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Chattahoochee Cougar Classic

2018 — GA/US

Novice/JV Policy Paradigm List

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Zach Adam Hire 8 rounds

Last changed on Sat February 13, 2021 at 1:13 PM EDT

Zach Adam, Chattahoochee High School, University of Georgia, 2023 B.S. Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Can't believe I have to say this, but considering the amount of speeches I have heard about Trump and even CP texts about Trump I have to:

Biden is our president now, let's update our blocks. Trump cannot "make escalate uniquely likely" when he is not in office. Thank you

General:

1 - I like detailed & nuanced debates that center around specific strategies.

2 - I'm probably not voting on theory

3 - I'd probably vote on framework more times than planless AFFs

4 - The politics DA is great & back in business but unfortunately, so many debaters still can't even define 'political capital'. If you are one of those, maybe the politics DA isn't the move...

5 - Evidence quality is important in adjudicating close debates, but I won't dig out warrants for you.

6 - Each argument needs a warrant please, especially in the rebuttals.

7 - Most frustrating is adjudicating a debate in which neither team provides judge instruction, implications of their arguments, or generalized framing claims about what each argument you are going for means for the debate. This often leads to judge bias & interpretation or bailed out by evidence quality.

Counterplans

1 - judge kick is my default until debated otherwise from the 1AR

2 - it's the first thing I evaluate in a debate

Kritiks

1 - Pre-written extensions that you think applies to every topical AFF isn't going to get it done. Tailor your kritik to the 1AC with detail and specificity for me to vote for it

Topicality

1 - Do comparisons. Evidence comparison & impact comparison. Too often, debates are 50/50 which is the fault of not having enough judge instruction and comparisons in the rebuttals

2 - Plan text in a vacuum makes sense depending on the plan text

Be chill, debate is great, don't hate on your peers, & please don't be toxic

Disha Adama Hire 8 rounds

Rajan Agrawal Woodward Academy

Last changed on Tue October 29, 2019 at 10:05 AM EDT

Emory ’22, Newman ‘18

Conflicts: Woodward Academy, Isidore Newman

Add me to the email chain: rajanagrawal18@gmail.com

Glenbrooks - This is my first tournament judging this topic, so please refrain from using acronyms at first.

General Thoughts:

Ideal debate - CP/DA strategy vs a policy aff. I never read a K aff nor went for any other K aside from cap or security.

Debate is a game

Tech outweighs truth - great spin/technical debating can beat higher quality ev when you have only decent/kinda bad cards

What my ballot does - all my ballot does is decide who wins and who loses a debate - it does not upend the social order and radically transform debate nor does it cause genocide

Line by line is very important – the cleaner the debate, the better the debate. I will add .5 speaker points if you engage in good line by line debate that includes a numbered 2AC.

K-affs:

Read a plan.

If you don’t and the other team goes for FW, I am predisposed to vote neg.

Topicality:

Give examples of what affs would be justified by the aff's interp. Impact comparison between standards is crucial. I'm open to either reasonability or competing interpretations.

Theory:

Condo: I strongly believe there is no non-arbitrary difference between 2, 3, or infinite condo - if you can justify why having multiple CP's is good you probably get to read as many as you want - aff teams can win that the neg should get 1 or 0 condo in front of me, but it will be an uphill battle.

Other theory arguments: please debate about the topic and not some extraneous issue. I really would prefer for a 2ar not to go for theory when substance is an option - if you have a card that actually substantiates your CP, I will almost definitely not vote against you on theory. Super cheaty CPs are the only exception.

Ks:

I believe the aff gets to way the implementation of the plan. I am not the right judge for any high theory or pomo K.

DAs and CPs:

DAs: I love the politics DA. That being said, pointing out logical holes and good analytics get really far with me and can completely take out a DA. Zero risk is possible. Don't drop "DA turns and/or solves the case.”

CPs: I like a good cheaty CP. If you can defend it theoretically, go for it.

Karen Allen Cambridge High School Debate

Ash Arumugam Hire

Andrea Bieytes Johns Creek High School

Shloka Danave Alpharetta HS Debate

Last changed on Sat January 16, 2021 at 8:54 AM EDT

I HAVE NO TOPIC KNOWLEDGE.

2A for 4 years at Alpharetta High School

Current student at UGA

put me on the email chain: shlokadanave@gmail.com

tl;dr

We are all here to have fun so make sure to be respectful and enjoy yourself. Death is bad. Racism is bad. Sexism is bad. Anything that seems slightly unethical is Bad. Tech over Truth

Long Version

Case - I love a good case debate. Aff make sure to explain your impacts and if it's a complicated screwed up internal link chain, you are going to have to spend a lot of time on that for me to vote on that. Make sure to have good impact comparison. Neg please don't undercover case just so that you can read like 8 off instead of 6, I end up leaning aff in these types of debates because they have to take the burden to explain their aff and answer all of your off case when you don't even take the time to address their internal links

DA - I have no issues with these. Again make sure to impact things out, i notice that a lot of novices don't do this and it's really important for you to win the link level and the impact level of the debate. This topic doesn't have a lot of good DA's but aff specific Disads are cool. Aff, straight turn it that's fun.

