MDTA JVNovice State Championship
2019 — Eagan, MN/US
Novice Policy Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show Hide***Haven't judged during the 2020-21 topic yet. If you're counting on me to be familiar with popular arguments/cards, you are setting yourself up for disaster. Slow down and err on the side of overexplaining your argument.
aa91597@gmail.com -- put me on the email chain
tldr:
-Subpar at flowing -- keeping your speed at a 7, trimming your tags, and delivering your args in flowable chunks will go a long way with me
-tabula rasa adjacent but will occasionally hack, subconsciously or not, toward accessibility and actual topic knowledge
-Keep your own time. I won't track speeches or prep unless asked to do so by those in the round. Keep each other honest.
-The round speed should be adjusted to make sure all debaters can be included in an educational experience. Trying to spread your opponent thin in front of me is not a good idea. If it is clear that your speed is the reason you won, you should be quite worried about your speaking points.
Experience:
- Policy debater for 3 years in high school on the Nebraska/Midwest circuit (meaning lots of exposure to both hypercritical and traditional debate styles)
- Currently a coach for Central High School in St. Paul, Minnesota (in my 5th year)
- Judge at least 30 Varsity and at least 10 Novice rounds in a given season
Small(Large?) Caveat:
I'm not an expert, so don't treat me like one. You should never assume I'm going to understand your tricky CP theory or that I'm intimately familiar with the lit in your K. If someone who knows next to nothing about debate can't understand your argument, then you haven't done a good enough job explaining it. Since I know slightly more than next to nothing about debate, if I'm moderately uncertain, I'm probably going to err on the side of saying you inadequately explained it. This is a communication activity. I will reject an argument that I don't understand. I can understand speed, and I've found that there's very little theory that I'm unable to wrap my head around when laid out accessibly, but if your strat is to combine the two for the entirety of your speaking times, then you may be preparing yourself for disappointment.
Framing:
Absent a framing debate I'm gonna default to the stock issues paradigm, if for no other reason than because it's probably the first thing all new debaters are taught and is the most accessible way of framing a debate. Burdens always rest with those wishing to break from the accepted rules of debate. I will usually find education, fairness, and accessibility arguments to be the most compelling impacts of a framework debate. I'm not typically a fan of running straight framework on a K aff that reasonably intersects with the topic, but I'm open to voting for it all the same.
Role of the Ballot:
The ROB is to determine who won the debate round. I will default to this ROB whenever it is at all possible. In general role of the ballot args are transparently self-serving and the analysis you're making there would be much better spent on impact calculus.
Topicality:
T is probably a disad. My favorite T debates are of the "your vision of the topic does X" variety. I'm open to you making T a gateway issue too, but know I'm probably gonna get bored since by about midseason I'll have seen most every variation of the generic definition/standards debates. One thing I'm probably not a big fan of is reasonability/gut check answers; I think the Neg is probably gonna win that it causes judge intervention. All the same, I'm open to a good reasonability answer when it is clear T being used strategically or as a time suck rather than a substantive issue.
Inherency:
I'll vote on a good inherency takeout. Inherency's necessary for a fair division of ground between the Aff and Neg and provides the education that's necessary for the Aff to advocate their position persuasively. If you can't identify what part of the status quo is keeping this apparently amazing plan from taking place, you have no position for solvency. The majority of debaters could not tell you the details of their plan, the serious actors potentially involved, or the process of its potential implementation if questioned, which in my mind is reason enough to continue to regard Inherency as a ballot-worthy issue, and makes education deficit arguments on these flows damning.
Theory:
It's likely my threshold is lower than what you'd usually expect a judge's to be. I have no issue with aspec, fspec, or other policy implementation theory arguments on face. I know the fashionable thing is to strictly advocate for clash in a judging paradigm, but honestly as long as I can tell that you're enjoying yourself and presenting your argument as more than just a time suck, then who am I to tell you that what you're doing is wrong? That doesn't mean I won't fully weigh arguments from your opponents that say these exact things though (which means you have to be super good at the techy stuff because most of the truth isn't going to be in your corner). As for Aff theory, I'm open to anything.
Disads/CPs:
Yes. Please do them. This is the type of debate where I have the most knowledge and can add the most value in critiques. And please give me some solid impact calculus to weigh competing arguments. If your CP positions rely on some tricky argumentation mechanisms you'll need to be ready to articulate them in an accessible way though.
K:
I like strong and SPECIFIC links. I'm not gonna be very happy if I hear the words "risk of a link" or "they don't talk about X in their 1AC." (This isn't without exception, depending on how glaring an omission is/its implications). I'm probably gonna err aff on most perm debates. I do find switch-side debate arguments persuasive (to an extent). You can be sure that I'm gonna be suspicious of access to the debate space arguments since they honestly usually come from the highly coached and resourced teams. Be sparing with calling other args (like perms for example) "silencing" because I'm probably gonna be very skeptical of that line (again, context matters here). I think the Aff *probably* should be defending an actionable hypothesis or method of some sort (even if not state action) if they wanna be in a good position to win. My knowledge of K lit is very hit or miss, and I'm not gonna give you the benefit of the doubt absent clear explanation.
If your plan is to spread critical lit I'd recommend the K-12 version because I promise I am not smart enough to grasp complex philosophy in such a high-pressure environment. If you're answering a K/K Aff then I think there is almost always a better route than FW (if for no other reason than because the other team is inevitably prepped to the extreme for any and every FW scenario), but if that's your jam I have no problem with it.
If you are confused about what a K is saying, or what the alt is/does, chances are I am confused too.
Unless I specifically tell you otherwise, my ballot is not an endorsement of anything you said or did during the round. I'm probably not interested in being a part of your solvency contention.
Speed:
I can handle speed to a decent extent. On a scale of 1-10, my flow looks its best at a 6, but I can probably handle up to about a 7.5 without much issue. The earlier in the morning or later at night that it is, the lower these numbers will get. For the love of god, SLOW DOWN ON YOUR TAGS. I will accept the email chain but use it to cover *my* errors and lapses in focus, not issues I have understanding you generally. I will not weigh what I cannot flow. If you are running any sort of argument that relies on nuance you should slow down and make sure I get it. I do NOT assign speaker points based on how quickly you can speed read in any way, shape, or form. Clarity is paramount. I also have a firm belief that speed should never be the factor that wins a team the round and should never exclude anyone else from the debate space. Accessibility is more important than your ego. If your opponent asks you to slow down, do so.
Speaker points:
-I will try to adapt my allocation of speaker points to whatever is appropriate for the tournament and circuit I am judging on. My general median is a 27.5. Lower means you have specific issues or made me specifically concerned in some way during the round. Higher means you are above average in one or many ways for the division you are in from what I have seen thus far.
Things that will specifically hurt your speaker points:
- Speed reading anything that you just shouldn't (taglines, theory, etc.)
- Yelling, name-calling, or any other instances of unnecessary agression (you can be passionate, but don't be a jerk)
- Tags that are more than 2 sentences long
- Premade/nonresponsive overviews or blocks that last more than 30 seconds
Things that will *help* your speaker points:
- Being funny (judging can be exhausting; you're encouraged to help with that)
- Contextualizing arguments using current events and ACTUAL topic knowledge
- Knowing your 1AC/position through and through and killing the warrant level of a debate
- Good 1NC strats, creative cross-apps, and other clever moves
- Not being afraid to use common sense and call bs on something that is obviously ridiculous (perhaps the most underutilized debate tool in my opinion)
- Clearly distinguishing between tags and cards, giving clear road maps and then actually following them, and helping me keep my flows neat in general
-I factor an infinite number of other things into speaker points. Your clarity, use of language, politeness, strategic choices, use of time, and practically all other aspects of effective debate will be factored in. I know it's arbitrary, but all methods of speaker point allocation are.
-I have no problem giving low-point wins.
Judge Intervention:
Please give me a detailed voter story with solid analysis and impact calculus. Please don't wait until the very last speech to start doing so either. In my opinion the best debate strategy is to treat every judge as if they are a lay judge. Connect all of the dots and fill in all of the blanks for them. If you leave me to my own devices on what to vote on, I can't be held responsible for your frustration if you lose. Otherwise, it is up to you to convince me of the content and strengths of a piece of evidence; it certainly isn't my place to decide it on my own. I strive to not intervene when at all possible. We've all had wins taken from us by a judge that wants to further their own views of debate. I never want to be the type of judge that does that to kids. So despite the long rants I've provided on different topics, I will not vote against any argument without a counterargument from the other team, no matter how much I personally dislike the argument or how bad I think the argument is. This does have a few exceptions though. I will not vote on an argument that is clearly and maliciously racist, sexist, classist, ableist, homophobic, transphobic or in any other way offensive or exclusionary. Everyone should feel like they can debate without having their identity actively attacked by other debaters, and I will use my ballot as a tool to deter actions like that in the future. Additionally, if you intentionally misrepresent or lie about your argument or an aspect of your argument in cross-ex, you can bet that I'll cross that argument off of my flow. If I catch you willfully clipping cards or egregiously and intentionally lying about your evidence I will stop the round and immediately sign my ballot with a zero point (or whatever the lowest number the tab room will let me get away with) loss for your team. Debate is a game that should be played fairly.
Cross-Ex:
Tag-team is fine. Obnoxiously rude c-x behavior will be toxic to your speaker points.
________________________
Feel free to ask any other questions you may have before round or any time you see me at a tournament. I will listen to and welcome any disagreements or issues with either my paradigm or decision you have without holding it against you in the future. I think it's important that I listen to others in the debate community if I am to be accountable for my decisions.
***Haven't judged during the 2020-21 topic yet. If you're counting on me to be familiar with popular arguments/cards, you are setting yourself up for disaster. Slow down and err on the side of overexplaining your argument.
aa91597@gmail.com -- put me on the email chain
tldr:
-Subpar at flowing -- keeping your speed at a 7, trimming your tags, and delivering your args in flowable chunks will go a long way with me
-tabula rasa adjacent but will occasionally hack, subconsciously or not, toward accessibility and actual topic knowledge
-Keep your own time. I won't track speeches or prep unless asked to do so by those in the round. Keep each other honest.
-The round speed should be adjusted to make sure all debaters can be included in an educational experience. Trying to spread your opponent thin in front of me is not a good idea. If it is clear that your speed is the reason you won, you should be quite worried about your speaking points.
Experience:
- Policy debater for 3 years in high school on the Nebraska/Midwest circuit (meaning lots of exposure to both hypercritical and traditional debate styles)
- Currently a coach for Central High School in St. Paul, Minnesota (in my 5th year)
- Judge at least 30 Varsity and at least 10 Novice rounds in a given season
Small(Large?) Caveat:
I'm not an expert, so don't treat me like one. You should never assume I'm going to understand your tricky CP theory or that I'm intimately familiar with the lit in your K. If someone who knows next to nothing about debate can't understand your argument, then you haven't done a good enough job explaining it. Since I know slightly more than next to nothing about debate, if I'm moderately uncertain, I'm probably going to err on the side of saying you inadequately explained it. This is a communication activity. I will reject an argument that I don't understand. I can understand speed, and I've found that there's very little theory that I'm unable to wrap my head around when laid out accessibly, but if your strat is to combine the two for the entirety of your speaking times, then you may be preparing yourself for disappointment.
