4 year debater at Olathe Northwest High School

I graduated from ONW in 2020 and now compete on the mock trial team at Mizzou. In high school I completed primarily in the KDC division. I also did all 16 forensics events in my time at ONW but my specialty was DX, HI, OO, and Congress.

First off, do not let the flow get messy. If I cannot flow your arguments, I will not vote on them. If you are the team to keep a clean flow, bonus points to you. I would appreciate a flash of the doc or to be on the email chain in order to keep a clean flow and catch clipping. I will give you my email in round for the chain and on the ballot for any questions regarding my decision, for personal reasons I will not post my email online.

Arguments

Topicality: T is one of my personal favorite arguments to make. However, if you do not know how to run T, do not attempt it. I will only vote on topicality if you have all the pieces (interpretation, violation, standards, voters). In addition to this, do not run T just for the hell of it, this argument should be reserved for truly untopical plans in my opinion. When evaluating T, I typically value the competing interpretations the most. Explain to me why your interpretation is better, this doesn't mean reading the authors credentials, but rather interpreting them and explaining why they are better than the counter interp. In your doc, you should have the parts of T listed out. While violation can seem obvious in some cases, do not assume I see the violation, still touch on it even if it is one sentence.

Framing: Honestly I don't weigh framing as much as other arguments, it is more an issue of ground for me. You can obviously still debate framing and explain why yours is better, but I will not vote solely on framing, you must win something else as well. I will favor whatever framing gives a fair amount of ground to both sides and allows for an educational debate.

Theory: Theory can be good, but it is not my favorite argument. I do not like SPEC arguments and I rarely vote on vagueness. All in all, if you are going to run a theory argument, explain it to me. If you have a good explanation and I believe the argument is valid I would not be opposed to voting on it.

Kritiks: I am not the most familiar with K's. The only K I have run is militarism, so if you run any other K you will need to explain it to me. I like K's and I like the idea of them, I just am not as familiar with them as I am other arguments. Similar to my stance on T, do not run an incomplete K. You need a link, impact/solvency take out, and alt in order for me to vote on this argument.

Disads: I have run a disad in every round I have debated in. This being said, I again expect you to have uniqueness, a link, an internal link, and an impact. I will vote on a disad, especially a politics disad. A good, recent politics DA gives me the warm fuzzies. As long as you have a coherent DA, I will evaluate it. When combating a DA, I believe that link and impact arguments are the most effective, however you can win on the DA with other arguments against it. Please do not only combat a DA with analytics, you will need at least one card to effectively argue it.

Counterplans: I love a good CP. But, if you don't read solvency or do not have a net benefit, I will not vote on it. Make sure you know what your CP is doing and how it is different from the aff before you run it. When aff, ALWAYS perm the CP. You can make other arguments, in fact I encourage you to do so, but you should also always perm.

Case: I do not like when teams only run case. If you are going to do so, you must have turns so that there is a distinct reason not to pass the aff. I do appreciate a good case argument in addition to some offcase. Do not argue inherency. Solvency and advantages are the best case arguments. Solvency is probably my favorite case argument. That being said, you can win the round on the neg without making any case arguments.

Non-Argument things

Contradictions: The neg is allowed to have competing arguments, as long as the neg doesn't contradict itself on the same flow, I am fine with it. I will vote on whichever argument persuades me, if you have contradicting arguments I just won't vote on both. I advise that you do not take contradicting arguments to the 2NR, but do as you will.

Speed: I am not afraid to say clear. If I say clear, this is a warning to slow down a bit. If I find myself constantly yelling "clear", I will be sad. If speed is your thing, go for it, but if it is fast to the point where I lose my flow, well, uh-oh.

Date debates: I understand dates are an issue in some instances such as the administration changed or something, but please do not base an entire argument you take to the 2NR off of dates. I will listen, but I will not be happy if your entire argument is "our evidence is more recent", explain why that matters.

"My partner will cover this in their next speech": I hate this. All this tells me is that you do not know your own evidence and/or arguments. Saying this will hurt your speaks.

Disclaimer: Be polite. Have fun. I will take into consideration how you treat your opponents during the round. I do not know why debaters feel the need to yell or be rude in cross. As long as you are polite, this shouldn't be an issue.

Please do not run new off case in the 2NC, this is abusive in my opinion. New case in the 2NC is fine. Use that information as you will.

If you ask the ceiling if it is ready before the round, I will know you have read my paradigm. Points to you.

Updated: November 2023

Former 4 year debater at Olathe South High School (Graduated 2020; US-Sino Relations, Education, Immigration, Arms Sales)'

Current Asst. Coach @ Olathe South

4 years of policy and 3 years of LD

tylerboutte4@gmail.com

TLDR: You do you, I'm just here to evaluate your perspective of the topic. I have my own preferences but ultimately if you provide a warranted model of debate I'll vote for you. Feel free to add me to the email chain and ask any questions for clarification.

Judge Philosophy: Policymaker. Debate rounds are won with offense vs. defense. Do with that what you will.

*Online Debate*: I participated in the online format at Nationals and didnt have any issues other than the other team having bad internet. If you're gonna go fast make sure, your doc says everything you say just in case someone's internet decides to cut out.

Tech>Truth

Speed: Go as fast as you want just slow down for tags, authors, and theory. Speed rounds are fun. If you can do it well, please do.

