I won my state championship as a high school debater in 1982 and debated for the University of Kansas. As a debater, I was concerned with substance and persuasion, not how many arguments I could make. I have been a trial attorney for 32 years.

I left debate because of all the spread debating. I tend to think that people who speak quickly need to make more arguments because the arguments they have are not very good. When making an argument, I start by identifying my A, B and C material, and then I throw out the C material. I prepare my argument with the A and B material. And then I throw out the B material. If a judge rejects my first three arguments, there is zero possibility that they will accept my fourth argument.

Give me your best arguments. Take the time to develop them and give me a complete picture. May the best argument win.

e-mail chain: dondraper021@gmail.com

garfield ‘19, uw '24

coach for garfield. i debated locally and nationally for 3 years, winning state my senior year. i was a k and k aff leaning debater (including performance debate), but i've had my fair share of running 6 plank adv counterplans and econ disads.

general

run anything you want. i don't play favorites when it comes to judging. i lean tech > truth, but context could change that.

i don’t have much formal knowledge of the topic, so be careful when spreading jargon or specific details.

if you have any specific questions, feel free to ask before the round!

k aff + fw

absolutely go for it. with fw: impact turns, internal link turns, counter models of debate, f uck debate — u do u.

for framework, i tend to be more persuaded by arguments about skills and research than procedural fairness.

the k

if you wanna run the weirdest k in the world, go for it.

please don't have long overviews :( if you have to have them, just let me know before you start the speech.

theory

i'm open to any theory argument, but please explain why that should result in an L, no CP, etc. if it's in your 2ar/2nr, spend time on it please.

EXPERIENCE

I competed in Policy (among other events) from 2006 to 2010 and in British Parliamentary at the college level from 2010 to 2014. I've been judging since then, and have been running the debate programs at a number of schools since 2016. Please read the applicable paradigm categorized by format below:

POLICY

I'm a Stock Issues judge! My belief is that we're here to debate a policy option, not discuss external advocacy.

Generally not in favor of the K. If a team chooses to run one with me, provide a clear weighing mechanism as to why I should prefer the K over the policy issue we're actually here to debate.

I do not look upon Performance cases favorably. If you want to pull that stunt and expect to win, go do Oratory.

I'm able to understand speed just fine, but prefer clear articulation. Pitching your voice up while continuing to read at the same speed is not spreading.

I highly value clash and a weighing mechanism in the round, and strongly encourage analysis on arguments made. I work to avoid judge intervention if at all possible, unless there is clear abuse of the debate format or both teams have failed to provide effective weighing mechanisms. Don't just give me arguments and expect me to do the math; prove to me that you've won the argument, and then demonstrate how that means you've won the round.

I have a deep hatred of disclosure theory. I expect teams that I judge to be able to respond and adapt to new arguments in-round instead of whining about how they didn't know the 1AC or 1NC ahead of time. If you want to run this, I have an exceedingly high threshold for proving abuse.

Please do not assume that I'm reading along in the doc with you. Debate's meant to be about oral communication, and only stuff that's actually said in round makes it into my flow. If I request the doc, it's purely for verification needs in case there's a challenge.

Finally, I have low tolerance for tech issues. I've been doing this since laptops first came onto the debate scene, and I've never seen computers crash or "crash" more consistently than at debate tournaments in the middle of a round. If there are persistent issues relating to files being ready or shareable, I may offer you a flash drive if I have one for a manual transfer, but I also reserve the right to factor that into my decision if it's a severe issue and extending the round beyond a reasonable point.


LINCOLN-DOUGLAS

I am a firm believer in traditional LD debate. LD was designed around Value-Criterion debate of the philosophical implications of a resolution, and I'm very happy to see debates of this nature. If you want to run a Plan, CP, or any variation of that, I would like to suggest 3 options for you: Go do Policy, have your coach strike me, or hope for a different judge.

I am not a fan of Kritiks, but haven't been shy about voting for them in the past when they're well-impacted and developed with a competitive alt. You're going to have to do some serious work if you want to try and get me to prefer the K, but it's certainly possible. A K without an alternative is just whining.

No speed. A conversational speaking rate is more than adequate if you've done your homework and refined your case.

Performance/meme cases will result in swift and appalling reprisals in your speaker points, even in the unlikely event that you win the round. A low-point win is virtually inevitable in that case, and indicates that your opponent has somehow become incapacitated during the round and was unable to gurgle a response.