T - I love t debates. Treat this like a DA ans don't just ramble on with a bunch of t buzzwords, make sure to actually explain your impacts. Make sure to be specific on the limits question of the debate because a lot of teams don't end up explaining that well. I default aff on reasonability if not answered.

CP - Aff when they read cheating CP's go for theory, if you do it right I'll vote on it, I really hate voting for cheaty cp's. On another note, treat a CP like they would treat your aff. read DA's read impact turns and extend solvency. conditionally is usually bad but i can be convinced otherwise. Neg, you need to make sure you do comparison on the sufficiency level and also properly answer solvency deficits and DO NOT GROUP PERMS. Do some actual explanation on your answers to each perm and make sure to differentiate them. You can't group PDB with an intrinsic perm.

K - I am not well versed in K literature. I will not vote on anything I don't understand so make sure you explain well. Links need to be contextualized to the aff and not just to their impacts. I'm fine with generics like Cap, Security, and Fem, everything else will need more explanation. I won't vote on anything unethical.

Impact Turns - I actually love impact turns I have no issues with these but no unethical impact turns and make sure you do this right. A lot of novices have confusion on this type of argument but make sure you have learned how to read impact turns before you do it.

Overall - just be nice and make sure you are respectful to everyone, including me and everything will go smoothly.

Kelli De Guire Calhoun HS - Calhoun, GA

Last changed on Mon January 8, 2024 at 9:16 AM EDT

Short-pre-round version: Speech and Debate coach at Calhoun High School (Georgia). Former high school policy debater in the mid 1980s. Since re-entry into the activity via UTNIF in 2018, I have worked hard to learn innovations in debate since my time in high school. My paradigm is still evolving. Even though I am willing to listen to anything, debaters must have clash and explanation. - following Toulmin (Claim, Warrant, Explanation). I flow, so I expect you to signpost, label, and explain.

Longer, working on prefs, version: If you think from visual clues that I am not getting the argument, I am probably not.

I expect to receive an email chain for 1A and 1N at deguirek@calhounschools.org

My team: I coach on the national and regional (Georgia) circuit. My team has transitioned from a policy only team to an LD only team. Now, the team writes most of their own arguments, but my varsity teams run a lot of Ks. Understand that just because my team runs an argument doesn't mean that I like it, or that I will understand it without your thorough explanation of the argument.

Likes/dislikes: I teach debate because I love debate, the community, and the education it provides. I try to be extremely objective and vote for teams because I think their arguments won, never because of rep or outside (or inside the round) influences. In fact, I tend to react badly if I believe a team or coach is trying to exert undue influence. Post-round I will give you as clear a critique as I possibly can and will answer respectful and honest questions from the debaters. I expect a team I drop (and their coaches) to be unhappy, but no matter what, please be nice to your opponents, your partner, your coaches, and your judge.

LARPing: I can deal with LARPing as long as I can follow it. If you spread through the analytics or don't signpost or don't weigh the args, don't expect me to vote for it.

Weirdness:I do not like performance-based actions of any kind. No challenging opponents to any kind of physical altercations, especially tortilla fights (don't ask.)

My email: deguirek@calhounschools.org

Sakshi Deshpande Alpharetta HS Debate

Cheryl Despathy Galloway School

Alex Fan Woodward Academy 5 rounds

Last changed on Mon January 13, 2020 at 7:43 AM EDT

Debated for Hamilton High School. 2A for 3 years, 1A for 1 year

Housekeeping things

-Include me on the email chain: fanafu@gmail.com

-I won’t disclose until the room is put back in order.

TL;DR

Please explain your acronyms as I haven't judged many rounds on this topic.
Quality > Quantity. It's your debate, debate what you want (also means read args that you're comfortable on).

Love K's of any kind.

T/FW is alright, just make sure to impact everything.

DA/CPs are chill if they're specific.

Be understandable, do clash for me, do the work for me, esp. in last two speeches.

I listen to CX (even if it looks like I don't) and it is binding.

Flashing isn't prep, but excessive amounts of flashing might come off as stealing prep so be wary.

Debate well, don't be mean, don't be offensive, respect each other.

Speaker Points

20: you did something extremely offensive/disrespectful/hostile

27.5-28.4: mediocre; prob not breaking
28.5-28.9: good; maybe breaking 4-2
29-29.4: very good; prob breaking
29.5-30: excellent; top speaker quality

CX Specific Paradigm
Affirmatives--Any style or way you want to present your affirmative is fine with me, just be sure you can justify it. Admittedly, I am not well versed with performance-based aff, so please explain to me what your performance means in and out of the round. Affirmatives should at least talk about the topic and anti-topical affs are definitely not legit.