Framing:
Absent a framing debate I'm gonna default to the stock issues paradigm, if for no other reason than because it's probably the first thing all new debaters are taught and is the most accessible way of framing a debate. Burdens always rest with those wishing to break from the accepted rules of debate. I will usually find education, fairness, and accessibility arguments to be the most compelling impacts of a framework debate. I'm not typically a fan of running straight framework on a K aff that reasonably intersects with the topic, but I'm open to voting for it all the same.
Role of the Ballot:
The ROB is to determine who won the debate round. I will default to this ROB whenever it is at all possible. In general role of the ballot args are transparently self-serving and the analysis you're making there would be much better spent on impact calculus.
Topicality:
T is probably a disad. My favorite T debates are of the "your vision of the topic does X" variety. I'm open to you making T a gateway issue too, but know I'm probably gonna get bored since by about midseason I'll have seen most every variation of the generic definition/standards debates. One thing I'm probably not a big fan of is reasonability/gut check answers; I think the Neg is probably gonna win that it causes judge intervention. All the same, I'm open to a good reasonability answer when it is clear T being used strategically or as a time suck rather than a substantive issue.
Inherency:
I'll vote on a good inherency takeout. Inherency's necessary for a fair division of ground between the Aff and Neg and provides the education that's necessary for the Aff to advocate their position persuasively. If you can't identify what part of the status quo is keeping this apparently amazing plan from taking place, you have no position for solvency. The majority of debaters could not tell you the details of their plan, the serious actors potentially involved, or the process of its potential implementation if questioned, which in my mind is reason enough to continue to regard Inherency as a ballot-worthy issue, and makes education deficit arguments on these flows damning.
Theory:
It's likely my threshold is lower than what you'd usually expect a judge's to be. I have no issue with aspec, fspec, or other policy implementation theory arguments on face. I know the fashionable thing is to strictly advocate for clash in a judging paradigm, but honestly as long as I can tell that you're enjoying yourself and presenting your argument as more than just a time suck, then who am I to tell you that what you're doing is wrong? That doesn't mean I won't fully weigh arguments from your opponents that say these exact things though (which means you have to be super good at the techy stuff because most of the truth isn't going to be in your corner). As for Aff theory, I'm open to anything.
Disads/CPs:
Yes. Please do them. This is the type of debate where I have the most knowledge and can add the most value in critiques. And please give me some solid impact calculus to weigh competing arguments. If your CP positions rely on some tricky argumentation mechanisms you'll need to be ready to articulate them in an accessible way though.
K:
I like strong and SPECIFIC links. I'm not gonna be very happy if I hear the words "risk of a link" or "they don't talk about X in their 1AC." (This isn't without exception, depending on how glaring an omission is/its implications). I'm probably gonna err aff on most perm debates. I do find switch-side debate arguments persuasive (to an extent). You can be sure that I'm gonna be suspicious of access to the debate space arguments since they honestly usually come from the highly coached and resourced teams. Be sparing with calling other args (like perms for example) "silencing" because I'm probably gonna be very skeptical of that line (again, context matters here). I think the Aff *probably* should be defending an actionable hypothesis or method of some sort (even if not state action) if they wanna be in a good position to win. My knowledge of K lit is very hit or miss, and I'm not gonna give you the benefit of the doubt absent clear explanation.
If your plan is to spread critical lit I'd recommend the K-12 version because I promise I am not smart enough to grasp complex philosophy in such a high-pressure environment. If you're answering a K/K Aff then I think there is almost always a better route than FW (if for no other reason than because the other team is inevitably prepped to the extreme for any and every FW scenario), but if that's your jam I have no problem with it.
If you are confused about what a K is saying, or what the alt is/does, chances are I am confused too.
Unless I specifically tell you otherwise, my ballot is not an endorsement of anything you said or did during the round. I'm probably not interested in being a part of your solvency contention.
Speed:
I can handle speed to a decent extent. On a scale of 1-10, my flow looks its best at a 6, but I can probably handle up to about a 7.5 without much issue. The earlier in the morning or later at night that it is, the lower these numbers will get. For the love of god, SLOW DOWN ON YOUR TAGS. I will accept the email chain but use it to cover *my* errors and lapses in focus, not issues I have understanding you generally. I will not weigh what I cannot flow. If you are running any sort of argument that relies on nuance you should slow down and make sure I get it. I do NOT assign speaker points based on how quickly you can speed read in any way, shape, or form. Clarity is paramount. I also have a firm belief that speed should never be the factor that wins a team the round and should never exclude anyone else from the debate space. Accessibility is more important than your ego. If your opponent asks you to slow down, do so.
Speaker points:
-I will try to adapt my allocation of speaker points to whatever is appropriate for the tournament and circuit I am judging on. My general median is a 27.5. Lower means you have specific issues or made me specifically concerned in some way during the round. Higher means you are above average in one or many ways for the division you are in from what I have seen thus far.
Things that will specifically hurt your speaker points:
- Speed reading anything that you just shouldn't (taglines, theory, etc.)
- Yelling, name-calling, or any other instances of unnecessary agression (you can be passionate, but don't be a jerk)
- Tags that are more than 2 sentences long
- Premade/nonresponsive overviews or blocks that last more than 30 seconds
Things that will *help* your speaker points:
- Being funny (judging can be exhausting; you're encouraged to help with that)
- Contextualizing arguments using current events and ACTUAL topic knowledge
- Knowing your 1AC/position through and through and killing the warrant level of a debate
- Good 1NC strats, creative cross-apps, and other clever moves
- Not being afraid to use common sense and call bs on something that is obviously ridiculous (perhaps the most underutilized debate tool in my opinion)
- Clearly distinguishing between tags and cards, giving clear road maps and then actually following them, and helping me keep my flows neat in general
-I factor an infinite number of other things into speaker points. Your clarity, use of language, politeness, strategic choices, use of time, and practically all other aspects of effective debate will be factored in. I know it's arbitrary, but all methods of speaker point allocation are.
-I have no problem giving low-point wins.
Judge Intervention:
Please give me a detailed voter story with solid analysis and impact calculus. Please don't wait until the very last speech to start doing so either. In my opinion the best debate strategy is to treat every judge as if they are a lay judge. Connect all of the dots and fill in all of the blanks for them. If you leave me to my own devices on what to vote on, I can't be held responsible for your frustration if you lose. Otherwise, it is up to you to convince me of the content and strengths of a piece of evidence; it certainly isn't my place to decide it on my own. I strive to not intervene when at all possible. We've all had wins taken from us by a judge that wants to further their own views of debate. I never want to be the type of judge that does that to kids. So despite the long rants I've provided on different topics, I will not vote against any argument without a counterargument from the other team, no matter how much I personally dislike the argument or how bad I think the argument is. This does have a few exceptions though. I will not vote on an argument that is clearly and maliciously racist, sexist, classist, ableist, homophobic, transphobic or in any other way offensive or exclusionary. Everyone should feel like they can debate without having their identity actively attacked by other debaters, and I will use my ballot as a tool to deter actions like that in the future. Additionally, if you intentionally misrepresent or lie about your argument or an aspect of your argument in cross-ex, you can bet that I'll cross that argument off of my flow. If I catch you willfully clipping cards or egregiously and intentionally lying about your evidence I will stop the round and immediately sign my ballot with a zero point (or whatever the lowest number the tab room will let me get away with) loss for your team. Debate is a game that should be played fairly.
Cross-Ex:
Tag-team is fine. Obnoxiously rude c-x behavior will be toxic to your speaker points.
________________________
Feel free to ask any other questions you may have before round or any time you see me at a tournament. I will listen to and welcome any disagreements or issues with either my paradigm or decision you have without holding it against you in the future. I think it's important that I listen to others in the debate community if I am to be accountable for my decisions.
Email: sambaumann04@gmail.com
Feel free to run any argument you'd like, as long as you run it well I will evaluate it. I have a strong negative preference to K-affs however, please don't run those.
Hey yall,
Add me to the chain: Kyrabergerud@gmail.com
I did Policy debate at Edina High School for 3 years reading mostly critical arguments on both sides. I love nuanced debates and I'm fine with anything you want to read.
Topicality: I like a good T debate. I will say that I have pretty much no topic knowledge, so you should flesh out violations and the limits of the topic more. I prefer education and exportability impacts rather than things like fairness.
DAs: I like DAs when they tell a nuanced story and debaters get into the gritty analysis of evidence presented. I don't need a counterplan to vote on a DA, but I won't judge-kick it for you.
CPs: fine, just make a clear distinction about why the aff and the CP can't exist in the same world. Affs: I prefer more offensive aff CP strategies like solvency take-outs.
Ks: I enjoy watching good K debates. On the neg, make sure you are fully articulating impacts, and why they matter more than the aff's fw. The link debate is important to me on both sides. If you read a hard right aff the framework and alt-takeout debate is probably a better place to spend your time than the perm.
K affs: Good with me. Neg: I enjoy a good framework debate - don't underestimate offense on case. Affs: explain your methods, explain what the world of the aff looks like, and why it matters.
Happy debating:)
(Side note - My judging record was deleted when I updated my paradigm last time - I've judged about 40 rounds in varsity policy and LD).
Put me on the email chain please. Ask me for my email
Kingwood High School 2017
University of Minnesota 2020
I judge/coach for the University of Minnesota very occassionally in my spare time. I'm not actively involved with college debate other than judging, so I'm not doing topic research or anything.
I will not adjudicate things that occurred outside the confines of the specific debate around I am judging. There are ways to resolve such issues that exist outside of the ballot, and I have come to believe that relying on ballots to try to resolve them is both futile and contributes to an increasingly toxic debate community. If your strategy relies on ad-hominems, harassment, or otherwise disparaging your opponents, then I am probably not the judge for you
I don't expect debaters to be 'polite' but I do expect debaters to maintain a bare minimum level civility. If racist, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, etc speech occurs, then I will punish your speaker points accordingly. If I believe the safety or well being of a debater is in danger, I will intervene, including by ending the round if necessary.
As a general note, as the years go on, I am pessimistic about the value of debate as an activity beyond the skills we learn from it and the community we build along the way. I will try to adjudicate rounds in such a way that my ballot does not reward strategies that make the activity worse. Things like issues with evidence ethics and call outs, while important in context, should not be considered your case neg.
Here's the things you are probably looking for right before your round:
Condo-I think a large number of conditional advocacys result in more interesting negative strategies that test the aff from more interesting angles. Trying to draw the line at X number seems arbitrary to me. While I recognize this creates an incentive towards neg teams spamming poorly thought out counterplans, I think the proper remedy is theory rejecting the specific questionable counterplans. I think the bar for the 2ac to answer counterplans with no solvency advocate (whether it be a 1nc card, or a warrant from a 1ac card), is low, and I grant the 1ar leeway when answering counterplans that are made whole in the block.
Judge kick-I default to judge kicking conditional counterplans unless the aff convinces me I shouldn't (condo bad warrants can usually suffice if applied specifically to judge kick)
Other theory-I think 95% of theory arguments other than condo are reasons to reject the arg, not the team. The bar for me to drop a team on a theory cheapshot is extremely high, even if dropped by the other team.
Process CP-I will admit to having a slight bias against negative postions/aff advantages that feel very contrived. This is probably relevant the most to process CPs. I am apparently a dinosaur on the topic of CP competitiveness, so I start with low bar for the aff to win perm:do the cp a lot of the time. If your competition argument isn't straightforward to someone who's only process counterplan they had to deal with as a debater was ESR, then you should slow down and explain it as clearly as possible to me.