Adaptation to your audience is one of the most basic and essential factors in debate, and public speaking in general. Please keep that in mind when formulating your strategy for the round.

PUBLIC FORUM

I strongly prefer traditional public forum debate. Do not treat this like Policy Lite. PF was intended to be accessible to the layperson, and I take that seriously. Go do Policy if you want to use jargon, run plans or kritiks, or spread. If I hear a plan text, it's likely that I'll be signing my ballot right there and then.

In order to earn the ballot from me, focus on making clear, well-articulated arguments that have appropriate supporting evidence. Remember to tell me why I should prefer your evidence/points over your opponent's. Make sure your advocacy is continually supported through the round, and give me a good summary at the end to show why you've won.

WORLDS DEBATE

Traditional Worlds adjudication; please remember which format you're competing in. Do not spread. I voted down a team in Triple Octafinals at 2018 Nationals for it.

     I start out as a Stock Issue Judge.  The Affirmative must maintain all of the stock issues to win the debate---Topicality , Significance Harms, Inherency Solvency.  If the Affirmative maintains  all of the Stock Issues I then become a comparative advantage judge.  I weigh the advantages of the Affirmative versus the disadvantages, kritiks and counterplans of the negative.   I won't intervene in a debate but I would be receptive of arguments  that 1.  the negative can only have one position in a debate and 2.   that the negative cannot kritik the status quo without offering a counterplan.

I debated for Garfield—mostly 2n, mostly Ks. I like to see good clash and an organized debate. I should be okay for most arguments, just explain them thoroughly (especially since I’m rusty and not familiar with the topic). Be clear, try to make my job easy, & have fun!!

amanda.kang@gmail.com

If you do this, automatic +0.1

https://youtu.be/19SXGTtmQIo?t=212

I’m the head coach of the Mount Vernon HS Debate Team (WA).

I did policy debate in HS very, very long ago - but I’m not a traditionalist. (Bring on the progressive LD arguments-- I will listen to them, unlike my daughter, Peri, who is such a traditional LD'er.)

Add me to the email chain: kkirkpatrick@mvsd320.org

Please don’t be racist, homophobic, etc. I like sassy, aggressive debaters who enjoy what they do but dislike sullen, mean students who don't really care-- an unpleasant attitude will damage your speaker points.

Generally,

Speed: Speed hasn't been a problem but I don't tell you if I need you to be more clear-- I feel it's your job to adapt. If you don't see me typing, you probably want to slow down. I work in tabroom in WA state an awful lot, so my flowing has slowed. Please take that into consideration.

Tech = Truth: I’ll probably end up leaning more tech, but I won’t vote for weak arguments that are just blatantly untrue in the round whether or not your opponents call it out.

Arguments:

I prefer a strong, developed NEG strategy instead of running a myriad of random positions.

I love it when debaters run unique arguments that they truly believe and offer really high speaker points for this. (I'm not inclined to give high speaks, though.)

Any arguments that aren’t on here, assume neutrality.

Do like and will vote on:

T - I love a well-developed T battle but rarely hear one. I don't like reasonability as a standard-- it's lazy, do the work.

Ks - I like debaters who truly believe in the positions they’re running. I like critical argumentation but if you choose to run an alt of "embrace poetry" or "reject all written text", you had better fully embrace it. I’m in touch with most literature, but I need a lot of explanation from either side as to why you should win it in the final rebuttals.

Don’t like but will vote on if won:

“Debate Bad” - I DO NOT LIKE "Debate is Futile" arguments. Please don't tell me what we are doing has no point. I will listen to your analysis. I may even have to vote for it once in a while. But, it is not my preference. Want a happy judge? Don't tell me that how we are spending another weekend of our lives is wasting our time.

Very, very, very... VERY traditional LD - if you are reading an essay case, I am not the judge for you.

Not a huge fan of disclosure theory-- best to skip this.

Don’t like and won’t vote on:

Tricks.

Trent Kuykendoll (he/him)

Bellingham High School/Sehome High School/Squalicum High School

Add me to the chain: trentkuykendoll@gmail.com

For Puget Sound Nat Quals:

Considering I'll be seeing most if not all of you multiple times throughout this tournament, please make it interesting for me. This is a great opportunity to start breaking fun new strats for state/other end of year tournaments. I'll lower speaks based on lack of creativity. Rest of paradigm remains the same.

