Tabroom.com

Longhorn Classic at the University of Texas Austin

2016 — TX/US

CX Paradigm List

All Paradigms: Show Hide

Mohamed Abdelhady Katy Taylor High School 6 rounds

Last changed on Thu August 2, 2018 at 12:18 PM CDT

Katy Taylor 2012-2016

University of Houston 2020’

Conflicts: Katy Taylor

Last Updated: 8/2/2018

Tldr; You do you. I won't vote on anything I can't explain to the other team, meaning all arguments should be constructed out of a claim, warrant, and impact. I think that sets a reasonable standard for debaters to meet.

Yes email chain: momoak(dot)818(at)gmail(dot)com

General: Debate is a game, but that doesn't mean that the activity can't have some external value to it. That being said, I believe in disclosing all prior ideological biases I have before judging, and I’ll attempt to do so in this wiki. Ideological bias is inevitable in debate, however I’ll attempt to remain as neutral as possible when judging.

Generally, Tech >>> Truth.

What do you like to hear? – I’m open to any argument as long as it's not morally repugnant (racism good). My favorite debates to judge are ones with specificity. Specific well-thought out strategies will reflect in your perception and your speaker points. Let me be clear, I do no discourage reading “generic strategies”, when well executed those can be just as effective.

Don't let any preconceived notions of what arguments you think I like base your strategy in a debate. Doing whatever you're good at will result in the best outcome when I'm judging.

Specifics:

Topicality – T debates are about competing visions on the topic, and the 2nr + 2ar should compare which topic is better. This is best done through some weighing mechanism introduced by either side. Teams should implicate their version of the topic through some sort of case list. Standards should be more than vacuous terms like “limits”, “fairness”, and “predictability”. Absent a reason why those things are good and impact comparison for why they o/w whatever the other side is saying, it becomes hard to evaluate T debates.

Framework – Framework is a question of competing visions of debate. Affs should have some relationship to the topic, but that doesn't require they have plan. I'm relatively neutral in most framework debates, when deciding them 2 questions filter my decision: 1) What offense/impact calc has either side won? and 2) Does either team have an i/l to the other sides offense? Which ever team strikes the best balance of both usually wins the debate.

Terminal impacts are needed to win, just saying “destroys fairness” is vacuous and doesn’t explain why fairness is important. I am partial to fairness and argument testing impacts on the negative and pedagogy/inaccessibility arguments on the affirmative. Topical versions of the aff are great, I would appreciate if the block explicitly stated what the TVA is, instead of asserting there is one. I'm most receptive to state engagement arguments when they're explained as a heuristic individuals can use, and also appreciate it when state engagement arguments are contextualized to the topic/aff.

Critiques – Critique debate done well can be very enjoyable to judge, however the opposite is also true. K debates become frustrating to judge when I'm left with a bunch of different arguments but little interaction between them.

Neg things: I think there are several key components every winning K 2nr should have: 1) links that turn the case 2) An external impact 3) A well explained alternative/framework argument that resolves the links. I believe the framework debate is generally underutilized by the negative, usually those debates end up somewhere in the middle resulting in Aff getting to weigh its implementation. Persuasive link analysis should be contextualized to the method/plan of the aff and supported by quotes from 1AC evidence/references to moments in cx. There's a growing tendency of negative team's reading external impacts, but not explaining the internal links to those things. I think this can best be avoided by explaining the impact to the K in the context of your link arguments, that's the best way to guarantee argument clarity. I am familiar with a majority of critiques read. If you're reading something a bit obscure some explanation of the terminology used somewhere in the debate will be appreciated.

Aff things: Utilize the specificity of the 1AC to create distinctions between the aff and the neg's link scenarios. Offense >> Defense, I would much rather you impact turn the methodology/theoretical focus of the alternative than primarily tip toe around with weak defensive arguments. Permutations strategies are best executed when there's a clearly impacted net benefit that distinguishes it from the world of the alternative.

K Affs – I believe K affs should have some form of method that is clearly defined in the 1ac. The 2ac, 1ar, and 2ar should crystalize the method provided by the aff, then contextualize how it resolves your offense. This will help in comparing the method/offense of the aff vs the strategy of the negative. I believe teams should have some tie to the topic, but can be persuaded otherwise.

Negative teams should capitalize on holes in aff explanation, I am fully willing to vote negative on presumption if the negative has proven an insufficiency/contradiction within the aff.

Disadvantages – Read them, go for them, make sure they turn the case. The more specific the disadvantage the better. Impact and evidence comparison is great and you should do it. Specific link analysis is also appreciated. I enjoy when affirmative's find holes in the DA's scenarios and exploit them. 2ac's should have a good combination of offense and defense, otherwise it becomes easy for the negative to exploit deficiencies in 2ac coverage.

Counterplans – The more specific the better, well researched counter plans from affirmative evidence show the effort put into them, and will be rewarded with good speaker points if debated well. CP’s should probably have a solvency advocate, but won’t be counted as theoretically illegitimate unless debated out. Slow down on the CP text/planks. PIC’s are cool, but can be bad sometimes, again a debate to be had.

Case – A woefully under debated portion of rounds. An unmitigated risk of case makes try or die/outweighs claims extremely persuasive. Impact turns are also cool, and can be very nuanced.

Theory - Generally lean neg on condo, excluding something preposterous like 4-5+ conditional advocacies. I can be persuaded to vote affirmative in less extreme cases, when the aff is clearly out-teching the negative of nuanced abuse claims that have been impacted. Other theory issues I'm totally in the middle on, and can be persuaded by either side.

Speaker Point scale:

<27 - You did something super offensive or your speeches were incomprehensible.

27-28 - Your argument explanation was lacking, and you need to improve on a technical level (speech organization, line by line, etc.).

28.1-28.5 - Average speaks, can improve clarity and argument application.

28.6-28.9 - Good, can improve word efficiency, minor speech/clarity issues, and argument contextualization.

29-29.9 - Great, efficient + well contextualized speeches, You were very enjoyable to judge

Cole Allen Caddo Magnet HS 5 rounds

Last changed on Sat March 16, 2019 at 9:24 AM CDT

Hello fellow debate enthusiasts, you probably don't have a lot of time to read this, so I'll get straight to the point. I debated four years of CX debate at Caddo Magnet High in Shreveport, Louisiana (which really means I debated in Texas). I participated in the Harvard Round Robin and got a bid by getting to quarters of Harvard my senior year (2014-2015). I work at the UTNIF Debate camp held at UT Austin during the summer. I am currently in my senior year of college at Louisiana Tech University, where I am majoring in chemistry. As for gender, I am non-binary, specifically agender. Any pronouns are fine with me and you may take your pick of Cole or Juliet.

If you came here to see if you could run your weird and unique argument, the answer is yes, specifically I am fine with any word PIC ("the" PIC included) conditionality theory (my favorite), and many many other weird/sketchy K (and policy) arguments.

Short Version
I have debated everything from politics to the craziest K. I was a 2N for 3 years. Freshman year and sophomore year politics was my jam. Junior year anthro was my jam. Senior year as a 2A, Nietzsche Chaos aff I cut was my jam. Long story short, you do you, and I will do me. I am a tabula rasa- blank slate- I will do my best to only vote on things said in the round. All arguments are still arguments so at least answer them. I WILL VOTE ON ANYTHING.

Long Version

Top Level:
Tabula rasa- anything goes (within reason), debate is a game so play it, tech over truth (in most cases- you wont win that the sky is red or the ocean is orange, but you may win a link if the other team allows you to frame/explain their arguments in such a way that you get the link, even if it is just not true). Clarity over speed. Differentiate between tags and the body of the card. Signpost effectively because a happy judge means more speaker points. NEVER be rude to your opponents or your speaker points will get nuked (especially if you attempt to argue offensive arguments such as sexism or racism good). Keep everything professional and be sportsmanlike. Open C-X is cool as long as one partner doesn't dominate. For paperless, I don't count flashing as prep, but be reasonable and don't steal prep. Stick to the line-by-line instead of huge overviews for better clash. I'll try to keep my biases to a minimum and will basically evaluate the round as I am told (policymaker, academic, etc.). ALSO, bonus speaker points if you make funny references (or references to some of my favorite shows- i.e. Steven Universe, South Park, Adventure Time, Rick and Morty). A little humor never hurt anyone, but don't be disrespectful.

Case:
I love a good case debate with lots of clash. I think case is undervalued a lot these days and usually is underdeveloped. A hugely mitigated case can win you the round. I'm okay with generic impact defense and internal-link take-outs, but never forget analytics. Always point out logical fallacies or exaggerations made by the opponent. Not just for case either; this can apply to other off-case arguments, too.

Disads:
I love disads, but the internal link is where most disads fall apart. True links and true impacts are better than probable (or really, improbable) impacts, but the truth of anything is up for debate, as it should be. Always answer turns the case argument, because they can be damning. Bonus points for case-specific disads.

Counterplans:
Counterplans are awesome, but I'm willing to give the aff some leeway on theory for abusive counterplans like word PICs and process counterplans. On severance and intrinsic perms, I default to rejecting the argument and not the team (if theory is brought up). Again, case-specificity is amazing and will impress me.

Kritiks:
I can follow most critiques pretty well. That being said, don't expect me to do alt work for you. Alt work is the most important thing. Do all your tricky tricky K tricks but explain and impact them. K affs are fine too, but get ready for them framework debates. Please do not mispronounce your author the K is based around (Nietzsche for one).

Theory/Topicality:
Don't be blippy on theory. Slow down. If you don't, I can't flow and that means I may miss a crucial argument. You will get an extra speaker point for actually understanding theory and not reading blocks, but engaging in the warrants of education, fairness, predictability args, etc. RVI's are probably a waste of time. Potential abuse is a voter because its about competing visions of debate, but in-round abuse is also pretty persuasive. Don't just say reasonability - I don't know what it means to be reasonable.

Performance:
I haven't seen much performative debate, but as long as you follow relatively the same guidelines as for everything else (well-warranted explanations and lots of clash) there won't be any problems.

Obviously, I probably forgot something, so if this doesn't answer your questions, you can always ask me during the round :)

Rey Andrade Judson High School 6 rounds

Arvind Ashok Round Rock 6 rounds

Eli Barrish Hire 6 rounds

Noah Barshop Cedar Ridge High School 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat January 6, 2024 at 6:38 AM EDT

Exp: I debated for four years at Winston Churchill High School in San Antonio, Texas between 2008-2012. I went to camps at UTNIF and GDI. And I've been judging since 2012. Needless to say policy debate and I go way back.

Overview: While I ended my debate career on the left side of argumentation, experimenting with form and critical theory, I would still bust out a strategic cp/D/A where strategy required. At this juncture I enjoy a great policy-oriented debate as much as I enjoy a well argued critical position. If your coach or buddy says they knew how I debated and high school and that you should do 'X' in front of me, disregard them. Be you. Do what you do best. Read the arguments you like to read, just take strategy into consideration.

How I Judge: I default to an offense/defense paradigm, regardless of whether critical or traditional arguments are being read. Given the nuanced uniqueness of the activity - that the rules can be debated while debating - I think it is important for debaters to establish their interpretations of what is acceptable through T, Theory, and Framework where it is applicable. It is on you to tell me how I should see the round, how I should evaluate the arguments within it and how I should vote. It's also on you to tell me what type of calculus to use when I vote (impact weighing, f/w, theory, etc). Should I be a utilitarian or should I look at the round in another way? What is the role of my ballot? Should an argument deemed theoretically objectionable in round be rejected or should the team that read it be voted down? You tell me.

Etiquette: Whether you think policy debate is a fun place to role play and prep for college or you think it is a revolutionary ground for X movement, above all this activity is two things: a student activity and an educational activity. As students, you are expected to interact on the spectrum between not rude and cordial. I understand that arguments can get heated, particularly those that a debater might have a personal connection with. Don't be afraid to express what you need to express and say what you need to say, but be mindful that stark disrespect and gratuitous foul language don't float in my boat. Be competitive, be authentic. As long as you are mindful of the line between competition and flat out aggression in terms of how you carry yourself, all should be well in my book.

Tech Considerations: Paperless debates tend to give me 1,001 headaches as a judge. A lack of proficiency amongst students causes rounds to drag on and reflects a lack of preparation. Ballpark estimate, I think 75% of you are bad at doing this in an efficient and effective manner. Don't be a statistic! Prep time ends when the flash drive is out or when the speech doc is sent.

I'm open to answering any specific questions pre-round.

Jacob Bell Midway High School 3 rounds

Barrett Blaker Hire 6 rounds

Rikki Bleiweiss Hire

Last changed on Thu April 25, 2019 at 6:40 PM CDT

Former debater at the University of Texas at Austin, former debater at The Kinkaid School

updated - april 2019

- I'm revising this to be less about how I feel about arguments and preferences and more about the general trend of the decisions that I make and how I make them. So what's below is about the general trend – not absolutes on how I evaluate arguments. It's how I typically think, and not universally applicable to every round – so if there's an argument the round that tells me to evaluate otherwise, I will.

Some things to know:

- Be good to each other

- Please don't read into my facial expressions too much. Something you said may be reminding me of something else which made me remember this other thing, etc. I'm not trying to cue you or give you secret clues – I don't want to control/influence/intervene/otherwise make the debate about me and not you.

- Controlling big picture questions of the debate is almost always more important than tech minutia. In other words, dropped arguments are true arguments, but not always important arguments. Identify which issues matter the most and invest your time there. Tech can certainly influence key issues, but rarely replaces them.

- Arguments don't "count" unless they have a claim, warrant, and impact. I typically don't call for evidence to decipher an argument that was under-explained, either. If you're asserting something without any warrant/explanation/impact, there's a good chance it won't matter a great deal to my RFD.

- I find myself usually filtering rounds by starting at the impact level and working backwards. What's the greatest harm, followed by who has the best chance at stopping it. I've noticed I use this frame /regardless of argument type/ - so take this into account even with T, Theory, and Framework debates.

some contextualization:

Theory - I think about theory debates much the same way I think about disads: there must be a clear link, internal link, and impact. Impacts should be weighed (does education outweigh advocacy skills or vice versa?) and internal links should be challenged. A pet peeve of mine is when debaters claim that minor theory arguments are a reason to reject the team - if you want to win this is true, you need to articulate a reason why the impact to your theory argument rises to that level.

-Framework/clash of civs debates – The questions I typically ask myself are: What's the worst thing that can happen to debate (/in debates)? Whose interpretation best prevents this? Prior questions like this – aka taking a stance on what is debate for – guide how I identify whose interpretation is best for debate.

In the interest of transparency: if you read a framework violation that relies solely on procedural fairness as the impact or collapses to only this impact, my track record leans not in your favor. To make this argument successful in front of me, you need to win the impact level – win why fairness matters most. Absent debating it out, relying on "because procedural fairness" full stop doesn't feel super different than "T is jurisdictional" full stop. For every version of framework: don't cede the impact debate. Tell me what debate should give us or what debate should be for us and why, and then why your interpretation promotes that.

Topicality, same vein, should also be about why your interpretation is best for debate and best for the topic. Impact out and weigh the standards of your interpretation against the counter-interpretation.

Counterplans - I appreciate creativity and I also appreciate really good theory debaters. Take the time to make the difference between the aff and the counter-plan clear and feel meaningful, and make sure your theory blocks don't feel like a wall of text thrown at me.

-Disad/case debates - I know I've ranted a lot about impacts mattering, but I also think I have a slightly above average tendency to be willing to say 0% risk. Try or Die framing / 1% risk is not compelling to me if a team has won defense to your impact - you only win in that scenario in front of me if you're the only one trying to extend an impact at all.

Also - I don't "weigh" case per se in framework debates, but I /do/ think the arguments pulled from the 1AC to answer framework are still relevant. I assume "don't weigh the plan" is a different argument than ignore the speech. If you win that my evaluation should shift to who's model of debate is best, and not a yes/no on the advocacy from the 1AC, the 1AC speech still had arguments that the 2A has applied to framework and that I'm assuming you'll answer or say why your stuff outweighs.

Kritiks - All my prior discussion matters here – what is the bad thing and how do you stop it. Or, not do it/ subvert it/ etc. I care about the thesis level here, a lot. Winning a sweeping K claim can control a lot of the round for me and color how I read every argument, and often make tech nuances fall into place depending on the debate. Losing the thesis level will complicate whether or not I think you can extrapolate that thesis into specific links/impacts. When I consider impacts, I'll also usually think about the "level" they happen on – are they about things happening in the round, who we learn to be, big picture political concerns, etc. So know that debating out which of these types of impact matters most is a big component of how I decide ... whose impact.... matter most... That's usually how I interpret the relevancy of framework debates, too. I don't find myself voting on "they shouldn't get Ks"-type arguments often, and I regularly feel too much time is invested here for no reward. The better time investment here for me is on why your framework arguments make your "level" of debate the important one. If you didn't just skip to the K section, you'll recognize this is basically my same spiel on arguments needing impacts relevant to the round.

One more K affs note – I'm not sitting on some secret arbitrary interpretation or bright line of what affs I think are kosher. The sections above on how I resolve debates also impact how I interpret your aff. I'm always looking for what is the worst thing and how do you solve it. I need clarity on that story.

Ask me questions.

You put in a lot of time and energy and care for this activity – I want to respect that.

Kanan Boor Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Wed September 14, 2016 at 2:52 PM CDT

Kanan Boor

Debated 4 years in Kansas and 4 years at Baylor University.

Do you want on the email chain? Yes, but please send me a compiled doc of all cards that were actually read with marks at the end of the debate. My email is kboor1@gmail.com

Do what you do best. I debated multiple styles of debate and think that all have their advantages. I like to think that I'm not too ideological and will vote for almost any argument.

T/Framework: I didn't read a plan for my last 2 years of debate, but that doesn't mean I think framework/T is an absolute evil that should be rejected. I've always thought that education is the controlling impact in these debates, though I have heard teams persuasively wreck teams on fairness outweighs everything. The topic matters, but how it should be interpreted is up for debate. I find that most teams don't ever impact out their arguments which makes judging these debates extremely frustrating. 30-45 seconds of why the impact you are going for turns and outweighs the other will do a tremendous amount for you.

Disclaimer: I know that I am in the minority on this issue, but I think "we couldn't test the aff so you should presume it is false and vote neg on presumption" is the least persuasive framework argument.

Neg: caselists are great. debate the case to take out the aff's offense and/or their ability to solve it. T version of the aff helps a bunch, but sometimes there really isn't one so the limits DA becomes more important.

Aff: you need a strategic CI that allows you to hedge back against limits. I don't think that it is an aff burden to tell the neg what arguments they could have read, but it does help to do so.

Disads: I love them. Politics disads are often awesome, depending on the weekend. There is such a thing as zero risk of a link. Smart analytics can beat 30 cards on a bad disad.

Counterplans: I tend to lean neg on theory questions with the exception being consult CPs, although an actual solvency advocate in the context of the topic will help a lot.

Kritiks: links to the plan are the best, but are not the only way to generate a link. Winning that the neg doesn't get to read a kritik is an uphill battle that I wouldnt encourage the aff to fight, but I do tend to think that the aff should get to weigh the plan, although that is obviously up for debate. The neg always benefits from pulling specific lines from aff evidence to situate their argument. A well explained alternative is better than the 6th link you want to explain or the 3rd framework card you want to read.

Do more evidence comparison. It's important and a lost art.

MarthaClaire Booth Airline High School 6 rounds

Cameron Brewer Moore High School 6 rounds

Shae Bunas Heritage Hall School 6 rounds

Shae Bunas
Debated @ Oklahoma for 4 years.

Currently an Assistant Coach @ UCO.

Big Picture

In general, I don't have much of a preference for what people read in front of me. Despite having debated critiques throughout college I enjoy CP/DA/T debates and hope teams will be willing to read those arguments if they are more prepared to do so. Whatever strategy you choose, the more specific the strategy the better.

Specific arguments

Topicality: Generic T arguments don't get very far in front of me unless they are based in the literature and the negative can prove that the loss of core (generic) ground outweighs the affs education claims (e.g., why is the politics da/other generic da more important than the aff's particular education). If the aff doesn't read any offense they will very likely lose the debate.

Framework: Absent a T component it's not a reason to reject the aff. I have yet to hear a good reason why policy education is the only predictable education.

Disads: 'DA turns the case' is pretty important. I could be persuaded of 'no risk of the da' but it's unlikely.

CPs: Well-researched PICs are enjoyable and I encourage you to read them. I tend to lean negative on theory but aff on questions of competition. Textual/functional competition is up for debate.

Critiques: In my experience, alternatives are under-debated. The aff needs offense against the alt and the neg needs a specific explanation of how the alt solves the case. Impact framing is important: don't stop at 'utilitarianism is key' or 'ethics first'. Tell me why you should still win even if you lose the impact framing debate (e.g., 'even if the neg wins that ethics comes first you will still vote aff because....'). Absent specific link analysis the permutation is pretty compelling. When deciding between reading the K you always go for and are comfortable with versus reading the K's you know that I read you should default to the K's that you are comfortable with. Don't read a huge-ass overview in the block, put it on the line-by-line.

Theory: Reading blippy blocks is a non-starter as are cheap shots. Just like every other issue in debate it needs to be well-developed before I will consider it. Conditionality is probably ok as long as the neg isn't reading contradictory positions.

Evidence: I prefer a handful of quality cards that are debated well over a stack of shitty cards that are read as fast as possible. As such, I'm persuaded by smart analytical arguments that point out the contrived nature of the case advantage/da/cp/k/whatever. You won't convince me that a card cut from a blog should be rejected if it has a warrant in it. I evaluate arguments, not qualifications with T debates being the exception to the rule: literature-based definitions hold more water than the definition given by merriam-webster or some other dictionary.

Paperless: Clock stops when the jumping team pulls the flash drive out of their computer.

Bruce Chang Gu Midway High School 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat January 5, 2019 at 6:46 AM EDT

Bruce Chang-Gu. he/him

Former Policy debater for Midway High School (2012-2016). I debated on the UIL, TFA, NDCA/TOC circuit.

Current UT student and no I don’t debate for UT.

(ive been lazy about uploading my paradigm and im srry).

Paradigm:

What does tabula rasa mean anymore?

I find myself defaulting to policymaker when judging most rounds – however this is more out of simplicity due to the tournaments I find myself judging.

Also – the burden of proof is on the person making the argument.

Here’s generally how I evaluate arguments:

Framework/T-USFG

I haven’t judged many framework debates but I have debated against FW plenty of times. Often times I find myself erring towards reasonability when I judge these debates. However, I will vote negative if the team convinces me the AFF is uniquely bad for the activity and why their model for debate is bad.

I will enter the round with the role as a hired tournament judge unless convinced otherwise.

Often times K debaters spend a lot of time doing impact and link work but never giving explanations on the alt-world. It is okay for kritiks to not have an “alt” however I do not like voting for vague alts or poorly explained “world after the alt” explanations.

(FW I still tend to err to reasonability however I FW on the kritik is important for telling me how I should evaluate the kritik).

T vs Plans.

Do it. I have a similar view as I have towards FW – the negative has to extend an actual reason as to why the AFF is bad for the activity into the 2NR. Basically, T's are a DA – you have to extend an impact to why the other team’s interp is bad for me to actually vote for T.

Also T isn’t an RVI.

DA/CPs/On-case

Yes.

Affs

Since the 1AC is the first speech, I find myself to be fine with any aff whether its reject the topic/policy/middle of the road/etc. However please be patient with me if it is a performative style affirmative – I do not have much experience in judging these rounds.

Theory

Theory is a reason to reject the argument unless told otherwise.

Misc

I’m fine with open CX and prompting. I like confident and nice debaters who make smart arguments both in CX and in their speeches.

Don’t steal prep! I hate this sosososo much and will dock speaker points.

Speaking wise, please don’t go full speed in the technical portion of theory/fw/T debates. Otherwise I should be fine.

Sarah Cheung Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Mon July 17, 2017 at 7:30 AM EDT

Yes, I would like to be on the email chain: sarahcheung129@gmail.com

Also ok to email me questions

This is my third year debating in college, two years for JMU (D7) and now for Texas (D3). I started with policy and slowly leaned more towards Kritiks in the last two years but don't let that change your strat. You're more likely to do well if you do what you're good at instead of what you think I'll like. Also feel free to ask me any questios before the round if any of this is unclear.

That being said I have opinions

Args:

Kritiks: Love them. Generally would expect an alt. I'm less familiar with French/German high theory bullshit so if that's your game explain it clearly to me. I go with your articulation of the argument you're reading instead of my idea of what your argument is.

T: sure. Don't forget your impacts, people do that a lot.

DA: Love a good DA. I will vote on a PTX DA but I will not enjoy it

CP: I love good CPs, make sure there's a NB

Theory: I'm willing to vote on it. But don't spread your theory blocks and don't forget your impacts.

Performance: Yes but explain the argumentative importance of the performance, don't just do it for its own sake. Also if your performance involves violence I will likely vote you down. I have had someone pretend to throw a backpack at me to get me to flinch during a round and that's just unnecessarily triggering so don't do it.

Other things:

Flashing/emailing is not prep unless you abuse it.

Speed: it is unlikely that you'll be too fast for me to flow if you're clear. I understand teams that want to spread to get more evidence in but I won't reward speaker points just because you're fast.

Sass: sure

Politeness: Yes. You should be polite to the other team especially if they're inexperienced. You should not forget to be a decent person just because you're debating.

CX: Many people might disagree with me on this but I think CX is ultimately a time to ask questions, not to intimidate the other team. Don't be embarassed if you are unfamiliar with your opponents argument and spend all 3 minutes asking verification questions. Understanding the other team's argument is critical to engage with it which is what makes a good debate.

Accessibility: If there are any reasons why you need accomodation from my end I am happy to oblige. You can talk to me before the round or email me.

If you exhibit explicitly racist/homophobic/transphobic/sexist/ableist or otherwise discriminatory behavior in-round I will likely vote you down. If you say a slur in-round that you cannot reclaim I will give you 0 speaks.

Cindy Chiev Winston Churchill HS 6 rounds

Last changed on Mon December 5, 2016 at 6:48 AM CDT

High School: Jefferson High School in Bloomington, Minnesota '16
College: Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas '20
I worked at the Minnesota Debate and Advocacy Workshop during the summer of 2016 and I judged at local San Antonio high school tournaments so I know the topic fairly well but don't expect me to be an expert about it.
Updated: November 30, 2016

A little about me:

I spent the first half of my high school career running "policy args" but the later half of high school I switched over to performance/identity args. I'm more comfortable with ID args but that doesn't mean I won't listen to traditional things.
That being said, I really don't think judges should have a bias about what they're willing to listen to. I spent a lot of time in high school dealing with judges who automatically knew they were going to vote me down because of the 1AC. I think that's extremely unproductive and harmful to this activity. Just do you and have fun!
I perfer analysis over just a bunch of card reading especially after the 2NC. I think it's a waste of time for you to keep reading new evidence when it pretty much says the same stuff as the last 5 cards you read. I want to know why I should care about the args in your own words. I think debate is an activity to enhance your critical thinking skills and you don't really do that if you just choose to read card after card.
Clash is a must. I want there to be a lot of interaction between your args and the other teams. Blocks are good, but you need to make them specific to different rounds. I don't want to hear generic blocks that you just copy and paste from your files.
I don't appreciate teams who are rude to the other team or their own partners. This includes: belittlement of each other, racist/sexist/transphobic/queerphobic language and behaviors, misgendering, nonverbals, and laughing during speeches. Your speaks will suffer if you do this. Honestly, just be nice to each other. We're all here to have a good time.
2NR and 2AR--> don't be too defensive! Have offense!
Add me to the email chains: cindy.chiev@gmail.com
Something that I didn't answer? Ask me before the round! I want us all to have fun so be respectful to each other and me and we'll be good. I look mean but I'm really a nice person!
Bonus speaks for anyone who can guess what my favorite Lil Yachty song is

CP: Make sure you know how it's competitive with the aff.

DA: Specific links on what the aff does that triggers your impacts- I'm not saying to just do generic links you have in your files but look inside the aff and pull lines from the 1AC. Those make stronger args. Evidence comparison is good!!

T/FW: Make sure you emphasize why your interp is better for debate. Don't drop the other team's interp too! Fairness is my least favorite voter. T-version of the aff that solves the impacts of the aff's 1AC is needed for you to win FW. T/FW is def important args that shouldn't be brushed off.

K's: I like K debates but don't assume I know everything about the K. Just like DA's, specific links from the 1AC will help you a lot. Don't just say "they use the state, that's a link". If you're going to run a K, make sure it's either with just the K or with case. Other offcases like a cp or da makes performative contradiction an arg that I will most likely vote on.

Theory: Interesting arg but if you want to actually go for it you need to go ham on it in the 2NR. Like, all 5 minutes.

K Affs: Love these! Make sure your aff actually does something though. I appreciate really thought out methodologies. Your aff also needs to have some sort of relationship to the topic.

