on the email chain at laurens.debate@gmail.com

any questions, please ask

quick thing abt this topic - i haven't debated on it/followed any arg evolution so assume i know little to nothing

here's some pretty basic things that matter to me:

- be nice, especially in cx. spluttering about "your cx" or shouting over another person won't get you anywhere. just be polite.

- don't make me judge a death good debate. there's a high chance that i'll straight up refuse to judge the round - if you feel like you just *have* to read that argument, strike me.

- clash is good. two ships passing in the night is not. please try to adequately respond to your opponent's arguments, & explain why your arg is good w/ context.

- line by line is great. do it w/ signposting & it'll make me very happy

- please don't abuse zoom debate for prep. i'll be lenient on crashes, etc but debate is a game that is best played when it's fair

- write my ballot for me! i'm the most indecisive person ever, but you can change that. giving me some judge instruction will go far.

- send analytics, esp theory violations. if you don't, i Will mark your speaks down (for theory violations). in general, zoom debate can be faulty and it'll help you if i can catch all of what you say. if you send all analytics from your speech, it'll help your speaks.

- evidence is good. i'll try and read cards during prep/after the debate. tell me what cards matter - if i don't think an issue has been clearly resolved in the debate, i'll resolve based on who has the better evidence. however, even if your ev is better on the question, if it wasn't impacted out in the debate i won't vote on it.

- some argument preferences: da/cp debates are fun. i love a good case debate, it's v underrated. i'm not the best for k debates, esp k affs, but i'll try my best there (still think plans are good though).

- (apparently i have to say this) if you're going for the k, make sure that you extend the link beyond the tags - i want warrants. also, you should extend an impact, and if applicable, the alt. basically, just make sure to extend the full arg, although this should apply for any off.
(the following was swiped from maddock thomas) i probably won't vote on the k if
a) you cannot explain your alt well
b) you clearly don't understand your literature and are just reading blocks.
c) you have not impacted out why the k means you win the debate - it means nothing to me if you just tell me the 'aff is securitising' in the 2nr.

finally, novice debates aren't going to affect your future; there's no pressure here. the best debates are the ones where you have fun.

put a good pun in your speech & i'll boost your speaks

for ld, bc i guess I'm judging this now:
- if you couldn't already tell, i'm a policy person which will influence how i evaluate debates, so i would also read the above

- phil/trad fwks are fine, but be sure to signpost as i'm not accustomed to flowing those kinds of speeches - i'll probably be best for larp debates

- im not super well versed in the lit of different fwks (aside from util; that's a given) so if you have cards and send them, i will most definitely be reading them (make sure they say what you want them to say)

- the way i evaluate rounds is fwk then contention level - please make sure you engage with your opponents framework, explaining why theirs is bad and why i should prefer yours. if there's no clash on the fwk, i default aff.

Rashard Leonard Woodward Academy 4 rounds

Last changed on Wed February 14, 2024 at 7:33 AM EDT

rashard.leonard@gmail.com for email chains

Background

4 years of policy debate in college, first two years mainly focused on policy, last two years leaning more K-heavy

Debate is an educational game. As the judge, I am responsible for evaluating the arguments of this game as you present them to me. This activity is centered around you, the debaters. Do you, run the arguments that you usually run and I will judge them accordingly.

Aff: Open to judging all types of affs, policy and K. Aff should be topical (affirming a change within the topic, not necessarily USFG). Be sure that you make clear to me why the aff is important and why your plan will give the best results. If you kick an advantage explain to me why.

DA: I like them. I think they’re the easiest way to win debates, especially if it turns the case. Make sure you have a clear link to the aff and I clear impact that will be triggered by the plan.

CP: I love a good CP-DA combo and it can be devastating if properly used. PICs are welcome as well but they need to have a clear difference between the aff.

Condo: I think condo is good but too much can be abusive. 3 conditional worlds is my absolute limit anything more better have some kickass Condo good blocks.

Theory: Please don’t make me vote on theory. Theory args are fine within the debate space but I’d rather not have my decision based on a generic theory arg that you read in the block. However, if it does come down to that please frame the how I should evaluate the debate and why the other their methods are harmful.

T: Always a voting issue. Block needs do good impact work on why the plan is bad for debate. T has real world impacts so use that to your advantage. Neg also needs to give a Topical Version of the Aff.

FW: I generally lean aff on most framework debates. You will not win if your main arg is “the aff makes debate too hard”. As long as the aff affirms a change in the direction of the topic then I think it’s good debate. Good FW teams should show me how their approach to the topic makes debate impossible, that will get me on your side and willing to vote for you.

K: Run it, but don’t half ass it. In the block you should be able to point to evidence they read in the 1AC/2AC to prove a clear link and show that they use the same methodology that will trigger all of your impacts. Don’t rely on all the big words that your cards use. Instead paint a clear picture of how your K operates and what the alt does to make a better world. Real world examples of the alt will help you.

Misc: Please be respectful to all debaters within the space. We sacrifice our weekends, while barely getting any sleep, to come and compete. Don’t be rude or mean.

Have fun, jokes are welcome in-round. Well executed jokes get a bump in speaks.

I’d rather not hear profanity but if you use do it should be impactful.

Speed is fine as long as you’re clear. If I am unable to understand you I will yell “CLEAR” during your speech.

CX is binding and I will flow it.

Any other questions please feel free to ask me.

Connor Li Westminster 3 rounds

Rohan Manne Chattahoochee High School 4 rounds

Megan Mapes Woodward Academy 4 rounds

Last changed on Fri January 11, 2019 at 10:13 AM CDT

Debated at KU for 5 years

Coached at UNI of 2 years

Currently a GTA at Georgia State but not working with the debate team right now.

If you have more specific questions, or need clarification please feel free to send me an email.

THE SHORT OF IT

please add me to any email chain - meganmlmapes@gmail.com

I strongly believe that people with strong beliefs about can or cannot happen in a debate are kind of silly.

I believe that there is value in having discussions about the resolution. An example of the resolution should probably be the endpoint of any advocacy and debaters can creatively and critically engage the topic. I prefer debates where the affirmative defends a clear change from the status quo, but I'm open to what that means. When that does not happen I am more willing to vote negative on presumption.

I default to competing interpretations on questions of topicality.

Topicality will almost always come before theory arguments.

I default to offense/defense -

Tech > Truth

THE LONG OF IT:

*Prep time/Paperless debate
- i find myself to be on the strict side of prep time questions. You have 30 seconds to get the other team your speech doc before prep starts again. If you're not using an email chain by now you'd better have a good excuse.

-- Smart strategic debaters who can make me laugh get good speaker points. Debaters who are offensive, rude, and neg teams that don't split the block do not.

--I'm willing to assign 0% risk to an argument if you are effective at establishing terminal defense. Obviously, offense always helps as most debaters are unlikely to effectively do this. This means you should probably adjust your impact calc in the 2ar if you're only going for defense to assess the possible risk of the disad. However, a dropped argument is a true argument in most cases for me (dropped evidence is considered based on the claims in the evidence and not necessarily your tag --- that means if you drop something, in a later speech you should be on top of the spin for that evidence in later speeches) so lack of offense doesn't mean ignore the defense because you'll think I always vote on a risk. Remember mistakes happen - if you drop an argument you always have the ability to make arguments as to why they only get the arg for what their evidence says in the case you drop a solvency argument or defense to an advantage. - the debate is never over.

