I am currently a senior at Evanston Township High School and do LD debate. I am also very familiar with policy debate.

I use he/him/his pronouns.

Email: jahn@eths202.org

tl;dr

1. I take the route of least intervention unless the round becomes unsafe and exclusive/super messy on the flow.

2. Do what you want in front of me- you can sit, stand, lie down, whatever

3. Please spread if you spread but do it CLEARLY (idc what speed)

4. Any argument that has a claim, warrant, evidence, and impact is an argument I can potentially vote on

5. Please have a standard or some sort of framework in the 1AC- I don't wanna be left to my own devices to evaluate the round- that will make me and also you all very annoyed.

6. Don't be oppressive/rude- sassy CX is great though

Long Overview:

I love performance debates- this is the kind of debate I specialize in. I think that these debates come to a question of methods and representations- tell me why I should vote Aff and what it does. Presuming Neg becomes very compelling if they are winning claims that the Aff's impact is non-unique.

Kritiks- I am very familiar with identity politics, and the standard K's (cap, ecofem, anthro, afropess, etc), although I won't necessarily agree with their theses. Please do good interactions with the Aff and their specific warrants. Read whatever critical k's you want- these are where it's at and if you execute one of these well, I will love it. High theory arguments can be confusing but i have a pretty solid understanding of basically all of the common LD philosophies (deleuze spinoza baudy bataille berardi, etc)

LARP- love good evidence debates- please be good about evidence ethics (L-0 if you have bad ethics); I think role-playing has its benefits/downfalls but CP/DA vs plan debates are one of my favorites to watch

Philosophy- ran these in my freshmen and sophomore years- I am fairly familiar with the most common frameworks (Kant, Util, Butler, Virtue Ethics, etc). However, I am probably not your best philosophy person but if you explain it coherently, I should be able to understand it.

Tricks- honestly, I'm up for a troll debate. I've been meaning to do one for a while now- go full out on a prioris and NIBs and burdens and blippy theory spikes if you want to.

Traditional debate- I started out here (as did everyone else I'm pretty sure)- values and value criterions are fine with me. Please weigh, weigh, and weigh. It becomes very hard for me to evaluate a round if there's literally not a single argument made on the opponent's flow- I get sad when that happens and so will you after the RFD.

Hey my name is Aaron and I coach debate and speech at Evanston Township High School. I have been coaching the Lincoln Douglas debate team for three years now, but I've worked extensively with our policy, congress, and public forum teams. I am about to graduate from college in June 2018, so that is very cool. I am majoring in African-American studies, History, and Secondary Education. Next year I am going to teach high school history. I debated in high school and even for a second in college.

You can debate how you want to. I want to help you get better so please ask me questions and tell me what you want feedback on. You could let me know specific things you would like me to watch for before round, and I can be paying attention to that as I think about feedback. Please argue with me and talk with me and ask me any any and all questions you have. Please let me know anything and everything you need from me so that you can feel comfortable and excited during the round. I am here for you.

I think kindness is very important. I think everyone having access at every point in the round is really important. I want debates to be fun and educational. I will do my best to facilitate this sort of space.

I don't know. There's a lot of other stuff to talk about like how I think about theory and kritiks and plans and counter plans and DA's and performance debate. That's a lot and I don't have the time to write all that out right now. I will say that I really love critical and performance debate. However, I also want you to do what you do and do what you want, so that should always be your top concern with me

LD:

If you seem like you are having fun and not making the round a terrible place to be, I will listen to pretty much any argument that isn't intentionally obnoxious or repugnant (death good, racial equity bad, etc.). I prefer lines of argument that don't rely on nuclear war or extinction, but if your case is strong, go for it. Creativity and experimental arguments are awesome. Please run them.

Clash and analysis are key. Use your case to analyze and refute your opponent's arguments. Don't just toss out cards; explain WHY and HOW. If your logic/reasoning is sound, you don't need to extend every card to win. I prefer strategic condensing over shallow line by line rebuttal.

Fairness - Theory arguments about fairness in LD are, by and large, arguments debaters fall back on when they don't know their opponent's literature well enough to engage with it. Running fairness while spreading or engaging in other behaviors that exclude people from debate is unlikely to get my ballot.

K's - I thoroughly enjoy critical debate. It fits very well with the intent of LD and forces debaters to examine assumptions. Logic must be sound and you should make a concerted effort to use the conceptual framework of your K as the basis for your argumentation (i.e. don't read "We can't draw conceptual lines between people," and then respond to case with arguments that draw lines between peoples). I have a pretty high threshold for what is topical so be prepared to engage with your opponent's lit. I don't enjoy rounds that devolve to T.