Topicality: Over time I've come to care about this type of debate less and less. I find the threshold for me to vote neg on T to be pretty high, but if that's what you're gonna go for do it. Please do not just read a T block and precede to reread that block throughtout every speech for the entire round. Keys to this debate are explaining to me why the aff's model of debate as a whole is bad, not just this round specifically. Aff arguments about reasonabililty are pretty persuasive for me especially when the rebutalls come down to what is "fair." Recently teams have been opting to debate t on the surface level. That's 1) really boring and painful for everyone involved and 2) not helping win rounds. Good work on the standards and voters level of this flow looks like debating about the impacts of the aff's relationship to the resolution.

DA: Obviously the more specific your link, the more likely I am to weigh the DA but generic links work too if you make them. I feel that lately debaters have been treating these types of debates as separate piece from the case flow. Both teams should articulate how/why the DA interacts with the case. This includes impact calc which is severely under utilized. I'm most likely to vote on this flow if its connected to the aff case instead of being a floating argument for me to evaluate. Aff teams should also be looking to turn disads into advantages for the case instead of only playing defense.

(2023: I'm not a huge fan of most DA's on this topic. Generic links and impact scenarios are not very persuasive unless you do the work to make it make sense. The more specific/realistic the better.)

FW/K: I have the most experience with critiques of security, set-col, militarism, and afropess but I'm willing to listen to anything and have probably read/looked into other popular critiques. These debates I find to be the most fun as a debater/judge but that also means they're the most frustrating. To me it seems that too many debaters are scared of actually debating the critiques they're running and instead default to framework debates. While I have no problem with these debates either, they tend to get incredibly sloppy and thus difficult to evaluate. In terms of how I evaluate the K itself, in levels of importance I think Link>impact>alt. Quite honestly, I dont care about the alt as much as I do how the critique itself impacts the aff. If you want to go for the alt, GREAT, but I'd prefer if you spend most if not all of the 2NR/2AR on powerful rhetoric about how me voting for you is going to reshape the world. Good k teams are giving great analytical arguments about the k's relationship to the aff instead of reading tons of cards of obscure theory.

Counterplans/Case: This may be the most underutilized aspect of debate now. Cases should be built with offense and defense embedded as part of the aff strategy. The neg should actually interact with the aff case and produce turns or deficits to the aff impacts. All CPs are fine, Ill let the debaters sort out what is and isnt fair. I do find that my threshold for condo is extremely high, I believe that debate is ultimately a game and the neg has every right to take advantage in this game and run as many off-case positions as they want. That doesnt mean I wont vote on condo though, the aff just needs to have an argument explaining why this model of the game is bad for debate as a whole.

I have debated since 8th grade, and now I am a college forensicator at Western Kentucky University. In high school, I competed in Policy Debate, Public Form, and Congressional Debate and also Interp events during the Forensics season.

Here is my Policy Debate Paradigm:

K's

- I was always a K debater, so I have a sweet spot for them. Make sure if you read a K you describe it well and explain the world of your alt.

Topicality

- Topicality is not a heavy voter for me. I'm not a fan of using it just for a time-filler. However, when running/answering T, please structure it correctly.

Speed

- Speed is not a big problem for me though I am not a huge fan of spreading. If you spread, make sure you explain your cards well and slow down for taglines and more important points

On-case Arguments

- Aff, these are very important to keep consistant throughout the round. Offense is just as important as defense.

- For the neg finding solvency deficits is a significant voter for me.

Other Off-Case Arguments

- I'm down to hear any disads, CPs, etc. as long as you prove their relevance in the round.

*If any team says anything racist, sexist, homophobic, prejudiced, etc. it will be an automatic loss.*

Email: brittshaefreeman@hotmail.com

Hello! My name is Neymara (Knee-mar-uh) and I am K Debater for Wichita State University. I have been doing policy debate for 8 years now and judging for the majority of that time.

Former three year debater at Olathe South High School and current assistant coach there as well.

I've debated in both KDC and DCI divisions so I'm down for any style of debate.

Big Picture:

Tech>Truth

Judge instruction is very important to me. I want to flow the round with minimal judge intervention, this means that I want you to explain to me why I should prefer your arguments, what I should vote for in the round, etc.

This means that you should run with what you feel the most confident and comfortable with. However, if you don't provide me with a way to vote in the round I will just default policy maker.

Personally, I believe that debate is a game of offense and defense. Offense for both teams is very important to win the round for me.

Impact Calc is a must.

A team is much more likely to win my ballot if they have a clean flow. This means having great signposting, line by line, and clash.

Extending and explaining warrants would be nice.

I understand that this is a competitive activity and for me it's cool to be laid back but I request that the debaters are still respectful to each other inside or outside the round.

If you have any questions about my paradigm or my decision, please feel free to ask me anything.

Disadvantages: While it is true that the more recent your uniqueness is, the more likely I am to weigh your argument and the DA but old-ish ones work fine too. That being said, I hate when a team just says that I should prefer their evidence because the opponent's card is "outdated". The team must explain to me in context as to why it matters that one card is newer then the other (what about the more recent world has changed?). Obviously the more specific your link, the more likely I am to weigh the DA but generic links work too if you make them. I feel that lately debaters have been treating these types of debates as separate piece from the case flow. Both teams should articulate how/why the DA interacts with the case. This includes impact calc which is severely under utilized. I'm most likely to vote on this flow if its connected to the aff case instead of being a floating argument for me to evaluate. Aff teams should also be looking to turn disads into advantages for the case instead of only playing defense. I am also a huge fans of both link and impact turns on disads and take them very seriously if the aff plans on running them in the round. If the aff does end up going for or winning on a link or impact turn, just make sure to fully explain to me what means for the debate round as a whole. I want you to treat it as if you have just won a new free advantage for your case.