Update:

If there is a significant skill-mismatch between teams, the better team has an obligation to make the round accessible in my opinion. I'm tired of seeing way more experienced teams just beating up on newer teams, so from here on out I'm going to give low-speaks if I see that. Same situation if you're running tricks.

Top

I’m a TAB/flow judge. Tech > truth, however, will intervene (specifically in impact weighing) if those arguments go unaddressed by both teams. Also, I do judge kick if you're condo or uncontested. Anyone who needs you to spec judge kick is an LD nerd. Here is a pref cheat-sheet before we go into the weeds:

Speed Clarity ---------------------x------- Spread

Depth More args ---------------------X------- More development

Topicality Non-voter --------X-------------------- #1 Issue

Inherency Non-voter --X-------------------------- #1 Issue

K Debate Maybe Cap ------------------------X---- Try your craziest strat.

Impacts Magnitude -------------------X--------- Probability

K Affs Nah ----------------------X------ Yeehaw

Performance Nah ---------------------------X- Yeehaw

Fairness I/L ------X---------------------- Independent Voter

Education I/L ---------------------------X- Independent Voter

Theory Vios DTA --------X-------------------- DTD

Condo Bad -------------------X--------- Good

PICs Bad ---------X------------------- Good

Agent CPs Bad ----------------------X------ Good

Adv. CPs Bad ------X---------------------- Good

Int. Fiat Bad -------------------X--------- Good

Stock Issues

I have no loyalties to stock issues and winning a stock issue on the neg will not win the round. I need a reason to vote against a team that is un-topical, has no inherency, etc. I often have a hard time buying half-baked T arguments. If you’re going for topicality, you should probably collapse to T in the 2NR. The other stock issue I have my gripes with is inherency. Full disclosure, I almost never buy that a lack of a barrier to the plan is coherent argument, (however if you can win a round on inherency alone for a plan that has not been implemented already, I’ll give that team perfect speaks… good luck). As far as other stocks go, explain why they’re relevant to the ballot and please, for my sanity, don’t say “harms”.

Theory

A 2-hour round is non-negotiable as are -isms. Outside of these, the rules are for you and your opponents to agree upon and if there is something in round that you don’t agree with, run theory on it (this includes Flex prep, tag-team, etc.). <-Read my paradigm on this portion and stop asking. If it does not require the round to be stopped, I will not intervene and I will tell you as much if asked (this means I don’t have any opinions on tag-teaming, flex prep, clipping, altered speech times, etc. unless brought up as a theory argument). I tend to be more willing to drop specific arguments or err one way on evidence or during ties. This being said, I am more likely to drop the team if the round is collapsed to that theory argument in rebuttal. I have no problem with Affs kicking case and going for theory.

I enjoy well developed (emphasis on well developed) theory rounds. I tend to skew condo good, unless the neg is running 3+ conditional counter-advocacies. I have a much lower threshold to buy DTA than DTD/DTT. If you go for drop the debater, I will expect the abuse, real and potential, to rise to the level at which only dropping the team is a sufficient sanction. For this reason, if you want me to buy a DTD argument, I would recommend going for that alone in the second rebuttal, regardless aff or neg.

If you have further questions, ask pre-round.

email: thomasjay256@gmail.com

pronouns: he/him

Call me "Tom" or "judge" I don't care

Bear Creek NCX 10/12/23

I know this is a lot of yalls first tournament - don't forget to have fun! I spent years debating during covid, trust me that the vibes of an in-person tournament are way better.

• I haven't been super involved in the debate world over the past year, so don't expect me to know the topic backwards and forwards. Warrant stuff out, don't lean on acronyms and buzzwords
• I'll absolutely vote on presumption. Please don't make me. IME like 70% of early season novice rounds come down to "did they extend case." Don't be one of those people who doesn't lol
• I like K's, but do them well. I ran k's a ton in high school and that means I can generally tell when a link is bs. If all you have is a generic link, that doesn't mean it's dead - just warrant it out, contextualize it yourself. If you run a k well as a novice that looks crazy good to me, but you should have at least a working understanding of the lit
• Generally high threshold for theory: when I was a novice and felt outgunned I loved to throw together some theory violation and see if I could just complain my way to a W. In retrospect that was lowkey a pretty stupid strategy. Anyway if there's obviously in round abuse I'll def vote on it but do it right.
• Write my ballot. Good framing in the 2NR & 2AR can unironically make or break a debate. Use "because-even if-because" argumentation - tell me why you won cuz of reason A, and tell me why, even if you don't win because of reason A, you still win because of reason B. (Don't go too crazy tho, have a strategy, choose your strongest args, don't just go through every single flow like "yeah we won this too but if you don't believe that we won the next one")
• Clash. One of the most important skills you as a novice can learn is good line by line. Get in the habit of actually comparing evidence, expanding your warrants, doing author comparisons, etc. There's nothing more annoying for a judge than a debate where team 1 just goes "my card says A is good!" and team 2 goes "my card says A is bad!" And neither ever actually talks about why their card is better. If the aff cites a peer-reviewed paper from a reputable news source with data and first-hand accounts, and the neg cites a tweet with 3 likes that just says "nuh uh" but the neg spends 10 seconds warranting out why I should believe the tweet, god help me ima give the neg the w on that one.

