NEWMAN SMITH SPONTANEITY 41
2020 — Carrollton, TX/US
Lincoln Douglas Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideMy judging philosophy is first built on the approach that debaters define the debate. This means I generally do not have any predisposition against anything within the context of the debate. Hence, I do NOT push an agenda. The arguments presented before me are to be engaged by both sides and analysis should be given whereby I should either reject or accept those arguments. This means arguments for or against should be well developed and structured logically. There needs to be a clear framework, but this is only the first level. Impacts and disadvantages need to fit within this framework. They need to be developed and consistent within the framework.
If there is one thing I do not like, blip arguments. These are essentially glorified tag lines that have no analysis behind them, where then a debater claims a drop of this 'argument' becomes a voter for them. For me: no analysis = no argument thus is not a voter. However, if within the context of the debate both debaters do this they lose the right to complain about me intervening. So, take heed, do this and I will allow myself to insert how these blips should be pieced together and the analysis behind them.
There needs to be clash. Far too often debaters do not really analyze. Generally, people view good debates where the flow shows responses to everything. I view this as a fallacy. There should be analysis as to how the arguments interact with each other in regards to the line by line debate and hopefully build a bigger view of the entire debate. Again, it is the debater's job to fine tune how everything pieces together. Specifically, I prefer hearing voters that are in some way intertwined versus a bunch of independent voters. Yet, though, I prefer intertwined voters it does not mean independent voters could not subvert or outweigh a good story.
Things I have voted for AND against
K - I actually like a good K debate. However, I do warn debaters that often I see people run K's they have no reason running because they themselves do not really understand them. Further, as a theme, debaters assume I am as familiar with the authors as they are. Not true. Rather, I feel it imperative that the position of K be well articulated and explained. Many debaters, read a stock shell that lacks analysis and explanation. NEW - Alts need to be clear as to what they will cause and what the world of the alt will look like. Nebulous Revolutions will not sway me, because you will need to have some solvency that the revolution will lead to the actual implementation of the new form of thought.
counter plans - I have no problem with these in the world of LD.
Topicality - I generally stand within the guidelines of reasonability. Muddy the waters and that’s what I will likely default to.
Role of the Ballot - At its heart I think the ROB is a paradigm argument or more simply a criterion argument so that even if one on face wins it does not guarantee a win because the opposite side can in the venue of the debate meet the criterion or ROB. However, the ROB I tend not to like are ones devolve the debate into pre fiat and post fiat debate. I tend towards post fiat worlds in close debates.
RVI - Again this less so, an RVI for seems to be justified within the context of some blatant abuse. As an analogy I have to see the smoking gun in the offenders hand. If it not clear I will side with a standard model. To date I have not voted on an RVI as of 1/05/2024
Understand, I honestly do approach all arguments as being justifiable within the confines of a debate. However, arguments I will on face reject are arguments whose sole objective (as a course or an objective for gain) is to oppress, murder, torture or destroy any class or classes of people. That is to say you know what you are doing and you are doing it on purpose.
I'd say that the realm of debate is for students to engage and craft. As I am no longer a competitor my bias, if it exist, should only intercede when debaters stop looking at human beings as genuine but rather as some abstract rhetoric.
Feel free to ask me some questions. but understand I'm not here to define what will win me. Good well structured argumentation that actually engages the other side are the types of debates I find most interesting. It's your world you push the paradigm you want. My voting for it or against it should not be interpreted as my support of the position beyond the confines of the debate.
Personal Narratives - I am not a fan of these arguments. The main reason, is that there is no way real way to test the validity of the personal narrative as evidence. Thus, if you introduce a personal narrative, I think it completely legit the personal narrative validity be questioned like any other piece of evidence. If you would be offended or bothered about questions about its truth, don't run them.
Communication - I believe in civility of debate. I am seeing an increasingly bad trend of students cursing in debates. I fundamentally, think High School debate is about learning to argue in an open forum with intellectual honesty and civility. The HS debate format is not one like private conversations between academics. I reject any belief that the competitive nature of the debate is like a professional sport. Cursing is lazy language and is a cheap attempt to be provocative or to fain emphasis. Thus, do not curse in front of me as your judge I will automatically drop you a point. Also, most people don’t know how to curse. It has its place just not in HS debate.
So what about cards that use curse words? Choose wisely, is the purpose because it is being descriptive of reporting actual words thrown at persons such as racial slurs. I will not necessarily be bothered by this, however, if it is the words of the actual author, I advise you to choose a different author as it is likely using it to be provocative versus pursing any intellectual honesty.
I do not have a have a problem with spreading. However, I do not prompt debaters for clarity as it is the debaters responsibility to communicate. Further, I think prompting is a form of coaching and gives an advantage that would not exist otherwise. If on the off chance I do prompt you (more likely in a virtual world) You will be deducted 1 speaker point for every time I do it. If the spread causes a technical issue with my speakers - I will prompt once to slow it down without penalty, only once.
NEW: 1/29/21
My email is erick.berdugo@gpisd.org and erickberdugo01@gmail.com for email chains. I am now putting myself part of the email chain due to virtual tournaments and to help overcome technical issues regarding sound. However, please understand I will NOT read along. I have it there for clarification if a audio issue arises during the speech. I still believe debaters should be clear when speaking and that speaking is still part of the debate.
I will automatically down a debater that runs an intentionally oppressive position. IE kill people because the world sucks and it’s bad to give people hope. However, if a person runs a position that MIGHT link to the death of thousands is not something I consider intentional.
NEW - 1/29 7:30PM Central Time
DISCLOSURE - Once parings come out. If you are going to make contact with your opponent requesting disclosure you need to CC me on the email chain: erick.berdugo@gpisd.org and erickberdugo01@gmail.com. Unless I am part of the request I will NOT evaluate the validity of the disclosure inside the round. If you do not read my paradigm and you run disclosure and your opponent does read this. They can use this as evidence to kick it directly and I will. This means they do not have to answer any of the shell.
I expect folks to be in the virtual debate room 15 minutes prior to the debate round. I especially expect this if a flip for sides has to be done. We as a community need to be more respectful of peoples time and of course from a practical matter allows an ability to solve technical issues which may arise.
NEW UPADATE 2/11/2022
Evidence - So, folks are inserting graphs and diagrams as part of their cases. I have no issue with this. However, unless there is analysis in the read card portion or analysis done by the debater regarding the information on the graph, diagram, figure, chart etc. I will not evaluate it as offense or defense for the debater introducing these documents. Next, if you do introduce it with analysis, it better match what you are saying. Next, as a scientist I am annoyed with graphs using solid lines - scientist use data points as the point actually represents collected data. A solid line suggest you have collected an infinite amount data points (ugh). The only solid line on graphs deemed acceptable are trend lines, usually accompanied with an equation, which serves as a model for an expected value for areas for which actual data does not exist.
Special Notes:
You are welcome to time yourself. However, I am the official time keeper and will not allow more than a 5 second disparity.
When you say you are done prepping I expect you are sending the document and will begin with a couple of seconds once your opponent has confirmed reception of the document. This means you have taken your sip of water and your timer is set.
COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE ROUND - I understand when debating virtually where one is set up is not always going to be an ideal situation. However, one should not be communicating within anyone other than ones own partner. There should be zero communication with someone not in the debate. This means those chat boxes need to be off. I understand there is no way to police this situation, however, please remember it looks poorly and you never want to have doubt cast upon your ethical behavior. Also, its just disrespectful.