Topicality: I believe that the best style of T debate is one where the main focus of the debate is around the standards and voters of T. In order for me to vote on T, I would need a team to put a heavy amount of the debate on the standards or voters. For me, T is not an automatic voting issue, if a team does a well enough job on the voters flow, I can be convinced that it doesn't matter if the aff isn't topical since there is no reason to vote for T. Also, I fully believe that T is not a reverse voting issue. If nothing else is specified, I default competing interps over reasonability.

Counterplans: I think the best way to convince me whether to or not to vote on a counterplan is do compare the solvency of the aff to the solvency of the counterplan in order to prove which one solves the impacts better. I'm cool with all types of counterplans such as PICs, delay, consult, etc. I find myself leaning towards the negative's side on the argument of whether or not some counterplans are abusive or not. That being said, I'm willing to vote on any type of counterplan theory if done right. Perm is a test of competition, not an advocacy.

Kritiks: The Kritiks that I have a decent amount of knowledge or experience with are security, militarism, capitalism, set col, and anthro. Don't just expect me to know everything about the K and make sure to really go in depth in explaining how it works. My preference on links is pretty generic as I would prefer you to use specific links but generics are fine as long as you are prepared to defend them. For impact, I would want you to do lots of work on how that impact affects the case by doing case turns or impact calculus. Even though it is important to include some work on the alt by including some good comparative solvency in it, it is not the most important thing for me. While having a good alt would obviously make the K a lot stronger, I would be fine for voting for a K with a weak alt if the impact is fleshed out enough to completely outweigh or turn the aff case. If your impact is just destroying the other team, then I don't really think you need that good of an alt but just make sure you give me some kind of an alt such as reject the aff so I have some kind of alt to even vote on. Even though I am not that big on the alt, I do need some kind of an alt in order for me to vote for the K.

Kritikal Affirmatives: A lot of my thoughts here are similar to my thoughts on Kritiks as well. This does not mean that I won't vote on K-Affs as I have before. Overall, I think the most important thing to K-Affs to me is judge instruction. Specifically, the aff team needs to tell me what I am voting for and what my ballot does for the debate round and how that ballot or the 1AC solves. This means that role of the ballot is very important to my vote and should be clear what it is in the 1AC. I prefer that your K-Aff is related to the resolution somewhat instead of just debate as a whole and for the aff team to be fully explain what they are exactly rejecting or critiquing.

Framework: When I debated, this was my favorite part of the K debate so I do enjoy seeing a good FW round. How I feel about FW debates is pretty much the same way as I feel about T debates. While it is of course important to talk about all of FW, I believe that the majority of the debate should be on the standards/voters/impacts of FW. The debates of FW should be impacted out to not only this debate round, but also debate as a whole. I think the best way for teams to argue FW is for them to use their impacts on the flow as offense. Unless the neg can make a really compelling we meet argument, I find it extremely hard to see myself voting for the neg on K if they lose FW.

Theory: Unless the other team is obviously extremely abusive in the round for whatever the reason, for me theory is a hail mary. That means that if you go for it, you better go all the way and make it the voting issue in the round. For less abusive theory arguments, I generally default reject the argument over reject the team but I am willing to reject the team if I am convinced so. Specifically on condo, I do find that my threshold for condo is extremely high, I believe that debate is ultimately a game and the neg has every right to take advantage in this game and run as many off-case positions as they want. That doesn't mean I won't vote on condo though, the aff just needs to have an argument explaining why this model of the game is bad for debate as a whole.

On Case: The only real arguments for me for the on case are purely solvency based ones. Lately, I have been finding it very hard for me to vote for a negative team with no offense and their sole argument being that the case doesn't solve. If worst case scenario for passing the aff is simply that it doesn't solve while best case scenario is gaining X and Y impacts, then I'm gonna feel pretty comfortable voting aff. For me, solvency deficits mainly help you win your probability arguments on impact calc. Besides solvency, I think that case turns are very useful as on case arguments as well. Overall, solvency arguments can be effective, but offense is also needed as well in order to gain my ballot.

Speed: I'm cool with spreading or going as fast as you want as long as you're clear and slower on tags, authors, analytical arguments, and theory. I expect for debaters to slow down a bit if they are reading from a pre made block on their computer. That being said, I don't expect perfect clarity with spreading but I want at least to understand it somewhat so it's not just straight gibberish.

Speaks: I decide speaks based upon argumentation not necessarily presentation. Obviously some speaking ability is factored in, but I’ve gotta be fair to the 1As out there.

People seem to misunderstand this so I'm putting this at top to make it clear. I will vote on any argument because I am tech > truth. Run what you are comfortable with. These are just my general thoughts about debate. Don't run an argument that you think I would like just because. If you don't know how to run it properly you probably won't win.

hudsonhrh7@gmail.com put me on email chain or email me any questions

General:

He/him. I debated at Olathe Northwest for 4 years. I'm now an assistant debate coach at ONW for 2 years. I competed in both policy and LD. Debate should be an activity for everyone, and if you prevent that from happening in the round, I will vote you down. I have done a pretty even mix between DCI and KDC, but I would definitely prefer to judge a DCI style round.

