I debated in CX all four years of high school and I just graduated so it's still pretty fresh on my mind.

I'm primarily a tab judge. I'm comfortable with any argument, just debate it well and tell me why you win on that argument.

I'm okay with spreading, just make sure to make the tags clear :)

Topicality, Theory, and K's: I'm okay with these arguments, just make sure to explain them and how they apply to the debate and not just read cards.

Counterplans should have access to the Net Benefit for me to vote on it.

Overall, just have fun!!

University of Texas at Austin '23 (Business Honors & Accounting) - he/him

email for evidence/further inquiry: michaelbyers@utexas.edu

Policy Debate Paradigm:

I am a stock issues judge. I do not solely base my ballot on these issues but they are very important to me.

Please speak clearly. If I cannot understand you, I am less likely to flow your arguments. For this reason, I do not really enjoy spreading, but if you feel the need..go for it/ I won't mark off on the validity of arguments for this only speaker points.

I am generally laid back about the types of arguments ran during a round, however, I am less likely to vote on kritiks and theory arguments.

Please stay professional, I will not tolerate personal attacks of any kind. There is never a reason to be blatantly rude in a debate round.

Most importantly have fun and learn something!

The MOST Important Thing: Speech and Debate should be a safe space for ALL so respect is key. (Yes, I also find it strange that I have to clarify respect is a need, but hey I've seen some bad rounds) So any ad hominem, whether directly stated, insinuated, or indirectly introduced to the round (for example through a card/argument) will NOT be tolerated.

General Debate Philosophy: At the end of the day debate is about persuasion, your job as a debater is to persuade me as the judge to vote for you. That means that just because you run an argument that does not mean you will be able to persuade me on that argument aka just because you run it does not me I have t buy it.

Debate is a communication event so guess what I believe is key…communication! I do believe that speaker points hold value, I repeat SPEAK POINTS DO HOLD VALUE and believe that speaker points come from multiple areas in the round. I am stingy with speaker points so you EARN every point with me. With that being said, every speaker will start in the middle of the range and either move up or down dependent on communication ability argumentation, and decorum; YES decorum does matter A LOT.

LD Debate: First of all, your round should have 3 things: 1) Respect. I am a firm believer in the role of the ballot. 2) Clash. If there is no clash then you did not do your job, and nobody is enjoying the round. 3) Voters! Tell me what I should focus on and why I should believe what you are saying. I am a traditional judge when it comes to LD debate aka do NOT run a plan. It will be hard for me to get behind an Affirmative who advocates for a plan when they shouldn’t be advocating for a plan. Aff, you must uphold the resolution, do not try to spike out of it. I believe that observations are not voting issues, however, if ran correctly they may frame the round correctly to influence my vote. If an observation is not refuted or a counter observation is not proposed, and you bring this back up then that is how I will view the round.

Neg, for all that is good CLASH WITH THE AFF. I do not want to hear another round that is just two ships passing in the night. I want you to make arguments against the Aff and PROVE why they are wrong.

When it comes to FW, this is not the holy grail argument that will win the round, but it is a pretty good one to make. If you cannot uphold either VC then why would I vote for you? I do not find it abusive to absorb your opponent’s VC while also advocating for yours.

However, just because you win the VC that does not mean the round flows to you, if you can remove the opponent’s case, whether it be through removing impacts or attacking their warrants, then your opponent doesn’t really have ground to stand on.

I said this first, but I am reiterating this now. GIVE ME VOTERS!

Policy Debate: First of all, your round should have 3 things: 1) Respect. I am a firm believer in the role of the ballot. 2) Clash. IF there is no clash then you did not do your job, and nobody is enjoying the round. 3) Voters! Tell me what I should focus on and why I should believe what you are saying. Similar to LD I am a traditional judge. I normally do not pref, but AFF it is your job to prove that SQ is not preferred, so read into that what you will. Constructive are used to construct any new arguments, do not run anything new in the rebuttals. If you wish to bring supporting evidence or extensions that is fine, but you better be sure that it is 100% not new or I will not flow it. (This won’t cost you the round, but I won’t be happy with it as it is abusive).

YES the neg block does exist. NO Aff, just because they split it, that does not mean you get to. You are more than welcome to run an argument against this if you wish, but you see my philosophy on the matter.

In regards to. Neg strat, I will vote for generic arguments, but don’t want to. Aff you have every right to refute with non-uniqueness, but that does not mean the argument just goes away, it is your job to argue why this matters and why the non-uniq should be a voting issue. Also, Topicality is NEVER theory, it IS a stock issue, which is one of the foundations of this event. However, if you argue topicality be careful that you do not contradict yourself.

Below is a little more detail about different strategies and approaches to the event to help each team out, but full disclosure the easiest way for the Neg to get my ballot is to prove the Aff has no Inherency:

Closed Cross Examination X---------------------------------------------I need my partner to ask good questions and answer questions for me (same holds for prompting)

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

(If you run a K and then On-Case without kicking OR playing scenarios, you are risking losing my ballot)

Tech-----------------------X------------Truth
(This is a tough one for me as I have seen both sides unfairly cost someone the round. I will listen to arguments, but as I stated earlier you need to persuade me on it, just because there is a card that says x that does not necessarily make it true. For example there are "cards" that argue the Holocaust never happened. So basically I do my best to keep my knowledge or understanding out of the round, but there are just some things that I cannot let slide (next sentence is an exmaple). Essentially, just make sure your arguments hold validity and warrants to them, don't tell me that Haiti will cause nuclear war when it's the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere...no one should accept that argument)

Read no cards-----------------------X------------Read all the cards

(Analytical arguments can 100% be used against cards)

Quality ------------X------------------------Quantity

(I do tend to lean more quality, but this is tough for me. Here's why, if you can layer arguments then do so, but if you run 5 different arguments and the opposing team can group and refute/disprove with one card then kudos to them!)

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

(Just give me a reason to buy either argument)

States CP good----------------X------------------States CP bad

(Eh…it is what it is, just tired of hearing it)

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

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

Clarity X---------------------------------------------Um...who doesn't like clarity

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

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

Longer ev---------------------------X---------------More ev
(Please do not read me a novel)

I’m a book worm-----------X----------------I only read what you read

(I will only flow what you said/what can be understood, but be aware 9 times out of 8 [yes you read that correctly] during prep,I will read the evidence in your card that you didn’t read to ensure you are not misrepresenting or power tagging. Dependent on the severity, this may cost you the round without opponent call out. Don't think this is fair, then you should have cut the card correctly and fairly. If you did powertag and your opp calls you out, good luck getting my ballot)

Fiat anything you desire--------------X----------Let's be realistic about this

CX about impacts--------------X------------------CX about links and solvency

DA’s -----------------------X----------------------On Case

Theory -----------------------------------X---------- Traditional (The more believable the chain link the more likely I am to to buy the impacts. It is hard for me to imagine sending Smallpox Vaccines to SSA will lead to Nuclear War)

Dash from Zootopia ------------------------------X-----------------Amateur Auctioneer

(I am fine with speed, debate should be faster than conversational, but not a race. I hate spreading/rapid fire because let’s be honest no one is good at it, you sound horrible, and it’s not impressive)

Quantity of Arguments ----------------------------------------------X-Quality of Arguments

(I have voted on a round because of T, despite the AFF having a 12 page case)

At State in LD and Policy my default is 27, unless you are truly impressive or the opposite.

Congressional Debate: If you just read out loud to me do not expect a speech ranking higher than a 3 or to be ranked in the room. The purpose of this event is to make extemporaneous speeches, yes research is key, NO do not have a pre-written speech. The students that deliver the best speeches, while also showing they are aware of the debate in the chamber will win my ballot.

PF Debate: Don’t have me judge PF

WSD Debate: I have somewhat of an idea of what I am doing in this round. I am wanting to learn this event to judge, but just not there yet

Interp

Do NOT try to read me. Don't try to read me to determine how you are doing, you can be giving a performance of a lifetime and I may look disinterested, even though I am fully captivated. Or I may react to the literature, but that does not mean the performance is on par with the strength of the piece. I have heard many funny pieces that were not performed well and heard very powerful lines that were just thrown away.

There is no magic/secret thing to do to win my ballot, except give the best performance. I know super helpful, right? I consider multiple different aspects when judging: polished (holding and mastery of the manuscript), presence in the room, delivery style, performer connection to selection, audience connection, did I get drawn into the performance, etc.

I do realize that because you are interpreting you have to be extra big, but I do look for realism in the performance. Ex: Should someone be sobbing because they spilt milk? Why is someone smiling when the love of their life just died? Remember, this performance is all about peaks and valleys, if everything is delivered the same, or on one level, then nothing is important and nothing stands out to me. If I am convinced that the performer is actually experiencing the piece, that is the best way to win my ballot, because it will draw me in. If I am not drawn in then I don't believe you really interpreted the piece. Make me care about the characters, if something is suppose to be sad I want to be sad with the character. If you don't draw me in/I don't make a connection with a character, then "I won't care that your sister died".

In introductions, I like to get to see you as a person. I want the intro to sound natural and not like a memorized piece of information. Let me see/hear YOU.

Read bolded portions if you’re in a hurry! Add me to email chain: mariademarco93@yahoo.com

Background:

I competed in circuit congressional debate in high school and NPTE/NPDA for 4 years in college. During 2 of those years I also competed in IEs and attended the AFA-NIET. If you have any additional questions about my background, where I’m at now, or anything else regarding my judging philosophy, please feel free to ask at tournaments or add & message me on Facebook.

General:

I love good debates! <3 That is all. I do not enjoy being in the back of rounds when debaters are clearly unprepared, disinterested, or otherwise demonstrate a lack of engagement; there are too many individuals who make enormous sacrifices for students to not reciprocate by investing all they can. This also extends to my personal role as a critic. I care about the rounds I watch and will not be a judge who carelessly makes a decision.

What you can read in front of me:

*LD*

I'm a progressive/flow critic so feel free to read whatever you want. I will vote on the flow and the arguments made to reduce judge intervention as much as possible. One thing to note is that I do not view values as offense in and of themselves. Just because you have a good value framing does not mean you have a good advocacy which reflects/achieves that value, so I will never vote on a value alone.

*Policy/Parli*

Read any argument you want but be mindful of theory. I do not prefer one type of debate over another, and do not have any favorite arguments. Though I read the K, performances, and other identity arguments for the better part of 3 years, I read straight up policy arguments for most of my senior year and fell in love with that strategy.

Feel free to read (almost) anything & please do not make assumptions about what debates I like to see – simply use the best strategy given the topic and your own personal preferences.

If you are considering breaking a new position or wondering if you can read creative arguments in front of me, go for it. I have read a wide variety of arguments from policy to afrofuturism, feminist rap, etc. and I love hearing unique positions. If you don’t talk about the topic, great (although specific topical links are preferred). If you talk about the topic, also great. I do not necessarily require specific links to the resolution if you are reading a “project” or other argument about the debate space rather than the topic.

However, perhaps my strongest opinion at the moment is that I am *very* over frivolous theory debates. This refers to theory that (and I’m being generous) is overly “nuanced” to be meaningful. I will reluctantly vote on these arguments if you decisively win them, but will be less receptive and have a higher threshold if you go for 3 sheets of theory in the block without collapsing, or read a canned/irrelevant “specify your ethics” argument when it is a very, very thinly-veiled time suck. Unless there are legitimate violations or these arguments are clearly applicable, there are almost always more strategic and pedagogically productive interpretations that have the same utility. To quote the wonderful David Worth, “I am tired of debates that are mostly logic puzzles.”

Theory that is going to be an uphill battle with me as your critic:

- please don't read "speed/spreading bad" args

- multiple sheets of theory which are not collapsed in the MO

- ethics/philosophy SPEC

- any CP theory that is not conditionality

- PMR theory

That being said, I do not have predispositions to viewing a theory debate any other way than how you tell me to evaluate it. I do think that most arguments function through competing interpretations; for example, reasonability is often just another way to interpret the rest of the debate that follows. I would also appreciate having a copy of any interpretations that are particularly complicated to avoid confusion and intervention.

A note on Politics DAs:

I don’t always feel the most comfortable in evaluating politics disads. Though I frequently read ptx, it took me longer than normal to fully understand how the politics scenario would break down. If you choose to read politics, it would be best to slow down slightly on the links. Also, tenuous links are a no-go. If you are creating several internal links that are only tenuous, I will have a hard time finding a way to vote for you because it’s unclear whether you even garner an impact.

How to win my ballot with the K:

Please ensure that you know what your K does, and that you are able to articulate that clearly. It’s fine to be more ambiguous in the beginning, but by the end of the round, I want to have a clear understanding of what your solvency mechanism is and what it will do to solve the main points of clash in the debate. If you are going for proximal impacts and your solvency mechanism is predicated on your K doing something in this particular room and round, you need to win why those impacts are more important than other impact calculus like timeframe/magnitude/probability/severity.

More importantly, you need to ensure your solvency mechanism addresses the impacts you are going for. For example, do not go for proximal in-round impacts if you’re reading a K that claims to solve capitalism. This does not apply if you clearly explain that in-round solvency is a prerequisite or has inroads to solving other impacts in the future. However, doing that type of analysis requires warrants (not assertions) that it might lead to something later. For example, a Cap K with dialectical materialism or similar solvency for gaining class consciousness within a certain round also needs to explain how a few people gaining consciousness could realistically translate into solving capitalism writ large.

A note on answering Ks:

Always read a perm! There is rarely a reason not to and I will be sad if you are decisively winning the rest of the debate but lose because you did not perm.

RFDs/Speaker Points

I intend to write RFDs that minimize personal biases, though I have zero problems docking speaker points for insensitive comments regarding sexual violence, racism, misogyny, etc. I have participated in too many rounds where teams read Nietzche, Buddhism, or similar Ks and thought it appropriate to inform me that sexual violence and abuse are inevitable and ought to be embraced. Not only are these arguments often traumatic to hear, but they are also gross mischaracterizations of actual philosophy; if you do not fully understand said philosophy then avoid debating it altogether. Weaponizing nonsense like this for the sake of a ballot is just not the move, and if you find yourself resorting to verbal violence to get a W, it demonstrates a general lack of care as well as skill. However, do not take this as an open invitation to pretend that violence is happening in an attempt to win by saying to prefer "tech over truth" if nothing offensive has truly happened. Tech and truth are not mutually exclusive.

I try to stick to the most commonly used speaker point breakdown. A below average debate will be around 26, average will be around 27-28, and above average will be around 29. 30s are reserved for speeches that I thought were near-perfect. If you have questions about an RFD or how you might improve speaker points in another debate in front of me, please ask for more feedback.

Speed:

Use it, go for it, it's great. Frequent judging and coaching means I can keep up and my flowing is not rusty. That said, make sure you clearly signpost.

Leader speeches/1NCs and rebuttals:

I was a double leader for almost my whole career. I love LOCs/1NCs that have lots of case turns, and would prefer a few turns that are related to your off-case position(s), but are combined with more turns that garner external offense. I am willing to listen to an LOC that is straight case but have rarely seen it done well.

I also do not enjoy flowing rebuttals on separate sheets of paper. If you feel the need for me to flow them separately, it should be because the debate was particularly messy or if it is the only way you have learned to give the speech.

I love impact calculus and it is an absolute necessity to compare and weigh your impacts against your opponent’s impacts throughout the speech. I do not prefer certain impacts over others, but I do need clear reasons why your impact is more important; i.e. magnitude does not matter in a world where the impact is improbable. I also need a clear thesis and overview at the beginning of your speech that is at least one sentence explaining why you win. It is okay (and sometimes necessary) to give a speech that answers back line-by-line arguments in the block, but I would prefer if you group arguments or simply tell me what the most important issues are in the debate because it is generally more efficient. You can also provide a brief explanation about why you are not answering a certain argument with a line that says something like “the most important argument on this sheet of paper is X – the others do not have terminalized impacts.”

Warrant comparison in rebuttals is a great way to boost your speaker points. It is crucial that I know why your warrant is a better indicator of an impact than the opponent’s, especially if you are going for the same impact. For example, a round where both teams are going for an Econ impact but disagree on whether consumer confidence or investor confidence is key to the economy needs to articulate why their metric is preferable. Please also make sure you do not mix up your warrants by changing what argument they correspond to from speech to speech.

For people new to parli:

As someone with minimal debate experience prior to joining college parli, I am unsympathetic to the notion that the NPDA format is wholly inaccessible to people who do not have a debate background/did not come from policy. That being said, I am 100% understanding of the substantial learning curve when it comes to Parli, especially for teams with limited resources/coaching/travel opportunities/etc. Please let me know if you are in need of additional resources and I will do my best to help you!

TL;DR:

You should be good to run whatever you want as quick as you're comfortable running it. If there’s no framing, I default to offense/defense. Yes, I want the files too. Prep time doesn't stop until the doc is uploaded.

If you have any questions for me, or need to put me in the email chain: jteverett53@gmail.com

If you are a junior or senior and want to do debate in college, ask me about Texas State!! We have a nationally competitive program with speech events, NFA-LD (policy), parli, and public debate. If you have any questions about debating here at all just hunt me down or email me at the same email above!!

Hello! I am the current debate coach for Claudia Taylor Johnson High School in San Antonio, and was a 4 year policy debater in high school on the UIL, TFA, and NSDA circuits for China Spring High School, and I competed in NFA LD, NPDA, and IPDA for Texas State, so I’ve seen tons and tons of debating styles. I'm here to evaluate arguments not to tell you what to run, so you can probably read any argument you're comfortable with if I'm in the back of your room. I tend to evaluate rounds based on an offense/defense paradigm, so I enjoy rounds with a lot of interaction between arguments and good articulations of their stories.

Speech drop is ideal, but email chain is fine. I'd like to be included in whatever form of file sharing y'all engage in. Prep time doesn't stop until the doc is uploaded (unless y'all are physically uploading to a flash drive and walking it to the other team, then prep stops when you start to walk the drive to the opponents)-- too many teams have taken advantage of their ability to "save the doc" to steal prep time.

I'm usually not looking at the doc during round, but occasionally I will based on how the round plays out. Don't count on me looking back over the doc to fill holes in my flow though, if you're not clear enough for it to end up on my paper then I'm not evaluating it. I look over evidence for questions of ethics, quality, or for resolving major points of interest in the round when I absolutely have to-- not to fill in blanks from what I couldn't catch.

For pref sheets:

Clash- 1

LARP- 1

K- 1

Trad- 2

T/Theory- 2

Phil- 3

Tricks- Strike/5

Feel free to ask me any other questions pre round!!

POLICY/NFA LD:

I enjoy watching K v K, K v Policy, and Policy v Policy rounds equally.