--I am not likely to vote on a cheap shot but could be convinced otherwise if the argument is fleshed out. BUT I'm flow-centric and like tricky args. you should know the difference between a cheap shot and strategically hiding args.
--cross-x is either the best or the worst part of the debate. Teams do well when they use cross-x to set up arguments or question the evidence quality of the other team. This will be better for everyone if there is actually a point for your cross-x questions, and not just using cross-x as the 3 minutes of free prep that your partner gets.

Clarity-
*Clarity is very important to me. I will not flow cards that I cannot understand. I will not hesitate to drop teams for clipping cards even if the opposing team does not make the challegne. IF it is questionable I will not hesitate to tank your speaks.
speed is ok and I highly enjoy judging fast debates. However, err on the side of clarity ESPECIALLY on theory and topicality debates. They are already messy enough and going at your top speed will only hurt you if I can't flow all of the warrants to your arguments. But seriously - you should know when its right to slow down and just do it. - there is nothing more annoying than a post-round decision where debaters are asking about arguments that didn't get on my flow - there's probably a reason that happened and it's probably because YOU weren't strategic when it comes to your speed and clarity. I am a very technical judge and you will make me happy if you're also technical

Case - Extremely underutilized. Minimizing the case is a sweet way to win a high risk of the disad. Likewise, I think the aff teams should be leveraging alot more of the case against disads/Ks than what happens in most rounds. A "try or die for the aff" argument is quite persuasive. I think even if you are going for a CP, you should still extend case defense as a way to avoid a "try or die" framing by the aff.

Disads - Impact framing arguments are pretty important to win these arguments, and i think that alot of teams do a poor job of explaining how arguments interact with each other, and explaining meta-arguments that will frame how i assess the debate in terms of Uniqueness, link, etc. DA turns the case is a slayer, and I will be more than happy to vote on it. On a side note, i tend to do some politics research, and do infact find it intrinsic to the plan. Intrinsicness arguments are an uphill battle, unless dropped by the negative (which happens more than it should). I also think that alot of the politics cards that people read are atrocious, and think that 7 bad cards does not equal one good, well warranted card. This also isn't unique to the politics disad, alot of cards people are reading everywhere are atrocious, and smart teams will capitalize on it by pointing out how their evidence makes arguments that go the other way. I am not part of the "cult of uniqueness" by any means, but I think that uniqueness is an important component of the link debate.

CP's- They are a very intergral part of the negative strategy. I think that there is a time and a place for textual or functional competition, and I try to let the debaters convince me one way or the other. In general, here are my views on legitimacy of CPs. CP theory is a reason to reject the argument, not the team, unless the aff has a reason why it skewed their ability to debate other positions (I can only see this being true in a conditionality debate). The net benefits shoud probably be disads to the aff, and not just advantages to the CP (I can be persuaded that the condition net benefit is a disad to the aff).

Topicality- . This was my favorite argument as a debater, which can be both good and bad for me as a judge. It means both that I am more willing to reward tricky T arguments but also that my expectations for what makes for a good topicality debater are a bit higher. I also think topicality/theory is about impact calculus and weighing your impacts against your opponents (i.e. why aff ground o/w's neg ground). These debates can be messy so try to be as clear as possible and engaging as possible. I prefer contextual definitions. Abuse should be proven, i probably won't vote on potential abuse because I think you can get to the crux of this through a different impact. I think that the negative lets affirmatives get away with way too much in these debates by no providing a topical version of the affirmative, and explaining how the affirmative interpretation explodes the limits of the debate. Generic impact turns are not particulary persuasive. .

I think that the most important standard for me is that the affirmative has an advocacy statement that deploys a specific instance of their method. However, if you tell me to think otherwise, fine. I won't tell you how to debate and will listen to any argument with an attempt to judge objectively. Just give me a clear explanation of the importance of your argument applied to the round. Impact assessment is important.

Theory- I'm persuaded by reject the arg not the team with a majority of these small blippy arguments. Don't assume you win because the 1ar dropped multiple perms bad. If you'd like me to default to another setting, explain why it means they lose. I generally think conditionality and pics are ok but will vote on anything so eh- go for it

Kritiks- My knowledge of the literature is limited but growing. I will actually be more inclined to reward you if you take a new and innovative approach on a lot of these arguments. I find that I do better with structural criticism, which probably has a lot to do with the research I've done so far in my academic career. My main requirements are a detailed and applied explanation of the alternative to the specifics of the affirmative case OR a fleshed out and impacted justification for why the alternative doesn't have to DO something in a traditional sense. I think negatives make a huge mistake ignoring double bind arguments on the perm and it can be detrimental. I'm also probably a TERRIBLE judge for Reps K's/PiCs - You will have to do a lot of work to convince me that a team should use because they used nuclear war reps - I also think Reps args are served better as links to a better K. I generally think framework is only a reason to reject the alt not the team or a reason the aff gets to weigh their impacts.

Beth McMahon Decatur High School 4 rounds

Last changed on Mon April 8, 2024 at 2:31 PM EDT

Atlanta Urban Debate League (UDL). Decatur, Ga. Currently I teach AP Lang and direct a small AUDL program without a ton of institutional support but in a previous life I coached mostly policy on the national circuit. In fact, I've been around long enough to see the activity go from notecards in ox boxes to xeroxed briefs to some computerized debates to having everything online. I prefer to flow on paper because that's how I learned back in the dark ages.

You can put me on the E mail chain: mcmahon.beth@gmail.com.

For UDL tournaments:

I am an old school policy coach and do not love the K (even though my teams do run it) because teams just read their blocks and don't evaluate the round. That said, if you run the K, awesome -- be ready to debate the line by line and go for something other than framework. See my note below about having an advocacy of some sort.

For the Barkley Forum: If you are in speech events, know that my background is in policy. If you are a policy debater, know that I haven't judged a lot of varsity debates this year so watch the topic specific acronyms. From what I've seen it will be fine but just wanted you to be aware.

Old stuff:

Current Urban Debate League coach (Atlanta/AUDL) but a long time ago (when we carried tubs, no one had a cell phone, and the K was still kinda new) I used to coach and judge on the national circuit. I took a sabbatical from coaching (had kids, came back, things have changed, no more tubs). I still flow on paper and probably always will. FYI -- I have not judged national circuit varsity debates consistently since 2008 when I worked at a now-defunct national circuit program that had some money for travel. I've been told I'm more tech over truth and although I enjoy listening to K debates I don't have a K background (my national circuit experience has all been old school policy so like DA plus case plus CP). If you are a K team I expect some sort of ADVOCACY not just a bunch of block reading and a framework dump. If you don't have a plan you still need to advocate FOR something. Theory dumps are very frustrating to me because I don't know how to evaluate the round.

Crystalizing the round in rebuttals is an important skill - especially in front of a judge like me that did not spend 8 weeks at camp nor has read all of the lit. Or maybe any of the lit. You absolutely will be more familiar with your evidence than I will so please don't expect that kind of deep dive into the post round discussion. There was a point in my life when I could have those discussions, but I'm not there anymore. I am however more likely to buy your case attacks or a topicality argument so there's that.

Notes for IE/LD -- I judge more policy debate than LD/IE/PF/Congress but at some point this year have judged all of the above. I tend to be more tech over truth with LD and am looking for some sort of impact analysis of the values presented. My policy team does not run the K and debates more traditionally -- one of the most underutilized strategies in LD is to debate the other team's case.