I am fine with speed but I would prefer if you slowed down for tags, analytics, and theory especially because I'm not debating anymore.

I'm tech>truth maybe too much

I hope I can make my biases clear. Even though I say there are arguments I do and don't like that doesn't mean I won't vote for these arguments, so please run whatever you are comfortable with because that will make the most educational round for all of us. I will do my best to adapt the debaters in the round. So, if you prefer to run policy arguments that's fine too. If you run weird arguments go for it. However, I will not vote for any racism/sexism/ableism/homophobia good or any similar argument.

Please ask me questions about my paradigm before the round!!!!

Disadvantages:

I never really used these in flow rounds when I debated because I don't think they are good arguments compared to other things that could be run. That doesn't mean I don't know a lot about DA's. I would run some pretty specific and weird disadvantages when I debated. Generic links are okay but can be easily defeated by a smart team. I'll listen to politics disadvantages but this is not the round I would like to see. Theory against DAs can be cool.

Impact turns:

I like impact turns because I feel like they are underused. I ran heg bad a lot and ddev sometimes.

Counterplans:

Rarely used counterplans but when I did they were usually really abusive. PICs are fine. Delay and consult counterplan are less fine and you should watch out for theory but still acceptable. Perm is a test of competition, not an advocacy. Theory is fun I will vote for anything if you do it right.

Kritiks:

I ran one-off ableism a lot, usually attacking language, representations, and generic links to the topic. I also am very familiar with fem, intersectionality, Nietzche, and cap/neo-lib.I have read some Baudrillard, psycho-analysis, and afro-pess lit so I understand most of the concepts, but don't expect me to be familiar with all the different niches. I am comfortable judging all types of rounds.

Doesn't need an alt if you can impact out how the K turns the aff, wins framework, or gives me a reason to ignore the affirmative impacts. PIKs are acceptable especially for language/reps Ks.

Floating PIKs are maybe abusive but you can win the theory on that by using your K as an offense or any other way but it is still a risk you have to be willing to take. Please explain your alt and how it solves. The ballot can be alt solvency if needed and explained. Severance on perms is a voter but be careful how this interacts with other theory-based arguments you have already made on why we shouldn't be looking at education or fairness etc.

K-affs:

I ran a k-aff with a plan text that would either fiat my alt or I would kick plan later in the round after reading a K. Your plan doesn't have to relate to the resolution, but it would be preferable if it does. If you are negative against a k-aff your best strategy with me as the judge would be to run a K. I feel like lots of teams put themselves in a position where they are defending policy or the state action which the aff team probably has prepped against. Running a K makes the framework debate easier, will catch the team off guard, and can turn the aff. I do think switch side debate can be good. Not too familiar with performance affs but I am very intrigued by them if you want to run it please do

Topicallity:

I love a good technical T debate and will vote on T even if the plan is perfectly topical if the neg has good impacts.

I default to competing interpretations. I belive your interpretation is your model of debate and that voting on T is meant to prevent certain affs from being run debate wide. I don't think a definition needs to be contextual to the resolution. If by the end of the round it produces the most [insert T voter here] than I will use that defintion to evaluate the round.

I feel like a lot of teams think that a dropped standard means they won T. Think of it like conceding the other teams solves for 500 lives when you solve for 1000 lives. If you don't articulate how that conceded standard acceses the T impact the most you won't win the round. For example if they concede a limits standard it would be smart to go all in on depth>breadth. It is also good to impact out voters, ie people quit debate which means education is decreased writ large. K teams feel free to impact turn T thats always a fun time. I will vote on time skew RVIs, but I also believe that topicallity is not an RVI most of the time unless they are running multiple interps. RVI's can also be abusive. Basically, I am open to any theory argument if you can argue it well.

Theory:

You can run theory agaisnt anything if you believe hard enough. That being said you have to have a good impact that is clearly articulated by the need of the round

I love theory arguments and would like to see an in depth debate here. I will vote on blippy dropped theory arguments if all the parts are included (need to see some resemblance of interp some standard and voters) and it is thoroughly impact it out in the round. If you drop a theory argument your best way to win is weighing your inherent voters and trying to claim education gained (or some other voter) outweighs the education lost. Theory spikes aren't used as much in policy but I think they are cool and test a teams ability to flow and respond to every argument. Might be abusive tho. A lot of the stuff I said for topicallity applies here.

Only place I intervene is obvious egregious clipping and won't allow new args in the 2nr(unless justified) or 2ar (never allowed even with justification unless justification is in previous speech then it wouldn't be new arg)

Stock issues:

Inherency/harms/significance is only a voter(most of the time) if the plan is already happening. Please impact out why this is a voter because the affirmitive can still generate offense off of advocating for a plan that already exists. I think circumvention arguments are cool and will vote on them if they are sufficient (don’t think durable fist applies to everything the aff will claim). Solvency deficits are good and underused arguments and remember to bring them up when weighing impacts.

Framing:

I don’t default to a utilitarian framework for evaluating impacts, and don't believe magnitude outweighs probability by default. I don't think I ever ran a extinction impact unless I had to throw together a crappy DA because the judges in round made me. Since I see myself as more of an LD debater, framing debates are very important to me and I think they are underused in policy. I'll evaluate the round however you tell me to.

