LD

• Have debated LD for a couple of years, so I'm familiar with how the debate goes
• Spreading is fine to an extent, but don't be mean about it
• Dropped arguments will not be flowed through, even if you bring them up later (audibly extend)
• I'll take most arguments, just prove them to me

lastly, don't be rude, this is just an activity and we're here to have fun! (:

"Slow Down" - me, on like 80% of ballots

For Public Forum: I'm a traditional, slower speaking public forum judge. I vote on the contention debate. Focus more on the logic and analysis argument. Don't use abusive definitions, and be rude or condescending at your own peril.

For Lincoln-Douglass: I focus on the value/criterion debate when voting, but if the debate is centered on contentions that is subject to adjust. Again, please don't speed read, and respect your opponent

Classic LD: Value, Criterion, Contentions

Rounds are evaluated with emphasis on the strongest logical arguments, sometimes supported with evidence.

I appreciate frameworks and burdens arguments that lay out the parameters of the debate - especially when you follow through with it, and it’s not just a 1x statement at the beginning of a speech never to be referenced again.

I enjoy well-thought out arguments, clash, organization, and arguments that continue to evolve throughout the round, not just repeated.

Spread and high speed are not tolerated. I will flow only what I can understand.

And while all of that might come off as a little grumpy, I assure you I am not. This is an enjoyable event, there are things that we can all learn from each other, and respect for your opponents, teammates and judges is a great starting point to have a good time, no matter the outcome. Have fun and learn something

Hello, and thank you for competing!

A Little About Me

I competed in Lincoln-Douglas debate for four years at Sioux Falls Washington High School. I also did speech and interp events for all four years, specifically Info, Non-O, and Impromptu. I'm currently on Arizona State University's Oxford debate team for the 2024 Regent's Cup Tournament. I like dogs more than cats and enjoy a good gyro.

If I'm Judging PF...

I started my debate career in PF in the fall of 2019. I transitioned to LD in January of 2020, and I haven't done any PF since. If I'm your PF judge, bear my lack of recent experience in mind. Go slower, and err towards logical arguments rather than torrents of arguments and voters hinging solely on dropped cards. In short, cut my poor LD brain some slack.

If I'm Judging LD...

I consider myself a traditional Lincoln-Douglas judge. The value and criterion debate are of paramount importance, and should be treated as such. The debater who wins my ballot will not always be who wins the flow, but rather who convinces me the arguments they are making are achieving the value that is winning the round. This being said, I recognize the importance of strong contention level arguments, so be thorough in all speeches.

Strong voters are incredibly important, especially to the aff. In the final aff speech, the entire time should be spent on voters, and I generally recommend a first voter on the value/criterion debate before going into the contentions.

On speed, I will not flow anything I cannot understand. I top out at around a rapid conversational pace, so spread at your own risk. The purpose of debate is to instill public speaking and argumentation skills in students, and this purpose is negated if debaters are encouraged to argue in a manner indecipherable to the public at large.

In this vein, I will not consider Kritiks, Counter-Plans, or other policy refugee-esque arguments in LD debate. Just as a baseball player does not have to worry about their opponent pulling out a cricket bat, a debater should not have to worry that their opponent might attempt to play by an entirely different set of rules. This being said, I'm a sucker for a good topicality debate, and I enjoy RA and observation arguments. A general rule of thumb is "does this argument interpret the intent of the resolution, or does it attempt to circumvent or nullify the resolution?" If an argument falls under the former, go right ahead. If it falls under the latter, I'd advise saving it for a different judge.

Generally, I'm a Tech over Truth judge, but if a truly outlandish argument is made in round (an argument that the KKK helped race relations in the south after reconstruction is a particularly salient example I recall from my debate years), a brief statement pointing it out as such will be sufficient.