*new thing. I find myself increasingly less enjoying big-stick policy affs, mainly because the debates tend to be just overly fast and blippy. If you ARE planning on running those kinds of affs, then i would highly suggest making good extrapolations of internal link chains and impact probability analysis.

Case-- I usually go by the offense/defense paradigm here even though it's probably not realistic. I just find it easier to evaluate debates this way sans a very robust analysis of impact defense in the 2nr. Try not to contradict here; however, if you can contextualize your arguments well to the affirmative a case debate is very impressive to see. Try to avoid making this debate "not my [insert some author]" and actually have a contextualized debate here. Line by line analysis as opposed to long generic overviews are preferred.

Counterplans--You must have a good analysis of how you resolve the net benefit of the CP if you're going for it. Neg must explain how they are competitive and should be preferred over the affirmative. Evidence should be good and actually say what you want it to say if you want me to vote for you. Theory is often insufficient unless entirely dropped. Also I default to reject the arg on CP theory, unless specifically spun to be reject the team.

Disads-- Most DA’s are chill. They probably all have very tenuous link chains that can be exploited. So exploit them. Impact comparison is also very important. Tell me why I should care. For ptx specifically, don’t speed through it. Intrinsicness is probably true, but you still have to argue the theoretical implications for me to evaluate it.

Kritik--This is where I spent most my debate career. I think K's are good as long as you can explain them well. If you are personally passionate about an argument, and it shows, your speaker points will likely be higher (this goes for affirmatives as well). I tend to think arguments about identity in debate are important, and play an important part in effecting the community. That being said most of my experience is with the "high theory" side of K's. Regardless of what kind of critical argument you read, I will NOT do the work for you. Tell me what your K is, why it matters, and why I should vote for you. If your only link in the 2NR is a state bad link, then you're prob not on the winning side. K's should not be a sketchy attempt to dodge clash, find a way to clash with your opponent and make the debate productive for everyone. I won't kick the alt for you. Most other K tricks, while cheap shots, are acceptable.

Also the question of perms is always an issue in a K vs. K debate. Someone please tell me what the perm means in the round or tell me why a method vs. method debate doesn't get a permutation.

T/FW--I treat framework debates like I would any topicality debate. Be sure to impact out anything you go for otherwise I'll probably prefer their impacts. Reverse voting issues are dumb, but I'll still vote for them if done well. If against a non-traditional affirmative try to provide an interpretation where they could still raise there issue, and not out right exclude them. It will be an uphill battle if you come in with the "non-traditional affirmative are wrong" mindset. Otherwise treat T/FW like a DA, I want to see how they link, what that does, why that's bad, and why I should care.

Theory--Theory is often not enough for me to vote for you unless there is a serious violation or the other team just dropped it. Give me examples of how they violate and how that is effecting you. I have a high threshold for these arguments; however, am more often convinced by the "drop the argument, not the team" plea for theory.
Also for Condo specifically, I will probably not vote on it unless there's some serious abuse and it's well extrapolated in the 2AR.

Other stuff

Flashing is not prep
please clash
jokes are cool
caring about your arguments is cool
don't be mean
don't exclude people
don't discriminate against people
have fun
be chill
If you can make a joke about your existential dread, Malhar Patel, Tanzil Chowdhury, Nikpreet Singh, or Quinn Zapata, then you’ll get an extra .5 speaker point.

LD Paradigm

Defend your ethics and position with good references to evidence and impact comparisons, and I'll be pretty satisfied. If you have any specific questions, just ask me before round.

If, for some reason, you're treating this as a one-man policy debate, then read my CX paradigm above.

Brett Flater Druid Hills High School

Last changed on Sat January 21, 2023 at 12:21 AM EDT

Add me to the e-mail chain: brettflater@gmail.com

He/Him/His

tldr; I've been out of uber competitive debate for a while. If you make the debate difficult to flow, I'll make decisions based on my understanding. If you make the flow clear, I'll make decisions based off the flow. Being nice and respectful comes before winning a debate; don't be mean or disrespectful.

I have not judged on this years topic and have read very little about the topic. Do not expect me to know much of anything about the topic. I'm not deep in the literature so default to over-explaining instead of under-explaining.

Things to know

1. I am an educator first and foremost - this means I care more about the process of learning and being good people who help others learn than I do about your rep or what an amazing debater you are. Debate should be educational and help to build a community; it should not be used to tear down individual debaters, teams or schools.

2. I've been out of competitive debate for a while - I'm the old guy who doesn't understand the new, hip stuff with debate. I'm open and will vote on whatever is on the flow, but you might need to explain things in more depth than you would for a highly competitive college debater/coach. Make the impacts clear and make it clear where on the flow things are coming from. Debate jargon and terms that are clear to you may not be clear to me. Overexplain the arguments you want me to vote on.

3. Just because the argument is on your flow does not mean that it made it on to my flow. I'll vote on what's on my flow...not yours. You can help make sure your arguments are on my flow by: a) giving clear road maps; b) numbering your arguments; c) ensuring you are doing clear line by line debating with clear verbal signals about where you are.