Last updated 2/11/2022 6:23 PM - Most of the changes are due to poor grammar.
Berdugo
Flower Mound '22 | SMU '26
Hi! My name is Ida (pronounced "e-duh") and I'm looking forward to judging your rounds.
Background and Experience
I competed in speech and debate for all four years of high school. I have competition experience in every event except CX and the interps (DA, DUO, HI, DI, POE, PRO, POI). I competed regularly in LD, Extemp (both USX and IX), and WSD.
General
Add me to the email chain: iharried@mail.smu.edu
Debate TLDR: Flow judge (signpost please!!!); I'm generally a tech > truth judge unless you're making blatantly false or ridiculous statements. Cards should be cut properly and not misconstrued. I'll call for evidence if your opponent asks me to or if I feel something is misconstrued. Any arguments backed by miscut cards will be dropped on my flow. Speed is fine as long as you're understandable. The email chain is not an excuse for you to be incomprehensible. You should not expect me to read everything in the doc (but please tell me if you didn't read something).
Speech TLDR: You'll generally do well if you speak fluently, have compelling content, and present yourself in an organized and confident manner.
Speech & Debate as a safe space: Tournaments should be a safe space. Racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. will not be tolerated. If I become aware of any violations of safety committed before, during, or after the round, I will give the violator the immediate L and minimum speaks. Be a good person :)
If you have any questions, feel free to ask me before the round.
Debate
LD:
Although I competed in LD, I'm not the most well-versed in things like Ks, theory, T args, performative cases, phil, etc, so you might have to do more work to convince me of those. If that sounds like something you want to do, go for it. If you do and want me to accurately evaluate the round, I highly advise taking the time to explain the links/arguments for those in an easy-to-understand way. I'm cool with things like CPs and DisAds. In general, I'm tech > truth when evaluating arguments unless you're saying something blatantly wrong (ex: kill all humans to save the earth). Make sure any argument you want to run is carded properly, warranted, linked, and extended cleanly. Arguments without clear links or warrants will be dropped on my flow. Although I'm a flow judge, you need to do the work for me. Offense not extended in later speeches will not be evaluated when deciding the round. I don't care if your opponent failed to respond to your argument. If you don't bring it up and tell me to extend it across the flow, then I'll view it as you not going for it. The framework debate is essential in LD. At the end of the day, the framework debate tells me how to evaluate the round. Additionally, make sure you're telling me how to weigh impacts. I want to see strategic and effective impact calculus. Make sure there's clash between arguments and impacts. I need to see engagement from both sides. If the whole round is a wash and there's no clear offense, I'll default to aff because of time skew.
Speed is fine as long as you're clear and understandable. Reading at the speed of light and gasping every four seconds does not count as understandable. Make sure you signpost clearly if you want me to accurately flow the round. Slow down on important taglines or evidence to ensure they will properly be flowed. Generally, speaks will be decided on three things: fluency, impact calculus, and strategy/argumentation.
PF:
Most of the general argumentation stuff is similar to my LD paragraph: flow judge, have warrants/links/clean extensions, dropped arguments need to be brought up to be extended on the flow, clash is important, signpost etc.
I'm ok with speed, but I think PF has a lower threshold for speed than LD. Speaks will be awarded based on fluency, impact calculus, and argumentation/strategy.
Congress:
Congress should be extemporaneous. Make sure you're using effective body movements and walking the stage rather than standing in one spot. If you're reading off of a script you will be ranked down. With that in mind, make sure you're actively engaging in the round. Unless you're the first two or three speeches on aff or neg, new evidence brought up needs to be clashing with points already made in the round. I do, however, appreciate a good summary speech if you're up for the challenge. Points need to be relevant with clear warrants and links. Don't give me a bunch of fluff that's disguised with a pretty presentation.
Engagement is important. Ask relevant and effective questions. If you're doing un-congress-related things in round, I'll rank you down. Same thing applies to not asking questions. Most importantly, passion is fine in congress. Take risks. However, if you're being rude in round to your competitors or judges, I will rank you down.
For the PO: You need to stand out since you're not giving speeches. Have personality but don't let it inhibit your ability to run the round effectively. If you can efficiently have control over the chamber while remaining a dynamic competitor, you will be ranked highly.
World Schools:
Strategy is exceptionally important in WSD. You need to have a clear advocacy/framework/voter issue. Arguments should have warrants and clear links to the greater advocacy. I want to see logical arguments, effective impact weighing, and eloquent delivery. WSD should be performative. You should be passionate and clashing with the other team. Unlike other debate events, arguments should be more realistic than hyperbolic. Speech and overall structure are very important. Substantives should build upon each other and so should speeches. There should be a clear connection between team speeches in style and strategy. Be organized and do the flow work for me (extend and defend clearly).
POIs should be intentional and strategic. Dumb POIs (or answers to them) will result in your speaks being docked. Don't dance around the question or point being made in a POI or you'll look unprepared.
CX:
good luck lol (in all seriousness though I'll try my best, even if I have 0 experience)
Speech
Extemp:
I'll evaluate speakers based on the following criteria (ranked in order of importance):
1. content and analysis
Extemp is a mix between speaking and debate. There needs to be clear content, links, warrants, and impacts. Tell me how your topic plays out in the past, present, and future. Points need to be unique and evidence needs to be furthering your argument. Analysis is extremely important! Failure to do so will result in you being ranked down. Don't just recite evidence, tell me what it means, how it applies to the issue, and why it matters.
For points: I'd rather have 2 well hashed out points than 3 mediocre and ineffectively analyzed points. If you do decide to go for 2 points, however, make sure your speech still reaches the 6-7 minute mark.
2. presentation/fluency
Make sure you're performing. Are you being persuasive or simply reciting facts? Are your body movements contributing to the points being made. Are you confident in what you're saying or stumbling over your words? Are you communicating effectively?
3. flow of speech/organization of points
Points should connect to each other. Ideally, they will build upon one another. Does your AGD and intro effectively introduce the topic? Do your transitions direct the flow of your speech?
4. uniqueness
Is your AGD unique or have I heard it a million times before? Do you have a unique speaking style rather than being the cookie-cutter extemper with no personality? You need to stand out. Your speech could have the best content ever, but if you're boring, I won't remember any of it.
Info/OO/Interp:
I follow most of the standard paradigms and norms of the events. As these events are memorized and prepared beforehand, there should be few to no fluency breaks. Make sure you're well rehearsed. You should be hitting around the same time for every speech/performance. Speed should be conversational and movements should be effective rather than random.
Info and OO should have good content and evidence. I prefer unique topics over the basic ones seen every year. AGDs and transitions should help your speech flow and build upon itself.
Interp pieces should be cut cleanly so that I can understand what is happening in the piece. Transitions should help the piece flow well from one part to the next. Blocking needs to be consistent and add to what you're saying.
At the end of the day, these events cater more to your preferences than mine. If you have a good and clean performance, I'll rank you high.
PF/LD: I will normally judge based off of the round. Okay with speed. Prefer it if you don't run theory arguments.
Interp: I will take piece selection into account. Prefer more versatile pieces that display a wider range of skill and talent.
Speaking Events: I will count evidence and fluency breaks. I will also keep track of how evenly your time is distributed. I would also appreciate some humor - more in Original Oratory, less in extemporaneous speaking events.
School Affiliation: Coach at The Episcopal School of Dallas
Coaching & Judging Experience: I have been coaching teams and judging tournaments since 2006. This includes LD, PF, Congress, CX and IEs at different schools in Virginia and Texas. I have had debaters qualify for NCFL and NSDA on multiple occasions which are both considered traditional tournaments.
