Tabroom.com

Winston Churchill Classic

2018 — TX/US

PF Paradigm List

All Paradigms: Show Hide

Brian Alford James Bowie High School 6 rounds

Matthew Anderson Hire 6 rounds None

Robert Boley Hire 6 rounds

Megan Boyd Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Thu January 10, 2019 at 7:08 PM CDT

https://judgephilosophies.wikispaces.com/Boyd%2C+Megan

For email chains and/or any questions: mvboyd@sbcglobal.net

Public Forum

I am open to both traditional and progressive styles. My only preference is that you debate the style that is most comfortable for you.

Framing: Please give me lens through which to view the round. If you don't give me any framing, I'm either going to vote based off your opponent's framing, or worst case scenario something completely arbitrary. It's incredibly difficult to judge a debate with two entirely different impacts and zero weighing mechanism. Please, please, please don't waste your time reading me definitions for literally every single word in the resolution.

Theory: This is public forum, I truly believe you have no time to read incredibly progressive and complex arguments here. If you want to, I will listen. However, keep in mind I am now four years out and have not kept up with the literature. With that being said, basic arguments relating to topicality, reasonability, and competing interps are always welcome.

CP/K/Aff Advocacy: Sure. I personally think the time constraints of PF make it hard to do any of these things, but that doesn't mean you can't pull it off in an abbreviated sense.

Flow: Now for what you all really came here for, I do not expect the second speaking team to extend offense in the first rebuttal. If you have time to extend offense, more power to you. I understand that four minutes is an incredibly short amount of time to attack your opponent's case then literally defend against all their attacks. This was literally never an issue when I debated and don't know who decided the second speaking team has to work twice as hard to win the round. If you actually want to waste your breath calling out your opponent in your two minute speech for not extending offense I will literally sit there and stare at you until you actually say something worthwhile. Your summary is your second, and final rebuttal. I expect you to take 1 or 2 (3 if you're fast) of the round's biggest arguments at this point. The final focus is not meant for line by line debate. At this point, hand me clear voters and call it a day.

Speed: Chances are if you are spreading in PF you're literally just doing it for clout points you won't get. Mind you, I'm not saying you cannot speak fast. I understand how short four minutes is to get through a lot of information. Speak as fast as you'd like, but I will tell you to stop if I nobody can discern a word you're saying.

Speaker Points: I don't hand out 29s or 30s. If you're looking for presentation points, I suggest you go ahead and strike me right now. If you have a pretty voice, but terrible argumentation skills I'm not your girl. A 29 from me is rare, but very possible. My range is generally 27.25-29.25. I don't tolerate racism, sexism, misogyny, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, the list goes on. I will dock your speaks for those issues. If your opponent calls you out, you might even lose the round. If it's utterly abhorrent I will stop the round.

Lastly, I will not do any work for you. I'm not here to babysit you, or connect any dots that you may have missed. It is your job, and your job alone, to tell me why I should vote for you.

Chris Carrillo Hire 1 rounds

Andrew Escher Hire 5 rounds None

Jackson Freeman Hire 6 rounds

Dillon Fuller Hire 6 rounds None

Catherine Garcia BASIS San Antonio Shavano 6 rounds None

Marielle Gaspar Hire 6 rounds None

Emily Gonzalez Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Thu January 10, 2019 at 3:51 PM CDT

I debated for three years at Claudia Taylor Johnson High School in San Antonio, Texas, between 2008-2011. Before that, I did middle school debate; so I entered high school with a fair understanding of LD and continued with that style of debate through HS. And I've been judging since 2010 (novice judging until I graduated in 2012 then I became a hired judge). Needless to say, debate and I go way back.

Overview: I began my debate experience as a traditional, value-driven LD debater. After winning my first novice tournament in HS, my coach required I compete in VLD and I competed against a girl from Hockaday. I learned VERY quickly how I needed to adapt to the ever-changing style of debate. I taught myself speed, off-cases, policy-style debating and have an appreciation for the new style of debate. I also appreciate nods to the older style.

How I Judge: I default to offense/defense, unless I am persuaded to judge differently. I typically let you lead the round and I will do exactly what you tell me and write exactly where you tell me but I will NOT do your job for you. It is completely up to you to tell me how to see the round, evaluate the arguments, and vote. It's also up to you to tell me how to weight the round/vote (impact, theory, etc). Also, I do not appreciate or accept new arguments (or the revival of a dropped argument) in the last speech. Unless it follows my line-by-line in the flow, I typically don’t even write it down.

I am a firm believer and advocate for this competitive sport/activity being an educational experience. Knowing this, you should know that I do not accept or tolerate inappropriate behavior, language, and belittling. In any way. If you are a 4 year debater who knows policy-style LD, don’t treat the traditional novice like a kindergartner. Treat them with PROFESSIONALISM and just plain kindness. This is a competition/tournament, so make sure that you are showing your “good sportsmanship”.

I also don’t time debate rounds for you. I do it for myself to weight your time management.

I'm open to answering any specific questions before starting the round.

Carlos Gregory Hire 6 rounds

Natalie Hardage Westlake High School (Austin) 6 rounds None

Erica Hoffman Chaparral Star Academy 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat February 1, 2020 at 10:52 AM EDT

Former Debate Coach at Fort Lauderdale High School (FL) and Chaparral Star Academy (TX)
UCF Bachelor’s in English Literature, Minor in Women’s Studies, M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction

I will drop you (or at least your speaks) if you use abusive/offensive language. Being kind doesn't cost you anything. Don't minimize the oppression of others for a cheap ballot.

PLEASE ADD ME TO THE CHAIN: enhoffman@gmail.com

LD Paradigm: (scroll down for PF)

Speed: Speed is fine as long as you speak clearly. I haven't coached LD in a few years, so just note that my threshold for speed may be a little lower than yours. Slow down on taglines and card names. I will say "clear" or "slow" if you are going too fast, but if it does not improve, I will not be able to flow. Slow down on anything that you find to be really important because if I don’t flow it then I won’t know it.

Arguments: I'll evaluate whatever type of arguments you want to make, but you need to do the work. I like K debate, but your alt should not be something like “reject the Aff.” In any situation, make sure you tell me why you win the round. Contextualization is key.

Theory: Theory is fine if there’s abuse in the round, but your theory arguments shouldn’t be frivolous or a way to exclude others from the debate space. (Don’t run it as an easy way to win against an opponent who you don’t think understands it. I'm highly sensitive to the politics of income inequality in speech and debate and am not impressed with your canned theory shells.) RVIs are fine with me - it’s your round, not mine. I’ll vote on RVIs if you tell me to. With “I-Meets” I expect at least a little bit of an explanation. If your opponent made the effort to make the argument in the first place, you should do at least a little work to explain why you meet – don’t be lazy.

Speaker Points: Generally, I will award points based on how clearly you articulate your thoughts. However, I will deduct speaks for inappropriate or overly aggressive behavior. I have no problem awarding a low-point win or at least docking your speaks if you are too rude or obnoxious in round. IF YOU BRING MICRO-AGGRESSIONS INTO THE ROUND, YOU WILL PAY FOR IT WITH SPEAKS.

Extensions: These need to be real extensions if you want me to flow them. You can’t just go around shouting “EXTEND” to everything on the flow – what am I extending and why? Don’t be lazy.

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask me in round.

PUBLIC FORUM:

Anything in my LD paradigm that could apply to PF still stands, but here are more specifics. I really try not to intervene, but I find it a little more difficult in PF so please do the following if you’d like a fun round and a solid RFD.