Utkarsh Pandey Woodward Academy 4 rounds

Last changed on Thu September 27, 2018 at 11:47 AM EDT

Woodward Academy - C/O 2015

University of Alabama: Birmingham - C/O 2019

Add me to the email chain: krsh1pandey@gmail.com

***I'm coming into this season with no topic knowledge whatsoever. I can keep up with general arguments and the flow of speeches just fine; however, you may find it worth your while to take time to explain more specific/niche acronyms that pop up throughout the course of the debate.

Last Updated/Written prior to: The Fall 2018 Chattahoochee Cougar Classic

Background: Debate at Woodward Academy for 3 years. Was pretty much exclusively the 2N/1A. I'm 4 years out of the activity now so I'm not very familiar with many new community norms that have developed since my time debating.

Meta/Activity Preferences:

1) Prep time: I won't take prep for emailing speech docs in Varsity unless it becomes excessive (I will inform you before I start taking prep off if I decide things are taking too long). I do take prep time in JV/Novice in order to facilitate rounds running on time.

2) Tag team C-X: Fine if it happens once (maybe twice); if it happens too much, it will reflect in your speaker points and my general view of how much I think you know your arguments.

3) Be nice and respectful to everyone in round (me, the other team, your partner).

Critical/Performance/Non-traditional/No Plan Affs - I enjoy listening to anything that you as the affirmative feel comfortable presenting. I'm highly unlikely to vote for arguments that I find morally reprehensible. But if you are reading high theory or some other very obscure affirmative, you will have a higher burden of explanation if I'm not too well versed with the literature.

Theory - Smart theory debates are fun, but bad theory debates are some of my least favorite to watch (probably second only to a round involving ethics violations or a bad T debate). I usually lean neg when it comes to conditionality.

T - If you can do it well then go for it; I do tend to lean Aff on questions of topicality.

Feel free to ask for clarification or other specific questions before round if you have them! Bear in mind, these are just general thoughts/observations that I hold going into the round; they are not set-in-stone viewpoints.

Sam Pavur Westminster 3 rounds

Last changed on Sat February 10, 2024 at 9:19 PM EDT

Westminster '21 Emory '25

Add me to the email chain - thebestsampablo@gmail.com

---

Top Level - Do what you do and don't over adapt to anything on this paradigm. I see this on a good amount of judge paradigms, but it's particularly important to me to leave my predispositions about debate at the door. Debate is ultimately for the debaters and I will try my best to listen and evaluate which team should get the ballot after 2 hours. As a debater, I'm most impressed by judges who try their best to be receptive to a wide range of debates and arguments. That being said, I'm not a robot and debate is a persuasive activity, so I will add some of my feelings about things that persuade/fail to persuade me in most instances below. Finally, if I make a mistake or something important wasn't in the RFD please post round me, I'm trying to become the best judge I can be.

---

I don't love hearing...

- Death/Suicide Good

- Most Spec arguments

- "Embedded Clash" / "It was answered in the overview"

- Heavy perm focus in K v K debates (I am not someone looking to give K AFF teams an easy out on the perm, especially if the link is well debated)

- Spreading in theory debates

- Counter-interpretations that don't define words in the resolution

- "____ controls the direction of ____"

- The fiat double bind

- Prefs based arguments

---

I enjoy hearing

- NEG strategies that are AFF specific or at least interact with the AFF a high level

- Impact turns

- Evidence directed arguments

- Strategic trolling (it's not that funny if you lose)

- Slow theory debates

---

If you're trying to figure out where to pref me

- Check the "I don't love hearing" section above

- I'm a 1A/2N

- I go to Westminster

- I'm a fifth year who's judged 25 novice rounds

- I have read a plan in most rounds on the AFF

- I go for K's somewhat frequently on the NEG

- I default to fairness being an impact and I think most other impacts on T are often not worth making and easily straight turnable

- In presumption debates I fall under the category of judges the defaults to negation theory not the category of judges that defaults to the world of least change

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Speaker Points

Under 27.5 = You said something offensive, clipped, forged evidence or didn't follow speech times

27.5 - 28 = Needs work

28 - 28.5 = Some of the pieces were there but there's room for improvement

28.6 - 28.9 = Super solid, keep it up

29 - 29.4 = The best range of speaks I could realistically give, you demonstrated an excellent understanding of your arguments and executed

29.5 - 30 = One of the best debaters I've ever seen, first speaker material

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If you have any questions please email me or ask before the round.

Robbie Quinn Montgomery Bell Academy 4 rounds

Last changed on Wed May 9, 2018 at 7:04 AM CDT

Robbie Quinn, coach at Montgomery Bell Academy, mucho judging on this topic, which is the one with ASPEC, Consult NATO, and the Death K.

I have no prejudices toward any argument type. I do have prejudices to people who don't have fun. You have to have fun. I'm a librarian, so at the very least you can have fun making fun of that.

I determine which way to evaluate any argument based on who most convinces me of the superiority of a certain way to evaluate it.

I like humor, stories, and creative uses of historical examples. Cross-ex is very important to me and I watch it closely. I think it sways my thinking on key issues. What judge won't admit to actively monitoring who seems to be winning? Cross-ex, to me, is a powerful barometer of that.

Things I've been telling debaters lately that make me feel like I am incredibly awesome but are really just things that everybody knows that I rephrased into something snappy and I'm taking credit for:

1. Don't unnecessarily cut people off in CX. The best CX questions are the ones they can't answer well even if they had all 3 minutes to speak.

2. Be a guardian of good debate. Yes, debate's a changing network of ideas and people, and winning a debate on bad arguments isn't a crime punishable by death. But I reward debaters who seek to win on good arguments. I love good debates. I don't like making "easy" decisions to vote on bad arguments, even though I often do.

3. The most sensible kritik alternatives to me are the ones that defend the idea of a critical-political resistance to the assumptions of the plan and how that idea works in real-world situations. Even if an alternative isn't as cleanly recognizable or linear as the passage and enforcement of a piece of legislation, that doesn't mean that it can't be something concrete. I watch so many bad kritik debates that are bad because both sides never give the alternative any sensible role in the debate. I will reward debaters that give up on gimmicky and irrelevant defenses and attacks of kritik alternatives.

Reasons why my judging might mimic the real world:

1. I might be consciously and unconsciously swayed against your arguments if you're a mean person. Humans are good judges of sincerity.

2. I appreciate style. Rhetorical style and the style of your presence. There's a big difference between going-through-the-motions and having presence in a debate.

3. I like endorsing and praising passionate debaters. Lots of people who articulate that "this debate and the discourse in it matter" don't really energize their discourse to make me feel that. On the other hand, lots of people who don't think that "this debate round matters" often sway my thinking because they speak with urgency. I love listening to debates. If you want to speak, I want to hear you.

Me and cards: I'm very particular about which cards I call for after the debate. If there's been evidence comparison/indicts by one side but not the other, that's usually reason for me not to ask for either side's evidence on that question since one team did not engage the evidence clash.

Abby Schirmer Pace Academy 2 rounds

Last changed on Thu January 4, 2024 at 2:46 PM EDT

Marist, Atlanta, GA (2015-2019, 2020-Present)
Pace Academy, Atlanta GA (2019-2020)
Stratford Academy, Macon GA (2008-2015)
Michigan State University (2004-2008)

Pronouns- She/Her

Please use email chains. Please add me- abby.schirmer@gmail.com.

