Brooklyn Debate League 6
2020 — New York, NY/US
MS Judges (adults or HS kids) Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideI am a college sophomore who has competed in PF, CON, and Policy throughout my high school debate career. Here are some things that I ask of those who I am judging:
1) Please be kind to your competitors (If I feel that the debate has turned hostile I will take that into account within my ranking)
2) Please speak clearly and if spreading please ensure that each word is properly articulated (This is especially important when competing online for if connectivity becomes an issue it may be hard for me to follow the argument or for your peers to debate with your case)
3) Please provide weighing mechanisms so that I can see how your case prevails in both presented "worlds"
4) Please prioritize warranting and impacting your claims and I love a good debate based on warrants and/or impacts.
5) Fairness arguments in Policy are not a complete argument in my opinion and while I will take glaring fairness issues into account (ex: not providing a card or stating the card will be expanded later in the round to decrease the amount of debate time regarding the topic) if I feel a that a "potential abuse" does not truly hinder the team or the debate I will not be swayed by it.
Hi! I'm a college freshman who competed primarily in Congress and LD during my debate career. I encourage both teams to be respectful to their teammates and opponents, a lack of professionalism will be taken into account while ranking. Decorum in and after round along with proper communication is essential (especially with an online format). I'm looking for:
- Strong impacts. Weighing the round and creating a framework for the debate to be framed around is key. Explain why your "world" is more important or the most convincing –– create urgency.
- Well developed cases. A case that is clear and logical will fair well.
- Though I am not a fan of spreading, as long as you are clear and understandable and easy to follow, spreading is acceptable
My name is Sabrina Oliveri. I competed in OI, Declamation, POI, Oratory, Duo, DI, Impromptu, Extemp, PF, and LD during my 5 years as a competitor. I have 5+ years of experience judging all major speech and debate categories. During my time as a high school competitor, I was captain of my speech and debate team for 2 years. My responsibilities included (but were not limited to) creating/cutting/blocking programs, running practices, and managing our team's Instagram account. I was also a member of Beyond Resolve's New York Chapter, helping further diversity, equity, and inclusion within the Speech and Debate community.
jonahpsah@gmail.com, put me on the chain and please send speech docs for case and rebuttal.
First year out, did PF for 8 years, semifinaled the prestigious 2018 middle school tournament of champions
I'm a flow judge, tech > truth etc. Everything said in a speech is true until someone says otherwise.
have fun/be funny; it's high school debate; I think rounds should be relaxed. that being said, I will do my best to take the round seriously. debate takes a lot of work and I know what it feels like to have judges who aren't trying their hardest, so I will do my best to match or exceed your effort.
Collapse (for your own good)
When deciding the round, I will look to the following: I'll evaluate weighing, then look if there is any extended offense being won off of the weighing, then to any other offense.
If it isn't in summary and final, I won't evaluate it (so extend case/whatever you're going for). Don’t just say “extend this argument/card,” you need to re-explain the argument/its warrants. I'm not really afraid to drop a team that is winning bc they screwed up their extensions. The one caveat is that I'm ok with the weighing debate unfolding kind of late: if there is new weighing in second summary, you can respond in first final.
Regarding speed: I can flow just about anything under 300 wpm if you are clear. A few caveats though: a) I won't flow off of a doc in PF unless I space out or something. I know that makes me kind of old-fashioned but as a wise man once told me, "this isn't an essay writing contest." If you ask before round, I will clear you so that you know exactly what I'm catching. b) SLOW DOWN FOR TAGS PLZZ like even in policy they do that, it barely takes more time
If it isn't frontlined in 2nd rebuttal, it's dropped. (This applies to offense and defense, but not weighing.)
It's not 2017, defense isn't sticky
cross is binding? obviously? what is the point otherwise? obviously bring up anything important in a speech. I will pay at least some attention to cross though so don't lie, it's kind of obvious
I don't care about presentation: wear whatever, be silly, swear if you want. this also means that the whole jostling-for-perceptual-dominance in cross stuff is unnecessary (in fact it kinda pisses me off). I'll give speaks based on how good the content of your speeches is, not how pretty you say it.
