I do not consider myself a tabula rasa judge. I'm skeptical of anyone's ability to erase their biases and preconceptions in a round. Furthermore, I think it is impossible to judge a debate without some framework to evaluate arguments. I believe it's better to reveal our biases up front than to pretend that they don't exist. These positions have been borne out by my experience as a debater, when I frequently had judges claim to be a tabula rasa before the start of a round and then reveal that they are anything but a blank slate at the end of the round. Here are some assumptions that underlie the framework I use.

1. Rational arguments are superior to fallacious arguments or emotional outbursts.

2. Systematically collected empirical evidence is superior to personal anecdote.

3. The opinion of an expert in the field is more valuable than the opinion of a non-expert.

4. It is important that affirmatives be topical. It's unlikely that a conversation will be productive if the two sides can't even agree on what they are going to talk about. I am of the opinion that the topic of the debate is set before the round has begun. Debate is not a free-for-all.

I find that the best debate occurs when debaters are able to use reasoned analysis and common sense to dissect the sources and arguments of their opponents. Debate is not a rock-paper-scissor game of they read this card, so I read this card, so they read that card. Sometimes thirty seconds of analysis is a lot more effective than just reading an opposing source.

While most judges vote affirmative by default under the rationale that however small a chance of solvency is better than nothing, I default negative because all actions carry an opportunity cost and a potential for unintended consequences.

I have a preference for policy-based arguments and kritiks with a clear and concrete alternative. Extremely vague or unworkable alternatives are a persistent problem with kritiks. It's easy to develop some abstract objection to the affirmative, but without a clearly defined alternative plan of action, the kritik is worthless. Also make sure that the kritik has a clearly defined link to the affirmative.

Running an esoteric argument that you don't understand in the hope that your opponent won't understand it either is not an effective form of debate.

Tanya Reni Galloway

I enjoy analyzing the quality of evidence, persuasive techniques, and presentation style of all debate categories. I have judged all debate categories over the past 10 plus years including Congress, FX, DX, CX, LD, PF, BQ, and WS. I am an old-school purist. I judge all categories so I prefer that each category stays in its own lane. Having said that, I realize many students love progressive argumentation, so I say tabula rasa. I will judge the style they are trained in and give feedback accordingly. It is always about the student. My feedback and comments, on my ballots, are designed to empower the student to take their game in debate and life to the next level. I believe our speech and debate students are developing themselves as leaders and can use their skills to make profound differences when applied to areas of life that matter to them.

I also judge all IE events. I love OO, when done well, it is like a mini TED talk. I love to see the WHY. Why did the student choose the topic or selection? What resonates for them? In the categories which require acting skills, I really look for a connection between the student and the selection, when the student embodies the selection and becomes the character. I believe acting skills can build empathy and connection to the human condition. These students can use these skills and apply them in an area of life that they are passionate about and make a difference in the world. They can be the voice for others, who do not have the courage or opportunity to speak or perform in front of others.

I competed in high school and college and won awards in acting, singing, and public speaking events. I was a professional actress and trained at the Film Actors Lab. I am a trained toastmasters judge. I currently lecture on art as therapy. I was also the manager of the Communications Programs for the Dallas branch of a global personal and professional develop company, Landmark Worldwide.

I am an enthusiastic supporter of academic sports. Speech and debate participation provides cognitive and behavioral enhancement. It improves reading, listening, speaking, critical thinking, and writing skills. It also improves motivation and increases curiosity and engagement. I enjoy empowering the future leaders of our community and world. I encourage the students to take the skills they are learning and to apply them to areas of life that are of concern to them now, so they can make a difference and learn the practical value of their skills. It increases engagement for both at-risk and gifted students. I also think coaches are rock stars! Thank you for the difference you make each day with your students. It takes heart, dedication, patience, and perseverance, You are the one they will always remember.

I prefer a resolution of debate issues in the round and speaking skills when I judge debate. Be organized. Use structure and roadmaps. Be clear when you speak -- enunciate.

In CX I fall under policy or stock issues when I am making decisions. At the end of the round when I sign my ballot, your plan is in action. That means that aff must have a developed plan in the round. Don't just read evidence in a round. Explain your arguments.

In LD, I am a traditional judge. You must have a value and criterion. You need a philosophy and philosopher in the round. Weigh the round in your speeches.