Amrut Chowdhury Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Tue September 13, 2016 at 5:20 AM CDT

I debated for 5 years at Texas (Fall 2011 - Spring 2016 ). Now I am pursuing my MA in Comm at Baylor and coaching for them.

tl;dr

I'm flowing on paper, slow down for theory or framework interps, argument transitions etc.
Don't be mean to your parter or the other team. Obviously debates can get tense but if things get unreasonable I will intervene and if you don't trust me with that brightline don't pref me.
Defend what you do, or what you think debate should do
I place a good deal of weight on evidence quality, but only if they've been adequately explained

Specifics

I think debate is an activity that provides a lot of different skills and different educational opportunities, and because of this I try not to have my preferences for what debate should be override how I judge debates. I prefer affs that engage the resolution either directly or through creative interpretations, but affs that criticize the resolution externally are fine as long as you defend the choice. Similarly, I prefer line by line, but if you want to forward arguments about a more wholistic form of argument evaluation make sure you start this early in the debate and defend it sufficiently.

A lot of how I view debate was formed by JV Reed, so i'm going to quote parts of his judge philosophy that resonate with me at length:

Many Aff advantages and many more Neg disadvantages and kritiks are so poorly constructed, with so many missing internal links that they hardly warrant a response by the opposing team. This requires an attention to internal links, source quality, and also the depth of the warrant cited by a given piece of evidence ... I want to be clear about the preferences I have: I do not have a preference for K over policy or vice-versa. I do have a preference for debates where the debaters are working hard to make the most of their evidence. The teams I enjoy judging the most, whether K or Policy, will demonstrate in debates that their knowledge of the [subject] is substantial, and will make “cutting to the chase” their primary argument resolution tactic.
DA's - it is possible for there to be no risk of a disad. it is possible for you to win uniqueness decisively and there still be no risk of a link. link debates are very important to me. quality of link evidence, qualification of link authors etc is something to be considered. ... disads are little machines with lots of moving parts that all need to be considered in isolation, but also in concert. it is therefore better for you to talk to me in terms of the relationship between the risk of the link and the risk of the impact rather than treating these issues as completely discrete.
K's - K's need a specific link. K's need examples. K's usually need better application/explanation of evidence more than they need more evidence. I prefer Ks that include a link to the plan. That does not mean that I don't think that reps Ks are illegit, but I do think that reps k's are more persuasive when the impact is explained in relation to the goals of the aff. and the intended projected consequences of the plan. Think "turns solvency" arguments here ... I am more interested in how a given mode of understanding/ideology implicates implementation of the plan, than I am in simplistic root cause (and therefore "turns case") allegations.

This last section is particularly important to me, whether you are debating a plan or an advocacy, make sure that your argument engages the process of the affs mechanism in some capacity.

I don't have any particularly nuanced views about counterplans, and to be honest I doubt I will judge many debates where that becomes relevant. The maxim justify what you do is relevant to every theory/T/Framework debate I evaluate.

Speaker point scale:

29 - 30: Deserves to be in late elims. Has engaged the other teams arguments thoroughly, made strategic choices, and spoken extremly clearly

28.6 - 29: Deserves to clear. Has made strategic choices and spoken relatively clearly

28.0-28.5: On the verge of clearing. Needs more strategic awareness and probably needs more clarity.

27.5 - 28.0: Needs to work on clarity and overall flowability. May have dropped key arguments

27.3 - 27.5: Needs to work on clarity and overall flowability, Needs to work on filling speech time

25.0 - 27.2: Was emotionally abusive to their partners or other participants in the debate.

Kevin Clarke Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat April 1, 2023 at 1:21 AM UTC

Do what you do best and I will make a decision afterwards

————-

How RyanMalone makes decisions

I hope Whitehead is right, that even dimwits can make good decisions if they follow an appropriate procedure. It’s only fair then for me to give a general sense of how I make decisions, with as few platitudes as possible, though most of them still apply.

1. After the 2ar I review 2nr and 2ar arguments and their comportment with the block and 1ar. Unless there are arguments about how I should or should not flow, I appreciate when debaters are attentive to line-by-line, but I understand that strategy sometimes calls one to deviate from it. When that occurs, I am less likely to line up arguments in the same way as you may want me to.

2. While doing that I clarify shorthand and mark out errata and things that aren’t arguments. There is a difference between arguments and nascent things that purport to be arguments. We don’t need to talk about Toulmin; an argument is really anything that could inform a decision. This may seem arbitrary or kind of like question-begging, but I don’t think it’s capricious. I don’t do this because I have some ultra-strenuous “not buying it” threshold for what constitutes an argument. My concern is that there is a temptation to embellish not-quite-arguments, especially those that, if they had been full arguments, would be compelling, strategic, or make for an easy decision. Assessing, at the outset, what all on the flow are reasonably arguments is a way to ward off that temptation.

3. I then look to arguments the 2nr and 2ar say are the most important and other arguments that appear central to the debate or that may supplant opposing lines of reasoning. The last part may seem to imply a premium on the meta, but rarely are debates leveraged on Archimedean points.

4. If necessary, I read evidence. I don’t follow along in speech docs or look at speeches in more than a cursory way prior to the end of the debate, with perhaps the exception of interpretations and counterplan texts. I will read a piece of evidence if there is contestation about its quality, applicability, or illocution, if I am asked to compare two pieces of evidence or a piece of evidence and a countervailing explanation, or if some argument is dense and, despite good explanation, I’m just not following. My concern is that the more evidence a judge reads without specific reason, the more they reward good evidence read sloppily over clear, persuasive argumentation and are at risk of reconstructing the debate along those lines.

5. I hash out the above (it’s hard to adumbrate this process in a way that’s not super vague) and I get something resembling a decision. I run through a few even-if scenarios: what, if any, central arguments the losing team could have won, but still lose the debate, and what arguments the winning team would have had to lose or the losing team would have had to win for the losing team to win the debate. Finally, I review the flow again to make sure my decision is firmly based in the 2nr and 2ar and that there is nothing I’ve missed.

Note on Framework

Framework debates are better when both teams have some defense, in addition to offense.

Even if fairness is intrinsically value, by which I mean fairness is valuable regardless of relation, I’m unsure how valuable procedural fairness is, in and of itself. Because of that fairness arguments make more sense to me as internal links rather than impacts.

Similarly, impact turns to fairness are more persuasive when they are about the purported use of fairness as an impartial rule. Phrased differently, in explaining the way structural fairness informs procedural fairness as a difference in fairness-in-rule and fairness-in-practice, it may be worth thinking about fairness as the practice of appealing to rules.

Topical versions are under-utilized.

Things that do not concern how I usually make decisions

Some of the above is assiduously believed, but weakly held, however, the following points are immutable: I will comply with any tournament rules regarding speech and decision times, speaker points, etc. Any request not to be recorded or videotaped should be honored. If proven, clipping, cross-reading, or deceitfully manufacturing or altering evidence will result in a loss and zero speaker points. Unlike wit, sass, and tasteful self-effacement, bald-faced meanness will negatively affect speaker points.

My rfds are brief, which I’m working on. This reason for this is twofold. First, most of what I write down concerns how I make my decision, not how I intend to give it. Second, I don’t presume to act, even temporarily, as something like an arguments coach, nor as someone who can adroitly explain or find fault in an opposing team’s arguments. The last thing I want to do is say something that would lead you astray. At this point in my time judging I’m really just trying to be a good heuristic machine—anything more is just gravy. Obviously, to the degree to which I have insight I will give suggestions, clarifications, or share in your befuddlement.

Please feel free to email me if you have questions or concerns.

Kris Colen Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Wed November 29, 2017 at 7:35 PM UTC

Debate History

1 - Nevada Union (2009-2014)

2 - Weber U (2014-2015)

3 - UCO (2015-Present)

Round judged on Education topic: 4

Currently coaching Cabot

Helloooo! It is nice to see humbleness and kindness. I find it to be more important relative to debating because you might find yourself as far as a across the country from the person your debating, or in your dorm when you get to college. Just be nice, play friendly, but don't let that deter you from establishing the arg in a manner you usually do. Just don't be uncomfy.

Short Version:

To be honest, I think I could consider myself "flexible" in most regards. I think the best example of this is my ability to go for a Domestic PIC in one debate against Texas and then "T-Domestic" against the same team when they took it out against me 3 months later. So I think your 2NR on any argument will be okay.

I've been debating for a second now, but don't believe that I will be able to handle your queer deleuzian k of semiotic wounded attachments. I'm gonna need you to explain that one to me. Put simply: Just because I go for it doesn't mean I'm going to get your argument. I don't think about these arguments like a lot of debaters do, and a lot of my mentors aren't debaters. So there will for sure be disconnects. I think part of being that debater is being held to the standard of applying your argument, but that is generally true for all arguments. For example - "diseases cause extinction" is no more of an extension than "The subject is interpolated into a pretextual paradigm of discourse that includes consciousness as a paradox" (Literally taken from the post modern generator).

Condense the 2NR, and frame the debate by the end of it. Same for the 2AR, but tell me what I need to do, why I should do it, and what the impact to that reason is.

Just have fun, remember what an argument is, and make funny references that are clever.

Long Version - More about argumentative preferences.

First and foremost: anyone who tells you they're tabula rasa is lying almost as much as my coaches do when they say I'm good at debate. No one is tabula rasa. We were all predisposed in one way or another. Can we control that? No, because if we could the concept of "accountability" would be a wild one to think about. So, my job is to ensure that you know what ways my conscious, subconscious, and unconscious might lead when thinking about the debate.

Case - I actually have a lot of these, but I will be honest. I am the rare few that doesn't like a huge case debate. I think it is nice to have a separate flow to evaluate. Like, if it is a case debate against an aff without a plan. then hell yeah, I could go with that. If it is like a one off, 3 card cap K, and 7 minutes of case against an aff with a plan, then I might be thinking this is going to be interesting. Not because I dislike the nature of those debates, but so many people end up just reguritating the taglines that it ends up being 13 minutes of blips or card reading instead of comparative claims. I think so many of you are so so smart and super talented. In fact, I think probably all of you are, but I don't think you show it when you do this, and I just want you to give that 2NC, let the timer go off, and feel like Mr. Hotspot did when he first ate rap snacks with the migos on the front.

T - I love a good topicality debate. I probably think that I shouldn't be the person deciding what's reasonable on the topic. I don't have a good track record, but I mean I need you to tell me why I shouldn't. If not, looks like some random aff on education about a specific military project in India is going to be topical. I don't wanna do it, but ya made me, and I'm telling you not to make me when we cross that bridge. I think my fav T strategy is a Small TVA, Huge Limits DA, and a heavy impact comparison.

DA/CP - do it, don't go for the case if it solves 100% of the aff. Just win that it solves the aff with a tie breaker. I think comparative UQ claims about the NB are good ways to justify any impact to the DA to or for a solvency deficit to the CP.

K - Most of this is above. I'll understand your argument, but I will not just let you throw buzzwords at me. I think the link needs context. I think it should quote their evidence. I think that the link should then explain the context based internal link to their impact argument. For instance - education policy results in militarism should be explained as why the research in this debate on education policy can inform the research algorithms we take from the debate to inform later research which materializes our ideological relationship to X event.

FW - I think there are some instances where they get to weigh the aff. I think it is REALLY easy to make the argument that the aff's internal link claims have some remote relation to the way we teach people about policy (it's literally the education topic - if your aff isn't already making a research argument, we should talk). TVA is less convincing that SSD and a limita DA - I think TVA is a CP in most instances. I think fw debaters tend to be kind of lazy when going for it, and I'm going to actively refuse those 2NRs.

Overall, just do you. I'm here for two hours, want to help you learn, and to be honest, I'm actually super excited to see all of you debate. You all are awesome, talented, and your coaches stick around because of that. Just enjoy each other, and thank you for letting me sit in the back!

Alden Conner Lindale 6 rounds

Sam Cook Athens High School 6 rounds

Last changed on Tue September 11, 2018 at 4:26 PM EDT

Cook, Samuel

Prep Version [MUST READ]

1. You can do whatever you like (strategically speaking) with three exceptions:

A. Do not read generic spec arguments.

B. Do not read condo bad v. one conditional advocacy.

C. Do not spray-and-pray MG or LO theory with a series of incoherent standard cross-applications and collapse to one that is under-covered in the MO/PMR.

2. I will not do work for you and I default to a very technical evaluation of the flow (i.e. if you do not extend an aff impact in the MG, I will not allow you to shadow extend it in the PMR, and the same goes for the LOC/MO/LOR). I use consequentialism as a method for evaluating the aff versus the status quo or a competitive policy option to determine if the hypothetical implementation of a plan is net-positive or not.

These are defaults, meaning they are subject to change pending the introduction of an alternative theoretical framework that attempts to persuade me to view the debate differently.

4. Framework matters - I will evaluate this first to determine how I should view every subsequent argument.

5. Do not choose a critical strategy - or any strategy - based on what you think I want to hear. Choose a strategy that suits you best.

6. My speaks generally range from 27-30. Offensive rhetoric will not be tolerated. Be nice, have fun.

Background/General Info

Hello there, I am Sam. My pronouns are he/him. I am not the most omnipresent judge on the circuit, so take into account in your strike/pref decisions that I have not been flowing at top speed for a while. 2018-2019 is my second year out, so factor that into your decision, as well.

I view debate as a game where those who play the game best should win. With that said, I also believe this game should be an inclusive one that produces something for the participants. As a result, my paradigm attempts to discourage cheap, gotcha strategies that are repeated ad nauseam with targeted, minimal interventions while encouraging innovative techniques and content. If you have any questions about that or want to discuss what I mean beyond what is present in my paradigm, let me know.

I had a reputation as a K hack when I was a debater, but I actually read policy arguments more often. The best advice I can give you is to do what you like – making arguments that suit you will always yield better results than trying to form fit your style to the preferences of others.

I am not sensitive about being lit up after I’ve made a decision. Debaters are often both competitively driven and passionate about their arguments and I sympathize with that, so if you feel the need to let loose and yell at me, don’t hesitate, that is fine – I’d much rather you do that than let it simmer and take it out on someone else. That said, you should do your best to not make your opponents feel uncomfortable and generally be good people during and after the debate. I encourage you to ask questions at the end regardless of the outcomes of the debate, it will help you improve your performance thoroughly.

If you have any questions before or at the tournament, feel free to email me at rigdoncook@gmail.com. You may also use this email after the tournament for questions if you miss the opportunity during the event.

Topicality/Theory

I genuinely enjoy good T or theory debates. “Good” meaning terminalized offense on both sides, a robust framing debate (competing interps v. reasonability), and nuanced approaches to the interp/counter-interp level with an intent to produce a better debate for everyone involved. However, I do have some very specific love/hate here.

I will not vote on condo bad versus one advocacy. I genuinely believe that this practice - going for condo bad versus one CP or one K - has the effect of discouraging innovation in debate by pinning every advocacy to the negative in every instance, there's never a chance to experiment with new and interesting arguments. I think this is a reasonably influential variable that generics are repeatedly deployed instead of new, experimental arguments.

I am heavily against “spray-and-pray” LO/MG theory strategies that do not terminalize their impacts or contradict one another– doing this will heavily impact your speaker points and I will be biased against your offense. If your shells are blippy with a lot of incoherent cross-applications and generic standards, I will be loathe to vote for these positions. I also am not a fan of the trend where teams read theoretical objections against random, performative aspects of the debate that do not significantly impact the debate, like if the plan isn't read in the first 30 seconds. These tend to be time-sucks that, more than anything, will signal to me that you have done lazy prep, poor strategic planning, and are relying on bad back-files to be under-covered for a cheap win. Don't make me think that about you.

If you want/need to object to multiple things the LOC has done and do not want to fall into the above category, I suggest you combine your interps into one interp (e.g., “the negative cannot read multiple conditional plan-inclusive counter-plans when the aff has only one legislative option”). This will give you better, more specific offense anyway, makes the debate neater, and avoids the sophistry of the strategy I described above. Furthermore, I will be more

I hate generic SPEC arguments. Hate them. Reading them is poor strategic decision-making and I hate it. FSPEC, ASPEC, whatever the hell "ESPEC" is supposed to be, these are things that will make me dread your presence. Don't make me dread your presence. I thoroughly believe these strategic choices negatively impact parli.

Now, if you have a shell that is topic-specific and you genuinely think it has something to contribute to the debate - like G-SPEC on court decision topics, where the specification of a grounds determines precedent and that's key to your ground or whatever because it's the only way to divine what the law will result in - then fine.

I will vote on framework v. K affs if it is executed properly. I don't hack for it, I don't hack against it - it's a just another theory argument that needs to be well-executed in order to earn my ballot.

DA/CP

Possibly my favorite thing to see is well-developed DA/CP strategies or smart, aff-specific disads with extensive case debate. I’m fine with PICs and Process CPs so long as they’re well-defended, theoretically and substantively. I do not have any particular preferences in this area as long as it’s done well.

I am familiar with many of the popular literature bases used in critical argumentation, especially in parli. My specialties when I competed were arguments that involved psychoanalysis, neoliberalism, and coloniality - these are also the areas where my feedback will likely be the most valuable. Despite that, you should not assume I know your authors or their terminology because even if I do know them, I will never do work for you in explaining a theory. If you do not comprehend what you’re saying in round, then neither will my flow. In other words, do not choose a critical strategy - or any strategy - based on what you think I want to hear. Choose a strategy that suits you best.

Framework in K debates matters because it helps me identify which arguments matter and which do not. Your links should be nuanced and terminalized with internal impacts - a link should be able to turn case or cause policy failure, independently. Saying “they’re capitalist” is fine, but the more specific, complex, and impacted your links are, the less likely I will be willing to evaluate the perm. Permutations should be accompanied by disads to the alt because while perms are just a test of competition, if the perm is net-beneficial, that can determine whether or not I consider the alt to be competitive.

The alternative, if you read one, should have a risk of solving the aff impacts or the framework should exclude them from my evaluation (preferably, you should attempt to prove both).

K affs

You can read whatever you want, as long as you know how to do it. My favorite K affs as a debater connected somewhat to the topic, in both analysis and method/advocacy because I felt that was the most interesting way to approach critical affirmatives. I also think this is strategic in answering framework. However, you should feel comfortable reading whatever style of argument you want. Know that regardless of how you read your aff or position it, I am willing to evaluate framework as a response, so long as it is executed properly. Much of my thoughts on this are the same as the “Ks” section above.

Ethan Courtman Caddo Middle Magnet 5 rounds

Last changed on Fri February 16, 2024 at 6:07 PM CDT

Caddo Magnet High School (c/o 2016)
Trinity University (c/o 2020)

Add me to the ev chain: ethanc907@gmail.com

General

- Do what you do best
- I was a 2N almost all of high school and went for everything
- I like techy debates with lots of comparison, but don't forget to frame the round
- I have a terrible poker face, you'll know if i don't understand something
- I think debate is a game
- Please don't take yourselves too seriously; the end-all be-all of your existence is not determined by a high school debate round

Stuff you should do
- Make arguments (which is a claim, warrant, and impact)
- Explain said arguments
- Clash with your opponents' arguments
- Frame the round
- Disclose your aff (unless it has never been broken) and past 2NRs

Stuff you shouldn't do
- Start every argument with "judge..". My name is Ethan
- Tell me to call for a card 40,000 times without extending a warrant
- Be super salty during all of cross-ex
- Be racist/sexist/generally offensive
- Steal Prep. I probably wont say anything but I'll dock your speaks
- Cheat (clip/lie about arguments made/etc.)

Some specific stuff

Case:
- Good case debating = higher speaks
- Find logical holes in the aff (which always exist).
- Impact turns are p cool
- If you're aff against a K, please don't forget you have an aff

Topicality:
- Disclaimer: I was never a high level T debater. Obviously I will still vote for it
- That being said, I really enjoy a well executed T debate

Framework:
- Explain what debate looks like under your interpretation
- Framework is sometimes your best option, recognize when that is

Disadvantages:
- Impact analysis and turns-case arguments win these debates
- Specific DAs are cool

Counterplans:
- Read whateve
- I loved cheating counterplans as a 2N, but if it's abusive, you obviously should be able to defend it/have a decent solvency advocate
- I really enjoy smart, well researched PICs that punish lazy/ridiculously broad affs.
- Agent counterplans are legitish

Kritiks:
- Specific Ks are usually better
- Contextualize your links to the aff
- Explain your tricky K tricks
- The negative should win some version of framework or a large portion of the case debate
- Long overviews as a substitute for line-by-line make me sad

K Affs:
Feel free to run them. I think they should have at least some connection to the topic, although I'm not really sure what defines "some connection."

General Theory Stuff:
- Prove the in-round abuse or else it's just a reason to reject the argument.
- Condo is probably good in the abstract but I become skeptical if your worlds are super contradictory
- Please slow down and signpost so i can flow instead of just spreading through your 20+ year old theory blocks

Jason Courville The Kinkaid School 4 rounds

Last changed on Mon January 29, 2024 at 3:09 AM CDT

***My hearing was not too great during 2023 but it is doing much better now and I'm feeling much more confident on judging. Just a health FYI/PSA.***

For email chains and any questions, my email is jason.courville@kinkaid.org

Speaking Style (Speed, Quantity) - I like fast debate. Speed is fine as long as you are clear and loud. I will be vocal if you are not. A large quantity of quality arguments is great. Supplementing a large number of quality arguments with efficient grouping and cross-application is even better.

Theory - Theory arguments should be well impacted/warranted. I treat blippy/non-warranted/3 second theory arguments as non-arguments. My threshold for voting on a punishment voter ("reject the team") is higher than a "reject the argument, not the team" impacted argument. I'm open to a wide variety of argument types as long as you can justify them as theoretically valuable.

Topicality - My topicality threshold is established by the combination of answers.

Good aff defense + no aff offense + solid defense of reasonability = higher threshold/harder to win for the neg.

Good aff defense + no aff offense + neg wins competing interps = low threshold/easy to win for the neg.

Counterplans - counterplan types (from more acceptable to more illegit): advantage CPs, textually/functionally competitive PICs, agent CPs, textually but not functionally competitive PICs (ex. most word pics), plan contingent counterplans (consult, quid pro quo, delay)

Disadvantages - Impact calculus is important. Especially comparison of different impact filters (ex. probability outweighs magnitude) and contextual warrants based on the specific scenarios in question. Not just advantage vs disadvantage but also weighing different sub-components of the debate is helpful (uniqueness vs direction of the link, our link turn outweighs their link, etc).

Kritiks - My default framework is to assess whether the aff has affirmed the desirability of a topical plan. If you want to set up an alternative framework, I'm open to it as long as you win it on the line-by-line. I most often vote aff vs a kritik on a combination of case leverage + perm. It is wise to spend time specifically describing the world of the permutation in a way that resolves possible negative offense while identifying/impacting the perm's net benefit.

I most often vote neg for a kritik when the neg has done three things:
1. effectively neutralized the aff's ability to weigh their case,
2. there is clear offense against the perm, and
3. the neg has done a great job of doing specific link/alternative work as well as contextualizing the impact debate to the aff they are debating against.

Performance/Projects - I’ve voted both for and against no plan affs. When I’ve voted against no plan affs on framework, the neg team won that theory outweighed education impacts and the neg neutralized the offense for the aff’s interpretation.

Other Comments
Things that can be a big deal/great tiebreaker for resolving high clash/card war areas of the flow:
- subpointing your warrants/tiebreaking arguments when you are extending,
- weighing qualifications (if you make it an explicit issue),
- comparing warrants/data/methodology,
- establishing criteria I should use to evaluate evidence quality,
- weighing the relative value of different criteria/arguments for evidence quality (ex. recency vs preponderance/quantity of evidence)

If you do none of the above and your opponent does not either, I will be reading lots of evidence and the losing team is going to think that my decision involved a high level of intervention. They will be correct.

Dylan Danzeiser Liberal Arts and Science Academy 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat December 8, 2018 at 9:30 AM EDT

email: ddanzeiser@gmail.com

Debated for the Liberal Arts and Science Academy 2011-2015, did not debate in college.

I haven't judged much on this topic, so don't assume I'll be familiar with something even if it's a very common argument this year, and I might have an issue adjudicating a real T debate if I'm not really aware of the community standards on this topic.

In general I prefer specific, warranted analysis to just spreading through blocks (especially on theory) or reading more evidence. Being loud, rude, or interrupting people in CX won't help you out. Trying to blow up a throw-away 1-line theory into an entire 2AR, or likewise a blippy 1-card K in the 1nc into a 2nr strategy is a bit sketchy. I prefer analysis on the line-by-line to large overviews, and I'm skeptical about claims that an argument wasn't dropped because it was "answered in the overview" if you didn't specifically reference it later in the speech.

K: I'm fine with pretty much all types of argumentation as long as it's warranted, but I probably won't be familiar with a lot of K literature so avoiding jargon is pretty important. It's your responsibility to make me understand whatever argument you are trying to make. On the negative, specificity to the aff is nice if you want me to vote on your K. Alt explanation is also very important, I need to know how it resolves your impacts. A role of the ballot that is specific to your K like "vote for the team that best fights capitalism" are not very persuasive compared to something more broad that would make sense as a standard in most debates.

Framework: I think clash/dialogue is very important, so it's a good idea to spend a while on how whatever interpretation you choose still allows for that.

Theory: I'll vote on it, but please don't just spread through your theory blocks- warranted analysis that actually addresses the current debate with real impact calculus is necessary

Topicality: I default to competing interpretations, and if you want to go for reasonability I want a real explanation of what exactly that means and why it's a better framework for evaluating the debate.

DA/CP: Engaging with the actual evidence on both sides will make for a much better debate. Impact calculus is obviously very important. Case-specific is obviously better. The internal ink chain being "reasonable", whatever that means, is also nice.

Jenny Davis Hire 6 rounds None

Shayan Dhuka Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Fri November 25, 2016 at 9:07 PM CDT

GENERAL:
I vote policymaker but am one to vote on K's if convinced. I need analysis on every argument and not just shallow extensions of the tagline. I'm fine with speed as long as you slow down on the tags and I can actually make out what you're saying.
I understand that policy debate is competitive so assertiveness is fine. Just don't overdo it.

IMPACT ANALYSIS AND CALCULUS:
This is very important. Debaters who compare evidence and impacts in round are more likely to get higher speaks. I like to see more than just debaters spewing card after card. Attacking the credibility of sources, finding contradictions in the opponents' evidence, and comparing the impacts in the round are all things that make it easier for me to vote.

TOPICALITY:
I will vote on T; I believe its an A-priori issue and that the aff has the burden to be topical. I primarily vote on competing interps when it comes to T. I will not vote on reasonability because it causes me to determine what I personally think is reasonable; I like to use whatever happened in the round as the basis for my decision. However, I WILL NOT vote on an RVI. I believe the aff's job is to be topical; you're not getting anything extra out of it. But a note to neg teams: if you're running a T just as a time suck, don't. I won't down you but your speaker points may be lowered.

THEORY:
I'll buy theory; just prove to me there's in-round abuse. Theory arguments I'll buy: condo bad, agent CP's, and multiple worlds, just to name a few.

KRITIKS:
Although I prefer to vote as a policymaker, I will vote on the K given that it is well explained and I have been given reasons to vote for it. Explain the link and how the alt functions and how it solves. Also, the role of the ballot debate needs to be discussed in the round by both teams. I will vote on pretty much any K except those "dirty word" K's. Generic K's are sorta in the gray area, depending on how well its argued and explained. When it comes down to it, I need to have strong analysis and reasons as to why the alternative provides a better world than that of the aff.

When it comes to kritikal affirmatives, I prefer you don't run them. But if you only run K affs, then I will still consider them as long as you paint the picture for me and show me why the world painted by the aff outweighs the squo/world painted by the neg.

DISADS:
When it comes to DA's, impact calculus becomes very important because if you're going to go for the DA in the 2NR, I need to know why the squo is better than the world thats created when the aff triggers the link to the DA.

And to the affirmative team, DO NOT RUN INTRINSIC PERMS ON A PTX DA! I will not evaluate them.

CP's:
I will vote on for the CP as long as its an untopical CP. I need there to be a clear difference between the plan and the CP and why the CP solves better.

CASE:
I will vote on case as long as there's both offense and defense.
For the neg, don't run straight up impact defense and no solvency. Offense is key to winning the case flow. I will not vote strictly off of defense.
For both teams, LINE BY LINE debate is crucial. It makes so much more easier for me decide who wins the case flow.

FINAL NOTE:
I do not and will not extend or analyze any arguments for you in the round, so you should always provide complete and clear analysis as to why I should vote a certain way. I will evaluate the round solely off of what was said in the round and whats on my flow. Don't expect me to connect the dots; thats your job.