Weighing: I will weigh arguments however you tell me to. I really like framework but I know that’s less common in PF. If you read observations/definitions in your constructive and they go cold conceded, that’s how I’ll default to evaluating the round. That doesn’t mean I’ll do the work for you, so you still have to weigh impacts against this.

Extensions: First off, an extension includes warrants. If you don’t tell me what I’m extending and why, I won’t do the work for you. I also have a strong disdain for debaters telling me to extend through ink. Just saying “EXTEND” won’t get you anywhere. Also, arguments/responses should be extended through summary and final focus.

Warrants/Evidence: I really don’t like blippy pieces of evidence (or blippy responses). If you just start shouting numbers or claims in round, without any warrants, I’m not so inclined to buy it. I rarely call for evidence, but I will if I am familiar with that evidence and think you’ve misconstrued what the card actually says. Also, if your evidence has been called into question and has not been sufficiently clarified in round, I will call for evidence.

CALLING FOR CARDS IN ROUND: I’m alright with it during round and during prep, but please do not be ridiculous. I will not allow for my round to hold up the tournament because you’ve spent 20 minutes “looking for the PDF” or “trying to log back into JSTOR.”

Humor/Speaks: Some light humor, sarcasm (when funny but not rude), and even clever phrasing/using song lyrics can be fun in round and might even earn you a few extra speaks. Don’t force it though – you will probably sound dumb and make the round awkward.

Robey Holland L C Anderson HS 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat February 9, 2019 at 3:55 AM CDT

Experience:
I am the head coach at Plano West. I was previously the coach at LC Anderson. I was a 4-year debater in high school, 3-years LD and 1-year CX. My students have competed in elimination rounds at several national tournaments, including Glenbrooks, Greenhill, Berkeley, Harvard, Emory, St. Marks, etc. I’ve also had debaters win NSDA Nationals and the Texas State Championship (both TFA and UIL.)

Email chain: robeyholland@gmail.com

PF Paradigm

· You can debate quickly if that’s your thing, I can keep up. Please stop short of spreading, I’ll flow your arguments but tank your speaks. If something doesn’t make it onto my flow because of delivery issues or unclear signposting that’s on you.

· Do the things you do best. In exchange, I’ll make a concerted effort to adapt to the debaters in front of me. However, my inclinations on speeches are as follows:

o Rebuttal- Do whatever is strategic for the round you’re in. Spend all 4 minutes on case, or split your time between sheets, I’m content either way. If 2nd rebuttal does rebuild then 1st summary should not flow across ink.

o Summary- I prefer that both teams make some extension of turns or terminal defense in this speech. I believe this helps funnel the debate and force strategic decisions heading into final focus. If the If 1st summary extends case defense and 2nd summary collapses to a different piece of offense on their flow, then it’s fair for 1st final focus to leverage their rebuttal A2’s that weren’t extended in summary.

o Final Focus- Do whatever you feel is strategic in the context of the debate you’re having. While I’m pretty tech through the first 3 sets of speeches, I do enjoy big picture final focuses as they often make for cleaner voting rationale on my end.

· Weighing, comparative analysis, and contextualization are important. If neither team does the work here I’ll do my own assessment, and one of the teams will be frustrated by my conclusions. Lessen my intervention by doing the work for me. Also, it’s never too early to start weighing. If zero weighing is done by the 2nd team until final focus I won’t consider the impact calc, as the 1st team should have the opportunity to engage with opposing comparative analysis.

· I’m naturally credulous about the place of theory debates in Public Forum. However, if you can prove in round abuse and you feel that going for a procedural position is your best path to the ballot I will flow it. Contrary to my paradigm for LD/CX, I default reasonability over competing interps and am inclined to award the RVI if a team chooses to pursue it. Don’t be surprised if I make theory a wash and vote on substance. Good post fiat substance debates are my favorite part of this event, and while I acknowledge that there is a necessity for teams to be able to pursue the uplayer to check abusive positions, I am opposed to this event being overtaken by theory hacks and tricks debate.

· I’m happy to evaluate framework in the debate. I think the function of framework is to determine what sort of arguments take precedence when deciding the round. To be clear, a team won’t win the debate exclusively by winning framework, but they can pick up by winning framework and winning a piece of offense that has the best link to the established framework. Absent framework from either side, I default Cost-Benefit Analysis.

· Don’t flow across ink, I’ll likely know that you did. Clash and argument engagement is a great way to get ahead on my flow.

· Prioritize clear sign posting, especially in rebuttal and summary. I’ve judged too many rounds this season between competent teams in which the flow was irresolvably muddied by card dumps without a clear reference as to where these responses should be flowed. This makes my job more difficult, often results in claims of dropped arguments by debaters on both sides due to lack of clarity and risks the potential of me not evaluating an argument that ends up being critical because I didn’t know where to flow it/ didn’t flow it/ placed it somewhere on the flow you didn’t intend for me to.

· After the round I am happy to disclose, walk teams through my voting rationale, and answer any questions that any debaters in the round may have. Pedagogically speaking I think disclosure is critical to a debater’s education as it provides valuable insight on the process used to make decisions and provides an opportunity for debaters to understand how they could have better persuaded an impartial judge of the validity of their position. These learning opportunities require dialogue between debaters and judges. On a more pragmatic level, I think disclosure is good to increase the transparency and accountability of judge’s decisions. My expectation of debaters and coaches is that you stay civil and constructive when asking questions after the round. I’m sure there will be teams that will be frustrated or disagree with how I see the round, but I have never dropped a team out of malice. I hope that the teams I judge will utilize our back and forth dialogue as the educational opportunity I believe it’s intended to be. If a team (or their coaches) become hostile or use the disclosure period as an opportunity to be intellectually domineering it will not elicit the reaction you’re likely seeking, but it will conclude our conversation. My final thought on disclosure is that as debaters you should avoid 3ARing/post-rounding any judge that discloses, as this behavior has a chilling effect on disclosure, encouraging judges who aren’t as secure in their decisions to stop disclosing altogether to avoid confrontation.

· Please feel free to ask any clarifying questions you may have before we begin the round, or email me after the round if you have additional questions.

LD/CX Paradigm

Big picture:

· You should do what you do best and in return I will make an earnest effort to adapt to you and render the best decision I can at the end of the debate. In this paradigm I'll provide ample analysis of my predispositions towards particular arguments and preferences for debate rounds. Despite that, reading your preferred arguments in the way that you prefer to read them will likely result in a better outcome than abandoning what you do well in an effort to meet a paradigm.

· You may speak as fast as you’d like, but I’d prefer that you give me additional pen time on tags/authors/dates. If I can’t flow you it’s a clarity issue, and I’ll say clear once before I stop flowing you.

· I like policy arguments. It’s probably what I understand best because it’s what I spent the bulk of my time reading as a competitor. I also like the K. I have a degree in philosophy and feel comfortable in these rounds.

· I have a high threshold on theory. I’m not saying don’t read it if it’s necessary, but I am suggesting is that you always layer the debate to give yourself a case option to win. I tend to make theory a wash unless you are persuasive on the issue, and your opponent mishandles the issue.

· Spreading through blocks of analytics with no pauses is not the most strategic way to win rounds in front of me. In terms of theory dumps you should be giving me some pen time. I'm not going to call for analytics except for the wording of interps-- so if I miss out on some of your theory blips that's on you.