T/Theory: I love T and hold it at the highest standard in the round, when it’s used effectively. If T isn't your game, you probably don't want to run it in front of me because I always have a hard time voting for Ts that are blippy and not impacted out. I enjoy T debates that have a lot of clash on the reasons to prefer, and that attempt to compare the division of ground/education of each interpretation. Reasonability does not mean "You shouldn't care abt me bcuz im REASONABLY topical-"-- I have no idea what this means or how to decide whether you are or aren't "reasonably topical". Reasonability is about the aff's interpretation and its place in the literature/its division of ground.

Condo is fine, but it's on thin ice. I don't really have a preset threshold on how many conditional advocacies are okay, but I generally find myself enjoying watching rounds with less than 4 conditional advocacies more than rounds with 4+ in CX rounds. This doesn't mean that I'm not willing to vote on condo bad in rounds with less than 4 negative advocacies, this is just a statement of personal preference. For the LDers looking over this (NFA, or HS), I find myself enjoying rounds with less than 3 advocacies more than rounds with 3+.

I'm probably not voting on disclosure theory at a HS tournament unless we're at a TOC bid tourney (UIL norms, and new TFA rules), if you're a college debater you should be disclosing and I am very open to voting on disclosure theory.

I typically start theoretical questions from a "reject the argument" mindset-- I need a well warranted argument as to why I should reject the team to overcome this (with the exception of condo/dispo bad).

DA: Disads are great. Impact calc of some sort is key to win a disad (on both sides). DAs are won through the link chain, and lost through the aff’s offense.

CP: Counter plans are great. I like most CPs, and I really have any dispositions toward any CP (I've voted on PICs, Consult, Delay, International CPs, and many many more) however I am also more than down to hear a great theory as to why their CP isn't legit. I typically start the round from a drop the argument mindset and need warranted reasons as to why I should drop the team in these debates though. The only CPs I'm really suspect of are artificially competitive CPs (if you're confused what I mean, look here: https://www.debatemusings.org/home/stupid-cps-are-stupid ) but, I have in fact voted on them before.

I'm not the biggest fan of judge kick and start the round from the assumption I'm not judge kicking (however, you can make arguments for why this should change).

K: I love K debates, and I wish more teams would go for the K in front of me. This is the argument I collapsed on the most when I was competing. I like well constructed Kritiks that have good link chains, and solid alternatives. I probably haven't read the lit you're talking about in the K, so just assume that I haven't and make a concerted effort to explain it to me. Probably not the best judge for most Baudy (and friends), psychoanalysis, or any other high theory K-- I have voted on them, and am willing to vote on them again, but often teams who read these args just fill their overviews and tags with paragraphs of the most esoteric wording I've ever seen, and I often get lost in both flowing and understanding the round when teams do this.

K Affs: Go ahead, whatever is most comfortable to you. I enjoy good Kritikal affirmatives, and love both KvK and K v T/theory debates. Framework is definitely a viable collapse in front of me, but often teams who collapse on framework just won't resolve the offense on the flow when they go for it so I usually vote aff in these debates. If you are going for framework, make sure you're doing the work and establishing a clear link chain to the impacts on the T sheet.

A lot of judges say to be "in the direction of the topic"-- I think this is vague and arbitrary. You will probably have an easier time on the framework sheet with me if you are able to explain how your advocacy affirms the topic in some way or form, and you should still be arguing that we should change from the status quo (even if you're running pess), however I am also a fan of "debate about debate" Ks and I don't feel that the aff should be bound to being "in the direction of the topic" if they can win args about why the topic (or debate) is bad/exclusionary. That being said, if you can't win that debate then you'll probably lose the round. If you're not reading evidence that is at least somewhat in the lit for this year's topic, I'm also probably more likely to buy into impact chains on fwk/t-usfg (i.e. If you're debating on the college nukes topic and none of your ev is about nuclear weapons, predictability and limits become a lot easier to win on the neg. Same goes for the current HS CX income inequality topic/LD topic of the month)

Case Debate: I love good case debate, it's really a lost art now. If you're a good case debater, you should rely on that with me in the back of the room-- it will help you and your speaks out a ton.

Speaks: speaks are awarded based on performance, strategy, comfort, and your ability to bs without me catching you. Average speaker points for me typically come out to be a 27-28, stellar speakers range from a 28.5-29, and perfect speakers get 30s. Speaks will be docked if you’re mean, rude, or say something that comes out as harmful in any way possible (if you are being racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist, etc. it's L 20s across the board). Speed is cool, just make sure you're being inclusive-- I also flow on paper because I'm not the quickest on a computer so you'll probably want to give me some pen time on tags and analytics.

-.5 speaks every time you say "Game over"-- idk how this became the standard grandstand of debaters, but it's the worst and you're better than having to rely on this to make it sound like you're winning.

This is true of all levels of debate, but it's something the NFA LDers looking over this need to pay closer attention to. Please chill out. There is absolutely no need to be as rude as I've seen the past couple of years in this event. Snide remarks in CX, unnecessary comebacks to questions, and general lack of respect for opponents is probably my LEAST favorite thing to watch in debate. I'd rather watch someone read a 7-8 minute NC of only friv theory or 26 off a-z spec and be nice than someone execute the best strategy I've ever seen while being an ass. In CX, ask the question get an answer and move on-- there is no need to say something snarky after you get a bad answer (I promise I heard it too).

(The average speaks I've given in the spring '24 semester are approximately 28.26)

Miscellaneous things you might want to know:

You probably won't see my face a ton in debates. I am typically a "nose in the flow" type of judge and don't really look away from the papers on my desk to make sure that I don't miss anything. If I am making facial expressions, or if you see my hands in the air/on my head it is because you have said something incredibly confusing, egregious, or I have absolutely no clue where to write down what you are saying (or some combination of the three).

Prompting/open CX is generally fine, but if it's overused it could result in speaker points docked

How I evaluate things: Procedurals/theory first, Pre-fiat arguments second, Post-fiat arguments third

Tech over truth, but truth influences tech.

Most of these assumptions are subject to change from round-to-round depending on the args in round.

The only rules of debate are the speech times.

When I was competing I primarily collapsed on system/reps ks and T in NRs, and ran soft left/topical K affs with a bit of trad policy affs sprinkled in. I never ran a planless affirmative but have coached/judged/debated quite a few.

My ideas on debate were shaped by: Jeremy Hutchins, Michael Donaldson, Tony Wyatt, and John Anderson-- if you like these judges you'll probably like me as a judge.

"The past tense of flow is flew" -- Tony

High School LD:

I'm typically in the policy side of things, but I have been in many a value round and know more than enough to judge this activity. That being said, I typically find myself more engaged in progressive LD rounds than traditional rounds but please just run the round however best suits you and your style of argument. I love comparative analysis, impact calc, and rounds where there is a lot of interaction between y’all’s arguments. You can go as fast as you want. My off case positions remain pretty close to the exact same as policy, so you can scroll up to get a more in depth look at those specifically.

I typically find myself using the framework of the round as a heavy component when making my decision, so use your value and criterion strategically-- make comparisons, tell me why your opponents framing is wrong, and tell me why I should care about your impacts through the lens of your value, debaters that do that work usually have an easier time winning my ballot.

If the values in the round are the same, or if there's no sort of clash on values for why I should pref one over the other then I typically find myself defaulting to looking for offense and defense on the flow. I'm probably a bit more flow oriented than some other judges you might see, I pay very close attention to my flows and if there's not an argument on it then it's not in the round. That being said; having good case structure, signposting, and line-by-line really helps yourself out with me.

I thoroughly enjoy good phil debate (especially on topics that don't use the word "ought"), although I am not a philosophy head myself. I will make a pretty key distinction here though-- I am not a fan of these cases that are 5 minutes of abstract framing that, half of which aren't carded, spewed out as quickly as possible and then two cards that are like "oh yeah, and one minor link to the rez", I do not enjoy this style of argumentation. 1) these cases are incredibly hard to flow (too much flowery language, confusing concepts, lack of cards, and spreading through taglines/analytics), and 2) they rarely make a full argument which means the other side doesn't have an incredibly high threshold to meet in terms of answering these cases. That being said, if you're doing the work to explain your case, how the contentions back up the framework, and explaining what my ballot does and what it says when I vote for you you will probably do just fine with this style.

Tricks is bad debate, and I have a hard time justifying a vote on most tricks even if they're straight dropped. I wouldn't recommend running this style of debate with me in the back of the room-- even if you win on tricks with me, your speaks are probably getting tanked (expect a 27, tops).

World Schools:

I competed in collegiate NPDA style Parliamentary debate, so I have relative familiarity with the event and how it works, although I am very unfamiliar with the norms in this style of debate. I operate off of an offense/defense paradigm, so I appreciate a lot of interaction between arguments. Please focus on your warrants, and the logic behind your arguments-- just because this is a non-evidentiary form of debate (or at the very least, the evidence standards are not as rigorous as other events) doesn't mean we shouldn't have complete arguments with a claim, data, and warrant. There are a lot of WSD rounds where students will get to the third or fourth speeches and will be saying "We said 'x', they dropped that" and then that's all they say on the argument-- don't do this, it will not get you very far with me. When extending arguments tell me why it's important that they dropped it, and/or how the argument impacts the round as a whole. I usually find myself deciding these rounds based off of the framework, so good comparison between the competing burdens and resolutional analysis will probably help you. If you have any specific questions before round just be sure to ask!

Note: I've been out of the debate world since 2014. I debated in Texas UIL, TFA, and the NSDA circuits. I'm a third-year law student now.

I generally don't care what you run. I like good T arguments, and by "good" I mean fleshed out and not just run as a time suck on the 2ar that gets kicked in the 2nr. I think case arguments are WAY underrated on both sides, so emphasis there is always refreshing. Kritiks are fine too, I prefer specific links and need you to tell me what my ballot does. For reference, I ran nihilism and cap k/neolib k in high school.

Be collegial to your opponents and your teammate. In most cases, being unprofessional won't cost you the round, but almost certainly will cost you speaker points and be noted on my ballot.

Ask me any specific questions you have before the round.

email chain cody.gustafson@dallasurbandebate.org

tl;dr: do what you do best, at whatever rate of delivery you can be clear at. My paradigm was previously much longer for no reason at all, so i shortened it. Feel free to email me with any questions you may have, but I kept what I thought were the quick hitters:

- Read whatever set or style of arguments you would like, my job is to evaluate the round through an offense/defense lens and vote for the team that makes the world a better place (i.e. won the debate, ya know). I frequently judge all types of debates (from policy v policy, k v k, and k v policy to world schools, parli, policy, LD, and college debate to middle school debate, etc) and am more interested in seeing good debate rather than any particular style of debate.

- Warrant & evidence comparison, impact terminalization, historical examples, global context, and 'telling the story' of the round late in rebuttals are typically the content choices that help sway my decision when a clear winner is not decided by the flow.

- I don’t have any predispositions regrading the content, structure, or style of your arguments. I will defer to evaluating the debate through an offense/defense paradigm absent a team winning an argument for me to evaluate it another way. Clear impact weighing in the rebuttals and evidence/warrant comparison are typically what I notice in teams I enjoy judging.

- I attempt to be a ’technical’ judge in every round I watch. I try to keep a detailed flow, and use my flow to evaluate the round that happened. If the flow doesn’t decide a clear winner, I will then look to the quality of evidence/warrants provided. I tend to find I’m less interested in where an argument in presented than others. While clear line-by-line is always appreciated, some of my favorite debaters to watch were overview-heavy debaters who made and answered arguments in the debate while telling a persuasive story of the debate. I would rather you sound organized and clear than following a template throughout each flow.

- Instead of framing debates through ‘body counts’, I am much more persuaded by framing as ‘who saves the most lives’, or who has the best advocacy for change. Sometimes debaters talk about claims of very real violence and problems for various communities with little regard to the real world implications of their political advocacies.

- I tend to prefer specific plan texts over vague plan texts. I also like specific internal link claims and impact scenarios. Specific instances of war are more persuasive to me than ‘goat power war’ claims.

- In reformism v revolution debates, I prefer explanations that pinpoint why the conditions of the status quo are the way they are, and can best explain casualty for violence. This is where historical examples become especially important, and where warrant comparison becomes paramount.

Feel free to call me Allie. She/they. Former policy debater, judge/coach of 3 years running.

Current conflict is Jones (Chicago)

Email chain please: allie.gutierrez@live.com - If you have any questions before/after the round, shoot me an email! Especially when the RFD is on a time crunch, I'm happy to give more feedback.

TLDR:

No one is pure tab, but I'm as close as I can be. I'm good with Policy v Policy, Policy v K, and K v K. I lean pretty tech > truth. We're all here to learn, so be good people and have a good time!

If it’s LD or PF, you can probably get most of what you need from my CX paradigm, but particulars are at the bottom.

Some things I find affecting my general philosophy:

I've seen more judges refusing to vote for racism good, etc., and I'm all for it. If your arguments are offensive (racism good, sexism good, etc.) or make the space unsafe, I won't feel bad handing out an L25. What I haven't decided is how to handle cap good, climate change not real, etc. These arguments aren't explicitly offensive, but invalidate very real issues/experiences. As tech as I am, I'm skeptical of the rising popularity of arguments that embrace harmful pedagogy. For now, just know my tech > truth default wavers a little here.

Framework:

I'm not dogmatic about impacts, just prove why your model is best for the round and the world of debate. Bad for "Ks bad for debate", good for solid aff framework vs. neg Ks.

If you have an ROB/ROJ, please substantiate it. I've judged a lot of rounds where a pretty complex and/or self-serving ROB is read, but not A) what it means in the context of the round and B) why it's net beneficial for the debate.

For K affs, I tend to be happier if you debate the aff as is. Meta pre-reqs are a thing, but this too often feels like a way to avoid developing creative/strategic arguments. There are definitely exceptions - I'm sympathetic to the neg when aff literature doesn't mention something at least tangential to the topic. Regardless, don't feel the need to over-adapt to my preference.

I'll vote neg when: the aff has a poor counter-interp, the neg turns aff impacts, the topical version accesses aff impacts, or neg offense outweighs the limits DA.

I'll vote aff when: the 2NR fails to collapse the impact debate, the neg doesn't either turn or access aff impacts, or the aff successfully doubles down on an exclusion argument that turns neg impacts.

Topicality:

Evidence comparison!! If you have a quality definition that's contextual to the topic and fail to call out some nonsense def from Words and Phrases, I will be so sad. But, I don't want to read the size 2 text that makes 5 highlighted words a good definition. Either highlight more or weigh the ev for me.

I'm slightly reasonability-biased, at least for plan-less affs and stock cases. Good debating overcomes this. Please don't waste time running arbitrary, 5-second T shells. "Untruthful" T > 4 shells you kick coming out of the block.

I don't think TVAs are 100% necessary to win T (particularly against policy cases), but they can be useful.

Theory:

I think theory is super underused in high school! Explain why your interp is the best model and sets a necessary precedent, making theory a pre-req to the sub debate. While I don't often see rounds where things like condo and PICs are a genuine issue, I happily vote on them when executed well. Some slight biases:

Disclosure is good. Update your wiki's. No, don't run disclosure against novices or small-school debaters.

Condo is probably good within reason, but dispo is subjective and weird.

"Cheating" CPs are usually fine, but the legitimacy of delay, consult, etc. is iffy.

Perf con can sometimes be bad.

All of this can be overcome with good debating. Same as T, please don't run it for no reason.

DA's:

Case-specific is preferable, but generics are fun when contextualized in specific terms of the aff (yay for knowing your way around political/economic theory). Evidence, story-telling, and impact calc are all of equal importance. Zero risk is possible, but difficult to prove. Minimal risk makes the DA pretty negligible sans a strong framing debate. Some teams focus heavily on the link/impact and disregard uq and internal link chains, but defense here can make a big difference.

"Politics DAs are just bad for debate" isn't an argument. You can explain this and impact it out, but I don't accept the statement alone as a sufficient response. Root-causing and/or outweighing the DA is your best bet.

"DA outweighs turns case" works miracles. Say it more often.

CP's:

Specific and generic CP's both have their place. To quote Allie Chase, “I don’t subscribe to groupthink about which CPs ‘definitely solve' which affs.” So yes, re-highlight that aff evidence, give empirics, etc. but don't expect me to grant you a net benefit that isn't fully impacted out or is barely cross-applied down the flow.

Judge kicks are iffy because most of the time, the 2NR just throws out "and even if you don't buy the CP we have judge kick" in the last 5 seconds of the speech after doing virtually no work to weigh the aff against the squo. I'm not going to weigh multiple worlds for you, so this debate should start in the block.

K's:

I have a B.A. in philosophy and am working on my M.A., so I've read a ton. Feel free to ask how familiar I am with a certain lit base. Post-modernism and high theory are fine, but explain your jargon, contextualize your links, all that good stuff. If you can't do this, I'll assume you don't know your own K. More specific links as opposed to a broad K of the topic are usually best (strong analytic links are impressive). Links of omission are not links.

Strong LBL is much more persuasive than trying to pack embedded clash into a 5 minute overview.

I'm not particularly bothered by intense content. My hot-ish take is that death good has its place.

K affs are dope but should probably be in the direction of the res. At least be able to clearly state why it was brought into the debate space and what I'm doing by voting for you. Performance is fine, but framing and explanation your connection to the res are especially important here. I'm willing to vote on a PIK or attacks on the poetics/music you use, and I'm definitely not above presumption.

Please have some kind of advocacy. Kicking the alt in the 2NR is one thing, but I need to see what differentiates the world of the K from that of the aff/squo - even if it's not real world (I'm cool with utopian alts unless told otherwise). If you just say that the reading of the 1NC is an alt, what am I supposed to do with this without a clear explanation of your project? *cough cough, psychoanalysis*

Speaks:

I really try to give high speaks. Organization is needed, but go as fast as you want if you can be clear (extra important for online debates). I'm a fast flow, so if I've clear-called you multiple times, you're outspreading your own limits. I'm BEGGING you to signpost. I use the docs to read evidence, not flow. So say "and", number your warrants, literally anything.

I have a low threshold for rude debaters. If you hit a less experienced debater and use this as a power flex, your speaks will reflect my disapproval.

Misc:

I read the highlighted portions of ev during prep. I'll only read full text if you tell me to or it's a clear point of focus. Sub & case debate >>> 10 off. You don't have to send analytics, but it's helpful to number or otherwise emphasize when you're listing warrants and stuff. You don't have to send me a card doc - I'll probably ignore it. Tag team is totally fine, but if one partner is doing everything, that's not a good look. Flashing isn't prep within reason, i.e. don't stop prep if you're still copy-pasting, but having trouble with speechdrop doesn't count against you. Mark your own cards and keep your own times (I can definitely time, but you have to ask).

LD:

Prog LD is most familiar to me. I very much see value in traditional, I'm just less experienced. Phil is my second-best. I've read more Kant and util than I'd like to admit. That said, I still default very tab. I've voted on skep, disads, Ks, and good old fashioned framework, so really - do whatever you want.