I flow all arguments given in a round. I do not flow cards. If you wish to make an argument, you will have to actually make that argument (claim, evidence, warrant, etc). You can't just say "O'Connor 11 says climate change will kill us all." In this vein, when pulling through arguments, you have to reiterate the thrust of the argument itself, you can't just say "Pull through O'Connor 11 which proves my opponent can't access...whatever." If you try this, odds are I have no recollection of what O'Connor 11 is, as I only write down "climate change will kill us all." In this vein, I don't believe all arguments have to be derived from cards. A well-reasoned analytic argument will beat a poorly reasoned card every time. So debate with arguments, not by volume of cards, and pull the arguments, not the card through to win my flow.

Don't try bringing up new arguments in the 2NR or (God forbid) in the 2AR. It won't work. I won't flow it. Please save my (and, more importantly, your) time through crystallizations and voters.

A minor final point: I enjoy historical allusions. If you have a command for history, and can give a historical comparison (or, even better, if you can poke holes in an opponent's historical comparison), do so. It will both give you extra speaker points, and make my heart glad.

If I'm Judging Speech/Interp...

I did just about every speech event over my years in high school, and understand the requirements of each. I especially enjoy info, and particularly like speeches about oddball topics nobody cares about (my senior year info was about early South Dakota political scandals). I also reject the infusion of OO formats into info. Thus, I ding infos for including overtly persuasive language or calls to action. The requirement of the event is to INFORM me about something, not to PERSUADE me to do something.

All things considered, I would prefer to not give time signals during speech and interp events (except extemp/impromptu). I want to give you every chance to suck me into your story/argument, and that is inhibited if I'm constantly worrying about looking at the clock and putting up the right hand gesture and the right time. Also, your writing, cutting, and performances in these events are set before a tournament begins. While I understand that at the beginning of a season pieces are often in flux, by the middle and end of a season, you should know that your piece runs under ten minutes. It shouldn't be on the judge to do that for you. Therefore, I will still give whatever signals you ask for, but know that I'll be more distracted during your piece if I'm thinking about signals and if I'm judging a close round at the end of a season, and the only thing distinguishing two pieces is that one competitor asked for time signals every other minute, I'm going to give the round to the competitor who didn't ask for time signals on the grounds that they know their piece better than their opponent knows theirs.

A Word on Common Courtesy...

In debate, be respectful to your opponent. I will not tolerate belittling, rudeness, or offensive language. Recently, I have noticed a troubling trend in Nat Circuit debates of overt rudeness and disrespect in round. Such actions are counterintuitive to growing the activity of debate; after all, who wants to join an activity where they just get yelled at and insulted every weekend. If you engage in such behaviors in round, it will be reflected in your speaker points, and (if particularly egregious), in the result of the round.

In speech events, I will rank you lower if you are disrespectful, loud, distracting, or obviously not paying attention. Speaking to an obviously disinterested audience just plain sucks. As competitors, we can have the basic decency to at least appear like we care about what the other person is saying. If I notice someone being overtly disrespectful or disinterested (eg: falling asleep, talking with another person during a piece), it will be reflected in the result of the round. So, pay attention. And for heaven's sake, DON'T LOOK AT YOUR PHONE!

In short, to quote Bill and Ted, "be excellent to one another."

If you have questions/comments/concerns/funny dog videos/information about Jimmy Hoffa, please email me at jarhinrichs@gmail.com. Alternatively, you can ask me anything you need to know before a round starts. Or after a round ends. Really, any time that isn't the middle of a speech works.

Thank you for reading, and have an excellent round!

catherinxliu@gmail.com

Sioux Falls Washington ‘21, Harvard ‘25

Experience: I did LD for 4 years. I now do a lot of APDA/BP. I mostly did traditional debate but am generally familiar with/did some circuit. I was a 2021 NSDA finalist in LD.

update for Harvard:

I do not know any topic-specific jargon. It’s in your best interest to explain things very clearly, no matter what position you run.

Here are my general thoughts about debate. Feel free to ask me other questions before the round starts.