Short version- You need to read and defend a plan in front of me. I value clarity (in both a strategic and vocal sense) and strategy. A good strategic aff or neg strat will always win out over something haphazardly put together. Impact your arguments, impact them against your opponents arguments (This is just as true with a critical strategy as it is with a DA, CP, Case Strategy). I like to read evidence during the debate. I usually make decisions pretty quickly. Typically I can see the nexus question of the debate clearly by the 2nr/2ar and when (if) its resolved, its resolved. Don't take it personally.

Long Version:
Case Debate- I like specific case debate. Shows you put in the hard work it takes to research and defeat the aff. I will reward hard work if there is solid Internal link debating. I think case specific disads are also pretty good if well thought out and executed. I like impact turn debates. Cleanly executed ones will usually result in a neg ballot -- messy debates, however, will not.

Disads- Defense and offense should be present, especially in a link turn/impact turn debate. You will only win an impact turn debate if you first have defense against their original disad impacts. I'm willing to vote on defense (at least assign a relatively low probability to a DA in the presence of compelling aff defense). Defense wins championships. Impact calc is important. I think this is a debate that should start early (2ac) and shouldn't end until the debate is over. I don't think the U necessarily controls the direction of the link, but can be persuaded it does if told and explained why that true.

K's- Im better for the K now than i have been in years past. That being said, Im better for security/international relations/neolib based ks than i am for race, gender, psycho, baudrillard etc . I tend to find specific Ks (ie specific to the aff's mechanism/advantages etc) the most appealing. If you're going for a K-- 1) please don't expect me to know weird or specific ultra critical jargon... b/c i probably wont. 2) Cheat- I vote on K tricks all the time (aff don't make me do this). 3) Make the link debate as specific as possible and pull examples straight from the aff's evidence and the debate in general 4) I totally geek out for well explained historical examples that prove your link/impact args. I think getting to weigh the aff is a god given right. Role of the ballot should be a question that gets debated out. What does the ballot mean with in your framework. These debates should NOT be happening in the 2NR/2AR-- they should start as early as possible. I think debates about competing methods are fine. I think floating pics are also fine (unless told otherwise). I think epistemology debates are interesting. K debates need some discussion of an impact-- i do not know what it means to say..."the ZERO POINT OF THE Holocaust." I think having an external impact is also good - turning the case alone, or making their impacts inevitable isn't enough. There also needs to be some articulation of what the alternative does... voting neg doesn't mean that your links go away. I will vote on the perm if its articulated well and if its a reason why plan plus alt would overcome any of the link questions. Link defense needs to accompany these debates.

K affs are fine- you have to have a plan. You should defend that plan. Affs who don't will prob lose to framework. A alot.... and with that we come to:

NonTraditional Teams-
If not defending a plan is your thing, I'm not your judge. I think topical plans are good. I think the aff needs to read a topical plan and defend the action of that topical plan. I don't think using the USFG is an endorsement of its racist, sexist, homophobic or ableist ways. I think affs who debate this way tend to leave zero ground for the negative to engage which defeats the entire point of the activity. I am persuaded by T/Framework in these scenarios. I also think if you've made the good faith effort to engage, then you should be rewarded. These arguments make a little more sense on the negative but I am not compelled by arguments that claim: "you didn't talk about it, so you should lose."

CPs- Defending the SQ is a bold strat. Multiple conditional (or dispo/uncondish) CPs are also fine. Condo is probably good, but i can be persuaded otherwise. Consult away- its arbitrary to hate them in light of the fact that everything else is fine. I lean neg on CP theory. Aff's make sure you perm the CP (and all its planks). Im willing to judge kick the CP for you. If i determine that the CP is not competitive, or that its a worse option - the CP will go away and you'll be left with whatever is left (NBs or Solvency turns etc). This is only true if the AFF says nothing to the contrary. (ie. The aff has to tell me NOT to kick the CP - and win that issue in the debate). I WILL NOT VOTE ON NO NEG FIAT. That argument makes me mad. Of course the neg gets fiat. Don't be absurd.

T- I default to offense/defense type framework, but can be persuaded otherwise. Impact your reasons why I should vote neg. You need to have unique offense on T. K's of T are stupid. I think the aff has to run a topical aff, and K-ing that logic is ridiculous. T isn't racist. RVIs are never ever compelling.... ever.

Theory- I tend to lean neg on theory. Condo- Good. More than two then the aff might have a case to make as to why its bad - i've voted aff on Condo, I've voted neg on condo. Its a debate to be had. Any other theory argument I think is categorically a reason to reject the argument and not the team. I can't figure out a reason why if the aff wins international fiat is bad that means the neg loses - i just think that means the CP goes away.

Remember!!! All of this is just a guide for how you chose your args in round. I will vote on most args if they are argued well and have some sort of an impact. Evidence comparison is also good in my book-- its not done enough and i think its one of the most valuable ways to create an ethos of control with in the debate. Perception is everything, especially if you control the spin of the debate. I will read evidence if i need to-- don't volunteer it and don't give me more than i ask for. I love fun debates, i like people who are nice, i like people who are funny... i will reward you with good points if you are both. Be nice to your partner and your opponents. No need to be a jerk for no reason

Ben Schultz Johns Creek High School 4 rounds

Last changed on Sat January 27, 2024 at 11:16 AM EDT

Debated 4 years Marquette University HS (2001-2004)

Assistant Coach – Marquette University HS (2005-2010)

Head Coach – Marquette University HS (2011-2012)

Assistant Coach – Johns Creek HS (2012-2014)

Head Coach – Johns Creek HS (2014-Current)

Yes, put me on the chain: bencharlesschultz@gmail.com

No, I don’t want a card doc.

Its been a long time since I updated this – this weekend I was talking to a friend of mine and he mentioned that I have "made it clear I wasn’t interested in voting for the K”. Since I actually love voting for the K, I figured that I had been doing a pretty bad job of getting my truth out there. I’m not sure anyone reads these religiously, or that any paradigm could ever combat word of mouth (good or bad), but when I read through what I had it was clear I needed an update (more so than for the criticism misconception than for the fact that my old paradigm said I thought conditionality was bad – yeesh, not sure what I was thinking when I wrote THAT….)

Four top top shelf things that can effect the entire debate for you, with the most important at the top:

11) Before I’m a debate judge, I’m a teacher and a mandatory reporter. I say this because for years I’ve been more preferred as a critical judge, and I’ve gotten a lot of clash rounds, many of which include personal narratives, some of which contain personal narratives of abuse. If such a narrative is read, I’ll stop the round and bring in the tournament director and they will figure out the way forward.

22) I won’t decide the debate on anything that has happened outside of the round, no matter the quality of evidence entered into the debate space about those events. The round starts when the 1AC begins.

33) If you are going to the bathroom before your speech in the earlier speeches (constructives through 1nr, generally) just make sure the doc is sent before you go. Later speeches where there's no doc if you have prep time I can run that, or I'll take off .4 speaks and allow you to go (probably a weird thing, I know, but I just think its stealing prep even though you don't get to take flows or anything, just that ability to settle yourself and think on the positions is huge)

44) No you definitely cannot use extra cross-ex time as prep, that’s not a thing.