Framework:

I made lots of framework arguments when I debated and I will defintely vote on them. I like a good role of the ballot. It shouldn't be self serving, but if the other team drops it then I guess it is over for them if you continue to meet the role of the ballot as the debate goes on. I believe that the affirmitive and negative should be viewed as a body of research and that plan focus is bad. However, like any argument you could argue me out of this. I think education is more important than fairness, especially in terms of a framework debate. Fiat is illusory is a real argument because it is true. I'd like to see clash on out of round impacts as much as possible whether it is fairness, education, violence, or some other impact. I think fairness should be used to show how education is lost or how they further an out of round impact.

You can use framework still in round with normal affs and no K's. If you did this I would be pretty happy. Honestly don’t know why more teams don’t do this

Final notes:

DEBATE IS A PLACE FOR ALL PEOPLE. To reiterate, I am very lenient about what you run, but if it doesn't include certain groups in the debate space or blames certain groups of people you will not like the ballot at all.

Please have fun that's all I really care about. Don't make the debate bad for another participant.

He/Him

I spend time thinking about communication and the way that this activity has shaped my life/who I am as a person.

I think judge instruction is important. In order to vote for you, I need claims backed by warrants and an articulation of how those warrants mean I vote AFF or NEG in a debate. If you tell me to read the evidence, I'll read the evidence. If you don't, I won't.

Graduated from Lawrence Free State in 2022, debated all 4 years (sophomore year DCI/ToC/faster debate, KDC/flay/lay debate junior and senior year), and found my forte with International Extemp. I am now an Assistant Coach for LFS.

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

I will flow.

Your best bet is treating me as a flay judge who likes smart arguments and clash.

If you have questions, please ask! I want to be here to help you and give comments to the best of my abilities, but I can't do that unless you ask questions. :)

Intro: Hello, I am Owen, a 2nd-year debater at William Jewell College (Mention Jewell and I will boost your speaks). Currently, I do NPDA/NPTE debate (NPDA/NPTE is essentially policy without cards). I debated for 4 years at Shawnee Mission South (Immigration, Arms Sales, CJR, Water Resources). I have qualified to nats in pretty much any event I am judging you in and did 3 years of TOC-level debate.

Email for the Email Chain: owenkdebate@gmail.com

Please ask all the questions about all the things before the round

Please let me know pronouns before the round (if you feel comfortable)

Last update: 9/27/23

TL;DR Paradigm:

Feelings------------X-----------------------------Dead inside

Policy---------------------------------------X------K

Tech-X---------------------------------------------Truth

Conditionality good--------X----------------------Conditionality bad

Spec good------X----------------------------Spec bad

Politics DA is a thing-X----------------------------Politics DA not a thing

UQ matters most---------------X-----------------Link matters most

Fairness is a thing-X------------------------------Delgado 92

Desire is a productive force-X---------------------Desire is the lack

Try or die-X------------------------------------What's the opposite of try or die

Not our Baudrillard-------------------------------X Yes your Baudrillard

Clarity-X--------------------------------------------Srsly who doesn't like clarity

Limits-------------------------------------------X---Aff ground

Presumption------X--------------------------------Never votes on presumption

Resting grumpy face--------X---------------------Grumpy face is your fault

Longer offs--------------------------------X---------More offs

Expressive--------------------------------------X---D. Heidt

Alt double bind------------------------------------------X-literally any other arg

Of course, theory/T is a priori---X--------------------------------Justify it

AT: ---X----------------------------------------------------- A2:

AFF (acronym)-------------------------------------------X Aff (truncated word)

Thoughts:

Disclosure is good - clipping is cheating - debate is a game, albeit with educational benefits, don't steal prep - I will call you out on it - flashing/sending the email isn't prep as long as you stop prepping - A dropped argument is a true argument - make sure to flow, even if you aren't good at it, it can only help you, and every time you do it you'll get better - paste your analytics into the doc if you have them typed up, leads to better debates that everyone gets more out of - go as fast as you want - if a CP or K alt is in the 2NR presumption flips aff? (this is very much up for debate)

- Being Racist/Sexist/Homophobic/Abelist/any other form of hate toward the other team, the 1st time I call you out and tank your speaks (unless it's egregious), 2nd time I vote you down, and we spend the rest of the round talking about why what you did was problematic. Debate should be a space where everyone feels safe.

- Please email me about my RFD's/questions/comments, as well as if I give an oral RFD (if I am allowed); feel free to ask questions about the decision after I am done

Judging Style: debate however you feel is best

Speaker Points: Clarity (especially in online debate) and smart args make your speakers rise; the opposite makes them sink. I will not hesitate to clear you. Clipping = 0 + L (1 warning).

Affs: Do whatever; I always read soft-left affs in HS, and K affs in college, and I am very much a marxist, which structures the way I think about pretty much everything. Not to say don't read your heg/econ aff, I think I can fairly judge it.

K-Affs:

• Aff vs FW - I view this as simply a question of models, the better job you do spelling out how your model looks for debate if I vote aff (or otherwise what voting aff does) the higher your chance of winning. Question I find myself asking (and think aff teams should make this arg more) - what edu does the topic generate and is that edu good when framed thru the lens of the aff?
• K v K - love this debate, do it, people don't do this enough. No strong thoughts about perms in a K v K debate.