· I’m voting on substantive offense at the end of the debate unless you convince me to vote off of something else.

· You should strive to do an exceptional job of weighing in the round. This makes your ballot story far more persuasive, increasing the likelihood that you'll pick up and get high speaks.

· Disclosure is good for debate rounds. I’m not holding debaters accountable for being on the wiki, particularly if the debater is not from a circuit team, but I think that, at minimum, disclosing before the round is important for educational debates. If you don’t disclose before the round and your opponent calls you on it your speaks will suffer. If you're breaking a new strat in the round I won't hold you to that standard.

Speaks:

· Speaker points start at a 28 and go up or down from their depending on what happens in the round including quality of argumentation, how well you signpost, quality of extensions, and the respect you give to your opponent. I also consider how well the performance of the debater measures up to their specific style of debate. For example, a stock debater will be held to the standard of how well they're doing stock debate, a policy debater/policy debate, etc.

· I would estimate that my average speaker point is something like a 28.7, with the winner of the debate earning somewhere in the 29 range and the loser earning somewhere in the 28 range.

Trigger Warnings:

Debaters that elect to read positions about traumatic issues should provide trigger warnings before the round begins. I understand that there is an inherent difficulty in determining a bright line for when an argument would necessitate a trigger warning, if you believe it is reasonably possible that another debater or audience member could be triggered by your performance in the round then you should provide the warning. Err on the side of caution if you feel like this may be an issue. I believe these warnings are a necessary step to ensure that our community is a positive space for all people involved in it.

The penalty for not providing a trigger warning is straightforward: if the trigger warning is not given before the round and someone is triggered by the content of your position then you will receive 25 speaker points for the debate. If you do provide a trigger warning and your opponent discloses that they are likely to be triggered and you do nothing to adjust your strategy for the round you will receive 25 speaker points. I would prefer not to hear theory arguments with interps of always reading trigger warnings, nor do I believe that trigger warnings should be commodified by either debater. Penalties will not be assessed based on the potential of triggering. At the risk of redundancy, penalties will be assessed if and only if triggering occurs in round, and the penalty for knowingly triggering another debater is docked speaks.

If for any reason you feel like this might cause an issue in the debate let’s discuss it before the round, otherwise the preceding analysis is binding.

Framework:

· I enjoy a good framework debate, and don’t care if you want to read a traditional V/C, ROB, or burdens.

· You should do a good job of explaining your framework. It's well worth your time spent making sure I understand the position than me being lost the entire round and having to make decisions based on a limited understanding of your fw.

Procedurals:

· I’m more down for a topicality debate than a theory debate, but you should run your own race. I default competing interps over reasonability but can be convinced otherwise if you do the work on the reasonability flow. If you’re going for T you should be technically sound on the standards and voters debate.

· You should read theory if you really want to and if you believe you have a strong theory story, just don’t be surprised if I end up voting somewhere else on the flow.

· It's important enough to reiterate: Spreading through blocks of analytics with no pauses is not the most strategic way to win rounds in front of me. In terms of theory dumps you should be giving me some pen time. I'm not going to call for analytics except for the wording of interps-- so if I miss out on some of your theory blips that's on you. Also, if you do not heed that advice there's a 100% chance I will miss some of your theory blips.

· I’m a fan of the K. Be sure to clearly articulate what the alt looks like and be ready to do some good work on the link story; I’m not very convinced by generic links.

· Don’t assume my familiarity with your literature base.

· For the neg good Kritiks are the ones in which the premise of the Kritik functions as an indict to the truth value of the Aff. If the K only gains relevance via relying on framework I am less persuaded by the argument; good K debates engage the Aff, not sidestep it.

Performance:

· If you give good justifications and explanations of your performance I'm happy to hear it.

CP/DA:

· These are good neg strats to read in front of me.

· Both the aff and neg should be technical in their engagement with the component parts of these arguments.

· Neg, you should make sure that your shells have all the right parts, IE don’t read a DA with no uniqueness evidence in front of me.

· Aff should engage with more than one part of these arguments if possible and be sure to signpost where I should be flowing your answers to these off case positions.

· I think I evaluate these arguments in a pretty similar fashion as most people. Perhaps the only caveat is that I don't necessarily think the Aff is required to win uniqueness in order for a link turn to function as offense. If uniqueness shields the link it probably overwhelms the link as well.

· I think perm debates are important for the Aff (on the CP of course, I WILL laugh if you perm a DA.) I am apt to vote on the perm debate, but only if you are technical in your engagement with the perm I.E. just saying "perm do both" isn't going to cut it.

Tricks:

· I'm not very familiar with it, and I'm probably not the judge you want to pref.

Feel free to ask me questions after the round if you have them, provided you’re respectful about it. If you attempt to 3AR me or become rude the conversation will end at that point.

Luke Jackson Hire 6 rounds None

Michael Jennings L C Anderson HS 6 rounds

Last changed on Fri March 5, 2021 at 10:19 AM CDT

PF Paradigm:

The number one priority of Public Forum Debate is that it remains accessible at all times.

Debaters are expected to time themselves and their oppenents. If there is some discrepancy on time, your speaker points will be in jeopardy. Please be responsible.

Go at whatever speed you are comfortable as long as it is not spreading.

I will flow what is said during speech, but not crossfire. I expect you to extend arguments from crossfire if you want to use them.

You must provide your win conditions. I need a framework to interpret how the round will be judged. That also means that weighing needs to be considers as well.

Don't assume definitions especially in the resolutions.

I will look at evidence only in the case that both teams appear to have evidence that contradict each other.

InterPA

Tech

Diction matters more in online competition than in face to face competition. In synchronous rounds, please emphasize your diction more.

You are welcome to ask for feedback regarding your placement within the camera.

I'd recommend you make sure the camera is perpendicular to your eyes/face. The angle coming from below sometimes makes viewing facial involvement unclear.

Preferences

Content Warning before your pieces. If you have any belief that your content could upset someone, you owe it to your audience to prepare us. Plot twists are not worth hurting your audience.

I really evaluate the quality of the cut/writing in close rounds.

A cut needs to have a clear beginning, middle, and end. The beginning means the characters, relationships, and problems are introduced. A perfect teaser has these element. The middle shows the characters attempting and failing to resolve a problem. The end discusses whether characters resolve or fail to resolve the problem and then what happen because of that.

Public address speeches follow some kind of previewed and road mapped structure to the speech.

Event Specific

Info

I don't evaluate lack of VAs as negative. I evaluate overused or nonhelpful VAs as a negative.

I don't really care about how you move in your speech.

I follow PCS and CES structures the best.

I am sucker for empirics. I don't believe something is inherently a problem that affects everyone until you show me with a source that it affects people more than yourself. For example, if your speech is about how "We say no too much," you better prove beyond a doubt that we empirically say "No" a lot.

I'm kind of over traumatizing DIs. DI is my favorite event though.

I value verisimilitude in the characterization and the blocking.

Characterization matters the most. I value clear characters and efficient movement between the characters.

I also really pay attention to the resolution of the problem in HI. If the problem is resolved in a sentence or through an apparent unknown force. I blame the cut.

Duo

I hate how its done digital and really hope no one assigns it to me.

Blocking should highlight the conflict between the characters.

I find speaking towards the camera instead of pretending the two are in the same piece to be more believable.

POI

Characterization should be clear. I shouldn't doubt the differences between the characters.

Binder tech or lack of binder tech is irrelevant to me.