4. I am a big believer in extending and building upon arguments. I likely will not vote on new arguments in the last two rebuttals, or if I think they are new in the last two rebuttals. Make it clear where on the flow your arguments are coming from....failure to do so risks me now weighing them because they seem new.

5. Your job is to adapt to me. Regardless of if you are right or you "won," if you didn't adapt to me and my background, you didn't win. I'm usually good at giving you visual feedback. It might be good to pay attention to those cues.

More Specific Debate Stuff

T - I will vote on it as long as you prove to me: a) that the plan is not topical; b) that your interpretation is better than their counter-interpretations; c) that there is some impact (either in round or potential) that will happen.

K/Framework debates - I'm open to these arguments and will vote on these. I'm not deep in the literature so don't assume I know things. Provide clear explanations of links and impacts. Negs often fail to be able to explain how the alt truly solves. I'm less likely to believe do both perms on Ks, though I'll vote on them if you win the argument in the round.

Identity/more modern K debates - These have developed in more depth after I left competitive debate. I'm open to the ideas though am not sure how to evaluate and make sense of them in a debate round. If you want me to vote on these, a) make sure you read my notes above about the role of debate; b) make sure you understand that I am an educator first; I care about these issues in real life far more than I care about them as a competitive argument that will help you win a debate round. Trivializing these issues could convince me to vote against you and give you extremely low speaker points.

DA/CP Debates - I'm new to the idea of multiple advantage specific counterplans. I'll happily vote on CP/DA. Prove to me why perms can't solve and do good impact calculus of net benefits v. case/perms.

Case debates - make them meaningful; I hate blippy case arguments that have little explanation. You probably know the details of the case way better than I do. Don't assume I know the details and specifics. Make it clear to me (on either side) so I know what you are talking about.

Underview - These guide my general approach but details of what happens specifically inside of a debate round could change my approach. Please use this as a guideline, not as a hard and fast rule book.

Debate background

Debate teacher and educator for almost 20 years

Current coach at Druid Hills High School (we are rebuilding a competitive policy program)

Coach at Rockdale County High School (Part of AUDL) - '15 - '18

Heavily involved with running urban debate leagues (Atlanta, Los Angeles, Boston, Baltimore) '00 - present

Limited college debate at Emory (00 - 04) - I was not very interested in doing competitive college debate...no NDT/CEDA, etc. experience

High school debater at Iowa City West (97 - 00);

Alex Greene Westminster

David Hauser Hire

Last changed on Sat February 13, 2021 at 12:16 AM CDT

Hey, I’m David Hauser, a sophomore at UGA, grad from Chattahoochee High School where I debated for 3 years, and a former Assistant Coach at High Meadows School (middle school debate).

Worth noting, the debate people who I respect the most are Robert Whitaker and Saya Abney.

I think that most of debate is kinda garbo right now for reasons that may be inherent to the activity, but I'm still working that through. I'm sympathetic to theory, deviations from policy and traditional k debate, I dislike condo but will allow it, and I'm very sympathetic to meme strats that pay off. I'll judge the debate at hand, and do what I can to not let too much influence my perspective on the debate, but I'll let yall know that I was a 2A who mainly did policy strats in debate, and started reading a lot of K lit when I left debate.

If you try an overarching strategy that is innovative and risky that shows cleverness and original thought, and isn't horrifically offensive, I'll give you at least a 28.8 locally, and 29 nationally, even if you take an L. A new theory argument at the bottom of T isn't this, a NEW/Cool twist on a meme aff is. If you hit me with generic bee movie from 2015, I'm ending the round and we can just play some video games and chat over your 25s. If you hit me with bee movie incorporated with, I dunno, Mark Fisher and hauntology, and provide a critique of debate within, sure, let's see that play out. No idea if that'd work out, but something that is kind of wacky that shows a knowledge of an author and/or some thought into it I can respect. Also, niche policy strats I can get behind as well.

People should also read Freire and Illich way more in K debates, education good needs to be contested way more beyond the aff turning it. If you hit me with, like, 2-3 mins of education (as in, education that the 1NC framework produces) bad, incorporating your aff and critical pedagogy instead of reading the generic "we the people" interp, we'll have a lot of fun together.

Don't clip. I'll judge your debates the best I can, but I'll admit, I sometimes suck at flowing, and would prefer clearer lbl, especially on T flows and K flows, and would prefer K flows to be split up into multiple pages if it is one off.

Ryan James Berkeley Preparatory School

Last changed on Sat January 16, 2021 at 3:02 AM EDT

Ryan James

Email: ryanjames0116@gmail.com - add me to the email chain

Emory University '21

Debated 4 years at McDonogh ('17)

Top Level:

Do you, I will equally evaluate any argument (unless clearly, intentionally, and/or inherently unethical) as long are you are willing to defend the argument in a passionate and respectful way. I will try to be as objective as possible. My history in non-traditional/performative debate does not mean that I default to these arguments or prefer them over any other type of argument - if you win the debate, you win the debate. I am still familiar with traditional forms of debate but err to the side of more explanation for topic DA contextualization. I love seeing smart/new/strategic arguments. The best way to get a ballot in front of me is for the 2NR/2AR to tell a story stitching together all of the previous moving parts of the debate and paint a picture of what voting for you would look like. This may include a role of the ballot/debate/judge, but not necessary.