I strongly lean toward tech over truth, but arguments still need to have warrants to be complete and to win on tech.
T vs plan aff-I generally am a fan of t debates vs affs with a plan, and I find 2ar pushes on "going for t is a waste of time/uneducational" to be unpersasive. This is topic neutral, so my thoughts might change year to year. I'm not super involved in the activity, so its unlikely I am aware of whatever the community consensus is.
T vs planless affs-it seems like to me clash is the internal link to everything that makes debate valuable and is therefore a relatively large impact by default. If your model of debate (generally the aff's) doesn't preserve clash, then you need to explain why the activity of debate specifically is key your impacts in a way that academic spaces generally aren't. For example, if the aff's main source of offense is the value of their scholarship or method, than either clash internal links turns the aff's offense because clash is the way unique to debate for the community to engage with the aff's method/scholarship or things outside debate can solve your offense as well as debate can, in which case a presumption push by the neg tends to be persuasive (see my above pessimism about the activity). There are other ways for the aff to garner offense, but the aff still needs to have warrant why the activity of debate specifically is key to win that that offense is reason why a model of debate is desirable. Aff strategies that don't defend a specific model are extremely unpersausive to me and functionally end up conceding most of the neg's best offense. Competetive incentives exist in the activity and it seems strange to pretend otherwise. For the neg, TVAs and SSD seem to be powerful defensive tools that in my experience judging neg teams underutilize. Absent egregious concessions by the aff, the 2NR should usually spend some time on case, since the 1ac is often the aff's best source of offense against T.
Arguments that I strongly prefer you don't go for: Death good, Warming good.
You can run pretty much anything in front of me and I'll at least entertain the notion of voting for it, but please please know what your cards are saying and argue it well. I love weird/entertaining arguments, however, it pisses me off to see weird/entertaining arguments that the team running them clearly does not understand or care about
I love a good kritik debate. Regardless, I am still interested in straight laced policy debating and would much prefer you debate what you're comfortable with and what you feel you're most skilled at. This is especially true at the higher levels of debate- I find that often, really good Varsity teams read my judging philosophy and assume things about the way I will vote in a kritik-centered round. Please cater your round very little to what you think I will vote for; debate how you debate, it's more fun for all of us.
If you are intentionally racist, sexist, etc., or run "racism/sexism/etc. good", not only will I give you pathetically low speaks, I will probably get really mad and tweet about it.
At the end of the day, I love debate, I love judging, and I love being a coach. I have my preferences but am fairly flexible. Have fun and don't be a dick and the round will work out for both of us.
Questions? Email me at alix.dahl@gmail.com
He/Him
Minneapolis South/Occasional judging for Minnesota
My email is izakgm [at] gmail.com, add me to the email chain before the round, please and thank you.
Good debating overwhelms anything else on here. I've coached and judged teams of all styles. I will try my best to evaluate the round on your terms and not my own.
do whatever you gotta do for your internet quality. I'd like camera on but if you can't, you can't, and I won't hold it against you and you don't need to explain to me.
IN PERSON DEBATE IS BACK and its time to shed our eDebate norms like "not saying the words that are in the card text while we spread". I will most certainly let you know I'm not getting it. Teams that spread clearly: I see you, I hear you, I honor you, and I am here with you!
How I judge - big picture > minutia.
I appreciate explicit impact comparison, judge instruction, and when the 2nr/2ar starts in a place that helps me resolve the rest of the debate. I don't mean "they dropped my role of the ballot!!!!!!". If you say "extinction outweighs" but don't tell me what it outweighs, I'll just assume you mean its important since you haven't made a comparative claim.
I'm flow centered, but not a fan of cheap shots or punishing small mistakes. I'm not a perfect flow. In fact I am certainly one of the worst flowers on the circuit and yet I use my flow to decide the round. If you want me to evaluate your argument its on you to make sure I write it down. Late breaking and unforeseeable arguments may justify new responses. I do have 2n sympathyTM and will check the 2ar against arguments that weren't in the 1ar. 2nr line drawing or instruction remains helpful.
I think in terms of risks, including zero risk and presumption. Offense/defense works well a lot of the time, but I'm not a cultist. If internal links are missing and the other team points it out without reply, I'm not giving you 1% just for fun.
I think I used to be harder on the 1ar and 2nr. Now I give a bit more leeway if there was sufficient explanation earlier in the debate. I pay close attention to and often flow cross-x if its going somewhere.
I read less evidence than many judges at the end of the round. If your superior evidence quality is not explained, I might miss it. I will not reconstruct the round through the docs afterwards. I won't read along unless I suspect clipping. If you deliver the text of your evidence incomprehensibly fast I will not read the text of it later to figure out what you said. Again, the burden of communication is on you.
I love strategic concessions and rehighlightings. If you are right and you read it in the speech, I will prioritize your analysis. It makes sense to insert things like charts. If its "a stake the round on it" kind of issue, please do not insert a rehighlighting, I need you read it. If its just an FYI about a tertiary issue... go off I guess.
I'm expressive and might intervene vocally to move you off a stale cx direction or motion to move on if you are repeating yourself in the speech. It will be pretty obvious in person if I have stopped flowing because I don't understand what you are saying. My resting face is rather stern, don't take it personally. I'm probably still vibing with you.
FW v K aff - Yes, I will vote either way. It comes down to links and impacts like any other debate and the best teams in these rounds have offense and defense.
Neg teams: I'll be honest, if you say debate is a game more than twice my eyes start to glaze over. Fairness can be an impact but it usually feels like a small one. By this I mean if the aff wins any impact at all it will be more important to me than fairness. If that's your approach you'll need to be playing great defense (lots of ways to do this) or really filtering out aff offense somehow. I say this and yet I think fairness/clash is by far the most strategic version of this argument. Y'all think I didn't notice you just ctrl-f'd your fairness blocks with clash? Ignoring the questions posed by the aff or repeatedly mischaracterizing the aff's claims will likely result in an aff ballot.
Aff teams: I'm open to whatever approach you want to take. I'm personally more interested in strategies built around a counter interpretation even if its not an intuitive (or predictable) one, will vote for impact turns alone and in many cases that is more strategic. Just FYI, I do not know what the symbolic economy is, so if you are the first one to explain it to me then kudos. I think I just learned what a psychoanalytic drive is last month but I still might not understand it. If the TVA is something I'm thinking about during my decision time, even if you dropped it, then you've written or explained your aff poorly. If your model doesn't explain a role for negation, or your aff is so uncontroversial that it doesn't hold up to a basic inherency push, I can see myself voting neg easily.
Ks on the neg - Love these debates. Explanation is vital on both sides. Aff teams that explain their internal links and solvency have the most success against ks in front of me. Aff framework arguments that exclude kritiks entirely will be a tough sell. If the alt is cheating, you can point that out tho ;) I've yet to hear a persuasive explanation for judge choice - I will only vote on benefits of your plan that you explain. Neg teams do well with strong links that implicate the case. You don't always need an alt in the 2nr, but you might be better off defending an imperfect alt instead of just the squo, especially if the 2ar is on to you. Perms are a valuable tool but 90% of aff wins would be on case outweighs whether the perm was present or not.
Policy stuff - Yes. I like internal link and solvency presses. Impact defense can make sense, but "x doesn't cause extinction" might not get your there if the other team has a nuanced impact comparison. I have a loose attachment to the "link first" camp until you tell me otherwise. My time in Minnesota has left me with a love for impact turns, don't care how dumb it seems. If you can't beat stupid... I don't know what to tell you.
I struggled with Judge Kick for a while. I've come around. I still enjoy strategic and narrow 2nrs (i.e. not making me do this). If you explicitly (saying "squo is always an option" in 1nc cx counts) flag this as an option by the end of the block I'm game. I am open to affs that ask me to stick the 2nr to the cp.
Complicated Perm texts can be explained and inserted - they should be written out fully and sent for all to see. Counterplan texts that you don't want to read fully.... No thank you. Be more creative with how its written.
Things it might be helpful to know about me/carrots+sticks/hot takes inspired by OTT
- i understand why no one does this but if the aff team took a stance on something (like an actual explanation of how they solve not solely hedging against agent cps) and the neg fiats through a solvency deficit based in literature and the aff went for theory I might be more likely to vote aff than most. This obviously goes out the window if the aff says the phrase "for the purpose of counterplan competition" at any point in cx.
- some bonus speaker points (maybe .2?) if your neg strategy (policy or k) hinges on tech and not nato. Feels like there is room for das/impact turns in this area and I would like to see them.
- If your wiki is sparse your points are capped at 28.5 - its JV behavior, you get JV points.
- If you can't answer basic CX questions about a position you are asking for an L 27. If you think the round is over and you stop your rebuttal VERY early because you have already won (invoke a TKO correctly), the baseline for your points is 29.5.
- I'm lukewarm for plan text in a vacuum. "Only non-arbitrary" blah blah blzh both teams should just debate about what the aff does. I will require some extra convincing before the 2ar and will heavily protect the 2nr here.
- truly random defaults that have come up more than once in rounds that I want on the record: perms are tests of competition so I will jettison them if they would hurt the aff. you can implicitly answer a "ballot pic" by trying to win the round.
If you still have questions, please feel free to email or ask me before the round!
Old water topic thoughts archive
- Glad I didn't judge enough on this topic to have thoughts. We only heard extinction affs all year because of the bizcon da? Now that's what I call cowardice. Excited for NATO!
Old CJR thoughts archive
- learning about the criminal justice system is nice. If you teach me something about the topic (yes critical knowledge is part of the topic get over yourself) over the course of the debate, boost to your points. If your aff is about cyberattacks strike me, I simply don't care. If your aff is about cyberattacks and you debate the internal link level well enough to convince me that you were actually talking about criminal justice reform,
- i have some professional experience working on police reform. I live in Minneapolis and South high is blocks from where the 3rd precinct burned. My personal belief is ACAB. I feel familiar with many of the practical arguments for and against abolition, so I have a high threshold for link debating. aff teams, feel free to go for "abolition bad" instead of the perm...
- I'd love to be a judge that fully resolved framing first before substance. Unfortunately the quality of debating here is often such that I have to resolve some substance to figure out what to do.
Last Updated 11-21-20
Yes, put me on the email chain: hathawaydebate@gmail.com
I use He/Him pronouns
You can call me Logan/ judge, no preference
Currently a sophomore at UMN studying environmental science and sustainability
TLDR For Novices:
1. Clarity > speed (ESPECIALLY WITH ONLINE ROUNDS)
2. I won't flow a tag if I don't pick up on it, so please say "next" or something similar so I know what to flow
3. I won't flow new positions brought up in the block unless you give me a solid reason to do so. If you read a new position in any rebuttal your speaker points will be significantly harmed
4. Neg needs to explain what their advocacy does for me to give it any weight. Don't just say "extend the [CP/K/DA]." Explanation is everything
5. Yes tag team is fine, just don't abuse it
6. I really like the K but run it well
7. It'd be helpful if you could tell me your names/ pronouns/ speaker positions before round (online rounds: put these in your on-screen name)
8. Please time yourselves. It gets old when I have to interject you and say "that's time" every speech. Get into this habit early
9. Extra speaks for starting early (if I'm the reason we start late I'll still give this to you)
TLDR for JV/V:
FOR STATE: put analytics in the speech doc
1. I like theory/ T, but if you spread it I'll stop flowing
2. Clarity > speed (ESPECIALLY WITH ONLINE ROUNDS), both if possible
3. I won't flow a tag if I don't pick up on it
4. Neg gets 4 offcase max. Anything past that is abusive to the aff
5. I will not flow new positions brought up in the block unless you give me a good reason to do so
6. Neg needs to explain what their advocacy does for me to give it any weight
7. This should be the standard for every judge imo, but I'm not gonna extrapolate anything for you. I evaluate the round based on what was said in the round, not on me completing the argument for you
8. It'd be helpful if you could tell me your names/ pronouns/ speaker positions before round (online rounds: put these in your on-screen name)
9. Extra speaks for starting early (if I'm the reason we start late I'll still give this to you)
Experience: Debated four years for Rosemount High School. Currently a 2nd year novice coach for Rosemount. The main thing I've spent my time on in debate is T/ Policy, main strat was TKO, but I know how to follow other positions
Framing: Here's how I currently view debate:
At its core, I think debate is a game, but broader than that it's a space to learn and educate others about issues you care about. As much as debate is a game, it's an educational activity as well.