My framework threshold is particularly high in LD. Interacting with the framework and/or creating value/VC clash is what makes LD unique. Coming down to T in LD is kind of strange, so at least make sure it's done well.

For the love of all that is good, don't make me vote on an RVI. Please. I'm begging you.

"Trix" are fine? I guess? I'm not gonna tell you not to, but I won't say I'd be excited to see it, either.

PF:

I view PF as a debate that is and has always been concerned what change is best, and this is how I'd like the round to be framed. As much as I'm a CXer at heart, I don't think plans have a place here. I often find them to blow the round out of proportion. That said, there are still plenty of other ways to create clash, so please do so.

I think K's and theory are very difficult to run correctly in PF. If you can do it, go off. But, mind that I'm a CX coach - my threshold is high.

I flow citations and paraphrased evidence the same way I flow warrants. If you want me to flow something as evidence, it should be structured something like a card.

I said not to blow the round out of proportion. What IS in proportion is painting a picture of both your world and the opponent's. The best PF rounds I've seen go beyond each individual card/contention to illustrate how the pro/con case would affect society, what they're valuing in society, and whether or not this is something they can and should achieve.

I'm a tab judge and am completely open to judging based on how the debaters tell me to. I am open to all types and styles of arguments, from topicality to Kritiks. If debaters say nothing about the framework used in the round, I will default to a policy making framework, if you run something like a performance aff, etc., I expect you to flesh-out framework for me. At end of round I'm evaluating your offense/defense vs. your opponents. This is the easiest way for me to judge the round, with as little intervention as possible, I'm looking to hear generally how the aff is a net improvement over the status quo. From the negative I'm looking to hear how the aff is a net negative, or how it fails to affirm the resoultion.

General:

Did Policy and LD in high school. PF for some time as well. My preferences as far as CX and LD are pretty similar. Did policy and parli in college. Coached LD and Policy in the past. Arguments that I frequently had students run were obscure kritiks, hard-policy affs, impact turns. I have always been a huge believer in the linebyline.

As far as policy, I ran policy arguments more than kritikal arguments, but as I got later in my career developed more of a preference for the K. That said, I really love good policy debates.

On the K, I expect some time to be spent on framework if it's expected for me to evaluate it through something other than the traditional way. I've been judging a lot more kritikal rounds in LD and CX than I have in the past. Frequently I find that when i vote for kritik debaters it's because they do a better job on the k-proper/linebyline debate as well as framework. Especially so if they are making good link-level arguments(not generic), RTB args. and k turns case. Explain how you get "solvency" or offense off-of the Alt. Being nebulous about the alt is generally a bad thing and frequently issues arise in k debate if this is neg strategy. I welcome the 1-off k strat, or k-affs.

Used to go for T a lot. That said, I usually advise debaters to go for T if there's an abuse story. In general have a high threshold for voting on T. If neg, extend that t is a voter, and internal link it to fairness, education, etc.

I assume condo is cool. I assume PICs are cool. I even think multiple CPs are cool (you would have to win on the theory level if Aff contests multiple CPs). Perms I assume are ok.

I encourage you to read theory if you want. I enjoy meta-debates. I especially enjoy if you put a lot of your own work into it.

Disads, you win me over if you run specific links or run multiple disads with different terminal impacts. Aff gets points for putting offense onto disads or explaining how case outweighs, or how aff solves the disad.

Affs get wins from me when they kill it on the case debate. Affs get some lee-weigh in the tight rebuttals if they're efficient and avoid drops.

I like offense from both sides. Somewhat related: recently I've found myself voting on presumption if aff drops the ball. I guess this makes some statement about what aff is obligated to do, namely defend the resolution by proving it true via 1ac. If there's some late level question about the round I may be looking at the viability of presumption. If neg tells me to vote on it, I may if there is some doubt about what aff is doing, and whether they're hitting the threshold.

Stylistic/ other things:

I am very decent keeping up with high speed.I flow the analytics as best as I can. That said, if you rush through standards one after the other, I may miss something. Adjust your pace, sign post more, be extra clear here. Generally though, I can count on two or three fingers the number of times a debater has gone too fast on theory for me.

It is very helpful to tell me what is offense and defense, this just avoids the round getting too muddy and means I adjust your speaks upward for communicating better, and for better understanding how your arguments function.

In rebuttals I generally expect things to get more big picture, in the 1ar and 1nr with drops being pointed out. I expect some level of pre-empting your opponents arguments esp. if you are the 2nr. And then finally, I expect impact calc, weighing, and some sound defense strategy (impact mitigation, timeframe, risk, magnitude, etc).

Speaks

I sometimes give out 30's but generally best speakers at any given tournament get in range of 29.5-29.9. I try to keep in mind the level of competitiveness of the tournament when giving speaks, but also, try to give consistent speaks.

Things that impact me giving high speaks:

Lack of prep taken/ good use of prep time.

Good strategy.

Being fast and efficient. Avoiding rehashing stuff that you're obviously winning and instead explaining the weight of that argument and moving on. Knowing what your cards say without having to go look.

Flowing. If cross-x is asking what number 6 argument opposing team made in the speech, I'm assuming your not flowing.

Numbering arguments, clear sign-posting, overviews, underviews, impact calc, roadmaps, referring to cross-x.

Clarity and not just looking at computer the whole time. Being sufficiently loud.

Good use of cross-x, which is underrated. I'm not sure why people don't do this, but in cross-x you can read opponent's evidence, ask about warrants in the card (sometimes they're not there), and author quals.

Kicking arguments strategically or going for something unconventional.

Using logic, analyzing evidence (looking for warrants in the cards), or a good line-by-line. Also, if neg: covering the 1AC, as opposed to generic off-case heavy strats. On case argumentation seems to be a dying art, which is sad, but as the neg if you do a good job covering case in my book it goes a long way. Aff: being super organized, grouping arguments, etc, especially in rebuttals. Handling the 2ac well is also something that helps. If you're doing a 2ac without prep and the speech is super-methodical I'm going to notice.

Being polite to opponents. Being aggressive is ok, but use best judgement.

Having fun, making jokes or demonstrating your knowledge of the topic.

I like impact turn debates and conversely impact defense, these are a great way to deviate the round from typical tropes, and can be very engaging.

I will never give you an L if I didn't like your way of debating or what you said. But if you require me to somewhat intervene in the round because of a poor debate I will give low point wins. I've given low point wins before to teams that did the better job strategically but had issues articulating things. If you cross the line as far as politeness, again, I will give VERY low speaks. Generally though, that's only happened 4-5 times in 8 years of judging for me.

LD

LD has gotten more policy-oriented. I have no issue with this. I do see some strategic issues if a 1ar spends the majority of the speech reading cards. Conversely I see issues with a 1nc with too many cards and not enough of a linebyline.

I don't think I've ever evaluated/ decided a round off a framework flow unless it had something to do with a K/ K aff being ran. You can concede framework if you want I just need to how your offense gets some access to some framework. What I'm suggesting is not undercovering contention level arguments and the linebyline.

Something that really makes it easier for me to evaluate the round is organization: numbering arguments, roadmaps, signposting, overviews, underviews. Being very clear about where you are on the flow at any time.

There is a tendency for blippy arguments to be hidden in the framework, or as underviews. the only way I can vote on them is if they are extended and impacted out.

I'm really not sure what has happened on the cutting edge of LD since getting out of high school. I know that theory/ framework debates have gotten to be more commonplace, with the utility of some of this theory questionable at best. Since then I've judged a lot of theory heavy, k heavy and policy rounds; i would say I have not judged many of these "tricks" rounds. Arguments are arguments, and they all function the same way, generally, what I'm suggesting is avoid the buzzwords and tell me the function of the argument.

As far as theory, I have voted on all sorts of theory arguments, but they have to be impacted, and i have to know how they are voting issues. Can't ever remember voting on disclosure theory.

PF

Usually i vote for the team that communicates better, of course they should be making the better arguments, but communication and persuasion are so important. In rebuttals I need to know about drops and hear some sort of weighing. I'm not in the camp that wants a card for every argument, speech times are already so short in PF. Go as fast as you want but realize that going faster may just make the debate more messy.

If you want to know what you can do to have a better chance at winning: extend evidence, talk about warrants, compare your evidence to your opponents'.

Congress

As a debater I had a lot of success in congress. I view congress as being an adversarial, somewhat extemporaneous event where you make good arguments backed by evidence and logic. Knowledge of parliamentary procedure is a definite plus, and I am looking for engagement and responsiveness regardless of what speech it is in the cycle. In other words, clash matters highly in congress, especially because speeches can tend to get stale pretty quickly if there are not (new) original arguments being made.

Debate Ethics

I prefer to not be involved in email chains or document sharing but sometimes I slip up and look at the speech documents. Avoid clipping cards--this is a breach of debate ethics and could result in loss of the round if there is a repeated pattern of doing it. I prefer that debaters self-police any ethical issues, and direct my attention to the issue while the round is happening, then I'll try to resolve the issue.

Harvard update (2/12/2024)

Not great for the K, except for maybe K's of language/rhetoric. In Policy v K rounds, I vote aff for the perm quite a bit. Not sure I have ever evaluated a K v K debate. In K aff v T-framework debates, I usually vote neg. Fairness and clash are pretty persuasive to me. I have voted for a non-topical aff a few times, but it's probably an uphill battle.

You should probably go slower than you would like in front of me, but I can usually keep up. If you really want me to keep up, I'd recommend leaving analytics in the doc.

I expect everyone to be nice and respectful to each other. Please be mindful of pronouns. Ask your opponents if you don't know.

I err neg on most counterplan theory questions, but I can definitely be persuaded that conditionality is a reason to reject a team, especially if there are more than 2 conditional worlds. Process CPs are kind of a gray area for me. I like them, but I could be convinced that they are bad.

Yes, I want to be on the email chain (davy.holmes@dsisdtx.us).

Some info about me:

Policy Debater from 1996-1998 for Gregory-Portland HS (Texas)

Assistant Policy Debate Coach from 1998-2002 for Gregory-Portland HS (Texas)

Debate Coach/Teacher at Sinton HS (Texas) from 2002-2003

Debate Coach/Teacher at Hebron HS (Texas) from 2003-2007

Debate Coach/Teacher at San Marcos HS (Texas) from 2014-2017

Debate Coach/Teacher at Dripping Springs HS (Texas) from 2017-present

Updated 1/3/2024

Top level observations for all debate events:

-You should not assume what your opponents' pronouns are. Ask if you don't know, and then make every effort to use them. When in doubt, referring to your opponents as "the aff" or "the neg" is probably a good idea.

-Slowing down and explaining things clearly is usually a good idea, especially in rebuttals.

-Perms that aren't explained aren't arguments.

-If a timer isn't running you shouldn't be prepping.

-I can't vote for something that I didn't flow or understand. I won't feel bad or embarrassed about saying I just didn't understand your argument.

Policy: My favorite event, but I am getting old. I am okay with speed, but clarity is important. I'm definitely more comfortable with plan-focused debate. If I was still a debater, I would probably be reading a small, soft-left aff, and my preferred 2NR would include a counterplan and the politics DA. For the most part, I think debate is a game. The negative should have access to predictable, topic-based ground. While fairness is likely an internal link to other impacts, it is also an impact in and of itself. Affirmatives that don't defend topical, hypothetical action by the resolutional actor will have a tough time getting me to vote for them. Neg kritiks require a lot of explanation and contextualization. I do not just assume that every K links. I have found that I am much more persuaded by links to a team's rhetoric or representations than other types of links. "They use the state and the state has always been bad in the past" won't usually beat a permutation. I am pretty bad for alts rooted in pessimism or alts that seemingly require an infinite amount of fiat. More than 2 conditional cps and/or alts dramatically increases the persuasiveness of condo theory.

Worlds: I tend to judge Worlds more than other debate events these days. I try to judge rounds holistically. My decision on who won the debate will be made before assigning points on my ballot. Line-by-line refutation is not an expectation. Debaters should focus on core topic arguments and major areas of clash. When appropriate, I enjoy detailed explanations and comparisons of models. Speakers 1-3 should take at least 1 POI.

LD: Even though I dislike this term as applied to debate, I am probably best for LARP and/or util frameworks. Not great for the K. Probably terrible for tricks or phil. Even though I think disclosure is good, there is less than a 1% chance that I'll vote on disclosure theory.

PF: I don't think PF judges should have paradigms. Unless your opponents are ignoring the resolution, I will not vote on theory in PF. #makepublicforumpublicagain

Congress: I pretty much never judge Congress. Students who expect to rank highly should make good arguments, clash with other representatives as much as possible, and participate fully throughout the session.

Put me on the chain: zacharyhuffman701@gmail.com. Speech drops make me sad.

Debated at: North Lamar High School (c/o 2019),The University of Central Oklahoma (c/o 2023)

2021 CEDA Finalist

Coached at: Mt. Pleasant HS (TX), Chapel Hill-MP HS (TX)

Kind of consulted for: North Lamar HS (TX), UCO (OK)

---

Don't be a fascist.

I would only consider myself an expert in one argument: settler colonialism. However, I consider myself to have a pretty good knowledge base for all arguments: policy debates, K debates, and clash debates.

I will not do work for you. I am very strict to my flow and will only make decisions based on things that are said/done in the round.

I do flow CX but its only applied to your speech if you tell me to apply the CX moment in said speech.

Don't change your strategy for me.

Aff-specific neg strategies > Core topic neg strategies.

"T-read a plan" needs to have impacts other than fairness. Fairness is an internal link.

K affs should probably kritik the notion of T-read a plan instead of trying to conform to neg ideas of fairness.

Former Hendrickson CX Debater '18-'20 (2A/1N)
TXST LD and NPDA/IPDA Debater, Class of '24

Yes Email Chain - theo.januski@gmail.com

TLDR: I'm up for pretty much any type of argument, as long as it's legit and not just a meme case. I don't really have a default way I vote, but still - if there's a specific impact you think I need to prioritize, explain it!
Tech > Truth - but that does NOT mean I'll vote on anything.

I also have experience in pretty much all IEs - in interpretation events, I do prioritize the quality of the acting and interp itself, but if two performances are equal in quality I default to the one with the better argument. As far as LPs, I value eloquence and quality of argumentation equally.

Full disclosure, I have not been keeping as close of an eye on arguments or jargon from each specific high school topics as the years go on, so keep that in mind as you are in both your constructives and rebuttals.

T/Framework -
I'm down for a good T debate. Topicality isn't just a one-round thing, it's a matter of how debate should operate, and that's something you need to explain - it's about the precedent the aff sets.

Kritiks -
I'm familiar with pretty much all generic kritiks. Every part of the K is equally important, which is why if you either can't explain your alt or just straight up don't have one, I'm significantly less likely to vote for you. Links of omission are a no-go.
Additionally, the perm debate is usually going to be pretty important in my eyes, on both sides. Don't give a really vague answer to the perm and be surprised when I vote you down.

Counterplans -
I'm typically a hard policy debater so I'm definitely down to hear a good CP debate. Specificity in solvency advocates and just in the CP itself is important, and in the line-by-line, because if you can't add specificity it shows you don't know much about either how your CP or the plan functions. Feel free to run condo or any other theory.

DAs -
Updated/decent ev and a cohesive story are all I really need. Specific disads are always better. Not much else to it really.

Overall speaking -
Don't be a jerk in round, and don't get aggressive or snarky, or that'll affect your speaker points.
I will call out anything shady, like stealing prep or if I think you're cheating. Debate is also about education, not just winning.

TL;DR: I debated in high school. Any speed or style is fine by me, please don't change your argumentation to fit me! Semi-versed in everything typically run. Add me to the email chain by copying and pasting this:

hjordanpro@gmail.com

Feel free to email me if you want more clarity on an RFD, card, or feedback.

Note: Please, call me Hunter/He/Him! Don't call me 'judge" or "sir", it comes across awkwardly.

I have zero tolerance for racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or bullying of any type

Background

Debated in CX for 3 years at Prosper HS in Texas mainly at local TFA tournaments. Broke at a few national tournaments, including NSDA, and won a third-place medal at UIL State. I don't have a set style, just thoughts on what I normally see run in a debate round. I did both policy & K debate.

Arguments I went for too much in my high school days: Capitalism, Bio/Necro ptx, Ptx DAs, and environmental impacts.

No one is truly tab, but I try my best to be open-minded and unbiased to any argument, and generally, I will default to tech > truth, barring a compelling reason. There are exceptions for this, but I hope you're not invoking them.

Ptx junkie, so I have a higher threshold on elections/senate/x bill DAs. I will burn terrible uniqueness cards into smithereens.

I can still do my pen flip from high school, but only with my eyes closed.

Don't be obnoxiously rude in any round with a clear skill gap between the teams, just debate normally and without condescending moments.

Toxicity is always bad. Respect the pronouns, experiences, or identities of the other debaters/judge(s)/crowd. Treat your partner nicely, and don't lash out if the round isn't going your way.

There's a line between arrogance and confidence, and you should try to stay on the confident side.

I was definitely an intense debater, but remember that it's just a debate round at the end of the day.

Do these things:

-Specific line-by-line analysis/organized speeches = cool

-ROB/Framing = cooler

-Warrants are the coolest.

Avoid these things:

-Blippy, blitz analytics

-Late-breaking shifts

-Generics

-Stealing prep, I'll probably notice you doing it.

*Merging docs together or whatever as your partner furiously types is still prep*

Speaks

I'm not a hard judge to impress, so if you want higher speaker points, debate however you normally would. Please don't try to 'adapt' to me, I won't hurt any debater's speaks for using whatever style they prefer.

On my speaker points scale, the points are typically 27.5 - 30. That's the range, but it's kinda hard to be at the lower end of the spectrum with me judging, I'm pretty forgiving. Still, I'll adjust it slightly to the tournament setting if I need to, yet a 30 is almost always a 30. Post-rounding is fine, but don't overdo it.

RFD's

- I'll always try to give an oral decision and RFD.

- Please feel free to ask questions and interrogate it, if it's a panel, maybe hold off until the other judges have spoken. Even though I'm fine with you grilling me about my ballot, recognize that it won't change either way.

- If we're in a rush or whatever, shoot me an email or find me later on at the tournament to clear anything up.

Policy Affs

-Don't assume I know the aff or topic literature, especially at the beginning of the year.

-Please don't ignore the mechanism of the aff post 1AC, sticking a line in the overview isn't enough either.

-Weaponize the aff, most of the time the neg team does minimal actual debating on the solvency or inner workings of a 1AC, and they shift the focus purely to internal links to the impact scenarios.

-I think aff teams that can extend and expand on the core thesis of the plan are a lot more likely to win a perm or beat a CP or Alt straight up.

