Hi! I’m Nick.

Did Congress for 4 years in HS (2017-2021), current college student and debate coach.

Feel free to email: nicholaschen314@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Policy

Currently a middle school policy coach @ WUDL (~1 year) but am relatively new to the event otherwise. Expect me not to be very familiar with the topic + any literature. Quality over quantity. I often find myself voting for clearly warranted arguments delivered slowly with some cogent analysis attached over multiple cards spammed at supersonic speed. Clear signposting is greatly appreciated. Give me a role of ballot and tell me how I should evaluate the round.

Congress:

My overall philosophy is that Congress is a strategic game where the winner best advances the debate. Advancing the debate means creating opportunities for future speakers to give interesting speeches, usually by engaging deeply and efficiently with the existing debate. In general, this means I like the things that most congress judges like (clash, framing, good warranting, etc.) and dislike the things that most congress judges dislike (rehash, name-dropping, unwarranted arguments, etc.). I rank speeches given at all points in the round equally. Do your job well and you can get my one, whether you're a sponsor or a late-round speaker.

*A note on decorum. Be inclusive and kind, especially towards competitors who are not as familiar with the national circuit or parliamentary procedure. I've seen Robert's rules of order used as a cudgel to previous question someone out of a speech one too many times. The same goes for all the different breeds of backroom politicking. Treat your competitors like fellow human beings.

Some specific notes:

-I’ve found that I judge almost exclusively on content. Delivery matters to the extent that it helps me understand your content.

-I reward flips and speaking earlier than intended extremely highly. Expect lots of brownie points, especially for early round flips that get the debate going.

-You will never get punished for people ignoring your argument unless your argument was inherently non-interactive. If other speakers repeat an argument which you have refuted I will notice and this will be reflected in my ranks.

-Please quantify your impacts. Congressional debaters have become chronically reliant on nonspecific cards which then link to super vague impacts. This leaves us (judges) having to weigh between “many” and “a lot” or some other pair of meaningless adjectives. Speakers who call out this ambiguity and give me quantification will always get ranked highly.

Speaking of sources:

-Stop citing cards which are just warrants. Just because some NYT opinion writer says it doesn't mean it's true.

-Stop not citing cards when making constructive arguments. I accept the utility of warrant level take-outs when refuting but you cannot just make a new claim (especially a claim that would take out a significant portion of either side of the debate) and expect me to buy a hand-wavy warrant in lieu of a card.

-Stop defaulting to thousands/millions of Americans starving or dying as your impact especially when the links get tenuous. Don’t just throw it in if you haven’t properly carded or warranted the impact. Not everything has to lead to the end of the world.

*A note on PO’s: I am not the most PO friendly judge. I rank solid PO’s below all the great speakers in a round which usually means you’ll get my 3 - 4 in prelims, 4 - 6 in outrounds, 5+ in finals if you do everything right. I consider POing a strategic decision (i.e. you PO when there isn’t a good way to win the round speaking) which means that I will reward PO’s more in weaker rounds. TLDR: PO a weak round and you’ll get ranked high, PO a great round with lots of unique ground and you’ll get ranked low. Obvious exception when no one wants to PO.

Update for 2023: College Junior

Formerly Debated as Devin Kyser

Currently go by Drixxon Kyzar. Both Dev & Drixx are fine, I really don't mind.

email chain: davk2300@gmail.com

Paradigm:

If there's an email chain, I'd appreciate being on it, but I'm fine with spreading as long as you're somewhat clear.

Will vote on Kritiks and Theory Shells as long as you explain them well. Not a very big fan of tricks, but I won't vote you down for it.

Please keep things cordial and respectful. I understand that Debates can get very intense, but it's important to attack someone's case rather than their person.

Sign posting is highly valued, as it makes my job easier, and is appreciated when I see that your case and motives are organized.

2024 Revised Paradigm:

I'm a product of Newark Science. You can refer to my former coach's paradigm as a basis for how I'll judge.

Speed
Be clear. Pretend I don't have your doc. For most topics, you can spread as fast as you want.

Do not spread dense philosophy. When going quickly with philosophy, clear tags are extremely important. If I have a hard time understanding it at conversational speeds I will not understand it at high speeds. (Don't spread Kant or Foucault.)

Slow down for analytics. If you are comparing or making analytical arguments that I need to understand, slow down for it.

I want to hear the warrants in the evidence. Be clear when reading evidence. I don't read cards after the round if I don't understand them during the round.

Offs
Please don't run more than 5 off in policy or LD. And if you choose 5 off, make them good and necessary. I don't like frivolous arguments. I prefer deep to wide when it comes to Neg strategies.

Theory
Make it make sense. I'll vote on it if it is reasonable. Please tell me how it functions and how I should evaluate it. The most important thing about theory is to make it make sense. I'm not into frivolous theory. If you like running frivolous theory, I am not the best judge for you.

Evidence
Don't take it out of context. I do ask for cites. Cites should be readily available. Don't cut evidence in an unclear or sloppy manner. Cut evidence ethically. If I read evidence and its been misrepresented, it is highly likely that team will lose.