Affirmatives: I'm used to policy affs, and have more understanding with their utility. I've heard critical affs before, but I'm not that familiar with its function and the components that construct one, so if you're thinking of running a more critical aff in front of me, clarity and clash are key (I'm also cool with you just not running a K aff in front of me). The aff must be within the resolution, and it must defend its plan text the whole round as it sets the path for the whole round. Soft-left impacts are more believable to me than nuclear war, but weighing Timeframe/ Magnitude/ Probability is how I evaluate impacts.
(If you actually read my paradigm and want an extra .5 speaks, make a reference to your favorite Vine on one of your speech docs)
Disads: I don't have any problem with this type of neg strat. Only thing I can say here is that you better have a strong link or your position goes away real quick. Unless the aff never answers it, the work you do with the link should be consistent throughout your speeches. Running a DA as a Net Benefit to a Counterplan is always nice.
Counterplans: They don't have to be topical, but they should be competitive. I default to the perm until neg shows me how it's bad.
Topicality/ Framework/ Theory: Love it. I've got lots of experience running this kind of stuff so whether or not you know how to run it, I'd be happy to hear what you got. I believe the plan must be topical and that it is the starting point for every round. So if there's compelling evidence that your aff is not topical, chances are you're gonna lose. Extra T is kinda touchy so if you do end up using this T, just explain what part of the debate is hindered by them solving stuff outside the rez. Effects T is also viable. Basically, outline clear in round abuse and I'm likely to vote for it. If you spread any of these flows/ arguments I will stop flowing
CX is a speech
Overall conduct in round: racism, sexism, homophobia, unnecessary rudeness, etc. isn't tolerated.
haleyheine@gmail.com | she/her
Experience:
-Debated at Central High School for 3 years
-Coached at Central for 1 year
Things you should know:
-My tolerance for full speed spreading is pretty low, ESPECIALLY if it's clear your opponents are struggling to keep up. If I can't understand what you're saying, I can't flow your arguments. Sending your analytics is always a plus :)
-Be nice to your opponents! I love heated cross-ex but I love patience and common courtesy.
-I'm a biology major lol so I may not understand your complex and ultra-specific politics arguments.
K's: Big K debater but please understand your arguments ;,) If you don't understand how your K functions, don't run it! Very comfortable with Foucault and most queer/fem theory but if you're running something off the walls take some time to explain it! For me the weakest point of most JV/Varsity K's are the links and am very willing to vote on a good no-link arg or a perm. On that point please have your perm make sense, just saying "the plan does both" doesn't cut it.
T: PLEASE contextualize your argument for the plan text. Don't just read a definition and call it a day.
Experience: Eagan High School Debate for 4 years
I've always considered myself policy oriented, If you run a K you'll need to explain what it actually means, but I'll definitely vote for K's
On theory and T, I really love T if I'm being honest, any sort of debate theroy is always fun
I'm fine with speed IF you're clear. Please read your tags and authors clearly, I dislike the concept of spreading specifically unclear, but with the norms of debate I'm okay with it.
Don't be a dick. Period. If you are I will take your speaks and if the other teams points it out, I can and will vote you down.
About Me
Currently at Loyola Chicago and coaching for MPLS Washburn. Before that, I debated for Highland Park for four years, mostly on the local circuit but with a few nationals sprinkled in there.
If you want to know what I read you can check my senior year wiki, but tldr my affs all had 4-6 extinction impacts and I never read a K.
He/Him pronouns.
Put me on the email chain, hpkelly37 at gmail.
TLDR
-I think 99% of the time, skill at debate vastly outweighs the actual arguments people make so do what you do best. But since you probably want to know:
-Hard Policy Args: This is what I like most & what I'm best at. Go wild, have fun, it'll be great.
-Ks: Eh. They're fine. I didn't run them because they're a hassle to prep, but when well executed they're really interesting and fun to judge.
-Soft Left Args: I hate them. I'll obviously try to evaluate the round fairly, but I just don't enjoy these at all.
-Be polite in general please
-Keep your cams on if its an online debate. If you don't have one, then don't, just tell me in the chat or whatever.
Specific stuff
Fwk vs K aff
...cause this is what you're actually here for.
Honestly, I feel like k affs can win basically all the time just by straight turning all of the neg's impacts. Ideologically, I'm ambivalent (maybe lean slightly in favor of framework), but strategically I think it's a very easy argument to win for the aff.
Best way for the neg to win is to have a really good tva.
I don't know or care if fairness is an impact or an internal link.
Counterplans
I love counterplans. I hate the aff responding to them with theory---abusive counterplans theoretically exist, but I've never seen one I thought was abusive run in a round.
As you can probably guess, I love them.
scotthkrueger@gmail.com
I was the Captain of the Eagan Policy Debate Team (2019-2020) and debated Lincoln-Douglas for Simpson College(2020-2021). Since then, I have debated in a slew of different formats - IPDA, NPDA, and college Public Forum mainly. I also had a two tournament run at Big Questions debate in highschool, but wished people engaged more in the religious side of the Templeton Institute's mission. I'm a graduate with a Bachelor's in political science and I will begin attending law school in the fall of 2024 - I find that sometimes biographical information helps with judge adaptation, so I include that here.
I will vote on most anything, during my highschool career I leaned towards the basic kritiks (Biopower, Cap K), and rhetoric kritiks (nuclearism, fem, post-colonialism) but if inherency is your winning strategy don't hold anything back. If you plan on running a "not on the wiki" sort of argument, it has to meet an incredibly high threshold for me to vote on it - for instance, them dropping the issue in it's entirety and, therefore, agreeing that they "did a bad."
Tech >Truth except for Racism/Sexism/Discrimination. Debate is a competitive academic argumentation event. Reading cards at me is just the beginning of what you should be doing. Your job is to convince me that your position (Plan/Alternative/Counterplan/Status Quo) is the best and reading random pieces of evidence isn't the sort of interaction and argumentation that convinces me of your position being true.
Referring to me as "Your Supreme Excellency" once will get you a minimum of a 27.3 speaker points. Some of my colleagues may believe this is silly, but it's proof for me that you read my paradigm going into the round and are adapting to my preferences.
I don't like judge intervention, you should be telling me how to vote in the final two rebuttals.
If I don't understand an argument by the end of the round I won't vote for it. If your spreading is unclear don't assume I wrote down anything you said.
There is a fine line between assertive and overly aggressive - don't be a jerk or your speaker points will suffer. I think that the most important thing we get from debate is education about the topic as well as the connections we make with other people in our little community - remember that the other team are also people.
If you are spreading so fast that it sounds like white noise I might just fall asleep.
Topics I've Debated
China (2016)
Education (2017)
Humans are Fundamentally Different than Animals (2018)
Immigration (2018)
Humans are primarily driven by self-interest (2018)
Arm Sales (2019)
Immigration (2020)
I have been the head coach of Roseville Area High School for 13 years. I have coached kids in LD and Policy with a much stronger background in Policy. I feel fairly qualified to hear most of your arguments but I am not a PHD candidate in post-modern philosophy so please provide clarity especially around K literature. Here are some tendencies:
Debate is...
Debate is a role-playing game loosely based on reality. I will buy many arguments if there is enough factual evidence to support it in cards. It is not my job as a judge to assert realism claims in the round unless your argument is absurd. Where is the line for this? I dunno. I'd vote for a lot of stuff if you back it up well.
Util/Ethics
I believe in arguments based on ethical obligation over a strict util framework but I can be convinced either way based on solid impact calculus.
Framework
I have limits and framework arguments that force me into too tiny a box just might be ignored. Your topicality arguments, for example, ought to demonstrate some form of in-round abuse in order for me to buy that I need to vote on it.
Policy
I will vote on politics debates(especially in the Trump era) and I follow politics fairly closely.
Kritics
-I will vote on Ks and in fact I work with a K heavy team but make sure that the Kritic links to the debate in a meaningful way and that the alternative is read so that I can follow it.
Performative things
I am fine with speed.
Also, why are we still asking judges if they are OK with tag team cross-x?
If you run performative work be prepared to give me a standard to judge your debate and your performance. I do not prefer wading into standard debate vs. performance without a standard. You won't like my decisions and I won't like being forced to establish a
I'd like to judge your round and I think you will find I am a competent judge.
LD
If you have further questions feel free to email me at gregg.martinson@gmail.com
she/her
Coach at Washington Tech
The Blake School 2011-2015 - competed in both the local and national circuit. Cleared to doubles at a couple of octos-bid tournaments, had moderate competitive success.
I ran a wide variety of arguments in high school from very policy focused to more critical. I did not debate in college, but I was heavily involved in doing theory research during my time in college. I spent a year in Finland working with their Centre for Religious Recognition, reading and researching a lot of theory, specifically about black liberation theology and its intersections with recognition theory. So I really geek out on theory.
That being said, I highly value and recommend that you fully explain and contextualize your arguments in the context of the round. My biggest preference as a judge is that a team really does a thorough job explaining their arguments and showing how that interacts with the other team. That can look like a very clean and precise line by line, or it can look like some stellar impact framing, but I need you to fully contextualize your arguments. Don't just rely upon jargon to get you through the round.
I will vote on what you tell me to vote on. Make your case for me. I like Kritiks, but I also genuinely enjoy hearing a well done debate on a policy focused disad. Make sure you cover your bases, answer your opponents arguments, and give me a compelling role of the ballot/impact framing that is fully fleshed out and extended throughout the debate.
Other than that, speed is fine just be clear, use a clear transition word, and just generally don't be a jerk.
Policy: I will listen to any arguments you pose, and will not discount them categorically, but I prefer to see advantages clash in round. Therefore, I like to see aff advantages cases and disads from neg.
Counterplans and Ks are okay, but I do have a somewhat traditionalist view of policy debate that makes me prefer to see a good stock issues debate that focuses on whether aff's case on the resolution is (a) topical and (b) presents a comparative advantage over the status quo. I will be much more likely to look favorably on Ks on the case, rather than performance or debate/meta-Ks.
I also don't like to see a ton of unnecessary spread - I shouldn't need ten sheets of paper to flow your round and would prefer to see five arguments well-debated than 10 thrown out and half of them abandoned as you go. Talk fast as long as you're understandable and slow down on tags. Make sure your tags match the content of your cards.