• Tech > truth
• I am fine with evaluating most things, and you should run what you're most comfortable with. I would prefer if the aff is at least vaguely in the direction of the topic—what this looks like is up to you. Realistically, I am probably better at evaluating policy positions and stock Ks/phil than I am at evaluating theory or other Ks/phil, but I also think debaters who are good at explaining how things interact with the round will win anyways.
• Reasonable speed is okay, but my ability to understand spreading is really not very high now, and I will not flow off the doc. Slow down especially on tags and analytics.
• You need to extend the whole argument (warrant + impact).
• I usually find that the 2a/n is more effective when you collapse on fewer things that are well weighed instead of many things. If you don't weigh your arguments, I will have to do it for you, and you may be upset by what I think matters most.
• Most theory is fine, but the more frivolous it is, the lower my threshold for responses. Interpret this how you will.
• I will not evaluate tricks.
• Please compare link strength, especially in util v. util debates :(. If aff reads "US presence causes terror through anti-Western sentiment" and neg reads "actually US counterterrorism efforts decrease terror" and then both of you keep extending these arguments past each other without any further comparison, I have no idea how to evaluate the clash and will not vote on it, even if the impact itself is well weighed.
• I like clear judge instruction.

Hi! My name is Areej (she/her) and I’m a senior at Lincoln High School. I’ve been doing LD and student congress for the past four years, and I’ve debated at both local and nat circuit tournaments.

BE NICE- if you’re are racist/sexist/homophobic/ableist/xenophobic etc I’ll drop you. If you’re debating a novice, or someone clearly less experienced I expect you to be nice- rubbing it in is not cool and I’ll tank your speaks or tattle to your coach.

Traditional

I’m comfortable with basically all traditional arguments. Super important to make sure all of your arguments have clear claims, warrants and impacts. Make sure you’re extending arguments, and be sure to collapse in the 2NR/2AR. I care about the value debate!

Circuit

CPs/ DAs- These are the arguments I am most comfortable with and is what I go for at circuit tournaments. Make sure your link chain is clear and I should be able to evaluate them.

Phil/ Framework - I’m not too great with Phil. If you have a dense framework, make sure to slow down and explain super clearly. Please go slower on the phil debates so I can understand!

Ks- I am comfortable with most stock Ks but high theory and narratives confuse me. I will still evaluate any critical argument you make to the best of my ability, just over-explain if you’re reading a denser K.

T/Theory- I am ok with T and feel good about evaluating it, but you must slow down substantially. I haven’t ran theory much in rounds but as long as you slow down and don’t try to read a bunch of shells, I can probably keep up.

Additional

• Feel free to speak fast
• Make sure to weigh!!
• One good argument > Many ok arguments
• SIGNPOST clearly about where you are

Be nice! Debate should be fun for everyone.

I debated Lincoln Douglas for all four years of high school. One of the biggest things a debater should do in order to win is adapt to judge preferences... Here are mine,

1) I’m a big framework guy, does that mean if all you win is framework will you win the round? Absolutely not. If you don’t have a framework at the end of the round though it’s going to be difficult to win my vote. I’m a big fan of framework because it makes every contention level argument easier to weigh. FW turns are one of my favorite arguments and if done right will do a lot towards gaining my ballot

2) On the contention level I need sign posting and you need to directly address sub points not just contention headings.... Also, like framework I love a good turn on the contention level and I also love direct clash of arguments from both cases. My biggest advice is to be articulate and concise on the contention level.

3) I’m a fan of faster paced debates. Does this mean spread your opponent out of the water..... nope. I can handle most speeds but don’t get out of hand, slow down on tags, explanations, and transitions.

4) If you’re debating in South Dakota with me in the back of the room... Avoid policy arguments plz :)

5) Finally, I need to see respectfulness during the debate. Yes you can still be savage in cross-x but that doesn’t mean be rude.... There’s a difference. If you ever call your opponent dumb or stupid you will lose the round.

6) Finally, if you ever see me make facial expressions during a round don’t get nervous. After debating for so many years you learn it’s hard to control them sometimes. Odds are you’re doing just fine :)

Hopefully this helps y’all out, rock on ballers!