-Solvency advocates are nice but you can win without one

Topicality

-Every aff challenges T in some way. I'll default to competing interpretations unless told otherwise persuasively. Reasonability is a contextual argument, it can definitely be won in front of me.

-The neg needs to win an impact here, and the more articulated this is, the more comfortable I am voting on T.

-I think FXT and Extra - T are severely underused arguments that can prove abuse.

-I like the Block/2NR to have a case list of hypothetical topical affs.

-If the aff is questionably topical, make sure you convince me that it is/isn't topical

K Affs

-These are super common, read them if you want, I've certainly read my fair share.

-Outline the methodology or the stance, don't be beyond shifty in CX on what the aff actually does.

-Please try to keep it in the direction of the topic.

-I'm well versed in most K lit, but don't assume I understand your unique spin on "insert author here".

-The same logic applies as above, most neg teams still fail to attack the actual mechanism of the aff, so utilize that.

-Performance affs are also awesome and totally have a place in the debate space, I've judged them

Framework

-The best FW args are the ones that actually recognize the point of a K aff.

-A TVA or SSD is much more persuasive than fairness by itself as a voting impact

-That being said, in round abuse exists, and FW can easily be won in front of me.

-Just tread carefully, and keep how you access the ballot as the focus (for both teams, if that wasn't clear.)

K's

-Win a strong link. Articulate an impact chain. Outline the method of the alternative for me.

-Don't assume I know the K lit. Avoid buzzwords and 4-minute overviews.

-Remember that ROB/ROJ args make it a much easier ballot for the K.

-I'll vote for any K argument that you can explain to me, but sometimes more is less with K debate on the links or MPX.

-If the K is your typical strategy, don't change it in front of me

DA

-The more specific they are, the better!

-Don't read outdated ptx scenarios or whatever if you can avoid it

-Internal link chains are nice when remembered.

-A 2NR can totally torpedo a solid policy aff with an equally solid DA, if this is your style, go for it.

-I enjoy a unique DA with a fun impact scenario!

CP

-Innovative CPs are much more likely to get my ballot, but I'll listen to whatever.

-Consult, delay and that whole crowd are probably abusive and a reason to reject the CP outright.

-A CP that goes for sufficiency framing is cool, but your CP out-solve (resolve?) the aff too.

-Solvency advocates crystallize a CP for me, but you don't necessarily need one

-Net benefits are under-explained or often chalked up to a DA, so focus a tad more on how you differentiate from the aff.

Theory

-I don't like intervening, so please don't make me vote on whether your 15-second blip in the 2AC/the block that became 5 minutes of the 2NR/2AR was worthy of voting down the other team, yet...

- Disclosure theory is :( and usually used by big schools to bully smaller institutions, but brand new K affs are probably bad.

-CP's theory is the most common stuff I come across, go for it. I'll def entertain condo theory if there are 3+ CPs or Ks or whatever. As noted above, abusive CPs like consult or delay are legit theoretical aff objections.

-Speed theory or something along those lines is solid if you can explain an accessibility concern, that's a true reason to vote down a team.

LD

-I have a decent enough background with LD. Do whatever you normally do, everything noted above and below applies with a few caveats.

-Theory hacking is annoying and quite boring. Time sucks are probably bad.

-LARP or progressive debate techniques are totally welcomed in front of me

-Some sort of framing is probably a good idea, but I'm not some value/criterion absolutist.

PF

-I will never approach a PF debate as a lay judge, sorry.

-Refer to the above

-Sticky defense is fine

-Send the speech docs, I like to read PF evidence since it's so blippy.

-Impact debate is really cool, but framing is even cooler.

-Feel free to run CX/LD style arguments

I have done policy and LD for 3 years. I currently do parliamentary debate and IPDA debate.

What I like: I really enjoy line by line argumentation. Structure is key for a good debate. I enjoy critical arguments or anything fem

What I don't like: I really enjoy critical arguments but I rarely vote on K. I don't like cases that have no impacts or structures. As a female debate, I understand the sexism that some female debaters may face. So in no circumstance would I listen to an argument that is inherently racist or sexist.

Hendrickson HS'20 --- Debated all 4 years in High School

Email - Beklanelia@gmail.com

-- Not updated for recent topic specifics-----

She/Her

--- Top Level ---

Tech > Truth; but I do tend to lean Truth < Tech on K debates (usually depends on how the debate is)

Clarity over speed; Please slow down for analytics and overviews

Explain your arguments and impact that out - it'll be a lot easier for me to weigh the argument

I also like top-level 2AR/2NR overviews that states why you're winning the debate and what arguments are in your favor

-- Topicality and Framework --

Not a huge T fan but impacted/explain it out well for me and I have no reason not to vote for it

Do calc bt standards - tell me why your standards matter and why that model of debate is important and better

For framework - SSD usually persuades me; tell me why your model of debate is better overall and why that allows for more conversations to happen; debate is a game

-- Kritiks --

I read Afro-pess in high school and I also know the generic kritiks

Contextualize the link to make it specific to the aff

Most teams don't have a good rebost explanation for their alt; explain the alt to me like I'm a kid who doesn't know anything, if I'm lost and don't know what you're talking about I'm most likely going to vote aff

For aff, pragmatism/state good arg are persuasive to me - give me examples if you can

-- DAs --

Impact calc is really important and needed here

Please have a clear explanation of the link

When a team goes for a DA I usually end up voting on DA o/w due to their impact calc and turns case arg

-- CPs --

Explain why the CP solves for the internal links of the aff

Re-cutting an internal link or solvency advocate of the 1AC is a quick way for me to give you weigh a lot of weigh on the counterplan

-- Theory --

Slow down

Please impact it out. if I don't know why it was abusive in specific to the debate round, I have no reason to vote on it

She/herI don't tolerate transphobia. If you have an issue with this, strike me.

Affiliation:

Debater: Wylie HS '18, Rutgers-Newark '18-20

Coaching: Technology HS '19-20, Dallas Highland Park CB '23 - Present

Contact: landrum.alex42@gmail.com (please put me on the email chain)

TL;DR

"When I understand the words you say I take them more seriously

Do what you want. I follow tournament rules, try not to throw things"

-Michael Antonucci

Don't be a bigot, you'll lose. If both teams are bigots, I'll flip a coin

I'm skeptical of the utility of these things at the HS level since it seems that no one listens to them beyond "yes I am ok if you read a Kritik". But here we are

I will do my best to evaluate the round exactly as presented to me while leaving my personal opinions about arguments and ideas out of the RFD. However, for those of you who want to know, I do have some specific thoughts on certain matters. This is not to say that you should take my paradigm as gospel though. I try to keep an open mind and will listen to most arguments and strategies. So you do you. There's a reason I continue to edit this page.

I've run everything from politics to afropess. My preference when I debate leans heavily critical, but I've run and judged strict policy strats too. I can judge whatever you want to throw at me and despite my personal argument choices, I am just as happy to judge a good DA/CP as I am to judge a K v. K debate. I’d rather you do what you’re good at.

I may ask to see evidence after the round if it is a legitimate point of tension in the round but other than that if I have to look at the evidence to evaluate the debate you're most likely making me do too much work.

***Full Paradigm***

K affs/nontraditional affs- Affs should probably defend something, although my interpretation of "something" is flexible. I'm good for these affs but the explanation of these arguments is important since I'm probably not as well-read in your literature as you. Assume I don't know what you're talking about. Because even if I do I still need to parse out the specifics at 400 wmp.

In all the time I've spent debating/judging/coaching K affs I’ve come to believe that most of them don’t actually do anything. I think that your aff should be doing SOMETHING. Explaining a theory of power and how it links to the res is not an aff. Presenting pure structural critiques of the res is not an aff. Your aff should do something but my leniency for what this something that your aff does is fairly high.

K - I mostly debate the K, but that means I generally have a higher threshold to vote on it. My biggest deciding factors in the majority of K debates are the Link and framing debate. You should have links engaging the actual implications of the 1AC (more than a state link). The more specified and contextualized your link work is the more heavily I will weigh it. Impact out your links. If the only impact work I'm looking at out of the 2NR is your 1NC impact evidence then you've probably not done enough work. I'm also not a good judge for ROB-type arguments. I find it hard to be convinced by them since they are almost always self-serving and usually read more as just "vote for me" than actually giving me any kind of directive for how to evaluate the round.

Solidify your plan before the 2nr. If your plan is to go for the floating PIK, utopian fiat, kick the alt, whatever. Set that up in the block. If your opponent is surprised by it in the 2AR, I am also usually surprised by it. I am in general a good judge for these kinds of spins but I am prone to protect the 2AR if these are not properly set up beforehand.

Don't ever assume that I know what you're talking about. I’m reasonably up in the lit on afropess, queer theory, Marx/cap. Anything else I have not spent extensive time understanding. Regardless, you should debate in a way that ensures EVERYONE in the room understands what you’re saying.

"Assume I don't know what you're talking about. Because even if I do I still need to parse out the specifics at 400 wmp"

On the cap K. I have always said I will listen to just about any argument and vote on almost anything that is well-argued. An amendment to that is in order though. I will still vote on Cap-Good arguments if they are won totally outright but I will think you sound EXTREMELY silly and have a very high threshold for being convinced this is true :/

DA - Make SMART disads. explain the internal link story. The more specific to the aff the better. Uniqueness controls the direction of the link. Line by line. Analytics. Ev comparison. DA 2nrs almost always sound ridiculous because they devolve into two ships passing in the night. Both have evidence that says different things. And neither makes an effort to convince me which one is correct beyond simply asserting that you're right and your opponent is wrong. Meaning I feel I am often forced to intervene in these decisions and without some very serious work on the case flow, I err towards aff. Give me warranted reasons to prefer your explanation of the status quo. Do that work for me.

CP - CPs have the potential to be cool. Make smart cps. specific net benefits and concrete competition.

T - I have to admit, I like a good T/FW debate but there are a lot of mistakes made on both sides that make this kind of debate difficult. The Aff usually forgets to extend their aff but odds are the 2NR will forget to extend a terminal impact anyway. I will default to competing interpretations unless told otherwise

Also, I do not believe debate is LARP of roleplaying. You're lying if you think we're RPing in round. I play dnd, LARP, etc. I know what RP and LARP are. Debate is 100%, not that. That doesn't mean I won't vote on it but you're fighting an uphill battle to convince me that this is true.

Case - Case debate is underutilized. I think most affs are bad. Not to say you shouldn't ever flip aff, or I will never vote aff. I just think that affs always have some sort of fundamental contradiction/fallacy etc. that is inevitable in an event where we simulate or engage in praxis. Neg teams need to exploit that on the case page, and aff teams need to be ready to answer larger questions of solvency.

Theory - I actually really like a good theory debate. I think one of the most interesting things about debate, is your ability to debate debate. However, I hold a high threshold to vote on it in the 2NR/2AR. You HAVE to extend terminal impact calculus though (which means shells like disclosure theory AND SKEP are rarely ever voters in my eyes).

LD SPECIFIC - I don’t like frivolous theory, I will likely never vote on it because I don’t think it has an impact or a point other than a “gotcha” in debates. You can try to prove me wrong if you wish. I’ve said I’m always open to changing my mind and you should absolutely read what you’re best at. This is a PSA though

UPDATE TO LD THEORY - I really think LD frivolous theory is dumb. Starting the 1AC with a laundry list of random blippy spikes etc. is not where I ever see myself voting. If you read 8 spikes at the top of the AC, none of them are ever well warranted, and certainly not impacted out well. I fail to see the utility in these, and they are not

Random thoughts

I am a nerd. I like puns and sci-fi/fantasy references.

Speed is cool. Clarity is cooler. If I can't understand your tags/analytics/line-by-line I have no way of flowing it

Once I've signed the ballot the round is over. No returns or refunds. DO ask me informational questions about the RFD. If you disagree with the decision, ask about it. I'm more than happy to explain my thought process but DON'T argue with the decision. If it's a paper ballot I'll just start taking off speaks

Long overviews are OK. The same way I look at speed applies here. If I can't understand you, or your overview is a total mess I won't be able to evaluate it to its full potential.

I try not to read evidence. However, I will if I feel it is absolutely necessary to resolve the round. I will default to the speaker's interpretation of the evidence unless otherwise contested.

Add me to the Email Chain: myl813.ml@gmail.com

Katy Taylor '19
UH '23
1N/2A
She/her

Updates per Online debating: Because of the nature of online debating, I am often times having a hard time understanding/taking in visual cues. Please take this into consideration when debating and prioritize clarity to an extent. Also appreciate analytics, although I guess it's ultimately up to you - if I didn't get it on my flow, it's probably net worse lol

Also feel free to email me with questions if any are unanswered, both before and post round.

General/TLDR:

I think debate is an activity formatted as a game, but ultimately should be used to reap external values/impacts. It also definitely is more than a game to most of us involved; debate is in fact a consuming activity. What I prioritize in evaluation will vary by round, based on the progression of the debate, and I will leave the strategizing for a ballot up to you.

Do what you do best. I’m open to all types of argument as long as it is well executed- I was not a big K debater through HS, but if you do your job I should have no problem understanding the round/the literature. I would much rather judge a nuanced and engaging debate that I am unfamiliar with over a poorly executed round. Likewise, Ks should not be read in the hopes of simply reading the K getting a ballot.

Proper showcasing of your knowledge in the subject, clever strategy, and some courtesy in round make judging easier, more enjoyable, and will work in your favor.

Specific Things:

Framework/T-USFG:

Both teams should have a defense of the model provided by their interpretation. I think Affs should have some relation/link to the topic (not necessarily with a plan text)-I don't think it's easy to win a round with an aff that has no relation whatsoever, but if this is the case, I would expect VERY good reasons to buy that. Offense is key to win FW debates- how well these arguments apply/interact in round are important for a decision. Along with offense, there needs to be well explained impacts by both teams. (i.e. explain what “destroying fairness” does to debate, etc.)

Topicality:

I'm usually not a heavy voter on T, because a) most times T debates feel like nothing more than a time suck and b)I do think that debate is a space that has the capacity in which a variety of dialogues can and should take place, but that doesn't mean I won't vote on it and/or this is the cue to read whatever you want w zero correlation. Both teams need to defend their interp of the topic with well-extrapolated standards and impacts. Mentioning the words “limits”, “fairness”, and “predictability” doesn't mean much until you explain why that matters. Impact comparison and substantive clash over models of the topic via definitions and standards make T debates much easier and more enjoyable to evaluate.

Kritiks:

Despite the fact I wasn't much of a K debater, I feel they are very enjoyable to judge when executed well, and can very well be the opposite if not done so. I have found myself finding K arguments very compelling because I buy that the problematic ideologies that shaped the fundamentals of our society are violent/pose a threat constantly. Well-developed links that are specific and turn case are essential. I believe the framework debate is generally underutilized by the negative, usually those debates end up with the affirmative getting to weigh the Aff. If you read external impacts, you must explain the internal link to that impact. As mentioned above, I was not a big K debater through high school, so I'm probably super close to an actual blank slate- With that said explanation within your speeches and CX will be rewarded, and essential for me to evaluate. A clear explanation of the argument should be a requirement anyway; just know that you will not gain much if not lose expecting me to know each K inside out. The affirmative should have a combination of offensive and defensive arguments. A purely defensive strategy against a K will probably not get you a win.

K Affs:

They need to have a clear and preferably nuanced method that can solve the impacts of the Aff. I think the major pitfall of K Affs is having generic or vague methods that open the doors to a lot of persuasive presumption arguments. There needs to be a defense of why debate is a key space to read the Aff. The 1AR and 2AR should have both components on some level or else I’m left to guess as to how the Aff/aff offense functions against the negative's position. As explained in the K section above, do not assume I’m well versed in the literature you are defending.

Disadvantages:

Be specific. A robust explanation of the link to the Aff and impact calculus supplemented with embedded turns case analysis makes these debates very enjoyable to judge. The Affirmative should try to find holes in the DA, whether that’s through internal links not lining up or through their evidence. I think a combination of offensive and defensive arguments is smart and will make it harder for the negative to hedge their offense.

Counterplans:

They need to have a clear plan text and an external net benefit. Make sure the CP is competitive- as simple as it is I feel like people forget and then I have to vote down on perm. Same with most arguments, the more specific the better. The 2NR should generally be the counterplan with a DA/Case argument to supplement. It's probably helpful for the aff to have some offense- just defense is in most cases not sufficient to beat the CP.

Misc.:

- Strategizing the round is up to you, but I do find myself not loving the timesuck-16 off- strats

- I think case debating is very under-utilized

- recutting evidence from the opposing team is rewarded

- Flashing/Emailing isn’t prep but be efficient

- If you still have questions, ask them before the round

-Don't be rude; there's a difference between that and being sharp

gavinloyddebate@gmail.com - Yes, I want to be on the email chain. -- please format the subject as "Tournament Name -- Round # -- Aff School AF vs. Neg School NG." Example: "TOC -- Finals -- MBA BM vs. WY MM."

If you have any questions before the round starts, please don't hesitate to ask.

LD specific stuff is at the very bottom.

Quick Bio:

Hebron '20. Did CX all 4 years. Read K affs/negs sophomore-senior year. 2A Soph, 2N Junior, 2A Senior.

UT Austin '24

TLDR:

Spreading - Yes

Open CX - Yes

Flex Prep - Yes, but only clarifying questions

No Plan Text (Varsity/JV)- Yes

No Plan Text (Novice) - No

Kritiks - Yes

Disclosure Theory -- Ideally, you'll have some proof of mis/lack of disclosure to make things easier, but I'm willing to vote on it.

Cards in Body of the Email - You get 1 per speech given. If there are more cards than that, then you put them in a document.

If you open-source and do round reports with the details of the 1AC, 1NC, and 2NR, tell me right when the round ends, and I'll increase your speaks by .2 after checking.

I do not keep track of your prep unless you explicitly ask me to and there's some reason you can't do it.

General Philosophy:

I conceptualize much of debate as who is winning the "framing issue." How do I evaluate offense, what do I prioritize, post fiat or pre-fiat? Answer this question of debate for me, and it'll give you a strong cushion to supercharge your line by line and gives me very simple ways to conceptualize my RFD.

I'll vote on anything, but some things I'm more comfortable evaluating than others. My debate history was entirely Ks, but don't over-adapt to me.

Reconcile what impacts come first or how to weigh them relative to your opponent's.

If you say something racist or sexist, I reserve the right to drop you and go on about my day.

Disadvantages:

Look, it's a DA; just extend it properly, please.

Ideally, do not read a soft left DA versus a plan text aff.

Counterplans:

Clever counter-plans and PICS are fun. Generics are also fun if run well. I probably lean neg on most CP theory except for consult and solvency advocate.

If a CP text just has "do the aff" or something similar instead of explicitly saying the portion of the aff that the CP is doing, the Aff team can just say "They don't know how to write a plan text. They don't fiat an action - textuality matters so they don't get the part of the CP that claims to do the aff" and that will be sufficient for the aff to win that portion of the CP, or maybe all of it depending on the context.