L-D: Since LD originates in moral/value discussions, I'm much more sympathetic to Ks here and prefer resolution to discourse kritiks. Again, not a big fan of performance- or meta-Ks. I'm okay with Theory debate on the resolution, but not on the meta or your opponent's arguing style.
PFo: Put simply, I would like to see an intelligible discussion on the merits of the resolution, in a manner that would be accessible to an informed general populace.
- I debated for 4 years at Washburn High School, this is my 6th (?) year judging debates and 2nd year as the JV/Varsity coach at St. Paul Central.
- I have judged 20+ rounds on the Criminal Justice Reform topic.
- My email address is peich025@umn.edu, please add me to the email chain if there is one!
- I'm not great at understanding and flowing debaters who speak very quickly and in the extreme I can get overwhelmed and will definitely miss important points. If you're insistent on speaking at a fast pace, slowing down and emphasizing your most important points will help me flow what you want me to flow.
- I don't really have much argumentative preferences. I mostly read kritikal arguments in high school but am comfortable voting on pretty much anything with the exception of obviously violent/offensive arguments.
- Don't assume I know your literature. Greater complexity means you'll have do more work to explain the core ideas of your arguments, especially when it comes to things like psychoanalysis kritiks.
- I like jokes! One of my favorite rounds of all time involved arguing for abolitionist space geckos.
Past Affiliations: James Madison University (2012-2016), University of Minnesota (2016-2017)
Current Affiliation: Edina High School
tldr: Do what you do best in front of me. I'm open to voting on pretty much anything. I've debated and coached most types of arguments (big stick affs, soft left affs, affs that don't defend a plan, Ks, DAs, Impact turns etc.). The best way to get my ballot is to 1.) have a clear explanation of the argument with warrants 2.) have an impact well articulated and how you solve/avoid it and 3.) frame the debate as to how I should evaluate the impacts presented to me.
I started debating in college as a novice and really love judging all levels of debate. For me, I see debate as an educational activity not just in terms of the topic we discuss each year but also in terms of the skills we learn by doing debate. I view myself as an external party to evaluate the debate and provide feedback to the debaters. I take notes during each speech and cross ex to remember specific things that were really awesome and/or could be improved. I also will include my notes on my ballot on Tabroom.
General Thoughts/Views on Debate:
Terminal defense/presumption wins debates - I can be persuaded no risk of aff solvency, zero link/internal link to a DA, or that a team doesn't meet their own interpretation/role of the ballot and should lose. "1% risk" only applies if you answer the warrants to their defense.
Evidence is good, thinking is better - Having high quality evidence is strongly encouraged. Reading a card for every argument would be nice but in most cases is unrealistic. I would prefer you (1) tell me why an argument doesn't make sense in context to your aff/K/DA by clearly articulating how your position/argument functions or (2) explain WHY your opponents evidence is terrible (not just it's a really bad card, but what specifically is lacking). Good analytics can beat bad evidence. Expanding on and extending warrants from evidence previously read can subsume their new card's warrants. Notice when they highlight their card to say something different than a tag or they don't get to/cut the card before the warrant of and make an argument about it. Think smarter, not harder.
Be clear on what you defend - It doesn't help anyone (yourself, your opponent or your judge) if you dance around if you defend implementation, what specific reform or methodology you use, what actor you are etc. The sooner you are clear about what the aff does, the sooner solvency deficits/perm functionality/links become clearer for your judge.
Judge-kicking a CP/Alt is probably bad - There are arguments people can make saying it's good but 99.9% of the time aff answers as to why it's bad are stronger. I don't think I have an obligation to kick something the 2NR defended, especially when the aff has a warranted argument against it.
Email Chains are the way/how does one e-debate? - Debate is going to be different for everyone this year. I think especially the first few tournaments will help establish best practices. I'll probably change/add more here later in the season but let's all be understanding with each other re: tech issues and any growing pains of learning a new method of doing debate. Please include me on the email chain; my email is samanthaleighp (at) gmail (dot) com
I flow straight down (mostly) - If you're only taking part of a flow, and it isn't what's on top, that's fine but know I flow straight down for the most part. I will try and match up as a go but I would rather get your arguments down and organize them later.
Specific Arguments:
Topicality:
General thoughts - I default to competing interpretations unless given another way to evaluate T. If a T argument doesn't make sense, you should explain why it doesn't make sense and articulate to me why your aff is a good form of education on this topic. Examples of ground/education loss as well as what is allowed under your interpretation are important in order to explain to me what a world of your interpretation looks like.
In Straight Up Debates – You need to have a clearly flushed out interpretation and why that is important for debate. Impacts for T, I find, are one of the harder things to learn as a debater but ground and education are some of the ones that I find most persuasive. Using T to get links for DAs/CPs is smart and appreciated.
In Clash Debates - I would prefer that affs have a relationship to the topic, but that relationship is up to interpretation and can be debated. A couple of notes adapted from Lindsey Shook and Shree Asware's judging philosophies:
(1) Nuance is important and most persuasive. Sweeping claims about ALL T or ALL K teams or ALL policy teams are not very persuasive to me (ie "all people quit because of K teams" or "T is always X violence”). I would prefer you to make impacts specific to what limits your interpretation is making in context to the arguments being made in the round.
(2) Uniqueness arguments matter. Inevitability and accessibility claims (and their relationship to the T version of the aff) are where I'm most likely to begin evaluating the debate.
Theory:
I like theory debates and may be more likely than others to pull the trigger on it if it's well developed. That being said, I am completely unpersuaded by the 2AC reading 10 blippy theory arguments and trying to develop one or two arguments in the rebuttals. I would prefer the 2AC would make 1-2 well warranted theory arguments. All theory arguments need 1.) a developed interp and 2.) impacts with examples of practices that are justified or abuses that specifically happened in the debate. I default to reject the arg not the team unless told otherwise. Slowing down on theory debates is preferred so I get all of your standards on my flow.
Straight Up Strats:
General thoughts - I am absolutely willing to vote on zero risk of a link/impact or presumption if well executed and warranted. I am finding more and more that straight up 2ACs tend to undercover case and assume judges can/will fill in the rest, especially in terms of articulating solvency. There's a fine line between efficiency and failing to meet the burden of proof in terms of articulation. If you don't say it, I can't evaluate it and it's smart to point out when your opponents fail to do so.
CPs - CPs are good, PICs are better. I'm down to vote for a Word PIC but I think they're more often than not poorly executed. If you have a multi-plank CP, slow down on the CP text so I get all the planks please. Theory on CPs is good, but as explained above, it needs to be well warranted.
DAs - They're a thing? I don't have anything super specific at the moment other than the more contextual your link ev is to the aff mechanism the better. Examples add good context/persuasion to an internal link chain story especially in the absence of specific evidence. A note adapted from Jacob Bosley and Shree Asware's philosophies: DA debates need to be specific as to how the case and the DA interact, such as does the DA turn the case or vice versa, how timeframe evaluation impact turning the case, or how the uniqueness and link frame the debate (ie does uniqueness frame the link or link frame close uniqueness and why).
Ks and Non-Traditional Strats:
Ks should engage the aff. The best way to articulate a K in front of me is to apply the work done on the K flow and apply it to the case with examples. General Thoughts:
1.) I need a clear articulation of how the perm functions or is/isn't competitive. I can be persuaded of "no plan no perm" but this is best executed against an aff that changes their articulation of the aff in every speech. If you want to go for this, you need to articulate why the aff doesn't have a stable locus to test competition with the alt. For both aff and neg, it's far better to explain how the different methodologies interact - what is/is not mutually exclusive or contradictory and what the perm looks like in terms of praxis.
2.) Paraphrased from Lindsey Shook's philosophy: External Impacts need to be somewhere. They don't have to be nuclear war causes extinction but you need to have distinctions from what the aff addresses/solves and what the k/alt addresses/solves and how those interact in some sort of impact analysis, especially in the last rebuttals.
3.) Do what you're comfortable with. As said above, I prefer affs have a relationship to the topic but doesn’t mean you need to defend the USFG/traditional policy action. There are many ways to engage politics and different methodologies add a richness to the education we take away from the activity. I will vote on the flow; I have no preference between Ks (aff or neg) and policy/traditional options.
whats up novices!?
if there is an email chain I would love to be on it please!!: kathleenp20513@isd273.org
I go by Katie
pronouns she/her
a bit about me:
I have debated for edina high school in Minnesota for 3 years now and am a captain on my team. I went to SDI 3 week for camp in 2018 and attended DDI 6 week, summer 2019. most of the arguments I prefer reading are k related but I still understand policy related arguments. if you want to win, explain to me why you win.
**take my facial expressions with a grain of salt, I just look wacky sometimes when I'm focused.
p.s. it irritates me when you talk while im trying to make my decision. dont expect a good rfd typed out if you choose to not be quiet! :)
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just do your thing. treat others with kindness. do your best! you got this!
leave the toxic masculinity at the door (▰˘◡˘▰)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m not a fan of K’s. Even though I have an aversion to K’s, at the end of the day I do believe that debate is a space for the debaters. So if you run a K, I won’t be partial against K’s (and might even vote for them) but I am MUCH more likely to vote on a policy argument (DA, CP, T).
HOWEVER, I will NEVER vote for a K if it doesn’t have a clear link. If you’re trying to argue that schools are a form of colonial violence, I WON’T buy it unless you make it VERY clear how schools are a form of colonial violence.
If you are rude in round to me or your opponents I WILL give you 24 speaks. No exceptions.
If you make a racist, sexist, homophobic, or a genuinely offensive comment you will automatically lose. No exceptions.
If you bring me food I’ll give you .5 extra speaks :)
Remember to have fun in the round! This is novice debate so please don’t be overly competitive. Winning is rewarding but losing gives you an opportunity to learn from your mistakes so don’t be upset if I vote against you. Be a good sport! Tomorrow is another day to improve!
Above all, have fun & good luck :) Every one of you has worked super hard this season and that’s awesome! I hope every one of you is successful this year!
-Mihika 2.0
Debate History:
4 years debating in Wisconsin from 1999-2003.
Coaching @ Washington Technology Magnet School in Saint Paul since 2013.
First off - yes, you can tag team so long as it doesn't turn into a yelling fight.
Generally, I take points off for using too much speech time, not using all your time, being overly aggressive without warrant during CX, saying things that are racist, sexist, ableist, etc.
In the old days, I would have just called myself TABS (Tabula Rosa, or blank slate.) In general, I'm comfortable voting on most kinds of arguments, although I often find myself deciding many JV and V rounds on framework due to a lack of clash elsewhere in the debate.
My background is in Chemistry and Physics, so I have at best a debate level knowledge of much of the K literature. That being said, I'm very comfortable with the technical aspects of debate, so label your arguments well and explain yourself in your rebuttals and I should have a good idea about what is going on. That said, I'm sensitive to punching down, so if you have a "funny" aff be careful that it is also respectful.
Debated 4 years at Roseville Area High School '14-'18
Coached for 2 years at Minneapolis Washburn High School '18-'20
yes to email chain: drossini21@gmail.com
for virtual debate, clarity over speed
Experience: I am a fifth-year policy coach for Rosemount High School. I debated for 4 years at Rosemount High School and recently graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in political science (quantitative-focus) and election administration. My main experience in argumentation is in policy-oriented soft-left positions, with a focus on legal theory (court CP's, Court Legitimacy, Test Case FIAT, etc), although I did often run critical arguments such as Neoliberalism, Security, Legalism, and Disability.