John Dikeman Hire 6 rounds

Eric Emerson The Kinkaid School

Julian Erdman North Lamar High School 6 rounds

Last changed on Wed January 3, 2024 at 6:15 AM CDT

CX: To be honest over the last 3 years, I have transitioned primarily to a tournament director. I judge maybe 20 policy rounds tops each year of varying skill levels. My ability to keep up with speed has faltered as a result of not keeping in form. I will let you know if you are going too fast. It is typically theory/T standards/voters where I will lose you if you spread through them. I am comfortable voting for just about any winning argument within any framework you want to explicitly place me within. I evaluate and compare arguments through an offensive/defensive heuristic as well as impact calculus. I would say that I am more a policy maker judge than anything else. This means that I will vote for the best advocacy in the round, which means you have 3 options as the negative (squo good, CP, or K). I would say very much tech over truth. Default condo good. On T I prefer a well developed standard debate. I tend to default reasonability but at the end of the day if you can sell me on competing interps, I'm not opposed. This should be the only thing you are going for in the 2NR if this is your strategy. DA's - I love good uniqueness updates on DA's and 2AC N/Us. Love a good Politics scenario. Will vote on the impact turn on either the DA or the ADV. I'm cool with CPs. On the K debate, I am unfamiliar with a lot of K literature, I know the basics of Cap and Security but because I haven't engaged with the arguments in a few years, I'm definitely a little hazy on the details. If you are going to run a K or a K AFF please make sure you can explain it well. I want to feel comfortable after the initial cross-x that I know what your world looks like. I will vote on Framework regarding the K debate. Finally, on the Theory debate, make sure there is a clear violation and that you have some real offense coming off the argument if it is something you are going to commit to.

PF: I typically judge policy debate. I am comfortable voting for just about any winning argument within any framework you want to explicitly place me within. I evaluate and compare arguments through an offensive/defensive heuristic as well as impact calculus. I need reasons why your world is a better world for me. I don't think PF is the place for frivolous theory. I don't mind voting on critical arguments although I will grant leeway if you butcher the explanation of the criticism to your opponents. I am cool with speed, however, seeing as we will be online I urge you to stay at about 80%. Defense isn't sticky. If you have any other questions feel free to ask. I would like to be on the email chain. Julian.T.Erdmann@gmail.com.

LD: To be honest over the last 3 years, I have transitioned primarily to a tournament director. I judge maybe 20 rounds tops each year of varying skill levels. My ability to keep up with speed has faltered as a result of not keeping in form. I am comfortable voting for just about any winning argument within any framework you want to explicitly place me within. I evaluate and compare arguments through an offensive/defensive heuristic as well as impact calculus. Please slow down for theory spikes, any analysis, or what you deem important. I flow on paper, if I can't write it down it doesn't show up on my flow. I prefer not to flow off the document, if you are going to go so fast that I need to, send me your analytics. I would like to hear taglines. During the rebuttals when you are doing comparative work, please please please slow down. I'm not the fastest flow judge anymore. I will vote on the RVI especially if you can link in round abuse. I'm not familiar with the skep stuff. I'm not familiar with most K literature. I understand the basics of Cap and Security but outside of that don't assume I know your author/method/K. Your lack of explanation on the K lowers my thresholds on what it takes for your opponent to beat it. I feel you should probably defend some sort of alternative/advocacy statement. Feel free to reach out for any other questions. Add me to the chain Julian.T.Erdmann@gmail.com please.

Joseph Estrada Austin SFA High School 6 rounds None

Lexie Fredrickson Crossings Christian School 6 rounds

Madelyn Gaharan Caddo Middle Magnet 4 rounds

Al Garcia Weslaco None

Andrew Garcia W B Ray HS 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat December 3, 2016 at 1:48 AM CDT

Andrew Garcia

I am an assistant professor at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and the policy debate coach for W.B. Ray High School. I was a four-year NDT debater at Baylor University, though I have only recently returned to the activity after a law school hiatus.

GENERAL: I consider myself a strong Tabula Rasa judge. Ultimately, I do my best to minimize my role and preconceived notions about the world in the round. I will vote for virtually any argument (provided that it is sufficiently impacted). If the debaters fail to make comparative analysis regarding their versions of the debate or how the arguments interact, it forces me to uncomfortably connect the dots. To prevent passing ships, debaters should pay particular attention to describing the role of the ballot and why their paradigm for the debate should be preferred in the 2NR/AR.

In college, I ran both traditional policy arguments and critical positions. Although not definitive, here are some preferences that I have:

CX: I consider it to be one of the most underutilized portions of debate. An incisive and strategic CX can be devastating and I value it highly. I pay attention to it closely and consider what is said to be binding.

Delivery: I don’t mind speed, but many debaters attempt to go faster than they should, losing both clarity and efficiency. Make clear distinctions between tags and cards. Provide proper pen time on analytical arguments, T, or theory. Realize that you have the speech doc flashed to you, but I don’t.

K debates: I feel comfortable with critical arguments, but I have high expectations for alternative work. Make sure you are clearly articulating the implications of the K and help me visualize the alt. Specific link work in the block will be rewarded. Performative contradictions are dangerous, so be careful.

Performance/Affect/Clash of Civs: Haven’t had a lot of experience judging these arguments, as I was out of the game during their rise to prominence. I am open minded, though, provided that you highlight the role of the ballot and judge.

DA/CP Strats: Sure. Impact analysis. Complement with case cards to short circuit the AFF impx. Be clear on the net benefit work. I will admit to be somewhat down on conditionality.

FINAL NOTE: Perhaps this is a consequence of getting older, but I highly prefer pleasant rounds. Although this wasn’t something I was really good at during my career, it has become increasingly important to me. I believe you can be passionate, ardently advocate your positions and criticize your opponent’s arguments without screaming at the other team for 90 minutes. It won’t affect my ballot, but it will affect speaker points (and my general demeanor). Vitriol is wack, so save it for the squad van.

Sohin Gautam Westwood High School 6 rounds

Last changed on Thu April 20, 2017 at 12:16 PM CDT

Who I am:
My name is Sohin Gautam and I debated at the University of Kentucky
High School: Westwood HS (Tx) and McNeil HS (Tx)

UK TOC Silver PF (4-20-2017):

I debated policy for 8 years for University of Kentucky ending my junior year in the quarterfinals of the NDT. I coach policy and pf debate for Westwood High School.

Paradigm:

1. If you do not extend impacts, I cannot evaluate your argument. Warrants do not matter if you do not impact them. With that in mind, you have to WEIGH your impact.

2. Terminal defense extensions are cool with me. I do not believe the second rebuttal must cover the first rebuttal, however you can’t read new cards in second summary (so if you want to read a card responding to 1st rebuttal, do that in 2nd rebuttal).

3. Speed is fine, be clear. If i can't understand you, I will shout, "clear," and if you're still unclear I will stop flowing you.

4. Open to any argument – if you wrote a kritik or theory shell for this topic, this is the round to read it!!

5. Big picture not line by line in summary and final focus.

6. SPEAKS: you will get higher speaks if you do the following:

- you don’t take 3904820934 hours to hand your opponents evidence

- you are not rude and annoying in cross fire

- you extend both the author and the argument

- your sources are all peer reviewed and come from reputable organizations!

How I Judge:

Primer: I don't have a presumption to either the Kritik or Policy sides, I generally did both in College and enjoy watching either type of debate. I evaluate a round based on the 2AR and 2NR and work my ways backward, using my flow and your evidence to figure out what just happened. I try not to read a ton of evidence, my brightline being a clear warrant extended with the author, and then deciding relevance (e.g. if i decide a CP isn't competitive for x reason then I am more likely to find it unnecessary to read the Net Benefit's cards).

Specifics:

Topicality:
I love T, it's by far the most underrated tool the negative has. I have NOT judged a lot on this topic, so I'm not sure what are the main arguments on T. Having said that, here is how I evaluate T debates: First things first, if you're going for T, go for T I'm not going to vote on 15 seconds of T in the 2NR, spend the necessary minutes on it closing doors and extending warrants. Otherwise I'm going to be heavily leaning AFF on T.

I err towards competing interpretations, if the AFF doesnt contest this I will use competing interpretations to decide the debate. Limits and Ground are usually all people say--nobody ever talks about precision and grammar and resolutional integrity (let alone ever impacts these things) and the more impact analysis in the 2nr/2ar the better ("their interpretation destroys fairness because x"). Extra T and FX-T can be independent voters I guess, but more often than not I'm going to view it as a DA to the AFF interp. I'm generally not a fan of the stupid T arguments, I don't think anybody specs their A anymore so get over it. OSPEC really doesnt make sense (they are spotting you ALL the counterplan ground...how dare they).

The Kritik:
I'm game. You're not going to perplex me with a storm of Baudrillard and D and G because at some point you have to make an argument and I can evaluate that. I'm also interested in the alternative, not necessarily what it practically does (i really don't care) but how it resolves the link debate. AFF teams are encouraged to make vauge alt arguments to keep the NEG in check. K impacts usually fall by the wayside, but it's very helpful to have something external to weigh, so i'm not just voting on a giant case turn, a giant case turn + no value to life/ZPH/Foucault '76 is much better for your chances.

Aff Framework:
Do it. against a K make them win their impact is bigger than yours, or even that their K should be in the debate at all. If you're going for FW then it needs to be a big part of 1ar/2ar strategy otherwise I'm going to lean negative on it.

the Kritik AFF:
this means any aff that doesnt read a plan, reads a plan but "doesn't defend it", any aff that affirms as a mobius strip, any aff that does something "different" than reading a plan with nuke war implications based on the rez. I don't care if you don't have a plan, I'm not going to sign my ballot and walk out of the room if your 1ac has no plantext defending instrumental USFG action. Do your stuff, i'm fine with it.

CPs:

I don't care...if you read one CP that solves everything, fantastic, if you read 3 CPs that solve different amounts of the aff, fanstastic. It's up to the AFF to tell me why the NEG shouldn't be able to do that.

DAs

please and thank you. Bonus points for warranted internal link extensions/take outs--most DA debates lack internal link analysis, and that's where DAs are the weakest.

Random other thoughts:
-drop advantages = drop disadvantages
-2NC answering dropped 1ac advantages is okay because of a CX...in the 1nr it's not okay. Generally avoid reading new offense in the 1NR
-add-ons are fantastic things
-2NC CPs are justifiable
-2NC CP amendments justifiable
-I'm not sure what the speaker point scale if its .5 to 30 than i average a 27.5 with 29-30 being outround quality-->first speaker
-be nice, be funny

Martin Glendinning Edmond North High School None

Sam Gustavson Caddo Magnet HS 5 rounds

Last changed on Wed January 3, 2024 at 2:56 PM UTC

Updated 2023 Pre-Northwestern College Season Opener

Assistant Policy Debate Coach at UT-Dallas and Greenhill

Debated at C.E. Byrd HS in Shreveport, Louisiana (class of ’14). Debated in college policy for Baylor University (2014-2016) and the University of Iowa (2017-2019)

Have coached: Caddo Magnet HS, Hendrickson HS, Little Rock Central HS, Glenbrook South HS, University of Iowa, James Madison University

Email chain should be set up/sent before start time. Sam.gustavson@gmail.com

Top level

Please be respectful of one another. We are all sacrificing our weekends to be here and learn, you can be passionate about your arguments without being mean, rude, condescending, hostile, etc. I’d almost always prefer you convince me that your opponent’s arguments are bad, not that they’re bad people. Chances are, none of us know each other well enough to make that determination.

Please prioritize clarity over speed.Everything else you can take with a grain of salt and ultimately do what you are best at, but me being able to understand you comes before anything else.

Debate is hard. People make it harder by making it more complicated than it needs to be. I like debaters who take complex ideas and bring them down to the level of simplicity and common sense.

Judge instruction, impact framing, comparison of evidence, authors, warrants, etc. or “the art of spin” is the most important thing for telling me how I should decide a debate. Making strategic decisions is important.

One of the things that makes debate truly unique is the research that is required, and so I think it makes sense to reward teams who are clearly going above and beyond in the research they’re producing. Good cards won’t auto win you the debate, but they certainly help “break ties” on the flow and give off the perception that a team is deep in the literature on their argument. But good evidence is always secondary to what a debater does with it.

I care about cross-x A LOT. USE ALL OF YOUR CX TIME PLZ

Organization is also really important to me. Debaters that do effective line by line, clearly label arguments and use things like subpoints are more likely to win in front of me and get better speaks.

High School Specific Thoughts

I work full time in college debate and as a result am less familiar with the ins-and-outs of the high school topic. Take that into consideration.

If you’re interested in doing policy debate in college, feel free to talk to me about debating at UT-Dallas! I am a full-time assistant coach there. We have scholarships, multiple coaches, and a really fun team culture.

CLARITY OVER SPEED APPLIES DOUBLE TO HIGH SCHOOL

Set up the email chain as soon as you get to the room and do disclosure. If you’re aff, ask for the neg team’s emails and copy and paste mine from the top of my paradigm. Let’s get started on time!

Please keep track of your own prep, cx, and speech time.

Don’t flow off the speech doc, it’s the easiest way to miss something and it’s super obvious. Don’t waste cross-x time asking what the did and didn’t read! Flowing is so important.

Aff thoughts

I don’t care what “style” of aff you read, I just care that it is consistently explained and executed throughout the debate.

I like most judges enjoy 2ACs that make strategic choices, smart groupings and cross applications, and effectively and efficiently use the 1AC to beat neg positions in addition to reading new cards.

2ACs and ESPECIALLY 1ARs are getting away with murder in terms of not actually extending the aff.

Pretty aff leaning on a lot of CP theory questions (Process especially, 50 states, agent CPs. With the exception of PICs), but usually think they’re a reason to reject the argument. You can win it’s a reason to reject the team, but my bar for winning the 2ac was irrevocably skewed by the existence of a single 1NC position is pretty high. I don’t really lean one way or the other on condo (ideologically at least, I have no clue what my judge record is in condo debates).

Neg Thoughts - General

I like negative strategies that are well-researched specific responses to the aff. I think case debating is super important and underutilized. Nothing is more persuasive than a negative team who seems to know more about the 1AC than the Aff team does.

The 1NR should be the best speech in the debate, you have so much prep.

The 2NR should make strategic decisions, collapse down, and anticipate 2ar framing and pivots. The block is about proliferating options, the 2NR is about making decisions and closing doors.

Counterplans

Like I said above, prefer aff-specific CPs to generics. Counterplans that only compete on immediacy and certainty and net benefits that don’t say the aff is bad are not my favorite. I definitely prefer Process CP + Politics to Process CP + internal net benefit, because the politics DA disproves the desirability of the plan.

Because of the above thoughts, I am more aff leaning on CP theory in a lot of instances, with the exception of PICs. I think PICs that disprove/reject part of the aff are probably good.

People say sufficiency framing without doing the work to explain why the risk of the net benefit actually outweighs the risk of the solvency deficit. You have to do some type of risk calculus to set up what is sufficient and how I should evaluate it.

I have no feelings one way or another about judge kick. Win that it’s good or win that it’s bad.

Counterplans vs K affs are underutilized.

Disads

Comparison is important and not just at the impact level. Telling me what warrants to prioritize on the uniqueness and link debate, rehighlighting evidence, doing organized labeling and line by line, etc. Don’t just extend the different parts of the DA, do comparative work and framing on each part to tell me to tell me why you’re winning it and what matters most in terms of what I evaluate.

Like I said in the neg general section, I usually prefer an aff/topic specific DA to politics, but those concerns can be easily alleviated with good link debating on the politics DA. Your link being specific to the aff/resolution is usually important especially for link uniqueness reasons. I typically like elections more than agenda politics just as a research preference.

Impact Turns

Get in the weeds early in these debates and read a lot of cards. Don’t be afraid to read cards late in the debate either. Teams that get out-carded in these debates early have a tough time getting back in the game.

Recency, specificity, and evidence quality really matter for most every argument, but these debates especially. It’s pretty obvious when one team has updates and the other is reading a backfile

These debates get unorganized in a hurry. Labeling, line by line, using subpoints/numbers, and making clear cross applications are super important

Topicality

I really like T debates vs policy affs. I think creative arguments like extra T and effects T are underutilized or at least often underexplained and that there are affs getting away with fiating a lot of extra-resolutional/non-resolutional things.

Typically default to competing interps, and I’ll be totally transparent here: reasonability is kind of an uphill battle for me. When people go for reasonability with an interp, I almost always understand reasonability as a standard for why the aff’s interp is good. If you’re arguing your interpretation is better because it’s more reasonable, how is that not also an appeal to competing interpretations? And in the other scenario, if you’re going for reasonability with a we meet argument, I feel like a lot of the time it just begs the question of the violation and it’s easy for the neg to frame it as a yes/no question, not something that you can kind of/reasonably meet. Ultimately superior debating supersedes everything. If you win reasonability, you win reasonability. But you are probably better off just winning the we meet or going for a counter-interp

Impact comparison on standards is super important. I don’t have any strong preferences in terms of how I evaluate limits vs precision, aff ground vs neg ground, etc. Those are things you have to win and do the work of framing for me.

For the neg: Case lists, examples of ground lost under the aff’s interp, examples of why the debates under your model over the course of the year, topical versions of the aff, etc. will all help me understand in practice why your interp is better for the year of debate on the topic rather than just in theory.

For the aff: A well-explained we meet and/or counter interpretation, a case list of things you allow and things you don’t, and explanation of what ground the neg gets access to under your interp beyond quickly listing arguments and saying functional limits check, explain the warrant for why your interp preserves that ground and why those debates are good to have. N

Not super persuaded by “we meet – plan text in a vacuum” without much additional explanation. If the aff reads a plan text but then reframes/clarifies what that means in cross-x, in 1ac solvency evidence, or in the 2ac responding to neg positions, I think it’s easy for the neg to win those things outweigh plan text in a vacuum.

Framework

I judge a lot of these debates, and I’m fine with that. I think debating about debate is useful.

Fairness can be and impact or an internal link, just depends on how it’s debated. For it to be an external impact, it needs to not be circular/self-referential, which I think it often is in terms of how teams execute it. “Debate is a game, so it needs to be fair, because games need to be fair, and without fairness we can’t debate” is a circular argument that lacks an impact. To me, the argument becomes more offensive the more teams emphasize the time commitment we all put into debate and why maintaining fairness is important for honoring that time commitment, or explaining why it’s important for participation.

If either side is claiming participation as an impact, you have gotta explain how voting for you/your model would solve it. I think that’s hard to do but I’ve seen it done effectively both with fairness and with K affs doing for access/participation outweighs. The impact is obviously very big, but the internal link is often sketchy and not flushed out, in addition to largely being untrue because things like budget cuts have a lot more to do with who can participate than any particular team reading any particular argument.

I prefer clash as an impact more because I feel like it gets to a bigger impact that is more at the heart of why debate is good and that it often causes the neg to interact with the aff more. Your warrants for why clash turns the aff should be aff specific – same with TVAs. Nothing hurts me worse than ultra-generic framework debating where the argument could apply to literally any K aff. The best way to win your model can account for the aff’s impacts is to use the language of the aff in your explanation of things like clash, Switch-Side, and the TVA.

Affs that have something to do with the topic and can link turn things like topic education and clash are more persuasive to me than affs that try to impact turn every single part of framework. You probably will need to win some defense, because so much of the neg side of framework is defense to the stuff you want to go for.

Having a counter-interpretation really helps me understand how to evaluate offense and defense in these debates. This does not necessarily require the 2AC to redefine words in the resolution, but rather to tell me what the aff’s vision of debate is, what the role is for the aff and neg, and why those debates are good. Even if you are going to impact turn everything, having a counter-interpretation or a model of debate helps me understand what the role of the aff, neg, and the overall role of debate are.

Kritiks

The more aff-specific the better. Links do not necessarily have to be to the plan (it would be nice if they were), but they should implicate the 1ac in specific ways whether it’s their rhetoric, impact scenarios, etc. 2NCs that quote and rehighlight aff evidence, read new cards, proliferate links, and give the 2nr options are good. If you are criticizing/kritiking the aff, you should quote as much of their evidence, indict as many of their authors, and apply your criticism to the aff as much as possible. The most common advice I give 2Ns going for the K is to quote the aff more

Making decisions in the 2NR is still important even when reading the K one-off. You cannot go for every link, framing argument, perm answer, etc. in the 2NR.

The best K 2NRs I’ve ever seen effectively use case to mitigate parts of the aff’s offense. If you give them 100% risk of the aff vs the K, it’s harder to win!

Kicking the alt/going just for links or case turns is not the move in front of me. There are almost always uniqueness problems and I end up usually just voting aff on a risk of case. Whether it’s an alternative or a framework argument, you gotta explain to me how voting neg solves your offense.

I have noticed that in a lot of K debates I find that both the aff and the neg over-invest in framework. I honestly don’t see a scenario where I don’t let the aff weigh the 1AC if they win that fiat is good. I also don’t see a scenario where I vote aff because Kritiks on the neg are unfair. If the neg is making links to the aff, the aff obviously gets to weigh their offense against those link arguments. I really think both sides in most cases would be better served spending time on the link/impact/alt rather than overinvesting time on the framework debate.

I don’t really understand a lot of the form/content distinction stuff people go for because I think that the way arguments about “form” are deployed in debate are usually not actually about the form of anything and almost exclusively refer to disagreements in content

Ethics challenges/Clipping/Out of Round Stuff:

In the case that anyone calls an ethics violation for any reason I reserve the right to defer/go to tab, and then beyond that I can only vote based on my interpretation of events. This used to really only apply to clipping, but I’ve been a part of a bunch of different types of ethics challenges over the years so I’ve decided to update this.

Clipping: Hot take, it’s obviously bad. If I have proof you clipped the round will end and you’ll lose. I don’t follow along in speech docs unless someone starts being unclear, so if your opponent is clipping it’s up to you to notice and get proof. I need a recording if I don’t catch it live, even if we are on a panel and another judge catches it. Without a recording or proof, I’m not pulling the trigger.

Be careful about recording people without their consent, especially minors. Multiple states require two-party consent to record, don’t get yourself in legal trouble over a debate round.

I don’t vote on out of round stuff, especially stuff I wasn’t there for. For clarification, I suppose there could be exceptions to this and my opinions on it have gone back and forth. If you feel that someone in the round has jeopardized your safety, made you uncomfortable, or anything remotely similar, I will do everything in to advocate for you if I witness any of the following. If I am not a witness, I will make sure that the proper channels are used to address the complaint.

This is obviously distinct from criticizing something that someone has said or calling people out for being problematic. I’m saying if something so bad has happened that we have to stop the round, I have to go to the tournament and my bosses and look at my options. For your safety and mine I am required to think about how I’m protected, and my role and qualifications as a coach and educator as it relates to resolving officially lodged complaints of discrimination or harassment.

LD Paradigm:

Tech over truth but asserting that an argument is dropped/conceded is not the same thing as extending a full argument

My debate background is in policy, so I have much more familiarity with policy/LARP and Kritikal debates than I do with phil.

That is not to say you cannot win on philosophy in front of me, but you should try to frame it in language that I will understand. So telling me why your impact outweighs and turns their offense, winning defense to their stuff, doing judge instruction and weighing to tell me what matters and what doesn't.

Clarity is more important than speed. Slow down a bit on counterplan texts, interps, etc. Spreading as fast as you can through theory shells or a million a priori's means there's probably a good chance that I am not going to get everything

A lot of arguments in LD stop at the level of a claim - you can be efficient but you can't just blippily extend claims without warrants and expect to win

Not a huge fan of frivolous theory. I think most theory debates end up being a reason to reject the argument not the team with the exception of condo. But like I said, tech over truth so you can win theory in front of me, it just needs to be well impacted for why it is a reason to drop the debater and why rejecting the argument/practice doesn't solve

Shaneal Harun Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Tue May 9, 2017 at 5:28 AM CDT

I debated for four years in high school and am in my 3rd year of college debate

During my high school career I primarily read kritiks and performance arguments, but I have also worked with and read traditional policy arguments. This means I won't automatically lean one way or the other-I expect you to frame the debate and make the arguments that tell me how to vote, so that I don't have to rely on my personal beliefs.
The things I will not tolerate: card clipping, evidence fabrication, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, etc.

I prefer truth over tech-I prefer in depth discussions of evidence comparison, warrants, and explanations of the thesis of arguments over the minutiae of the line by line-if you think you can win with a long, contextualized explanation of your argument that adequately addresses the main issues in the debate, go for it. That being said, I still expect some kind of technical debating in the sense of providing warranted responses to specific arguments-this doesn't mean you have to go down the line by line, just address all the arguments in the debate somehow and let me know what you're addressing.

Specific argument preferences:

Kritiks: These are some of my favorite debates-for me a K debate is good when it's well explained and contextualized, and aff-specific kritiks are even better. I am familiar with literature spanning from: Nietzsche, Heidegger, Afropessimism, Coloniality, Settler Colonialism, Queer Theory, basic Marxism, and Foucault. If your K is very high theory but not on my list, that doesn't mean I can't judge it-I can probably catch on pretty quickly given that you explain the arguments well enough. My familiarity with a literature base is not an excuse to slack off in your explanation or contextualization of arguments-Well warranted [not necessarily carded] arguments and explanations of your theory are necessary. I'm not a big fan of links of omission unless they are very specific [for example, if settler colonialism is intrinsic to the discussion of the topic then I am much more likely to buy that the aff's omission is problematic]. Always have a clear role of the ballot, framework debate, and impact calc. You should make explicit and specific turns case/root cause arguments, explain the specifics of why the aff's truth claims are false or should be rejected-I'm not likely to vote on generics. Have a solid explanation of the alt and what it does. I will vote on Floating PIKs if they are conceeded, but I err aff on floating piks theory. The best K debates come with contextual explanations, examples, and illustrate an in depth knowledge of the lit and its real world use.

Ks vs a K aff-have specific and clear links and places of contestation-have a clear explanation of what the alt does, how it's different from the aff-your should have specific explanations of how the alt resolves the aff/any of the aff's disads-for me this is distinct from having a root cause argument-I need an explanation of the reverse causal argument [example: even if you win cap is the historical root cause of racism, I need a warrant for why the alt would result in a transition that would eradicate racism.]

For a policy aff to win against a K I think the most important thing is to win a solid defense of the aff. I give very little weight to shady or unexplained perms, by the 1ar you should have some explanation of what the permutation does and be consistent in your explanation. You probably won't persuade me that I shouldn't evaluate the K with framework, but you can probably win that you get to access your impacts.
For a K aff to win against a K I think you need a solid explanation of your aff in the context of the K with well explained link turns, an explanation of how the perm functions, and impacted out net benefits to the perm. I think a lot of time people will read really bad K links to K affs or Ks that dont address the specificity of the aff-you should point that out and use it to your advantage.

Peformance/Method debates-I debated with these arguments and critiques for most of my last two years of debate-I love GOOD performance and method debates. A good performance debate should be one that clearly establishes competition between the performances/methods with specific disads and links to what you are debating. I believe that all debate is a performance, the question to be debated is just whether your performance is good.

In these debates I think the aff should have a solid defense of the aff and their performance and education-roleplaying good, policymaking good- in addition to permutations, defense, disads to their performance. You're unlikely to persuade me that I shouldn't evaluate a criticism of the aff's performance.

K Affs:
I'm open to K affs-I don't believe the aff needs to have a plan text-I generally err towards the aff should have an advocacy statement but I can be persuaded otherwise. Similarly, I believe the aff should be connected to/in the direction of the topic, which will be much more persuasive in Framework debates, but again I can be persuaded otherwise. Just do your thing and tell me how to evaluate the round.

Framework against K Affs:
I am not a big fan of framework and would prefer to not judge that debate. However, that does not mean I will not evaluate it. Make your framework impacts specific to the aff and give examples. I am more persuaded by discussions of institutional engagement, policy education, switch sides, etc than fairness and predictability arguments. I prefer FW debates that end up more like method debates, in a way.

CPs:
I'm fine with most counterplans, and counterplans specific to the aff are even better. Generic solvency evidence isn't very persuasive. The permutation debate should be thorough [from the aff and neg] with an in depth explanation of how the perm functions/how the disads and net benefits to the perm function.
I am fine with most counterplans. I err aff on process cps, word pics, delay, consult, and conditions CPs. For PICs am more persuaded to vote on the CP if it's specific to the aff and you win it addresses a key point of contention with the aff-I'm less lenient to random squirelly pics.

DA: The best disad debates have good, well warranted, comparative evidence-I prefer quality over dumping large numbers of short, speculative pieces of evidence. Impact calc and turns case debates are very important. Specific links to the aff are as well. I probably won't vote on 1% risk calculus if it comes to that, so make sure to win strong internal links and probability for your impacts.

Theory: Slow down in theory debates-don't explain your standards at the speed you would read a card. I am not the most well versed or experienced in theory debates but I can follow one reasonably well.
I default to evaluating conditionality as a reason to reject the team, everything else as a reason to reject the argument. I can be persuaded otherwise. Specific and well written interpretations will probably win you the day and makes the debate much easier to evaluate, especially on condo. Flush out and compare the standards, give contextual examples and point out abuse. I err neg on theory.

Topicality- Well written T shells with specific interps, definitions, and standards are preferable to generic shells. As with theory, I am not very experienced with in depth T debates but I can follow it along. As with theory, comparative debates over the standards are a must, with contextual examples and all. Provide a case list, explain what the topic is like under your interp, explain in round abuse. Win framing issues-I default to competing interpretations but I can be persuaded otherwise.

Miscellaneous:
flash drives-for me prep ends when you're done with the speech doc and you're ready to flash it-I'll be fairly lenient on
Clarity before speed-if you are unclear I will yell "clear".