Speed: Although I am personally not a fan of it, please make sure your spreading is clear and coherent. If I can't understand you, I probably will not flow it. If you see me stop flowing for an extended period of time then it would be in your best interest to slow down. I also heavily prefer if you go slow on your taglines, analytics and any theory arguments, especially during your rebuttals.
Types of Arguments: Although I prefer framework heavy debates, a lot of clash in the round, and good crystallization and overviews in your final rebuttal, I will still vote on topicality, counterplans, some theory arguments at times and kritiks if they are explained well by the debater. I am not a fan of non-topical Affs as I tend to favor whole resolution ACs. Make sure when you run T, that you are linking your violation to your standards/voting issues and that when you run a CP, you explain your net benefits and how it's competitive.
Theory Argument: If you run any disclosure theory or new affs bad arguments, make sure you thoroughly break down the reasons to prefer. Although I have never really been a fan of these types of arguments, I am willing to consider them if you can show the impacts of the abuse committed by your opponent and how this outweighs. Please make sure that whatever theory shells you plan on running are presented at a slower rate of speed.
Kritiks: Run at your own risk because I'm not really a fan of complicated philosophical arguments that have nothing to do with the actual resolution that should be debated upon. I'm not saying you can't win if you run them, but I might look at you funny and simply not flow the argument depending on the complexity of the K.
Speaks: Clarity over speed is prefered. If your spreading is incomprehensible, this will reflect on your speaker points. Any acts of rudeness or displays of an unprofessional demeanor towards your opponent will also be taken into account. If you go against an inexperienced debater or a traditional style opponent, it would be in your best interest to accommodate their format and invest some time clashing with or turning their value, criterion and contentions. Also, please do not ask me if I disclose speaker points. It's not going to happen. In addition, please do not use profanity at all during the round. It will impact your speaks and could also impact my decision so don't do it. Lastly, please refrain from attacking the character of any political figures or political parties as a whole. It's okay to discuss policies of the USFG but please avoid bashing politicians or parties that you may dislike as I consider that type of tactic in a debate to be very unprofessional and offensive. Debaters have lost my ballot over this in the past.
Tricks: Please don't.
Overview: Debate the resolution, clash with your opponent's arguments, provide framework, slow down during tags and analytics, throw in some voters at the end.
Email Chain: If and only if both debaters are sharing files, please include my email as well: kesslert@esdallas.org
I'm a Master's student at UTHealth Houston.
I did LD at Westwood from 2015-2019.
I have been an active judge since then. From 2019-2022 I coached debaters from Westwood and DebateDrills (but am no longer affiliated with either program), as well as other independents. I've also taught at TDC and UTNIF.
Email: trumantle@gmail.com, but I prefer speech drop.
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2025 Update:
1] I'm significantly more impressed with debaters that don't require a laptop to give rebuttal speeches. If you give a good rebuttal speech without a laptop in your face and off paper, I'll give you a 30. Obviously I'm the judge of what a "good" rebuttal is but there'll probably be a boost regardless. I am not a fan of debaters reading off a script for an entire rebuttal at top speed.
2] I will follow along the doc to check for clipping/read evidence, but I am not flowing off the doc. Debaters have gotten extremely unclear and it's become unflowable. It should be pretty obvious if I am not flowing/unable to flow a part of the debate. Adjacently, it would greatly benefit debaters toslow down and explain things, you will like my decision more.
3] I am not a good judge for tricks debates and would prefer not to see it, as I'm bad at catching hidden tricks and bad at flowing a bunch of tricky args bundled together. This, however, does mean I'm more ok with substantive/less tricky stuff (log con, falsifiability NC) as opposed to one-liners intended to avoid clash/debate (condo logic, indexicals). I evaluate every speech.
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Main things:
1] I am most comfortable judging policy-style debates and T/theory debates, though the worse the shell gets, the more unhappy I am. I am comfortable judging phil and kritik debates if they don't get too advanced for my brain (which also seems to happen when debaters over rely on buzzwords to explain their arguments). I am not comfortable judging tricks debates, and though I will still evaluate those debates, your speaks will likely take a hit and my threshold for answering those arguments is much lower than other arguments.
2] My views on debate have mostly been shaped by Rodrigo Paramo, Morgan Grosch, and Jugal Amodwala. What you choose to do with that information is up to you. I also agree with Rodrigo Paramo on evidence ethics and trigger warnings.
3] Your chance of getting a ballot significantly goes up if you write my ballot for me somewhere in your speech. Whether that means framing arguments at the top or slowing down on key things or making things simple at the end of your rebuttal is up to you.
4] My perspective on tricks is the more I believe the argument is used to avoid clash the less I like it and the less likely I'll vote on it. This seems to exclude a lot of arguments debaters tend to read now, including but not limited to "evaluate the debate after the 1AC," indexicals, tacit ballot conditional, and various other paradoxes/1AR restart strategies. This is in large part because I just don't understand these arguments, but also because of my belief these arguments are not beneficial or educational to the activity. If you're not sure whether an argument is too tricky to read in front of me, err on the side of caution, or just email me pre-round.
5] I believe in open-source disclosure. I think most disclosure arguments that go beyond this are bad (contact info, round reports, actual tournament name, etc.).
6] I give speaks based on how far I believe your performance would get you at the tournament I'm judging at (which also tends to mean I give generally lower speaks at octas bid tournaments compared to finals bid tournaments). Yes I will disclose speaks if requested.
7] I require much more explanation for arguments than you think I do. Many 2AR's that I've judged go for a 3-second argument in the 1AR that I did not catch/have an understanding for, and many 2NR's that I've judged blitz through overviews of the theory of power/philosophical position that I cannot keep up with. Either slow down or be clearer in explanations, especially in online debates. You will not be happy with my RFD if I don't catch something because you're blitzing too fast.
8] I am extremely visually expressive. You should almost always be able to tell if I like something/find something confusing.
9] I don't know anything about this topic. Err towards overexplaining and try not to use too many acronyms.
Jenn (Jennifer) Miller-Melin, Jenn Miller, Jennifer Miller, Jennifer Melin, or some variation thereof. :)
Email for email chains:
If you walk into a round and ask me some vague question like, "Do you have any paradigms?", I will be annoyed. If you have a question about something contained in this document that is unclear to you, please do not hesitate to ask that question.
-Formerly assistant coach for Lincoln-Douglas debate at Hockaday, Marcus, Colleyville, and Grapevine. Currently assisting at Grapevine High School and Colleyville Heritage High School.
I was a four year debater who split time between Grapevine and Colleyville Heritage High Schools. During my career, I was active on the national circuit and qualified for both TOC and NFL Nationals. Since graduating in 2004, I have taught at the Capitol Debate Institute, UNT Mean Green Debate Workshops, TDC, and the University of Texas Debate Institute, the National Symposium for Debate, and Victory Briefs Institute. I have served as Curriculum Director at both UTNIF and VBI.
In terms of debate, I need some sort standard to evaluate the round. I have no preference as to what kind of standard you use (traditional value/criterion, an independent standard, burdens, etc.). The most important thing is that your standard explains why it is the mechanism I use to decide if the resolution is true or false. As a side note on the traditional structure, I don't think that the value is of any great importance and will continue to think this unless you have some well warranted reason as to why I should be particularly concerned with it. My reason is that the value doesn't do the above stated, and thus, generally is of no aid to my decision making process.