55) Finally, some fun. I’m a firm believer in flowing and I don’t see enough people doing it. Since I do think it makes you a better debater, I want to incentivize it. So if you do flow the round, feel free to show me your flows at the end of the debate, and I’ll award up to an extra .3 points for good flows. I reserve the right not to give any points (and if I get shown too many garbage flows maybe I’ll start taking away points for bad ones just so people don’t show me horrible flows, though I’m assuming that won’t happen much), but if you’ve got the round flowed and want to earn extra points, please do! By the way you can’t just show one good flow on, lets say, the argument you were going to take in the 2nc/2nr – I need to see the round mostly taken down to give extra points

Top Shelf:

This is stuff that I think you probably want to know if you’re seeing me in the back

· I am liable probably more than most judges to yell “clear” during speeches – I won’t do it SUPER early in speeches because I think it takes a little while for debaters to settle into their natural speed, and a lot of times I think adrenaline makes people try and go faster and be a little less clear at the start of their speeches than they are later. So I wait a bit, but I will yell it. If it doesn’t get better I’ll yell one more time, then whatever happens is on you in terms of arguments I don’t get and speaker points you don’t get. I’m not going to stop flowing (or at least, I never have before), but I also am not yelling clear frivolously – if I can’t understand you I can’t flow you.

· I don’t flow with the doc open. Generally, I don’t open the doc until later in the round – 2nc prep is pretty generally when I start reading, and I try to only read cards that either are already at the center of the debate, or cards that I can tell based on what happens through the 2ac and the block will become the choke points of the round. The truth of the debate for me is on the flow, and what is said by the debaters, not what is said in their evidence and then not emphasized in the speeches, and I don’t want to let one team reading significantly better evidence than the other on questions that don’t arise in the debate influence the way I see the round in any way, and opening the doc open is more likely than not to predispose me towards one team than another, in addition to, if I’m reading as you go, I’m less likely to dock you points for being comically unclear than if the only way I can get down what I get down is to hear you say it.

Argumentative Stuff

Listen at the end of the day, I will vote for anything. But these are arguments that I have a built in preference against. Please do not change up your entire strategy for me. But if the crux of your strategy is either of these things know that 1 – I probably shouldn’t be at the top of your pref card, and 2 – you can absolutely win, but a tie is more likely to go to the other side. I try and keep an open mind as much as possible (heck I’ve voted for death good multiple times! Though that is an arg that may have more relevance as you approach 15 full years as a public school DoD….) but these args don’t do it for me. I’ll try and give a short explanation of why.

1. I’m not a good judge for theory, most specifically cheap shots, but also stuff seen as more “serious” like conditionality. Its been a long long time since anyone has gone for theory in front of me – the nature of the rounds that I get means there’s not usually a ton of negative positions – which is good because I’m not very sympathetic to it. I generally think that the negative offense, both from the standpoint of fairness and education, is pretty weak in all but the most egregious rounds when it comes to basic stuff like conditionality. Other counterplan theory like no solvency advocate, no international fiat, etc I’m pretty sympathetic to reject the argument not the team. In general, if you’re looking at something like conditionality where the link is linear and each instance increases the possibility of fairness/education impacts, for me you’ve got to be probably very near to, or even within, double digits for me to think the possible harm is insurmountable in round. This has come up before so I want to be really clear here – if its dropped, GO FOR IT, whether alone or (preferably) as an extension in a final rebuttal followed by substance. I for sure will vote for it in a varsity round (in novice rounds, depending on the rest of the round, I may or may not vote on it). Again – this is a bias against an argument that will probably effect the decision in very close rounds.

2. Psychoanalysis based critical literature – I like the criticism, as I mentioned above, just because I think the cards are more fun to read and more likely to make me think about things in a new way than a piece of counterplan solvency or a politics internal link card or whatever. But I have an aversion to psychoanalysis based stuff. The tech vs truth paragraph sums up my feelings on arguments that seem really stupid. Generally when I see critical literature I think there’s at least some truth to it, especially link evidence. But

3. Cheap Shots – same as above – just in general not true, and at variance with what its fun to see in a debate round. There’s nothing better than good smart back and forth with good evidence on both sides. Cheap shots (I’m thinking of truly random stuff like Ontology Spec, Timecube – stuff like that) obviously are none of those things.

4. Finally this one isn’t a hard and fast thing I’m necessarily bad for, but something I’ve noticed over the years that I think teams should know that will effect their argumentative choices in round – I tend to find I’m less good than a lot of judges for fairness as a standalone impact to T-USFG. I feel like even though its never changed that critical teams will contend that they impact turn fairness, or will at least discuss why the specific type of education they provide (or their critique of the type of education debate in the past has provided), it has become more in vogue for judges to kind of set aside that and put sort of a silo around the fairness impact of the topicality debate and look at that in a vacuum. I’ve just never been good at doing that, or understanding why that happens – I’m a pretty good judge still for framework, I think, but youre less likely to win if you go for a fairness impact only on topicality and expect that to carry the day

Specific Round Types:

K Affs vs Framework

Clash rounds are the rounds I’ve gotten by far the most in the last 5-8 years or so, and generally I like them a lot and they consistently keep me interested. For a long time during the first generation of critical affirmatives that critique debate/the resolution I was a pretty reliable vote for the affirmative. Since the negative side of the no plan debate has caught up, I’ve been much more evenly split, and in general I like hearing a good framework press on a critical aff and adjudicating those rounds. I think I like clash rounds because they have what I would consider the perfect balance between amount of evidence (and specificity of evidence) and amount of analysis of said evidence. I think a good clash round is preferable than almost any round because there’s usually good clash on the evidentiary issues and there’s still a decent amount of ev read, but from the block on its usually pure debate with minimal card dumpage. Aside from the preference discussed above for topicality based framework presses to engage the fairness claims of the affirmative more, I do think that I’m more apt than others to vote negative on presumption, or barring that, to conclude that the affirmative just gets no risk of its advantages (shoutout Juliette Salah!). One other warning for affirmatives – one of the advantages that the K affords is that the evidence is usually sufficiently general that cards which are explained one way (or meant to be used one way) earlier in the round can become exactly what the negative doesn’t need/cant have them be in the 2ar. I think in general judges, especially younger judges, are a little biased against holding the line against arguments that are clearly new or cards that are explained in a clearly different way than they were originally explained. Now that I’m old, I have no such hang ups, and so more than a lot of other judges I’ve seen I’m willing to say “this argument that is in the 2ar attached to (X) evidence is not what was in the 1ar, and so it is disallowed”. (As an aside, I think the WORST thing that has happened to, and can happen to, no plan teams is an overreliance on 1ar blocks. I would encourage any teams that have long 1ar blocks to toss them in the trash – if you need to keep some explanations of card warrants close, please do, but ditch the prewritten blocks, commit yourself to the flow, and listen to the flow of the round, and the actual words of the block. The teams that have the most issue with shifting argumentation between the 1ar and the 2ar are the teams that are so obsessed with winning the prep time battle in the final 2 rebuttals that they become over dependent on blocks and aren’t remotely responsive to the nuance of a 13 minute block that is these days more and more frequently 13 minutes of framework in some way shape or form)

K vs K

Seems like its more likely these days to see clash rounds for me, and next up would be policy rounds. I’d actually like to see more K v K rounds (though considering that every K team needs to face framework enough that they know exactly how to debate it, and its probably more likely/easier to win a clash round than a K v K round on the negative, it may be more strategic to just go for framework on the neg if you don’t defend the USFG on the aff), and I’d especially love to see more well-argued race v high theory rounds. Obviously contextualization of very general evidence that likely isn’t going to be totally on point is the name of the game in these rounds, as well as starting storytelling early for both sides – I’d venture to say the team that can start telling the simple, coherent story (using evidence that can generally be a tad prolix so the degree of difficulty for this is high) early will be the team that generally will get the ballot. The same advice about heavy block use, especially being blocked out into the 1ar, given above counts here as well.