Phil - Critical arguments are based on differing philosophical views of the world. The phil authors we roll our eyes at today were often the radicals of their times. I find the debate community's distinction between Phil & K debate silly to the point of absurd and based on an incredibly reductive idea of who counts as a philosopher.

Performance - Go ahead, just make sure you have clear link stories.

Make sure you weigh your impacts for me. I may have a different perspective so if you don't make the weighing explicit, you are leaving it up to my interpretation. This includes ROBs, etc.

I expect timers and flashing to work without much delay. Having issues more than once in a round will lose speaks.

My speaks start at 28 for circuit tournaments. I'll dock a varsity debater more often for nonsense or rudeness than a JV debater. Making me laugh is a good way to bump up your points a few tenths. Enunciation is also a bonus.

I studied linguistics. If you are going to talk about plurals and indefinite articles, please have read more of the article than just the card you are citing.

CX is important and clarifies for me how well you understand your own arguments. I will dock points for badgering novices. Kindness is never the wrong move.

**Virtual debate notes: WiFi strength is not universal. Audio lags make it CRUCIAL that you speak clearly and don't talk over each other.

Speed/Spread:

I don't mind speed, as long as you are clear. I will only call "clear" twice in a varsity round. Taglines, authors, and card interp should be noticeably slower. It is up to the speaker to communicate their arguments and be aware of the audience's attention level. Language has a natural rhythm. Using that to assist you will make you easier to understand than cutting all the linking words out of your cards.

**Virtual debate notes: if I can't follow your speed on a video chat, getting those extra two cards in doesn't matter. Strategy has to adapt to the medium.

Congress:

I evaluate the full participation of the chamber, from docket maneuvers to quality and variety of questions. Successful legislators are those who drive the debate, present new/unique arguments, extend/refute/deepen previous arguments, choose sources carefully, and use parliamentary procedure appropriately. Debate on the merits/flaws of the specific legislation is given more weight than general issue arguments. Delivery style can enhance the persuasiveness of your analysis, but will not make up for canned speeches, poor supporting materials, or rehashed arguments.

POs are an essential part of the chamber. They set the mood, pace, and attitude of the chamber. It is a risk, and that is taken to account when I score. POs with a good pace and no major errors are very likely to be ranked.

Note on authorships/first pros: The price for establishing recency is that your speech must provide some background for the debate and at least one reason why this legislation in particular is/is not the answer.

Evidence

The purpose of evidence in all forms of debate is to support your arguments with expert testimony, not to BE your arguments. I will only ask for cards if something sounds exceptionally wonky. Have some understanding of the bias of your sources (Are they all from conservative think tanks?, etc.). It is generally up to your opponent(s) to point out blatantly wrong evidence, but I will dock for egregious offenses.

I have been coaching and judging debate for 9 years. I currently judge Congress, LD and PF, and I coach LD and Congress. I view debate as a communicative activity, so I do not tolerate spreading as it destroys the communicative value of the event.

LD: Framework should be a weighing mechanism or lens through which to view the round. I am fine with collapsing frameworks, winning under either framework, conceding framework, etc. as long as you show me how to weigh your case under that framework. I am willing to entertain any type of argument (excluding any hateful rhetoric) but it must be well-executed and defended for me to buy it. Impacts are important. Weigh and crystalize in your voters. The less thinking I have to do about the round, the better :)

belvidere required paradigm info:

Name: Kalina Pierga

School Affiliation: Barrington High School

Were you previously affiliated with any other school? No

Number of years and/or tournaments judging the event you are registered in: 4 years debating, 5 years judging/coaching

Have you judged in other debate events? Please describe if so. PF

Please share your opinions or beliefs about how the following play into a debate round:

Speed of delivery preference (slow, conversational, brisk conversational, etc.) Does not factor into decision unless completely incomprehensible + no speech doc.

How important is the value criterion in making your decision? Depends on whether VC becomes a voting issue in the debate.

Do you have any specific expectations for the format of the 2nd Affirmative Rebuttal and 2 Negative Rebuttal (i.e. line by line/ direct refutation and/or big picture?)-No expectations, do your thing. I think overviews and framing on top is strategic, though.

Are voting issues necessary for your decision? Yes unless you love judge intervention

How critical are ”extensions” of arguments into later speeches- Critical

Flowing/note-taking- No opinions or beliefs on this

Do you value argument over style? Style over argument? Argument and style equally? argument > style

In order to win a debate round, does the debater need to win their framework or can they win using their opponent’s framework?Depends on the round. But yes, a debater can still win using their opponent's FW.

How necessary do you feel the use of evidence (analytical and/or empirical) is in the round? Necessary, unless uplayering to T.