That said, debates often happen on multiple levels. It is not uncommon for debaters to introduce a standard and a burden or set of burdens. This is fine with me as long as there is a decision calculus; by which I mean, you should tell me to resolve this issue first (maybe the burden) and that issue next (maybe the standard). Every level of analysis should include a reason as to why I look to it in the order that you ask me to and why this is or is not a sufficient place for me to sign my ballot. Be very specific. There is nothing about calling something a "burden" that suddenly makes it more important than the framework your opponent is proposing. This is especially true in rounds where it is never explained why this is the burden that the resolution or a certain case position prescribes.
Another issue relevant to the standard is the idea of theory and/or off-case/ "pre-standard" arguments. All of the above are fine but the same things still apply. Tell me why these arguments ought to come first in my decision calculus. The theory debate is a place where this is usually done very poorly. Things like "education" or "fairness" are standards and I expect debaters to spend effort developing the framework that transforms into such.
l try to listen to any argument, but making the space unsafe for other bodies is unacceptable. I reserve the right to dock speaks or, if the situation warrants it, refuse to vote on arguments that commit violence against other bodies in the space.
I hold all arguments to the same standard of development regardless of if they are "traditional" or "progressive". An argument has a structure (claim, warrant, and impact) and that should not be forgotten when debaterI ws choose to run something "critical". Warrants should always be well explained. Certain cards, especially philosophical cards, need a context or further information to make sense. You should be very specific in trying to facilitate my understanding. This is true for things you think I have read/should have read (ie. "traditional" LD philosophy like Locke, Nozick, and Rawls) as well as things that I may/may not have read (ie. things like Nietzsche, Foucault, and Zizek). A lot of the arguments that are currently en vogue use extremely specialized rhetoric. Debaters who run these authors should give context to the card which helps to explain what the rhetoric means.
One final note, I can flow speed and have absolutely no problem with it. You should do your best to slow down on author names and tags. Also, making a delineation between when a card is finished and your own analysis begins is appreciated. I will not yell "clear" so you should make sure you know how to speak clearly and quickly before attempting it in round.
I will always disclose unless instructed not to do so by a tournament official. I encourage debaters to ask questions about the round to further their understanding and education. I will not be happy if I feel the debater is being hostile towards me and any debater who does such should expect their speaker points to reflect their behavior.
I am a truth tester at heart but am very open to evaluating the resolution under a different paradigm if it is justified and well explained. That said, I do not understand the offense/defense paradigm and am increasingly annoyed with a standard of "net benefits", "consequentialism", etc. Did we take a step back about 20 years?!? These seem to beg the question of what a standard is supposed to do (clarify what counts as a benefit). About the only part of this paradigm that makes sense to me is weighing based on "risk of offense". It is true that arguments with some risk of offense ought to be preferred over arguments where there is no risk but, lets face it, this is about the worst type of weighing you could be doing. How is that compelling? "I might be winning something". This seems to only be useful in a round that is already giving everyone involved a headache. So, while the offense/defense has effectively opened us up to a different kind of weighing, it should be used with caution given its inherently defensive nature.
Theory seems to be here to stay. I seem to have a reputation as not liking theory, but that is really the sound bite version of my view. I think that theory has a place in debate when it is used to combat abuse. I am annoyed when theory is used as a tactic because a debater feels she is better at theory than her opponent. I really like to talk about the topic more than I like to wax ecstatic about what debate would look like in the world of flowers, rainbows, and neat flows. That said, I will vote on theory even when I am annoyed by it. I tend to look at theory more as an issue of reasonabilty than competing interpretations. As with the paradigm discussion above, I am willing to listen to and adjust my view in round if competing interpretations is justified as how I should look at theory. Over the last few years I have become a lot more willing to pull the trigger on theory than I used to be. That said, with the emergence of theory as a tactic utilized almost every round I have also become more sympathetic to the RVI (especially on the aff). I think the Aff is unlikely to be able to beat back a theory violation, a disad, and a CP and then extend from the AC in 4 minutes. This seems to be even more true in a world where the aff must read a counter-interp and debate on the original interp. All of this makes me MUCH more likely to buy an RVI than I used to be. Also, I will vote on theory violations that justify practices that I generally disagree with if you do not explain why those practices are not good things. It has happened a lot in the last couple of years that a debater has berated me after losing because X theory shell would justify Y practice, and don't I think Y practice would be really bad for debate? I probably do, but if that isn't in the round I don't know how I would be expected to evaluate it.
Finally, I can't stress how much I appreciate a well developed standards debate. Its fine if you choose to disregard that piece of advice, but I hope that you are making up for the loss of a strategic opportunity on the standards debate with some really good decisions elsewhere. You can win without this, but you don't look very impressive if I can't identify the strategy behind not developing and debating the standard.
I cannot stress enough how tired I am of people running away from debates. This is probably the biggest tip I can give you for getting better speaker points in front of me, please engage each other. There is a disturbing trend (especially on Sept/Oct 2015) to forget about the 1AC after it is read. This makes me feel like I wasted 6 minutes of my life, and I happen to value my time. If your strategy is to continuously up-layer the debate in an attempt to avoid engaging your opponent, I am probably not going to enjoy the round. This is not to say that I don't appreciate layering. I just don't appreciate strategies, especially negative ones, that seek to render the 1AC irrelevant to the discussion and/or that do not ever actually respond to the AC.
Debate has major representation issues (gender, race, etc.). I have spent years committed to these issues so you should be aware that I am perhaps hypersensitive to them. We should all be mindful of how we can increase inclusion in the debate space. If you do things that are specifically exclusive to certain voices, that is a voting issue.
Being nice matters. I enjoy humor, but I don't enjoy meanness. At a certain point, the attitude with which you engage in debate is a reason why I should choose to promote you to the next outround, etc.
You should not spread analytics and/or in depth analysis of argument interaction/implications at your top speed. These are probably things that you want me to catch word for word. Help me do that.
Theory is an issue of reasonability. Let's face it, we are in a disgusting place with the theory debate as a community. We have forgotten its proper place as a check on abuse. "Reasonability invites a race to the bottom?" Please, we are already there. I have long felt that theory was an issue of reasonability, but I have said that I would listen to you make arguments for competing interps. I am no longer listening. I am pretty sure that the paradigm of competing interps is largely to blame with for the abysmal state of the theory debate, and the only thing that I have power to do is to take back my power as a judge and stop voting on interps that have only a marginal net advantage. The notion that reasonability invites judge intervention is one of the great debate lies. You've trusted me to make decisions elsewhere, I don't know why I can't be trusted to decide how bad abuse is. Listen, if there is only a marginal impact coming off the DA I am probably going to weigh that against the impact coming off the aff. If there is only a marginal advantage to your interp, I am probably going to weigh that against other things that have happened in the round.
Grammar probably matters to interpretations of topicality. If one reading of the sentence makes sense grammatically, and the other doesn't that is a constraint on "debatability". To say the opposite is to misunderstand language in some pretty fundamental ways.
Truth testing is still true, but it's chill that most of you don't understand what that means anymore. It doesn't mean that I am insane, and won't listen to the kind of debate you were expecting to have. Sorry, that interp is just wrong.
Framework is still totally a thing. Impact justifying it is still silly. That doesn't change just because you call something a "Role of the Ballot" instead of a criterion.
Util allows you to be lazy on the framework level, but it requires that you are very good at weighing. If you are lazy on both levels, you will not make me happy.