Please include me on email chains: sewpersauddebate@gmail.com
Framing: I view debate in a few ways:
1. It is an educational activity first and foremost. Everything else (competitive success, winning, etc) is second to education. If you aren't learning, then you aren't succeeding in debate. If you do things that actively harm someone else's education, then you will get bad speaker points.
2. It is a game - in the sense that it should be fair, and you shouldn't exclude others from the discussion. This means debate should be accessible and respectful. Intentionally misgendering your opponent, saying rude comments or anything like that (especially laughing at the other person giving the speech) is not good for a game. That will also hurt your speaker points.
3. It is a competitive reading activity - you should read your opponents' evidence and attack the specific warrants. The other team's evidence is also the best way to find links to any kritiks. Additionally, this means evidence quality matters -- if you misrepresent your warrants and the other team calls you out for it, I will intervene and only judge the warrant as the author originally intended it.
4. Clarity > Speed - I flow on paper, and if you are reading at one speed that is incomprehensible, then you will get low speaker points. I have voted for teams but given them 26 speaker points to them purely because they did not slow down throughout their speech, creating a borderline unflowable speech. Lack of clarity is anti-education.
5. In-depth conversation and argumentation >>>>> five-off or more - I think the tendency to read as many off-case arguments as possible to out-spread the other team is an inherently bad strategy and extremely detrimental to debate. It certainly damages education. I will absolutely accept Condo arguments if the other team is reading more than four-off, especially if you explain how damaging it is to education. This is one of the few areas where I am very oriented towards (my personal) truth over tech. Reading an unreasonable number of off-case arguments is a surefire way to lose a ballot in front of me. Especially if 3 or more of those arguments are separate advocacies, I will (almost) automatically buy abuse arguments.
Affirmatives: As I stated before, I prefer policy plans, but if you have a more critical advantage, I will not be too lost. I prefer soft-left affirmatives over policy affs, but I've run both types. Advantages that tackle discrimination including Sexism, Ableism, or Racism are very responsive to me, as I believe they have the most realistic impacts. I also generally believe the affirmative must be in the resolution. In other words, if you have a critical aff, this is not the best round to run it. I believe the affirmative should stick to the plan text and should defend that plan throughout the round. I do, however, understand the validity of Critical Affirmatives, but if you cannot answer the questions from the negative like "what ground do we get?" or "how is your model of debate accessible?" during cross-examination, you will likely lose, because I view debate as a game that needs to have at least some semblance of fairness and education. In my experience, some K affs end up being a way to scare other teams from engaging with the arguments and ends up shifting the discussion away from education. Basically, if you're able to defend how your model of debate promotes fairness and education, then K affs are fine. But I generally think plan-based affs provide for better models of accessible debate.
All that said, I have recently coached teams that almost exclusively read a non-topical critical affirmative and my stance has softened slightly on that front. I’ll evaluate your K aff, but be prepared to defend your model of debate and why you think it’s good!
Disadvantages: If you run this and want to win with it, there must be a clear link. If you don't do enough specific link work in the 2NR (i.e. show how the plan directly causes your link chain), I probably won't vote for it, unless the aff never answers it in the 2AR. Also, make sure you do impact calculus between the aff and the DA, and prove why your impact is worse. I also love when a team runs a CP with their DA. For politics DAs, I hate most of these because I think the logic behind these DAs is bad and generally relies on flawed assumptions. Politics DAs can be creative, but the bar for this is very high if I'm your judge.
Counterplans: CP's are a versatile position which I am quite familiar with. I believe Counterplans do not have to be topical, but they should still be competitive. Also, if you run a CP, make sure you answer the Perm, and when you do, make sure that you tell me specifically why it doesn't function. Theory can be an independent voter (when it is impacted out), so don't ignore it. Additionally, I think sufficiency framing is usually a pretty lazy argument that is made by teams who don't think their CP solvency is all that good. You need to prove why the CP solves BETTER than the affirmative, not just that it solves "enough" of the aff. Sufficiency framing is generally not enough for me to vote for the CP.
Topicality/FW/Theory: While the position is more valid when there is clear abuse outlined in the argument, there doesn't always have to be abuse. It can be used effectively as link traps or for other strategic reasons. I also love Effects/Extra Topicality arguments, especially if presented well. For the aff, Reasonability is a valid argument, but if you want me to vote on it, tell me why your plan is reasonably topical under the neg's interpretation and the aff's. On theory, disclosure theory is a non-starter. Do not run this, even as a cheap argument. While it won't lose you the round, it will damage your credibility with me and your speaker points. The only exception to this is if the team discloses one aff, and then changes it at the last minute. Then I can see it being warranted. For the most part, I think theory is usually used as a cheap strategy. Don't use it as that. Use it only if it is well-warranted. A-Spec is usually ridiculous and I don’t think I’d find myself voting for it all that often, although if it’s well-warranted, then maybe (the bar for that is extremely high, so please try to avoid this unless absolutely necessary). Perf con against a team reading one-off is ridiculous. Condo against a team reading one-off is ridiculous. Make sure your theory arguments make sense!
Most of all in theory debates, SLOW DOWN! You are essentially reading paragraphs which are incredibly difficult to flow if you just speed through them. I think spreading through theory is anti-education, and is a surefire way to damage your speaker points. I flow on paper, so my flowing speed is limited and I'm not going to flow theory arguments that I missed - it's your burden to make sure I get them. Additionally, if you don't slow down on theory arguments, you will damage your speaker points. Like I started this paradigm with, debate is an educational activity first. If the way you read theory is anti-educational, I will let you know after the round.
Kritiks: I am not great with all K's, so if you run one, make sure you clearly explain the story (especially the link and alternative) if you expect me to vote for it. However, I have run Disability, Security, Legalism, and Neoliberalism K's as well as Word PIKs, and done some coaching on more identity-based Kritiks, so if you're comfortable with those positions, this would be the round to run it. Basically, if you really want me to follow your Kritik, run Security, Disability, Afropess, Language K's, or Neoliberalism. If you don’t care if I understand your position, run Deleuze, Queer Pessimism or Baudrillard. I have a high bar for voting for Kritiks that I am not familiar with. Do not assume I understand your Kritik, explain it at the thesis level. Just as importantly, explain it within the context of the affirmative! What is the problematic assumption or rhetoric that the aff makes/uses? How does that cause the perpetuation of the bad thing you're Kritiking? How does your alternative resolve the issue? A Kritik that earns my ballot will answer all of these questions.
General: Spreading is fine, but make sure you don't go past what you feel comfortable with and SLOW DOWN ON THE TAGS. If I miss your tag because you didn't pause or slow down when reading it, I am not going to flow it for you. Make it clear, or I won't weigh the argument. When you are speaking, make sure you analyze each argument in full and make a coherent claim. Tags should be complete sentences. The word "Extinction" is not a tag. I will not flow it as an argument if that is your tag. Also, please self-time. It really helps me, and especially it helps you.
Please do not try to throw rounds. I have had a team do that in front of me, and I believe that it legitimizes a bad practice in the debate community, is anti-education, and it will severely impact your speaker points if I realize your intention.
Structuring: I will give you extra speaker points if you NUMBER AND SUBPOINT each of your arguments on the flow for the ease of flowing.
Other Positions/Arguments: There are a few positions that I will NEVER evaluate within any round. These include, but are not limited to:
-Racism/Sexism/Ableism Good
-Suicide CP/DA and/or Death K (Seriously. The way this is commonly debated brings with it serious mental health concerns and I will tolerate none of that.)
-Spark/Wipeout/Timecube, etc
Basically, if you think that your position sounds like it advocates for something offensive, don't run it.
Cross-Examination: Make sure you are polite. I am fine with tag-team if both teams agree to it, but if you shout over your partner, I will dock speaker points. Most importantly, remember that CROSS-EX IS A SPEECH. Cross-Ex is a great place to set traps for your opponents, and for you to be able to use what they say in-round against them. I do flow cross-ex, so I know what was said. Don't try to pull one over on me.
To sum it all up in a few points...
1. Education comes first. Debate is an educational activity at its core, and I believe my primary role within the round is that of an educator. If you do things that I deem as harmful to debate education, you will get lower speaker points, and may lose the round.
2. I tend to be a policy-oriented judge, although I am very comfortable with Kritiks. If you want to run one, be sure to fully explain it as if I have never heard of the philosophy before.
3. Cross-Ex is a speech and a great place to form arguments, so use it!
4. Explain everything to the fullest extent, especially links. If there is not enough work done on DA/K/T links, I will not vote for it.
Feel free to ask me any other questions before the round starts!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m not a fan of K’s. Even though I have an aversion to K’s, at the end of the day I do believe that debate is a space for the debaters. So if you run a K, I won’t be partial against K’s (and might even vote for them) but I am MUCH more likely to vote on a policy argument (DA, CP, T).
HOWEVER, I will NEVER vote for a K if it doesn’t have a clear link. If you’re trying to argue that schools are a form of colonial violence, I WON’T buy it unless you make it VERY clear how schools are a form of colonial violence.
If you are rude in round to me or your opponents I WILL give you 24 speaks. No exceptions.
If you make a racist, sexist, homophobic, or a genuinely offensive comment you will automatically lose. No exceptions.
If you bring me food I’ll give you .5 extra speaks :) (not really though)
Remember to have fun in the round! This is novice debate so please don’t be overly competitive. Winning is rewarding but losing gives you an opportunity to learn from your mistakes so don’t be upset if I vote against you. Be a good sport! Tomorrow is another day to improve!
Above all, have fun & good luck :) Every one of you has worked super hard this season and that’s awesome! I hope every one of you is successful this year!
-Mihika 3.0
4 years (2016-2020) of high school policy debate for highland park (mn) (and 3 years of middle school debate :-) )
Put me on the email chain: snowbeckdebate [at] gmail.com
In general: If you win it I'll vote on it. I was a very policy-leaning debater so I am probably somewhat biased towards those types of args but am open to hearing whatever you run best! I like being nice to your opponents and partner, I care about ev quality. Signpost, be clear. Speed is fine. This will be my first time judging on the NATO topic so I don't have a lot of topic knowledge. As such, stay away from buzzwords.
CPs: Yes please! Cut CPs from the aff's ev, run Cps without solvency advocates if they're smart, run Cps with net benefits (<3). Probably the best 2NR in front of me is going to be CP + DA or a CP with an internal nb. Please have a reason your agent CP is a) competitive and b) uniquely BETTER than the aff. I am willing to flow and vote on cheat-y CPs, but you do have to win the theory flow.
DAs: nothing really new to say on the subject. Run them well.
Topicality: A necessary part of debate to check squirmy affs. Impact out your voters.
Ks: The interaction between the aff and the alt needs to be clear. The links need to be clear and specific -- show your understanding of how the aff causes the impacts. Explain how the alt functions. Stay away from the abstract when discussing your impacts - what is happening in this round that is problematic and what does your model of the world do to stop hurting people. Have impact D for the aff if you're running a reps k. I'm not super familiar with Deleuze, Baudrillard, etc so be sure to explain it for real.
K affs: If the aff is in the direction of the topic you're in a better spot. Affs that you can run topic disads and CPs against are going to have an easier time winning framework. Negs, run counterplans and contest the core of the aff - look through their ev.
Theory: Unless there is clear in-round abuse, I will likely reject the arg and not the team if you win it. (If you make a good case for rejecting the team I'll obviously vote on it, I'm not going to do work for any team, but saying "reject the team" without impacting it out isn't enough). I will vote on well-run disclosure theory, especially if you ask for disclosure preround and they refuse. This goes for new affs too, btw: tell the other team what your plan text and advantages are.