K/Performance/Non-traditional Affs & T/Framework:

- I am flexible with alternative ways of viewing the topic. What I have read/believe is true however does not necessarily matter in these debates though because (like I said above) if you win you win. An aff that's not T can still win against T/FW and a T aff can lose on T/FW. It all depends on the debate and what your arguments are.

- I will not prescribe to you how you should read your args - as long as you believe you are making a smart/well-explained/strategic argument, do you and I'll evaluate it.

- FW: Actually talk about the specific aff/and what they do wrong instead of making a generic/uncontextualized "no-plan bad" argument. You can still win these debates but usually not at high-level competition. (T you won't have to worry about this as much)

Kritiks:

- Familiar with race-based Ks (STILL give me the story/theory of the K especially in the context of the aff - not everyone reads the same Ks the same way).

- High-theory Ks will need to include explanation that isn't full of jargon (even if it makes sense to you).

DA/CP:

- DA: Solid link contextualization and impact work (assuming you are winning the basic stuff i.e. uq, i/l chains, etc.) and you'll be good.

- CP: Open to them all, no matter how small/picky or big if you win the flow you win the CP

Speaker Points:

- I evaluate based on what I have seen at your level of debate.

- Generally 28.5 - 29.5 but you will be below or above if you need to learn/practice a lot more and practice or did exceptionally well and made very smart arguments that stitched the debate together, respectively.

CX:

- Open, cool with using prep to prolong CX

- Of course reference if necessary in speech

Misc:

- Speed isn't everything - slower + clear > faster + hear every 5th word; I will also listen and usually flow the parts of the evidence you read/have highlighted

- Clipping: You and partner get L + 0 speaks, W + 30s for opponents, taken up with tab

- Saving the doc, emailing, flashing, that whole process is not prep

Joshua Jeong Hire 8 rounds

Kriti Kothari Johns Creek High School None

Ayush Kumar Cambridge High School Debate 8 rounds

Last changed on Sat March 16, 2019 at 7:13 AM EDT

4th Year High School Policy Debater - UPDATED FOR 1ST AND 2ND YEAR NATIONALS 2019

Cambridge HS 2019

kumarayush2013.ak@gmail.com

I want to be on the email chain.

Instant Ls

- Death Good Args

- Racism/Sexism/Homophobia/Transphobia/Xenophobia in round or racism/sexism/homophobia/transphobia/xenophobia good arguments

- Racial Slurs in round

- I take one speaker point off for every off-case the neg tells me they are going to read but don't

CLEAR!

I'll say it once, I'll say it twice, if I feel like I have to say it a third time I'm not flowing. I won't look at your speech doc until after the round and that's only to read over a card or two. I make my decision off the flow.

K Lit - If you have a plan text I'm not voting for you.

Not actually but I hate judges who assume that k-affs are an automatic voter. T-USFG/Framework will be evaluated with the same rigor as all other arguments I believe in fair debates and K-affs are no longer fringe arguments. Legitimate affs and critisims of the topic arise from K-affs and I will listen to those arguments.

I've run my fair share of wacky and weird kritiks over the years so I'll bite on anything. The alt debate is the most important part for me. You need to do a good job of convincing me that your alt has some form of solvency whether that be in round or in the real world (depends on the framework debate). Don't try to block or buzzword your way through a k debate because it will show and I will dock speaks and you will probably lose.

In terms of K-affs, I don't necessarily think that a plan text is good for policy debate. If you want to run a k-aff it needs to be critiquing something that is related to the topic or the topic itself. K-affs not related to the topic definitely have an uphill battle going into the round but I will vote on them.

Topicality

Debaters read dumb T-violation on every single aff that could ever exist don't read T unless your harms are legitimate. There is no way I'm voting on T unless you actually lost ground and the aff is actually non-topical. If you read T as a time skew I will dock speaks.

When it comes to T-usfg or framework you must defend the USFG and prove that it is legitimately bad for debate. Unlike most judges, I'm usually leaning towards the aff when they read a 1AC without a plan text. You have to have intelligent reasons and good clash on your framework flow if you wanna win on it. I won't vote on pre-written framework blocks that barely address the reasons or DA's given by the other team. You must have a TVA and I prefer truth over tech in this part of the debate. Procedural fairness>Structural Fairness unless you do a really good job of convincing me.

Theory

Condo - 3 or more we'll have a debate otherwise I'm not voting on condo. Neg gets 2 conditional advocacies.

Fiat - Aff and Neg both get government action fiat by default. Alternatives don't get fiat they have to have some sort of logical solvency mechanism. I flip-flop on whether government fiat is even good for debate so if you want to have the debate I am all ears. FIAT IS NOT SOLVENCY. You can't just use fiat to answer the negs solvency deficits you need to explain why the plan works and how it works. I prefer in-round impacts to out of round impacts.