Flashing is out of control. You need to decide prior to the round what the expectations for flashing/emailing are. What will/won't be done during prep time, what is expected to be flashed, etc. The amount of time it takes to flash is extending rounds by an unacceptable amount. If you aren't efficient at flashing, that is fine. Paper is still totally a thing. Email also works.
Hello all debaters!
My name is Anaiya Moran-Hasty, and I am a 25 year old grad student at Texas Woman's University. The degree I will obtain when I finish school is a Masters of Science in Child Life. I desire to one day become a Child Life Specialist, and work in local hospitals around the DFW area. I attended Newman Smith High School, located in the Carrollton-Farmer's Branch district from 2013-2017. My debate experience in high school included 3 years of varsity Lincoln Douglas,congress, and world schools. I also participated in a few speech events such as extemporaneous speaking, oratory, prose/poetry, and impromptu. At the end of my senior year in 2017, I became qualified with enough points to compete at the TFA state tournament. As for judging experience, my paradigms include:
- I am fine with spreading, as long as you are clear and I can understand every word. Please slow down to annunciate tag lines and source citations. What I cannot understand or hear, I will not flow.
- I am not really a big fan of theory or K debates unless absolutely necessary and topical.
-I am fine with competitors using flex prep during the debate, as long as it is agreed upon by all competitors prior to the round starting. Email chains are also okay, as long as I am included on them.
- I suggest that debaters keep their own time, however if you need me to, just ask.
- Lastly, BUT most importantly, debate is suppose to be FUN. Please be kind, courteous, respectful, make eye contact, speak clearly, and enjoy every moment!
*Paradigm Updated 9/9/24 with preferences for each event.
ALL DEBATE: Welcome to my ten second tutorial, 'Answering Arguments Wins Debates.' Notice I didn't say 'repeating arguments wins debates,' because it doesn't. You have to listen to your opponent's argument, then craft a response that shows why your side of the resolution is comparatively better regarding this issue. Telling me their argument isn't well-warranted isn't enough. You have to provide me with a warrant for why your side of the debate wins that point.
**PLEASE DO NOT SPEAK IMPOSSIBLY FAST. If you’re talking like you’ve had too many Dr. Peppers, we’re fine, but if you blur words together and start double breathing, I can’t understand you. It’s a disability issue. A decade ago I experienced a bipolar break, and since then my brain doesn't work as fast, and my ear-to-brain interaction isn't what it used to be. That doesn't mean I am stupid. It just means that I need to hear things at a normal, conversational speed. I also feel you should check with your opponent before EVERY round to discuss what their threshold for speed is to make sure you are both on the same page and that the debate space will be inclusive. That’s key to keeping people in this activity. Please don’t chase out people who can only compete sometimes. Be better. Do better.
GENERAL ARGUMENTS: I will consider anything that isn't offensive, but you have to give me a reasonable explanation for why it applies in this debate. If you're trying to make an argument based on debate jargon explain it to me. Just because you think you sound cool saying something doesn't mean I am going to vote on it. I do not vote off tricks on the flow. Not every dropped argument actually matters. On the flipside, don't ignore arguments. LISTEN to your opponent. Respond to them.
THEORY: I am open to any theory arguments critiquing your opponent’s rhetoric, behavior, or advocacy. I am NOT open to resolutional critiques, because in that instance you’re basically critiquing the wording committee. We have to have an agreed upon resolution to have a fair debate. It may not be your favorite resolution. It may not be my favorite resolution, either. However, it’s the resolution we’ve all walked into the round to engage with, so do me a solid and actually engage with it. For disclosure theory, show me the receipts. How is it the norm in this event, this tournament, how many times did you reach out to your opponent, etc.
WEIGHING: I don’t need you to use the words probability, timeframe, reversibility, etc. So long as you compare your argument with your opponent’s and tell me why your argument makes your world comparatively better than theirs, I’m good.
BEHAVIOR: Be respectful of me and of your opponent. If I am cringing by how rude you are in CX, you won't be getting high speaks. I don't vote for bullies. I vote for debaters. If you have questions about how to get better after the round, you can ask me. If you want to re-debate the round, I will not be tolerant. You had a chance to communicate to me, and if you lost, you lost. I am not going to change my mind, and arguing with me will just mean I will be in a bad mood if I ever have to judge you again. I judge often enough you want to be the person I smile when I see.
WORLD SCHOOLS DEBATE: Firstly, although I have judged this event for five years or so, I am not necessarily aware of every norm in the activity. If you feel your opponent is using debate norms from other events and they aren’t in line with world norms, tell me why their position should be disregarded. Secondly, I like to see a lot of worlds comparison in either the 3rd or Final speech. What happens if we pass the motion? What happens if we fail it? What are the implications of that action across broader populations and through time? Especially with impromptu topics, I think it’s important to figure out what the effects are of voting either way. I’m not going to want to make a decision about a subset of the motion taken in one snapshot in time. I want to look at precedents the motion might start, or how the motion may change perceptions across the globe. Think BIG. Thirdly, don’t ask incredibly long POI’s just to waste opponent time. Your POI’s should be strategic in terms of their content.
PUBLIC FORUM: Firstly, do not make arguments in cross. Ask questions of your opponent. Weaken their link chains, make them explain warrants and evidence. Please let your opponent have a reasonable amount of time to answer, and only interrupt if they are being purposefully obtuse. Take turns asking. If you have a follow-up, it should be able to be answered with one sentence, or it is a second question. Secondly, I do not believe that policy and LD norms automatically apply in PF rounds. If you would like to access another debate event’s norms, you need to give me a reasonable explanation as to why your interpretation is best. Thirdly, I like to see incentive analysis done that helps me to see why certain policies might be preferred over others. This can be from a government perspective, a societal perspective, or even individual perspectives, depending on the argument. Fourthly, you have to give me more than the argument name to count as an extension, and arguments need to be extended in every speech if they end up in Final Focus. Give me the evidence, the warrant, the way that argument outweighs the opponent’s argument – I’m flexible, but give me something to extend other than a word. Fifthly, be realistic about what you can do in a four minute constructive. You will not be able to go into massive depth with any of your arguments. Low probability, high impact arguments require a pretty strong link chain, and that’s probably not something you have time for in PF. Stick with what you can defend. Then defend it. Sixthly, be smart about evidence sharing. Have your evidence immediately accessible and shareable. Better yet, send the cards either right before or right after the speech so everyone can see them. I do not want to have to police both teams while searching and copying and pasting and refreshing emails. I also really, really do not want to see teams using evidence challenge as a way to get more time to mentally prep. PF debate should not take a lifetime. It should take less than an hour.
LD: I’m not judging much LD anymore because the activity is becoming less enjoyable for me. I’m not a tech happy judge, and I won’t vote on flow tricks. I will vote on comparative benefit in the overall aff and neg position. I would prefer you take prep time before the NC so that you are responsive to your opponent’s rhetoric and arguments. If your entire NC is cards that you don’t bother applying directly to opponent arguments, I’m probably not going to vote for you. Clash is key, and clash requires being in the moment of this particular debate with these particular people. Every debate should be different. If you’re making them all the same, you’re probably going to get the L from me every time, too.
POLICY: I judge policy only when tabrooms really, really need me to, or for UIL Texas debate where speed is not the norm. I recognize that on most circuits, speed is the norm, and I simply can’t keep up. If tab needs me to take one for the team, though, please read your taglines more slowly. I don’t understand all of the intricacies of policy debate norms, so if you want me to judge off something more obscure, explain it to me. My favorite thing in Policy to hear about is the solvency debate, so points there if you dig in deep.