Case: Debate case; it'll boost your speaks and help you

DAs: They are fine; I love a good politics debate

CPs: Any CP is fine until proven otherwise. Condo debate should be condo is good/bad - not sure there's a "good" number of condo. As with T debates, extend your interp, don’t drop the other team's interp; you need offensive reasons and defensive reasons. Read all of the perms but also put them in the speech doc; perms aren't advocacies; they are tests of competition, impact out perm theory. I will listen and vote on all types of CP theory; just win your arg (big fan of cheaty CP's, but def receptive to aff theory args to reject them)

Ks: If you wanna read a K go for it; win it like any other argument. The FW debate matters to me a bit more than most

T: I think of T as worlds of debate; win your world is better, and I'll be likely to vote for you; RVI's aren't real\

PF/LD: treat it like policy, focus on line by line and impact calc and you should win my ballot

P.S. If you have questions about college debate/college in general, don't hesitate to reach out

Hi, my name is Arden, I did four years of varsity level debate for Shawnee Mission South and graduated in 2020. That being said, I am at Colorado School of Mines, so I do not debate in college, so it's been a few months since I've done anything with debate.

If you're doing an email chain you can put me on it: ardenlarsen11@gmail.com

Speed

Generally speaking, speed is fine, but since it's been a while since I've listened to it so bear with me. I would like the ev in case I miss something.

CP's and DA's

Whatever you want to run is fine

K's

Feel free to run any K you want, but I'll want to hear an explanation about how it interacts with the resolution, and keep in mind I did very little K debate in high school.

Other

I'll listen to pretty much anything as long as you can defend it-- please don't be offensive or rude.

Lmk if y'all have specific questions. :)

Open policy fast is fine

Duo and POI enthusiast

Paradigm

Add me to the email chain - CyanRidge@lclark.edu

I am a second year at Lewis and Clark College. I compete in LD and competed at NFA. I competed in policy, public forum, and congressional debate all throughout high school. I have been to nationals, the DCI all years, and placed at state tournaments.

My philosophy & experience: I have judged two high school tournaments this year so I know a little amount about the current topic.

I will listen to any argument and am very open-minded. I evaluate the link debate heavily when facing nuke war impacts. MOST IMPORTANTLY: I will absolutely not tolerate any behavior that is racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/discriminatory in any way and will not hesitate to vote you down for it. Be nice to your opponents in cx don't make me angry.

Speed?

Any speed that you are comfortable with is fine with me. I will tell you to slow or clear if I am having a hard time. As long as both teams can spread and keep up then fast is excellent. BE considerate of opponents who may not spread and match their energy.

K's?

I love performative affs, k debates, and identity politics. I’m generally familiar with most K lit but please do not assume I know exactly what you are talking about.

Topical policy?

fantastic! go off.

I really appreciate impact calc done in the NR. Although speed and tech are important, explaining your arguments in context is the most valuable skill to learn in the debate.

I write lots on ballots, but feel free to send/ask me questions! You can reach me at cyanridge@lclark.edu

Disclosure

Add me to the chain - jackshaw.debate@gmail.com

Please include the name of the tournament, the teams debating, and the round number in the header of the email.

Email chain > Speechdrop > File share > Google Drive > Flashdrive > Paper >>>>> "We don't disclose"

About Me

Shawnee Mission South 2022, University of Kansas 2026

Pronouns are He/Him/His, but I'm comfortable with any.

I have experience in policy debate on both the Kansas and national circuits as well as LD debate, IX, and IMP2 on the Kansas circuit.

TLDR

Do what you want*. Win the debate from a technical standpoint on the flow to win the debate.

*I will not vote on outright problematic args like racism good, homophobia good, abelism good, etc. and "suffering is inevitable so we should all end ourselves".

If you have any questions about anything in my paradigm or otherwise my thoughts about debate, feel free to ask me.

Judging Philosophy

I will vote on anything* you tell me to using an offense-defense paradigm.

An argument is comprised of a claim and at least one supporting warrant. For me to evaluate and argument, and for you to win an argument, it needs more than just an assertion without backing.

Tech informs truth every time. Truth has value but technically winning an argument comes first and is the most objective way to evaluate a debate.

Absent a procedural reason for judge intervention, I will evaluate the debate starting with key framing issues and judge instruction, then often the impact level and impact comparison, then the rest of each side's extended arguments carried through their last rebuttals.

I evaluate the round while being a blank of a slate as possible. While I do have opinions about debate and arguments, I have no real overwhelming ideological predispositions or biases, so don't stress about conforming to whatever you perceive my style to be.

I will evaluate evidence the way it is spun in the round first. I will read over relevant and especially flagged evidence before my final evaluation. If you think it is pertinent, ask me if I want a card doc. I probably will.

There’s no need to call me judge. Call me whatever you see fit instead; just “Jack” is fine. Or just avoid personally addressing me.

If I'm not reacting to what you say with any emotion, it's because I'm trying not to, as I want to evaluate arguments as a spectator without being a distraction or a real-time influence on what is being said.

Procedural Notes

Both teams should disclose a reasonable period before the round. I will not hesitate to vote on properly executed disclosure theory.

Academic ethics violations are bad. To avoid this becoming an issue, be clear where you mark cards and be ready to send a marked copy if it is requested of you.

You can insert perm texts and short rehighlightings, but read your rehighlighting if it's more than a few words.