Nikolai Hentosh Lake Travis High School 6 rounds None

Carver Hodgkiss Athens High School 6 rounds None

Kenton Hutcherson Grapevine High School 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat August 20, 2016 at 12:31 PM CDT

I debated for Grapevine High School and then at the University of Texas. At UT, I majored in philosophy and economics. I am a big fan of existentialism (Neitzsche, Camus, Sartre) and Karl Marx. That doesn't necessarily mean that I like the way these philosophers are used in debate--debate typically presents bastardized versions of philosophers. I have coached CX at Grapevine High School for the past 4 years. I coach debate for fun--my full time job is as an Internet lawyer where I help individuals and businesses who have been attacked online. I earned my law degree from the University of Chicago Law School.

My decisions are often influenced by my legal background. I view topicality as a debate over what the resolution is as opposed to what it ought to be (and I vote on T more than most judges). And because I deal with nasty people every day, I do not like to see it when I judge debates. I will vote you down for being a jerk. That should not be a difficult burden to meet. Be respectful of everyone in the room and in the community. If I am on a panel with one judge who doesn't like spreading and one judge that is okay with spreading (I prefer spreading), if you spread to appeal only to the two spread judges, I will not like it because by doing so, you will have disrespected the non-spreading judge. I get it--it sucks when you have a judge that doesn't like speed, but that is life and the non-spread judge is a person too. Also, please make sure your disclosures on the wiki are up to date and easy to navigate. If you play games on the wiki, I see that as the same as being a jerk before the round begins. Please don't be a jerk. And if you like to bash people in the debate community on the Internet or otherwise, you are a bad person and should not be in the activity.

If you were to ask my debaters what they should do in the round with me judging, here is what I think they would tell you:

1. I love topicality. I vote on T more than most judges, and I generally have a much more narrow view of the resolution than other judges. If your plan has non-topical tricks to evade specific DAs, then I see that as distorting the debate by excluding that specific DA. You can run the most common Aff on the topic, but if the other team runs T based on a trick in the plan, and they win that debate, I am happy to vote you down. T is never a reverse voter. I will only vote on that if the argument is completely dropped by the Neg, but you will get terrible speaks. All the Neg has to say is "that's stupid."

2. If you are trying to decide between running your critical aff and your policy aff, you should probably pick the policy aff. If you only have a critical aff or want to run it out of principle, good for you. You may enjoy the debate, but you probably won't find my RFD very satisfying. It's not that I have anything against critical affs--I don't--it is that I do not understand most of them and how they can function within a competitive debate setting. Let's say that you affirm that the Holocaust is a bad thing--I would agree with you, but I don't see why that has anything to do with the resolution or how that leaves any ground for the Neg. I know there are people much smarter than me that love critical affs and think they are good for debate. I wish I was one of those people, but sadly I am not.

3. Go out of your way to go line by line. Sign post your arguments. If you are the 2NC or the 1NR, say something like 2AC #1 says "No Link" - We say ______. 2AC #2 says "Uniqueness overwhelms the link" - We say ______. Standing up and reading a bunch of arguments without actually applying them to the other team's arguments is not good debate. In fact, it is sloppy. I think "embedded clash" is interesting in theory, but in practice I see it as an excuse to not go line by line. I suggest that you avoid embedded clash in front of me. That being said, feel free to group arguments, especially in the 1AR. So you can say, "Off 2AC #3, Group It (the Neg's arguments against 2AC #3). 1. ___ 2.___ 3.____".

4. I enjoy theory debates so long as they are not blippy. If you take the time to really explore a theory argument and explain how it applies in that specific debate, I will vote for you more than other judges will.

5. Rhetoric Ks make a lot of sense to me, more so than other Ks. I am not a fan of Ks with Candy Land alts. Because of that, I rarely vote for the Cap K. I agree with the thesis of the Cap K - Cap definitely exploits people on a worldwide scale. But the alts I have seen seem to be simply wishing problems away. I do not find that very compelling when the Aff identifies specific problems and ways to solve them. That being said, if you can attack the Aff's epistemology and show why their knowledge is flawed, and thereby take out the premise of their harms, that I can find compelling.

6. Please be clear on who the actor is for the alt. If the Aff can show that the alt uses a different actor from the Aff, and says, "Perm do both," then the Neg better have a really good reason why two different actors cannot do different things.

7. I generally do not find Ks based on the fact that the Aff uses the USFG compelling.

8. Open CX is fine, but please do not abuse it. I'm not a fan when one partner dominates all of the CX for the team. Prep time stops when you pull the flash drive out or when you hit send on your email.

9. Tell me what to do in your 2NR and 2AR. Tell me why you win. I like reading cards, and I think I read cards more often than I should. So if you are winning the evidence comparison debate because the other team has not explained their evidence and you have, tell me to not read their cards. If I agree with you that they have not explained their evidence, then I will not read their evidence. If you tell me to read certain cards, I probably will as long as you have explained the cards in the round.

10. I do not enjoy framework debates, but I blame that on the Aff instead of the Neg. Framework should have a T component, and that is really how I evaluate framework.

As a final comment, I generally think mutual judge preference is a bad idea. While I think sharing judge philosophies is a good idea, I think judge preference has encouraged debate on the extreme ends of the spectrum. If you are a policy team, you can pref policy judges. If you are a critical team, you can pref critical judges. Given the way the system is structured, you would be foolish not to do that. But the result is that we end up siloing ourselves within echo chambers that conform to our own philosophical or political views.

josh jennings The Kinkaid School 6 rounds

Last changed on Sun October 4, 2020 at 3:39 PM CDT

Email: jjenningscrosby@gmail.com

Last updated: 10/4/20

General:

Summary - Read basically anything you want, go for what you're good at, try new things if you want, Don't be rude.

About me - I debated at Crosby highschool and middle school for a collective 6 years and I debated policy at University of Houston for 3 years. I used to help as an assistant coach for The Kinkaid School for about 3 years.

I am fine with almost any argument, so if you want to read it I'll listen, unless it's things like racism or patriarchy good.

Speed - Go for it. I will not say clear if you're partially unclear, unless its egregious.

Edit for online: remember, not all microphones are created equal, so make sure your microphone can adequately pick up how fast you’re going (maybe record you practicing a block to test it), because your mic may only be able to pick up about half of the syllables you say if you’re going too fast for it.

Cx: (LD is below this)

On topicality and theory, I default reasonability if there is no discussion of this in the debate because it's much less of a risk for the neg. Make sure to make it very clear what your interpretation is and exactly what portion of the plan violates that and explicitly apply what ground/predictability/education/etc you lose from their specific interp compared to yours. A lot of T debates get lost in the impacts of standards/voters and don't contextualize it vs the counterinterp.

On kritiks, You HAVE TO explain the alternative, in debate people get away with not doing that too much, which is annoying as a judge. The only exception to "not explaining the alt" is when you kick it and go for just the k as a k of policy framework/policy debate itself (I don't think is applicable to every kritik, but it is to some). I like when the link is contextualized to the aff (give specific analysis about how the aff makes the system of oppression worse or prevents it from changing).

On Counterplans, I love good counterplans, as long as your story on the world of the cp is clear and you're winning a net benefit that you solve, you should be fine. Do clear solvency/net benefit comparison.

On Disads, have a logical story as to why the aff links and how that causes the impact. Do impact comparison.

Non-traditional Affs - I will evaluate any affirmative even if it's non-policy, just make sure if you're untopical, you have a reason to be untopical.

Framework – I am not afraid to vote on this, I think there are benefits and disadvantages to policy debate and benefits and disadvantages to kritik aff debates. Make sure you weigh the Interp vs the counter Interp because a lot of people weigh the debate in terms of there being no counterinterp.

For LD:

I’ve judged a lot of LD debates. I have coached a few students in LD as well. I am a CX coach/judge/debater normally so do what you want with that info.

I will evaluate almost any argument, I tend to think of the debate round on the bigger picture focus (mainly because the 1ar I feel is rough and it allows better debates for LD), although I have no real predisposition against technical debate, the debaters should tell me how to frame the debate in the context they desire.

Framework: I'm fine with policy, whole resolutional or k debates, just debate out how I should evaluate who wins.

Topicality: I will evaluate T, I default to reasonability if no arguments are made but I will evaluate it either way. Make sure to make it very clear what your interpretation is and exactly what portion of the plan violates that and explicitly apply what ground/predictability/education/etc you lose from their specific interp compared to yours. A lot of T debates get lost in the impacts of standards/voters and don't contextualize it vs the counterinterp.

Theory: I will evaluate most theory, but it has to make sense and I tend to have a higher threshold on what I think is a voter, meaning most theory I've seen in LD doesn't rise past the level of reject the argument, while some LD judges would reject the team. I will not vote on RVIs. I also probably won't vote on frivolous theory (which I think is a very subjective term), which all I really mean is make sure theory has a legitimate reason to reject the team. I default to reasonability if no arguments are made but I will evaluate it either way.

CP: I think CPs make the most sense vs plans and I can be convinced Topical Cps are illegit if you’re winning whole rez should be the focus of the debate (all up to debate).

K: On kritiks, You HAVE TO explain the alternative, in debate people get away with not doing that too much, which is annoying as a judge. The only exception to "not explaining the alt" is when you kick it and go for just the k as a k of policy framework/policy debate itself (I don't think is applicable to every kritik, but it is to some). I like when the link is contextualized to the aff (give specific analysis about how the aff makes the system of oppression worse or prevents it from changing).

Austin Johnson Trinity Valley School 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat October 19, 2019 at 7:01 AM CDT

Austin Johnson

Trinity Valley School

Head Coach/Program Director

Debating experience

Debate coach for four years. Took kids to TOC and NSDA Nats.

Role of the Judge

I’m willing to evaluate any and all roles-of-the-judge you put forward. It’s the judge’s job to weigh the round under the criteria you give. That is, the judge is a referee who makes decisions about a game whose rules are determined by its players over the course of each round.

Email Chain

If you're going to spread, I want to be on it. I'll give my e-mail at the time of the round.

I do not flow CX.

Logistics

Track your own prep. I’m okay with flex prep. Flashing is not prep.

Speed

Speak as quickly as you are comfortable. However, if you’re going to spread, please be sure to include me on the e-mail chain.

Theory

The primary thing, in my opinion, that leads to worse debate is spending a lot of time explaining your opponent's model leads to worse debate. I've tried to be gentle about this. It is apparently time to be clear: I do not want to hear a theory argument. I hate them.

I’ll weigh theory if I must. But I would prefer to vote on literally anything else. If something genuinely abusive (not even in the direction of the topic, undisclosed, etc.) happens in the round, then you should call it out. Otherwise, don’t waste time on. If the only reason you’re winning a debate is because you’re manipulating the rules of debate, you’re not winning a debate.

Additionally, don't run Theory just to suck up time. The only thing worse than winning a round because you're just manipulating the rules is winning a round because you're wasting time talking about manipulating the rules and then not manipulating the rules, because that means I had to listen to your crappy theory non-argument which you then did nothing with!

Plans

I’m cool with plans. Just remember that reading a plan in LD means taking on a heavier burden of proof than defending the resolution as-written.

DA/CP

If I’m letting Aff run plans, I should probably let Neg run DAs and CPs. So I do.

Performance Ks

Performance is cool. I buy in-round solvency and pre-fiat alts.

Kritiks

The K is the reason I’m a debate coach. I’m a Ph.D. in English lit who got his degree after 2000, which means I had to be conversant in a loooooot of critical literature. I like materialist or semiotic approaches; psychoanalysis Ks are very slippery and I don’t generally enjoy them.

K Affs

K Affs are fine, but you need to be prepared for a protracted debate about framing that you can actually win.

Clark Johnson Clear Lake HS 3 rounds

Last changed on Sat January 6, 2024 at 1:32 AM MDT

Coach for the University of Houston, Langham Creek High School, and Memorial High School

A couple of thoughts before I address specific arguments

for Wake/UT - I haven't judged very much this year and don't know what the norms/args are yet

If it’s important say it more than once, I don’t necessarily mean that you should just repeat yourself, but make the argument in more than one place with more than one application.

Highlighting should be able to be read - I think that your evidence should be highlighted in a way that makes at least some grammatical sense - this is kind of subjective but if its a true abomination of words slapped together I won't read around your highlighting to understand what you're trying to say.

please time yourselves

I would like to be on the email chain, clarkjohnson821@gmail.com

T debates (and theory debates) are already very blippy, if you want me to evaluate it, slow down. I like it when teams use T strategically in other areas of the debate.

DA's: good spin > sepcific ev > generic ev. I like intuitive turns case arguments and I love when you can implicate the aff’s internal links and solvency using other parts of the disad. I think that

CP's: These are fine, if you want to know my thoughts on judge kick see Rob Glass's paradigm.

K’s: As long as you approach the debate assuming I won’t understand your version of baudrillard we’ll probably be fine. 2nr (and 2nc to some extent) explanation of what the alt world would look like, how the alt solves the links to the aff, and how the alt solves the impacts are important to me, I find myself to be much more persuaded by neg teams that can do this well.

K affs v fw: I think your aff should in some way be related to the topic, that's not to say that you have to be, just that it will make it easier for you to win those debates.

K affs v k's: this is by far the debate that I have the least experience with, something that's really important to me in these debates is clarity of how the alt/aff functions and how it interacts with the links to your opponent's argument, I tend to find myself being persuaded by detailed alt analysis.

if you’ve noticed a common theme here, it’s that I think the alt debate is important

Theory: Default neg and reject the argument, you should give me reasons to do otherwise, don't expect me to vote on it if you don't slow down and explain your argument, most debaters spread blippy blocks that make it difficult to flow and evaluate, if the 2nr or 2ar want to go for theory in some form or fashion you're going to have to do a modicum of work, saying severance perms bad for 10 seconds at the top of your 2nr is not enough to get me to vote on it as long as the 2ar makes any sort of response.

Counterplans bad is probably not a reason to vote aff

I don’t judge this event as often so I may lack a more nuanced understanding of how things function in LD compared to policy, but with that being said I’m open to however you want to do it, be it traditional or progressive. Your phil and theory debates are a little alien to me coming from how we approach similar arguments in policy, so if that’s what you think you’ll be going for in your 2ar or nr be super clear. Most of my thoughts about args in cx will color my analysis of the arguments you make in LD.

I dont consider the time it takes for your opponents to provide you their evidence as prep time, and I don't think you need to take cx time for it either. If you can’t tell, I am primarily a policy judge and as such I probably have a higher standard for evidence quality and access than your average judge.

other than that I don't have strong opinions when it comes to what arguments you want to read as long as you justify them (read: impacts matter!)

im not familiar with pf norms when it comes to whether you should or shouldn’t answer opponents args in summary or 2nd constructive. And sometimes I feel like I’m inconsistent in trying to figure out and apply what they are in my rounds judging it. As such I will treat it as I would a cx round unless you tell me otherwise - new args can be made in first two speeches, summary should not be new args (but can if they are answering a new argument, ie 1st speaking team makes an argument that directly answers a new arg made by 2nd speakers in the last constructive speech) in terms of extensions through to ff I don't think that saying something in grand is enough for me to weigh it at the end of the debate if you dont extend it through your last speech.

I will probably call for evidence. If you paraphrase, expect me to not treat your evidence with the same level of veracity as someone citing specific parts of their cards.

Hunter Jones Hire 6 rounds None

Praneeth Kalva Jesuit College Prep 6 rounds

Last changed on Fri December 2, 2016 at 7:42 PM EDT

Praneeth Kalva
Jesuit Dallas 2016

Topicality
I view topicality through competing interpretations weighing offense vs defence unless you present a viable alternative. I think 2ACs in general should have counter-interpretations that are both justifications of their aff as well as offense against the negative interp. Case lists are very useful to help demonstrate what the topic under each interp looks like and are underutilised. Standards need to be described realistically and with depth as to how it affects education, competition, etc.
Counterplans
I think case-specific counterplans that solve one or more aff advantage can be very effective in the negative strategy as well as counterplans that go through a different actor to avoid a DA. 2ACs should use solvency deficits as offense against the CP and should also make a clear distinction between the effects of the CP vs the plan for every relevant argument on the flow i.e. CP links to the DA. Theory on CPs is fine and 2ACs should probably have at least one theory argument.
Disadvantages
I think reading general disadvantages like politics with a multitude of case-specific links based on the advantages and also the solvency mechanism is a very effective strategy especially when combined with a CP that solves part of the case. Impact debate is very important and the DA needs to compared on every level to the case and the status quo. Having a variety of convincing links is equally important since the impact debate is evaluated through the presupposition that there is a reasonable risk of the link. Affirmatives should use the offense in the 1AC as well as regular DA answers. Many DAs are logically inconsistent, contradictory, or extremely unlikely so affirmative arguments that explain this are very convincing. Also many internal links in DAs are not inherent.
Kritiks
I don’t have a lot of experience with critical literature so teams that rely on this strategy will have to explain some of the buzzwords used. While I prefer policy arguments, I do think kritiks that have specific links and viable alternatives can be effective. Most negative teams however are not specific enough on what the alternative is in reality or how it solves. I don’t think winning a link is enough to vote negative, there needs to be a compelling reason why the aff is uniquely worse than the status quo in the context of the K. The entirety of the K impact is not granted on the basis of a link either (an aff that expands the market for green tech doesn’t result in the entirety of the impact to capitalism) but rather, the extent of the impact is directly tied to the extent of the link. Also, please do not have massive overviews – just make the argument on the line by line. Framework is very important in these debates and teams need to have offensive reasons with impacts as to why their framework is better. Using framework arguments to support the permutation is also a good idea.
Affirmatives
I think affs should have plan texts but I will of course listen to anything and it is the burden of the negative to prove why the aff should lose for not reading a plan text. If you are not reading a plan text based aff, I think you still need to defend some sort of action (which can be in round) and defend the consequences of that action. Reading framework or Ks against these affs is fine but I think topicality arguments about words in the advocacy statement other than USFG can be very strategic. Most advocacy statements still link to DAs since the aff advocates for something with hypothetical consequences so I think reading DAs in conjunction with T/framework is a good idea.
Miscellaneous
Flash or give your opponent the cards read in the speech in some way. Clarity and quality of arguments trump speed. Debate the line by line. CX can be used very effectively to set up arguments and demonstrate logical inconsistencies but it is often wasted. Be aggressive but not malignant.

Jesse Keleman Hire 1 rounds

Last changed on Sat January 6, 2024 at 3:42 AM CDT

Policy Debate

I would like to be on the email chain if there is one. my email is jessekeleman@gmail.com

Every time I try and cut down my paradigm it gets longer. So here's a brief summary:

I haven't judged much on the nukes topic, so keep that in mind

Enunciate tags

Spread full-speed through your blocks and all their wonderful sub-points at your own risk

Tell me why it matters that you won an argument (even a conceded one)

I don't have strong argument preferences, do whatever you want. I've put my general proclivities for each argument below

An author name (alone) is not an extension

I'm not well-read on most kritikal literature these days, so if your argument has a lot of terms of art I probably don't know them. That being said I'm used to not being well-read and generally can figure it out from context, but the more specific, concrete examples you can give of how your impact manifests itself, the better off you will be.

Don't take my paradigm to heart, use it as a general reference. You can see how long it is and I've probably already forgotten half of it

Basic philosophy

I am not the fastest flow-er in the world. Slow down a bit or enunciate your tags/ argument names so that I know they are special, and it shouldn't be too much of a problem. As long as I have enough of your argument flowed down to jog my memory, you should be fine.

I debated at UT and debated for 4 years at Grapevine in highschool. I'm currently a lawyer (not an expert on personhood). I really like well-researched PICs.

Try to be clear on what arguments you are winning and why you are winning the round because of it. What this means is that when you make an argument, make sure you explain the larger implications it has on the debate. This doesn't mean make everything a voting issue, but rather that your arguments should all fit together in a neat and understandable way. If I have to do a lot of this analysis myself, you might not like how I end up evaluating your arguments.

An author name is not an extension, and I think debaters tend to breeze over conceded arguments without impacting them out in the way I talked about above. If you think an argument is conceded or mishandled, it still needs to be explained in the final speeches.

I'm not too familiar with a lot of the kritikal literature bases besides Virilio and anthropocentrism (and somewhat Buddhism. Daoism because I've been on a mindfullness binge recently), so keep that in mind when explaining your arguments. I still love hearing kritiks, just be sure to make your arguments as clear as possible.
I haven't heard a lot of debates on this topic, so try and keep that in mind if you were planning on throwing around a lot of acronyms at a fast pace. Making your arguments clearer can only be good for your speaker points.

I like hearing specific disads, generic ones are fine too if you can contextualize the link to your argument to the affirmative. Same thing with kritiks.
I'll be glad to answer any more specific questions you have before the round.

Disads

I prefer specific disads, but of course that's not always possible. I find that disad links can be pretty awful, and think that it can be a great place for an aff to gain some ground against the disad. However, I think that disads with strong and well-explained links can be extremely convincing. Politics disads can either be underwhelming if extremely generic, or very solid arguments if your link story is a bit more nuanced then "some people in congress hate the plan, so congress will suddenly decide they hate immigration reform.".

I did mainly kritikal debate in college, but in highschool I was more policy oriented, so don't be afraid to lean more policy infront of me. I actually find 8-off debates to be pretty interesting sometimes; I think that they force interesting strategic decisions and require a certain skill to both answer and execute well.

Counterplans

I am not a fan of conditions counterplans, or any other counterplan that causes a very small change in the process the aff goes through (consult counterplans also fall under this category). I tend to think that they form boring and repetitive debates. I will still vote on them if you are winning the argument, but I find the theoretical objections to them to be pretty convincing. I am a huge fan of specific pics. Any well-researched and well debated pic will likely give your speaker points a boost. I am not a fan of generic pics, or some of the old-fashioned word pics, such as the "the" pic. I think advantage counterplans can be extremely strategic, especially when paired with a strong disad.

Kritik

Kritiks are great, but I am not very familiar with a lot of the more complex kritikal literature. This means you have to make your explanation of the argument clear to me, or I'll have a hard time voting on it. I have no problem with affirmatives that don't defend government action as long as they are relevant to the topic or have a convincing reason not to be, but at the same time I have no problem voting for framework if the negative gives me convincing reasons why debates about government action are more useful than what the affirmative performance is trying to do. I would prefer negatives use well thought-out counter-advocacies over framework as those debates tend to be more interesting, but I do believe that framework has its place in debate.

I generally prefer that your link arguments prove that the aff makes the world a worse place in some way, rather than only prove that they are complicit in certain structures. I think that really talented kritikal debaters are proficient at framing their link arguments in offensive ways that show how an aff replicates problems in the world, rather than just claiming that the aff doesn't acknowledge a problem. The exception to this is if you can win substantial framing arguments that mean I should ignore the aff entirely.

I find anthro to be one of the most persuasive arguments in debate, and mourn its disappearance.

Topicality

I'd generally prefer a DA or K, but I think that topicality debates can be interesting in their own way. I think that high school debaters tend to expand the topic a little bit too far, and get away with affs that might not necessarily be topical. Running topicality against a clearly topical aff will most likely not get you anywhere, and should probably be replaced with more viable arguments.

Framework

I decided to make a separate section for this, since I've been judging it a bit more and have more thoughts about it now. I think that sometimes teams forget that when i vote on framework, I'm voting on an interpretation of how debate should be, rather than voting on whether a team broke some "rule" of debate or not. Your argument could of course be that I should vote them down because they broke a rule, but I find this less convincing than arguments about what debate ought to be. I think that ways of mitigating the other team's offense is vital in these debates. For the neg, those would be SS args, TVA args, or any other argument about how your interpretation doesn't exclude their education. For the aff, this usually takes the form of criticisms of the neg's ideas of education.

A lot of the framework debates I've judged seem to focus on the aff alone, rather than the entire interpretation. I think that this is a mistake, and I would like to see teams tying their arguments back to their interpretations rather than just ignoring the interpretation after extending it and proceeding to talk about how unfair the specific aff is. I find a lot of aff interpretations to be very vague, take advantage of this when you make your predictability and limits arguments.

As a final note on framework, I think that novel and strategic aff interpretations could get you further than just "teams have to talk about the topic".

Theory

I find that there are certain arguments in debate that seem polarizing, as far as if they are beneficial arguments that should be used in debate or not. For these arguments that do seem to spur disagreement, I think that theory can be a fantastic argument against them, and would enjoy seeing an in-depth theory debate about them. On the other hand, theory arguments arguing that you shouldn't speed read, that counterplans are bad for debate, or that kritiks belong in LD, I do not find convincing. You're not likely to win on these arguments unless the other team severely mishandles them, so you might as well actually engage in their arguments instead of trying to just ignore them. A questionable argument that has been well-researched and has specific evidence is much more likely to look legitimate to me than a generic counterplan that just pushes the aff back a year and claims a politics net benefit. I think that clash is one of the most important parts of debate, and that if an argument disagrees with the actual content of the 1AC in a substantial matter, it should be permitted in debate. If an argument tries to avoid clash in unhealthy ways (mostly in ways that don't promote topic-specific research), then I am more likely to decide that these arguments are illegitimate.

Conditionality -

I think that more than two conditional arguments is pushing it, but I do not think there is much merit to saying that the negative cannot get even 1 conditional argument. If there's one conditional argument your time is probably better spent on debating the substance of the debate. I also think that you should make your argument as nuanced as possible, for example instead of saying just conditionality is bad, say that multiple contradictory conditional worlds is bad.

Speaker Points - I haven't judged enough rounds to have a well though-out system of giving speaker points, but in general better arguments will get better speaker points, and more persuasive speakers will get better speaker points. I also enjoy hearing novel arguments, especially in areas of debate where you often hear the same arguments over and over again, such as theory debates.

I rarely judge this event. Assume I know nothing about the topic, but I am probably somewhat familiar with the critical literature base you're drawing from. I have a hard time voting aff in LD debates because of the huge time discrepancy that makes it seem as if there are a lot of dropped arguments. To get around this, I suggest grouping arguments often as the affirmative, and making it clear how your impacts outweigh any risk of what the negative is talking about, bringing up at least a few specific examples in the process.

Jesse Keleman Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat January 6, 2024 at 3:42 AM CDT

Policy Debate

I would like to be on the email chain if there is one. my email is jessekeleman@gmail.com

Every time I try and cut down my paradigm it gets longer. So here's a brief summary:

I haven't judged much on the nukes topic, so keep that in mind

Enunciate tags

Spread full-speed through your blocks and all their wonderful sub-points at your own risk

Tell me why it matters that you won an argument (even a conceded one)

I don't have strong argument preferences, do whatever you want. I've put my general proclivities for each argument below

An author name (alone) is not an extension

Don't take my paradigm to heart, use it as a general reference. You can see how long it is and I've probably already forgotten half of it

Basic philosophy

I debated at UT and debated for 4 years at Grapevine in highschool. I'm currently a lawyer (not an expert on personhood). I really like well-researched PICs.

Disads

I find anthro to be one of the most persuasive arguments in debate, and mourn its disappearance.

Topicality

Framework

As a final note on framework, I think that novel and strategic aff interpretations could get you further than just "teams have to talk about the topic".

Theory

Sahara Khan Hire 6 rounds

David Kilpatrick Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Wed April 3, 2024 at 12:06 PM CDT

New - NDT 24. Welcome to Atlanta!

The only things you really need to know:
1. If you berate, threaten, verbally or physically attack your opponents, I will end the debate and you'll recieve a loss along with the lowest points tabroom will allow me to asign.
2. Don't endorse self-harm.
3. Arguments admissable for adjudication include everything said from when the 1AC timer starts until the 2AR timer ends. Anything else is irrelevant.

Other than that, do what you do best. Technical debating is more likely to result in you winning than anything else.

I am a coach at Emory, Liberal Arts and Science Academy and The Harker School. Other conflicts: Texas, Westwood, St Vincent de Paul, Bakersfield High School

Email Chain: yes, cardstealing@gmail.com

You will receive a speaker point bump if you give your final rebuttal without the use of a laptop. I will give higher points to speeches with errors/pauses/inconsistencies etc. where the speaker debates off their flows than speeches that sound crystal clear and perfect but are delivered without the speaker looking up from their computer screen. If you flow off your laptop I will use my best judgement to assess the extent to which you're delivering arguments in such a way that demonstrates you have flowed the debate.

Ultimately, do what you do best. Giving speeches you're comfortable with is almost certainly a better path to victory than attempting to adapt to any of this stuff below. Debate is extremely hard and requires immense amounts of works. I will try to give you the same level of effort that I know you've put in.

Debate is an activity about persuasion and communication. If I can't understand your argument because what you are saying because you are unclear, haven't explained it, or developed it into a full argument-claim, warrant, impact, it likely won't factor in my decision.

The winner will nearly always be the team able to identify the central question of the debate first and most clearly trace how the development of their argument means they're ahead on that central question.

Virtually nothing you can possibly say or do will offend me [with the new above caveat] if you can't beat a terrible argument you probably deserve to lose.

Framework- Fairness is both an internal link and an impact. Debate is a game but its also so much more. Go for T/answer T the way that makes most sense to you, I'll do my best to evaluate the debate technically.