To finish it off, this activity should be something all of us enjoy. If you’re miserable during the round, we probably will be, too. Find a way to make each debate interesting, unique, challenging. Stretch your world, and make your opponents and judges think in new ways. Being in debate should inspire you. If it doesn’t, there’s probably a better activity for you, and I hope you can find that joy elsewhere. We’re all spending a day or weekend together, so let’s all try to make it pleasant.
Flower Mound 22 | UT 26
I did speech and debate all 4 years of high school. I qualed for all the things in info and NSDA in DUO. So I am most qualified in speaking events (Info, OO, extemp), however, I have some experience in most events.
Include me in the email chain-tanishapadhi@utexas.edu
Debate
I'm a flay judge. I will be flowing and will try my best to vote off it but don't have much technical knowledge. Speed: don't spread in PF;
OO/INFO
These events are equal parts content and delivery.
Content:Is your topic relevant and how effectively do you communicate that? If you're giving us solutions, I'm looking for something tangible, rather than some blanket statements. As for visual aids, I appreciate creativity as long as they are clean, not distracting, and complement your argument meaningfully.
Delivery: Above all I want to see you have fun with your speech. The more you care about your topic the more your audience will. Your delivery should be purposeful and mindful of the content.Your presentation as a competitor is evaluated throughout the round: the way you carry yourself, your confidence, the way you interact with other competitors.
Interp
I evaluate interps in two main categories: how clean it is and how well the performer can embody the characters. If you are playing multiple characters do you characterize them well enough for me to easily distinguish them? Is your setting well blocked and are you consistent with those blockings? Are the decisions being made in your performance motivated by the character and their story? How well can the performer follow the rising action/climax/falling action in their piece? What is the message your are telling me through this character?
i debated in LD and policy in high school, graduating in '13.
[current/past affiliations:
- i coached independent debaters from: woodlands ('14-'15), dulles ('15-'16), edgemont ('16-'18);
- team coach for: westwood ('14-'18), greenhill ('18-'22);
- program director for dallas urban debate alliance ('21-'22);
- full time teacher - greenhill, ('22-now);
- director of LD @ VBI ('23-now) - as a result of this, I am conflicted from any current competitor who will teach at VBI this summer. you can find the list of those individuals on the vbi website]
i would like there to be an email chain and I would like to be on it: greenhilldocs.ld@gmail.com -would love for the chain name to be specific and descriptive - perhaps something like "Tournament Name, Round # - __ vs __"
I have coached debaters whose interests ranged from util + policy args & dense critical literature (anthropocentrism, afropessimism, settler colonialism, psychoanalysis, irigaray, borderlands, the cap + security ks), to trickier args (i-law, polls, monism) & theory heavy strategies.
That said, I am most comfortable evaluating critical and policy debates, and in particular enjoy 6 minutes of topicality 2nrs if delivered at a speed i can flow. I will make it clear if you are going too fast - i am very expressive so if i am lost you should be able to tell. if your opponent indicates you are going too fast for them, you should adjust. i am comfortable with debaters "slow"ing their opponents speech in good faith to increase the value of the debate. i prefer a negative strategy constructed of fewer, robustly developed positions to one with many under-developed ones.
I am a bad judge for highly evasive tricks debates, and am not a great judge for denser "phil" debates - i do not think about analytic philosophy / tricks outside of debate tournaments, so I need these debates to happen at a much slower pace for me to process and understand all the moving parts. This is true for all styles of debates - the rounds i remember most fondly are one where a cap k or t-fwk were delivered conversationally and i got almost every word down and was able to really think through the arguments.
i think the word "unsafe" means something and I am uncomfortable when it is deployed cavalierly - it is a meaningful accusation to suggest that an opponent has made a space unsafe (vs uncomfortable), and i think students/coaches/judges should be mindful of that distinction. this applies to things like “evidence ethics,” “independent voters,” "psychological violence," etc., though in different ways for each. If you believe that the debate has become unsafe, we should likely pause the round and reach out to tournament officials, as the ballot is an insufficient mechanism with which to resolve issues of safety. similarly, it will take a lot for me to feel comfortable concluding that a round has been psychologically violent and thus decide the round on that conclusion, or to sign a ballot that accuses a student of cheating without robust, clear evidence to support that. i have judged a lot of debates, and it is very difficult for me to think of many that have been *unsafe* in any meaningful way.
8 things to know:
- Evidence Ethics: In previous years, I have seen a lot of miscut evidence. I think that evidence ethics matters regardless of whether an argument/ethics challenge is raised in the debate. If I notice that a piece of evidence is miscut, I will vote against the debater who reads the miscut evidence. My longer thoughts on that are available on the archived version of this paradigm, including what kinds of violations will trigger this, etc. If you are uncertain if your evidence is miscut, perhaps spend some time perusing those standards, or better yet, resolve the miscutting. Similarly, I will vote against debaters clipping if i notice it. If you would like me to vote on evidence ethics, i would prefer that you lay out the challenge, and then stake the round on it. i do not think accusations of evidence ethics should be risk-less for any team, and if you point out a mis-cutting but are not willing to stake the round on it, I am hesitant to entertain that argument in my decision-making process. if an ev ethics challenge occurs, it is drop the debater. do not make them lightly.
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take seriously my role as a classroom teacher - will be comfortable giving decisions like "i was uncomfortable voting for ___ even though it was technically won" - the blank could be filled with skepticism, death good, etc.
- Complete arguments require a claim warrant and impact when they are made. I will be very comfortable rejecting 1nc/1ar arguments without warrants when they were originally made. I find this is particularly true when the 1ar/1nc version are analytic versions of popular cards that you presume I should be familiar with and fill in for you.
- I do not believe you can "insert" re-highlightings that you do not read verbally.
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please do not split your 2nrs! if any of your 1nc positions are too short to sustain a 6 minute 2nr on it, the 1nc arg is underdeveloped.
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Evidence quality is directly correlated to the amount of credibility I will grant an argument - if a card is underhighlighted, the claim is likely underwarranted. I think you should highlight your evidence to make claims the author has made, and that those claims should make sense if read at conversational speed outside of the context of a high school debate round.
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i do not enjoy being in the back of disclosure debates where the violation is difficult to verify or where a team has taken actions to help a team engage, even if that action does not take the form of open sourcing docs, nor do i enjoy watching disclosure theory be weaponized against less experienced debaters - i will likely not vote on it. if a team refuses to tell you what the aff will be, or is familiar with circuit norms but has nothing on their wiki, I will be more receptive to disclosure, but again, verifiability is key.
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topicality arguments will make interpretive claims about the meaning or proper interpretation of words or phrases in the resolution. interpretations that are not grounded in the text of the resolution are theoretical objections - the same is true for counter-interpretations.i will use this threshold for all topicality/theory arguments.
The following practices will significantly lower your speaker points in front of me:
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any argument that i should evaluate the debate prior to the end of the 2ar
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flow clarification questions
- spreading or otherwise engaging in circuit norms that exclude less-experienced debaters from meaningfully participating in the debate round
- reading through theory/topicality blocks at high speeds
- mis-citing a piece of evidence by only reading one name on a piece with two authors, shortening a last name, etc.
Finally, I am not particularly good for the following buckets of debates:
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Warming good & other impact turn heavy strategies that play out as a dump on the case page
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IR/econ heavy debates - i encourage you to slow down and be very clear in the claims you want me to evaluate in these debates.