Misc:

• Speech prep and flashing kinda has a learning curve, I get that. Time yourself, keep yourself honest. I will time you as well, and if you forget to hit start or something feel free to ask me, but get into the habit of timing yourself.
• Flashing isn't prep unless it takes longer than like a minute
• Be normal, be respectful. Don't be an asshoIe, don't be racist, sexist, etc. Obviously

VCX

I'm like 99% sure I'm not judging any varsity but if I am honestly just run anything (again though, not super familiar with the topic). Pretty much everything in the novice section also applies. Speed is fine but clarity is key. I tend to think anybody who says they're tab judges are basically lying but still, I don't think I come into it with any huge structural or organizational preferences so as long as you don't come out swinging with some crazy tech that got invented two days ago it should be cool.

Garfield 21 University of Washington 24

Add me on the email chain notchriswen@gmail.com

Debated 4 years for Garfield High School, one year as a 2N, 3 as a 2A. Primarily read policy arguments on the aff and kritikal arguments on the neg. Currently studying accounting and finance, if you are interested in pursuing those fields at UW feel free to ask me about that.

I would love to say that I am a tabula rasa judge, but my experiences through life and debate have shaped my views which I hope to outline. 99% of these thoughts can be easily flipped with good debating and judge instruction. Just don't read arguments like racism good.

Tech > truth

I wish I could say that I have a perfect flow, but I don't. I'm still a bit rusty, and my ears have gotten worse. Give me just a bit to adjust to your voice and speed. And if you can, either speak a bit louder than normal or speak closer to me.

Please don't make every little thing a voter, and then give me no reasons why it should be a voter.

General:

Read what arguments you can articulate the best. I will do my best to judge the round in a method that requires the least amount of intervention.

I love to see new creative arguments, especially on the negative side. Specific negative research against the case will be rewarded.

Please tell me the implications of you winning arguments, how does winning this argument on a flow impact the other arguments, how should I prioritize weighing?

Theory

I love a good theory debate. Most theory violations I default on reject the argument besides condo. Of course if you provide me a good reason with why rejecting the team should be done instead, I am happy to listen to it. I want to hear about the world of debate under your interpretation and why rejection of a team/argument would be better for your model of debate. Please don't make random small things voters. If you are going for a theory argument I need standards. Reject the team should be 5 minutes, if that is how you think you are going to win the round, I want to see committal.

Topicality

If you have done the research and have strong carded evidence with intent to define, I will be a good T judge. The more specific the evidence, the better. Use case lists and explain what your model of debate looks like. I strongly prefer topicality be debated when comparing about models of debate rather than in round abuses. This means I prefer education related standards over fairness. In situations where proof of abuse can be provided, go hard for fairness. I default to competing interpretations but can be convinced otherwise. My default belief of reasonability for me is about how much of the negative's offense is resolved by the aff's counter interpretation, but again can be changed. Topicality is like theory where I think you should commit 5 minutes to it. If T is dropped, please still impact it out.

CPs

The more specific the CP, the better it will be. Fan of creative counterplans, but not as much of a fan of multiplank CPs. Condo can go anyway for me.

DAs

Love good disads. I want to hear a story, tell me the internal link scenarios that lead to your impact, and why each of those internal links makes your scenario likely in the world of the aff. Turns case analysis and comparing warrants will make it very easy to vote neg on a DA. I want to know why your DA scenario leads to a more likely war, a faster war, just tell me how your evidence's warrants are a unique scenario that the aff's defense won't apply to. I believe in terminal defense and zero risk can exist, an extremely low risk to me is most likely noise that will always exist. However, give me a reason to change that opinion and I will be happy to adjudicate differently based on guidance.