Policy v policy Rounds

I love them. A good specific policy round is a thing of beauty. Even a non-specific counterplan/DA round with a good strong block is always great. As the season goes on its comparatively less likely, just based on the rounds I usually get, that I’ll know about specific terminology, especially deeply nuanced counterplan terminology. I honestly believe good debaters, no matter their argumentative preference or what side of the (mostly spurious) right/left divide in debate you’re on, are good CASE debaters. If you are negative and you really want to back up the speaker point Brinks truck, a 5+ minute case press is probably the easiest way to make that happen.

Individual argument preferences

I’ll give two numbers here – THE LEFT ONE about how good I think I am for an argument based on how often I actually have to adjudicate it, and THE RIGHT ONE will be how much I personally enjoy an argument. Again – I’ll vote for anything you say. But more information about a judge is good, and you may as well know exactly what I enjoy hearing before you decide where to rank me. 1 being the highest, 10 being the lowest.

T (classic) --------------------------------------- 5/4

T (USFG/Framework) ------------------------ 1/1

DA ------------------------------------------------ 3/2

CP ------------------------------------------------- 4/2

Criticism ----------------------------------------- 1/2

Policy Aff --------------------------------------- 2/2

K Aff ---------------------------------------------- 1/3

Theory ------------------------------------------- 8/9

Cheap Shots ------------------------------------ 10/10

Post Round:

I feel like I’ve gotten more requests lately to listen to redos people send me. I’m happy to do that and give commentary if folks want – considering I saw the original speech and know the context behind it, it only makes sense that I would know best whether the redo fixes the deficiencies of the original. Shoot me an email and I’m happy to help out!

Any other questions – just ask!

Jeffery Shren Johns Creek High School 4 rounds

Last changed on Fri November 13, 2020 at 12:02 PM EDT

Chain: shenjeffery113@gmail.com

Debated at JCHS for 3 yrs, was not able to compete the 4th.

Stanford 24'

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pls camera on if you can, it makes debating less of a bore

Stolen from my friend, Mr. Blake Deng:

I HAVE ZERO TOPIC KNOWLEDGE

my brain is not that big. I have experience with PTX DAs, Generic Ks, Generic CPs. If your aff is to regulate some small agency with an obscure acronym, please explain. Debate is about convincing the judge, not who can throw out the most off-case in 8 minutes.

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General thoughts on debate:

- Tag teaming is fine; too much = slight speaks dock maybe

- Be nice, don't flex, be courteous; CX is already toxic enough.

- Please do not steal prep with virtual debate, do not clip cards, do not cheat in any way. It will be a quick decision.

- I was a 2A/1N years ago, so I do lean aff on some common topics: >3 conditional, and condo bad is lookin pretty good; if the 1NC is under highlighted 10 off, the 2A gets more leeway, as long as the 2A says something (can be one sentence, oh well) about it, an argument is not "conceded," but it makes the 2A's job much harder to defend. Given that, the 1NR should be the best speech in the round - I loved doing it because it was blocked out, and had copious amounts of prep for it.

- Send analytics if you want - I'd recommend it because then I definitely won't miss any arguments and it generally just makes the debate easier to follow for everyone, but I know some people are stingy about this. No speaker pts diff if you do either or, just know I will probably miss some of your arguments.

- Tech > Truth within reason. This means, yes, if you drop 50 State Fiat is a voter, you will lose. No, this does not mean if the other team drops Covid isn't real/some other just false statement that you will win.

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Argument list ---

DAs:

Always good, basically the base of any neg strat. I don't know if 0 risk exists, but "so low where it's negligible" risk 100% exists. PTX DAs need to have updated ev (no-brainer). Straight-turning DAs is underused but is a good way to stop the neg from reading 4 crappy DAs and kicking them all in the block.

Ks:

I have a basic foundation in the more common ones (Cap, Neolib, Security, Afropess/Antiblackness EMPHASIS ON BASIC). I was more of a policy person, but I honestly think the topic are quite interesting and put spice into the bore of regular policy. Explain your args, and the name of an argument will never sway me away.

The alternative is critical. If the negative cannot explain how it works, solves, or even just makes sense, it doesn't matter if the aff is straight dropped all other points: you have no alternative. I think of it like a net benefit without a counterplan. The K becomes a linear DA at that point.

Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I strongly dislike T unless the aff is clearly untopical/is obviously unfair. Reasonability is valid, the neg gets a litany of random off case to check the aff, and most teams that say the aff spikes out of links have 10 off-case in the 1NC. Don't mind my flashy school name: my brain is not that big, and debates over minute details in interpretations/counter-interps make me sad. If you go for T, please have specifics on why the aff is bad, case list (very underutilized), and not just "the aff does not line up with our merrian-webster 1996 definition."

CPs:

Yes, good as well. They must be competitive, both textually and functionally. It cannot just do the same thing as the aff, P do the CP will suffice. You need a net benefit. Saying "it solves 100% of the aff" is a buzz-phrase, but I can believe it if given enough ev. The CP does not need to solve 100% of the aff given the NB is extraordinarily large - debate it out in round.

CPs should have solvency advocates in the 1nc!!!! Why should they not? The 2ac needs to know what is going on there so they can hedge against it; it's like if the neg chose to just read all their links and uniqueness cards for the DAs in the block. What is a solvency advocate? A carded piece of evidence that proves why your CP solves the harms of the aff. Keep it simple; not having an advocate gives me a pretty good reason to reject the argument (maybe not the team, depends on abuse).

Non-Traditional Affs:

I will be extremely confused, and unsure how to vote. If you want to try, go ahead; I think I will find it very interesting to listen to, but I caution you that there are many more well-qualified people than me to judge you. I do not have much experience at all in this field.

Theory:

If it's not either straight dropped or close to it, it's probably not a good idea to go for it unless you really know what's going on. The two args I have a soft spot for are "condo bad" and "absolutely terrible CPs bad" (no solvency advocate, textually uncompetitive, PICS bad, etc). Other than that, I'd say theory is not very viable.

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Extra stuff:

- Mandatory "if you make me laugh, you'll get bonus speaks"

- Be clear, speaks go down if you are a bad speaker.

- Be nice. I know firsthand how CX can have a toxic culture, and if I see it in round (to your partner, to others, etc) you are losing entire digits of speaks.

- I'm a nice person I swear, ask questions after the round if you want. No judgement.

Sechan Tak Henry W Grady HS 4 rounds

Sophie Volpe The Galloway School 4 rounds

Last changed on Sat September 25, 2021 at 12:27 PM EDT

2A - Galloway '22 - sophie.volpe2@gmail.com

Please just have fun. Debate should be fun and educational, paradigms should not prevent this and I will vote for anything. However, if you want to know a little about how I judge, here it is.