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Bad theory arguments / theory debates w/ very marginal offense (i will not vote for shells where i can not identify meaningful offense / where the abuse story is difficult for me to comprehend)
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Identity ks that appropriate the form and language of antiblackness literature
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affs/nc's that have entirely analytic frameworks (even if it is util!) - i think this is often right on the line of plagiarism, and my brain simply cannot process / flow it at high speeds. my discomfort with these positions is growing by the round.
I am a parent judge.
Email: spmroa@yahoo.com
LD
I am ok with spreading if I have your case with me. Slow down on tag lines and analytics.
Please no complex philosophy, Kritiks or theory. I know some basic philosophy like Kant or Locke but that's it. I don't really understand theory so it will be hard for me to evaluate but I'll try my best and if your opponent is being excessively abusive and rude I understand if you must read theory.
I am okay with Plans and CPs.
Finally, be nice and respectful.
I usually will take some time to look at the flows and give a ballot so I might not be able to give an oral rfd if the tournament is running late. I'll always try to disclose the winner at the very least though.
PF
Please disclose cases. I will give extra speaks if you disclose it makes the debate space much better. I will also have a higher threshold for speed, but maybe not full on spreading because the event does not call for that. Othewise I'm fine with card calling because there is no other way to verify evidence. If a round boils down to a card I will call for it and intervene if the work is not done. If I see a card is miscut(by tournament rules) and the opponent points it out I will make you lose. No paraphrasing as my son has convinced me it is a bad practice.
No theory please. Try not to read Ks because PF is not made for them. I am fine with extinction impacts as weighing is up to the debaters but will still be skeptic.
Date Last Reviewed: 3/25/22
Name: Breann Smith [she/they]
Schools: LCS ’16, Austin College ‘21
Conflicts: None
Email: c.bre.smith@gmail.com
*Scroll to bottom for my WSD Preferences*
Lincoln Douglas:
Debate Background: I did 4 years of LD at LCS in Argyle, TX. I competed on the local, state, and national circuits, and was competitive at each level. Notable achievements include qualifying to the TOC my senior year by reaching semis at Isidore Newman and winning Holy Cross, qualifying to NSDA Nationals in LD both junior and senior years, and accumulating 85 career TFA state points. In college I competed in mock trial at the national level and won several individual awards both as a witness and as an attorney.
Disclaimer: You can change any of the following preferences in round. You just have to tell me how you want me to evaluate the round, and give me a warrant as to why it should be that way.
Paradigm Proper:
At the end of the round, this is my thought process:
First I evaluate who won the framework debate. I don’t vote here, but it does determine what offense I can look to in the round. I don’t care if you win Turn #5 to their contention level if it doesn’t have an impact back to the winning framework. From there I look at voters/crystallization to see who is winning the “best” issues in the round, i.e. who links to the winning framework and why the way they link matters more. (“Best”=however you decide to weigh. In the absence of weighing I default util in the sense that I vote for the biggest impact under the winning framework.)
Specific Issues
Important Misc. Stuff
- Please provide a trigger warning if you plan on dealing with sensitive topics. I do have two triggers that I would rather not have to deal with in round unprepared.
- Speed is fine (plz be clear)
- I will say "clear" and "loud" as many times as it takes, although I will get irritated after two times
- Flex prep is okay if both parties are cool with it
- I don’t count compiling docs or flashing/emailing as prep until it gets ridiculous (honestly it shouldn’t take over :20)
- Your opponent needs to have access to anything you read if they ask
- Please don’t be racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, etc. That's the kind of stuff that will get you dropped.
- Just something I've noticed, you should ALWAYS ask the status of the offs if you're affirming and the neg runs multiple offs. I don't know why people don't seem to do that anymore.
Flowing/Extensions/Signposting
Flowing: I flow on paper (most of the time), and can catch quite a lot, but here are some preferences that would make everyone’s life easier:
- Slow down a bit for tags and especially author names (I suck at getting author names)
- Slow down for or repeat plan/counterplan texts and theory/T interpretations
- If you plan on reading T or theory, please tell me so I can flow that part on my computer. It’s easier for me to get theory down typing for some reason.
Extensions: I have a pretty low threshold on what counts as an extension, especially for the 1 and 2ARs. For me to consider something “Extended” at the end of the round, it needs to:
1) Be extended in every rebuttal with the word “extend” in there somewhere
2) Have a claim and a warrant
Signposting: Keep in mind that I suck at getting author names unless you slow down for them, so if you say “off Smith 3” I’ll probably be confused until you explain what the arg is. It is significantly easier for me if you say “off contention one”/ “Off turn #2”
Speaker Points
30 – I expect you to win the tournament or be in finals
29.5 – You should be in late out rounds
29 – You should break
28.5 – You could be on the bubble
28 – You could have a winning record
27.5 – You’ll probably break even
27 – You’ll probably have a losing record
26 – It was a rough time
Framework
I really don’t care what you do in terms of framework; you just have to have one that you can weigh back to. I am familiar with meta-ethics, dense philosophy, kritikal framing, and util. I know how burden structures work, but I never ran any myself.
Different Styles/ Types of Debate
I’m indifferent to whatever style of case you want to run, whether it’s traditional, kritikal, performance, policy style, or tricky. You do you. I’d rather see you excel in a great tricks debate than see you have a bad kritik debate because that’s what you think I like more.
However, there is a catch: I really don’t like affs that aren’t topical. Nine times out of ten there will be a topical version of your aff, you’re just deliberately choosing to avoid it. That being said, I won't vote you down if you run an untopical case, but I certainly won’t be very happy.
Perms
So I initially didn't think I was going to add a section on perms, but I think it could prove helpful
- If you just say "Perm: Do both," then explain why the CP/Alt isn't mutually exclusive, then that is a test of competition. If you win the perm, the CP/Alt isn't competitive and I have to look elsewhere on the flow.
- If you say "Perm: Do both" then explain why it isn't mutually exclusive and then have net benefits to that perm, it becomes an advocacy I can vote on because then I have reasons why actively doing the perm would be a good thing.
Theory/T
The only theory shell I will never vote on is disclosure theory. I do think that you should disclose, and I did my entire senior year even though I was functionally a lone wolf, however I don’t think people should be voted down for not doing it if it’s not explicitly required by the tournament. I don’t care if you’re winning your shell and they completely drop it, I won’t vote on it. This doesn’t mean I’ll down you for running it; I’ll just grumpily look elsewhere on the flow.
There are two other theory shells that I have a very high violation threshold for to consider:
- Brackets Theory: For me to vote on brackets theory, you have to show that they have significantly altered the meaning or intention of the card. I won’t vote on brackets theory if all they do is change for grammar or offensive language.
- Wifi Theory: For me to vote on wifi theory, you have to prove that the opponent was actively using the Internet to communicate with outside persons or to cut evidence/look something up during round. I will not vote on wifi theory if they weren’t using it for anything, but they just forgot to turn it off.
Other Theory notes:
- I'm actually a fan of well-executed meta theory. I think it's very strategic.
- A shell needs to have a violation for me to evaluate it.
- I REALLY hate the arguments surrounding small school prep skew, especially when those arguments come from individuals in established programs.