Unless evidence is a) going to decide the round and b) contested in a way that I can't resolve, I won't call or look at anything. I think evidence debates are the same as any other argument: something is true unless it is responded to. If someone indicts your ev, that indict is true until you say otherwise, and I'm not going to check it to make sure. The only time I will look at ev is if teams can't agree on facts about the evidence itself (eg. the date it was written, author quals, etc.).
An argument with evidence obviously carries more weight than one without, but I like when teams make a bunch of analytics, especially in rebuttal.
I'm ok with postrounding, if you disagree with my decision you don't have to dance around it with polite questions (as long as you aren't rude). It is entirely possible that I screw up a decision. I will say 2 things though: first, if I screw up it's probably at least partially on you. anything that can decide the round should be clearly laid out for me. second, you may convince me that I'm wrong, but that won't change anything. I can't change the ballot, so all that will happen is that I will feel kinda bad and you will still have lost. So by all means, go ahead and prove that I'm wrong, but it will only do so much for you.
FW: two thoughts: a) a group being underprioritized is not enough a reason to prioritize it: explain why there are fewer intervening actors or it leads to better real world policy etc. b) read it in case or rebuttal... I'm not gonna evaluate framing in summary, that's obviously so unfair.
Ks: I think Ks are awesome, I wrote/read some in high school (cap, securitization, orientalism). That being said, I was still in PF, so I'm not that familiar with most K lit. I also think Ks can be read kinda poorly, so make sure you have at least a link, impact and alt in your case (and that you extend them). It's pretty clear when people read args that they don't really understand themselves, and if you can't articulate your argument and I don't get it I won't vote for it.
theory: I will not lie. I find most theory rounds tedious and kind of boring and not that important. I learned a lot in debate, but I don't think I would have learned much more or less if everyone did or didn't disclose/paraphrase/whatever. That being said, I ended up having a lot of theory rounds, and I'm comfortable judging it. However, if anyone feels actively unsafe/uncomfortable, you don't have to whip out a shell: just tell me/message me on FB and I will stop the round.
I'm not a fan of reading progressive arguments on inexperienced kids -- it will not lead to better norms/interesting discourse, it's just kinda mean. If you are being a jerk I'll tank your speaks so just use your judgment. -Maya sachs
If you read dumb stuff (you know exactly what I mean) you're getting like 0 speaks. I just don't think friv theory/tricks/whatever are that funny, and beyond that I have no idea what benefit anyone gets from them.
shoutout to my boo thang george tiesi #thepartnership
30 speaks if you can name all 40 barbie movies from memory before round. no notes or anything. blindfolded. in order of release date. while spinning around in a circle. while balancing on one foot.
I debated at PolyPrep. My team code was Poly Prep TS.
Email Chain: gdtiesi@gmail.com
I hate when judges are way too picky about how kids debate so literally just do what you want. I'll adapt to you and anything you wanna do. I'm open to any args just if you're are running some crazy stuff, warrant well and make it digestible to my dumb pf brain. Also I don't care about the speaking part of the round but if I can't understand you I'll be a way worse judge.
Frontline is 2nd rebuttal, 2nd sum is too late imo
Also obviously nothing offensive, I'll instantly drop you if you endorse any sort of hate speech.
Disclosure theory: I will evaluate Disclosure like any other theory argument and will be as impartial as I can be. With that being said, you need to understand that I am probably the most anti-disclo debater on the circuit. Anyone that knows me well knows that. I truly do believe it's a bad norm and bad for debate. If you want, convince me! If you want to run it, and you are confident, I urge you to do it!
Speech docs:I don't like when teams use speech docs to get their point across. If I can't understand your speech I'm not reading your doc. If I don't get something on my flow, that is your fault.
Good Luck and have fun!
Shout out to my boo thang Jonah Sah #thepartnership
If you need more details, I will be mostly (some of her takes are... questionable) aligned with Sophia Lam.