I run the Tulsa Debate League. I debated at Charles Page for four years in the 90's and at the University of Southern California for four years in the early aughts. For most of my career, I ran what would be considered traditional policy debate arguments. I've certainly ran and been exposed to other styles of argumentation, including many varieties of kritiks (though I have very limited experience with what was once called performance arguments). With that said, I haven't been heavily involved in the national circuit or college debate for many years, so, if you are running a set of arguments which require a vernacular and a set of assumptions that I lack, it is your job to educate me on those issues. My default set of assumptions will necessarily be based on my experience and historical reference points. With that said, I try to be as open-minded and inclusive as possible. I have voted for both identity K teams and policy teams, on topicality and for multiple counterplan strategies that I deplore when I felt like they these strategies were debated well.

If you asked me what I'd like to see rather than what I will merely vote on, I would say I like to see debates with clash and a clear, big picture sense of what matters in the debate. Great debaters tell stories with evidence and examples.

Most of the debating that I have seen in Oklahoma since moving back here could have been made better with the use of paper files instead of computers. The use of flash drives and laptops has generally made debaters less apt to flow, which has caused all manner of problems, such as dropping arguments and failing to explain arguments to the judge because you assume it's on the flash drive. And flash drives have added hours to tournaments. So be mindful of that.

I would love to see is a commitment to making the community better and more inclusive. Being nice is always a good thing.

Hey. My name is Jordan. I competed in policy at Union High School in Tulsa, OK. I also competed in parliamentary style debate in college at Morehouse College in Atlanta. In high school, I read a lot of small impact policy affs, a few kritikal affs, and mostly t/k/case strats. I've judged a good number of rounds throughout undergrad and this current 18-19 debate season. I'd say that my paradigm is probably policymaker. I'm open to hearing well impacted topicality arguments and kritiks on the neg, in addition to DA's, CP's, and theory arguments. I also don't mind kritikal affs, as long as they make a good argument for why they are germane to the topic, but I do have some reservations about affs that incorporate personal narratives in their strategy. I think that debates should be educational, and I think that debaters have the right to discuss what the rules of the debate should be. I'm good with speed, as long as you clearly enunciate your tags.

In addition to all of this, I think that debaters should be respectful to one another, and I'm always open to discuss my decision and the round, if time permits.

I'm Black.

My pronouns are he/him/his.

Cross-x.com has hidden gems.

Email: jordanothniel@gmail.com

I'm the Program Director for the Tulsa Debate League. I coach all events but my focus is policy debate. I'm open to all styles of debate and I try to minimize judge intervention in my decisions. With that in mind, I’m more concerned with argument form than argument content. Arguments can come in many forms (e.g., traditional policy arguments, kritikal arguments, narrative arguments, etc.) but I think all arguments should have warrants and impacts. I also think line-by-line and clash help me minimize judge intervention. If your debate style eschews line-by-line, that's okay, but the clash should still be present, even if it's implicit. Ultimately though, I will do my best to evaluate your round according to the terms you establish in the round. With all that said, the rest of this paradigm covers a few technical aspects of debate that I consider important.

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Speech Docs

Please include me in the email chain: michael.haskins@tulsadebate.org

Flowing

I will flow where you tell me to flow. If you don’t tell me where to flow, I will flow in the way that makes the most sense to me. I'm hesitant to cross-apply for you so sign-posting and explicit cross-applications are important.

Evidence

I prefer fewer pieces of evidence better explained and better applied than many pieces of evidence poorly explained and poorly applied. I think the debate community as a whole has done a poor job of teaching debaters how to evaluate competing evidence. Credentials and expert status hold less sway in my mind than the empirical and logical analysis contained in the evidence. On that note, I tend to give more weight to analytical arguments that use common knowledge examples and reasoned analysis than most judges. I consider this an important check against teams that run intentionally obscure offense on the hope that the other team will lack the evidence to respond.

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Feel free to ask me questions. I love to talk debate.

As for CX, I lean in the traditional direction of favoring well-researched and crafted AFFs that link to the topic, solve genuine harms and produce plausible advantages. NEGs need to produce offense and defense arguments, looking for clear on-case attax and Off-case flows with specific links and significant impacts and CPs that are competitive. T args are usually a waste of time with me unless NEG can prove serious abuse of the topic. I'll vote on the K if I can buy the Alt. I ask to see cards on regularly. As for speed, if it is clear, I can flow it, and if I can flow it I can weigh/judge it. I'll yell "Clear" once, and after that, if the speaker is unintelligible, I put down my G2.

In LD, I flow everything--even CX. I look for good Framework clash/comparison and weighing which V/C will carry the round. Contentions must clearly link to the FW, backed up by solid evidence. I'm looking for debaters who can cover both flows thoroughly and offer a clear, concise pathway to getting my ballot. Try to stay steady and organized. Present good voters and weigh them against your opponent. I will listen to progressive strategies if they make sense to me.

With PF, I flow it all, but I in all honesty, I am looking for the team that can articulate the best scenario, back it up with stellar evidence, speak with authority and avoid making CX a barking fest.