Kritiks:

4-minute overviews make me cry. Case-specific links are great. Generic links are fine and can definitely be won.

I have the most experience with Settler Colonialism, Afropess, Virilio, Heidegger, Cap, and Black Nihilism. However, I also have worked with Ks like Agamben, Baudrillard, Foucault, Security, Queer Theory, Psychoanalysis, etc. That does not mean I will do the work to fill in the analysis for you.

Unfortunately, most framework debates in the 2NR/2AR often become meaningless with a lack of clash. At that point, I functionally default to weigh the aff, but the K gets its links in whatever form they are. If this isn't strategic for you, put the work in and win FW by answering their stuff and not just extending yours.

I'll vote on all the cheaty K tricks like floating PIKS or all in on FW. Similarly, I'll vote on hard right approaches to answering Ks, whether that means going all-in on heg good/impact turning the K.

Root cause arguments are not links. If your only link is just a root cause, then I won't be voting negative.

I seem to judge a fair amount of Wilderson/Warren debates, so here are a few things.

On the state good side -- just winning a list of reforms isn't enough for me. I need to hear a clear counter-theorization of how the world operates and comparative claims to take out social death/equivalent claims. Reforms prove that counter-theorization but don't make a theory itself. This doesn't require reinventing the wheel. Think "progress is possible. institutions are malleable tools of humanity and biases can be overcome."

On the Wilderson/Warren side -- you need to justify your theory of the world rather than rehashing debate's greatest hits. Saying "Jim crow to prison industrial complex" repeatedly does not make a full argument. Ideally, I'll hear some thesis-level explanation, like a few seconds on social death or what the libidinal economy is, rather than just "extend the conceded libidinal economy." The "Jim Crow to PIC" explanation requires the thesis-level explanation to be true.

For both teams -- I've found that I decide most debates by who undercovers ontology/libidinal economy the most. Many arguments on the flow come secondary to winning this and applying it to those other things, so identify what you can afford to give up to make my decision easier. You can still win ontology/metaphysics and lose the debate, but there are fewer scenarios where that's true.

University K's that PIK out of the university or debate suck. Do with that information as you will.

Kritikal Affs:

For the negative - I am a bad judge for going for fairness as a terminal impact. So, I'll probably need some external benefit to fairness like clash. Don't read this as me being dogmatically against voting on fairness. Instead, I need an incredibly robust explanation of fairness with significant case mitigation to vote on it. A couple of conditions that the neg ideally meets at least one of for me to vote on fairness as the 2NR terminal impact include:

1. Dropped TVA/Neg is clearly ahead on TVA that solves all of the Aff's offense.

2. The aff has failed to explain a counter-model for what debate is/should be and concedes that debate is only a game with no implication past that.

3. Significant explanation for how fairness implicates and turns aff offense at the level of the aff's explanation, not just generic claims.

4. External offense not within that framework flow that impact turns the Aff's value claims and implicates the Aff's fw offense.

Independent of all that, fairness is a great controlling IL to filter things, so definitely leverage it as a part of other impacts if you go that route.

Ks vs the K aff are cool. A good debate here is realistically one of the top places I'll give high speaks along with impact turns. I default to the aff gets a perm, but feel free to win they don't. Just winning your theory of power isn't sufficient for me to vote negative, but it definitely supercharges link arguments.

Impact turns are great. Feel free just to drop 10 scenarios and challenge the fundamental assumptions of the 1AC.

DAs -- if a K team is trying to be tricky and give you topic DAs. Feel free to go for the DA and CP, but make sure you have case mitigation or some framing device.

For the aff -

You need to either win a) your model is better than theirs or b) their model is really, really bad if you don't have a c/i.

I find myself voting negative in these debates when the Aff fails to give me a framing argument to filter negative offense.

Be ready to defend your solvency mechanism if it is attacked. I need a coherent story about what my voting aff does. Do I signify a good political strategy, does my ballot literally break the system (lol), does it change mindsets, etc. Presumption is persuasive, so don't disrespect it by under-covering it.

I'm not the judge for rounds where you and the opponent agree to have a "discussion" and talk about important issues outside the traditional speech times of debate. These things are likely important, but I don't want to have to decide on something like that. It requires too much judge intervention for my liking. Strike me if this is something you plan on doing. If you do not strike me and this type of round happens, then I am flipping a coin. Heads for the aff. Tails for the neg.

Topicality:

I am not anywhere near the best judge for T. If your A strat is Topicality, then I'd recommend striking me or having me hover around a 4. If you are forced to go for T in the 2NR/answering it the 2AR, then hold my hand through the RFD and explain how things should interact.

If you're put in a position where T is your only option, don't worry and keep the things below in mind.

I default to competing interpretations.

Give me a case list, especially if it's a weirder interp.

Go slower than you would with a DA/K/CP. I find it harder to flow T than other off-cases at high speed.

Make sure you tell me why I should vote for you rather than just have floating offense.

Weird and Random Technical Things:

Speech times are a rule, while things like topicality are a norm. That means I'm willing to entertain a debate about the benefits of topicality/FW vs. a K aff. If you speak over the timer, I will not flow or evaluate what you are saying, even if it is a part of your argumentation.

No, the neg will never get a 3NR.

I greatly dislike completely new 1AR cards if the argument was made in the 1NC and dropped in the 2AC. There is a big gray area here for what it means to be "dropped," but you should be able to realize what is abusive or not.

1NC/1AC mistakes -- if you read something like a CP or T and forget to read some critical component or have a massive typo in that critical component (where relevant), the 2NC is not an "oopsie, we can revise that" speech. This also includes situations where a policy aff forgets to read a plan text in the 1ac. If your T/FW shell is missing a violation in the 1NC, you do not get to create one in the 2NC. If you read a CP text with a massive typo including part of the text of a different 1AC from a previous round rather than the 1ac you are debating, you don't get a new one in the 2NC. However, if you have a typo in your speech doc and verbally correct yourself in the 1NC, I am completely ok with that revision. I'm sure other judges and people in the community have different opinions about what the 2NC/2AC can and can't do, but I'm going to be transparent about my bias. Theoretically, you could argue to change my mind in the debate, but it will be an incredible uphill battle.

Off-case positions should be clearly labeled in the 1NC.

I'll generally evaluate inserted rehighlighting of the opponent's evidence. There is obviously a point where a team could abuse this -- don't do that. But, I think that teams should be punished for under highlighting/mis highlighting their evidence. Due to time trade-offs/competitive incentives, I think that forcing you to verbally re-read the evidence punishes you more. Essentially, one or two key inserted rehighlightings is fine, but if you're inserting the entire 1ac re-highlighted, that's not ok.

Don't say "brief off-time roadmap." Just say roadmap, please.

The only thing I want to hear in your roadmap is the name of off-case positions and specific case pages. If there's a large overview, then maybe add that to the roadmap. "Impact calculus" happens within one of those flows, so just signpost in speech rather than making it a part of the roadmap.

Please don't send pdfs. Verbatim > Unverbatimized Word > Google Docs > Pdfs.

LD --

I am not evaluating tricks.

In order of args I'm best suited to judge (best to worst) -- K, LARP, Phil, Tricks.

Most of my thoughts on policy debate apply to LD. However, the way y'all debate T, theory, procedurals, etc sounds like a second language to me that is vaguely mutually intelligible to my own. I'm not great for these arguments in policy, so I'm probably even worse for them in LD. Y'all will need to be very clear and overexplain argument interaction to get my ballot

I HIGHLY APPRECIATE AN EMAIL CHAIN: My email is enriquemtz300@gmail.com.

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General Comments:

Hello Everyone! My name is Enrique Martinez, and I am:

Will be pursuing a MA in Economics at George Mason University: Fall 2022-May 2024 (projected)

Former coach at Mount Pleasant High School: 2020-2022

Mount Pleasant High School Class of 2018 (Go Tigers): Competed in Policy and Lincoln-Douglas Debate

UNT Class of 2019 (Go Mean Green): Judged debate, speech, interp at various tournaments. No competing.

I have expanded my knowledge of the various competitions that are readily available for students to participate in since competing as a student. So I am very aware of much of the workings of various speech and debate events.

Please let me know if there are any general questions before the round starts. I have outlined how I view several arguments for debate competitions below.

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Lincoln-Douglas Debate:

Thoughts: I lean more traditional (I don't mind which way you go tbh), but I am entirely open to the possibility of hearing critical arguments. If I hear a critical argument, you must explain it and its role in the round. LD debaters can cross-reference my views of policy debate. In regards to speed, keep it about 65-75%. Cool if you need to finish a point before the time is up, but make sure you're not going so fast that I don't understand you. (MORE COMING SOON, ASK FOR SPECIFICS)

Progressive vs. Traditional: I'm completely fine with either form of LD debate. If I were to put these on a spectrum, I would be closer to traditional than progressive, but I am not bothered by either form of debate. This is mainly because I have debated and judged in both CX and LD at some point.

Framework: Whether it be Value/Criterion or simply a framework, this is one of the most vital parts of an LD case. I like to see weighing going on between frameworks. I also want to see one side (respectfully) dismantle the opponent's fw. Lastly, I need to see and hear how the fw case ties to the resolution and the case as a whole.

Kritik: I need the presenter of the K to explain how it is applicable in the sense of the round. I am okay with hearing the K, but I am unaware of all literature involved in these arguments. Even if I was, it is the competitors' responsibility to show their understanding of the K, doesn't expect me to make any leaps. In my perspective, viability and empirics are vital for the NEG to win the K. In addition to commonly accepted ideas, I would discourage reading a communist alternative in a K, as my research and background make it difficult to vote for it.

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Cross-Examination/Policy Debate:

Overview: As a policymaker judge, I prefer that argument stay within the realm of the resolution. I am okay with K's, T's, and theory arguments as long as you can explain their applicability in the round or policymaking. I will break down my thoughts on most arguments. If you have any questions, please ask. As for my experience: I was a CX debater for two years and occasionally did LD as well as an HS student, and I have been coaching since 2020.

Comments: I will STRONGLY ENCOURAGE that you do not run a whole chunk of off-case arguments if you're going to throw them out. At the same time, go for whatever suits you best within the round, but please explain why you are kicking an argument.

DA- With every DA, make sure it covers everything in a DA, such as impacts. Also, generic DA's are fine, but the more specific it is to the AFF, the better.

CP- I am good with CP's, but ensure you cover everything when presenting it in the 2AC. Explain how the resolution is not plausible or why the CP is preferable. Make sure that I can completely understand

T- Topicality is fine with me, with the most crucial thing in the round being the interpretations. It would help if you also conveyed to the judge why your interpretation is preferable to the opposition's definition.

K- While I am a policymaker judge, I am willing to hear K's out. I ask each team running the K to take some time to explain how the K lit because I may not be as familiar with it depending on the K. Also, explain how the K does/doesn't relate to the actual resolution and policy. In my perspective, viability and empirics are vital for the NEG to win the K. In addition to commonly accepted ideas, I would discourage reading a communist alternative in a K, as my research and background make it difficult to vote for it.

Theory- This argument is fine with me, but ensure it runs correctly. Be able to explain if there is/isn't an abuse issue.

Framework- Framework is a debatable issue in the round. Be able to explain why I should prefer your framework over the one presented by the opponent.

Impact Calc-Highly appreciated.

Speed: Keep it about 60-70%, or about 215-245 words per minute, if that helps more. I tend to prefer that your arguments are well thought out and that you can express your arguments to the fullest of your ability without risking the possibility that the message is not conveyed. I understand that spreading can be the norm and the benefits, such as creating valuable skills like processing thoughts rapidly. Still, it is not how most people, especially policymakers, discuss their ideas. Cool if you need to finish a point before the time is up, but make sure you're not going so fast that I don't understand you.

Speaker Points-Top speaker (usually) gets a 30. Everyone else falls according to volume, clarity, and appropriate tone (not as vital). The only exception is if there is no outstanding speaker in the round. If there is a preset speaker point system on my end with details provided by the tournament organizers, I will default to those and judge accordingly. Since I judge many schools from different backgrounds, having one set of speaker points is challenging.

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Speech:

Extemp-I prefer more substantive analysis rather than the number of sources. With that said, 1-2 sources per point are usually safe. Ensure the speech is well-structured, including signposts to facilitate following along.

I am a pretty basic judge. I like good arguments and good speaking. I prefer stock issues, but I know that I'm old fashioned and most students don't really do that anymore. Don't talk too fast, to the point where I can't understand you or am concerned about your health and safety. If you do so, I will put my pen down, and anything I don't write down didn't happen. Seriously, don't spread. As far as arguments go, I'm pretty good with anything. Don't just read a bunch of numbers or words and expect me to make the connections to your case or your opponent's. Explain why your statistics matter and why your arguments outweigh your opponent's. I also like the structure. Tell me you're on advantage 1, or you're covering inherency, etc. It really helps. Otherwise, I'm just here to listen to what you have to tell me.

School - UGA 22'

High School - Lindale High School 2014-2018

I debated at Lindale High School doing policy for 3 years and sorta did LD my senior year. In high school I went for majority of pomo arguments and 'untopical' affs. My favorite arguments were AfroPessimism, death good, and psychoanalysis. My sophomore, junior and senior year Robinson 12 or Wilderson was practically in the 2nr/2ar of every round. To give you an idea here's my wiki from hs. I debated at UGA for a bit going for policy arguments, but my last competitive debate round was in early 2019.

https://hspolicy16.debatecoaches.org/Lindale/McWhorter-Wyatt%20Aff

https://hspolicy16.debatecoaches.org/Lindale/McWhorter-Wyatt%20Neg

https://hsld17.debatecoaches.org/Lindale/McWhorter%20Aff

https://hsld17.debatecoaches.org/Lindale/McWhorter%20Neg

Put me on the email chain - r.mcwhorter16@gmail.com

TLDR - Do whatever you want. I'm here to judge you. If you don't read an aff and stand in silence for 8 minutes defend it. If you want to read a hardcore policy aff with 15 impacts defend it. I will vote for anything as long as it is justified and not harmful.

Specific things

Disads: The more specific the better. A robust explanation of the link to the Aff and impact calculus supplemented with embedded turns case analysis makes these debates very enjoyable to judge. I'm susceptible to affs making fun of the link debate if the disad is just a generic arg.

Counterplans: The more specific the better.

Ks: I think these debates can be the most fun to judge and the worst to judge. In good k debates there needs to be in-depth explanation of the links and how they function with the aff whether that be links to the representation of the aff or post-fiat links. I also put a lot of emphasis on the framework debate. I think framework is the most strategic way for affirmatives to hedge back against ks in policy v k rounds and the most strategic way for ks to not let the affirmative weigh the aff.

Random

- Jokes are always a good way to boost speaker points. Debate is a fun activity. You should at least pretend like you are having fun.

- Any more questions, ask me before the round.

Current Director of Debate at the University of Northern Iowa #GoPanthers!

high school = Kansas 2012-2016 (Policy and LD)

undergrad = Emporia State 2016-2020 (Policy)

grad = Kansas State 2020-2022 (Policy Coach)

edited for the youth

Updated 4/18/24

Policy Debate

Yes, put me on the email chain.Squiddoesdebate@gmail.com

Virtual Debates --- Do a sound check before you start your speech. Simply ask if we can all hear you. I will not dock speaks because of audio issues, however, we will do everything we can to fix the audio issue before we proceed.

SEND YOUR ANALYTICS - if you want me to flow every word, it would behove you to send me every word you have typed. I am not the only one who uses typed analytics. Don't exclude folks from being able to fully participate just because you don't want to share your analytics.

The first thirty seconds of the last rebuttal for each side should be what they expect my RFD should be. I like being lazy and I love it when you not only tell me how I need to vote, but also provide deep explanations and extensive warrants for why the debate has ended in such a way to where I have no other choice to vote that way.My decision is most influenced by the last two rebuttals than any other speech. I actively flow the entire debate, but the majority of my attention when considering my decision comes down to a flow-based comparison of the last rebuttals. If you plan to bounce from one page to the next in the 2NR/2AR, then please do cross-applications and choose one page to stay on. That will help both of us.

I think debate should be an activity to have discussions. Sometimes these discussions are fun, sometimes they aren't. Sometimes they are obvious and clear, sometimes they are not. Sometimes that's the point. Regardless, have a discussion and I will listen to it.

I don't like to read evidence after debates. That being said, I will if I have to. If you can make the argument without the evidence, feel free to do so. If I yell "clear", don't trip, just articulate.--- If I call for evidence or otherwise find myself needing to read evidence, it probably means you did not do a good enough job of explaining the argument and rather relied on author extensions. Please avoid this.

Your speaks start at a 30. Wherever they go from there are up to you. Things that I will drop speaks for include clearly not explaining/engaging the arguments in the round (without a justification for doing so), not explaining or answering CX questions, not articulating more after I clear you. Things that will improve your speaks include being fast, being efficient with your words, being clear while reading evidence, demonstrating comprehensive knowledge of your args by being off your blocks or schooling someone in cross-x, etc. If I significantly hurt your speaks, I will let you know why. Otherwise, you start at 30 and I've only had to go below 26 a handful of times.

my range is roughly 28.7-29.5 if you are curious for open and higher for Novice becauseI love novice debate

Prep time, cross-x, in-between-speeches chats, I'll be listening. All that means- be attentive to what's happening beyond the speeches. If you are making arguments during these times, be sure to make application arguments in the speech times. That's not just a judge preference, it's often devastating.

I like kritikal/performative debate. I did traditional/policy-styled debate. I prefer the previous but won't rule out the latter.

this is less true as I judge more and more high school debate but it is still true for college debate.

General Tips;

have fun

slow down when reading the theory / analytics / interps

don't assume I know everything, I know nothing in the grand scheme of things

don't be rude unless you're sure of it

Ask me more if you want to know. Email me. I am down to chat more about my decisions in email if you are willing.

LD

• theory is wild. i don't know as much about it as you think I do
• tell me how to evaluate things, especially in the later speeches because new things are read in every speech and its wild and new to me. tell me what to do.
• I love the k's that are in this activity, keep that up.

Congress

I reward clash. If you respond to your opponents in a fluent, coherent manner, you will get high points from me.

I am not the most knowledgeable on the procedures of Congress so I don't know what tricks of the game to value over others. But I'm an excellent public speaking and argumentation coach/professor so I mostly give points based off of the speeches than the politics of the game - i.e. blocking others from speaking, switching/flipping, etc.
For P.O.'s --- I reward efficiency and care. I feel like some P.O.'s take things super seriously in order to be efficient but they come off as cold and unwelcoming in the process. P.O.'s who can strike a balance between the two get the most points from me. I don't keep track of precedence so you gotta be on top of that. I don't time speeches, that's on you as well. I just vibe and look for clash.

