Preferences and Background

experience: I did Policy debate for 4 years, Lincoln Douglas debate for 2 years, and I am currently in my 3rd year of NFA LD at Washburn.

Flow: yes, I will flow the round.

Speed: Fast is fine as long as you are articulating your arguments well, if I cannot understand you I will clear you twice, after that, anything that I miss will be counted as dropped on the flow.

extra: please be kind and respectful to everyone in the round, yelling or talking over your opponent will immediately deck your speaker points (the severity of this occurrence will determine the severity to which your points are decked). Absolutely no discrimination of any kind (racism, sexism, etc.) In the occurrence of discrimination, I will immediately drop the team, no I don't care if you should have won the round, I will still vote you down.

Policy

---Aff---

plan: Please have a plan text (advocacy statements work too for K aff's). unless you explicitly tell me how your aff solves for current damage in the space, I find it hard to vote for affs without a plan text.

solvency: you should have a solvency advocate for your plan, in the event of a "my advantages have their own solvency" case I will take it on a case-by-case basis, however, it is still probably best to have an advocate.

Advantages: honestly I don't have anything in regards to preferences on advantages, I have yet to see an advantage so outrageous that I have questioned whether or not to would vote on it. (this is not an invitation to read something that changes this statement).

Framing: I enjoy a good framing debate here and there, however, your aff doesn't have to have a framing argument. I do think however that a lack of framing from the aff leaves them vulnerable to having to adhere to negative framing, but it is not essential for the aff to read a framing to get my vote.

---Neg---

Topicality: Topicality is essential to ensure that debate is fair for both the Aff and the Neg. I will vote on T if there is proven abuse, however, I will also vote Aff on T for the same reason if the T is clearly an abusive time suck I can, and have been compelled to vote Aff on the T.

Theory/Rules: I like a good theory/rules argument. just make sure it is framed properly, and that you have the whole shell.

Kritik's: I do not mind a good K debate, that said I ask is that you understand what you are reading, I find it hard to vote on an alt that the person reading it doesn't understand. Especially advocacy K's, if it is immediately evident that the speaker is not understanding, or the speaker doesn't actually support the advocacy their reading I find it much less compelling.

CP's: Counter plans are a nice test of competition, just ensure that it is textually and functionally competitve. I personally do not have a preference on topical counter plans, I will not immediately vote a team down for having one, however, if a decent theory position is presented I can be persuaded to vote against a team for having one.

DA's: the same thing as Advantages, I really don't have much preference regarding DA's, just make sure it links to the plan.

Lincoln Douglas

Value/Criterion: Please have a value and criterion, along with an understanding of how they apply in the debate. an explanation of why your value and criterion should be framed before or valued greater than your opponents is essential for this activity. In essence, the value and criterion debate is the cornerstone upon which the rest of the debate is based on. It is hard to win my ballot if you are not winning on the value and criterion debate. Even if the speaker is leaps and bounds ahead of their opponent it is hard to vote for them if the opposing team wins their value and criterion in the round, as it changes the framing of the entire round.

extra: the rest is pretty much the exact same as policy, other than speed, LD should be slow and persuasive, not fast. this activity is intended for depth over breadth. Leave speed for Policy or PF.

Washburn Rural '22

Email: rishipandya2800@gmail.com

If you have questions just ask me before the round

Default to Indo-Pak War good, but only if India wins

General Comments

I am tech over truth on everything that is not T. But there is also a limit to how much I can handle arguments that are obviously not true.

Please extend your answers/evidence properly, that means tag and warrants.

Most of the non-theory portion of the debate should be card vs. card. Don't give me an analytic, either read a new card or extend one read earlier in the debate.

I actually do like when people send their analytics in debates, so if you put send your analytics, I'll give your higher speaks

Don't have experience judging varsity debate, and even though I debated it for 3 years, I am quite rusty, so mod speed is probably best

Don't be difficult, please disclose, unless you're breaking new

T

I actually will not vote on T unless it's 5 minutes in the 2NR along with other arguments about abuse such as disclosure.

K

Be very wary of running Ks when I'm judging. I have a very high bar for voting on them, and I basically don't know anything about a majority of them. However, I am still open to voting on them if it is explained very thoroughly.

If you read the speed K or any other speed argument, I will not vote for it.

DAs

Honestly I think that extinction and existential threats are almost always overblown. Even for things that result in extinction like nuclear war, the link chain most likely isn't true and can be pointed out really easily. I'm a big fan of turns.

Case

Whoever told you that you can split the case and not answer it in the 1NC is wrong. Answer all the case in the speech or it's dropped.

Other things that Irk me

Sending speech docs that are PDFs or Google Docs instead of Word Docs.

Saying your opponents dropped an arguments when they clearly didn't.

Even if it is open cross, don't speak over your partner's cx.

New arguments in the rebuttals. Even if the other team doesn't point it out, I will count it against you. Also kind of applies to the 2AC. Unless it's a turn, there is no way your aff just magically found a new impact that wasn't in the 1AC.

im very good

https://constitutioncenter.org/media/files/constitution.pdf

This, this is my paradigm

Don’t read a K, I won’t vote for you.