Speaks: be nice. please. if you are rude to your opponent your speaks will be very skinny indeed. if you are racist, sexist, or homophobic, you will get the lowest speaks tab lets me award. Depending on the degree of the transgression I reserve the right to stop the round. I am good with speed. Golden rules: Have a different voice for tags/analytics and text of cards. Be clear on tags/analytics.
Debate is a game but it's a very valuable one. It should be fun, constructive, informative, and pleasant!
add me to the chain: mariestebbings@gmail.com
last updated: 12/18/2023 (deleting outdated sections, reorganizing, expanding ethics)
background: minneapolis south ‘19 (toc, primarily ran kritikal arguments), light coaching for minneapolis south in ‘19-20. i judge a few national & udl tournaments every year.
online debate: 20% slower please! if my camera is off i’m not there.
tldr: you do you; i will be happiest judging whatever you find exciting/strategic and have spent quality team researching. tech > truth insofar as i try to stifle any lingering debate biases and give an objective decision based on the flow. i won’t write a ballot on an argument that wasn’t made in-round and i try not to impose my opinion on what is true, with the exception of violent/oppressive arguments*. i mostly judge clash debates and my voting record is pretty even.
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below are some notes on evaluation rules i abide by & guidelines on how to explain arguments, win, & earn high speaks
general: arguments need a claim, warrant, and impact to be evaluated. i will always follow the ‘ballot of least resistance’ and make the laziest decision possible; tell me what my rfd should say. instructing me on what you believe the key issues are, how you believe arguments interact with each other, and engaging in comparative analysis will help you tremendously.
evidence comparison: i skim evidence throughout the debate. i won’t incorporate my thoughts on your evidence quality into my rfd unless it’s necessary to resolve an argument, but i think a certain degree of judge intervention is necessary in debates over evidence quality to maintain reasonable debate (ex. you can't blatantly lie about what a card says if the other team points out you're lying). i enjoy judging well-researched rounds and think debaters who spend time finding good evidence should be rewarded.
speaker points: ~28.6 is average, ~29.3+ is deserving of a speaker award. being clear, knowing your evidence, making strategic decisions, hard-hitting cx questions/answers -> high speaks. obviously not flowing the debate -> low speaks. if i catch you clipping (repeatedly skipping ~three or more words in cards), i will drop your speaker points regardless of whether the other team points it out.
please flow: i will think you’re silly if you ask for a doc with unread cards deleted unless the prior speech was egregiously skipping around, i will think you’re silly if you respond to an unread or dropped off case, i will think you’re losing the round if you don’t respond to substantive analytics or follow a line-by-line structure.
cx: is binding and i usually flow it.
framework: debates over counter-interps/models make intuitive sense to me. i’m not opposed to 2ars that solely go for impact turns to framework but you should invest hefty amounts of time in framing my decision.
t: i really appreciate model comparisons (caselists, lost/gained neg ground, etc.). please define what reasonability means if you go for it. i never have a ton of topic knowledge & will need extra explanation for acronyms and topic norms.
kritiks: tech > truth means i won’t create my own arbitrary framework interpretation. the more specific your analysis is to the opposing team’s arguments, the better chance you have of winning. aff teams could generally improve their link answers, and neg teams could generally improve their alt solvency.
cp theory: i default to judge kicking cps if asked. the more obviously abusive your counterplans are, the harder it’s going to be for me to suppress a gut-check reaction to cp theory.
das: specific/quality ev > recent ev (explain why the date matters) > quantity of ev.
case: i love case debates that dig into the ev and point out logical holes/inconsistencies in the aff’s ev and internal link chains.
theory: please don’t spread at max speed through your theory blocks. i find counter-interps helpful for framing the majority of theory debates.
misc: re-highlighted ev must be read, not inserted. sending exact text for perms, theory interps/violations, and/or framework interps is a good practice. strict on 1ar-2ar consistency, will give some leeway if the 2nr had new arguments/warrants. no new 2ar cross-applications across different flows.
be nice to new debaters: in clearly asymmetrical debates (ex. a team with 5 bids vs a team at their first varsity tournament), taking the time to slow down and 'over-explain' your arguments so all the debaters can engage with the round is a much more persuasive strategy for high speaker points than outspreading and out-jargoning your less experienced opponents.
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*ethics: facilitating an environment where debaters are reasonably protected from immediate hazards to their wellbeing overrides my commitment to attempting to be a neutral arbitrator. i reserve the right to auto L with the lowest speaks possible if a debater’s in-round words or actions are oppressive or threaten anyone’s safety. however, i prefer to avoid using the ballot as a punitive instrument and assume fixable ignorance (not intentional violence) on ‘gray area’ issues.
while i strongly empathize with frustration over the community’s seeming inability to address intra-debate violence, including the continued presence of individuals who are oppressive or harm others, i refuse to adjudicate out-of-round grievances in a competitive context. if desired, i will assist any debater in talking to a tournament administrator, ombudsperson, or coach instead.
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good luck, have fun! feel free to email me with any questions.
Coach for St. Paul Central from 2021(water)->present
Pronouns are they/she
I would like to be on the email chain stpaulcentralcxdebate@gmail.com
Email for questions / contact: marshall.d.steele@gmail.com
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Quick and easy for prefs/strikes
Clash judge that appreciates good judge instruction and is neutral on most things. Good judge for k/fw debates and probably not the best for lots of (no substance)pics. If you just wanna know my K aff thoughts I will happily vote on em but am friendly to TVAs and skeptical of a lot of SSD claims. Be nice and run arguments you like and we'll get along fine.
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Paradigm In progress, feel free to ask anything not yet answered here.
"My ideal round is one where both teams are cordial and having fun. I think too often we attach our self-worth to the activity. My favorite thing about debate is the people I've met along the way. I hope that the trophies and placements at the end of the tournaments don't hurt our ability to appreciate the genius of ourselves and the people next to us. If any part of my paradigm limits your ability to enjoy the round, please let me know." - Melekh Akintola
Judging Takes:
PLEASE ACTUALLY LABEL YOUR FLOWS IN DOC AND IN SPEECH: I will dock points if you don't. its an accessibility issue and the minor time skew of clicking on the flow and coming up with a name isn't worth annoying your judge.
Judge Kick: I support it unless either side gives a reason not to.
Tech V Truth:Tech over truth but making overtly untrue arguments to get the other side to drop them isn't gonna be great for your speaks and doesn't make for persuasive argumentation.
Speed - I don't think judge lines on speed effect much. Just here to say I don't mind speed and can flow very fast rounds. If you are fast and unclear I will drop args off the flow and will feel 0 remorse. speed is a choice one that comes with the responsibility to still communicate your ideas. Not sure where else to put this but I will put something as new the first time I hear a warrant. i.e unwarranted claim from the bottom of the 1nc dropped in the 2ac still needs explanation in the block to win in the 2nr.
Framework - Im fine with framework, I've run both sides of it. Realistically every framework interp is self serving I really only care if you can defend *your* self serving model as better than theirs. If your model would be really messed up to read against people of a certain identity, maybe don't read it at all
Kritikal Affs - go for it. I like them, probably don't admit debate is just a game in cx and you'll have a better time. Don't assume I'll automatically understand your lit or import my analysis - same standard as any policy arg. If fairness is bad what offensive reason do I have to not flip a coin and vote how I feel?
Topicality - I'm pretty neutral on T. just please don't forget to at minimum say "voter for xyz" and I'm open to hear your interp of the topic. For 2023-24 I am probably leaning a little neg on T but thats speculative and open to change.
Counterplans - I think a lot of counterplans really test the limits of tech>truth with the actual text / claimed solvency mechanism. that said if the 2ac doesn't say anything I'll buy it. I don't have many strong opinions on counterplans. default to perms as a test of competition. Am generally not a fan of counterplans with 5+ (functionally contradictory) planks.
Kritiks - I like kritiks, I don't like how they tend to get argued. TLDR is please give me specific links and an articulation of the alt if you want me to vote on it. If not please actually give instruction on how you get a ballot. Generally a big fan of framework vs kritiks as I think a lot of kritiks tend to make valid analysis and give little reason to vote. The specificity of your arguments and how much you elaborate on them is gonna be big in front of me. Also like, probably don't read a K against an aff your authors are on record supporting(looking at you biopower teams).
Anything not listed above you can assume im mostly neutral on. As a final note on my judging philosophy, debate whatever you feel most comfortable with in front of me. An argument I don't like debated well is better than one I do debated poorly. Plus we all have more fun if your debating what you actually enjoy debating/feel comfortable with and that genuinely supersedes pretty much everything else listed on this paradigm.
Name: Chris Stinson
Affiliation: Minneapolis South
Pronouns: he/him/his
c_r_stinson@yahoo.com
My Background:
I debated in High School for Rapid City Central in South Dakota in the late 90s
I debated in College for Concordia in Moorhead Minnesota in the early 2000s
I started coaching in college and have actively coached ever since
I judge more than 50 rounds on any given topic
What you need to know:
I’m trying to be fully present in debates. When I was younger I allowed myself to be distracted by how my teams were doing, social media, etc. I don't think that's fair for you so I'm doing my best to break my bad habits.
I will try to judge the round without inserting my personal biases. Again, I want to be fair and honor the work that you've put into the activity.
I’m trying to keep up with point inflation. I know a lot of coaches my age are trying to hold the line. I don't think that's fair to you. My scale is at the bottom.
I think that for most debates that should be enough. Of course, you’re not doing your prefs for the easy debates. Below are some additional things that you should know about me in close debates.
My (self reported) bias:
I'm very liberal in real life. I've made my living fighting, full time, for racial, economic, and queer justice. I identify as gay. Capitalism, racism, patriarchy (including hetero and cis patriarchy), agism, ablism, and christian hegemony form an interlocking system of oppression that benefits very few, the primary feature of which is it's ability to divide us against one another. Most people would describe me as a K judge.
I also believe the state can be reformed and that those reforms can be transformational. I had the great honor to work on campaigns to win the freedom to marry, combat bullying, and allow transgender high school students to participate in school activities as their full authentic selves. I cried tears of joy when those policies were implemented. The Paul Wellstone quote, "politics is not just about power and money games, politics can be about the improvement of people's lives, about lessening human suffering in our world and bringing about more peace and more justice," pretty much sums up why I do politics.
I'm the education lobbyist for a lefty labor union (SEIU) in Minnesota.
What you probably want to know:
Comparisons: I will give more weight to warrants that were in 2NR and 2AR than to warrants that I only read in evidence after the debate.
Theory: In my default framework I evaluate theory/framework first, followed by discourse followed by traditional policy making impacts. I'm not locked into this framework but "theory is a gateway issue" and "discourse shapes reality" seem true so that's where I start.
Evidence: I read less than I used to and a lot less than other judges but I still want to be on the email chain.
Prep: Don't steal it. Prep time ends when you save the speech doc. I also expect your partner to stop prepping. I have no interest in policing your bathroom behavior.
Perm Double Bind / Perm All Other Instances: I have not yet heard a debater explain these arguments in a way that is persuasive to me. "Do the Plan and the non competitive parts of the Alt" doesn't make sense to me as a test of competition, since it simply asserts that there are parts of the Alt that don't compete with the Plan. If you want me to evaluate the perms as an advocacy that I can vote for at the end of the debate I will need you to invest time describing the world of the perm.