Counter-plans-

-spamming permutations, particular ones that are intrinsic, without a text and with no explanation isn't a complete argument. [insert perm text fine, insert counter plan text is not fine].

-pretty neg on "if it competes, its legitimate." Aff can win these debates by explaining why theory and competition should be separated and then going for just one in the 2ar. the more muddled you make this, the better it usually is for the neg.

-non-resolutional theory is rarely if ever a reason to reject the team. Generally don't think its a reason to reject the argument either.

-I'm becoming increasingly poor for conditionality bad as a reason to reject the team. This doesn't mean you shouldn't say in the 2ac why its bad but I've yet to see a speech where the 2AR convinced me the debate has been made irredeemably unfair or un-educational due to the status of counter plans. I think its possible I'd be more convinced by the argument that winning condo is bad means that the neg is stuck with all their counter plans and therefore responsible for answering any aff offense to those positions. This can be difficult to execute/annoying to do, but do with that what you will.

Kritiks

-affs usually lose these by forgetting about the case, negs usually lose these when they don't contextualize links to the 1ac. If you're reading a policy aff that clearly links, I'll be pretty confused if you don't go impact turns/case outweighs.

-link specificity is important - I don't think this is necessarily an evidence thing, but an explanation thing - lines from 1AC, examples, specific scenarios are all things that will go a long way

-these are almost always just framework debates these days but debaters often forget to explain the implications winning their interpretation has on the scope of competition. framework is an attempt to assign roles for proof/rejoinder and while many of you implicitly make arguments about this, the more clear you can be about those roles, the better.

-i'm less likely to think "extinction outweighs, 1% risk" is as good as you think it is, most of the time the team reading the K gives up on this because they for some reason think this argument is unbeatable, so it ends up mattering in more rfds than it should

LD -

I have been judging LD for a year now. The policy section all applies here.

Tech over truth but, there's a limit - likely quite bad for tricks - arguments need a claim, warrant and impact to be complete. Dropped arguments are important if you explain how they implicate my decision. Dropped arguments are much less important when you fail to explain the impact/relevance of said argument.

RVIs - no, never, literally don't. 27 ceiling. Scenario: 1ar is 4 minutes of an RVI, nr drops the rvi, I will vote negative within seconds of the timer ending.

Policy/K - both great - see above for details.

Phil - haven't judged much of this yet, this seems interesting and fine, but again, arguments need a claim, warrant and impact to be complete arguments.

Arguments communicated and understood by the judge per minute>>>>words mumbled nearly incomprehensibly per minute.

Unlikely you'll convince me the aff doesn't get to read a plan for topicality reasons. K framework is a separate from this and open to debate, see policy section for details.

PF -

If you read cards they must be sent out via email chain with me attached or through file share prior to the speech. If you reference a piece of evidence that you haven't sent out prior to your speech, fine, but I won't count it as being evidence. You should never take time outside of your prep time to exchange evidence - it should already have been done.

"Paraphrasing" as a substitute for quotation or reading evidence is a bad norm. I won't vote on it as an ethics violation, but I will cap your speaker points at a 27.5.

I realize some of you have started going fast now, if everyone is doing that, fine. However, adapting to the norms of your opponents circuit - i.e. if they're debating slowly and traditionally and you do so as well, will be rewarded with much higher points then if you spread somebody out of the room, which will be awarded with very low points even if you win.

Ishmael Kissinger Moore High School

Last changed on Thu January 4, 2024 at 5:30 AM CDT

Last Updated 12/5/2021

Ishmael Kissinger
Experience: 3.5 yrs for The University of Central Oklahoma 02-05 (Nov/JV & Open)
14 yrs as Coach @ Moore High School, OK
Policy Rounds Judged: Local ~10
Policy National/Toc - 2
LD Rounds Judged Local: 0
LD National/TOC - 0

PFD - Local = 0

PFD Nat Circuit - 0

Email Chain: PLEASE ASK IN ROUND - I cannot access my personal email at school.

*Note: I do not follow along with the word doc. I just want to be on the chain so that I can see the evidence at the end of the round if necessary. I will only flow what I hear.

LD -

Just because I am primarily a policy judge does not mean that I think LD should be like 1 person policy. Small rant: I am tired of us making new debate events and then having them turn into policy... If you are constructing your case to be "Life & Util" and then a bunch of Dis-Ads you probably don't want me as your judge. If you are going for an RVI on T in the 1AR you probably don't want me as a judge. I don't think that LD affs should have plan texts. If I were to put this in policy terms: "You need to be (T)-Whole Res."

Affirmatives should have: a specific tie for their value to the resolution. An explanation on how their Criterion(a) operates in context of the value and the ballot. Contentions that affirm the whole resolution.

Negatives should have: a specific tie for their value to the resolution. An explanation on how their criterion(a) operates in context of the value and the ballot. Contentions that negate the whole resolution.

I tend to consider myself a flow oriented judge that tries to be as tab as any one person can be. Absent a framework argument made, I will default to a policy-maker/game-theorist judge. I view debate in an offense-defense paradigm, this means that even if you get a 100% risk of no solvency against the aff, but they are still able to win an advantage (or a turned DA) then you are probably going to lose. You MUST have offense to weight against case.

Generic Information:

Speed is not a problem *Edit for the digital age: Sometimes really fast debaters are harder for me to understand on these cheap computer speakers.

T & Theory need to be impacted with in round abuse. As the debate season goes on I tend to err more toward reasonability than I do at the beginning of the year. This is usually because as the debate year goes on I expect Negative teams to be more prepared for less topical arguments. This is generally how much judges operate, they just don't say it. I typically don't vote on potential abuse, you should couch your impacts on potential abuse in very real-world examples.

Please make impact calculus earlier in the debate rather than just making it in the 2nr/2ar

Kritiks are not a problem, but I am not really deep into any one literature base. This may put you at a disadvantage if you assume I know/understand the nuances between two similar (from my point of view) authors. **If you are going for a K or an Alt in the 2NR but are unsure if the aff is going to win the Perm debate and you want me to "kick the alt" and just have me vote on some epistemic turn you're only explaining in the overview of the 2NR you are not going to enjoy the RFD. If you think it's good enough to win the debate on with only a :30 explanation in the overview, you should probably just make the decision to go for it in the 2nr and kick the alt yourself.

When addressing a kritikal aff/neg I will hold you to a higher threshold than just Util & Cede the political, I'll expect you to have specific literature that engages the K. If this is your strategy to answering K teams I am probably not your "1."

I don't have a problem with multiple conditional arguments, although I am more sympathetic to condo bad in a really close theory debate.

CPs are legit. Just like judges prefer specific links on a Dis-Ads I also prefer specific Counter-Plans. But I will evaluate generic states/int'l actor CPs as well.

Dispo = Means you can kick out of it unless you straight turn it, defensive arguments include Perms and theory. (My interp, but if you define it differently in a speech and they don't argue it, then your interp stands)

DAs are cool - the more specific the link the better, but I will still evaluate generic links.

Case args are sweet, especially on this year's (2019) topic.

Personal Preferences:

Really I have only one personal pref. If you are in a debate round - never be a jerk to the opposing team &/or your partner. I believe that our community has suffered enough at the hands of debating for the "win," and although I don't mind that in context of the argumentation you make in the round, I do not believe that it is necessary to demean or belittle your opponent. If you are in the position to be facing someone drastically less experienced than yourself; keep in mind that it should be a learning process for them, even if it is not one for you. It will NOT earn you speaker points to crush them into little pieces and destroy their experience in this activity. If you want to demonstrate to me that you are the "better debater(s)," and receive that glorious 29 or maybe even 30 it will most likely necessitate you: slowing down (a little), thoroughly explaining your impact calc, clearly extending a position, then sitting down without repeating yourself in 5 different ways. If you opt to crush them you will prob. win the round, but not many speaker points (or pol cap) with me.

Alexis Kostun Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Fri November 10, 2017 at 5:58 PM UTC

Background:

Debated at Westwood 2008-2011. Debated at Gonzaga 2011-2013. Debated at NDT freshman year. Took time off from school 2013-2017 to work in politics & legal field. Currently finishing undergrad at Gonzaga.

I was a 1a/2n, although I have experience in all speaker positions. I was a policy debater in high school and took a k turn my final year at Gonzaga, so while I've got some experience on both sides of the aisle I have far more experience actually debating the politics disad. That said, I seem to have judged a lot of k on k only debates over the last few years. I'm happy to hear your critical arguments - I just want to remind you that I may not be an expert in whatever your k of choice is. Keep that in mind and rely on well explained and well warranted arguments, not author names and taglines.

Meta Level:

Honestly, I would rather hear you debate what you're good at than what you think I want to hear. What I want to hear is a good debate - make the choices most likely to give me that, rather than choosing a specific argument solely because you think I'll like it.

I am not going to call for every card/read the entire speech doc and just vote for whoever had the best cards. I don't think that's the point of this activity. I will only read the cards I think I absolutely have to read in order to make a decision. I am likely to also read any topicality/theory cards. Don't rely on me reading all the cards at the end of a round.

Topicality:

- I tend to have a very high threshold for reasonability arguments on topicality, and will default to competing interps when evaluating the debate unless you tell me what I should do instead. I do quite like topicality debates but this is an area where I will be hyper-technical when looking at the flow, so please keep that in mind.

K Debate:

- I am tired of links of omission. If you aren't talking specifically about the aff, I'm not interested in hearing another regurgitation of a generic k that isn't actually engaging the aff.

- I'm probably naturally inclined to lean towards a perm, so make sure you spend time there that is most fleshed out than repeating "the perm is a link though" several times.

Counterplans:

Generally, you're going to have a very hard time convincing me that the neg doesn't get to be conditional. I wouldn't suggest you sink a ton of time here. I will vote on theory arguments about the specific CP, but I will not vote for one tagline extension - it needs to be invested in just like any other argument. I tend to default to theory is a reason to reject the argument, not the team, unless you tell me how you would prefer I reconcile those situations.

Mostly importantly - just ask questions if you have them. Have fun!

Chelsea Krim Judson High School 6 rounds

Robert Lawrence Union HS 3 rounds

Last changed on Fri December 2, 2016 at 10:47 AM CDT

http://judgephilosophies.wikispaces.com/Lawrence%2C+Robert

This is the paradigm sheet I filled out on the wiki for nationals in Dallas 6 or 8 years ago. It's still fairly accurate, but I've probably evolved a little. Generally, what you need to know about me is that I was once very active at the regional level in debate, but as I've gotten older I now attend one or two tournaments a year at most. As such, I'll admit that I may not be current on the latest debate theory or arguments, but I've been around long enough to pick up most of what's going on. I pride myself on trying as hard as possible to avoid intervention and going by the flow. However, I will not abide disrespect towards other competitors, judges, or coaches. Have fun, fight hard, don't be a jerk.

--
Debate Background -- 4 years Charles Page HS outside of Tulsa, OK, 4 years at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK. Coached 1 year at Ponca City HS, OK. 10 years running a lab at Cameron University. I've also coached or assisted with programs in the Tulsa area (Jenks and Charles Page), and judged fairly consistently for 15 years.

Generally, I'd say my high school experience consisted of mostly in-state competition, with 6 or so trips to national circuit tournaments where we broke a few times. My college experience is mostly in CEDA at regional tournaments with some national circuit exposure.

Paradigm -- I've called myself tabula rasa for a long time. I prefer the debaters to explain why debate ought to function with their framework. However, I view nearly all theory arguments as paradigm debate. If you tell me on Topicality that theory shouldn't be considered because it takes away from the substantive parts of the debate, I'm going to remember that on your kritik or counterplan. Hence, the paradigm debate is ever present.

Kritiks -- I'll listen to any kritik, but my preference is for something that is at least related to the case or resolution. I also think that kritiks that have a consciousness raising element to them (changing the mind of the judge as an impact) have a higher burden because you then have to actually convince ME of it's validity, rather than arguing it would change the mind of potential others. I also think kritiks have become a crutch in debate. Once they are in the round, everything else seems to revolve around them, which makes good debate on the disad or case scenario less likely, although I have seen some excellent K rounds too. Consequently, I can be persuaded with good framework debate. You don't get a pass, but I'd love to see a round with solid scenario debate once in awhile.

Delivery -- I don't mind speed as long as it's clear. I really hate arrogance. You can win without being rude. I will tank speaker points for rudeness, I will not listen to hate speech or abusive language. You will lose. I have ignored an occasional slipped curse word, so long as it isn't hateful or becomes a habit. There's a huge difference in my mind between "Oh sh*t I forgot the perm" and using racist, sexist or homophobic language. By the way, that is NOT an invitation. It's still unprofessional.

Chris Leonardi Hire 6 rounds

Lindsey Lindsey Montgomery 3 rounds None

Evan Lope Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat November 10, 2018 at 12:27 PM CDT

I debated for four years at Wylie High School (currently a student at UT Austin) in Lincoln Douglas and Policy on several different circuits, so whatever style you debate in is alright, though I tend to prefer faster and more intense rounds with a lot of clash.
Philosophy: Tabula Rasa
Short version: I consider myself straight tab with a tendency to vote on whatever the debaters emphasize as the most important with a default to policymaking if necessary (and stock issues if it really comes to that). I’ll vote on essentially anything except offensive/morally unacceptable case turns (i.e. racism good, genocide good, etc.), and I have a high threshold on T and Theory.
Long version:
General: I won’t make arguments for you, have clear extensions with warrants, don’t just shout authors at me and expect me to remember exactly what they said. I’ll vote on pretty much anything as long as it’s well-warranted, but I’ll default policy-maker if needed. It’s okay to be somewhat aggressive but don’t be openly rude (that’s not helping anyone within the debate or out).
Speed: Speed’s not an issue. I’ll stop flowing if you’re not clear.
Prompting/Open CX: Depends on the circuit since they all have different rules. UIL: No prompting, no open CX; not my rule, it’s theirs, so if you prompt, I’ll have no choice but to give you a drop. NFL/NSDA: at the discretion of the teams and/or other judges (in the case of a panel). TFA/TOC: go for it; if one team is uncomfortable with it that’s at your discretion, you do what you want in terms of prompting; don’t try to make it a rules/voting issue because it’s legal and if you go for it you will not win. Other circuits: I probably will be more lenient in unclear settings, so if the rules are unclear, I'll treat prompting as acceptable.
Rules/Violations: In the case of accusations rule-breaking such as use of cell phones/internet or card-clipping, the round will be stopped and the tournament director will be contacted, so don’t go stopping a round on a false alarm or worse trying to make rules a debate argument; this is above that so take it seriously.
T/Theory: Like I said, I have a high threshold. For T, don’t run a generic T as a time suck; it wastes time on both side and drains the quality of the debate, and I will know what you are doing and I will not like it). Running theory is fine but I likely won’t vote on it unless it is the focus of the last speech, so unless you plan on going all in on theory in the 2AR, it’s better not to waste your time.
Framework: Framework debate is fine by me (and sometimes necessary to a well-organized round); it’s not a voting issue itself, but allows a lens as to what the voting issues are, so don’t go completely in on framework in your last rebuttal, but rather use it to frame your arguments as the most important in round. Remember, framework alone will not win you a debate.
Case arguments: In a policy round, case is essential on both sides, so make sure you spend enough time developing your case in the 1AC, attacking it in the 1NC, and making extensions. Obviously you don’t have to spend a majority of your time on case, but make sure it’s addressed since it is the reason for all of the arguments made in the round.
Disadvantages: DAs are usually necessary (especially in a policy-oriented round), so generic DAs are fine as long as they’re unique and you have a good link. Also, don’t just run a bunch of DAs at the beginning of the round and go for all of them; a few well-developed arguments is way better than not narrowing down enough for the rebuttals.
Counterplans: CPs are fine (condo, dispo, any status is okay). Make sure you have a clear CP plan text; if not, it’s not a CP and just a fancy and terrible case argument that will not win you a round. I don’t have a preference on whether or not they’re topical, but make sure they’re competitive (but if it’s not it’ll usually be taken care of in the perm debate).
Kritiks/K affs: Ks are find and I love K debate, so feel free to run whatever (as long as you have warrants). Discourse/Language Ks are fine if there’s a link, but I prefer you run ones that have an active effect (i.e. Gendered Language, Ableism, Race, etc.) rather than spending your 2NR on a grammar K about the word “the” in the resolution. Philosophy Ks are fine and encouraged, but make sure you know how to run them, and be prepared for a framework debate (it might be good to run a K framework shell in the 1NC on top of the K proper).
Perf Cons/Multi-Worlds: While I’m fine with perf cons and multi worlds, avoid going for multiple contradictory arguments in the 2NR (for perf cons you shouldn’t be doing this anyway), or I’ll err aff on contradictory arguments. Also, don’t cross-apply arguments across contradictory arguments; it makes no sense and is heavily abusive.
Happy Debating!

Post-Addition: Extemp and Congress
Even though extemp is a purely speech event and congress is a mix of a speech and debate event, but my philosophy will likely be the same for both: content and speaking skills are weighed equally for me in these events. In extemp, good analysis of the topic through REAL sources is just as important and presenting this analysis in a sophisticated and relaxed manner; in congress, clash between speeches and addressing fellow representatives/senators is important to keep the debate fresh, as well as presenting your analysis in a proper fashion. Any other questions can be directed to me at Evan.Lope13@gmail.com.

Jacob Lundquist Winston Churchill HS 6 rounds

Ryan Malone Hire 6 rounds None

Annie Marple Milpitas 3 rounds None

Jacob Marsh Norman North High School 3 rounds

Kasi McCartney Benton HS 6 rounds

Last changed on Fri February 9, 2024 at 1:42 PM CDT

Current Debate Coach at Caddo Magnet HS

LHSSL Executive Secretary

email: Kasi.mccartney@gmail.com

Please show up on time. Have email chains, stands and other needs set up before the start time of the round.

I generally look to the fastest and easiest way to resolve the debate. In order to win you should make clear impact calculus throughout the debate and provide a specific path for round resolution in the 2NR/2AR. First tell me how you win the round, then tell me why even if I buy into some of the other team's arguments you should still win. This is how you win my ballot.

I default to a policy maker framework. I will vote for non-policy strategies but they MUST present a clean structure for their impacts. I prefer the affirmative to have a plan text. I do not consider myself an activist or that my role is to balance forces within the debate community.

Identity Politics - You should probably not pref me. You MUST have a link to the aff or specific in round actions for me to vote on this. I understand and sympathize with the issues in round, but this is not my preferred argument. It will take a lot of convincing to get me to vote on a strategy that is outside the resolutional bounds. I ultimately believe that traditional forms of debate have value.

Theory – I think theory is definitely a voting issue, but there needs to be some form of in round abuse for me to truly buy that it is a reason alone to reject one team or the other. I do not think that simply kicking a CP in block is a time skew that is truly worth voting against a neg team unless there are other circumstances. I don't like CP's with lots of planks. I think that it makes the debate too messy.

Case - I must say I have a hard time being persuaded that the negative has enough weight on their side to win with only case defense and a DA. What can I say, I'm a product of the late 90's. I much prefer to have a CP/K in there to give the flexibility, especially with a topic that allows for affirmatives to have heavy military impacts. Please be careful and make sure that if you takea case only route that you attack each advantage with offense and have a very very weighty DA on your side.

Kritiks- Not my bread and butter, although I do understand their strategic benefit, having come from an underfunded public school. It is my preference that K’s have a clear order and structure. I will vote on the K if you win that your impacts outweigh the impacts of the plan and that there is a true need for action, but I would not be the judge to introduce an extremely loose and unstructured argument to. I understand and buy into threat construction and realism claims, but in the end, I much prefer a well executed CP and politics debate to a poorly executed critical strategy. You will need to a have link specific to the plan. Links based off of the SQ will not be enough for me.

Framework - I default to the framework that the aff can weight the impacts of their plan versus the impacts of the neg.

Impacts – I believe that impact analysis is at the heart of a judging decision. You are an advocate for your arguments and as such you should provide insight and analysis as to why your specific impacts are the greatest in the round, how they should be evaluated by the judge and how they change the evaluation of the impacts to the other team’s case. Without this assessment I feel like you leave too much wiggle room for the judge to pick their personal preference of impact.

T - normally I like T. I default to competing interpretations. I think CX checks for ASPEC. I dont buy RVI's. I like for there to be a robust discussion of specific ground loss and the impact that it would have on debate as a whole.

Speaker points- Speed can be an advantage in the round and should be encouraged, but always with the intent of being clear first. My ability to clearly understand your arguments is crucial to getting them evaluated at the end of the round. The ability to provide analytics and analysis in the round will get you much further with me. As far as CX is concerned, I simply ask that the person who is supposed to be asking/answering the questions, gets the first shot at speaking. If they ask for help that’s perfectly fine, but don’t overwhelm your partner’s ability to conduct their own cx. Baseline speaks for me is 28.5 and you move up or down from there. I hardly ever give above a 29.5

Keaton McDonald Westwood High School 6 rounds

Conor McKinley Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Mon February 24, 2020 at 4:20 PM EDT

I want to be on the chain: cmckinleytx@gmail.com

I debated at Houston Memorial for three years, and am in my senior year debating for UT Austin.

I don't do any high school topic research and I only judge once a year at the Longhorn Classic. Slow down a little bit please and don't assume I know whatever topic acronyms you're referencing.

I don't care what you say -- just do what you do best. If I'm judging you, you're not here for me, I'm here for you. Most of the following is just some stuff I think about debate -- if you just got a pairing with me on it then you're better off prepping than reading the rest of this.

If you think an argument is terrible, you should beat it easily, or you deserve to lose.

Fine for framework, fine for an aff without a plan. I think procedural fairness can be a terminal impact.

I don't want to adjudicate stuff that happened outside the debate.

I'm more likely to vote for a 2nr/2ar that identifies the central question of the debate and has robust impact framing than one that dumps 20 pieces of offense and hopes I can put an RFD together. I will generally read all the evidence extended in the final rebuttals if time permits, but help yourself by telling me how to read it and what to look for - both your own ev and your opponents.

Role of the ballots are almost always stupid. Do impact calculus instead. Perm do the aff is not an argument and neither are links of omission. Tech over truth at the margins.

I will hold the line on new 2ar arguments. If it's not in the 1ar don't waste your time - unless you can justify it with a new 2nr arg. Whether or not the 1ar gets to make new arguments is up for debate.

Cross Ex is my favorite part of judging. Take it seriously, and use what you get from it in speeches. It's always annoying when someone has a devastating cross x and then their partner wasn't paying attention and it gets wasted. I flow cross x.

Don't clip. Please be funny.

I won't kick an advocacy unless you tell me to.

Good luck and have fun!

Ben Mitchell Hire

Last changed on Thu January 5, 2017 at 2:36 AM CDT

Ben Mitchell
Kinkaid 09-13
University of Texas 13-17
Currently coaching Austin SFA

While debating for Kinkaid I spoke all four speaker positions. On the negative, I both extended and went for a variety of arguments, from topicality to politics to conditions to psychoanalysis. On the affirmative I have read both hard right affs and more critical affs while still defending a plan text.

1. While debating, my coaches would always tell us "have fun, be smart, and debate well," and if forced to choose, I would chose the first. As a debater, I found the being smart and debating well were frequently positively correlated with how much fun I was having. And as a judge, if you're having fun, I find the debate more engaging and am likely to reward that with higher speaker points. A corollary of this is be nice. Very few things hurt your ethos more than when you're unnecessarily mean to your opponents and/or your partner. You don't all have to be best friends, but it also shouldn't feel like a war zone.
2. For the Oceans topic - I've judged the grapevine tournament, the greenhill round robin, and the greenhill tournament proper. I was not involved, however, in summer camp on the oceans topic, so outside of the aff's I've seen I know fairly little about the topic. If you're reading some hyper specific strategy on the neg or a small squirrely aff assume a fairly low level of background knowledge on my part. Try to be extra crisp on explanation, if you do so I will be happier and more likely to vote for you.
3. While I have done all speaker positions, I've found that when reading evidence and evaluating rounds I can sometimes think like a 2N. This is something I try to avoid as much as possible, however it still lingers. What does this mean for you as a debater though? I find that my 2N tendencies come about most in rounds where the final rebuttals include very little evidence comparison or impact analysis, and I'm left to decide with very little weighing mechanisms provided by both teams. If either the 2nr or the 2ar are able to provide me with a lens to view the debate (try or die, timeframe, which impacts control the escalation of others, filtering the entire link debate through the permutation, necessary vs sufficient, etc.) then I will be much more sympathetic to their position, less likely to intervene, and more likely to vote for them.
4. Evidence is not necessary or sufficient to make arguments. Many positions can be mitigated substantially by pointing out logical inconsistencies or reading ununderlined portions of the cards, and cross-x is probably the best time to set this up. Similarly, if all you do in the 2ar is tell me that X piece of evidence is super hot and I should call for it after the round without explaining its warrants or impacting it, you have not made an argument, and would have been better off substituting that for analytics.

I find myself judging clash of civilization debates fairly often. It's safe to assume that I would always prefer to hear a negative strategy that attempts to engage the affirmative in these debates, however I am sympathetic to the framework position and am willing to pull the trigger if I think the negative has done a better job in that debate.

Speaker Points

Basic rundown of how I view speaker points
29 and up = I think you should be top few speakers
28.7-28.9 = Impressive debating, high speaker award, definitely should clear
28.4-28.6 = Few technical problems, in the running for clearing
28-28.3 = A number of technical problems, still excecuted a coherent strategy
Paperless

You should have a viewing computer available if the other team needs one
If your computer crashes, we can stop the debate, however I highly encourage you flash your speeches to your partner and will be marginally impressed if you can do a smooth transition in the event of your computer shutting down

Prep
You don't need to take prep to flash, please don't abuse that privilege though
Pleaseeee keep track of your own prep, I'm lazy and usually won't write it down

Roberto Montero Westwood High School 6 rounds

Last changed on Mon October 21, 2019 at 9:22 AM EDT

Roberto Montero, Bronx Science ’16, Binghamton ’20. I debated 4 years in high school and broke at the ToC if that means anything to you.

There are two types of arguments in debate (and their inverses): smart arguments and good arguments. Some arguments happen to be both but most of the time they are neither (thus either a bad argument or a not-so-intelligent argument). A smart argument is well-researched, nuanced, and interesting. Good arguments are strategic and effective at winning debates. For example, the politics disad is a ‘good argument’ in that it wins a lot of debates and can be executed and deployed to perfection in the correct hands. That doesn’t make it a smart argument because every novice can tell you that it doesn’t reflect real politics outside of a basic uniqueness claim (which half the time is cut out of context because news articles aren’t written as conclusive as cards are purported to be). A smart argument isn’t always good however. If you have a critique that you’ve put a grad thesis amount of work into, it might make some interesting observations about the world/aff but may not be the most strategic.

Understanding the distinction between these two types of arguments is a recipe for combining them and developing the most well rounded arguments and a higher quality of debates. However, it isn’t my job to sit behind my laptop and mock the quality of your arguments, rather it is up to you as debaters to develop and articulate your arguments as such. When judging I do my best to let debaters do the debating so regardless of what my opinions/thoughts on your arguments are, as long as they are warranted, impacted and clearly extended throughout the speeches. This is also important for understanding how I judge debates—framing your rebuttals with important technical concessions on the line by line is valuable in making my decision easier and not make me sift through dropped arguments on both sides.

The biggest problem in most debates starts with that whole line by line thing. Teddy Albiniak taught me that one of the ways that high schoolers develop bad habits is through imitating prominent college debaters. The thing that bothers me the most is the reliance on 7/8 minute overviews. While this may be something that works for some very talented college debaters, generally it shouldn’t be a tactic employed by most. There is a place for an overview, and it serves a valuable and strategic function but there is such a thing as excessive. This is one of the biggest tradeoffs with engaging in the line by line in general which is pretty important.

*This last portion, like most of my paradigm, assumes a basic model of debate. This means that if you present an alternative model of debate and a different metric for evaluating arguments I will accept that. To quote Alain Badiou It’s only a principle, it’s not a programme. Debate isn’t standard and that is one of the things that makes it such an enjoyable and valuable activity, so take this with a grain of salt.

The second biggest problem is case debating. ~~Newsflash~~ most affs are bad. Not even most, definitely all of the affirmatives are bad. One of the best way to satisfy judges (and me) is by exploiting that on the case page. The threshold for smart 1nc case analytics is a little high but by the block some smart engagement with the warrants and internal links of the 1ac, especially at a basic, logical level, can only help you in the long run. This is particularly important for me as a judge because I can easily justify pulling the trigger on a presumption/0 risk of the aff type argument if mishandled by the affirmative and well-articulated/nuanced by the negative. This is not to say it’s impossible to be aff or that even that the standard is higher but that you should be prepared to defend the 1ac against larger level solvency questions.

We also need to talk about presumption. It is important, especially versus critical affirmatives. If your aff cannot answer the question of why the ballot is key or implicate it in any sense, you have abdicated my role as an adjudicator. All I can really do is enter a team that is victorious on a ballot, just saying that this is obvious does not mean the issue goes away. Perhaps this contradiction is too much to overcome in 8 minutes of a 1ac, and maybe is a problem with how we construct affirmatives but something persuasive needs to be said that doesn't amount to "You're right nothing we said or do matters but you should vote for us anyways" in 1ac cross-x.