Speak as fast as you want so long as you are clear. I’ll give two "clear"s if you are not clear. If the problem continues after that, I'll flow what I catch and miss what I don't.

Sending analytics is cool and can boost speaks.

Time yourselves, including CX and prep.

I don’t really care what you do with your CX time; I think of it like a speech that I mostly don't flow. Asking your opponents questions is good and can help speaks and ethos, but if you want to use CX as prep time, I won't stop you.

I always default to open CX, but I am fine if all of the competitors agree to closed.

Speed is good and preferred if you can read clearly and if there is no ability-based opposition in the round, but you'll be better off speaking in a style you are comfortable in front of me with rather than one you are not, especially for rounds with a tricky panel.

Speaks will reflect the quality of debating done, though difficulty of the tournament's pool will scale all of my point assignments. I am open to using speaker points as objects to be discussed in the round as a form of solvency or praxis if you can win it, but I lean towards using the ballot, including speaks, as I see fit rather than as praxis for debaters.

If I can give an oral RFD, I will. I will be as efficient and direct as possible and will share the reason for my decision as well as broad comments for both sides with more specific comments being left to the ballot, as I respect the competitors' time. With that being said, I am always open to questions and can elaborate as much as time allows me to. Feel free to email me after round if you have any questions, comments, concerns, ideas, etc.

Online Debate

If my camera isn't on, assume I'm not there unless I say otherwise.

Please turn your cameras on if you are able and feel comfortable doing so.

I understand and empathize with tech issues, so just keep us updated as best you can on resolving them as they arise. If a tournament has tech time allotted, let us know clearly (if possible) if/when you need to use it.

I will likely have some good headphones to listen to you with, but I may still miss something if you cut out or are inaudible, so play it on the safe side and prioritize clarity over speed.

Mute if you aren’t speaking, especially if there’s background noise. We all should be able to hear the speaker as best as possible without external distractions.

Case

I like to know what I’m voting for, so be clear about what signing my ballot for you entails and affirms.

You don't need a plan to have an advocacy, but you should at least have an advocacy.

Kritiks

I'm partial to letting the aff at least weigh their impacts on FW.

As with evaluating an aff's advocacy, make sure you tell me what I’m voting for when I vote neg for the alt, whether that be “reject the aff” or a fundamentally new model of society or anything in between or beyond.

Arguments centered around identity should appropriately reflect the debaters advocating for them. I am all good with those arguments in a vacuum and by no means would I force someone to justify their identity, but this is something to keep in mind when making that personal and strategic choice in front of me.

Disadvantages

Intrensicness is bad and my threshold for voting for this argument is very high.

Counterplans

All counterplans will be evaluated as legitimate until the aff wins otherwise.

Judge kick is good when applicable. If the neg can win that condo is good, I will default to judge-kicking a counterplan unless the aff can win otherwise. However, if a counterplan is in the 2NR, I will flip presumption to the aff unless the neg can win otherwise.

Topicality

I default to competing interps.

RVIs aren’t real at least for affs with plans.

On the question of framework / T USFG, I consider myself somewhat aff-leaning, but I won't hack for the aff by any means.

Theory

My reject the team threshold is high but my reject arg threshold is lower.

Don't spread through your analytics at max speed if you want me to catch them.

I generally like to flow non-arg-specific theory like condo on a separate flow to keep it clean, so make sure to note where theory is on your roadmaps.

PerfCon is oftentimes more of an internal link to condo than an independent voter, but I guess I can vote on it if you want me to.

For an ethics violation, I need to have clear and definitive proof of the abuse occurring as well as a clear willingness to stake the round on it before I can consider pulling the trigger. However, at the point at which abuse has clearly occurred, I am partial to dropping the team. If I agree with the violation, then the violating team gets dropped with minimum speaks and the other team gets max speaks. If I do not agree with the violation, it's the inverse.

Lincoln-Douglas

Traditional > Kritikal > Philosophy > Theory > Tricks

I debate on the Kansas circuit, so I've really only been exposed to conservative/traditional LD, though I am confident in my ability to adapt based on my policy knowledge.

I default to organizing the debate by flowing definitions and burdens, values, criterions, aff contentions, and neg contentions on their own respective pages.

Definitions > Value > Criterion > Contentions

She/Her

Email: annemarie.smith2003@gmail.com

UT Austin 2026 | Shawnee Mission South 2022

*Glenbrooks: I don't have extensive topic knowledge this year (didn't work at camp last summer)- just make sure to explain acronyms; I'd appreciate a little more explanation with generics than other judges who've judged more on this topic*

General Stuff

• I'm primarily a policy oriented judge
• Don't steal prep and try to be quick about sending the doc
• Email chain is best
• Wiki/Disclosure is good
• Be organized with your flow
• Slow down in the rebuttals

DA

• Existential impacts are fine, but I think that the aff can and should make a probability push
• Case turns and outweighs is good

CP

• Affs should always read a perm, but you don't have to go for it
• Perms you go for should be functionally and textually competitive, but it's up to you to make that argument
• Internal net benefits are fun and good
• I like theory on CPs (50 state fiat, process CPs, etc.), but it probably won't write the ballot
• Tell me to judge kick things

T

• I'm not the best judge for a high-level T debate.
• With that being said, if a team is obviously not T, and that's the best argument to go for, go for it.