Short

1. Tech> truth - dropped = true but not necessarily important. So explain why it's important if you say they dropped it and explain how that impacts your argument and the round. Explain why what they drop wins you the debate. If you don't do this, I probably won't care if they dropped it.

2. I don't like K affs or planless affs. I'm ok with standard Ks (ie. Cap, security, etc.) Please don't change for me but also know I don't even have my toe in K lit.

3. Good 2NRs and 2ARs win debates. I want to know why I should vote for you. The most important piece for me is impact calc and a solid explanation of your link and internal link scenarios. I have to know why it will happen and why it's important to vote for it.

4. If you extend or rely on one piece of evidence a lot, I will probably look at it so don't extend evidence that doesn't say what you think it does.

5. Extend evidence well and include warrants. Reading a tag is not an extension. Your 1AC or 1NC should be so good that you don't need a lot of evidence so please extend evidence before you read new evidence. Only read evidence if you need to.

6. Be nice. I do not like rude debaters. This includes before, after, and during the round. If you're rude this will affect your speaks. Debate is supposed to be fun and should be a safe space, please keep it this way and have fun!

Long

Case

Answer case and make good analytics. Good analytics are better than bad cards. This applies to everything.

2As, you probably shouldn't read new ev on case and case should be fast. This is just a pet peeve of mine.

I'm not a big fan. I'm okay with traditional Ks (neolib, security, abolition, etc.) and have run those Ks but I don't understand or like other Ks very much. I also require a strong and well-explained link to vote on the K. You must specifically link to their case. If you say something like any reduction of arms sales (or other endorsements of the resolution) links, I will be mad and I will not vote on the K if that is your link. If you run a K, know it well. They're harder to explain than a DA and it shows if you don't know your K.

Perms also must be answered well. I will vote on a Perm unless you prove they are mutually exclusive.

Know your alt and be able to explain it so that I get it. I don't like when negs explanation of their alts are based on big words or rephrasing of the tag.

Vague alts are probably bad however I will vote either way.

DAs

I love a good DA CP combo. Explain your link and impact well and you're golden.

DA turns case and comparative impact calc are amazing. Please do them.

Make sure I know why your DA is more important than the Aff impact.

CPs

I love a good DA CP combo.

Explain why the CP solves and why it solves better. Explain the NB well.

I seriously lean Aff on condo. Abusive negs suck and 3+ conditional advocacies or planks starts to get problematic for me. Aff, make sure you impact condo bad and explain what it does to debate and why what they specifically did is bad. Why is it important that debate teaches you something? Why are fair debates good? Etc.

Specific types of CPs can be bad. Be willing to defend why your CP type is good and fair. Affs, tell me why their CP type is bad.

I like T debates. I'll happily vote either way on T.

T to prove your DA links is really fun and helpful.

Explain why untopical affs are bad and answer reasonability well.

Speaks

I will give you bad speaks for being rude.

I won't be a point fairy regardless of your level. I will give you what I think is fair.

Effort, excitement, and passion are rewarded. The opposite is punished.

Be clear. If I can't flow the argument, you didn't make it and I won't evaluate it. I'm fine with speed as long as you're clear.

If you clip cards, you will lose and you will get 0 speaks. It isn't okay. Sometimes it's hard to get through a speech (2As I get it) but if you need to move onto another card say "mark the card at 'last word'" and send out a marked copy.

Ed Williams Pace Academy 4 rounds

Bill Wilson USN 1 rounds

Last changed on Fri March 22, 2024 at 8:21 AM CDT

Background:

USN head coach 2012-present

MBA assistant coach 2000-2002

The stuff you are looking for:

email chain: bwilson at usn.org

K Aff: Defend a hypothetical project that goes beyond the 1AC.

Framework: My general assumption is that predictable limits lead to higher quality debates. Aff, how does your method/performance center on the resolutional question in a way that adds value to this year's topic education? Why does the value of your discussion/method outweigh the benefits of a predictable, topic-focused debate?

Topicality: I am agnostic when it comes to the source of your definitions. Just tell me why they are preferable for this debate. Aff reasonability defense must be coupled with an interpretation, and RTP that interpretation. I will be honest, when it's a T round against an aff that was cut at workshop and has been run all year, I have a gut-check lean to reasonability. Competing interps becomes more compelling when there is significant offense for the interpretation.

Theory: Other than condo, a theory win means I reject the argument unless you do work explaining otherwise. For condo debates, please have a clear interpretation and reasons to reject. I am more open to theory when it is about something particular to the round and is not read from pre-written blocks.

CP's: I prefer CP's that have a solvency advocate. I think a well articulated/warranted perm can beat most plan plus, process CP's.

Politics: I like it better on topics without other viable DAs, but I am fine for these debates.

DAs: I find "turns the case" analysis more compelling at the internal link level.

Cheating: If you are not reading every word you are claiming through underlining or highlighting, that is clipping. If it seems like a one time miscue I will yell something, and unless corrected, I'll disregard the evidence. If it is egregious/persistent, I will be forced to intervene with an L.

If the other team raises a dispute. I will do my best to adjudicate the claim and follow the above reasoning to render a penalty either to dismiss the evidence in question or reject the team. I think I have a fairly high threshold for rendering a decision on an ethics challenge.

RIP wiki paradigms, or how my paradigm started for years but is now showing its age:

I like it when debaters think about the probability of their scenarios and compare and connect the different scenarios in the round. If it is a policy v critical debate, the framing is important, but not in a prior question, ROB, or "only competing policy options" sense. The better team uses their arguments to access or outweigh the other side. I think there is always a means to weigh 1AC advantages against the k, to defend 1AC epistemology as a means to making those advantages more probable and specific. On the flip side, a thorough indictment of 1AC authors and assumptions will make it easier to weigh your alternative, ethics, case turn, etc. Explain the thesis of your k and tell me why it it is a reason to reject the affirmative.

Sarah Wingo USN 1 rounds

Last changed on Fri September 24, 2021 at 1:02 PM CDT

Email: sarah.wingo@gmail.com Please include me on the email chain.

TL;DR: Choose your battles for the second rebuttals, don't just tell that you're winning everything. Tell me why the impacts that you're winning are more important than the impacts that they're winning. If going for theory args, you should spend at least 4 minutes on it. I flow by ear, not by speech doc so it behooves you to be clear.

General: I expect every debater to flow and to be nice to both opponents and partner. Cross-examinations should be civil and at a conversational volume.

I value clarity over speed and have a tendency not to evaluate arguments that are not sign posted. The clearest speaker will receive the highest speaker points, and I will let you know if you’re not being clear. If I can’t understand you, I can’t flow your arguments, and they probably won’t factor highly in my decision. I don’t care if you sent me the whole speech doc and said it word for word. Debate is a competition of communication and reasoning, you need to be clear. That is usually at the expense of speed, which means you also need to manage your speech time effectively.

I will be more impressed by students that demonstrate topic knowledge, line-by-line organization skills (supported by careful flowing), and intelligent cross-examinations than by those that rely on superfast speaking, obfuscation, jargon, backfile recycling, and/or tricks. This means that instead of reading yet another card, you should take the time to explain why the context of the evidence means that your position is better than that of the other team. This is particularly true in close uniqueness and case debates.