Tl;dr please debate the case. Just do it. Like cigarettes and overviews it’s not cool just because the big kids do it.

As for specific arguments I don’t have much to say on all the ~nuances~ of agent counter plans or the intricacies of politics disad theory. I think the go through every issue thing is cliché and generally just a waste of time. If you have any specific questions about my thoughts on some random thing I’d be happy to answer it but I won’t bother to write down an arbitrary opinion on the 7th subpoint of some condo block from 2006. The only issue worth addressing (and what I’m almost confident is the only thing people look at) is framework.

Framework

The biggest problem with framework is that a lot of 2nr’s seem to forget to extend an impact. And when they do remember to extend an impact it turns out to just be a really bad impact. Although I’m willing to vote on a dropped fairness argument I’m still skeptical that the age old phrase ‘Debate is a game so fairness you broke the rules you lose’ meets the necessary threshold of an argument. If you plan on going for this impact in front of me make sure it is clearly articulated and not the same circular claim without a warrant.

What I think the so called ‘intrinsic’ value of debate is can be loosely understood as clash. The ability for two teams to debate the merits of competing positions seems valuable not only for education but is just plain fun. Not to say that clash is an impact in it of itself because at some level it’s fundamentally inevitable, but it’s a question of what that clash looks like. This should structure how you articulate a framework impact (or answer one for that matter) most likely to get my ballot. If framework is a question of competing models or visions of debate then you just have to prove comparatively that your model produces better debates, skills or education.

The second biggest problem with framework debates is that negative teams let affs get away with too much. If the 2ar gets to stand up and weigh the entirety of the 1ac versus framework it puts you way behind. The easiest way for an affirmative to defeat framework is to complicate and problematize the way they have constructed the world. This means if you win some truth claims about your aff and the way the world operates through your theory or interpretation then it nullifies a lot of their arguments. For example if you read an affirmative that says the global system of capitalism is bad and the 2nr doesn’t answer the case debate, then what do their skills matter if they can only reproduce a system of capital you have critiqued. This, like any good framework rebuttal, requires a lot of framing and contextualizing the line by line through these bigger picture questions.

The best way for negative teams to check back against this is to just reduce the risk of the aff. You can look back up to that whole portion about case debating, it applies to K affs as well. The other necessary piece is a topical version of the aff. Obviously not helpful against an anti-topical aff but in a majority of framework debates a persuasive and nuanced topical version of the aff goes a long way in resolving a lot of their offense. It still requires a larger impact in conjunction because at the end of the day it is still a defensive argument.

Tl;dr don’t waste time, make good arguments, do line by line, debate the case, extend a framework impact, don’t say talks about how.

Matthew R. Moore Ruston HS

Last changed on Sat September 12, 2015 at 6:34 AM CDT

Matthew R. Moore - Debate Coach at Ruston High School

I have been coaching debate for two years and was a competitor in high school for four. I have a preference for policy rounds, but I will listen to whatever arguments you use and try to not insert my own opinions into the round as much as possible. More specifics below:

Topicality: I believe this is a burden affirmatives should meet. I have little sympathy for affs who claim that they don't have to be topical. That said, I don't find myself voting neg on topicality all that often. In most close T debate, I tend to side with the affirmative.

Disadvantages: I love DAs and enjoy a good DA debate. I like politics.

Counterplans: These are great too, especially when combined with DAs to make a great strat. You can run your counterplan however you like. I will also listen to any theory arguments you make, more on that below.

Kritiks: As I said, I'm a policy guy at heart, but I have no problem with teams running kritiks. Make sure you are clearly explaining what it is you are criticizing and how your alternative solves. Also, as much as possible, please avoid the esoteric language that makes some kritiks almost indecipherable. If I can't understand it, I won't vote for it.

Theory: I have a fairly high threshold for theory. I am much more likely to use theory to reject the argument rather than the team. If you want me to reject the team, there had better be a very serious violation.

Speed: I am fine with spreading. Please clearly distinguish between cards. Also, please slow down on your theory and analytics. If I can't flow it, I'm not going to give you the argument. I will say "clear" if I'm having trouble understanding you.

Case: I am used to traditional cases that have plan texts and advantages. If you are doing something different, I need to be clear on what you are advocating. As stated above, you need to be topical.

Other notes:

I do not take prep for flashing as long as you don't abuse it
I'm not a huge fan of flex prep
I like evidence to be clearly and specifically extended. Simply saying "extend my economy advantage" is insufficient.

Kevin Murphy Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Fri December 4, 2015 at 8:31 AM CDT

2A at Westwood high school in Austin Texas for 4 years (2011-2015).

(shout out to sam bhagwandin, I basically just copied 70% of his judge wiki. But please still read mine)

Whatever you want to say I will evaluate.
Please read the tips/preference section at the bottom if that’s all you have time for.

+Which arguments are best in front of you?

I’d prefer critical ones, but I’m cool for any argument that you can make interesting. Just know that while I’m cool with everything, I can’t promise that I will be super proficient in what your politics DA is about, but I’m not going to take it any less seriously.

Make sure I get it, but also that I care. While it’s easier to embellish a critical debate with rhetorical flair and intrigue (I’m looking at you – Deleuze or Baudrillard folks), that doesn’t mean you should do it. Any flow is good as long as you put in time to explain and defend though.

I’m best for the arguments you can connect to your opponents’ ideas, be that by comparing impacts, turning case, or creating K links. I’m best for arguments you can explain accurately, but without contrived misdirection (perhaps “embellishing” the debate with “rhetorical flair” isn’t always the move—you gotta put in your explanatory work first).

*If you’re just wondering what arguments I’m most knowledgeable about/proficient in: afro-pessimism, disabilities/crip theory, anthro, queer theory, all that jazz

Also if you’re reading a K aff against the Cap K, you should read internal link turns, perms, method comparisons, and DA’s to the alt instead of spending a lot of time debating the root cause flow cause honestly they’re probably going to win it, so you should just spend more time on what I’m likely to vote for.

+What stuff do you assume?

good defense *can* completely mitigate offense, and try-or-die is going to make-me-die if I hear it again. There’s a 1% risk I’ll vote on that argument.- sam’s joke but it still applies to me

you should flesh out competing interpretations/reasonability debates. I don’t want to have to default to competing interpretations.

:--Good--: perms, dropped arguments = true (if explained), reject the arg not the team, fiat, counterplans, open cx, speed, the use of evidence, and things that are coconut-flavored.

:--Bad--: (and real): Try-or-die, severance, intrinsicness, death, pain and suffering, misgendering opponents

Those are all negotiable by way of warranted arguments (except for misgendering opponents and coconut-flavored things being good)

+Talk about your beliefs on debating framework/T

Explain the link between your interpretation and your offense—why are you the only side that accesses that stuff. Treat this flow like a big impact comparison debate and also understand that I’m probably pretty biased against framework.

Inclusiveness is generally good—limitless ground is generally bad. Please navigate the waters in-between with care.

+What did you go for?

Neg --- On the negative we went for 1-off afro-pessimism every round

Aff --- The 2 aff’s I wrote and read were a fugitivity aff about slave pirates and a disabilities/crip theory aff about finding nemo

+Language K’s
misgendering your opponents is never cool
ableist metaphors are also never cool but only to certain words ( See – fine. Blind – bad. Stand – fine. Cripple/Paralysis – bad. Etc)

+Tips (preferences):

If you’re going for politics DA, please make sure you explain to me what the bill/act actually does. I don’t know what arguments people are running on this topic and it will go a long way for you if I know what it is you’re talking about.

Learn your opponents’ names and use them (sometimes).

Don’t misgender opponents

*THIS >>>> *Don’t say things are conceded or that your opponent “doesn’t have a warrant.” Both hurt your case by setting a low threshold for their response (all they have to muster is one cross application or one warrant….). Just say your stuff I’ll figure the rest out.***

Tags shouldn’t summarize evidence; they should be an argument, made by the debater. Evidence is merely support for what *you’re* saying. Debate is about you, my friend.

Verbatim sam’s but still applies à Do comparison, not explanation. Saying “our evidence is amazing because it [has these characteristics]” doesn’t *compare* it to another thing, it explains something. If you need help, use the word “whereas.” For instance, “our impact is bigger because it [has these characteristics], WHEREAS theirs does not, BECAUSE it’s [from The Onion].” (hopefully your comparison is a little more complex than that...)

Say “chance” instead of “risk”

Remy Nadeau Hire None

John Newton Casady School 6 rounds

Last changed on Thu December 3, 2015 at 9:01 AM CDT

Brief introduction, I debated at Moore High School for four years as a 2A on the Oklahoma circuit. We typically ran policy affirmatives and shotgun neg strats. After highschool, I was an assistant coach for Moore for another year, and have taken a year hiatus from debate to focus on my schoolwork. This tournament will be the first time I have judged a debate since then. In a nutshell, I would call myself a policy tab judge, but I have and will vote on the kritik. Here is how I evaluate most common arguments.

POLICY OFF CASE:

1. Disadvantages: Good old bread and butter argument. Specific links are good, and be sure to weigh the impact against the case impacts.

2. Case: Offense and defense is great, and case arguments are often underutilized to my taste.

3. Counterplans: I like them, but keep them reasonable. Counterplan theory is also fine, and I default to the flow when evaluating it.

THEORY/FRAMEWORK:

I like well articulated theory and framework debates. I am unlikely to vote on gut checks, and will default to the flow for theory and framework debates. Make sure the flow is impacted out with clear explanations of abuse. I tend to default to competing interpretations, but have voted on reasonability.

KRITIK/KRITIKAL AFF:

I have been advised by certain people (you know who you are) that I have been unclear on my position on the kritik. I will try to be as transparent as possible, in order to avoid confusion. I will vote on the kritik, but I am no authority on the literature. If you are a team that wants to go for one, be sure to have the argument impacted out so that I know exactly what I am voting on. I also need to know what the role of my ballot is and links to the affirmative need to be clearly articulated. Buzzwords and other jargon may have to be explained, and debate as if I have no knowledge on what you are talking about. This will likely not be the case, but it will help me greatly. Any team that can follow this guide will have no problem with me signing the ballot.

PERFORMANCE:

I will try my best, but I have virtually no idea how to judge these debates. Follow the above guidelines to see how my thought process works.

If anyone has any questions, please ask me before the round. I will be happy to explain anything that is unclear. I will also give an RFD (tournament and time permitting), and i encourage you to ask questions here as well.

Neill Normand Caddo Magnet HS 5 rounds

Last changed on Wed February 7, 2024 at 8:49 PM CDT

From the beginning, I think debaters need to understand that I was never a policy debater myself. I took over a successful team at Caddo when they needed faculty support, and the debaters and alums taught me the activity. Over the next fifteen years I learned enough to teach it to novices and intermediates. I judged actively for about fifteen years, but since bringing a new coach to our school seven years ago, I have not been in many rounds. If you want someone who is going to understand clipped references to acronyms or core camp affs that you think everyone already knows on the NATO topic, I am not that guy. You are going to have to break things down and explain. I am a flow judge, but very rusty.

Now, Caddo has been known as a fairly critical team over the last decade, and I have learned to appreciate those arguments a good bit. As someone who teaches sociology, psychology, and philosophy at my high school, I am sympathetic to many identity arguments, critiques of epistemology, etc. However, I am not going to be down with a lot of jargon-filled blocks on framework—you must explain why I should weigh your project or method against fairness arguments of the policy world. I like the kind of literature discussed in critical rounds, but I have voted for policy affs outweighing a critique in different debates, especially where the aff won the framework and the neg did not.

That being said, I am very comfortable listening to case, disad, counterplan rounds. I think topicality sets important rules of the game & so if you plan to flout those rules, you better have a compelling reason. I certainly value the kind of knowledge and skills that policy debaters learn through the activity.

Ethos matters. We all know how important cross-ex is to establishing a confident position, but don’t be rude. If you can have a really competitive round and still treat your opponent—and your partner!—with respect, then that goes a long way with me on speaker points.

Email chain—yes. nnormand.cmhs@gmail.com

I am not a proficient enough typist to flow on the laptop, but if you signpost your arguments well enough, I should be able to flow a debate at speed. Being able to read the evidence during the speech certainly helps me though.

Do what you do best in front of me, give full explanations of why I should vote for you, and you will be ok. Make blippy arguments that claim you won because of something that was barely in the debate and dropped by the other team—then no matter how pissed you act when “post-rounding” me at the end, you will still have lost.

This is a great activity. Have fun with it & don’t take yourself too seriously, then we all win.

Joseph Overman Coppell High School 6 rounds

Last changed on Wed November 8, 2017 at 1:10 PM CDT

Coppell HS '16

UT Austin '20

If you have any questions or want clarification, email me at JosephOverman@utexas.edu

I debated four years in high school (3 years of policy, one year of public forum). I debated in national circuit tournaments, so I'm pretty open to most types of arguments. I don't have any ideological disagreements with more kritikal/performance debate. I primarily read policy arguments, but you're welcome to read whatever you want in front of me and I'll evaluate it as objectively as I can.

Here's a breakdown of my thoughts on specific things:

Disads: Always okay. Reading aff specific DAs, or at least having an aff specific link, is preferred but not mandatory.

Politics: Probably the argument that I read and researched the most. Evidence is important, but being able to explain and compare pieces of evidence effectively is more impressive than having a card from one day later. Recency doesn't matter if you can't explain why it has any importance

Counterplans: Advantage counterplans are good. PICs are fine too as long as you can defend them theoretically. It's easier for some types (states) than others (consult), but the theory debate determines what is allowed and what isn't

Kritiks: They're fine. I know and read cap, security, etc... but probably won't know about obscure or topic specific Ks. You should still read them, just be able to explain them well and don't expect me to know all the buzzwords and jargon. If it's a PIK, call it a PIK. Don't throw in that it's a floating PIK in the middle of the 2NC and hope that it's dropped.

Performance affs: You can read whatever you're willing to defend. I never read a K aff so I don't have a lot of experience arguing from your side of things, but I don't think they're cheating or bad for debate or anything such as that.

Framework: My go to strategy against K affs was Cap and framework. Always make sure to explain your impacts. Limits is an internal link, not an impact.

Topicality: Same as above. Explain your impacts and why your interpretation is better than theirs.

Theory: Good theory debates are fun to watch, bad theory debates are not. Go beyond just reading blocks and actually engage the other side's arguments.

Conditionality: You can read as many conditional advocacies as you can defend. I usually read one K and one CP, but that doesn't mean that it's always okay. If the aff beats you on condo, then they beat you. I have my own opinions on what is okay and what's abusive, but my decision is based on how well both sides debate.

Prep: Prep time ends when you say you're done prepping. I don't count flashing/emailing as prep unless you start to abuse it. Please don't steal prep.

Closing thoughts: Have fun, be nice to everyone, don't read offensive arguments.

Emma Pabst Hire None

Jenny Phillips Hire None

Brittany Plange Casady School 6 rounds

Alec Ramsey Lindale 6 rounds

Last changed on Wed March 6, 2024 at 9:00 AM EDT

School: Baylor University 2016-2020

High School: Lindale High School

alecramsey23@gmail.com

The optimist boldly claims, "this is the best possible world." The pessimist retorts, "that is precisely the problem."

2019-2020 update.

How I think about debate:

Debate is first and foremost an educational activity. It is also a competition. The relationship between 'education' and 'competition' is constantly evolving and adapting, and there will never be a singular correct way to debate. My role is to adjudicate the round before me, and I'll do my best to evaluate the content of the debate without letting my personal beliefs about debate filter into my decision-making calculus. That being said, no judge is ever completely unbiased. Below are my thoughts about the specific content that is commonly found within debate.

Policy Affirmative v. Policy Negative:

These are the debates I am least familiar with. I read traditional policy arguments in high school, but never at an elite level. If I am in the back of one of these debates, prioritize offense. I like impact turn debates, since they are the most similar to critical debates in my mind. While judging these debates, I need framing parameters established preferably in the 2AC/negative block, but most certainly in the 2NR/2AR. Neutralize your opponent's offense (in whichever way you prefer: impact defense, turns case offense, counter-plans, etc.) and write the ballot for me in terms of what clear impact I am evaluating first. I am not a fan of debates with large amounts of off-case positions.

Policy Affirmative v. Critical Negative:

I'm extremely comfortable evaluating these debates since I have been in so many.

For the affirmative: Have a robust framework argument in the 2AC onwards. In most of these debates I feel like framework is a 20 second pre-written block and not a prioritized point of contestation. Framework is the easiest way for me to neutralize critical offense. Most links, especially on this topic, are not specific to affirmative. Point that out. Alternatives are weak and easy points for affirmative offense. Capitalize on this.

For the negative: Again, prioritize framework. You can win the debate on framework alone here, don't waste your opportunity. I feel for you that specific case links on this topic are difficult to find cards for, that's fine because you do not need a card to make your link argument specific to the plan. Alternatives do not need to 'solve' in a traditional sense. I evaluate debate as a research activity, thus contextualizing your alternative to the framework arguments and what that means in terms of how we produce research in the activity is important for me. Something else to note is that I like to think that I'm pretty well-read on any/every theory people generally advance within debate. That being said, the scholarship I have engaged with the most/know the most about are various flavors of 'high theory' (Baudrillard, Deleuze, Derrida, Bataille, etc.), structural criticisms (especially afropessimism) and Marxism. That means I have a high threshold for these arguments.

Critical Affirmative v. Policy Negative:

This is also a debate I'm very used to.

For the affirmative: Have a counter-model. You do not need carded interpretations, just a competing model for how debate should operate. I prefer that affirmatives have some tie to the resolution. Both teams will make arguments about the types of debate that occur under their model, you should explain what these debates look like, and more importantly, why they are better than the negative's interpretation of debate.

For the negative: I am most persuaded by offense centered on argument refinement and skills, since they are specific to the education produced by debate. Fairness is a difficult impact to win for me, I am much more inclined to believe that it is an internal link, not an impact by itself. Creative topical versions are always a great place to take out some of the affirmative's impact turns to your model. I am not persuaded that critical argumentation should not have a place in debate, it serves far too important of a role for the overall community. Keeping that in mind, explain how your model accounts for critical debates. I also believe that you MUST answer the case page to win the debate, because I am not convinced in most instances that T should come before the case. Read topic disadvantages, ask in cx if the affirmative will defend the links. Go for presumption.

Critical Affirmative v. Critical Negative:

These debates are some of the most important debates in the activity. That being said, they can sometimes get very messy. For both sides, I'd like the specific point of disagreement to be forwarded early in these debates. These debates tend to boil down to a question of which theory of power I should prefer, and that's the easiest way for me to evaluate offense in these rounds.

For the affirmative: Provide an explanation of how either A) the affirmative's theory resolves the questions of the negative's, B) why the two theories are not incommensurable (i.e. a permutation argument), or C) why the negative's theory is violent/incorrect/inadequate/etc.

For the negative: You must have link arguments to the affirmative. I am rarely persuaded an affirmative should not get the permutation (it is a test of competition). Creative solvency and link arguments are appreciated, indicts of the affirmative's theory and specific author indicts are appreciated. Utilize your theory of power as offense. I think these debates are easier for the negative when there is a framework argument about what the role of the debate is, and how I should evaluate both sides theory of power. Go for presumption.

Other:

Obviously do not use exclusive or violent rhetoric. Debate is an educational activity and I would wholeheartedly prefer that education be ethical. Depth > breadth. The relationship between tech and truth is tenuous for me. A dropped argument is not necessarily true or particularly important until it is flagged and explained in-depth as such. Be confident. If your speech is just 90 cards, do not expect good speaks. I value card-cutting ability and good evidence, but I'd much rather hear in-depth explanations of a few cards over a million cards, these debates are hardly educational in my mind. The only theory arguments I can really see myself caring about to vote on are conditionality and floating pik's bad.

All of the above being said, I will do my best to evaluate the debate however you would like, and try not to insert my own thoughts about how I personally view debate. Do your best, be confident.

Aaron Renaud Prosper HS 5 rounds

Kristel Renaud Prosper HS 4 rounds None

Dennis Savill Crossings Christian School 6 rounds

Pedro Segura Hire 6 rounds None

Dhruv Sehgal Hire

Last changed on Tue September 22, 2020 at 6:41 PM EDT

*Include me in the e-mail chain: dhruvsehgal@utexas.edu*

Hey, I'm Dhruv. I have been out of the activity for two years, and live very much outside the bubble of traditional academia. I run a global merchandising company and teach English in Asia (currently living and working out of China).

experience: 4 years debating at Binghamton (2012-2016), 2 years coaching at UT Austin (2016-2018), competed in the NDT 3x in college (2014, 2015, 2016). I graduated with a BA in English. I coached and debated mostly K arguments during my time in the activity, but I am open to policy-oriented arguments as well.

On Flowing:

- I will be flowing on paper since it helps me feel more actively involved in the debate and ensures I retain more information throughout the round.

- I promise you that you will have my full attention and engagement throughout the round. I will flow on paper during the speeches, write notes during CX and offer a detailed RFD after the round with my thoughts on how each team can improve.

Rules (updated for online debates):

- "I stopped prep at" versus "stop prep." I want to hear the latter, not the former. The former requires me to take your word about how much prep you used and I don't want to do that. This is especially true since I will be keeping track of prep time during the debate so I need to know when you stop prep (rule adopted from Matt Liu).

- Zero-tolerance policy when it comes to ad-hominem attacks or personal insults either at the opposing debaters or your partner. I will severely lower your speaker points and contact your coaches after the round if I hear this happening.

- Given this *new* online format, please slow down and pause between different arguments. I will tell you to slow down in the first few speeches if I can't understand you, but if speed continues to be an issue I will no longer remind you after the first few constructive speeches.

- I tend to be very verbally expressive during rounds, so be sure to look out for that throughout the round.

Preferences (updated for online debates):

- EFFICIENCY/EFFECTIVENESS: Being efficient and effective in your argumentation throughout the debate highlights to me a degree of professionalism and confidence in what you are saying and your understanding of the round. Focusing on clarity and the development of your arguments in the context of what the opposing team is saying (i.e clash) is something I care a lot about and increases the likelihood of both high speaker points and my vote. Be clear about your arguments from the outset, focus on being as efficient and effective with your flow (as possible) and we will all have a much better time in the debate.

- IMPACTS THAT MATTER: 'Why does what you are saying really matter?' is a question I will pose to myself throughout the debate (i.e what is the impact?). When you raise the stakes of the debate not only does it make you a better advocate for what you are discussing, it also helps me as a judge figure out what to prioritize when deciding my ballot. Doing this type of Impact Framing / Calculus really matters, especially in close debates.

- CASE DEBATE: This applies more if you are negative in front of me. Having a specific and well-thought-out debate about the contents of the Affirmative's case is always better and more persuasive than having a generic link story you could have read against any Affirmative on the topic.

If you have any questions either before or after the round, please e-mail me and I will get back to you in a timely manner. We are still learning the set of best practices during this time of transition to online debating, and as such I will update my paradigm as the year progresses based on new information. If you have any suggestions or would like to see anything else included in my paradigm, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Pia Sen Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat September 16, 2023 at 8:49 AM EDT

Add me to the email chain: pia.sen@utexas.edu

Did some coaching for Texas + judging through the NDT 2020-2021 season

Texas Debate 2016-2020

UT Dallas Debate 2015-2016

LASA Debate 2011-2015

Updated 09/16/2023

Online Debate:

Please go a bit slower (80% of normal speed) on tags and analytics to account for video lag. If you're willing, maybe put in analytics for the doc to mitigate tech issues.

Short of it:

Probably best for clash or K v. K debates - not super good for policy v. policy debates except for T (not an ideological thing, just lack of experience with those situations), but I will do my best to evaluate those as instructed. Please explain topic specific acronyms and jargon for now. I believe debate is more about combat than collaboration - there's a competitive incentive to win so though we do learn from each other and have important discussions, I don't feel super persuaded by claims about how we should all work together in a debate (yes, I am persuaded that debate is a game). My role as a judge is to evaluate the arguments in front of me unless given an alternative role.

I think debate is not about me (the judge) but about the debaters - college debate gave me my voice and so much more, helping me grow as a person. It is a game with implications that shape our lives, and I want you to debate the way you are drawn to and find those benefits in whatever form is most important for you. I will do my best to help make your time as fulfilling as possible. That being said, I have certain biases/ ways of seeing debate/ limitations which I will try to describe below - however, I can be persuaded otherwise.

Judge instruction is crucial. My most extensive involvement has been with NDT and CEDA college debate, so I will probably try to adhere to those norms when judging. Fine with framework arguments, fine with K's and K affs. Will probably not vote on theoretical objections to intrinsic or severance permutations. Do impact calculus. I will follow along with your ev. and read the cards as much as I can.

Judges I try to judge like: Brendon Bankey, Will Baker, Michael Barlow, Scott Harris, and David Kilpatrick.

Speaking:

If you spread through analytics with no warrants, I may miss something. I will say 'clear' twice then put down my pen. My flow is okay, but online debate has made that harder so take that as you will. I believe CX is speech time, and accordingly, you will be rewarded/penalized for good CX moments and smart questions. CX concessions and moments need to be brought up and explained/ impacted in speeches to be considered arguments on which I will cast my ballot.

My speaker point scale (I adjust to the tournament): I award speaker points for speaking style, strategy, CX, etc. I do tend to have a soft spot for clever strategic turns and CX moments so I think I probably tend to penalize speaking slips like "uh" or "um" less than most judges.

28.8 - average

28.9-29.3 - Quite good, I think you'll break even or be in early elims of the tournament

29.4 -29.6 - Probably top 15 speaker at whatever tournament (D3 regional)/ outrounds of a major

Case Debates:

Do it.

For policy affs - harder to get me to vote on presumption. For K affs, I am not afraid to pull the trigger on presumption - especially if you don't have a reason why the introduction of the aff into debate is a good idea, or why deliberation around it is good/ why the reading of the 1AC is insufficient to access the aff's educational project. If you just play music in the 1AC and claim that's the aff solvency mechanism, I need to know why this is a departure from the status quo or why the introduction of that pedagogy should be evaluated as something to be affirmed with the ballot. However, if you are going for presumption I would like to have an interpretation for what the aff should do to meet the burden of presumption (whether that be material change, or whatever).

Framework Debates:

I enjoy framework debates on both sides, and think they can be some of the most interesting debates when we discuss the value of debate and what education should be obtained from the deliberative process of the activity. Similarly, they can also be the most stale and least responsive regurgitation of blocks (on both sides).

I think fairness is just an internal link to education, but can be convinced otherwise.

If you go for CIs with framework (Aff teams):

While debate is probably just a game, the education produced is not neutral. I think that limits and clash as internal links to deliberation are persuasive when adjudicating a framework debate, so the aff should provide a counter-model of debate and what the debates that should occur within debate look like under the aff's model (what is the role of the aff? the neg?). Probably, there's a reason why the aff's introduction into debate is a good idea and why discussion over it is good- otherwise we wouldn't be here. Do that work to parse out your role of debate - I think it's best done through a model of competition. Additionally, do good work on the internal link turns to the neg's model of education (debates occurring under that model)

If you go for Impact turns vs. FW (Aff teams):

I'll vote on args like 'debate bad' but you need a reason why I should vote for you/ not vote on presumption/ what voting aff does.

For the negative reading FW:

Ground isn't really a great impact for framework debates in my opinion, because ground is sort of inevitable so going for a limits k2 deliberation impact is probably better.

Topicality Debates (other than T USFG):

T is fun! Do your impact work.

CP & DA Debates:

All good. Do what you need to do. I love Politics DAs and topic DAs. I don't feel super equipped when judging the theory components of consult or delay CP debates but I'll try. I love good advantage CPs.

Kritiks:

Contextualize the link and impact work to the aff you are debating, have a solid alt or a good framework explanation for why I don't need to vote on an alt for you to win the debate. I believe that debate is a question of scholarship production that shapes how we see the world, and so 'revise and resubmit' framework arguments are more persuasive to me than some. I think examples are awesome for contextualizing impacts and how the aff uniquely makes things worse, which is a question I need to be able to answer at the end of the debate to vote for you.

Please do your impact work in terms of the aff, and explain why those are relevant.

Misc:

Probably won't adjudicate based on things that happen outside of the round that I don't witness. Will evaluate in round impacts about performative aspects of the debate. Please no slurs for subject positions that you do not occupy. Decent judge for gendered/ableist/racist language arguments. You must impact out your theory arguments, and I will not vote on an argument that is not well explained with warrants.

Accessibility:

Let me know if there's anything I can do to help- feel free to email me or pull me aside if that is easier.

Lincoln-Douglas:

I do not judge this very often, will adjudicate it similar to a policy debate. Will probably not vote on cheap shot theory or "tricks" unless it is well explained.