Extemp:

Tech

Time yourself for synchronous rounds. I don't trust internet connections to be consistent to allow me to give you effective time signals.

I can tell if you're reading off of your computer.

Sitting or Standing don't matter to me.

Preferences

I will flow the speech.

I don't look down on speeches past 7:00, but 7:20 is a little risk

Link back to the question always. Tell me why you are answering questions.

Fluency matters insomuch that I can understand you. Short pauses and disruptions will not be marks against, but if I cannot follow what you are saying then I will have trouble evaluating your speech.

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.

Sahil Maherali Hire 6 rounds

John Mast Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat April 20, 2024 at 2:15 AM CDT

Love to be on the chain.... sfadebate@gmail.com

LD---TOC---2024

I'm a traditional leaning policy judge – No particular like/dislike for the Value/Criterion or Meta-Ethic/Standard structure for framework just make sure everything is substantially justified, not tons of blippy framework justifications.

Disads — Link extensions should be thorough, not just two words with an author name. I'm a sucker for good uniqueness debates, especially on a topic where things are changing constantly.

Counterplans — Counterplans should be textually and functionally competitive but I'm willing to change my mind if competition evidence is solid. I love impact/nb turns and think they should be utilized more. Not a fan of ‘intrinsic perms’.

Kritiks — I default to letting the aff weigh case but i'm more than willing to change my mind given a good framework/link push from the negative. I’m most familiar with: Cap, Biopolitics, Nietzsche, and Security. I'm fine voting for other lit bases but my threshold is higher especially for IdPol, SetCol, and High Theory. Not a fan of Baudrillard but will vote on it if it is done well.

K Affs — I'm probably 40/60 on T. If a K aff has a well explained thesis and good answers to presumption I am more than willing to vote on it. A trend I see is many negative debaters blankly extending fairness and clash arguments without substantial policymaking/debate good evidence. I default to thinking debate and policymaking are good but I'm willing to be persuaded otherwise absent a compelling 2NR.

Topicality — Big fan of good T debates, really dislike bad T debates. I don't like when teams read contradictory interps in the 1NC, you should have good T evidence, and I like a good caselist. Preferably the whole 2NR is T.

Theory — Not a fan of frivolous shells but i'm willing to be convinced on any interp given a good explanation of the abuse story. I default to In-round-abuse, reasonability, and have a high threshold for RVIs.

Phil — As an Ex-Policy Debater, my knowledge here is very limited. I'm willing to vote on it if it's very well warranted and clearly winning on the flow. But in a relatively equal debate I think I will always default to Util.

Tricks — Don't

edited for LD 2022-3

I have not judged a lot of LD recently. I more than likely have not heard the authors you are talking about please make sure you explain them along with your line by line. Long overviews are kind of silly and argumentation on the line by line is a better place for things Overview doesn't mean I will automatically put your overview to it. If you run tricks I am really not your judge. I think they are silly and will probably not vote for them. I have a high threshold for voting on theory arguments either way.

edited for Congress

Speak clearly and passionately. I hate rehash, so if you bring in new evidence and clash you will go farther in the round than having a structured speech halfway to late in debate. I appreciate speakers that keep the judges and audience engaged, so vocal patterns and eye contact matter. The most important thing to me is accurate and well developed arguments and thoughtful questions. For presiding officer: run a tight ship. Be quick, efficient, fair, and keep accurate precedents and recency. This is congressional debate, not congressional speech giving, so having healthy debate and competition is necessary. Being disrespectful in round will get you no where with me, so make sure to respect everyone in the room at all times.

Edited 20-21

Don't ask about speaks you should be more concerned with how to do better in the future. If you ask I will go back and dock your speaks at least 2 points.

Edited for WSD Nats 2020

Examples of your arguments will be infinitely more persuasive than analogies. Please weigh your arguments as it is appropriate. Be nice, there is a difference between arrogance and excellence

Edited for PF 2018-9

I have been judging for 20 years any numerous debate events. Please be clear; the better your internal link chain the better you will do. I am not a big fan of evidence paraphrasing. I would rather hear the authors words not your interpretation of them. Make sure you do more than weighing in the last two speeches. Please make comparison in your arguments and evidence. Dont go for everything. I usually live in an offense defense world there is almost always some risk of a link. Be nice if you dont it will affect your speaks

Edited for 2014-15 Topic
I will listen to just about any debate but if there isnt any articulation of what is happening and what jargon means then I will probably ignore your arguments. You can yell at me but I warned you. I am old and crotchety and I shouldn't have to work that hard.

CXphilosophy = As a preface to the picky stuff, I'd like to make a few more general comments first. To begin with, I will listen to just about any debate there is out there. I enjoy both policy and kritik debates. I find value in both styles of debate, and I am willing to adapt to that style. Second, have fun. If you're bored, I'm probably real bored. So enjoy yourself. Third, I'm ok with fast debates. It would be rare for you to completely lose me, however, you spew 5 minutes of blocks on theorical arguments I wont have the warrants down on paper and it will probably not be good for you when you ask me to vote on it. There is one thing I consider mandatory: Be Clear. As a luxury: try to slow down just a bit on a big analytical debate to give me pen time. Evidence analysis is your job, and it puts me in a weird situation to articulate things for you. I will read evidence after many rounds, just to make sure I know which are the most important so I can prioritize. Too many teams can't dissect the Mead card, but an impact takeout is just that. But please do it all the way- explain why these arguments aren't true or do not explain the current situation. Now the picky stuff:

Affs I prefer affs with plan texts. If you are running a critical aff please make sure I understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. Using the jargon of your authors without explaining what you are doing won't help me vote for you.

Topicality and Theory- Although I certainly believe in the value of both and that it has merit, I am frustrated with teams who refuse to go for anything else. To me, Topicality is a check on the fringe, however to win a procedural argument in front of me you need specific in round abuse and I want you to figure out how this translates into me voting for you. Although I feel that scenarios of potential abuse are usually not true, I will vote for it if it is a conceded or hardly argued framework or if you can describe exactly how a topic or debate round would look like under your interpretation and why you have any right to those arguments. I believe in the common law tradition of innocence until proven guilty: My bias is to err Aff on T and Negative on Theory, until persuaded otherwise.

Disads- I think that the link debate is really the most significant. Im usually willing to grant negative teams a risk of an impact should they win a link, but much more demanding linkwise. I think uniqueness is important but Im rarely a stickler for dates, within reason- if the warrants are there that's all you need. Negatives should do their best to provide some story which places the affirmative in the context of their disads. They often get away with overly generic arguments. Im not dissing them- Reading the Ornstein card is sweet- but extrapolate the specifics out of that for the plan, rather than leaving it vague.

Counterplans- The most underrated argument in debate. Many debaters don't know the strategic gold these arguments are. Most affirmatives get stuck making terrible permutations, which is good if you neg. If you are aff in this debate and there is a CP, make a worthwhile permutation, not just "Do Both" That has very little meaning. Solvency debates are tricky. I need the aff team to quantify a solvency deficit and debate the warrants to each actor, the degree and necessity of consultation, etc.

Kritiks- On the aff, taking care of the framework is an obvious must. You just need good defense to the Alternative- other than that, see the disad comments about Link debates. Negatives, I'd like so practical application of the link and alternative articulated. What does it mean to say that the aff is "biopolitical" or "capitalist"? A discussion of the aff's place within those systems is important. Second, some judges are picky about "rethink" alternatives- Im really not provided you can describe a way that it could be implemented. Can only policymakers change? how might social movements form as a result of this? I generally think its false and strategically bad to leave it at "the people in this debate"- find a way to get something changed. I will also admit that at the time being, Im not as well read as I should be. I'm also a teacher so I've had other priorities as far as literature goes. Don't assume I've read the authors you have.