FW

• I think you should read it and it's a good strategy for K affs in front of me
• You should not make arguments that K affs don't belong in debate; I think it's more persuasive to read DAs on the T flow or argue that debate isn't a healthy space to discuss specific issues

K (Neg)

• Read them, but make sure to explain anything that's uncommon
• A good alt explanation when compared to the aff plan is convincing- especially in the rebuttals
• The aff gets to weigh the plan

K (Aff)

• I have no experience reading K affs and some experience answering them, but I'm normally just taking FW (on the negative)
• I can flow, but probably require more judge instruction when it comes to the rebuttals
• The aff should probably have some relation to the resolution; if it doesn't, I think there should be an explanation as to why

Condo/Theory

• I dislike evaluating theory debates
• I default that you should get to kick positions, but there is such thing as too many off case positions (9+?)
• I think that 6+ off- case positions justifies condo in the 2AR, but if it were impacted out I would vote for it either way

LD

• 3 years of high school LD experience
• I did very traditional LD in high school
• I still think my policy experience makes me able to evaluate mostly all types of LD (just be sure to explain anything odd)
• Please don't do tricks. I will not like them or understand them
• You're welcome to read DAs, CPs, and Ks- explain anything that isn't common

Shawnee Mission South 21'

justin.a.tran07@gmail.com

Last update: 12/16/23 - I have judged a few rounds on the Economic Inequality topic, but I am still not familiar with everything so please articulate your arguments as much as possible and try to limit throwing around acronyms.

General:

---Disclosure is good.

---Clipping is cheating and I will give you bad speaks.

---Don't steal prep.

---A dropped argument is a true argument.

---I am okay with speed as long as you're clear and signpost tags/analytics.

---ASPEC and similar arguments aren't good but the aff still needs to answer them.

---Don't be Racist, Sexist, Homophobic, Ableist, etc. I will vote you down. Debate should always be an inclusive space where everyone feels comfortable.

---Feel free to email me about RFD's, questions, or concerns

TL:DR: Read whatever you like, I think any style or argument can win. I am not very familiar with K-affs and most K literature so please try to explain things to me and why they matter/what you win because of each individual part of the K debate. Debate is a game unless proven otherwise.

Speaker Points: Clarity (Especially in online debate) and smart arguments make your speaks increase, the opposite makes them decrease. Clipping = 0 (One warning). Make jokes at your leisure, speaker points will go up or down depending on the quality.

Thoughts about arguments:

Affs: Read a plan or don’t. Key things I want to see are impact calc, framing, and articulating what your plan/advocacy does. Use the aff as a tool on other flows and contextualize it to the negative's arguments.

K-Affs: I view this more than any other argument as an offense-defense paradigm because it’s the only way that makes sense. You need offense as well as defense on why your world is better. Detailed overviews about what the aff does boost speaks and makes it easier for me to evaluate.

Case: Clash, warrants, evidence comparison, author indicts, source indicts, smart analytics. Read more than just impact defense.

DAs:

---Generic links are fine, just contextualize it

---Do the impact calc so you can weigh the DA

---DA O/W and turns case goes a long way, same with case O/W and turns the DA

CPs:

---Any CP is fine until proven otherwise.

---Consult CPs, Delay CP's, and Process CPs are probably cheating and I will have a low threshold rejecting the argument.

---Condo debate should be condo is good/bad, not sure there's a "good" number of conditional CPs.

---Dispositionality is real.

---As with T debates, Condo is an offense-defense debate. Extend your interp, don’t drop the other team's interp, you need offensive reasons and defensive reasons.

---PICs are fine.

---Read all of the perms but also put them in the speech doc.

---Perms aren't advocacies, they are tests of competition.

---Impact out perm theory, I will listen and vote on all types of CP theory.

Ks: I'm not versed in K literature and am not particularly the best for judging these types of arguments. That being said, explain and warrant everything you say and I'll do my best to evaluate it. The only K's I'm more familiar with is cap and neoliberalism, please give a good alt. I don't have a lot of experience watching K debates but I know I will be a little bit sad if you read anthro, ballot K's, or certain author name K's (Baudrillard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, etc.) and will be persuaded toward arguments about these people being bad on a personal level and hence they shouldn't be read in debates.

---the more case-specific your link and the more comprehensive your alternative explanation, the more I’ll be persuaded by your K

---Explain what the alt does and how it functions so I know what I’m voting for

---Reject the aff is definitely not an alt, unless all of your links are about how the aff makes something worse that the squo solves, in which case just frame/read it as a case turn

---PIKs are okay but must be in the block and must be articulated in what they look like in the world of the alt. It's very easy for me to find these arguments illegitimate, especially if the 2AC preempts it.

T:

---I definitely find myself leaning competing interps, if an interp is that abusive for the aff then why can't they just beat it?

---If I have an articulation of what reasonability means in the context of the round, how the aff meets it, and why it should be preferred it's not impossible to win.

---Neg needs a case list and a list of ground they lost and why that matters.

---Ground isn't an impact, rather an I/L to fairness.

---Extend an impact to T, obviously.

Theory: High threshold for rejecting the team, exception is condo, and needs to have clash if you want to win

Framework (Aff vs K): Make your interp whatever you want, just articulate why your interp is better than the negs from a fairness perspective.

Framework (Neg vs K-Aff): Debate is a game with educational benefits, warrant out your standards and why your interp solves their offense