Ayu Sofyan Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat November 26, 2016 at 12:43 PM EDT

Currently: freshman at the University of Texas – Austin (not debating)
Highschool: Hendrickson - Debated on the Latin American, Oceans, & Surveillance topic (2013-2016)
Also, please include me in your email chain: Ayu.sofyan98@gmail.com

As a judge, I’m open to all interpretations of debate, be persuasive, passionate, and explain your argument. I was always a 2A for all my years of high school - super policy my novice year, but my other 2 years, I was on the complete opposite side of the spectrum, that being said, I am open to almost everything and am down to vote for anything if you are able to explain your arguments. Do ya thing and I’ll do my best to follow along.

K Affs: I ran quite a bit of K aff’s during my time in high school (Baudrillard, Deleuze, Antiblackness, Foucault) – I really enjoy them, but I think they should have a strong tie to the topic, or else it makes it really easy for me to vote for framework/k. I also think it’s important to have an overview or extend case throughout the debate, make sure it remains prevalent and is thoroughly explained. Make sure the 2AR ties everything together – impact case out, hammer down on exactly why the 1ac mattered in the first place. Against framework: answer the standards, but make sure you utilize the offense and the method from the 1ac to answer back framework (why your aff specifically is gr8 for education, and all that jazz) – oftentimes, it gets lost

Kritiks: I was never a 2N, but all my 2N’s loved K’s – so with that being said, I’m pretty well read in critical literature. I’m familiar with most k’s (Antiblackness, Deleuze, Security, Cap, University, Liberalism, Cap, Nietzsche, Coloniality, Gender, Queer Theory, Anthro, etc). Make sure there is always alt explanations in the 2NR!! Don’t lose it within the debate - Be clear with what the kritik is, contextualize it to the aff, etc etc. Not the biggest fan of floating pik’s or kritiks with links of omission.

Counterplans: I’m down for them. Love specific counterplans to the aff. PICS are really really cool and I used to love doing research and debates on them (when competitive) with unique net benefits. However, not a big fan of cheating counterplans but if the other team doesn’t bring that up, more power to ya. Don’t go for theory by itself on the counterplan, at least extend a solvency deficit or something to answer it back. It’s p self-explanatory.

Disads: Love DA debates. Case specific DA’s are even better. Make sure the link is specific to the aff. I also love strong and updated cards. However, Updated date < Explanation. Explain why your cards are essential to the political sphere, etc– your evidence shouldn’t be extended and used in the expense of explanation. My favorite disad debates are mainly ones that are contextualized to the aff and turn the aff, these debates will definitely be rewarded with high speaker points. Impact calc is essential!

Framework: I’ve had my fair share of answering and going for framework. These are one of my favorite debates - I tend to default on topical version of the aff (not a big fan of fairness), make sure the 2NR has both offense and defense needed, and contextualize it to the aff. IE portable skills are necessary to combat the issues of the 1AC, their edu is recycled, etc. Also case is crucial in the 2nr when going for fw or else it gives them all this untouched offense for the 2ar to extend.

Topicality: I’m not the best judge for these debates, please be slow and don’t spread fast over your blocks– but that doesn’t mean I won’t vote for it. Default to competing interps. Impact out your standards – case list also makes your arg 10x more convincing.

Theory: I will vote for it if I have to – go for theory if it’s the last thing you’ve got going for you. Impact your standards out, apply your blocks to the in round abuse that’s happened.

Misc:
- I love impact calc, pls incorporate it in your speeches. Also, impact turns are my FAV (when it’s appropriate, applicable, and NOT offensive!!)
- Don’t be rude and do not use offensive language – this will automatically drop your speaker points exponentially
- Please mark where the card ends (ie: “end/mark card at capitalism solves”)
- Will read cards if I have to, but pls do the work for me
- I love speed, but that shouldn’t be in the expense of clarity. I won’t flow you if I can’t understand or I will simply just yell “clear”
- INCORPORATE CROSS EX IN SPEECHES!! This makes your argument more appealing & builds ethos
- Lastly, have fun with it. Debate is all about the educational and fun experience it has to offer, so relax, don’t be too uptight, and enjoy it!

Feel free to ask me any questions. :)

Drew Sposeep Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Thu November 24, 2016 at 6:41 AM CDT

I debated for 4 years at Edina High School and now debate at Trinity University.

I’m a 2A, and have gone for everything from heg good to Heidegger. I’ll vote for what’s on the flow, unless you tell me not to. Speed is fine, but talking conversationally will get you higher speaks than if you’re fast and unclear. In short: do what you do best.

Kritik Affs: I like em’, but be creative and interact with the topic. To win the debate you need to answer a) why I should vote affirmative and b) why your model of debate is good. Make sure to answer tricky framework args like “t-version of the aff” and “read it on the neg.” These aren’t particularly convincing but are terminal defense that’s easy to vote on. I’m a lot more convinced by saying the neg’s interpretation is bad than the education you’ve brought to the round is good. Negative: The biggest problem with framework is oftentimes lack of an impact. A good 2NR should prove how specific practices of the model you endorsed are productive and have better inroads to solving structural problems isolated by the affirmative. Overall, framework is a giant impact debate, so make sure you approach it like one.

Theory: When it comes to cheating counterplans I sympathize a bit more with the affirmative, but I’ll only vote on the args you make. Super technical theory debates should be a lot slower than the speed at which you read cards.

Kritiks: This debate is all about the links. I don’t have a problem with generic evidence, but you should apply it really specifically to the affirmative. Read an alt, or don’t, but explain how what you did resolves the links, and why each one turns the aff. For higher speaks, draw lines from the 1AC in your analysis. Framework debates are usually pretty vacuous; by default I’ll assume the neg gets the kritik and the aff can weigh the plan. The affirmative should focus on impact turning the links, unless they legitimately don’t apply to the aff.

Disads: Impact calc is the name of the game. For higher speaks, you should be doing solid evidence comparison and explaining how the DA turns each part of the affirmative. That being said, I think most disads in policy debate are grossly exaggerated, and I’m persuaded by the argument that structural violence should come first. If you’re affirmative and going for predictions fail on the DA, you still need to indict the specifics of whatever the neg is talking about.

Counterplans: Sweet. Just know that I won’t kick them for you, unless you tell me otherwise.

Topicality: I’m down for a good T debate, but remember to impact your arguments; every standard is a disad to the affirmative’s interpretation of debate. I don’t think that jurisdiction is a reason to vote negative, but rather you should justify why your definition is good.

Be nice, have fun, etc. If you have any other questions, feel free to send me an email.
drewsposeep@gmail.com

jasmine stidham Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Mon March 4, 2024 at 8:07 AM CDT

https://debate.msu.edu/about-msu-debate/

Pronouns: she/her

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

Please let me know if there are any accessibility requirements before the round so I can do my part.

Updated for 2023-24

I currently coach full-time at Michigan State University. Previously, I coached at Dartmouth for five years from 2018-2023. I debated at the University of Central Oklahoma for four years and graduated in 2018. I also used to coach at Harvard-Westlake, Kinkaid, and Heritage Hall.

LD skip down to the bottom.

January 2024 Update -- College

The state of wikis for most college teams is atrocious this year. The amount of wikis that have nothing or very little posted is bonkers. I don't know who needs to hear this, but please go update your wiki. If you benefit from other teams posting their docs/cites (you know you do), then return the favor by doing the same. It's not hard. This grumpiness does not apply to novice and JV teams.

At the CSULB tournament, I will reward teams with an extra .1 speaker point boost if you tell me to look at your wiki after the round and it looks mostly complete. I will not penalize any team for having a bad wiki (you do you), but will modestly reward teams who take the time to do their part for a communal good.

October 2023 Musings

I don't mean to sound like a curmudgeon, but what happened to flowing and line-by-line? Stop. flowing. off the doc. Flowing is fundamental and you need to actually do it. Please stop over-scripting your speeches. I promise you will sound so much better when you debate off the flow.

I could not agree more with Tracy McFarland here: 'Clash - it's good - which means you need to flow and not script your speeches. LBL with some clear references to where you're at = good. Line by line isn't answer the previous speech in order - it's about grounding the debate in the 2ac on off case, 1nc on case.'

In most of the college rounds I've judged so far this year, I have noticed that debaters are overly reliant on reading a wall of cards to substitute for actual debating. I don't know who hurt you, but you don't need to read 10 cards in the 1AR. Reading cards is easy and anyone can do it. I want to see you debate.

Tldr; Flexibility

No judge will ever like all of the arguments you make, but I will always attempt to evaluate them fairly. I appreciate judges who are willing to listen to positions from every angle, so I try to be one of those judges. I have coached strictly policy teams, strictly K teams, and everything in between because I love all aspects of the game. I would be profoundly bored if I only judged certain teams or arguments. At most tournaments I find myself judging a little bit of everything: a round where the 1NC is 10 off and the letter 'K' is never mentioned, a round where the affirmative does not read a plan and the neg suggests they should, a round where the neg impact turns everything under the sun, a round where the affirmative offers a robust defense of hegemony vs a critique, etc. I enjoy judging a variety of teams with different approaches to the topic.

Debate should be fun and you should debate in the way that makes it valuable for you, not me.

My predispositions about debate are not so much ideological as much as they are systematic, i.e. I don't care which set of arguments you go for, but I believe every argument must have a claim, warrant, impact, and a distinct application.

If I had to choose another judge I mostly closely identify with, it would be John Cameron Turner but without the legal pads.

I don't mind being post-rounded or answering a lot of questions. I did plenty of post-rounding as a debater and I recognize it doesn't always stem from anger or disrespect. That being said, don't be a butthead. I appreciate passionate debaters who care about their arguments and I am always willing to meet you halfway in the RFD.

I am excited to judge your debate. Even if I look tired or grumpy, I promise I care a lot and will always work hard to evaluate your arguments fairly and help you improve.

What really matters to me

Evidence quality matters a lot to me, probably more than other judges. Stop reading cards that don't have a complete sentence and get off my lawn. I can't emphasize enough how much I care about evidence comparison. This includes author quals, context, recency, (re)highlighting, data/statistics, concrete examples, empirics, etc. You are better off taking a 'less is more' approach when debating in front of me. For example, I much rather see you read five, high quality uniqueness cards that have actual warrants highlighted than ten 'just okay' cards that sound like word salad.

This also applies to your overall strategies. For example, I am growing increasingly annoyed at teams who try to proliferate as many incomplete arguments as possible in the 1NC. If your strategy is to read 5 disads in the 1NC that are missing uniqueness or internal links, I will give the aff almost infinite leeway in the 1AR to answer your inevitable sandbagging. I would much rather see well-highlighted, complete positions than the poor excuse of neg arguments that I'm seeing lately. To be clear, I am totally down with 'big 1NCs' -- but I get a little annoyed when teams proliferate incomplete positions.

Case debate matters oh so much to me.Please, please debate the case, like a lot. It does not matter what kind of round it is -- I want to see detailed, in-depth case debate. A 2NC that is just case? Be still, my heart. Your speaker points will get a significant boost if you dedicate significant time to debating the case in the neg block. By "debating the case" I do not mean just reading a wall of cards and calling it a day -- that's not case debate, it's just reading.

I expect you to treat your partner and opponents with basic respect. This is non-negotiable. Some of y'all genuinely need to chill out. You can generate ethos without treating your opponents like your mortal enemy. Pettiness, sarcasm, and humor are all appreciated, but recognize there is a line and you shouldn't cross it. Punching down is cringe behavior. You should never, ever make any jokes about someone else's appearance or how they sound.

Impact framing and judge instruction will get you far. In nearly every RFD I give, I heavily emphasize judge instruction and often vote for the team who does superior judge instruction because I strive to be as non-interventionist as possible.

Cowardice is annoying. Stop running away from debate. Don't shy away from controversy just because you don't like linking to things. This also applies to shady disclosure practices. If you don't like defending your arguments, or explaining what your argument actually means, please consider joining the marching band. Be clear and direct.

Plan texts matter. Most plan texts nowadays are written in a way that avoids clash and specificity. Affirmative teams should know that I am not going to give you much leeway when it comes to recharacterizing what the plan text actually means. If the plan says virtually nothing because you're scared of linking to negative arguments, just know that I will hold you to the words in the plan and won't automatically grant the most generous interpretation. You do not get infinite spin here. Ideally, the affirmative will read a plan text that accurately reflects a specific solvency advocate.

I am not a fan of extreme or reductionist characterizations of different approaches to debate. For example, it will be difficult to persuade me that all policy arguments are evil, worthless, or violent. Critical teams should not go for 'policy debate=Karl Rove' because this is simply a bad, reductionist argument. On the flip side, it would be unpersuasive to argue that all critiques are stupid or meaningless.

I appreciate and reward teams who make an effort to adapt.Unlike many judges, I am always open to being persuaded and am willing to change my mind. I am rigid about certain things, but am movable on many issues. This usually just requires meeting me in the middle; if you adapt to me in some way, I will make a reciprocal effort.

Online debate

Camera policy: I strongly prefer that we all keep our cameras on during the debate, but there are valid reasons for not having your camera on. I will never penalize you for turning your camera off, but if you can turn it on, let's try. I will always keep my camera on while judging.

Tech glitches: it is your responsibility to record your speeches as a failsafe. I encourage you to record your speeches on your phone/laptop in the event of a tech glitch. If a glitch happens, we will try to resolve it as quickly as possible, and I will follow the tournament's guidelines.

Slow down a bit in the era of e-sports debate. I'll reward you for it with points. No, you don't have to speak at a turtle's pace, but maybe we don't need to read 10-off?

Miscellaneous specifics

I care more about solvency advocates than most judges. This does not mean I automatically vote against a counterplan without a solvency advocate. Rather, this is a 'heads up' for neg teams so they're aware that I am generally persuaded by affirmative arguments in this area. It would behoove neg teams to read a solvency advocate of some kind, even if it's just a recutting of affirmative evidence.

I will only judge kick if told to do so, assuming the aff hasn't made any theoretical objections.

I am not interested in judging or evaluating call-outs, or adjacent arguments of this variety. I care deeply about safety and inclusion in this activity and I will do everything I can to support you. But, I do not believe that a round should be staked on these issues and I am not comfortable giving any judge that kind of power.

Please do not waste your breath asking for a 30. I'm sorry, but it's not going to happen.

Generally speaking, profanity should be avoided. In most cases, it does not make your arguments or performance more persuasive. Excessive profanity is extremely annoying and may result in lower speaks. If you are in high school, I absolutely do not want to hear you swear in your speeches. I am an adult, and you are a teenager -- I know it feels like you're having a big ethos moment when you drop an F-bomb in the 2NC but I promise it is just awkward/cringe.

Evidence ethics

If you clip, you will lose the round and receive 0 speaker points. I will vote against you for clipping EVEN IF the other team does not call you on it. I know what clipping is and feel 100% comfortable calling it. Mark your cards and have a marked copy available.

If you cite or cut a card improperly, I evaluate these issues on a sliding scale. For example, a novice accidentally reading a card that doesn't have a complete citation is obviously different from a senior varsity debater cutting a card in the middle of a sentence or paragraph. Unethical evidence practices can be reasons to reject the team and/or a reason to reject the evidence itself, depending on the unique situation.

At the college level, I expect ya'll to handle these issues like adults. If you make an evidence ethics accusation, I am going to ask if you want to stop the round to proceed with the challenge.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LD Specific

Updated March 2024 before TFA to reflect a few changes.

Conflicts: Harvard-Westlake (assistant director of debate 2018-2022), and Strake Jesuit (current affiliation).

My background is in policy debate, but I am very fluent in LD. I co-direct NSD Flagship and follow LD topics as they evolve. I assist Strake in LD and policy.

If you are asking questions about what was read or skipped in the speechdoc, that counts as CX time. If you are simply asking where a specific card was marked, that is okay and does not count as CX time. If you want your opponent to send out a speechdoc that includes only the things they read, that counts as your CX time or prep time -- it is your responsibility to flow.

You need to be on time. I cannot stress this enough. LDers consistently run late and it drives me bonkers. Your speaks will be impacted if you are excessively late without a reasonable excuse.

I realize my LD paradigm sounds a little grumpy. I am only grumpy about certain arguments/styles, such as frivolous theory. I do my best to not come off as a policy elitist because I do genuinely enjoy LD and am excited to judge your debate.

FAQ:

Q:I primarily read policy (or LARP) arguments, should I pref you?

A: Yes.

Q: I read a bunch of tricks/meta-theory/a prioris/paradoxes, should I pref you?

A: No thank you.

Q: I read phil, should I pref you?

A: I'm not ideologically opposed to phil arguments like I am with tricks. I do not judge many phil debates because most of the time tricks are involved, but I don't have anything against philosophical positions. I would be happy to judge a good phil debate. You may need to do some policy translation so I understand exactly what you're saying.

Q: I really like Nebel T, should I pref you?

A: No, you shouldn't. He's a very nice and smart guy, but cutting evidence from debate blogs is such a meme. If you'd like to make a similar argument, just find non-Nebel articles and you'll be fine. This applies to most debate coach evidence read in LD. To be clear, you can read T:whole rez in front of me, just not Nebel blog cards.

Q: I like to make theory arguments like 'must spec status' or 'must include round reports for every debate' or 'new affs bad,' should I pref you?

A: Not if those arguments are your idea of a round-winning strategy. Can you throw them in the 1NC/1AR? Sure, that's fine. Will I be persuaded by new affs bad? No.

Q: Will you ever vote for an RVI?

A: Nope. Never. I don't flow them.

Q: Will you vote for any theory arguments?

A: Of course. I am good for more policy-oriented theory arguments like condo good/bad, PICs good/bad, process CPs good/bad, etc.

Q: Will you vote for Ks?

A: Of course. Love em.

Any other questions can be asked before the round or email me.

Alex Stransky Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Fri December 4, 2020 at 10:46 AM CDT

I like parts of both David Kilpatrick's and Ryan Malone's paradigm, so a lot of this is taken from the two of them.

I will also add this note from Kevin Clarke as the TL;DR: "Do what you do best and I will make a decision afterwards"

Things to Know

1. I believe debate is fundamentally about persuasion and communication. If I can't understand the argument that you are making (whether it's because you're unclear or the argument doesn't make sense), it likely won't factor into my decision. There are pretty much no arguments that I think are off limits. If you think an argument is egregious, rude, or absurd, you should be able to beat it.

2. Framework: I liked going for framework and I liked debating against framework a lot in college. Some trends I've noticed:

- A lot of aff's seem to not pick a side as to whether or not they're going to impact turn the resolution or go for a middle ground. Picking one is crucial to developing a coherent strategy against framework.

- A lot of neg's seem to not do terminal impact calculus in the 2NR. This is absolutely imperative to you winning the debate, because the aff is never going to forget to do it in the 2AR.

- It seems like a lot of teams just end up saying "procedural fairness is an impact" or "procedural fairness isn't an impact" and just hope that the judge is on their side at the end of the debate. I don't believe either one of these things to be fundamentally true. Debate the value of procedural fairness and the value of clash instead of just hoping I'll dogmatically agree with you.

- Sound topical versions are important. For the aff, it's important to debate the merits of topical versions that have some chance of solving some of the aff's impacts. For the neg, it's important to explain which of the aff's impacts the topical version specifically solves for.

3. Theory: much like framework, I think teams can win just about anything if well-warranted and impacted. That being said, it shouldn't be too hard for you to beat a counterplan that competes based off the certainty or the immediacy of the plan.

I won't kick the counterplan or the alternative unless told to do so by the negative.

4. Zero Risk: It seems more realistic to talk about the negligibility of a risk either in and of itself or vis a vis another impact, instead of totally-nullified-zero-% risk. Defense-heavy responses would seem to benefit from arguments about how risk should be assessed and problems with the other team’s assessment.

How I Make Decisions

1. What arguments have either been identified as or appear to be the most important arguments in the debate and what is comparative impact to those arguments is?

2. Are both teams winning the arguments they claim they are? This involves evaluating whether or not a team has identified clear links/internal links to their impact and whether or not the opposing team has played sufficient defense against those arguments.

It also can involve evaluating whether or not the arguments in the 2NR/2AR resemble those from the block/1AR. Unless there are arguments about how I should or should not flow, I appreciate when debaters are attentive to line-by-line, but I understand that strategy sometimes calls one to deviate from it. That being said, for arguments that appear to be new in the final rebuttals, I'm much more inclined to evaluate those arguments when a line is drawn to previous arguments.

If necessary, this step can also involve evaluating evidence, although it's pretty rare for me to do so to avoid reconstructing the debate.

3. After evaluating all of these things I get to a general decision and then try to do some even-if scenarios. I run through a few even-if scenarios: what, if any, central arguments the losing team could have won, but still lose the debate, and what arguments the winning team would have had to lose or the losing team would have had to win for the losing team to win the debate.

4. I decide any independent voting issues and theoretical objections to determine if winning any of those issues would help the losing team win the debate.

5. I deliver a reason/list of reasons that compelled me to vote the way I did. I'll then explain how I arrived at that conclusion as well as some of the issues that gave me pause. I try and do this fairly quickly to give you as much time as possible to vet my decision.

Email: stransky.alex@gmail.com

Jasmine Sun Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat December 8, 2018 at 2:11 AM CDT

Put me on the email chain, please: jasmine.huiya.sun@utexas.edu

Pronoun: She/her/hers

I've debated two years for Coppell High School and two years for UT. I've been both a 2A and 2N (but mostly 2N), and I'm pretty flexible with the arguments I run, going for DAs, CPs, T/FW, and Ks. I'm familiar with the literature for cap and anthro (and psychonanalysis and antiblackness) to a certain extent, but please don't take that as an opportunity to spout out buzzwords that you don't understand. I'll try not to substitute my understanding of the arguments for your understanding of them. Other than that, feel free to go for anything - it's not my job to dictate what you can or can't run in the debate.

DA:

I love a good impact calculus debate, and I think doing a good line-by-line and comparative analysis of the evidence is really key for both sides. I prioritize smart analytical arguments over a bunch of three-sentence cards and pre-written blocks.

Kritiks:

Kritiks should have a clear link. Vague links like "the aff uses the USFG so it's bad" are not a great strategy, and I find good link turn arguments to be persuasive. Ks should also have an impact, and an alt. I have a pretty low threshold for alt solvency, but if the alt doesn't solve at all I won't vote for it, and the neg should clearly articulate their vision of what the alt looks like. I'm not a huge fan of the "reject the plan" alts.

Non-Traditional Affs/FW:

I support non-traditional affs in debate and think they're important for the activity. However, I do expect your aff to be related to the topic in some way (that could take the form of a rejection of the topic) and for you to explain why your aff model specifically is good for debate as a whole. You should also impact turn the neg's ideas of education and fairness.

I will still vote on framework, though. SSD and TVA arguments are really important for the neg to have. I generally prefer education impacts more, but I will vote on fairness. Structural unfairness comes before procedural unfairness.

I generally default to reasonability on T. Affs should still have a we meet and counter-interpretation, and the neg needs to have a really strong explanation of why the aff being unfair is in of itself a bad thing, as well as what sort of important, topic-specific education that the aff trades off with by being untopical (and why's that important). What I'm saying is the links really, really need to be impacted out for me to vote neg on T.

Additional Notes:

Open CX is fine, though you should not be dominating your partner's cx.

Flashing doesn't count as prep to me unless it's pretty obvious you're prepping.

I am fine with speed, but make sure to be clear. Please slow down a bit on your analytics and the T/FW/theory blocks.

Also, I will deduct speaks if you're being too rude to your opponents. Being confident and a bit aggressive is fine, but rudeness can be really detrimental to inexperienced and younger debaters, and it just creates an unpleasant atmosphere in general.

Natalie Tsai Liberal Arts and Science Academy 2 rounds

Last changed on Thu December 3, 2015 at 6:45 PM EDT

I count flashing as part of your prep time. Prep use stops when you eject the flash drive.

Debate background: I did high school CX debate at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy.

Speed: As long as you're clear, I'm fine with speed. If you are very fast, make sure to slow down on important arguments, theory, and tags.

Kritiks: I ran a lot of the neoliberalism K. THAT SAID, I don't read K authors in my spare time for funsies so all relevant vocabulary needs to be explained VERY WELL. Assume I do not know your author, you may ask me specifics before the round if you'd like. It is your responsibility to develop a coherent link-impact-alternative story that I can understand at least on an elementary level.

Performance: I ran some of this in high school, so I'm totally okay with it. Solidify your advococy and answer CX questions that clarify your position. Like kritiks, I need to be able to understand your position on an elementary level, and need to know what the role of the ballot is to vote for you. I will not under any circumstances award double wins or double losses.

Theory: A substantial amount of work needs to be done here for me to vote on theory. Even if your opponent drops a single-line theory argument, you need to explain the voting issue to me.

Topicality: I have yet to vote on T this season, but I do love listening to GOOD topicality debates.

Disads and Counterplans: Thumbs up. Do impact calculus with actual comparison to your opponent's advantages please!

Miscellaneous:

We're all here to have a rockin' time, so DON'T BE RUDE DURING CX.
Racist and sexist comments will be awarded with very low speaker points, and if your opponent makes it a voting issue I will gladly vote you down.
If you say "mark the card" you need to actually mark the card.
I count flashing as part of your prep time. Prep use stops when you eject the flash drive. I will throw a timer at you if you steal prep.

Rosie Valdez Little Rock Central 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat March 23, 2024 at 11:44 AM CDT

-Director of Debate at Little Rock Central High School
-Yes, email chain and sure, questions. Please put BOTH of these on chains: rosalia.n.valdez@gmail.com and lrchdebatedocs@gmail.com.

Virtual Debate Updates:

I am almost always using two computers so I can watch you speak and flow/look at docs. I would prefer that you debate with your camera on so that I can watch you speak, but PLEASE do feel free to turn it off if doing so stabilizes your audio.

Do NOT start at top speed. You should start a little slower anyway to allow judges to get acclimated to your speaking style, but I think this is especially important in virtual debate.

Do I understand why you don't want to flash theory/overviews/analytics? Of course. Do you have to do it? No. Will I be mad at you if you don't? Of course not. Would it help me flow better in many virtual debates? YES.

TL;DR

Do what you do and do it well. I will vote for who wins. Over-adaptation is exhausting and I can smell your soft-left add-ons a mile away. My voting record is a pretty clear indication that I judge a wide variety of debates. Who/what I coach(ed) are generally good indications of what I am about. Update: I've found myself recently in some seven off rounds. I really hate to say I am bad for any kind of debate, but I am bad for these rounds. Late-breaking debates make me tired and grumpy, and I find myself having to do way too much work in these debates to resolve them. If seven off is your thing, and I am your judge, do what you do I guess, but know this is probably the only explicit "don't pref me" in this whole paradigm.

Evidence/Argumentation/General

I care a lot about quality of evidence. I would much rather hear you read a few well-warranted cards than a wave of under-highlighted evidence. Same goes for redundant evidence; if you need six cards that “prove” your claim with the same words interchanged in the tag, your claim is probably pretty weak. Evidence does not (alone) a (winning) argument make.

I think I flow pretty throughly. I often flow in direct quotes. I do this for me, but I feel like it helps teams understand my decision as we talk after a round. I reward organized speakers and meaningful overviews. I am easily frustrated by a messy card doc.

I listen closely to cross-ex.

Neg teams lose when they don’t demonstrate how their arguments interact with the 1AC. Winning that the affirmative is “flawed” or “problematic” does not guarantee a neg ballot. In my mind, there are two ways to win the k versus a policy aff: either win that the effects of the plan make the world significantly worse OR win framework and go for epistemology/ontology links. Know when framework is important and when it’s not. Give analysis as to how your links implicate the world of the aff. This is where case mitigation and offense on why voting affirmative is undesirable is helpful. These debates are significantly lacking in impact calculus. Also - the alt needs to solve the links, not the aff - but if it does, great! If you win framework, this burden is lessened. Don’t spread through link explanations. I am seeing more debates where teams kick the alt and go for the links as disads to the aff. This is fine, but be wary of this strategy when the alt is what provides uniqueness to the link debate.

Conversely, affs typically lose these debates when there is little press on what the alternative does and little analysis of perm functions. However, some teams focus on the alt too much and leave much to be desired on the link debate (especially important for soft-left affs). Defend your reps. Your framework shell should also include a robust defense of policymaking, not just procedural fairness. The 1AR should actually answer the block’s framework answers. More impact turning rather than defensive, no-link arguments.

Also, running to the middle will not save you. Some Ks are going to get a link no matter what, and tacking on a structural impact to your otherwise straight policy aff will likely only supercharge the link. So. Read the aff you'd read in front of anybody in front of me. You're probably better at that version anyway.

K Affs vs. FW

For affs: I’m good for these although I do think that oftentimes the method is very poorly explained. Neg teams should really press on this and even consider going for presumption. Side note: I absolutely do not think that critical affs should have to win that the ballot is key for their method. Against framework, I most frequently vote aff when the aff wins impact turns that outweigh the neg’s impacts and have a counter-interp that resolves the majority of their offense. I can still vote for you if you don’t have a counter-interp in the 2AR but only if the impact work is exceptional. I prefer affs that argue that the skills and methods produced under their model inculcate more ethical subjectivities than the negative’s. The best aff teams I’ve seen are good at contextualizing their arguments, framing, and justifying why their model and not their aff is uniquely good. I am most frequently preffed for K v K debates. Judge instruction is extremely important I would rather evaluate those rounds based on whose method is most relevant to the debate rather than k tricks.