Cale McCrary Saint Mary's Hall 6 rounds

Last changed on Mon March 18, 2024 at 10:43 PM CDT

cale@victorybriefs.com or SpeechDrop work

hi! i'm Cale. i've been coaching and judging pf & ld for 8 years. i debated in Texas before that.

general:

- read whatever you like: judging debaters who enjoy what they read is fun. however, keep in mind the coherence of my rfd will scale with your clarity- slow for analytics and tags, send well-organized docs, signpost, and number answers when you can. you'll be much happier with my decision.

- speaks reflect how strategic i found your debating to be. i'll evaluate any style, but admittedly prefer quick, clear debaters that read interesting arguments. (no 30 speaks spike or tko, please)

- i will not 'gut check' or strike an argument just because you've deemed it unwarranted or silly. instead, i encourage you to make an active response- it should be quick to do so if the argument is as underdeveloped as you say.

- extend your arguments. it doesn't have to be exhaustive, but something more than the tag is necessary, even if you think it's conceded.

- keep the round a safe and pleasant place for everyone. i will work hard to give you a thorough decision so long as we can all access the debate and speak about it afterwards without hostility.

- i am not going to use my ballot to make an out-of-round character judgement. if you are concerned your opponent is engaging in genuinely unsafe or violent behavior, a debate decision is not the appropriate means of redress- i will bring it to tab or the relevant party.

ld:

overall- i am best for policy debates, good for theory, worse for phil, and alright for Ks and tricks with some caveats (see below). ultimately, i'd like to judge your preferred strategy, but you will need to be more clear if it's something i'm typically not preffed into the back of. i am only human.

policy- i'll judge kick the counterplan. i lean neg on cp theory claims, and wish the aff would engage in a competition debate rather than read a blippy theory argument, particularly when the 1n is only like 3 off. i am good for your process/consult/intl fiat/etc cp, and, again, wish 1ars would just engage- if you are convinced there is not a discernable net benefit, the argument should be easier to answer. 3 word perms aren't arguments- explain the world of the perm. zero risk exists, and while it is difficult to achieve, it is entirely possible to make an argument's implication so marginal that its functional weight in the round is zero. i really appreciate well-executed impact turn debates, some of my favorite rounds to judge.

theory- no defaults, read w/e you want. always send interps and slow for anything you extemp. far too often in these debates there's no weighing or line by line done on paradigm issues: the 1n reads their theory hedge and vaguely crossapplies it to the 1ac underview, and then all of these arguments just float around in the 1ar and 2n without resolution- please lbl to make judging this tolerable. when going for T, keep in mind i do not actively cut LD prep or mine the wiki, so i don't have a reference point for your caselist or prep-based limits standard- add some explanation.

K- i frequently judge cap arguments, and often judge setcol. external to that, i'm much less experienced- happy to judge it, but i need instruction. please lbl clearly: i find myself most lost in k 2n/2ars when the overview is jargon-heavy and crossapplied everywhere. it is probably useful to know i can count on one hand the number of K v K debates i've been in the back of.

tricks- i often judge truth testing and skep and their associated tricks, but i don't have a deep enough understanding of the argument form to say i'm 10/10 comfortable if you read a nailbomb aff or a bunch of indexicals. in general, delineate in the doc and cross, be super clear abt the collapse strat, and i can vote for these.

phil- i have next to no experience with phil argumentation save for Kant tricks and some pomo (mostly just Baudrillard). need you to slow down and give me extra judge instruction if you're reading anything dense, but happy to learn.

pf:

extend defense the speech after it's answered and be comparative when you're weighing or going for a fw argument. otherwise, read what you think is fun- this includes theory, critical arguments, and other forms less common to PF. two things to add here: 1. don't read an argument just for the sake of it, read it well and 2. i am not amenable to the PF-style 'this argument form is holistically bad' response if we are in the varsity division- engage with substantive responses.

come to round ready to debate (pre-flowed, have docs ready if you're sending them, etc). the only way to frustrate me beyond being rude is to drag out the round by individually calling for a lot of evidence and taking forever to send it.

many PFers spend copious amounts of time impact weighing with multiple mechanisms. more often than not, you are better served reading one simple piece of weighing and investing that time elsewhere- either in more clearly frontlining and extending your case argument, or better implicating a piece of defense or turn on your opponents' case.

Roxanne Meraji Hire 6 rounds

Afi Momin Hire 6 rounds None

John Murphy Sandra Day O'Connor 5 rounds None

Alexandra Myers Hire 3 rounds

Last changed on Wed November 30, 2022 at 8:19 AM CDT

churchill '20

i competed in policy debate for 4 years and debated on the national circuit.

put me on the email chain - alexmdebatejudging@gmail.com

***i flow on paper. when reading topicality, theory, or framework arguments, please slow down. if i don't flow an argument, it's because you did not articulate it clearly.***

-- topicality --

i generally default to competing interpretations, but most certainly can be persuaded otherwise. have thorough explanations of the internal link and impact - repeating the phrase "they explode limits" 5 times tells me nothing.

-- counterplans --

good counterplan debates are great to watch. explain why the counterplan is distinct from the affirmative and why it solves. aff specific counterplans are always better than generic ones.

-- disadvantages --

have impact analysis and comparison of internal links. turn case arguments are important and underutilized. always answer the framing debate. there should be comparison between models of decision making. surface level, tag-line phrases about extinction being irreversible aren't enough to persuade me to value extinction first, especially when aff teams have well warranted framing args - the 2nr needs a clear, warranted link story, particularly true with politics disads because the evidence is notoriously shallow

-- kritiks --

for neg teams reading the k: no large overviews, i'd rather have that explanation done on the line by line. regarding framework, i generally default to weighing the aff. framework on the kritik is a link-framing argument. i need warrants why your interpretation/model of debate/role of the ballot is preferable and/or resolves the affirmative's offense. why should i utilize your framing as the lens through which i make my decision?

have specific links to the aff. even if you read a generic piece of link evidence, you can still utilize the warrants in that evidence and contextualize it to rhetoric or action of the 1ac. if you're making an ontology claim, i won't just vote on ontology - you still need a link to the aff. you should make arguments as to why the links turn the case.

i'm not familiar with a majority of kritik literature, so don't assume that i know what you're talking about. please explain your theory/thesis. buzzwords are vague and don't actually articulate the implication of your argument. i need to know what the alternative is, what it does, and why is the ballot necessary. arguments about why the alternative resolves the impact of the affirmative are always useful. generally i think you need an alternative in the 2nr, but can be convinced that you don't - just explain why

***no death good/death inevitable args -- i don't find those arguments persuasive at all***

aff teams debating the k: far too often i think affirmative teams are too defensive and aren't prepared to defend why the aff is good. have reasons why discussions about the 1ac and its content are good for debate. framework interpretations along the lines of "neg should read a competitive policy option" are not that strategic or compelling. make sure you're responding to the negative's specific framework standards.

the 2ac should line by line each link argument; waiting till the 1ar will put you behind in the debate. don't group the all of links. saying "their ev is not specific to the affirmative" is also no a sufficient response. you should address the argument made by their evidence and explain why the aff doesn't say/do that. please explain what the permutation is and how it functions. have warranted analysis as to why the permutation resolves the negative's offense.