World Schools Debate:
I don't judge WSD often, however I will on occasion. Here is a list of my general preferences:
- I'm not a big fan of speed in WSD
- I strongly prefer verbal POIs, and like debaters to state their name before the POI proper
- I like roadmaps/outlines before speeches a lot
- For scoring, I use the "standards for judging" from the NSDA sample ballot
About
- Co-Director @ Coppell
- Outreach Director @ Mean Green Comet Debate Institute
- Debated NDT/CEDA at North Texas around the turn of the century
- Email chain preferred: sykes.tx @ gmail.com & coppelldebatedocs @ gmail.com
Basics (See Bottom of Doc for PF & Congress)
- This document offers insight to the process I use to make decisions unless directed to do otherwise.
- Clarity is important to me. I prefer not to look at the speech doc until after the debate. I'm also working to adjust speaker points to keep up with inflation.
- I won't claim to be perfect in this area, but I believe debate has strong potential to build community. Please play nicely with others.
- I view all debate as comparison of competing frameworks. I considered myself a flex debater, and I’m willing to evaluate all arguments. I will attempt to minimize intervention in the evaluation of a) the selection of framework and b) the fulfillment of the framework's demands.
Policymaking
- The older I get, the more I see shades of grey with respect to uniqueness. Risk, for me, isn't as unidirectional as it used to be. I generally tend to determine that uniqueness debates are "close" and find I prefer warranted explanations of link vs. link turn in this relationship.
- If forced by lack of comparison to default on framework, I will consider time frame, probability, and magnitude of your impacts as part of cost benefit analysis of endorsing the affirmative plan.
Theory/Topicality
- I believe the topic can provide debatable ground, and I don't think that should necessarily be exclusive of other positions. The resolution is a starting point.
- On questions of framework, T-USFG, etc., I strongly recommend grounding arguments in academic literature whenever possible. I am particularly interested in how debate shapes agents of change.
- Consistent with my view of competing frameworks, there is no difference in my mind between "competing interpretations" and "abuse." Abuse is a standard for evaluating competing interpretations.
Counterplans/Counter-advocacy
- I don't believe I have strong predispositions related to counterplan types or theory.
Kritiking
- The division in the community between "kritik people" and "policy people" frustrates me. We should constantly seek more effective arguments. Questions of an academic nature vary from method to application.
- A working definition of "fiat" is "the ability to imagine, for the purposes of debate, the closest possible world to that of the advocacy."
Rebuttals/How to win
- You should either win in your framework and show how it's preferable, or simply win in theirs. This applies to theory debates and impact comparison as much as anything else.
- I find that many debates I judge are heavily influenced by the quality, persuasiveness, and effectiveness of warranted explanation and comparison.
Lincoln Douglas, specifically
- While my background in policy debate leads me to a more "progressive" or policy-oriented perspective toward LD, I have evaluated many traditional LD debates as well. You do you.
- I am open to theoretical standards in LD that are different than those in CX, but understand that my experience here affects my perception of some issues. For example, I may have a predisposition against RVIs because there are vastly different standards for these arguments across events. I'll do my best to adapt with an open mind.
Public Forum, specifically
- PF should transition to reasonable & common expectations for disclosure, evidence use, and speech doc exchange.
- Email chains and/or speech docs should be used to share evidence before speeches.
- Evidence should be presented in the form of direct quotes and accompanied by a complete citation. If you must paraphrase, direct quotations (fully cited with formatting that reflects paraphrased portions) should be included in the speech doc. If I feel you've abused this expectation (e.g., pasting and underlining an entire article/book/study), I won't be pleased.
- Time spent re-cutting evidence, tracking down URLs, or otherwise conforming to these conventions should be considered prep time.
- Regardless of the way the resolution is written, I think teams should make arguments based on how the status quo affects probability. Uniqueness and inevitability claims, therefore, would greatly benefit the analysis of risk in most of the PF rounds I evaluate.
Congress, specifically
- Remain active in the chamber. Move things along. Stay engaged.
- All speech & debate should be rigorous. I'm interested in quality of research and depth of content.
- PO - Mistakes with respect to precedence or procedure can be devastating. It's hard for me to imagine winning a big tournament without ever giving a speech.
School affiliation/s - please indicate all (required):
The Hockaday School
Years Judging/Coaching (required)
24
Years of Experience Judging any Speech/Debate Event (required)
22
Rounds Judged in World School Debate this year (required)
Check all that apply
__X___I judge WS regularly on the local level
__X___I judge WS at national level tournaments
_____I occasionally judge WS Debate
_____I have not judged WS Debate this year but have before
_____I have never judged WS Debate
Rounds judged in other events this year (required)
~50
Check all that apply
____ Congress
____ PF
____ LD
____ Policy
____ Extemp/OO/Info
____ DI/HI/Duo/POI
____ I have not judged this year
____ I have not judged before
Have you chaired a WS round before? (required)
Yes
What does chairing a round involve? (required)
Chairing means making sure everyone is present and ready, calling on individual speakers and announcing the decision. I usually announce the decision then ask the other judges to provide feedback before providing my own.
How would you describe WS Debate to someone else? (required)
WSD is what debate would be if people stopped the tactics that exclude others from the debate and arguments. The delivery and required clash of WSD means that there is no hiding from bad arguments or from good arguments.
What process, if any, do you utilize to take notes in debate? (required)
I flow on excel using techniques like other formats. I attempt to get as much of the details as I can.
When evaluating the round, assuming both principle and practical arguments are advanced through the 3rd and Reply speeches, do you prefer one over the other? Explain. (required)
It depends on the motion. On a motion that tends towards a problem-solution approach I will tend to prefer the practical, but on a motion that is rooted in a would or believes approach I tend towards the practical.
The WS Debate format requires the judge to consider both Content and Style as 40% each of the speaker’s overall score, while Strategy is 20%. How do you evaluate a speaker’s strategy? (required)
For me, strategy is how the speaker addresses the large clashes in the debate and compares those clashes for one another. For example, if the debate is about the efficacy of green patents I am looking for the speaker to address something that exists in the assumption that efficacy is good or bad.
WS Debate is supposed to be delivered at a conversational pace. What category would you deduct points in if the speaker was going too fast? (required)
I do that in the style section.
WS Debate does not require evidence/cards to be read in the round. How do you evaluate competing claims if there is no evidence to read? (required)
I tend to grant both claims as being true and then look to see if the claims are mutually exclusive. If they aren’t then I look at whether the teams advanced a burden/principle that supports their side. Included in this is an evaluation of whether a side has compared their burden/principle to the other team’s.
How do you resolve model quibbles? (required)
I don’t like to resolve these issue because they often revolve around questions of fact, which I can’t resolve in a debate where there are no objectively verified facts. I tend to go through the same process as I do when it comes to evaluating competing claims.
How do you evaluate models vs. countermodels? (required)
First, I think both sides have the option to have a model or countermodel, but it is not required in the debate. Second, I think about the practical and the world each side creates. If a team is comparing their world to the world of the other team then I tend to follow that logic. Hopefully, both teams are doing this and then they are using their burden/principle to explain why their world is more important for me to vote for. One item that I tend to not enjoy is when teams treat models and countermodels as plans and counterplans and attack each other’s position without a comparison. Keep in mind that reasons the other team’s position fails are not reasons your position succeeds!
If I am judging you in an event other than WSD.
I am sorry, it has been several years since I have judged anything else but WSD. I do not subscribe to the technique over truth paradigm, nor do I want to listen to a mistakes driven debate. I want to see clash, not strategies geared towards avoiding/trapping the other side. Please do not spread, I will not flow that fast and I will not go back and reconstruct your speech using a speech document. Acts of exclusion will result in low points and possible loss of the ballot. I know this is a list of do not's rather than do's so I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.