________________________________________________________________________

Paradigm from 2017 through February 2024.

Yes, I want to be on the email chain, please put both emails on the chain.

codymorrowtx1@gmail.com

smdebatedocs@gmail.com

Speaker Points

I attempted to resist the point inflation that seems to happen everywhere these days, but I decided that was not fair to the teams/debaters that performed impressively in front of me.

27.7 to 28.2 - Average

28.3 to 28.6 - Good job

28.7 to 29.2 - Well above average

29.3 to 29.7 - Great job/ impressive job

29.8 to 29.9 - Outstanding performance, better than I have seen in a long time. Zero mistakes and you excelled in every facet of the debate.

30 - I have not given a 30 in years and years, true perfection.

I am willing to listen to most arguments. There are very few debates where one team wins all of the arguments so each of you must identify what you are winning and make the necessary comparisons between your arguments and the other team's arguments/positions. Speed is not a problem although clarity is essential. If I think that you are unclear I will say clearer and if you don't clear up I will assign speaker points accordingly. Try to be nice to each other and enjoy yourself. Good cross-examinations are enjoyable and typically illuminates particular arguments that are relevant throughout the debate. Please, don't steal prep time. I do not consider e-mailing evidence as part of your prep time nonetheless use e-mailing time efficiently.

I enjoy substantive debates as well as debates of a critical tint. If you run a critical affirmative you should still be able to demonstrate that you are Topical/predictable. I hold Topicality debates to a high standard so please be aware that you need to isolate well-developed reasons as to why you should win the debate (ground, education, predictability, fairness, etc.). If you are engaged in a substantive debate, then well-developed impact comparisons are essential (things like magnitude, time frame, probability, etc.). Also, identifying solvency deficits on counter-plans is typically very important.

Theory debates need to be well developed including numerous reasons a particular argument/position is illegitimate. I have judged many debates where the 2NR or 2AR are filled with new reasons an argument is illegitimate. I will do my best to protect teams from new arguments, however, you can further insulate yourself from this risk by identifying the arguments extended/dropped in the 1AR or Negative Bloc.

GOOD LUCK! HAVE FUN!

LD June 13, 2022

A few clarifications... As long as you are clear you can debate at any pace you choose. Any style is fine, although if you are both advancing different approaches then it is incumbent upon each of you to compare and contrast the two approaches and demonstrate why I should prioritize/default to your approach. If you only read cards without some explanation and application, do not expect me to read your evidence and apply the arguments in the evidence for you. Be nice to each other. I pay attention during cx. I will not say clearer so that I don't influence or bother the other judge. If you are unclear, you can look at me and you will be able to see that there is an issue. I might not have my pen in my hand or look annoyed. I keep a comprehensive flow and my flow will play a key role in my decision. With that being said, being the fastest in the round in no way means that you will win my ballot. Concise well explained arguments will surely impact the way I resolve who wins, an argument advanced in one place on the flow can surely apply to other arguments, however the debater should at least reference where those arguments are relevant. CONGRATULATIONS & GOOD LUCK!!!

LD Paradigm from May 1, 2022
I will update this more by May 22, 2022

I am not going to dictate the way in which you debate. I hope this will serve as a guide for the type of arguments and presentation related issues that I tend to hear and vote on. I competed in LD in the early 1990's and was somewhat successful. From 1995 until present I have primarily coached policy debate and judged CX rounds, but please don't assume that I prefer policy based arguments or prefer/accept CX presentation styles. I expect to hear clearly every single word you say during speeches. This does not mean that you have to go slow but it does mean incomprehensibility is unacceptable. If you are unclear I will reduce your speaker points accordingly. Going faster is fine, but remember this is LD Debate.

Despite coaching and judging policy debate the majority of time every year I still judge 50+ LD rounds and 30+ extemp. rounds. I have judged 35+ LD rounds on the 2022 spring UIL LD Topic so I am very familiar with the arguments and positions related to the topic.

I am very comfortable judging and evaluating value/criteria focused debates. I have also judged many LD rounds that are more focused on evidence and impacts in the round including arguments such as DA's/CP's/K's. I am not here to dictate how you choose to debate, but it is very important that each of you compare and contrast the arguments you are advancing and the related arguments that your opponent is advancing. It is important that each of you respond to your opponents arguments as well as extend your own positions. If someone drops an argument it does not mean you have won debate. If an argument is dropped then you still need to extend the conceded argument and elucidate why that argument/position means you should win the round. In most debates both sides will be ahead on different arguments and it is your responsibility to explain why the arguments you are ahead on come first/turns/disproves/outweighs the argument(s) your opponent is ahead on or extending. Please be nice to each other. Flowing is very important so that you ensure you understand your opponents arguments and organizationally see where and in what order arguments occur or are presented. Flowing will ensure that you don't drop arguments or forget where you have made your own arguments. I do for the most part evaluate arguments from the perspective that tech comes before truth (dropped arguments are true arguments), however in LD that is not always true. It is possible that your arguments might outweigh or come before the dropped argument or that you can articulate why arguments on other parts of the flow answer the conceded argument. I pay attention to cross-examinations so please take them seriously. CONGRATULATIONS for making it to state!!! Each of you should be proud of yourselves! Please, be nice in debates and treat everyone with respect just as I promise to be nice to each of you and do my absolute best to be predictable and fair in my decision making. GOOD LUCK!

Howdy, I debated from 2016-2020, and participated in several circuits, including NSDA and TFA, so I am familiar with most forms and styles of debate.

CX: Please for the love of all the trees that are going to die because of the flow paper I use do not run 7 off unless you truly believe they are necessary to the the round. Time suck arguments are bad sportsmanship in my opinion.

Generally, I believe in fair debates and creating learning experiences. I will listen to anything, but you need to show me that you understand your case and neg arguments, not just read from Open Ev. A simple way to do this is strong information during CX time, or giving a short explanation at the beginning or end of your constructive, if you don't have time that's fine. I tend to lean more towards analytical, theory, and case arguments, simply because I think they display critical thinking skills and show you can use common sense.

As far as speed, if you want to spread just make sure that taglines are crystal clear. For virtual tourneys I prefer you not spread only because I have never seen it work out successfully, but spread at your own risk. I don't mind open CX as long as both you and your partner are carrying equal weight.

Finally, sportsmanship is very important to me. I think assertiveness and competitiveness is good, but do not be unnecessarily rude to your opponents, it will reflect in your speaker points. If its clear that your opponents skill level is still developing I will respect you more if you turn the round into a learning experience rather than a power flex. Also, don't lose sight of your burden as the aff or neg. In most cases doubt can be a very strong voter, so keep that in mind.

Case: My only request is that you know what you are talking about. I lowkey like k affs, but dont run if you dont know what you are talking about.

DA's: Truthfully, I roll my eyes at nuclear war and hyperbolic impacts, but as a former debater I know that it's just part of debate, so its fine, but I strongly value empirical evidence and impacts that are happening now(hint climate change, structural violence,etc) its a good way to win on timeframe. Impact Calculus is also good if you have time for it in your final rebuttal. To win the DA outline a strong internal link chain and strong empirical evidence if available and make the link as specific as possible.

Counterplan: Please for the sake of keeping the flow clean do not run multiple CP's I will literally lose my mind especially if they get dropped later in the round. You have a better chance of winning the more specific the CP is. To win the counter plan you need to tell me why it is better than the aff, and how you claim the impacts of both the CP and the aff and solve for any DA's you read. I don't really like you just say "perm:do both" I think you need to read evidence that proves you can actually perm. Aff, literally all you need to do it show me why the aff is better(this is part of your burden anyway) and everything will be cool beans.

Theory: I LOVE theory, but I am not a fan of condo; however, if you make a compelling argument then I will vote on it. Condo tends to get messy, or turn into a time suck, or a non-issue, therefore, I tend to lose interest quickly.

Topicality: As the circuits become more progressive T has become a time suck which I really don't appreciate. Please for the love of all that is good only run T if it the aff is untopical and T is really only important to me if you make it important. Depending on the round my default is reasonability.

Kritik: I will listen to it, but same with the DA's I tend to value empirical evidence and impacts that are happening now. I will listen to any alt, but I tend to favor real world than phil. I value moral obligations, empirics, and understanding. I think it is also extremely important that you run the K as if I have no clue what I am doing, this will help you adapt to your judges and once again demonstrates that you know what you are talking which is very important to me.

Lincoln-Douglas: I will listen to anything, but you must show me that you have a strong understanding. I understand that each circuit is different, but during the debate I would prefer an emphasis on your value/criterion and framing, and once you nail those move onto more progressive ideas. I also want to see you use your brain when you make arguments so be sure to try and display common sense and critical thinking skills. I LOVE clash and real world impacts, its an easy way to meet all the criteria I listed previously. Finally, sportsmanship is very important to me. I think assertiveness and competitiveness is good, but do not be unnecessarily rude to your opponents, it will reflect in your speaker points. If its clear that your opponents skill level is still developing I will respect you more if you turn the round into a learning experience rather than a power flex.

My paradigm is mostly tab, if you tell me why I'm voting for you in a persuasive way I will listen.

I really enjoy narrative and kritikal cases that have in-round impacts and question the realm of debate as long as the language is understandable.

When it comes to policy cases I place a lot of emphasis on impact calculus. If there is any chance of a link, I will typically refer to the impact debate for my decision.

I have a pretty high threshold for T and framework, if you go for it I want it to be solid and I want you to really go for it otherwise I won't usually put much stock into it.

Last updated: September 12,2020

Background: I graduated from Karnes City High School in 2017. Debated at Texas A&M University for a year (policy) and graduated in 2019. I have a M.L.A. with an emphasis in Government from Harvard University and am currently a 1L at the University of Dayton School of Law in Dayton, Ohio.

Simply put, I am a tabs judge with heavy emphasis on stock issues. You run it, I’ll flow it. But I expect you to either carry those arguments throughout the round or kick them. Debate is educational, make it that way. Big fan of the T debate-- have every element of a T arg if you one one. Have a strong link to DAs or don’t run them.

Speed is ok as long as I can understand the tagline, author and date. Please analyze each card you read after finishing it to allow for better understanding for all parties in the room.

I tend to think I am a traditional judge. I follow traditional debate theory. Although young, I am an old debate judge at heart.

Ways to win a round: Cover all arguments and then provide meaningful impact calculus with tangible warrants that uphold your claims (VERY important at the end of the round). Convince me that the impacts of your side of the debate outweigh the impacts of the opposition.

I have extensive high school and college debate experience and am more than willing to help each team as much as I can. I am here as a resource, use me! If I don’t know the answer to something, I will certainly find it and get it to you!

Put me on the email chain: palmerk10@udayton.edu

kedarpandya459@gmail.com

I debated for Elkins High School in Policy and LD. I primarily worked with the K and IR Policy, and that is what I most like to judge.

CX/LD:

TLDR: Tech>Truth. High threshold on T arguments against K affs. Fave debates are K aff v K, or Big Stick v Big Stick.

K and K aff: (top of the pref) -

Know your K. I'm not going to hold small semantic mistakes against you, but if they start adding up it'll make it much harder for me to vote. I'd like to think I know most kritiks and the arguments of their authors, but I'm always open to new ideas.

I need specific arguments about the assumptions/structures you critique, and how they relate to the affirmative. That goes for everything, but generalities tend to pop up in link, K solves case, and A2 Perm arguments.

I also like multi-layer interaction. I default to the idea that debate is kids learning things by arguing about them in a room, not a vacuum. That means real issues that you critique outside of debate exist in debate. K debaters rarely take the jump from critiquing a problem that exists in the world to finding its implications for the round. "What's the point of argumentation skills if they just end up being marketized to serve the constant expansion of global capital," is something I really like to hear an argument about.

More creative/out there the K, more speaks you get. Especially if I feel the need to google the author.

DA, CP, Policy Aff: (top of the pref for IR) (#2 or #3 for anything else)

I give some leniency towards the conclusiveness of a card vs. the purported conclusiveness of a tag. Well-researched is always better than randomly cobbled.

T/Theory: (near the bottom of the pref is this is usually your 2nr)

High threshold against K affs, Default to Reasonability and have to be convinced otherwise, I need actual explanations of terminal impacts beyond the 1nc shell.

Phil: (in the middle of the pref)

I didn't read much of this, but I don't have any predispositions about it.

Speaks: Dune and well-done Star Wars references will get you a 30. Being egregiously mean, or engaging in any phobic/rac/sex-ist behavior will get you a 25. Creative IR and K arguments, especially if I've never heard the scenario or author, will get you a 30.

PF - Be as fast and progressive as you want.

I would call myself a heavy tab judge. I will listen to any argument that you could possibly read in front of me, but only if you can do so, well. Ks, K affs, theory, framework, performances, wipeout, CPs, Ts, and anything else you could possibly run is okay with me. My only condition is that Voters must always be read. I don't care how long you spend on the argument, if you don't properly cover the voters on the individual argument, then I have no reason as a judge to vote for it.

Explicitly sexist, racist, xenophobic, and homophobic discourse does not belong in debate, so don't engage in it. People should be nice. If you are not, then you may be looking at a low point win. I do not vote based purely on speaking style but if you are rude or offensive, then don't hope for anywhere near that 30. Other than these caveats, I am comfortable voting for just about any winning argument within any framework you want to explicitly place me within. Absent debate to the contrary, I default to voting for the advocacy with the most net beneficial post fiat impacts. On all portions of the debate I tend to use the heuristics of offense/defense, timeframe/probability/magnitude, and uniqueness/link/impact to evaluate and compare arguments.

Speed:

Won't be able to spread me out of the round as long as you are clear. If you are not then I will say clear once and then after that anything that does not end up on the flow does not get carried over.

Email: jameshaydenporter@gmail.com

Tab, do whatever you do best. I do not have any categorical prohibitions on any types of arguments. While debating I mostly read the K (Cap, Psychoanalysis, Queerness, Schmitt, Heidegger, Biopolitics, etc.) with T and heg as secondary strategies.

Impact comparison is incredibly important for my ballot. Debate is a game of world comparison, for instance if the debate comes down to an aff vs a disad, I will ask myself if the world of the aff or the world of the status quo is net beneficial. This is what it means to weigh impacts. My default impact framing mechanism is Util. If you present an alternative impact framing mechanism tell me how it impacts my evaluation.

Interps must be textually competitive, there is no spirit of the T. For instance, if your interp is "the aff must spec their agent of action." I will vote on a we meet if the aff specs it at some point in the round. So, a better interp would be "the aff must spec their agent of action in the pmc."

T and theory require explicit interps,

If you are going for a non-extinction death impact under a util framing (which is my default if you dont present me with an alternative) please quantify your impacts.

I have very ambivalent feelings about MG theory. The absences of backside rebuttals makes it structurally abusive but on the other hand without it there is not way to check back for neg abuse. My attitude can be summarized thusly: "lets not!"

Speed is not an issue

I see to minimize judge intervention. Many debate that I judge often miss the forest for the trees, the entire debate becomes a show line by line tit for tat responses without either team pulling across a warrant that is predictive of the opponents arguments nor taking a step back and establishing the stakes of these line by line attacks as it relates to the substance of the debate. Please do predictive comparisons.

Theory defaults to common issues: Condo good, don't need to spec, speed good, cx is binding, presumption goes neg.

Fiat is required for any negative argument that does not defend the status quo.

I did policy debate in High School and was the 2018 4A CX state champion. I did parli at UT Tyler and was a two time NPTE finalist and a one time NPDA finalist. I currently coach parli at William Jewell College.
masonaremaley@gmail.com

I firmly believe policy debate should focus on the policy - and that the point of the debate is education.

Simplified: The resolution was chosen for a reason. All teams have spent countless hours (hopefully) researching, thinking critically about, and formulating a plan that answers the resolution topic thoughtfully and intelligently. Don't muck up a debate about criminal justice reform talking about LBTQ rights or increasing teacher pay (I'm all for both of these, by the way) unless it somehow legitimately ties into criminal justice reform. I don't care if you think the resolution is not the most important issue right now - it is the most important issue in this debate and should be given it's due respect. I'm good with CP's DA's and even the occasional K (though I rarely vote for the K), but let's keep it real and on topic. I want to see that you can listen to and think critically about, then civilly debate one another's ideas about the topic given to you.

It would be hard for me to support that coconut candy is the best because, well, it just isn't. But I can hear someone else's argument, critique it, make compelling arguments against it and then promote my thought that Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are the world's finest food. If someone makes the argument that coconut candy is the best, and I start saying, "Who cares about coconut candy? Big Bang Theory is better!" no one wants to listen to that disjointed conversation. As a judge, I want you to draw me in and show me what you have as far as thinking and communicating, not reading pre-planned arguments that are not even relevant.

Spreading is fine so long as it isn't so fast or unintelligible as to complicate the round and put an unfair burden on the other team. Slowing down for tag lines is good, but tag lines alone do not convey the details of your case. All of it should be intelligible.

Speed: I'm fine with speed as long as you're clear and understandable. I'll say "clear" if I can't understand you and I expect you to slow down.

Speaker points docked for rude comments and behavior.

I am a combination of a policymaker and game player. I'll evaluate the round by how many arguments each team wins, but teams win those arguments based on their policy and how their advantages and impacts stack up.

I'm fine with Theory and Framework, but apply the card to the round don't just read it out.

Please put me in on the email chains: jenna.salzman@gmail.com

Megan Snopik - megansnopik@gmail.com 4 da email chain!!!

Pronouns: She/they

I am a tab judge, do as you please as long as it is not racist/sexist/homophobic/classist etc.

I prefer truth over tech, and really find it hard to vote on big stick impacts. I was a K debater and really enjoy performance. I find it pretty hard to get into hardcore technical policy rounds and really prefer K debate. I am a little rusty on spreading, so please signpost well and slow down on tags.

Argument specifics:

K: Love it. Live for it. Great. Don't read evidence you don't know the warrants to. Make sure you can explain your alternative, but honestly, I am not opposed to voting for a K with a sketchy one in a K v Policy debate. I shouldn't need to have read your lit to understand your case, that's your job.

CP: I will evaluate. Don't be crazy with the amount of planks and such. Multiple worlds is my default.

DA: I am not a fan of util, so big stick impacts are also not my fav. I will evaluate them though!

T: Yeah, I'll evaluate it. Make sure you differentiate between standards and voters pls and thank you.

FW: I like ks and I really like K affs... so make it compelling.

TDLR: read what you want, know your lit/arguments, and don't be mean.

Danielle Starr

Stephen F. Austin State University 22' (family studies & pre-law)

Please add me to your email evidence chain: daniellestarr32@gmail.com

Policy Debate Paradigm:

I am a Tab Judge, so I will vote on anything that is supported and debated well.

I highly encourage structured arguments, offense and defense, and impact debate.