-- k affs/performance/framework --

i'm more inclined to vote for framework but can definitely be persuaded to vote against it. i need to know what your model of debate looks like and how that compares to their model of debate.

neg teams: just like with topicality, have a well-developed internal link and impact explanation. fairness is probably more of an internal link to education than its own impact, but you should make the argument that fairness is an intrinsic good. you'll likely need a tva otherwise aff arguments about why you exclude their education become more convincing.

aff teams: i'd prefer that the 1ac would have a close connection to the topic. i need to know what the 1ac means and what it does. if the speech act of the 1ac is significant, why? why does the ballot have a causal influence on that?

-- theory --

what specifically did your opponent do? why did that make it structurally more difficult for you to debate? new affs bad and aspec are 2 arguments in debate i never want to vote for. please slow down when you're reading theory.

-- for LD debaters --

everything i said above about how i evaluate policy debates applies to LD too.

i don't like a lot of the theory stuff that y'all do. if you must go for theory, like any other procedural argument, have a well-developed internal link and impact explanation. i won't vote on an RVIs. they don't make sense, and you shouldn't be punished for reading a theory argument.

-- for PF debaters --

at the beginning of the round, the team speaking first should start an email chain. both teams should email out your entire case before your first constructive speech. in speeches after the first constructive, send out all the evidence you read *again before the speech* -- the amount of time wasted after/in between speeches asking for and sending evidence is ridiculous -- if you don't flash evidence, that will be reflected in your speaker points

-- last updated for the Longhorn Classic 2022 --

Kirsten Nash Hendrickson High School 6 rounds

Last changed on Thu January 4, 2024 at 6:56 PM CDT

I think that public forum is, at its core, the melding of sound argumentation and solid speaking. You should present not only well-structured, rational, strongly warranted arguments, but you should also do so in a way that can be relatable to whomever is in the back of the round.

That being said, I don't mind some speed - but be sure you are articulate and clear, especially with tags and authors. Sacrificing quality for quantity is a poor choice if you cannot handle (or your judge cannot handle) the speed. Make wise choices.

In terms of 'atypical' arguments. I think that it is very hard to run a K argument well in PF. I don't believe that it cannot be done, just that it is very rare. If you are running theory, then you better have extremely solid warrants and you should have it explained to the level of access of understanding fitting to this style of debate. DO NOT just read cards that you got from your Policy friends/teammates and call it a day. ALSO...YOUR ADVOCACY SHOULD MATCH YOUR ACTIONS. Do NOT use theory arguments as a cheap tool to surprise unwitting opponents and get the ballot when you have engaged in no actions that match the advocacy of your theory arguments. If you are running disclosure theory, there better be a history of you disclosing at EVERY round and you engaged in multiple forums, workshops, discussion boards where you are ACTIVELY engaged in increasing disclosure in a way that promotes education and fairness. If you get up and read disclosure in front of me and do not have this, it will be an automatic loss. I am not joking.

I think that framework is a solid strategy - if there is a purpose. Frequently teams have f/w just to have it and then don't touch it for the rest of the round. If it is there, then you should extend.

On the issue of extensions, be sure that your arguments are carried through the debate. Do not read at the beginning and then bring back up in the final focus and expect me to grant them to you.

Finally, there should be a clear advocacy in the round - and a clash between teams. I hate debates that are like ships passing in the night - no clash.

nicole navarro Hire 6 rounds

Sam Owens Hire 6 rounds None

Neil Patel Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Wed January 13, 2021 at 5:13 AM CDT

UPDATE FOR ZOOM: This is new for all of us. I will be as patient and understanding as possible, so long as you offer me the same. Please let me know if you have any tech issues, and we will find solutions as they come.

Email: neilpatel@utexas.edu

Five minutes before the round: I'm not a "traditional judge," but I enjoy debate for the educational activity, including progressive argumentation styles that foster critical thinking. I tend to disapprove of its unnecessary gamification. Here's what that means for you: I like K’s, DA’s, Phil. I don’t like tricks, skep, performance affs*, or unnecessary theory/T debates. I don't like the tech/truth dichotomy – I play by standard rules (etc. dropped arguments), but I won't vote for an obviously false statement just because the opponent didn't respond. (I will not grant any offense for clearly untruthful statements, and I do not expect untruthful arguments to be responded to). Please read my section on evidence ethics and on weighing. Ask me any questions you want––my goal is to make each round an educational experience for both debaters.

* see below for details

Weighing: Weighing is key to my ballot. I tend to value probability more than magnitude, especially in extreme cases of "apocalyptic impact with 0.001% probability." The further an impact chain gets from its initial causation, the less likely you can convince me of its unique link to the original event. If both Smoking and Poor Diet independently lead to Heart Disease which leads to Death, you can't conclusively tell me that Smoking caused Death, Poor Diet might have as well. Think about what the "Poor Diets" are in your arguments and those of your opponents.

Background: Graduated from Plano West in 2016 – competed in most debate events and extemp (won TFA, finals at Nats/TOC/ETOC). It's been a second, but I've judged LD, PF, and Congress extensively on the Texas circuit. Did a little bit of coaching at Anderson, Plano West, and UTNIF a while ago as well. I currently work in international development in Washington, D.C. – I would be happy to discuss that more after the round if you're interested in a career in foreign affairs.

Speed: Go as fast as you want as long as you flash me and your opponent a copy of your case. You will lose points for not sharing your case.

Arguments: I'm open to any argument or strategy you think will win you the debate as long as you’re not advocating for something racist/homophobic/sexist/genocidal, etc. The winner of my ballot will give me the most structurally-intact argument chain that leads to the strongest, properly-weighed impact. Try not to just extend arguments and leave me to do all the work on the final ballot.

Things I Like:

- Ks: I won’t necessarily vote for “alt can’t solve” defense, but I prefer a strong alt if you’re going to read a K.

- DAs: impact calculus please! and please make the links plausible

- Phil: I expect you to slow down on your own analysis and very clearly explain your warrants.

Things I Don't Like:

- I'm probably not the best guy to run theory/T on. If there's an obvious reason go for it, but tbh I usually just don't understand these. Remember that I don't come from an extensive LD background, so my definition of "frivolous theory" is probably a lot wider than other judges you come across. I also am not well-versed at all in the jargon involved T/framework arguments.

- Skep

- Performance Affs: I completely respect any debater's right to use their platform and the debate space to discuss important social issues. If you do run a performance aff, please be assured that you will have my complete, undivided attention. However, for the sake of running a tournament, I consider running a performance aff to be a voluntary drop because I don't find it fair to penalize your opponent.

- Tricks

- Lazy Extensions/Blippy Responses

- Blatantly false arguments: I disapprove of the tech/truth dichotomy. I will count dropped arguments for what they are, but if your opponent is citing something that is clearly untrue (the world is flat, China is in Europe, etc.), you don't need to waste any time responding to such a ridiculous argument because I won't give them any offense for it.

Evidence (PLEASE READ):

This is an educational activity. Evidence is super important to me, and integrity is right up there with it. I come from a research background, so I very much care about integrity when it comes to citing sources in the way the author actually intended. This also means that I am fairly well-versed in literature related to economics, development, international relations, or finance. I will probably be able to tell if you are making up evidence or misquoting prominent authors.