Live Laugh Love Debate

zwillingham04@gmail.com

Washburn Rural '22

University of Kansas '26

Assistant for Washburn Rural

General Thoughts

Debate is a technical game of strategy. If you debate more technically and more strategically, you will likely win. Read whatever and however you like. Any style or argument can win if executed well enough or if answered poorly enough. I don’t believe judges should have any predetermined biases for any argument. Dropped arguments are true.

I am operating under the assumption that you have put in considerable effort to be here and you want to win. I will try to put reciprocal effort into making an objective decision unless you have done something to indicate those assumptions are incorrect.

Nothing you say or do will offend me, but lack of respect for your opponents will not be tolerated.

My background is very policy-oriented. I strategically chose to talk about cyber-security instead of criminal justice and water resources. The best argument is always the one that wins. Do what you are best at.

My favorite part about debate is the way different arguments interact with each other across different pages. The way to beat faster and more technical teams is to make smart cross-applications and concessions.

Except for the 2AR, what is "new" is up for debate. Point out your opponent's new arguments and explain why they are not justified.

Evidence is very important. I only read cards after the debate if the issue has been contested. A dropped card is still dropped even if it is trash. Quality > Quantity. I do not see any strategic utility in reading multiple the cards that say the same thing. Card dumping is effective when each card has unique warrants.

Cross-ex is very important. Use it to set up your strategy, not to clarify what cards were skipped. I appreciate it when the final rebuttals quote lines from cross-ex/earlier speeches. It makes it seem like you have been in control of the round since the beginning.

I do not want to hear a prepped out ethics violation. Tell the team before the round.

I do not want to hear an argument about something that happened outside of the round.

Rehighlightings can be inserted as long as you explain what the rehighlighting says. I see it as more specific evidence comparison.

Argument Specific

Topicality:

Your interpretation is the tag of your definition. If there is any discrepancy between the tag and the body of the card, that is a precision indict but not a reason the aff meets.

Counterplans:

I enjoy quality competition debates. I like tricky perms. Put the text in the doc.

"Links less" makes sense to me for certain disads, but makes it harder for the net benefit to outweigh the deficit. Perm do both is probabilistic. Perm do the counterplan is binary.

If a perm has not been extended, solvency automatically becomes a net benefit.

Most theory arguments are a reason to reject the argument, not the team. I will not reject the team even on a dropped theory argument unless there is a coherent warrant for why it would not be enough to only reject the argument.

I will only judge kick (without being told) if it has been established that conditionality is good.

Advantages/Disadvantages:

Most scenarios are very construed. Logical analytical arguments can substantially mitigate them. I do not like it when the case debate in the 1NC is only impact defense.

Punish teams for reading new impacts in the 2AC and block.

Extinction means the end of the species. Most impacts do not rise to this threshold. Point it out.

"Try or die" or similar impact framing is very persuasive when executed properly. If the negative doesn't extend a counterplan or impact defense, they are likely to lose.

Zero risk is possible if your opponent has entirely dropped an argument and the implication of that argument is that the scenario is 0. However, I can be convinced that many arguments, even when dropped, do not rise to that level.

Kritiks v Policy Affs:

I will determine which framework interpretation is better and use that to evaluate the round. I will not adopt a middle ground combination of both interpretations unless someone has convinced me that is the best option (which it usually is).

Make it very explicit what the win condition is for you if you win framework. Only saying "The 1AC is an object of research" does not tell me how I determine the winner.

If the K is just one of many off case positions and the block reads a bunch of new cards, the 1AR probably gets to say any new thing they want.

Planless Affs:

All affirmatives should endorse a departure from the status quo.

Procedural arguments like topicality come prior to the hypothetical benefits of the aff's implementation, but if there are arguments on the case that also serve as offense against the negative's interpretation, then I will weigh those against the negative's offense.

I do not like it when the 1AC says X is bad, the 1NC says X is good, and the 2AC says no link.

Many debaters do not explain switch side debate as effectively as they could. It should be offense.

Things to boost speaks, but won't affect wins and losses

Give final rebuttals off paper.

Number/subpoint arguments.

Impact turn whenever you can. Straight turn every disad if you're brave. I love chaos, but the final rebuttals better be resolving things.

Good wiki and disclosure practices.

Don't read arguments that can be recycled every year.

Stand up for cross-ex right when the timer ends. Send docs quickly. Preferably in the last few seconds of their speech.

Make jokes. Have fun. Respect your opponents. Good-natured insults can be funny but read the room.

Pretty speech docs. Ugly docs usually means ugly debating.

Debate with integrity. Boo cheapshots. It is better to lose with honor, than win by fraud.

LD

I’ve never had the privilege of sitting through an entire LD round so if there is specific vocabulary I am not in the loop. Assume I have minimal topic knowledge.

Tell me why you access their offense, why it is the most important thing, and why they don’t access their offense. Be strategic.

Answer your opponent’s arguments explicitly. I want to hear “They say x, but y because z”.