Notes: If spreading then please pop tag lines, and respectful decorum is a must.

Good luck!

Please add me to the email chain: hstringer@princetonisd.net

CX Philosophy
As a judge, I look to you to tell me the rules of the round. I try to be as fluid as possible when it comes to framework and argument. I only ask that you make sure you explain it and how it impacts the round.

I enjoy topical affirmatives and unique arguments from the negative that link to the affirmative case. If an argument applies to any topical affirmative, I tend to not vote for it (provided the affirmative shows that it is non-unique). Really good impact debate is my happy place.

In regards to speed, I would say I am comfortable with mid-high, however it would be smart to think slower on procedurals and tag lines. Go ahead and add me to the email/flash chain and then do what makes you happy.

My facial expressions are pretty readable. If you see me making a face, you may want to slow down and/or explain more thoroughly.

I don't count flashing as part of prep, but prep for flashing/sending files (organizing files, trying to find the right speech, deleting other files, etc) are. It shouldn't take more than about 30 seconds to send files. Going on 5 minutes is a bit excessive.

In terms of critical debate: I am not opposed to it, but I am not well versed, so be sure to really explain any kritiks and how they impact the debate. One of my students called me a lazy progressive judge. That fits. I don't read the literature or envelope myself in the K. Do the work for me; I don't want to.

Counterplans, disadvantages and solvency/advantage debates are great.

I think topicality is necessary to debate, but tend to skew to the aff as long as they can show how they are reasonably topical.

All that being said, I will flow anything and vote on anything until a team proves it isn't worthy of a vote.

LD Philosophy

I have been near LD Debate for about 20 years, but have never been trained in it. So, I am knowledgeable about the event, but not about the content within it. You will probably need to explain more to me and why I should vote on a particular issue. As a policy debater, I tend toward evidence and argumentation. However, I will vote on what you tell me is important to vote on unless your opponent makes a more compelling argument for me to vote on something else.

Public Forum Debate Philosophy

My favorite part of public forum debate is the niceties that are expected here. I love to watch a debater give a killer speech and then turn to politeness in crossfire. Polite confidence is a major selling point for me. Not that I won't vote for you if you aren't polite, but I might look harder for a winning argument for your opponent. In PF, I look more for communication of ideas over quantity of argumentation. I don't coach public forum, so I am not well versed in the content. Make sure you explain and don't just assume I know the inner workings of the topic.

for email chain: jonasevers99@gmail.com

I debated for four years at Lindale High School and now debate at Baylor University. I have had lots of technical policy debates as well as a litany of debates about theories of power, resistance, and methodology. I will listen to whatever arguments you choose to present in the debate, provided they are not offensive or rhetorically violent.

I generally start deciding debates by evaluating relative offense vs. defense. The importance of offense is determined by whatever impact calculus or role of the ballot has been provided and can be drastically be mitigated by whatever defense is won. I can be convinced to evaluate the debate differently or vote on arguments that have been framed as prior, but absent explicit instruction, this is likely how I will evaluate your debate.

Cards should be read, not 'inserted into the debate' (including any re-cutting of opponent's evidence).

I think the 2nr and 2ar should isolate the important arguments they think they are winning and spend a good amount of time framing those arguments in the context of the other team's position. Debates that are spread too thin often require lots of intervention on my part and will result in decreases in speaker points.

I think for the most part counterplans should have a solvency advocate but that's certainly a debate to be had. If your counterplan is theoretically 'eh' then be sure to spend time on that flow specifically establishing where you think you're generating competition. Most theory is a reason to reject the argument unless I'm explicitly instructed otherwise (a 2 second "reject the team to set a precedent" at the bottom of your block isn't what I'm talking about).

Disads are more persuasive with aff specific link evidence but I'm all here for block spin and contextualization. Impact comparison and analysis is the most important part of this flow and should be where you start directing my decision in these debates.

In topicality debates I usually default to competing interpretations but can definitely be persuaded otherwise. There doesn't have to be in round abuse but you should explain to me why the offense specific to your interpretation applies to how all debates on this topic would take place.

In K debates, it's important to me that you spend time instructing me as to what kind of offense I should be prioritizing and what impacts I should be assigning the most importance to. Be sure to spend a substantial amount of time explaining and framing the alternative for me, but I'm also willing to vote on just the link and impact or presumption claims if that's your 2nr move.

I enjoy K affs as well as framework debates and would prefer for both teams to explain to me what debate looks like under their model/interpretation but am also willing to vote on 'debate bad' and straight impact turn strategies.

For CX Debate, I am a stock issues judges; I love stock issues and think they will guarantee a fruitful debate. However, I really am willing to listen to any argument as long it makes SENSE.

Please, do not force me to listen to some overdone kritik that does not link any way to the affirmative teams case. I also think that debate should be a communication activity; I think every word is important and I would like to hear all of them. If you can make yourself understood while spreading, go for it. If not, that is ok; I believe in quality of arguments over quantity.

Most importantly, have fun and be respectful to all in the room.

Howdy! I started competing in 2008 and graduated from Big Spring High School in 2012. I've been coaching since 2016 at different schools in West Texas, and I’m currently at Permian High School in Odessa, TX! General rule of thumb; don't be a jerk and things will be fine.

CX:

*Include me on the email chain, austin.trevino@ecisd.school

I am a policy maker that evaluates all arguments. I typically judge based on impacts/cost analysis/risk scenarios, but if you don't want me to evaluate that way then let me know why. Just to go in-depth on key arguments:

T- I will evaluate T's every round but in some (most as of late) instances the T is used as a time suck and a strategy of the Neg to win on a technicality. Please do not do this. Only run T if the Aff is definitely not topical. I defer to reasonability on T.

DA- Try to have your links as specific as you can. The more specific the link, the better. That being said, I will evaluate generic DA's if the speaker can analyze and make the link argument fit the Aff.

CP- I hated CP's for years, but they seem to be almost a necessity for this year's topic so I have learned to love them. Theory debates on the CP get very muddy very fast so try to avoid running those arguments if you cannot keep a bright line in there. I err Neg on CP theory, regardless. 50 States is viable, but the more specific your CP is to the Aff, the better off you will be. I do not enjoy rounds with multiple CP's, though.

K- I'll listen to just about any K, but you have to be able to explain it to a five year old. Don't assume I am familiar with your authors. I would like to consider myself relatively well-read on some of the literature with the topic, but be able to break down arguments to their most basic level in case I'm not. I prefer more pragmatic alts to the K rather than the philosophical. Also, don't run the "Postmodern Tap Dance Theory" K that your coach cut for you last night just because nobody has anything on it. Just because you can run an argument does not mean you should.

Theory- Open to theory debates if you can keep them clean. If you know you can't, you probably shouldn't run them.

Speed- We're online so take that into consideration. I can give a verbal clear if need be.

Any other specific questions? Ask me before we start. GO MOJO!

LD:

I'm less Tab here. I enjoy a value/criteria debate with lots of clash in that area as well as lots of good framing arguments, with impacts strewn in. Please do not run any policy arguments here. I do not enjoy those rounds and one theory shell could lose the round for you in the NC.

3 years of CX with Prosper High School (TX)

Broke at TFA state and nat circuit tournaments

Important for online debates! I'm hard of hearing. For whatever reason, my hearing aids have difficulties picking up every word over online debate platforms. Spreading at your top speed for online debates probably isn't the best due to lag and me not being able to lipread properly. It's probably safest to spread at 80% of your normal speed, I'll let you know if it isn't clear enough for me to hear. FLASH YOUR ANALYTICS PLEASE! If you have any questions related to speed, feel free to spread a couple of sentences before the round starts for me and I'll let you know. :)

General Preferences:

-Put me on the email chain: addison.wellen@gmail.com

-I'll give an RFD unless something weird happens/the tournament is significantly delayed. If you still have questions after the round, feel free to email me

-Speed is fine. Slow down for analytics if I don’t have them.

-I'm mostly truth over tech unless the drops are very significant or if I'm convinced to prefer tech over truth. If you're trying to convince me to prefer tech over truth, make sure you explain why the arguments dropped should influence the direction of the round. (If I'm not flowing on paper, I promise I'm flowing on my laptop)

-Open CX is fine. So is prompting. (Anything too excessive may affect speaker points, and avoid interrupting or talking over a female partner as it can be very obvious and offputting)

-Line by line >>>>>>>>> overviews

-I ran more K arguments than non-K arguments, but a well-run policy argument is better than a terribly run K

-BE NICE! Especially in rounds where one team/partner is more experienced than the other, be nice. Please respect other people's identities/experiences, and treat your partner nicely

-I don't count sending the cards as prep but merging docs while your partner is typing as fast as possible is prep

LD/Anything Other Than CX:

-Just do what you normally do. Keep in mind what my CX paradigm says and feel free to ask questions about it before the round starts.

-I really like framing in LD, please have it!

-Slow down on topic-specific arguments and explain them more than you normally would.

-CPs, Plans, and Kritikal stuff is fine in LD.

-Traditional value/criterion arguments are totally fine, so is less traditional framing. Just please, please have framing arguments. :)

Policy Affs:

-Don’t assume that I know everything about the aff, especially at the start of the season.

-I’d vote on presumption if the argument is well-made.

-I especially like cases with framing in the 1ac.

-Actually explain your solvency mechanism (having a solvency advocate is also nice). Far too often, neg teams will only debate impacts and don't respond to the solvency of the aff.

-Especially for novices, don't drop your case in the rebuttals. Make sure you extend your case and not just your responses to the case arguments. Dropping the case is an easy way to lose my ballot (unless you're dropping it for a strategic/theory-related reason).

K Affs:

-I’ve run them, I love them.

-Please!! Don't have super long overviews!! Please do line-by-line!!

-They don’t have to have real-world solvency unless the neg convinces me that they do.

-Please don't be super shifty in cross about what your k does, try to explain and stick to the mechanism of your advocacy/alt

-If it’s from an uncommon K lit base, you should probably explain it to me. You can ask me before the round if I know a specific lit base. (I specialize in qt, settler colonialism, disability ks, biopower)

-If it isn't in the direction of the topic at all, your framing should be really good. (Try to keep it in the direction of the topic please)

-I ran a k aff my senior year and did a 2ar against cap and/or t usfg nearly every single round, so try to spice it up a bit if you're neg

-Also, it's super important to be extra nice if the other team is unfamiliar with k affs.

Performance Affs:

-Just tell me why to vote for you and why your performance matters for the world of debate. I ran a narrative/identity aff my senior year if that means anything to you. I’m not going to vote you up for the only reason that you perform (framing will be an important issue) but I’ll 100% vote for a performance.

Framing:

-Please, please have it. Tell me how to vote for you and why your framework outweighs.

-I love role of the ballot/judge, especially if they aren’t self-serving and can improve the overall world of debate.

-Reading a generic framing block is a lot more boring than reading framing specific to the issues of the round (but it's still better than no framing at all)

K:

-Please!! Don't have super long overviews!! Please do line-by-line!!

-I was mostly a K debater my senior year, but please don’t run a K you don’t understand to try and get my ballot because I'd rather a well-run policy argument than a terribly run K. Don’t assume I know everything about a kritik.

-Explain the alt to me (and it doesn’t have to be pragmatic/material unless the aff convinces me that it does; just explain what it looks like). Don't be shifty about the alt in cx

-Explain why perms can/can’t solve.

-K framing is going to be pretty important.

-Root cause claims are also a debate to be had.

-I'm not super familiar with every single post-modernism argument

T/Framework:

-T and Framework debates are especially important near the start of the season.

-Please don’t extend this into the 2nr if you’re going for another offcase (unless you have a good reason).

-I’ll default to reasonability or competing interps- just tell me (it’ll be reasonability if you don’t specify).

-TVAs+SSD with clear explanations are infinitely more convincing that "they're unfair that's bad" arguments. Fairness is a voter but there are better reasons to vote for T/FW

-A framework debate that is specific to the aff is the best type. If it's obvious you/your team read this exact framework shell in response to every single k aff ever, it's so much less persuasive.

DA:

-Specificity + uniqueness >>>> super generic

-I’d prefer it if you have specific links. Make sure you warrant each card in the rebuttals and tell me why the impacts outweigh.

-Please don't read outdated politics disads, it'll lose you a lot of credibility/speaker points

-If it's a politics disad, I love evidence recency (and also debates on why recency should/shouldn't matter).

CP:

-Innovative, unique CPs are better than a generic CP (but I'll vote for whatever)

-Explain why they can’t perm, especially if you have good no perm cards.

-“Cheating” CPs are fine unless the aff says they’re not and gives a good reason.

-Solvency advocates make your CP so much better.

-Explain your net benefit and if it is something other than avoids the DA, that's even better

Theory:

-Tell me why to vote for it and how it improves the world of debate. If you're reading 4+ theory shells as a time suck that's not cool and will likely annoy me :(

-I hate intervening and voting for theory if it was a 5 second blip in the 2ac/block

-I'm a lot more likely to vote for condo if there's more than 3 condo arguments (if there's less than 3, I'll still vote if it's well explained)

-I really don't like disclosure theory but I'll vote on it if the argument is well made

-Speed theory/accessibility-related things are interesting

-Please do slow down on theory if its not in the speech doc. If its a 5 second blip that's not in the speech doc, I'll have a lot harder time flowing the theory argument

Speaker Points:

I generally give high speaker points. I won't go below 27.5 unless something problematic happens.

My speaker points will vary based off of the tournament (a 30 at a local probably won't be a 30 at the TOC)

30: Wonderful debater :)

29-29.9: Very good speaker and you make very minimal mistakes

28.5-28.9: I can tell that you’re trying although you’re doing some things that annoy me (like not warranting things or telling me why to vote for you)

27.5-28.4: You’re making significant mistakes either because you don’t care or you don’t know any better yet

0-25: I'll give the lowest speaker points possible if you're being super problematic/racist/sexist/etc

[Updated 10/23/2023]

Midway '20 / BYU '26

TFA, UIL, NSDA, NDCA debater; fourth-year judge

He/Him

add me to the email chain - benwdebates@gmail.com

Top Level:

Debated all 4 years, qualified for TFA/UIL State 3 years, NSDA 2 years.

I am not a college debater, but I have judged a number of tournaments.

Generally tech over truth

I want to call myself a tab judge who acknowledges that biases exist. Feel free to run whatever you want so long as it's explained and debated well. My place in the debate is as an observer to in-round information; that being said, understanding of the world is limited and often skewed.

T:

-Don't run it as a time skew. If you run it, I want to see it extended to the rebuttals at least, and I want to see a clear violation.

-I'm a fan of legal/textual precision - run T if there are technical aff mistakes

-For voters, I don't regularly buy in-round abuse. Limits/ground/education is the easier argument to win and normally just makes more sense.

-Otherwise, I default to reasonability. Prove a violation or there isn't one

Case:

-Assume I know nothing about your case. I probably do, but I like explanation.

-pls understand your case, if you fall apart in cx you lose a lot of ethos.

-no underview; overview should be <20 seconds [assuming your 1AC was adequate lol]

-prefer an LBL in the order of the 1NC case args but honestly idc

-Framing: preempts are ok but unnecessary, I probably default to a deontological standard (which isn't really saying much)

K affs:

-Performance, narratives, etc: all cool. I give them weight in the debate space because they're still debate arguments. Hopefully they're related to the topic. Making the reason to vote AFF clear is key. FW debate is real important to me, and be prepared to defend switch side debate.

DA

cool

-UQ controls DA, if you run a long link chain scenario w old ev I'll probably not buy it

-I like good impact debate

CP:

-Pretty simple, prove competition with the aff + net benefit or I won't buy

-Probably won't vote on theory args here unless it's blatant, affs are better off attacking solvency mechanism of the CP in my book

K:

-Debate the K's thesis as it applies to the topic/aff. Give me a specific link, I don't really vibe w teams who just run the same neg strat w generic parts

-I should see a well-explained alt solvency mechanism. Give me an alt that actually defends something or I probably won't vote.

-Again, I love a good FW debate, have a good interp about the ROB, otherwise it's just to vote up the better debater lol

-Well versed in biopolitics, setcol, cap, afropessimism, and neitzsche. Run whatever, but anything (especially lit heavy things) should be explained thoroughly.

Theory:

-You can ask about specifics but my general answer is please don't.

-Aspec is dumb unless they really don't specify in plan text (cx probably checks)

-I probably won't vote on condo, 99% of the time just whiny debaters haha

-I think I said this already but potential abuse isn't a voter

Misc. Info:

-Speed is fine, but clarity above anything else. I won't flow things I can't hear or understand.
I'll say/type clear twice in the event that your spreading is messy. (Obs: online debates with spreading suck, so on the off chance that I'm judging one of those, please don't)

-Points are awarded for good clash, quality arguments, efficiency, judge direction, impressive cross-x, and for being an effective speaker. Try to make this interesting for me. The medium is the message; you have a better chance of winning if you phrase your argument in a professional/enjoyable manner.

-I'll typically award at least 28 speaks unless you're blatantly rude, apathetic, or otherwise disturbing the debate space. Racism/misogyny/homophobia/any other kind of discrimination is grounds for 0 speaks.

-Mark your own cards and be ready to clarify where they were marked

-I used to run spark and wipeout a lot, so I vibe w impact turns when they're ran well

-Email me w any questions, I'll typically get back to you within 24 hours

[note: treating me as a lay judge in LD is not a terrible idea. I have debated and judged LD in a limited capacity, and I am fairly well-versed in LD, but it is probably a safe bet to overexplain everything.]

thanks for actually reading this! if you did feel free to let me know and I'll probably see you as a more responsible debater haha

I am Dyspolity@gmail.com on email chains.

NSDA update:

I love judging here. Principally this is because the schools who compete the most robust circuits have to slow down and I get to be a meaningful participant in the debates. I am not fast enough to judge the TOC circuit and even my home circuit, TFA can have me out over my skis trying to follow. But here, my experience has been that the very best schools adapt to the format by slowing their roll and this allows me to viscerally enjoy the beauty and rigor of their advocacy. Do not confuse my pace limitations with cognitive limits.

Who I am:

Policy debater in the 1970's and 80's. I left debate for 15 years then became a coach in 1995. I was a spread debater, but speed then was not what speed is today. I am not the fast judge you want if you like speed. Because you will email me your constructive speeches, I will follow along fine, but in the speeches that win or lose the round I may not be following if you are TOC circuit fast. If that makes me a dinosaur, so be it.

I have coached most of my career in Houston at public schools and currently I coach at Athens in East Texas. I have had strong TOC debaters in LD, but recently any LDers that I have coached were getting their best help from private coaching. Only recently have I had Policy debate good enough to be relevant at TOC tournaments.

I rarely give 30's. High points come from clear speaking, cogent strategic choices, professional attitudes and eloquent rhetoric.

Likes:

Line by line debates. I want to see the clash of ideas.