I might be familiar with some authors, but I might not be! Cover your bases and make sure you're explaining the logic behind each card. Just saying "Patel 2019 says x" won't do you a lot of good. Help me understand, even if briefly, how the author reached that conclusion. Also, evidence strength matters to me. If there's conflicting evidence, I will default to a peer-reviewed journal article over a random blog by a conspiracy theorist.

If your evidence seems a little too good to be true, I might call for your full card after the round. I'll try my best not to intervene, but if your damning evidence comes from a conspiracy theory blog or other sketchy sources, my threshold for buying any response from your opponent against that argument might be very very low. If you deliberately misquote evidence, you lose the round and get zero speaks – this includes paraphrasing to imply a conclusion the author didn't reach. This is an educational activity and maintaining your integrity is so much more important than looking for the easy way out to win a round.

In Round:

Let me know if I need to make any accommodations for you––I will always be willing to do what I can to help. I will disclose with a short summary after round, but please feel free to find me after the round/tournament to ask specific questions.

Please don't be rude, sexist, or patronizing to younger debaters in round. If you're repeatedly talking over opponents or being condescending, or if you take advantage of the fact that you're debating a complete novice and just bully them, it will hurt your speaker points. Be kind to each other!

If you've made it this far in this novel of a paradigm, at some point before the round, say the passphrase "Only a Sith deals in absolutes" and I'll give you one extra second of prep time, maybe.

Novices: If you have any debate questions in general, not necessarily limited to your performance in round, please feel free to ask away after the round. It’s not easy to compete in your first few tournaments, and I would love to help make each round a learning experience for you.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me before the round. Good luck!

***** PF SPECIFIC STUFF*****

It's been a while, so I don't remember what the standards are for dropped arguments and when it's too late to weight and whatnot. Tell me how you want me to judge the round and I will weigh accordingly. Here's what I will say: I don't flow CX, so please make sure you repeat important information from CX in your speeches. Although I recommend that 2Rs respond to attacks made by the 1R, I'm not going to count it as a drop if you don't respond to it all. One of my pet peeves is when teams run overviews that say "x is inevitable give us all offense from the neg." Based on all laws of physics and statistics, it's hard to make the case that anything is inevitable, so do your diligence and prove to me why you can steal their offense, preferably earlier in the round if possible. If you want the ballot to actually reflect the debate and not my subjective opinion (I've got some hot takes!), you need good clash and proper weighing.

**************************

JT Pirog Hire 6 rounds

Chiara Pride Hire 6 rounds None

Sitansh Rajput Hire 6 rounds

Noah Recker La Vernia HS 6 rounds

Sarah Reeves Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Fri January 5, 2018 at 8:04 AM EDT

My background:

I was a debater for Churchill (class of 2013) for four years and did a year in each event (LD, CX, PF, and Congress). I judged novice tournaments while in high school and have judged a few high school tournaments (LD and Congress) on the east coast during college. I'm a senior at Princeton University majoring in Gender & Sexuality Studies and currently working on a thesis about the legal concept of parenthood and paternity law.

How I judge:

I'm basically tabula rasa and open to hearing a wide variety of arguments. I value deep engagement with opponents' arguments. Be sure to engage with the bigger picture of the round and articulate why winning any particular argument matters.

Make my job easy as a judge by presenting clear and compelling reasons that you should win (voters, why I should weigh arguments in your favor / what the weighing mechanism is, etc). Be organized.

I view debate as an educational activity with competitive aspects. I expect professional conduct from debaters (don't be condescending, rude, constantly interrupting, or discriminatory) and will seriously slash your speaker points if bad behavior is repeated / severe. That being said, during cross I won't penalize you for reasonable interruptions of your opponent (there are ways to be firm, polite, and in control of your time).

On a similar note, I think it's incredibly important to remain reasonably accessible with non-traditional arguments. Run things as weird as you want as long as they can be engaged with effectively. Don't be malicious or sneaky.

Common concerns:

- I don't mind paperless as long as you're not severely inconveniencing your opponent and you're acting in accordance with regulations

- for LD: I'm fine with critical arguments (theory, kritik, etc) as long as they're 1) not abusive (e.g. don't run theory if there isn't substantial abuse happening in-round with the goal of eating your opponents' time), 2) you can clearly explain your arguments and connect them to voters, and 3) it's something your opponent could reasonably respond to or prepare for given the topic. Since debate is an educational but competitive activity, I struggle to see the value in running extraordinarily obscure CPs and kritiks as a strategy to force a win by making it impossible for a debater to reasonably respond. I'm still willing to hear those arguments, but if you're running something incredibly obscure, know that I will take that into consideration when judging your opponents' response (ie, if they don't have a piece of evidence that is directly responsive, but they have a strong and logical rebuttal to your argument, I'm going to be more lenient with them since you threw something out of left field).

- for PF: I'm not very strict or traditional so I'm fine with hearing more meta arguments, but keep your arguments accessible and be reasonable with speed. That's the whole point of PF.

- Speed is fine as long as you remain articulate

- If you want, I will time you (I keep track on my phone anyway), but it is ultimately your responsibility to keep track and utilize your time well.

- I generally don't disclose or provide oral critiques for preliminary rounds. Do expect full commentary on your ballot with an RFD.

- At the end of the day, it's just a high school competition. Be good sportspeople playing with ideas and remember that you are accountable to the broader community.

Ethan Roberts Hire 6 rounds None

Ashton Rodgers Geneva School Of Boerne 5 rounds

Last changed on Fri January 5, 2018 at 3:52 PM EDT

This is Public Forum; therefore, if you sacrifice clarity or eloquence for the sake of speed, you have lost the spirit of the event. While I am familiar with technical language, a jargon oriented speaking style is off-putting and belongs to policy or LD. You are unlikely to win on a technicality that is not specifically outlined in NSDA rules. Speaker points will reflect your skill and effectiveness as a speaker. I will severely dock points for incivility or bigotry, if not drop the team outright.
If you want me to vote for you, there are a few things I expect:

Arguments :

I will flow whatever you tell me to. That said, it is important to extend arguments. Bring up everything you want me to flow. E.g. if something important is said in CX it needs to be brought up in sum/ff. I encourage front-lining, but absolutely expect debaters to respond to the speeches right before their’s. If you go for a terminal impacts from something that has not been mentioned since first constructive, then I am unlikely to give it as much weight in the round as something that has been extended in every speech.

In terms of content, I am tabula rasa - as long as your arguments have warrants and internal links, I'll evaluate them. That said, Ks, plans, or counter-plans really don’t belong in PF, therefore expect a skeptical reception of them.

As far as evidence goes, statistics are insufficient without logical warrants for why they are true. The warrant is just as important as the evidence read. Consider this to be true of anything brought up in round. A team needs to do more work than just read a card to win a round. Inversely, if something is dropped, do not wait for final focus to bring it up.

Clash:

The debate round is what you make of it. Please tell me what YOU think is important in the round so that I know what to consider important. Resolve framework so that there can be clash. If it cannot be decided, please weigh, tell me why to prefer yours (this is true of everything not just framework). During the round, both teams will win different arguments, but if there is never any direct clash then judging becomes much more subjective.

Voters:

A team can win every argument on the flow, but if they don’t tell me why those arguments are important then there is a problem. Explain why winning certain things wins you the round, and do the comparative work. Final focus should not be the first time a team impacts out, I need a clear path of continuity between constructive and final focus through which to access impacts and voters. This also means that new arguments brought up too late are not something I will vote on.