PICS and PIKS - PICS aren't necessarily bad but it is a debate to be had. That being said if you are reading a PIC you must win a substantive risk of your impacts on your net benefit. A weak net benefit means I'll err aff because they are just a tad bit unfair imo. PIKS are all about the link debate; if you don't do a good job with saying they link AND saying why you don't then I'll err aff.

Other Theory Args - If they are blippy and weak I'm not voting on them. Severance Perms really aren't a voter. Neither is multiple perms theory or vague alts theory. Of course, we can have that debate but then you're really just making this harder on yourself. I need in round abuse and substantive truthful line by line.

Impact Calc

Make it good and meaningful.

Try or die is dumb arg that covers up for weak solvency don't make it.

Nuclear war impacts are dumb and I hate voting on them. I'm a big fan of the security Kritik and that bias shows in my judging. If that's your style go for it but I rather hear debate about realistic impacts especially on this topic where there are plenty of other reasons to bring immigrants into the country.

The Util debate is a good one to be had and I'll vote on either side of it.

Vikram Kumar Alpharetta HS Debate

Rohan Lalla Johns Creek High School None

Reid Laurens Henry W Grady HS

Robert McWhorter Westminster 6 rounds

Last changed on Wed September 15, 2021 at 8:00 AM CDT

School - UGA 22'

High School - Lindale High School 2014-2018

I debated at Lindale High School doing policy for 3 years and sorta did LD my senior year. In high school I went for majority of pomo arguments and 'untopical' affs. My favorite arguments were AfroPessimism, death good, and psychoanalysis. My sophomore, junior and senior year Robinson 12 or Wilderson was practically in the 2nr/2ar of every round. To give you an idea here's my wiki from hs. I debated at UGA for a bit going for policy arguments, but my last competitive debate round was in early 2019.

https://hspolicy16.debatecoaches.org/Lindale/McWhorter-Wyatt%20Aff

https://hspolicy16.debatecoaches.org/Lindale/McWhorter-Wyatt%20Neg

https://hsld17.debatecoaches.org/Lindale/McWhorter%20Aff

https://hsld17.debatecoaches.org/Lindale/McWhorter%20Neg

Put me on the email chain - r.mcwhorter16@gmail.com

TLDR - Do whatever you want. I'm here to judge you. If you don't read an aff and stand in silence for 8 minutes defend it. If you want to read a hardcore policy aff with 15 impacts defend it. I will vote for anything as long as it is justified and not harmful.

Specific things

Disads: The more specific the better. A robust explanation of the link to the Aff and impact calculus supplemented with embedded turns case analysis makes these debates very enjoyable to judge. I'm susceptible to affs making fun of the link debate if the disad is just a generic arg.

Counterplans: The more specific the better.

Ks: I think these debates can be the most fun to judge and the worst to judge. In good k debates there needs to be in-depth explanation of the links and how they function with the aff whether that be links to the representation of the aff or post-fiat links. I also put a lot of emphasis on the framework debate. I think framework is the most strategic way for affirmatives to hedge back against ks in policy v k rounds and the most strategic way for ks to not let the affirmative weigh the aff.

Random

- Jokes are always a good way to boost speaker points. Debate is a fun activity. You should at least pretend like you are having fun.

- Any more questions, ask me before the round.

Caroline Miller Westminster

Jack Mruz Cambridge High School Debate

Last changed on Tue April 16, 2024 at 9:30 AM EDT

ctrl + f "Planless Affs v. T", “Policy Aff v. T”, "Policy Aff v. CP/DA", "Policy Aff v. K", or "K v. K" for relevant sections

Cambridge '20

Georgia '23 (https://comm.uga.edu/debate/recrutiment or email jstupek8@gmail.com) Go Debate Dawgs!

they/them. ask your opponents what pronouns they prefer before the round and stick to them. pls call me jack or big dawg not judge

jackmdebate@gmail.com - please have the 1ac sent by the round start time.

mc hammer reads philosophy, you should too

i am autistic, don't read into my facial expressions as a reliable predictor of the ballot. apologies in advance for any confusion

IF YOU READ GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF VIOLENCE, INCLUDE A TRIGGER WARNING AND HAVE A VERSION OF THE CARDS OMITTING THE GRAPHIC DETAILS READY IF SOMEONE INDICATES IT'S AN ISSUE. I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO HAVE TRAUMATIC FLASHBACKS BECAUSE YOU WERE TOO LAZY TO TYPE OUT A SENTENCE ON THE WIKI/AT THE TOP OF THE DOC.

*i have hearing difficulties, please either send the doc you're reading from or SLOW DOWN. i.e. you probably don't need to send your T-USfg 2NC analytics but make sure you're reading them at a speed that people that don't have the exact blocks you're looking at in front of them can still understand

**LD/PF - i only competed in policy and i'm unfortunately unfamiliar with the particular nuances of LD/PF debate so i am more likely to vote for substantive arguments than procedurals that rely on an understanding of LD/PF debate norms.