School Affiliation: Coach at The Episcopal School of Dallas

Coaching & Judging Experience: I have been coaching teams and judging tournaments since 2006. This includes LD, PF, Congress, CX and IEs at different schools in Virginia and Texas. I have had debaters qualify for NCFL and NSDA on multiple occasions which are both considered traditional tournaments.

Speed: Although I am personally not a fan of it, please make sure your spreading is clear and coherent. If I can't understand you, I probably will not flow it. If you see me stop flowing for an extended period of time then it would be in your best interest to slow down. I also heavily prefer if you go slow on your taglines, analytics and any theory arguments, especially during your rebuttals.

Types of Arguments: Although I prefer framework heavy debates, a lot of clash in the round, and good crystallization and overviews in your final rebuttal, I will still vote on topicality, counterplans, some theory arguments at times and kritiks if they are explained well by the debater. I am not a fan of non-topical Affs as I tend to favor whole resolution ACs. Make sure when you run T, that you are linking your violation to your standards/voting issues and that when you run a CP, you explain your net benefits and how it's competitive.

Theory Argument: If you run any disclosure theory or new affs bad arguments, make sure you thoroughly break down the reasons to prefer. Although I have never really been a fan of these types of arguments, I am willing to consider them if you can show the impacts of the abuse committed by your opponent and how this outweighs. Please make sure that whatever theory shells you plan on running are presented at a slower rate of speed.

Kritiks: Run at your own risk because I'm not really a fan of complicated philosophical arguments that have nothing to do with the actual resolution that should be debated upon. I'm not saying you can't win if you run them, but I might look at you funny and simply not flow the argument depending on the complexity of the K.

Speaks: Clarity over speed is prefered. If your spreading is incomprehensible, this will reflect on your speaker points. Any acts of rudeness or displays of an unprofessional demeanor towards your opponent will also be taken into account. If you go against an inexperienced debater or a traditional style opponent, it would be in your best interest to accommodate their format and invest some time clashing with or turning their value, criterion and contentions. Also, please do not ask me if I disclose speaker points. It's not going to happen. In addition, please do not use profanity at all during the round. It will impact your speaks and could also impact my decision so don't do it. Lastly, please refrain from attacking the character of any political figures or political parties as a whole. It's okay to discuss policies of the USFG but please avoid bashing politicians or parties that you may dislike as I consider that type of tactic in a debate to be very unprofessional and offensive. Debaters have lost my ballot over this in the past.

Tricks: Please don't.

Overview: Debate the resolution, clash with your opponent's arguments, provide framework, slow down during tags and analytics, throw in some voters at the end.

Email Chain: If and only if both debaters are sharing files, please include my email as well: kesslert@esdallas.org

Hi, I'm Aashik Khakoo, I'm a traditional judge but have had 30+ years public speaking experience.

I'd prefer to be on the email chain, but please do not spread.

Please speak like you are giving a Ted Talk

Also for 1AC in LD, I prefer you read only part of the cards highlighting bullet points of your cards, which will leave you time to create an analytical section to help persuade me rather than just reading your cards, which is what’s happened in the past. I’m happy to clarify this if needed before, starting the debate.

I prefer analytical debates over card dumping, and please line by line your opponents case.

Please send documents ahead of time - my email address is akhakoo2@gmail.com

Keep Cross efficient, and give short answers to all as many questions as possible.

I see debate as a performance, and prefer truth > tech

Please create clash in the round don't just extend your arguments

I will not tolerate speaking over each other, or any racist, sexist, homophobic etc, arguments

Aashik

My name is William Mathison. I'm the coach at Colleyville Heritage High School.

I'm the most familiar with PF and LD.

If you spread make sure to add me to your SpeechDrop or email chain. I can flow directly off of the doc but if I can't understand you while spreading, you'll lose speaker points.

Preferences

1 - CP/DA/Advantages

2 - T, Theory (the good kind)

BE ADVISED. RUNNING A K OR NON-T AFF WILL LIKELY RESULT IN BEING VOTED DOWN.

3 - Kritiks

4 - Non-T Affs, Tricks (if the opponent can't understand them, neither will I), Friv Theory, Performance/Identity K's, Spikes

Timing

10-15 second grace period at the end of the speech if you're in the middle of a sentence. Don't abuse this.