Bad debates are always bad so do what you like, what you're good at, and have fun.
I'm happy to answer more specific questions. Just ask.
The scale I intend to use (lifted from jonahfeldman on the CEDA forums):
29.5 - 30: One of the greatest debate speeches I have ever seen
29 - 29.4: Should be one of the top 5 speakers at the tournament
28.7- 28.9: Should be one of the top 15 speakers, but not top 5.
28.4 - 28.6: Should be in the top 25 speakers. Should clear if 5-3 and elims start at octos.
28 - 28.3: Good, but needs improvement. Should not get a speaker award. Should clear if 5-3 and elims start at doubles
27.5 - 27.9: Some things that were good, but also some areas of major improvement needed.
27 - 27.4: Areas of major improvement needed
Below 27: Was offensive/rude/dangerous. Needs to be told after the round what they did that caused a large drop in speaker points.
Let's all have a good time and learn some stuff. Do what you feel you are best at and try to emphasize clash. Specific questions can be directed here: swedej@augsburg.edu
Very important note: If you and your partner choose to do tag team debate then you must "tag in" if you want to ask a question and "tag out" when you're done asking questions. How you tag is up to you (high five, fist bump, etc.), but you must do it.
Other notes:
I've been in debate for 19 years - have debated, judged, and coached at regional and national tournaments in high school and used to compete for the UofMN in college, now am Program Manager of the MNUDL. I'll do my best to flow, you should do your best to signpost and clearly read tags and cites. I judge about 10-15 national level high school debates a year. I want to be included on the email chain so I can check for clipping and/or whether a team claims they read something they did or didn't, but my flow will reflect what words come out of your mouth, not what words are in your speech doc. If you want an argument on my flow then make sure you are being clear and articulate; speed isn't a problem for me, but being unclear is. I'll let you know if I can't understand you at least 3 times. At that point if you don't adapt it's your problem :) I will do my best to judge debates in a non-biased way and give you a decision/feedback that I would have liked to have had as a debater/coach.
One other note that hopefully won't be important, if there's a reason that something uncommon needs to happen in a debate (someone needs to take a break due to stress/anxiety/fatigue, there needs to be an accommodation, you or someone else can't debate against another debater or in front of another judge, etc.) please let me know BEFORE THE DEBATE and don't bring it up as a theory argument (unless the other team did something warranting it during the debate). I find it is best to deal with community based issues not through a competitive lens, but through a community consensus and mindfulness model. Be advised, I take issues like this very seriously, so if you bring up something like this in the debate I will decide the outcome of the debate on this point and nothing else. Legitimate reasons are fine and important, but trying to 'game' the system with these kinds of 'ethics' violations will end very poorly for everyone involved.
Updated - 1/4/24
Background: I debated in high school at Minneapolis South and in college at the University of Minnesota '17. I've coached policy debate for 10 years, and am currently the Head Coach of Minneapolis South high school.
If you have any questions about my paradigm/rfd/comments, feel free to email me at: tauringtraxler@gmail.com & also use this to put me on email chains, please and thank you.
I will enforce the tournament rules (speech times/prep/winner and loser, etc.), but the content of the round as well as how I evaluate the content is up to the debaters. Judge instruction is important -- my role is to decide who did the better debating, what determines that is up to you.
I'm comfortable with anything you want to do in debate as long as you're respectful of others. I give a lot of nonverbal feedback.
Hello, my name is Colton Vue my email is coltonvue@gmail.com
I am honored to be judging you from zoom. If we were in person I swear I would be dope.
He/Him/His. I'm good with "bro"
Let's have a good round and please remember to have fun.
Tings about me:
Go for everything in the 2NR jk
Extend your Plan Text, please
Good judge for anyone who likes the movie Tangled
4 years of Policy Debate at Roseville Area High School
Currently a freshman at the University of Minnesota. Human Physiology major.
Debate tings:
Let's start w/ Aff:
Policy Affs: I never ran these post sophomore year of high school. Make sure you don't forget a plan text. The 1AC should give me a clear story of the aff. The 1AR is a make or break speech for the aff. Make sure you have case extensions at the top of each speech.
K Affs: I mainly ran K affs in high school. I ran Hmong Model Minority and Afro-Asian Solidarity. I expect there to be some sort of affirmation statement. Obviously, I am a good judge if you want to run a K Aff, but do not abuse that. When reading complex literature please don't assume that I know what you are talking about. I know K lit gets a bit confusing sometimes so it needs to make sense or I will have a hard time voting on it.
Neg Tings:
Policy: I was not a big fan of running policy arguments when I debated because of that I am not going to be as familiar with the literature and the scenarios. This means the 2N must really explain the story of the DA to me or I will get lost quickly. Also, case v case debate is very underrated. Going for T against a policy aff in front of me won't be impossible if I am convinced that they are untopical. T vs K Affs. I can vote either way it just really depends on how the later speeches work out.
K: I was a one-off K debater in high school. I love it, I think it is badass to say "One-off and case" if you want to sound even more badass say "Flow K next to case". I am familiar with K's like cap, anti-blackness, and anarchy. If you read queer theory or other literature I am not familiar with please explain the link story very thoroughly. Define any "buzz words" and explain to me how it relates to the case. I need a well-developed link story at the end of the day. You also must be able to fight against the perm.
Other Tings:
Seriously have fun, and don't be dicks to each other.
I don't tolerate any racist, sexist, etc. remarks I will vote you down for that shit.
Funny/Creative things are always welcome and you will be rewarded for that.
Let's have a good round.
You can call me alex, judge, or judge alex
They/them
im down with k affs you just better be good at responding to t cause i love t
I've been juding for a few years and i debated a bit before that (started judging in 2018)
Its okay to be nervous. debate especially when you just start debating can be really scary. Its okay take a deep breath. if that doesn't work talk to me we can ways pause the round for a minute or two for mental health.
Clarity comes before speed
Yes you can tag team but don't abuse it. (You can not tag team against a maverick )
Even if both teams are three headed monsters the third person who isnt in that debate CAN NOT help.
If I don't understand an argument by the end of the round I won't vote for it
If your spreading is unclear don't assume I wrote down anything you said.
If you don't make it clear your going onto a new card by saying next it is very possible I'll miss your tag.
Make it clear where you on in the speech by sign posting i will probably flow it on the wrong flow which wont make your argument stronger.
Its totally fine to be assertive but don't be mean if you get mean I'll dock speaker points.
If i see you not flowing all of the speeches i will dock speaker points.
Don't ask me questions in round if it deals with the round wait until the debate is over and im giving my rfd.
Extending isnt re-reading the card its reading the author year then explaining the warrant in your own words
I don't flow cross x. BUT if you say something that goes aginst the side you supposed to be on i will write it down in the notes
Tell me if there is anything you don't want me to comment on like if you have a stutter. I dont wanna be bring that up and possibly just annoying you
Personal Information:
probably will not be judging anytime soon, and i'm updating this paradigm simply because tabroom made me. and if i am it's prob gonna be novices (if in policy) bc i'm very out of practice.
i debated in high school policy.
Email: awyang2951@gmail.com
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POLICY
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TL/DR
I'm mostly tabula rasa (I try my best); just don't make any offensive arguments. I am probably (unintentionally, I'm sorry!) predisposed to policy-like arguments, such as framework against the kritik. BTW I have VERY limited topic knowledge, so be aware of acronyms or anything hyper-specific to the topic, especially T definitions.
I've also very unfortunately had to judge more PF tournaments than policy ones, so be patient with me about this topic.
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Specific stuff:
Aff: By the 2AR, you better have a cohesive, comprehensible story of what your affirmative does and what it is. Including K affs. However, if your entire story was explained in the 2AR and not before that, and it's difficult for me and/or the other team to understand you, the threshold for winning is very high.
DAs: I like disads, and most of my neg rounds I've gone for one with a CP. Ptx and specific topic disads are probably very good ways to gain education about intricacies of the topic and nuances of policy. The neg should also have a cohesive story on what causes the disad to happen and what impact this leads to.
CPs: CPs are pretty cool. I like them. Even some of the trashiest disads become viable 2NRs combined with a good CP that solves. They obviously need to be competitive and NOT link to the net benefit. Also, theory can be a reason to reject the CP. Agent, Process, States etc. can be reasons to reject the CP. Judge kick? Meh. I'll decide depending on the round. Condo is usually the only reason to reject the team even if the CP is kicked.
Ks: I'm probably unfamiliar with most of the literature so you'll have to explain it thoroughly. Framework is very important and I'm most likely subconsciously aff-biased on the issue. Otherwise, really weigh the impact of the kritik against the impact of the affirmative. You also don't necessarily need an alternative to win, case turns and/or root cause arguments might be sufficient to win my ballot.
T: T is about two competing models of what debate for the year should look like. That being said, I have no idea of anything on this topic, so please explain your stuff. Talk about whose model is better for the year, (limits and ground, education and fairness, etc.) and whether the affirmative meets either interpretation. T is a gateway issue and I won't be persuaded to weigh the aff's impact before it.
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Speaker Points (this stuff is basically all for novices. for jv and varsity, i'm same as p much everyone else):
A 28.4 should be average. If you're good, I'll make them higher, obviously.
A 26 is if you are mean. Like, substantially mean. Yelling at the other team. Or stealing prep. Or saying something offensive.
A 30 if you would have been able to beat my partner and me our senior year.
For novices, a 28.8 or above is only possible:
1. If you are actually a novice that DOES A LINE-BY-LINE. please. do a line-by-line. it makes my flow prettier.
2. If you are a novice team that ACTUALLY SPLITS THE BLOCK. I HATE when the 2NC just takes everything and the 1NR just repeats it. It just ruins my otherwise really pretty flow.
3. If you are nice to the other team and have tag team be REASONABLE.
4. If you FLOW IN PEN - flowing in pencils or worse, COLORED PENCILS, should literally be BANNED from debate
5. If you don't extend 5 off in the 2NR - please just go for one thing... for your own benefit?
A 29 if I feel like you are REALLY REALLY good.
A 29.5 if I feel like you should be in JV.
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PF
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TL/DR
I'm a policy judge so I may weigh things a bit differently compared to a typical PF judge. Weigh your impacts and actually answer the opponents' arguments; don't just use broad, sweeping claims with nothing to back it up.
Long Version
Again, I was in policy, so I will probably judge your round with a policy perspective (whether subconsciously or not), in that:
1. I don't really accept impacts that are not really impacts. I am not convinced econ growth in and of itself is a good thing, for example (the exception is climate change. I think that you can just say "climate change" without listing potential disasters, as the negative effects of climate change are implicitly obvious). However, I will be very easy to convince that this impact leads to some terminal impact: increasing the job market as a result of econ growth can inherently be a good thing (unless the other side convinces me that the jobs are exploitative or something).
2. I'll, in a round, consider nuke war and other extinction impacts likelier than they actually are (in reality). As long as you win an internal link chain, you're good.
I have judged too many rounds in which PF debaters just read and say things at each other instead of actually clashing. It makes my job incredibly difficult because I might as well flip a coin at the end of the round to determine who wins, as I have two (or worse, >2) completely competing versions of what reality is/should be and no reason to prefer either of them. Do impact calculus and ENGAGE with the other team's arguments, PLEASE.
Speaks
I've heard that a 27.5 is average. So that is your baseline.