Top Level

- debate is too serious. i enjoy fun rounds, i greatly appreciate jokes. kindness is underrated - opponents are (most likely) not your enemy but rather fellow participants in an extracurricular activity who have decided to spend their weekend debating with you instead of doing literally anything else. please treat them that way.

- you get three perms per arg. new 1AR articulation of the perm warrants new 2NR responses.

- i am uncomfortable with being asked to adjudicate things that occurred outside of the round. (note: i consider the round to start when the pairing comes out, so disclosure theory etc. are still fair game i just have the same institutional (lack of) capability to handle things like Title IX violations as you). i take ethics violations very seriously. if you believe your opponents have behaved in a manner inconsistent with ethical participation in this activity, let me know and i'll contact tab instead of starting the round.

- racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, anything that makes the round unsafe is a quick way to earn an instant L and zero speaker points. i will not hesitate to intervene.

- speaker points: my range is generally high-27s to mid-29s. i would probably be considered a point fairy but occasionally it goes the opposite way so warning you in advance. making and executing strategic decisions in rebuttals is the best way to get higher speaks in front of me. i reward taking risks. while i try to hold the line on new args, most judges are inherently suckers for a lying 2A. contextualizing your arguments to the other side’s will earn you more points than just spreading through a K or CP explanation written by coaches four years ago devoid of context or specificity. i.e. "CP solves advantage 1 because [warrant], solves advantage 2 because [warrant]" as opposed to "CP solves entire topic because [warrant]" or "K solves our links and case because [warrant]" and not "THEY DROPPED THE ALT (they probably didn't if we're being honest), WE WIN BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW THAT'S JUST HOW DEBATE WORKS I GUESS".

Scale based on my immediate reaction after the speeches:

30 - Perfect. I do not want anyone I coach to hit you in elim rounds because it's gg.

29.9-29.5 - Woah. You're almost done! The summit is near and you'll be there with a few more practice speeches.

29.4-29 - Yo that was fire. Y'all did your thing and executed well. Good job!

28.9-28.5 - Nice!

28.4-28 - Pretty Good.

27.9-27.5 - Needs some work.

<27.5 - If I've given you this, you know what you did.

- the roughly two hours that i am in the room are your time. if you want to post-round me, go for it (although once i submit the ballot there's nothing i can do to change the decision) but please be courteous regarding your opponents' desires and make sure any more immediate concerns they may have have been resolved before we get into it

- read whatever you want. although i personally lean in certain directions on common debate args, i try to check as many biases as possible at the door and base my decisions on the actual debating done. i want to limit judge intervention as much as possible so comparison and telling me how i should resolve the debate is very important. if i don't have judge instruction coming out of the 2XR, i intervene to resolve the round the best i can. condo is probably the arg you are least likely to win in front of me but i'll vote for it if it's mishandled

- the status quo is always a logical option unless you tell me it isn't

- 2xr should start with: "[Our arg] outweighs [their arg] because"

- dropped args are true, it's up to you to make that matter though

- rather than tell you what i think about specific issues, i think it may be more helpful to disclose how i come to decisions. in the absence of a clear dub for either team, i evaluate the flow. if i can't come to a decision based purely on my flow and memory of the round, i read the ev for each arg and decide whether the cards support the args that are being made as well as which team has better ev for each specific arg. if i still can't come to a decision based on reading cards, i'll reconstruct the debate and necessarily fill in gaps for both sides based on my understanding of the best version of each team's args. YOU DO NOT WANT THIS. there is a non-zero probability that your cards are not as good as you think and potentially a very large probability that filling in the gaps works out better for the other team. to avoid this, DO GOOD COMPARISON. compare ev quality, risk of impact scenarios, EVERYTHING. i understand how frustrating it is when you catch an L after a super close debate because it feels like the judge did slightly more work for the other side. i do not want this for you. you do not want this for you. work with me and you'll probably be much happier with the result. in the absence of judge instruction, i will intervene as necessary to resolve the round.

Planless Affs v. T

- planless affs typically beat T in front of me with nuanced impact turns or a C/I based on counter-definitions of words in the resolution with a DA. i am not a good judge for C/Is that aren’t based in definitions of words in the rez as i am typically persuaded by the 2NR argument that it’s arbitrary and self-serving (which is irrelevant/actually good if you go for the impact turn to T). i'm most persuaded by fairness and clash as impacts to T. TVAs are defense, i won't vote on that alone so make sure you have offense against the aff's model (even if it's just that the TVA is good and the aff's model precludes reading it). i believe that procedural fairness is a terminal impact although i can be persuaded that it’s only an i/l if you make the arg

- i will vote on presumption if the neg proves that the aff just results in the squo

- i went double 2s most of my debate career. my favorite neg rounds in college were 2NC T/1NR Case but i read planless affs my senior year and prepped against T so i think i'm pretty 50/50 in these debates when equally debated

Policy Aff v. CP/DA

- affs typically beat the CP/DA strategy in front of me by either winning a solvency deficit to the CP that outweighs the DA or proving that the CP is not competitive. I will vote on zero risk of the DA but only if there's offense against the CP.