GBX 2023 update:

as per below, for accessibility purposes, it's in your best interest to send your doc esp if you're spreading analytics.

harvard disclosure theory update: i default to reasonability on disclosure theory. it will be nearly impossible to prove to me that not having an updated wiki is a reason for someone to lose a debate round. running disclosure against small school debaters will get your speaks docked. just debate lol

kalinapierga@gmail.com

For accessibility purposes I request that all speech docs be sent to an email chain if possible.

Debate background: I debated for Barrington High School and for NYU's Policy Team for one year, did mostly K debate in both.

Run whatever you want to run. Keep things clear & do thorough analytical work. Don't assume I am familiar with your literature base/args or that I will fill in gaps for you!

General:

If for any reason you feel unable to continue the round, feel free to stop time and let me know.

If you have questions regarding any of the above, let me know before round. Happy to answer questions/concerns after round as well.

Clash on the value/value criterion level- I'm a simple person- do the weighing for me, explicitly tell me why your "world" is empirically better than your opponents and why ultimately that should win you the round.

I'll pretty much buy anything as long as it's 1) not offensive (extremely low tolerance for that) and/or 2) well-supported/explained.

Have Fun!

New Trier '19, Vanderbilt '23, former coach for New Trier. patrick@tolan3.com.

Rules/Broad Issues:

1. My strongest-held ideological bias is against arguments that either a. are read to avoid research or b. attempt to hide from clash. As such, LD shenanigans (tricks, bad theory, RVIs, philosophy arguments not supported by evidence, etc.) are rarely successful in front of me.

2. Argument comparison and judge instruction are more important than anything else. Most times you disagree with the decision, it's because the way you explained your arguments was not how you wanted me to understand them. Remedying this requires argument comparison, weighing, and framing how you think I should evaluate the debate.

3. Evidence is important to me and I read it frequently. I prioritize explanation over evidence, but when the content of cards is disputed/relevant or in incredibly close or murky debates, I use the text of the evidence to resolve an issue. This is the best way to reward both technical debating and high-quality research.

4. Clipping, misrepresenting evidence, soliciting outside help, intentionally not disclosing = L; no inserting rehighlighting; save bathroom/water breaks for the other team's prep time; flow clarification is cx or prep.

5. If you argue that death is good, oppression is good, or debate is bad, you will lose.

6. While I used to judge more often and coached frequently, I am no longer involved in argument preparation and am less familiar with the topic than I have been in the past. However, I can commit to giving you my full attention, taking additional care when writing my ballot, and providing good feedback.

Argumentative preferences:

I most enjoy technical policy strategies and judge very few K debates. I've listed some of my thoughts below.

Kritiks: How good I am for the K depends on how responsive it is to the aff. The link debate is crucial: I need a coherent reason why the plan is a bad idea, otherwise, thesis claims mean little to me because you have not answered the aff. Affs should answer the specific links the neg reads and leverage the case against them and the neg should answer the case and do impact calculus. I dislike "role of the ballot" arguments because they tend to absurdly stack the deck or assert an arbitrary role for my ballot.

Planless affs: I have and will continue to vote for them despite my belief that debate is a game and fairness is an intrinsic good that necessitates predictable limits for the topic. Affs often win when they have a counter-interpretation of the topic that solves for some predictable limits offense and delineates a role for the negative and lose when they cannot explain why the process of debating topics is bad. Negs often win when they avoid generalization and answer the case and lose when they are behind on line-by-line or over-generalize.

Policy arguments: Vast majority of debates I judge. It's most interesting to me and useful to you to develop solvency/link answers instead of impact defense. Zero risk is a tough sell. Great for nuanced case debate, specific advantage counterplans, and well-researched topic disadvantages. Less of a fan of (but frequently vote for) counterplans that compete on certainty/immediacy and politics disadvantages. Above average for impact turns like dedev, heg good/bad, warming good. Bad for first strike and spark.

Theory: Not exciting, but if it becomes the easiest path to the ballot, it should be the 2AR. Some thoughts:

a. Very neg leaning on 2 or less condo, pics; neg leaning on agent, consult, "process", delay, states, 3+ condo.

b. Conditionality is the only reason to reject the team, everything else is a reason to reject the argument. Yes judge kick; hard default to reasonability and to protect the 2NR from new 2AR arguments/weighing.

c. Most neg theory arguments (spec, new affs bad, etc.) are non-starters unless conceded.

Topicality: It's a voter, never a reverse voter, and likely a question of competing interpretations. I prefer these debates center around limits v. aff ground/predictability/overlimiting. Grammar can be a standard but needs to be explained like one and weighed against other impacts without asserting it's a prior question.