3. Evidence

Do not misrepresent it. I have no qualms about paraphrasing; in fact, I encourage it because speeches are so short. However, if your opponents or myself feel that you are misrepresenting evidence, I will call for it after round.

Beau Rohde Hire 6 rounds

LeNita Smith Hire 5 rounds None

Mackenzie Smith Hire 6 rounds

tyshee sonnier Hire 6 rounds

Andy Stubbs St. John's School 6 rounds

Last changed on Thu January 4, 2024 at 5:25 PM EDT

Email chain: andrew.ryan.stubbs@gmail.com

Policy:

I did policy debate in high school and coach policy debate in the Houston Urban Debate League.

Debate how and what you want to debate. With that being said, you have to defend your type of debate if it ends up competing with a different model of debate. It's easier for me to resolve those types of debate if there's nuance or deeper warranting than just "policy debate is entirely bad and turns us into elitist bots" or "K debate is useless... just go to the library and read the philosophy section".

Explicit judge direction is very helpful. I do my best to use what's told to me in the round as the lens to resolve the end of the round.

The better the evidence, the better for everyone. Good evidence comparison will help me resolve disputes easier. Extensions, comparisons, and evidence interaction are only as good as what they're drawing from-- what is highlighted and read. Good cards for counterplans, specific links on disads, solvency advocates... love them.

I like K debates, but my lit base for them is probably not nearly as wide as y'all. Reading great evidence that's explanatory helps and also a deeper overview or more time explaining while extending are good bets.

For theory debates and the standards on topicality, really anything that's heavy on analytics, slow down a bit, warrant out the arguments, and flag what's interacting with what. For theory, I'll default to competing interps, but reasonability with a clear brightline/threshold is something I'm willing to vote on.

The less fully realized an argument hits the flow originally, the more leeway I'm willing to give the later speeches.

PF:

I'm going to vote for the team with the least mitigated link chain into the best weighed impact.

Progressive arguments and speed are fine (differentiate tags and author). I need to know which offense is prioritized and that's not work I can do; it needs to be done by the debaters. I'm receptive to arguments about debate norms and how the way we debate shapes the activity in a positive or negative way.

My three major things are: 1. Warranting is very important. I'm not going to give much weight to an unwarranted claim, especially if there's defense on it. That goes for arguments, frameworks, etc. 2. If it's not on the flow, it can't go on the ballot. I won't do the work extending or impacting your arguments for you. 3. It's not enough to win your argument. I need to know why you winning that argument matters in the bigger context of the round.

Worlds:

Worlds rounds are clash-centered debates on the most reasonable interpretation of the motion.

Style: Clearly present your arguments in an easily understandable way; try not to read cases or arguments word for word from your paper

Content: The more fully realized the argument, the better. Things like giving analysis/incentives for why the actors in your argument behave like you say they do, providing lots of warranting explaining the "why" behind your claims, and providing a diverse, global set of examples will make it much easier for me to vote on your argument.

Strategy: Things that I look for in the strategy part of the round are: is the team consistent down the bench in terms of their path to winning the round, did the team put forward a reasonable interpretation of the motion, did the team correctly identify where the most clash was happening in the round.

Remember to do the comparative. It's not enough that your world is good; it needs to be better than the other team's world.

Taylor Torres Hire 6 rounds

alejandra trillo Hire 1 rounds None

Joseph Uhler Hire

Last changed on Wed April 17, 2024 at 4:46 AM CDT

I did not do debate in high school or college.

I have coached speech and debate for 20 years. I focus on speech events, PF, and WSD. I rarely judge LD (some years I have gone the entire year without judging LD), so if I am your judge in LD, please go slowly. I will attempt to evaluate every argument you provide in the round, but your ability to clearly explain the argument dictates whether or not it will actually impact my decision/be the argument that I vote off of in the round. When it comes to theory or other progressive arguments (basically arguments that may not directly link to the resolution) please do not assume that I understand completely how these arguments function in the round. You will need to explain to me why and how you are winning and why these arguments are important. When it comes to explanation, do not take anything for granted. Additionally, if you are speaking too quickly, I will simply put my pen down and say "clear."

In terms of PF, although I am not a fan of labels for judges ("tech," "lay," "flay") I would probably best be described as traditional. I really like it when debaters discuss the resolution and issues related to the resolution, rather than getting "lost in the sauce." What I mean by "lost in the sauce" is that sometimes debaters take on very complex ideas/arguments in PF and the time limits for that event make it very difficult for debaters to fully explain these complex ideas.

Argument selection is a skill. Based on the time restrictions in PF debate, you should focus on the most important arguments in the summary and final focus speeches. I believe that PF rounds function like a funnel. You should only be discussing a few arguments at the end of the round. If you are discussing a lot of arguments, you are probably speaking really quickly, and you are also probably sacrificing thoroughness of explanation. Go slowly and explain completely, please.

In cross, please be nice. Don't talk over one another. I will dock your speaks if you are rude or condescending. Also, every competitor needs to participate in grand cross. I will dock your speaks if one of the speakers does not participate.

For Worlds, I prefer a very organized approach and I believe that teams should be working together and that the speeches should compliment one another. When each student gives a completely unique speech that doesn’t acknowledge previous arguments, I often get confused as to what is most important in the round. I believe that argument selection is very important and that teams should be strategizing to determine which arguments are most important. Please keep your POIs clear and concise.

If you have any questions, please let me know after I provide my RFD. I am here to help you learn.

Pronouns: he/him

Julio Urquidi Hire 6 rounds None

Maya Waterland Westwood HS 6 rounds

Lindsay Willson Hire 6 rounds

Last changed on Sat September 19, 2020 at 4:57 AM CDT

First things first: If you are speed reading, do not raise your voice and yell your speeches at me. I will call out your tone in round and that will probably mess up your speech. Talking loudly does not make me understand your speed any better, and it will dock you on speaks. Use your inside voice.

Argumentation: I like bare bones clash and direct argumentation. I evaluate everything pretty fairly, but avoid topics that would clearly create distress and aren't relevant to the topic. Hate speech, homophobia, implicit or explicit racism, and being rude to other debaters are not tolerated in my rounds.

Presentation/Speed: An easy way to ensure you get your speaker points is to slow down on taglines, authors, and provide summaries of cards after you read them. I judge based on end of round voters and impact calculus. Your use of the sources is more important than the name tied to it. Additionally, I think playing the cards game is a waste of debate time. Engage with the content of the round and if there is a legitimate issue of false sources we can have a discussion in post.

Very important: ALWAYS SIGN POST. At the start of a new argumentation, when flipping between AFF and NEG, whenever you change to a new topic you need to tell me. Otherwise the flow gets messy on my end and it hurts my ability to judge you based off of all the wonderful ideas you're presenting. You'll get docked if I can't understand you.

How I vote:

For LD: Value Criterion. It may seem basic but it's how I judge. Drops count against you- so if you're running a K but don't address your opponents case, whats the point to the debate? In your last speech I need specific voters and specific links and very specific reasons for my vote. Be comparative, that means impacts. I have the nitty gritty details written on my page, but give me the big picture reason why you win.

For PF: Impact calculus and clash. Hit every single one of their points, then show how yours are better, and you win. I want to hear why your "world" is the more feasible and the more worthwhile.

My bark is much worse than my bite- just respect me, respect each other, and have fun with it. Good luck!

Login to Tabroom

Winston Churchill Classic

2018 — TX/US

PF Paradigm List

Judges