PLEASE USE STOPWATCHES. PLEASE LET ME KEEP TIME AND DO NOT INTERRUPT THE OTHER TEAM WITH AN ALARM OR TELLING ME THEY'RE OVER TIME.

Speaker Points:

30: Perfection

28-29: Great with some notes

26-27: Needs significant work

25: Offensive comments were made

Add me to your email chain! mathison.debate@gmail.com or add me on your speech drop.

Guyer HS '16-'20

UT Dallas '20-'24

Put me on the chain: hmubarak at me dot com

I did four years of policy debate in high school, and I currently debate for UTD. I've been the 2A, the 2N, and the ins at various points of my career, and I mostly ran policy arguments.

For the 2023-34 high school topic, I know almost nothing about it. I'd appreciate a little more explanation on the acronyms, background, and key concepts that structure these debates.

Some random thoughts below:

Don't be rude unless you want lower speaker points. In the case of blatant racism/sexism/etc., I'll only drop the team if the opponent makes an argument about it, but the bar is pretty low for me to do so.

You don't have to take prep to send out the email, but please be prompt about it.

Please keep track of your own prep. I will also keep track, but don't rely on me.

I'm not the greatest at flowing so if you're super fast I'd prefer if you went at like 90% of your top speed.

Cross-X is binding, and I'd prefer if one speaker from each team speaks at a time.

If you're reading a K, unless it's like Cap or Security or something, please don't assume I know your literature base. I almost certainly don't.

Have fun! This activity has meant a lot to me over the years, and I truly believe that it has strong educational potential. Argue, argue well, and argue with passion.

For LD/PF:

I'm a policy debater through and through, so adapt the way you normally would when you have a policy judge in the back. I don't know much about the norms of your formats, so the more you can make the debate resemble a policy round, the more comfortable I'll be. This doesn't mean you have to speak at a million miles an hour, but it does mean I'm less receptive to philosophy debates and 2 minute long theory shells.

Tristan Rios (they/them)

BTW looking for teams to coach, feel free to reach out via email

Email - Trisrios6955@gmail.com - plz put me on the email chain

for organizational reasons please make the subject of the email chain "Tournament - Round # - Aff team v Neg team" or something similar

who on hell is Tristan?

I am currently debating at UT Dallas (2022-Present), I have been debating for 6 years prior - 2 years at Lopez Middle school (2016-2018) , and 4 years at Ronald Reagan High school (2018-2022)

last year i was an assistant coach at Coppell as well as a coach for a few individual cx and ld teams

I have done it all, from occult horror storytelling to trans theory to baudrillard, to the all foreboding framework makes the gamework, the kids i coach also go for a very wide variety of arguments from exclusive k teams to policy fascists. Both me and the kids I coach have gotten bids and been to the toc. I state this not as a flex but more so to state that even though I may seem very k leaning (and I admit it is the literature i read the most in my freetime) but I have successfully coached and am aware of a wide variety of argumentative styles which means you will do best if you do you, dont try to adapt. if I think an argument is bad that doesn't mean i dont evaluate it, it just means i have a higher expectation for the other team to answer it well.

Non-negotiables

- misgendering

- trigger warnings

- anysort of interpersonal "-isms" that is done from debater to debater

General Thoughts/Preferences

• generic links are fine as long as they are contextualized to the aff
• I want to be on the email chain, but I am not going to “read-along” during constructives. I may reference particular cards during cross-ex if they are being discussed, and I will probably read cards that are important or being contested in the final rebuttals. But it’s the job of the debaters to explain, contextualize, and impact the warrants in any piece of evidence. I will always try to frame my decision based on the explanations on the flow (or lack thereof).
• I default to viewing every speech in the debate as a rhetorical artifact IF not told otherwise. Teams can generate clash over questions of an argument’s substance, its theoretical legitimacy, or its intrinsic philosophical or ideological commitments.
• I think spin control is extremely important in debate rounds and compelling explanations will certainly be rewarded. And while quantity and quality are also not exclusive I would definitely prefer less cards and more story in any given debate as the round progresses. I also like seeing the major issues in the debate compartmentalized and key arguments flagged.

Speaks

if u send blocks during the debate +0.3 speaks

if u open source + 0.1 speaks

Note for LD:

i know alot of tech judges have a strange amount of distaste for evaluating traditional debate, but dont worry about that with me, i will happily judge the round regardless of your stylistic preferences