Argument Development

For LD, please not more than 3 offs. Time constraints make LD rounds with more than three offs incomprehensible to me. Policy has twice as much time and three more speeches to develop arguments. I like debates that advance ideas. The interaction of both side's evidence and arguments should lead to a coherent story.

Speaker Points
30 I learned something from the experience. I really enjoyed the thoughtful debate. I was moved. I give out 30's. It's not an impossible standard. I just consider it an extremely high, but achievable, standard of excellence. I haven't given out at least two years.
29 Excellent
28 Solid
27 Okay

Policy Debate Coach - North Star High School, Newark, NJ

email: tlatta27@gmail.com

Former policy debater and now second year policy-focused coach with some summer lab instruction experience. Comfortable with policy and critical approaches.

General Preferences

Depth > breadth: spread has rapidly diminishing returns with me. Warrant quality will win out so...compare warrants.

I appreciate a speaking speed where individual words are distinct and discernible, at the bare minimum. I'm not receptive to speaking styles with purposely low volume or monotone and this will be reflected in speaker points and, if egregious and repeated, the RFD.

If you want your arguments reflected in my flow, I STRONGLY suggest you DO NOT spread analytics, particularly those not reflected in distributed speech docs or those related to T's and/or Frameworks.

Disads: Uniqueness argument is usually the determinant in my view.

Counterplans: Throw-away cps with no solvency warrants can be defeated by the Aff with much less time than the Neg spends in the block but don't be sloppy in the 2AC. I am receptive to theory here. See remarks on theory below.

Receptive to condo bad. I'm not your best judge for 5+ off-case

Kritiks: Receptive to aff or neg but not as a shield to not engage with the arguments the other team is making. Not clashing will put you behind. The link debate is important to me and you have a much better chance if you compare warrants effectively in this area. Thoughtful Alts, particularly with analytics referencing history/examples are meaningful to me. I do not (yet) have a lot of direct experience with the literature of many areas of kritiks, hence you need to slow down and make them clear

Theory: Given my experience level, I encounter new theory all the time and that is sometimes a challenge. If you want to have an impact on the ballot in these areas, slow down and make your argument clear. Blasting through theory will leave a void on my flow.

Speaker points…28.5 is average clarity, most clear-thinking and focus. More and less of those qualities will be reflected by divergences from that point but will generally not go below 27.

In general, I will give you my full concentration as a judge, provide clear and reasonable feedback and appreciate your efforts to improve my understanding of policy debate and the round we are in.

email: cbm2158@columbia.edu

I am a judge and coach for Brooklyn Technical High School. I mostly coach public forum now, but I have more experience with policy. I competed on the national policy circuit in high school ten years ago. I am currently a PhD student in English and Comparative Literature.

I do my best to maintain a detailed flow and place a premium on clear and consistent signposting.

I like Ks and theory, but I think they are difficult to run well in public forum.

I don't typically ask for evidence after the round unless there is some contention about what a piece of evidence actually says. Flag it in your speech, and I'll be happy to look.

Feel free to raise any other questions or concerns before the round!

Please add me to the thread: jmaximo@bostondebate.org

I debated with the Boston Debate League for three years in high school, representing Brighton High. I coached at English High during the 2015-2016 season and volunteered with/worked for the BDL as a tournament assistant and logistics intern for another couple seasons. I currently work for the Boston Debate League as their admin coordinator and as the volunteer manager "shadow".

I haven't actively judged in a long time and, as such, am not as familiar with what debaters are currently running.

Things that are important to me as a former UDL debater who was not hot sh*t but tried her best:

If you must spread, PLEASE be clear and signpost.If I can't understand you, it won't go on my flow. Debaters who give me a roadmap before every speech automatically get higher speaks from me.

Clash!!!!! Good evidence comparison!!!! Impact calculus!!!!

I will vote for any argument as long as you explain and can convince me as to why I should (and as long as it's not something completely absurd or harmful).

I love K debates but am not familiar with all the literature, so proceed at your own risk. Regardless of my familiarity with the lit, operate under the assumption I don't know anything and explain it to me like I'm 5!!

Not a fan of neg teams who run more than 4 OFF as a time suck strategy, but you do you.

I'm lazy and not nearly as good at this as any of you are, so tell me what my role is! Tell me how to evaluate the round! Don't make me do more work than I need to, pls.

Tags slow. Speed for the rest of the card is okay.

Overt Speed - not my favorite

If I request "clear" a couple of times - and you don't do it - I will put my pen down. If you see that, it's a problem...for you.

I am listening to you speak, I am not reading your cards as you spread.

Rebuttals - stop reading cards. Talk to me. Line by lines - yes!

Roadmaps and signposting make me happy. Be organized and direct my flows appropriately. If you don't, you might lose and that won't be my fault.

Multiple DA's annoy me. How many ways we can die and in what order?

Depth over breadth. I really dislike a bunch of off cases, and then you drop 9/10's of them.

T is important so prove why you meet. Or, if you are running a K Aff - please explain why T isn't important.

Agent cps, I understand how government works. Show me that you do too. Multiple CP's? Why? Game theory - nah. Not my fave.

Income Inequality is REAL. I think that I am going to love me some K's.

Peace