For neg teams: I like to see framework deployed as debate methodologies that are normatively good versus debate methodologies that are undesirable and should be rejected. Framework debates should center on the impact of certain methodologies on the debate space. “Your argument doesn’t belong in debate” is not the same thing as “your argument is hindered by forum” or “your argument makes it functionally impossible to be negative.” (fun fact: I read a lot of judges' paradigms/preferences..."debate is a game" does not = debate is a good game, and participation in that "game" does not = can't say the game is bad). I prefer more deliberation & skills-based framework arguments rather than procedural fairness, but I will vote on either as long as you have warrants and comparative impact analysis. If going for skills & research impacts, the internal link debate is most important. TVAs are great as defense against the aff’s impact turns. They do not have to solve the aff but should address its central controversy.

I feel similarly about theory debates in that they should focus on good/undesirable pedagogical practices. Arguments that explain the role of the ballot should not be self-serving and completely inaccessible by a particular team.

Topicality

Topicality is a voting issue and never a reverse voting issue. T debates are won and lost on the standards level. If the affirmative wins that their interpretation solves the impact of topicality, then I see no reason to vote negative. Thorough T debates are about more than fairness. The idea that you have no game on an aff in this era is just not as persuasive as the idea that the aff’s interpretation negatively impacts future debates.

Disadvantages/Counterplans

No real issues here. Specific links to case obviously preferred to generic arguments. Give me good impact analysis. As a debater, counterplans weren’t really my jam. As a judge, I can’t say that I get to vote on CPs often because they are typically kicked or are not competitive enough to survive an affirmative team well-versed in permutations. A CP should be something to which I can give thoughtful consideration. Don’t blow through a really complicated (or long) CP text. Likewise, if the permutation(s) is intricate, slow down. Pretty sure you want me to get these arguments down as you read them, not as I reconstruct them in cross. I vote for theory as much as I don’t vote for theory. No real theoretical dispositions.

Arkansas Circuit

1. I’m not going to bump your speaks for thanking me and taking forever to start the round because you’re asking “opponent ready? judge ready? partner ready? observers ready?” for the first 20 minutes.
2. If you do not take notes during my RFD, I will leave.
3. Don’t clip. Why do debaters in Arkansas clip so much? Answer: Because I don’t judge very much in Arkansas.
4. Keep your own time.

Garrett Vande Kamp Airline High School 6 rounds

Last changed on Fri September 7, 2018 at 5:16 AM CDT

"The basic rule I try to abide by is that I can be persuaded to vote on any argument, and that teams are best left to “doing their own thing” in front of me. I have several pre-dispositions and biases, but generally teams are best left to trying to execute the strategies they are most comfortable with and modify them to my expectations and standards, rather than start wholesale." - Ryan Galloway

My name is Garrett, and I am a former varsity debater at Airline High School and Samford University. I have judged two TOC bid rounds in policy, but that was a few years ago. When I was a debater, I mainly used policy arguments, theory, and kritiks, with some framework when I was negative. I left the community to pursue a PhD in political science, and I only come back when I'm asked to volunteer to judge some rounds. I've judged plenty more rounds than my Tabroom page would indicate, but that was before every decision was uploaded to the internet. My role model for judging is Ryan Galloway, a well-respected member of the NDT community, and I share his views that debaters should generally execute their favorite strategies for me. Full disclosure is good, however, and deep down inside I do have my own nuances for judging that are stated here. This philosophy is designed to introduce you to the ideals/biases about how debate should work.

Policy Affirmatives/Disads/Counterplans:
I love to hear intense battles on these issues. I'm not familiar with the acronyms developed for the current topic, so make the first constructive tags clear. But I won't be lost on your impact calculus debates, and I love debaters who make nuanced, effective arguments on all of the policy positions.

Kritiks:
I have grown to love kritiks. I especially love kritiks specific to the topic. I will admit, however, I still do not understand some criticisms, like Lacan, so your explanations of theoretical underpinnings of your criticism need to be crystal clear. I do know how you lose to a K, however, so you shouldn't fear. I don't have a preordained stance on reps in round or the role of the ballot, so you are going to have to sell well for me not to evaluate the plans' implications.

Many (though certainly not all) good K's attack the opponent on a number of grounds, including their epistemology, ethics, and the role of the ballot. But while these are good arguments to make, I cannot stress enough that good debaters will explain how they indict their opponents arguments. For an example, I recently judged a round where a team kept saying that "Western knowledge production was flawed". I was intrigued, but ultimately did not find such arguments persuasive because they did not explain what part of their opponents knowledge was flawed (and the Affirmative's explanation of their reasoning seemed sound). This specificity is necessary for me to vote on such arguments.

I've noticed lately that some K debaters are getting really good at the hard parts of debate (the link flow) but struggling to have the same quality on the easy parts (the impact debate). I consider all arguments in debate important, even inherency on the Aff and Impacts on the Neg K, and I will vote a team down for not clearly articulating why a particular school of thought is good/bad. Links don't matter if there's no impact, ya dig?

Topicality:
I tend to lean reasonability for the aff. I will pull the trigger on T if you can prove abuse (they spiked out of our disad) or provide nuanced definitions for terms unique to the current resolution. It will often be difficult to win T, however, if you spend only a minute or two on it in the block/2NR.

Theory:
I encourage theory debates on specific arguments that you really believe are abusive. Likewise, I can recognize timesucks and don't think they contribute much to the intellectual merit of the round. I tend to lean towards conditions, consult, and policy-specific PIC's are bad, but the Aff's execution of theory debate must be higher than what I've seen from high-schoolers (my former self included). 1 conditional argument probably isn't bad, and 4 conditional arguments probably isn't good, but the better debaters on theory can win on rather sketchy theory claims.

Project/Performance:
I'm willing to listen to your personal stories, but I would do a disservice to everyone if I did not mention that I have reservations about personalizing debate. We run into some serious risks of race-to-the-bottom in terms of oppression stories when we personalize debate, and there is a chance that such strategies will be hijacked by the privileged when we allow them.

I have strong concerns about fairness when the Affirmative refuses to defend the topic (with the implicit argument in my mind that a violation of fairness is disrespectful/dehumanizes opponents). If you are on neg, however, do whatever you want; your mission is to negate the affirmative by any means necessary.

FYI:
I think that switch-side debate that is predictable and accessible to both teams is the best form of education.
I don't think a single debate can change anything structurally in the debate community.
I think change in the community best happens from building alliances, not divisiveness.

Sarah Vargas Hire 1 rounds

Cameron Vaziri Hebron HS 6 rounds

Last changed on Thu September 8, 2022 at 9:15 AM EDT

Graduate Student - Johns Hopkins SAIS 2020-2022 (Haven't been in debate for the past two years, haven't judged virtually yet)

Debate Coach - Hebron High School 2015 - 2020

Sure, I'll be on the email chain: camerondebate@gmail.com

Overview:

I'm extremely tired of framework v. K debates. I get why it happens but please...

If the teams aren't an actual clash of civilizations then please just let me have a K v. K round.

I don't mind what arguments are made in a round, there is almost no argument that I can see myself just not voting for. I will evaluate the arguments as they are ran, which means that explanation and analysis are more important than number. I have experience with policy, critical, theoretical, and stupid debate arguments and, as such, am willing to hear any of these. To win a round, all I think that can/needs to be done is for the team to explain their arguments, do the impact work, and be strategic (both in how their arguments interact and where the team's focus should be). A team that does this will have told me what to vote on and why (this should be the top of your 2NR/2AR).

A few notes:

1. Don't assume I know what your acronym means.

2. I'm fine with speed, I'll tell you if you are going too fast or are unclear.

3. Understanding your arguments is the key to a good debater. Don't run arguments you don't know. Misapplying an author annoys me. There is room for interpreting and using an author but there's a limit past which your evidence is no longer relevant.

4. Quality matters. Quantity is almost entirely irrelevant to good debate.

5. I don't care about the "community consensus." Your argument is acceptable and winnable based off of how effectively you utilize it.

6. Kritik probably should be spelled Critique except on flows where writing "K" is easier.

Topicality:

I am probably more willing to vote on topicality than most judges are now.

The best topicality debates and the ones I'm likely to vote on are those that have a depth of theoretical understanding. Nuances such as textual versus functional violations and how those specifically link to standards or the relationships between the various standards (limits key to ground or predictability outweighs) are key to a good topicality/theory debates that can devastate opponents.

I don't take "reasonability" to mean reasonably topical. I don't know what it means to be "reasonably" topical when there is a violation. "Reasonability" is a response to "Competing Interpretations," namely it is a framework for evaluating topicality and differing readings of the resolution. Thus, "Reasonability" is supposed to legitimize your reading of the resolution or your "Counter-Interpretation." Was the counter-interpretation a reasonable reading of the resolution? Does the counter-interpretation provide a reasonable expectation of debatability? If so, then under a "Reasonability" framework you will win your topicality violation. Only in this way does "Reasonability" solve the arguments against "Competing Interpretations" such as "Race to the Bottom" arguments.

If you wish to critique topicality, go ahead. However, explanation as to why this comes before the violation is required, do not assume it is a given. Also, a critique of topicality is a critique, as a result, it is not simply another analytical response that is used to counter a time-suck. If you want to critique topicality, then critique topicality. I will evaluate critiques of topicality as I would a critique, thus look below.

Theory:

I evaluate theory similar to topicality. Having an interpretation of what is legitimate and justifying it via standards is better than just a 10 second spew of random claims to biases. I understand the utility of theory arguments as time-sucks, however, 10 seconds is probably not enough to leave that option open for later in the debate. Either way, I will initially evaluate theory arguments as a reason to reject arguments unless told to otherwise and provided a reason. Every theory argument can be made into offense except Aff/Neg Bias claims, doing so will show you take the argument seriously.

Disadvantages:

I evaluate disadvantages under an offense-defense framework. I interpret this to mean that defensive arguments primarily serve to effect the impact calculus rather than directly take-out the Disad. For example, no link claims can mitigate the probability of the 1AC triggering the DA's impacts meaning the case outweighs the DA.

I tend to err towards a risk of the DA rather than 100% defense takeouts so make sure you make impact calculus comparisons if you only have defense in the last speech that account for the mitigating defense arguments. However, "Fiat Solves the Link" and "Process" (i.e. congress links to a courts Aff) defense are obviously 100% takeouts.

Counterplans:

I like debates involving very specific PICS and/or very unusual mechanisms. I don't think that a solvency deficit means that the counterplan is nullified, just that the 1AC's advantages are now risks of a DA to the CP so it would come down to impact calculus (see above). Permutations require more response than simply theory. If theory seems like your best/only way out on a permutation then don't make it a small argument (see above).

Critiques or Kritiks:

This is probably what I am most adept to judge because of my academic work. I prefer and am more experienced with "high theory" arguments than identity ones. I expect critique debates to focus on elucidation rather than the number of cards or arguments ran. Your understanding of the argument is essential to a critical debate. As such, I think critique debates that use less cards and focus more on elucidating the position are superior. I think that most critique literature is rich enough that any critique can find good enough evidence to merit not reading much more, if any, after the initial presentation and still be able to draw offense against the other team's responses. In short, card dumping on a critique is the opposite of efficient, smart, and strategic. Put another way, if you can explain a specific link story that ties back to the logic of your generic link evidence then you have a specific link.

I understand critiques as Foucault describes them, "a critique is not a matter of saying that things are not right as they are. It is a matter of pointing out on what kinds of assumptions, what kinds of familiar, unchallenged, unconsidered modes of thought the practices we accept rest.... Criticism is a matter of flushing out that thought and trying to change it: to show that things are not as self-evident as one believes, to see that what is accepted as self-evident will no longer be accepted as such." However, that is not to say critiques attempting to do something else are illegitimate. This is just how I will understand your argument until told differently.

You do not win a critique because of your sweet jargon. Know what you're talking about.

I'm not inherently against a project team. However, I am against teams that make the argument that their opponents are inherently racist/sexist/ableist/heteronormative, etc. the moment they walk into the room.

Framework:

This is what I judge most it seems and I'm just bored of it now. I evaluate the theory parts of framework as I would a topicality or theory argument meaning that you should read what I wrote above. Some notes:

TVA's should at least be viable as strategies to access the education claims that would come from having the topical debate. (I need to believe that there may be some form of solvency mechanism.)

Fairness as a voter is something I may view differently than most K-oriented judges. I think of fairness as a sort of morality claim, you harmed my ability to participate because your crazy K stuff is unpredictable or whatever and that's exclusionary. That can be weighed against the morality claims about good education, ethical subject formation, debate bad, or whatever. However, it most often doesn't single-handedly outweigh as the K team probably has a bunch of impact cards for their education claims.

This may date me a bit but I do think there are jurisdictional arguments that can be made to combat this. This may be a bit more of how policy teams tend to think of fairness now anyway but I tend to consider them separate as this is more of a Role of the Judge/Ballot argument. I don't think it's inherently problematic to say that I, as a judge, have to ensure that a debate is legitimate or viable before I fulfill whatever Role of the Judge the K team says I must fulfill (after all I can vote on alt theory that many K teams don't even critique). However, your framework arguments need to connect to this procedural voting mechanism (i.e. ground arguments apply but advocacy skills probably aren't a procedural issue). K teams need to critique the idea of a procedure or a gatekeeper that comes before ethics.

I say all this because when teams get on the fairness debate, I am sometimes forced into making assumptions about the relationship between these arguments because teams don't explain their internal link connections well. For example, when you are talking about debatability, I'm probably thinking jurisdiction claims. Or when you're talking about advocacy skills I'm thinking of fairness as an internal link to education. If you don't want me to make these assumptions then fill-in-the-blanks for me and explain which arguments are internal links and which are impacts and why.

Please make sure that you clearly explain your interpretation or counter-interpretation and repeat it throughout the debate when necessary. I think that too often teams assume the judge is clear on the nuances that their interpretations provide and how they avoid some bit of offense or something and I'm sitting in the back wondering how you expect me to type out 10-15 words verbatim without paraphrasing when you have already moved onto another analytic.

Any questions, feel free to ask or email the address above.

Good Luck!

Alaina Walberg Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Thu January 25, 2024 at 10:24 AM CDT

Updated 1/7/23 for clipping/ethics challenge policy (at bottom)

4 years in Kansas in high school, 4 years at Baylor University, now a grad student and coach at KU and Barstow.

Add me to the email chain please: aewalberg@gmail.com and rockchalkdebate@gmail.com (college only)

Top Level

Do what you do best, I will do my best to be unbiased when evaluating arguments. I tend to take a long time making decisions regardless of the round, so don't read into it.

Judge instruction/telling me how to write my ballot is really important, points will be higher and you'll be more likely to win if you put the pieces together in the 2NR/2AR, are honest about the parts of the debate you're winning and losing, actually make decisions about what to go for, etc.

As I continue to judge, I find myself prioritizing tech over truth more and more, exception being when arguments/debates are violent, unsafe, etc. This means that you might think an argument is totally nonsensical, nonresponsive, etc. and I might agree, but you have to make those arguments in a speech in order for me to consider them when making my decision. If you want me to evaluate the debate through a lens other than tech, you should say that and explain what that means/why that mode of evaluation is better.

I think you should probably have to read re-highlighted ev, not just insert it. Open to persuasion but debates where both teams are inserting re-highlightings without analysis or explanation are negative persuasive to me.

I am generally open to whatever arguments you want to run, the substantive exception is wipeout. More critical arguments about death are fine, but I am not particularly interested in listening to or voting on suffering outweighs any potential for pleasure/we are primed to be afraid afraid of death but should die anyway.

I will read along with you in the doc while you are reading cards but I will not read along with the analytics you send, that's not a substitute for clarity or slowing down to give pen time. I also don't generally re-read a ton of evidence at the end of the debate unless told to, your analysis/explanation in round is much more important to me. If I'm in a position at the end of the debate where I have to put things together myself by sorting through a lot of evidence that received very little explanation, neither of us will probably be particularly happy with the decision.

Pet peeves: talking over each other in CX excessively---I cannot hear or understand anyone when this happens especially online, asking what cards were/weren't read in a speech if it's not prep time or cx, not having the email chain ready or sent when round start time hits, stealing prep (if it's not speech, cx, or prep time you shouldn't be typing/talking), calling me by my first name when we don't know each other. They're small things and old grumpy judge complaints, but they'll give you a sizable speaker point boost.

Online Debate

Slow down, be clearer. Make sure you can hear judges/other people in the round so you don't miss people telling you to pause or repeat an order.

Theory

I will vote on it if you win it, but that probably means you need more than one sentence on it in the 2AC. Slow down on these debates. I lean condo being the only reason to reject the team.

Slow down some. Impact it out in the 2NR. Don't forget to explain what winning competing interps or reasonability actually means for you.

DAs and CPs

I don't do a lot of topic research, so it'll be helpful for both of us if you do a little more explanation on topic specific things like link stories/solvency mechanisms/etc.

Good analytics can definitely beat a crappy DA. Winning terminal defense/zero percent risk is possible.

Explain why winning framework matters for you and how you still win the debate even if you lose framework.

You don't necessarily need a material alt to win if you go for framework.

2ACs should explicitly answer each of the link arguments even if it's just by explaining that it's a link to the status quo, a block that can impact out a dropped link argument well is likely to get my ballot as long as they are somewhat ahead on the framework or impact framing debate.

K Affs

Good. I do think it is possible to vote neg on presumption, so specific analysis about aff solvency or method is important. I find myself voting overwhelmingly aff in debates where the negative concedes the aff in the 2NR, so I strongly recommend extending your best 1 or 2 case arguments regardless of what else you're going for.

Framework

Neg: Best neg args are usually about models but can be persuaded it's about this round. Explain why fairness, clash, etc. is an impact and how your model accesses the aff's impacts. A well-developed TVA is great. These debates are pretty hard to win in front of me if you fully concede case.

Aff: Explain what debate looks like under your counter interp or counter model of debate or explain why you don't need a counter model. I am not a huge fan of the 2AC strategy of saying as many disads to framework as possible without explaining or warranting any of them out, two well-developed disads are more powerful than seven one-line ones.

Debate Ethics

If I cannot follow along in the evidence as you're reading it due to clarity issues or I can see you're skipping words as I'm following along, I will clear you once. If you continue skipping words or clipping and the other team does not call it out, I will let the debate continue and give feedback for educational purposes but will drop the team clipping. If you're clipping and the other team does call it out and issues an ethics challenge or otherwise ends the debate, I will end the debate, drop the team clipping, and give feedback based on the debate thus far.

If there is an ethics challenge issued and the debate is stopped, the team who is correct (about the clipping, miscut evidence, citation problem, etc.) wins the debate. Arguments about evidence ethics can be made absent an ethics challenge and without stopping the debate; for example, when connected to a citational politics argument. However, if one team says to stop the round because something is an ethics challenge, the round will stop and the team who is correct about the issue will win.

Arguments that are racist, transphobic or queerphobic, sexist, or that otherwise make the debate violent or unsafe will result in contacting your adults/coaches and a response proportional to/appropriate given what is said.

Darius White Casady School 6 rounds

Last changed on Wed April 25, 2018 at 9:31 PM EDT

My name is Darius White and I debated at C.E. Byrd High School for 4 year and debate for the University of Oklahoma currently.

Speaker Points: I generally give fairly high speaks, and I understand that their is going to be some rudeness in the debate, but try not to over-do because that will be a speak-point decrease. Also stealing prep, and speaking CONSTANTLY during your partners speech will drop your speeches quite a bit, but I usually try to be generous with the speaks.

Cross-X: I defer c-x being binding (unless told otherwise but they need to be nuanced, not tag line extensions of theory shells) and tend to flow c-x

After-round evaluation of evidence: I will try as best as possible to not call for evidence unless you are highly reliant on one piece of evidence in your last speeches, and/or evidence is into question (i.e. if you call for me to look at a piece of evidence after round), but other than that I tend to try to judge the debate on the actually speeches given by the debaters.

Theory: I have a high threshold for theory arguments and hate when teams spray through your theory blocks; I usually default to reasonability and reject-the-arguments-not-the-team
unless you win the abuse story i.e. I don't think one conditional advocacy destroys aff ground so just try to be reasonable and very persuasive when going for theory.

Disads/CP's: Impact calculation is always a good idea, and even though I am more on the K side of debate, I am down to listen to a really technical CP/DA as a net-benefit debate, so don't be shy to run these arguments in front of me. But, I feel that the CP does need a net-benefit for me to vote for it, so if the 2NR is just CP with no net-benefits, I will have a hard time finding reasons why I should vote for the CP. Turns case arguments on the DA are always tight.

Impact Turns: I really enjoy these types of debates, and they are very persuasive in my opinion, so if you got any in your files, I am down to listen.

Kritiks: I hate when teams read a random K that they have no idea what it means or says, and that is always a pet peeve. Don't run a K in front that you are not comfortable going for, but if you are very well at going for a specific criticism then do your thing because I am more familiar with this side of the debate. I feel that the alternative portion of the K is very under utilized and would like to be a debate I would want to see, but if your thing is going to turns case, then do your thing.

Framework: This is the argument I least agree with but if will listen and flow if required.

Flashing: I don't count flashing as prep unless you are taking hella a lot of time in which I will inform you that I am about to start your prep time; PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, do not steal prep.

Random shit: I like jokes, and making me laugh usually gets you some where speak point wise. Using historical references is always a good idea and paints a better picture on the impact calc. Remember to jump your cards over before the speech, and if you read any new cards that aren't on the flash, flash them before c-x or before the next speech is about to start, this is not prep time.

If you have any other questions feel free to email me: darius12456@gmail.com

Sophie Wilczynski Hire

Last changed on Fri January 5, 2024 at 4:48 AM CDT

sophiewilczynski at gmail dot com for email chains & specific questions.

I debated for UT austin from 2014-17 & have remained tangentially affiliated with the program since. my degree is in rhetoric, and as a debater I read a lot of big structural critiques and weird impact turns.

***

tldr: I have been doing this for a while. I don't really care what you say as long as you engage it well. do what you do best, make meaningful distinctions, & don't be rude while you're at it!

clarity matters, esp in the age of virtual debate. as long as I can understand what you are saying I shouldn’t have trouble getting it down - that being said, debaters have an unfortunate tendency to overestimate their own clarity, so just something to keep in mind. slowing down on procedurals, cp/alt texts, & author names is very much appreciated.

topicality - fun if you're willing to do the work to develop them properly. I think evidence comparison is a super under-utilized resource in T debates, and a lot of good teams lose to crappy interps for this reason. as with anything else, you need to establish & justify the evaluatory framework by which you would like me to assess your impacts. have a debate, don't just blast through ur blocks

disads/CPs - fine & cool. i find that huge generic gnw/extinction scenarios often don't hold up to the scrutiny and rigor of more isolated regional scenarios. will vote on terminal defense if I have a good reason to do so. pics are usually good

K debates - make a decision about the level at which your impacts operate and stick to it. and talk about the aff. this applies to both sides. the neg should be critiquing the affirmative, not merely identifying a structure and breaking down the implications without thorough contextualization. the mechanics of the alternative & the context in which it operates have to be clearly articulated and comparatively contextualized to the mechanics of 1AC solvency. i think a lot of murky & convoluted perm debates could be avoided with greater consideration for this - impact heuristics matter a lot when establishing competition (or levels of competition). likewise, blasting through thousands of variants of "perm do x" with no warrants or comparative explanation does not mean you have made a permutation. will vote on links as case turns, but will be unhappy about it if it's done lazily.

framework - i think it's good when the aff engages the resolution, but i don't have any particularly strong feelings about how that should happen

theory - if you must

misc

case matters, use it effectively rather than reading your blocks in response to nothing

i find myself judging a lot of clash debates, which is usually cool

prep ends when doc is saved

be nice & have fun

Destinee Wilson Ennis High School 6 rounds

Bryan Winn Victoria East H. S. 3 rounds

Payton Woods Hire 6 rounds

Andrew Xiang Reagan HS 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat December 14, 2019 at 3:40 PM CDT

Andrew Xiang (xiang.andrew@gmail.com for email chains)

Reagan HS '16, Dartmouth '20. I qualified for the TOC/NDT, and coached high school policy.

**Respect other debaters.

*I will approach every round I judge with the same level of attention, dedication, and respect as I'd want from my judges.

*I think debate should always be about the debaters, and therefore you should do what you wish to do and what you think you are best at--debate should be fun as well as educational and I want to hear whatever you want me to hear.

This is my way of saying "read what you want"; I think there is something important to be gained from any "area" of debate you wish to do. As a 2N I have gone for everything from Ks to process CPs and both defended/not defended a plan as a 2A; I will have familiarity with what you read.

Thoughts on debate args:

Kritiks

Do what you have to do to get your point across. As with everything else, just warrant/explain your arguments. I have a broad kritikal background, but make sure to explain your arguments. Win your framework/impact framing and you should have no problem.

I prefer line by line to large OVs, but sometimes complex kritiks require larger levels of explanation and I understand the need for longer overview type explanation.

Kritik AFFs

You do you--feel free to do what you wish to get your point across. (as with above). I will say that I am more likely to enjoy a kritikal aff based within good topic research rather than the greatest K hits of the last 10 years.

As for T-USFG: as a 2A I usually didn't defend a plan and as a 2N I almost exclusively went for topicality vs planless affs. I am very familiar with both sides of this debate and think there are great debates to be had here. I don't think T is inherently violent but there is other offense to be garnered vs T

Topicality

While I probably default to competing interpretations, I think there are a lot of good arguments for reasonability. Caselists for your interp never hurt. I think that predictable limits is probably the best neg standard on topicality and generally more persuasive than ground but there also a lot of good ground args to be made (among other standards/impacts) and I will leave that up to your judgement.

Disads

These are awesome-- high level impact work/comparison is good and I think quality > quantity for ev absent any other context (sometimes this is an uphill battle with args like politics)

Counterplans

I prefer cps that are textually and functionally competitive, but I understand the strategic value of conditions/consult/etc. Theory ev regarding the CP never hurts

Theory

I need to flow, I probably can not flow the entirety of a theory debate where the args are read at the speed of a piece of evidence. I am biased in favor of conditionality (obviously subject to debate). Unlikely to vote on cheap shot claims.

Other things:

I'll say clear if you're unclear and after repeatedly doing it, it's probably a sign that you should be clearer.

Be kind and avoid shadiness and we’ll have no problems.

Have fun and have a great year!

Beck Yanouri Hebron HS 6 rounds None

Clara Yoon Liberal Arts and Science Academy 6 rounds

Austen Yorko Winston Churchill HS 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat January 20, 2024 at 5:12 AM CDT

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

High School: Wooster High School // College: Trinity University // Coach: MBA 2017-2022

----------------

Topicality vs Plans

I find well-executed T debates some of the most fun debates to judge. However, that requires a few things from the neg: a definition grounded in the resolutional wording and context; a clear explanation why your vision of the topic either shifts the state of current debating on the topic to a better place or prevents debate from slipping into a worse place; cards on the offensive portions of the debate. I would also caution neg teams stop making contradictory arguments on other theory portions (think: condo).

As for the aff in these debates—I’m open to whatever offense you want to go for, but you must do impact calculus.

Topicality vs Planless

I lean heavily neg in these debates. When I do vote neg, it is because the aff has not adequately described a link between their impacts, their solvency mechanism, and the ballot. Exclusion impacts need a solution that rests within your model of debate, and that is something you need to prove just as the neg needs to explain why the ballot remedies a loss of fairness or clash.

Neg teams: go for fairness. Skills, clash (alone), and education are more hassle than they’re worth.

CPs

I lean neg on broader theory questions. I don’t think many if any debaters understand functional/textual competition. Permutations are bad for the neg when you’re debating a team that writes them well, but I think that clarity in how the CP operates and what actions it specifically takes is necessary to explaining away perms. I find neg teams are short on explaining what the CP does. I like process CPs, but again, be smart on perms. I am not a fan of fiating in a DA.

DAs

If you’re taking a DA in the 1NR and have all that prep time, please use it to read through the 1AC and find solid, supported turns case arguments. If you do, your life and mine become much easier at the end of the debate.

Kritiks

Neg teams need to have a theory of how the world operates and defend it, use it to extrapolate links, etc. I find that when neg teams are asked a question of, “how do you know [the link] is true?” they usually stare blankly into the distance. I like kritik debates, but find myself being frustrated by a lack of link analysis and application to the aff. I am close to 50/50 on the framework portion of K neg vs aff, but I need good impact analysis as to why I should include more than the plan itself. Link debating for the K should operate more than to get you from aff-to-big impact, it should become solvency answers, reasons to reject the team, case turns, etc.

Aff teams need to defend the truths of the plan. Win framework, win the aff is a good and necessary action. Make sure to answer well-done link debate or you risk losing to small concessions that take out the truths you attempt to defend. I don’t think teams impact turn K’s enough (both thesis level impact turns as well as alternative/method turns). If you win the aff, I will look at you favorably.

Carson Young Jesuit College Prep 3 rounds None

Login to Tabroom

Longhorn Classic at the University of Texas Austin

2016 — TX/US

CX Paradigm List

Judges