Time and CX: You should keep track of your own prep, speech, and CX times, as well as your opponents', if you deem it necessary. CX is not a shouting match. It’s not a game of interruption

a. Conduct your own CX as much as possible. CX is an important time for judge impression formation, and if one partner does all asking and answering for the team, it is very difficult to evaluate both debaters. Certainly the partner not involved in CX can get involved in an emergency, but that should be brief and rare if both debaters want high speaker points.

b. Aim to ask the question that the debater couldn't answer if that person had the whole 3 minutes.

c. I absolutely loathe when questions are basically “you said this but what about our card that says the opposite?” That’s setting up the debater to then spend 3 minutes telling me why I should prefer their evidence.

d. As the questioner, do NOT let them run away with your time. Ideally they won't because you're not asking questions like the one above. The way to shut them up is saying, “ok that’s fine. Moving on, [separate question]?”

DA/CP: No preferences/opinions

K Aff: I think affirmative teams should have a plan text. On the aff you must win a reason why FW is violent/bad and a reason why this round in particular is key. The reason why either side tends to lose is because they don't interact with the other sides' arguments: that means that k teams should adapt their blocks to answer the specific way the neg team is going for framework and neg teams should engage with the substance of the aff.

Ks on the Neg: Links should be specific to the aff. Even if your evidence is generic, good analysis and spin can still win you the round. If your links are just state bad or based on fiat, I will probably vote aff. SLOW DOWN ON THE K. Assume your judge hasn’t ever heard the K before and is trying to understand the reasoning that it indicts. I am especially inclined to vote for an identified and impacted performative contradiction.

Topicality: I don’t particularly enjoy T debates, but I will vote on them. I generally think that if the neg has specific blocks to answer the case, it’s probably topical. I’d prefer a debate on limits and grounds rather than “abuse” and “fairness.” I’d like to hear a debate on the literature and competing interpretations.

Other Theory (condo, alt vagueness, etc.): I generally dislike theory arguments. Either go for them (whole 2NR/2AR) or just don’t read them. That being said, I will hear them and vote them up if explained and impacted. If you can explain why something such an issue, I will vote on it. However, I am more likely to reject the argument not the team. You must tell me how I should evaluate the debate, meaning in which order I should evaluate theory and policy. I am not inclined to judge kick an argument unless the 2R tells me to (and poor answers).

******Updated 11/14/2020

Sam Wombough Woodward Academy 3 rounds

Last changed on Sat January 27, 2024 at 9:43 AM EDT

Email: womboughsam36@gmail.com

UGA Law '27

Georgia Tech '23 (History and Sociology)

Woodward Academy ’20

Topic Knowledge: I have judged a lot of debates and worked at ENDI this past summer.

Last Substantively Updated: 1/7/24

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Short Version + Novices (est. 45 sec. to read)

"Debate like an adult. Show me the evidence. Attend to the details. Don't dodge, clash. Great research and informed comparisons win debates." — Bill Batterman

Flow.

Be nice.

Be clear.

Have fun!

Time yourselves.

It’s probably not a voting issue.

If you read a plan, defend and clarify it.

Do not request a marked copy in lieu of flowing.

Be an evidenced, well-reasoned critic, not a cynic.

If you stop prep and then re-start prep, take off 10 seconds of prep.

If you don't have your video on in online debate, I will struggle to stay engaged.

An argument must be complete and comprehensible before there is a burden to answer it.

Focus on depth in argument. It's more engaging and is the only reliable way to beat good teams.

Write my ballot for me at the top of your late rebuttals, without using any debate jargon or hyperbole.

"Marking a card" means actually clearly marking that card on your computer (e.g. multiple Enter key pushes).

If you advocate something, at some point in the debate, you need to explain the tangible results of your advocacy without relying on any debate or philosophy jargon.

There has been a significant decline in the quality of speaking since online debate started because debaters became less familiar with speaking directly to the judge and because judges gave more leeway to the absence of clarity due to the computer instrument. Judges should never have to rely on reading along with the speech document in order to flow tags/analytics. If you have no intonation nor emphasis during tags/analytics/rebuttals, you are a bad speaker.

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More Stuff (est. 1:30 min. to read)

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Debate

I really enjoy debate. Debate is the most rewarding activity I have ever done. But debate didn't always feel rewarding while I was doing it. Accordingly, I hope that everybody prioritizes having fun, and then learning and improving.

From Johnnie Stupek's paradigm: "I encourage debaters to adopt speaking practices that make the debate easier for me to flow including: structured line-by-line, clarity when communicating plan or counterplan texts, emphasizing important lines in the body of your evidence, and descriptively labelling off-case positions in the 1NC."

Purging your speech documents of analytics and then rocking through them will be just as likely to "trick" me into not flowing an argument as it will be your opponents.

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Case

I will vote on absolute defense.

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Critiques

Explain; don’t confuse.

It is anti-black for debaters that are not black (team) to present afropessimist arguments. This practice exists because of the anti-blackness or cowardice of some non-black educators in debate. Frank Wilderson III claims that he "grieves over" debate's appropriation of his work (“Staying Ready for Black Study: A Conversation”).

Postmodernism— Debaters often mischaracterize ornamental absolutism in philosophical writings as almost-theological dogmatisms about how the world operates. This is anti-modern, not postmodern. <— I don't know if that paragraph makes any sense.

I've seen a few debates exclusively about personal identity that were extremely distressful for both sides. I think it's really weird when a high school student prompts a rejoinder from their peers to a pure affirmation of their identity. Please don't make me adjudicate it.

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Non-Topical Debates

"No" to aff conditionality. Defend your aff and comparatively weigh offense.

Please stop referencing college debate rounds that you only know about thirdhand.

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Theory

The more conditional advocacies there are in the 1NC, the worse the debate usually is.

I am sympathetic to affirmative complaints about process counterplans and agent counterplans that do nearly all of the affirmative. These counterplans, with the States-multi-plank CP in mind, tend to stagnate negative topic innovation and have single-handedly ruined some topics (Education).

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Extra

I almost always defer to technical debating, but in close debates:

I am a degrowth hack. T: Substantial against a quantifiably small aff is fun.

I am easily convinced that Bostrom-esque "extinction first" is incoherent and can justify repulsive ideologies.

I strongly believe that China is not militarily revisionist. I think Sinophobic scholarship is festering in debate.

With respect to "Catastrophe Good" arguments, "we must die to destroy a particle accelerator that will consume the universe" is less convincing to me than a nihilism or misanthropy argument. I value accurate science.

Lastly, don't purposefully try to fluster the judge if you want quality post-round answers.

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Cheating

In the instance that a team accuses the other of clipping, I will follow the NDCA clipping guidelines (2).

Strawmanning is an ethics violation as per the NSDA guidelines.

(1) https://the3nr.com/2014/08/20/how-to-never-clip-cards-a-guide-for-debaters/

(2) https://static.squarespace.com/static/53416a18e4b0aa2aaadf85e4/t/53665f81e4b03af4b79e088f/1399218049326/clipping.pdf

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More References

https://the3nr.com/2009/11/03/judging-methodologies-how-do-judges-reach-their-decisions/

https://the3nr.com/2016/04/15/an-updated-speaker-point-scale-based-on-2015-2016-results/ (I inflate this).

https://new.debateus.org/to-consult-or-not-to-consult-on-the-theoretical-legitimacy-of-the-consultation-counterplan/

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