- probably a better judge for theory than most against CPs. i default to believing that CPs must be textually and functionally competitive but can be convinced otherwise absent aff warranted argumentation

- note for soft-left/K affs with a plan - although i am convinced by framing that says we should prioritize structural violence or reject util/extinction logic, you're not going to win on that alone if the neg has a CP that resolves the aff's impacts especially if the neg is winning that i should view CP solvency through sufficiency framing

Policy Aff v. T

- i am a grammar nerd, args that are based on grammatically incorrect definitions are unlikely to win in front of me i.e. i can't vote for "United States" is an adjective because that's wrong

- models are important

- i tend to do the most intervention in these debates. absent a 2NR/2AR that completely writes my ballot, i find myself resolving the round by going through my flow and the docs and reconstructing the debate with the best version of both sides' arguments.

Policy Aff v. K

- 2AR should be either fwk + case outweighs/offense OR fwk + perm + no link/alt fails. if the negative wins framework but the affirmative wins that the aff is a good idea it likely means that the aff's knowledge production is good which often solves the link.

- specificity is the most important thing is these debates. well-warranted analytics contextualized to your argument as well as the other team's will get you further than shotgunning cards with no explanation.

- if your 1AR/2AR framework explanation is entirely "you link, you lose bad" but they're going for links that have uniqueness you are probably going to lose.

- the vast majority of my college debate rounds involved cap sustainability debates so i am very familiar with the args made and ev read by both sides. although i personally believe that the cap bad cards are better, i've always cut the cap good file and will vote happily for McAfee (despite my personal belief that the card is garbage) if the other side doesn't explain their offense adequately.

- i tend to be persuaded by smart turn args regarding trivialization or cruel optimism when links seem especially contrived i.e. it's bad to say a team reading a soft left aff on a reform vs. rev topic is literally enacting physical violence against marginalized peoples "outside of the debate space" (this isn't to say i'm not persuaded by those same link args as i have and will continue to vote for "you link you lose" logic when it's debated well despite 2As whining)

K v. K

- these are the rounds i judge the least (although i find them to be interesting and wish i got to judge more) so i don't have many predisposed biases aside from defaulting to allowing the aff to read perms until the neg convinces me they shouldn't get them.

- i (believe i) am familiar with most lit bases, although this might work against you. for example, i do not want to vote for you if you read ev by José Esteban Muñoz and then claim that he makes a blanket "utopia bad" arg because that's the literal opposite of everything the author has written.

- if the neg wins the alt solves the aff, i vote neg.

- 2N - do not forget that the squo is a logical option. i.e. if you're winning that the aff doesn't solve and that there's risk of a link (for example, that the aff would cause backlash against [x] people), the squo is probably better than the aff regardless of whether or not you're winning alt solvency.

Theory

- condo is a yes/no question (i am unlikely to vote for "the negative gets [x] number of conditional advocacies", you should instead say "the negative gets NO conditional advocacies or dispositional advocacies etc"). i default to weighing the aff against the alt/squo but can be convinced to disregard the theoretical implementation of either of those options. probably not going to convince me that the neg should not get to read a K wholesale but that's more logical than some of the fw interps i've seen so ????...

- you probably should not read conflicting interps in the 1NC. 2AC to "T-read a plan" and "fiat bad" is really easy which negates any of the time skew benefits

- fiat - both sides get it until someone tells me they don't or wtv idk no neg fiat never really made sense to me but i'd vote on it if it's mishandled

authors whose work i found enjoyable or informative in no particular order: sylvia wynter, nietzsche, toni morrison, enriqué dussel, dahlma llanos-figueroa, judith butler, karl marx, gilles deleuze, felix guattari, jafari s. allen, josé esteban muñoz, reinaldo arenas, nina maria lozano, vine deloria jr., guy hocquenghem, desiree c. bailey, langston hughes, manuel zapata olivella, nicholas guillén, josé martí, colin dayan, kit heyam, ishmael reed, maggie nelson, viola f. cordova

helpful notes on a few of these authors: http://www.protevi.com/

Projeet Mukherjee Hire

Rithvik Nagabhirava Hire 8 rounds

Morayo Ogunbayo Johns Creek High School None

Suraj Peramanu Hire 8 rounds

Sukriti Rawal Berkeley Preparatory School 5 rounds

Rahul Sahetiya Johns Creek High School 8 rounds None

Saanya Saurabh Alpharetta HS Debate

Pooja Sharma Johns Creek High School None

Adam Shi Lambert HS 8 rounds

Logan Sowder Cambridge High School Debate 8 rounds

Eavan Thomas Woodward Academy None

Nithilan Vincent Hire 8 rounds None

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