K

I am fine for Ks. I am slightly familiar with most common Ks, but please explain your arguments well. I especially want to hear about how the alternative solves the links, and what the alternative looks like. The more structured the alternative is, the more likely I am to vote on the alt. Be organized, do the analysis on the line by line, I would prefer to not have a long overview. If you do go for framework, go hard, do the weighing and explain to me how exactly you want me to weigh the aff vs the K or even weigh the aff at all. Otherwise, I'll default to some middle ground.

K Affs/FW

Honestly, not the best for K affs. I think that the topic of the K aff should be at the very least be related to the topic in some way. Secondly, I think presumption and SSD are both strong pushes against K affs. To win my ballot as a K aff, you have to win both those arguments, and not lose some impact on FW. As the neg, have a clear strategy for FW in terms of what terminal impact you go for, have a good TVA, etc.

I have coached policy at Garfield High School since 2014. I have yet to encounter an argument I'm not OK with in a round; it's really about you and how well you explain your arguments and why they should win you the round. I think it's important to be responsive to the specific arguments in the round - don't just read your prewritten overview and assume it works for every debate. I enjoy both policy and critical arguments and have some background knowledge in theory, but don't assume I know your literature. In my opinion, it's your job to tell me how to vote in the round and why. If you leave it up to me, I tend to buy the argument that moral thinking is a prereq to policy making (but I can be convinced otherwise).

I am generally ok with most speed, but make sure I'm flowing if you're blazing through a bunch of analytics you don't want me to miss.

I don't know what "judge kicking" means - are you asking me to decide your strategy for you? I won't do that. Either go for the argument, or don't.

Bottom line: I'm a tabula rasa judge. Run whatever you would like to run, and tell me how you would like me to evaluate the round.

Email: jasoncxdebate@gmail.com

Experience:

I debated CX on the national circuit for 4 years in high school, did not debate in college. I've been coaching CX at Garfield HS since 2014. I judge ~50 rounds a year, split between the local and national circuit. We took a team to the TOC in 2021. My day job is as a social science researcher who does a lot of applied research with Indigenous, Black, and BIPOC communities. This keeps me pretty engaged with philosophical and critical theoretical literature, and very attendant to questions of power and equity. I am a white, cis-gendered, heterosexual male who was educated and socialized within a Western context, which undoubtedly shapes my epistemic view of the world.

Feelings about specific things:

T/FW: Excellent. Specific and creative violations are more fun to judge than generic ones
DA: Great.
CP: Awesome. Highly specific CP strategies (such as PICs) tend to produce more interesting debates than generic CPs, but they certainly both have their place.
Ks: Excellent. Especially if you can articulate specific links to the aff

Policy affs: Great
K affs: Awesome. I find that K vs K debates are often more interesting than K vs FW debates, but that isn't always the case

Theory: Good. If you want to win on theory, make it more substantive than a few warrantless blips
Disclosure Theory: Not very convincing for me. I think that the open source/disclosure movement within debate has been somewhat uncritically embraced in a way that doesn't fully consider how the open sourcing of knowledge reproduces new forms of inequity (often along neoliberal/service economy lines, wherein better resourced teams are better able to take advantage of the open knowledge economy).
New arguments in the rebuttals: Generally not a good idea. Completely new arguments should not be made in the rebuttals. I will strongly protect the negative team from new arguments in the 2AR.
Judge Kicking: Nope. Don't expect me to judge kick things for you. Make a strategic choice for yourself.
Overviews and impact calculus: Yes, please. Clearly frame my choice for me at the end of the round, and you are much more likely to get my ballot. Also, 'even if' statements can be super persuasive in the final rebuttals.
Backing up Claims with Warrants: Super important.
Impact Calculus and Overviews: Also super important - I like being told how I should vote, and why you think I should vote that way.
Clipping: Don't do it, I will vote you down for cheating.
Speaking: Please be clear! If you're clear, then I am fine with speed. Clarity is especially important in the online debate format.
Dropped arguments: These flow through as 'true' for the team making them.
Voting: I will vote for one team over the other. Don't ask for a double win (or loss).

At the end of the day, I believe that debate should be about the debaters and not about me. My job is to create a safe and educational space, and to do my best to decide the round based on the arguments rather than on my own beliefs. If you clearly tell me how you think I should be judging, then there shouldn't be any big surprises.