Policy arguments that are sufficiently developed. A disadvantage is almost never one card. Counterplans, too, must be fully developed. Case specific counterplans are vastly preferable to broad generics. PIC's are fine.

Framework debates that actually clash. I like K debates, but I am more likely to vote on a K that is based on philosophy that is more substantive and less ephemeral. NOTE: I have recently concluded that running a K with me in the back of the room is likely to be a mistake. I like the ideas in critical arguments, but I believe I evaluate policy arguments more cleanly.

Dislikes:

Poor extensions. Adept extensions will include references to evidence, warrants and impacts.

Overclaiming. Did I need to actually include that?

Theory Arguments, including T. I get that sometimes it is necessary, but flowing the standards and other analytical elements of the debate, particularly in rebuttals, is miserable. To be clear, I do vote on both theory and T, but the standards debate will lose me if you are running through it.

Circuit level speed.

I am fine with conditional elements of a negative advocacy. I believe that policy making in the real world is going to evaluate multiple options and may even question assumptions at the same time. But I prefer that the positions be presented cogently.

Rudeness and arrogance. I believe that every time you debate you are functioning as a representative of the activity. When you are debating an opponent whose skill development does not approach your own, I would prefer that you debate in such a way so as to enable them to learn from the beating your are giving them. You can beat them soundly, and not risk losing the ballot, without crushing their hopes and dreams. Don't be a jerk. Here is a test, if you have to ask if a certain behavior is symptomatic of jerkitude, then it is.

One More Concern:

There are terms of art in debate that seem to change rather frequently. My observation is that many of these terms become shorthand for more thoroughly explained arguments, or theoretical positions. You should not assume that I understand the particularly specialized language of this specific iteration of debate.

Policy Debate:

I default negative unless convinced otherwise. Also, I fail to see why the concept of presumption lacks relevance any more.

LD Debate:

Because of the time skew, I try to give the affirmative a lot of leeway. For example, I default aff unless convinced otherwise.

I have a very high threshold to overcome my skepticism on ROTB and ROTJ and Pre-Fiat arguments. I should also include K aff's that do not affirm the resolution and most RVI's in that set of ideas that I am skeptical about on face. I will vote on these arguments but there is a higher threshold of certainty to trigger my ballot. I find theory arguments more persuasive if there is demonstrable in-round abuse.

PF Debate:

I won't drop a team for paraphrasing, yet, but I think it is one of the most odious practices on the landscape of modern debate. Both teams are responsible for extending arguments through the debate and I certainly do not give any consideration for arguments in the final focus speeches that were not properly extended in the middle of the debate.

Congress:

1) This is not an interactive activity. I will not signal you when I am ready. If I am in the back of your Congress session, I am ready. 2) At the best levels of this event, everyone speaks well. Content rules my rankings. 3)I am particularly fond of strong sourcing. 4)If you aren't warranting your claims, you do not warrant a high ranking on my ballot. 5) Your language choices should reflect scholarship. 6) All debate is about the resolution of substantive issues central to some controversy, as such clash is critical.

I used to have a longer paradigm, I deleted it because it'd been a while since I made any substantive changes to it and I think my relationship to debate has changed. People are on here looking for prefs and pre round advice for how to persuasively frame their arguments. I'm not sure what the ideal paradigm for answering those questions is and doubt that this one comes close in many readings.

i just want to see a debate. I want full argumentation relying on complex and nuanced understandings of interesting and innovatice evidence sets. I want to see debaters taking research and connecting the dots to develop a complex understanding of the world. I love that strategy is a part of debate and like to see people make bold choices with clear and clever strategic goals, and for those things to be communicated in an effective manner.

I think that arguments should be complete (having a claim, warrant, and impact) on the flow when they are made. I appreciate well organized debaters who engage in a method that creates a clear structure for the flow. I think that there has been a lack of emphasis on argument explication. I guess what I'm trying to say is it seems like debaters are either being held or are holding themselves to a lower threshold when it comes to fleshing out the implications of any particular argument and it's relationship to all the other sub debates and ultimately the ballot. Maybe one thing that causes that is debaters wanting to go for too much in their final speeches. Being confident in being able to narrow the debate down to what you believe to be the key issues is I think what I mean by making bold choices. I think it's good when these things happen earlier (as early as the 1ac/1nc) rather than later(I'll put "condo" here so people can control f that and surmise my opinion about big 1nc's in LD by reading the preceding sentence).

As long as adequate time is spent to implicating ur argument and telling me what to do on it then you shouldn't be afraid to say anything in front of me. (Except bad and incomplete arguments).

Speed? I can do it!! I think this is something that should be negotiated between debaters but I'm a pretty alright flow! Pen time between pages and vocal intonations and speed changes for emphasis are good things.

Evidence should be like, words highlighted that when read together approximate at least an attempt at a sentence. If I read the highlighting and come away thinking "what is bro yapping about" I'm gonna lower your speaks.

Conversely will award decent speaks for interesting and good quality research.

Spin is important but so is your ev, but remember when making args I'm probably not looking at it till after the round.

I think I might have a higher threshold for explanation than a lot of judges. I'm at the risk of being repetitive here, making bold, specific, and strategic choices/ sticking to your guns to take them to their logical conclusions is great for you in front of me.

My email (which you should put on the chain) is: debatethek@gmail.com

I do policy and NFA ld for the University of North texas. If you're interested in debating in college, and in particular at UNT hit me up, we have scholarships!

Online debate stuff:

I like email chains over other kinds of sharing methods- it lets us get in contact with ppl in case of technical difficulties.

I think Jackie Poapst said this first, but I absolutely hate “is any one not ready” because if someone is having a tech problem then they may not be able to indicate they are not ready. It is the equivalent of “if you aren’t here raise your hand.”

There have been several times when debaters have asked “is everybody ready” and then proceeded to give their speech without a response from me- I missed several seconds of those debaters’ speeches. Please wait for me to respond I’ll usually say that “i’m good” verbally. If I see that the debater about to give a speech can see their camera- i may just give a thumbs up. If I have not done either of those things- I AM NOT READY.

Updated January 2024

About me:

I am currently the speech and debate coach at Theodore Roosevelt HS.

I debated policy and LD for four years at Winston Churchill HS and qualified to the TOC senior year.

I have been judging debate (mostly policy and LD) for over 5 years.

My email is benwolf8@gmail.com if you have any questions before or after rounds.

TL;DR version:

I have no preference to any sort of specific types of arguments. Sure, some debates I may find more interesting than others, but honestly the most interesting rounds to judge are ones where teams are good at what they do and they strategically execute a well planned strategy. I think link and perm analysis is good, affs should probably be topical/in the direction of the topic but I'm less convinced of the need for instrumental defense of the USFG. Everything below is insight into how I view/adjudicate debates, its questionably useful but will probably result in higher speaks.

Public Forum: Be polite and courteous during cross fire. Make sure to utilize your evidence and warrant arguments. I am open to whatever arguments you would like to make (obviously avoid racist, sexist, etc. arguments). I am open to all styles and speeds of delivery, but if your opponent is not speed reading, it would help your speaker points if you can avoid speed reading too. Everything else is more relevant to policy and LD debate, but you may find it useful for PF too.

Evidence Standards:

Share your evidence before you deliver the speech. If you ask to see multiple cards from your opponent after they have given their speech, I will start running your prep time.

Speech Drop is great, please use it. https://speechdrop.net/

You should always follow the NSDA evidence rules: https://www.speechanddebate.org/wp-content/uploads/Debate-Evidence-Guide.pdf

You should do your best to be honest with your evidence and not misconstrue evidence to say something that it clearly does not say.

Theory interpretations and violations, plan texts, and alternative advocacy statements should all be included in the speech document.

If you are reading a card and need to cut it short, you should clearly state that you are cutting the card and put a mark on your document so that you can easily find where you stopped reading that card. If you are skipping cards in the speech document, make sure to mention that and/or sign post where you are going. This should avoid the need to send a marked copy of your document after your speech if you do these things, unless you read cards that were not included in your original speech document.

Prep Time Standards:

Prep time begins after the preceding speech/cross-examination ends.

If you have not transferred your speech document to your opponent, then you are still taking prep time. Prep time ends when the flash drive leaves your computer. Prep time ends when the document is uploaded onto speech drop. Prep time ends when the email has been sent. Once the team taking prep time says they are done with prep, then both teams need to stop typing, writing, talking, etc. The speech document should then be automatically delivered to the opponents and judge as fast as technologically possible.

Speaker points: average = 27.5, I generally adjust relative to the pool when considering how I rank speakers.

-Things that will earn you speaker points: politeness, being organized, confidence, well-placed humor, well executed strategies/arguments, efficiency.

-Things that will lose you speaker points: arrogance, rudeness, humor at the expense of your opponent, stealing prep, pointless cross examination, running things you don’t understand, mumbling insults about myself or other judges who saw the round differently from you.

-Truth v Tech: I more frequently decide close debates based on questions of truth/solid evidence rather than purely technical skills. Super tech-y teams probably should be paying attention to overviews/nebulous arguments when debating teams who like to use a big overview to answer lots of arguments. I still vote on technical concessions/drops but am lenient to 2AR/2NR extrapolation of an argument made elsewhere on the flow answering a 'drop'. This also bleeds into policy v policy debates, I am much more willing to vote on probability/link analysis than magnitude/timeframe; taking claims of "policy discussions good" seriously also means we need to give probability of impacts/solvency more weight.

-Evidence v Spin: Ultimately good evidence trumps good spin. I will accept a debater’s spin until it is contested by the opposing team. I will read evidence if said evidence is contested and/or if compared/contrasted to the oppositions evidence. I will first read it through the lens of the debater’s spin but if it is apparent that the evidence has been mis-characterized spin becomes largely irrelevant. This can be easily rectified by combining good evidence with good spin. I often find this to be the case with politics, internal link, and affirmative permutation evidence for kritiks, pointing this out gets you speaks. That being said, there is always a point in which reading more evidence should take a backseat to detailed analysis, I do not need to listen to you read 10 cards about political capital being low.

-Speed vs Clarity: If I have never judged you or it is an early morning/late evening round you should probably start slower and speed up through the speech so I can get used to you speaking. When in doubt err on the side of clarity over speed. If you think things like theory or topicality will be options in the final rebuttals give me pen time so I am able to flow more than just the 'taglines' of your theory blocks.

-Permutation/Link Analysis: this is an increasingly important issue that I am noticing with kritik debates. I find that permutations that lack any discussion of what the world of the permutation would mean to be incredibly unpersuasive and you will have trouble winning a permutation unless the negative just concedes the perm. This does not mean that the 2AC needs an detailed permutation analysis but you should be able to explain your permutations if asked to in cross-x and there definitely should be analysis for whatever permutations make their way into the 1AR. Reading a slew of permutations with no explanation throughout the debate leaves the door wide open for the negative to justify strategic cross applications and the grouping of permutations since said grouping will still probably contain more analysis than the 1AR/2AR. That being said, well explained/specific permutations will earn you speaker points and often times the ballot. In the same way it benefits affirmatives to obtain alt/CP texts, it would behoove the negative to ask for permutation texts to prevent affirmatives shifting what the permutation means later in the debate.

The same goes for link/link-turn analysis I expect debaters to be able to explain the arguments that they are making beyond the taglines in their blocks. This ultimately means that on questions of permutations/links the team who is better explaining the warrants behind their argument will usually get more leeway than teams who spew multiple arguments but do not explain them.

Argument-by-argument breakdown:

Topicality/Theory: I tend to lean towards a competing interpretations framework for evaluating T, this does not mean I won't vote on reasonability but I DO think you need to have an interpretation of what is 'reasonable' otherwise it just becomes another competing interp debate. Aff teams should try and have some offense on the T flow, but I don't mean you should go for RVIs. I generally believe that affirmatives should try and be about the topic, this also applies to K affs, I think some of the best education in debate comes from learning to apply your favorite literature to the topic. This also means that I generally think that T is more strategic than FW when debating K affs. I've learned that I have a relatively high threshold for theory and that only goes up with "cheapshot" theory violations, especially in LD. Winning theory debates in front of me means picking a few solid arguments in the last rebuttal and doing some comparative analysis with the other teams arguments; a super tech-y condo 2AR where you go for 15 arguments is going to be a harder sell for me. Other default settings include: Topicality before theory, T before Aff impacts, T is probably not genocidal. These can be changed by a team making arguments, but in an effort for transparency, this is where my predispositions sit.

Kritiks: I have no problems with K's. I've read a decent amount of critical literature, there is also LOTS that I haven't read, it would be wise to not make assumptions and take the time to explain your argument; in general you should always err towards better explanation in front of me. I do not enjoy having to sift through unexplained cards after K v K rounds to find out where the actual tension is (you should be doing this work), as such I am more comfortable with not caring that I may not have understood whatever argument you were trying to go for, that lack of understanding is 9/10 times the debater's fault. Feel free to ask before the round how much I know about whatever author you may be reading, I'm generally pretty honest. I generally think that critical debates are more effective when I feel like things are explained clearly and in an academic way, blippy extensions or lack of warrants/explanation often results in me voting affirmative on permutations, framing, etc.


CP: I have no problems with counterplans, run whatever you want. I think that most counterplans are legitimate however I am pre-dispositioned to think that CP's like steal the funding, delay, and other sketchy counterplans are more suspect to theory debates. I have no preference on the textual/functional competition debate. On CP theory make sure to give me some pen time. If you are reading a multi-plank counterplan you need to either slow down or spend time in the block explaining exactly what the cp does.

DA: I dont have much to say here, disads are fine just give me a clear story on what's going on.

Performance/Other: I'm fine with these debates, I think my best advice is probably for those trying to answer these strats since those reading them already generally know whats up. I am very persuaded by two things 1) affs need to be intersectional with the topic (if we're talking about China your aff better be related to the conversation). 2) affirmatives need to be an affirmation of something, "affirming the negation of the resolution" is not what I mean by that either. These are not hard and fast rules but if you meet both of these things I will be less persuaded by framework/T arguments, if you do not meet these suggestions I will be much more persuaded by framework and topicality arguments. If you make a bunch of case arguments based on misreadings of their authors/theories I'm generally not super persuaded by those arguments.

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Public Forum: Be polite and courteous during cross fire. Make sure to utilize your evidence and author qualifications. I am open to whatever arguments you would like to make (obviously avoid racist, sexist, etc. arguments). I am open to all styles and speeds of delivery, but if your opponent is not speed reading, it would help your speaker points if you can avoid speed reading too. Everything else above is more relevant to policy and LD debate, but you may find it useful for PF too.

Westwood HS

2022-2023 Season Update:

Senior at Westwood High School this year.

Most of the things below still apply when I evaluate a round. However, I have switched to mainly judging PF, and I have more topic knowledge on PF topics than CX since I have not debated CX for quite a while now.

If I do get put in the CX judging pool, yes, I will still know how things work, but when it comes to more complicated arguments such as Kritik or Theory, It might take me a while to process these arguments. So, please be careful when you choose your strat and be clear in the round.

He/Him, you can also just call me Sean

Put me on the email chain before the round:

condobad@gmail.com

PF:

- 30% Truth, 70% Tech:I believe the nature of PF is a bit different than CX and that truth should be evaluated. However, it does not mean that you can just throw out random truths in the round and call it a day. Empirical evidence is important in any debate and should be evaluated first. It is your job to prove to me why these truths matter in the debate and how they should be evaluated.

- Disclosure (Sending Docs/Open Sourcing): I will not make you send your case docs to each other, but I do strongly encourage disclosure on both sides. The consequence of not disclosing will be reflected in your speaks. I would appreciate it if you do choose to disclose, but please DOWNLOAD your docs from whatever software you use and then send it. I do not want to see a live shared google doc in my mailbox.

- Speed: you can go as fast as you want, but again, If you do choose to not disclose your document, I would not be able to flow your speeches if you are not clear. Also please give a roadmap before every speech.

- Theory: I have a good knowledge of the different types of theories and how they work, at least in CX. Here are some thoughts on theory:

1, Topicality (I guess you can put it under "theory"...) GO FOR IT! Topicality is definitely underused in PF and should definitely be an "official" argument in the future. I will evaluate it if it's used correctly, but If I see some randomly copied CX blocks on T...it won't go well:)

2, I am biased in some ways...If you debate theories such as "disclosure bad", "paraphrasing good", or "sweater theory", I most likely won't evaluate them in the round.

3, Perf con always exists

4, Go look at AMOGH MAHAMBARE's paradigm, he's cool.

- Kritik:To put it in short, I know what a K is, I have some knowledge on specific Ks and philosophies, I have some knowledge on how it can be used in round (in CX), and I have no idea how it's used in PF.

- Speaks:same as CX, except if you choose to not send out your docs, speaks will cap at 29.

CX:

- Generic Thoughts:

P L E A S E time your own prep time and speeches.

Tech > Truth, don't rely on "common sense"

Don't be overly aggressive in c-x, if you turn c-x into an interrogation I will take away ur speaks.

For more info, James Li has a pretty good paradigm.

- Speaker Points:

Please do not do things like disabling the navigation pane by doing special formatting in your word document, I will destroy your speaks.

I take off speaks with a .25 increment.

- Topicality: It is up to the debaters to determine how I evaluate topicality. Explain to me why T matters to the debate space, and if you read T at full speed during NR/ARs, is going to be really hard for me to hear you, so please be clear.

- Counterplans: The more explanation the better, I know most of the generic CPs.

Counterplan Theory: I will buy theory if the counterplan is super sketchy. However, it’s still up to the Affirmative to prove to me why I should reject the team.

- Theory: I do think that sometimes the neg just gets too much “cheat”, but I’m not gonna just vote Neg down if they run multiple contradictory arguments if the Aff doesn’t do anything about it. However; I will buy theories that are well structured and developed in a debate, again is up to the aff to prove to me why to reject the team, and I do not like cheap short theories, especially if you are “hiding” the theory shell. Most likely I will not vote for cheap short theories even if they get dropped.

- Disads: The more specific the better. I prefer 1 or 2 good cards to 10 bad cards, warrants of the cards are also very important. Analytical arguments under DAs are fine.

- Kritik: I’m mainly a policy debater, I understand the generic Ks (set col, abolition, etc), but again, the more specific the better. When it comes to Ks like Baudrillard, I will try my best to understand them, so the more specific and explanation the better. K flows tend to get messy, so please be clear and signpost if needed while reading K. Overall is up to the debaters to prove and teach to me within the round, if you cannot explain the K and your position at the end of the debate, most likely I will not vote for it.

I think reading K Aff in novice yr is abusive.

Case: Please debate on case stuff… Good args on case and some offcases > a bunch of offcases with barely anything on case since case is pretty much the only aff offense. A good dropped case turn will likely win Neg the round. I’m open to any kind of argument you have as long as it is intelligent, arguably true, and not problematic.