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Lincoln Southwest Silver Talon

2020 — NSDA Campus, NE/US

Public Forum Paradigm List

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Amaresh Agrahara Palleti Academy

Mitchell Anderson Lincoln Southwest High School

Last changed on Sat November 7, 2020 at 5:42 AM CDT

General

-You can address me as he, they, or judge

-I'm tech over truth

-Assistant PF Coach for Lincoln Southwest High School, freshman at UNL

-Debated 4 years in Nebraska circuit PF, competed at NSDA nationals, 1st year judging PF

-Somewhat knowledgeable on progressive debate, but don't expect me to be super knowledgeable about T-shells, K's, etc.

-I am open to most arguments unless they are blatantly sexist, homophobic, or any other morally reprehensible argument.

-I don't require second rebuttal to rebuild, but if you don't rebuild in second rebuttal I would prefer if you rebuilt in summary

-I don't write down card names, if you are extending cards do more than just cite the name of the card

-Any evidence/analysis that wants to be extended must be mentioned in all speeches post rebuttal. So extend defense from rebuttal to summary

-Links, impacts, and weighing please, not just card dumps

-Feel free to ask me questions about anything if it isn't clear in my paradigm. Most importantly have fun debating and be respectful to your opponents. Remember that this is an educational event and it is in my utmost interest to ensure that each round is a learning opportunity for both teams

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Speaks

20 - There was something seriously wrong with this round and you should speak to your coach about why I gave you a 20

25 - You failed to do anything correctly in the round

26, 27 - You didn't do very much correctly in this round. Either you didn't form arguments correctly, failed to address framing, dropped your opponents' arguments, or missed something critical to the round

28 - Good round overall with some problems that weren't critical to the round, but improvement of these problems would make the round much better

29 - Very solid round. You either won a very competitive round against a solid team or had a very good round without much that I can critique

30 - Reserved for perfect rounds

Bryan Benitez Marist School

Maddy Brown Lincoln Southwest High School

Quang Bui Marist School

Last changed on Wed November 16, 2016 at 9:06 AM EDT

Background: Debated mostly Policy Debate for 4 years at Marist School although I did a couple of PF tournaments here and there.

Email: bnq2658@gmail.com

Last Update 11/16/16

Policy Paradigm

Summary: I usually prefer DA Case CP debate but K's are fine if I can understand it. Really don't want to vote on theory though.

General Things

I don't take prep for flashing or emailing unless the tournament is running behind or tab is nagging me to get done faster
Keep the debate calm and more relaxed
I probably won't look at evidence unless it is specifically indicted or highlighted

China Topic

I haven't had a lot of experience with this topic so please don't use too many abbreviations and acronyms
I don't know much about China policy as of this year but I know a good amount of Japanese politics and policy if that helps you at all

Case

Please don't read an econ impact in front of me if your internal links aren't amazing. I study economics and unless your internal link and solvency cards are by economists with a ton of numbers. I like warming impacts and sciencey impacts like nuclear fusion since they interest me and I would probably more likely to pay attention to them
I'm getting tired of heavy impact debates and overviews. It seems like most of the time the debate boils down to nothing
Solvency debates and debates about the actual aff are the most enjoyable for me since they make the debate less generic. They also have to be explained a lot more in detail since I probably won't know it

I really like DA debates
The DA debate is probably going to be won or lost at the link level so I would probably focus on that

Counterplans

I like CP's but I'm sometimes easily confused about what they do so you have to make it clear in CX or the 2NC as to what it does
I'm fine with judge kicking the CP even if you don't say it, given you extend case

K's

I'm very hit or miss when it comes to K's. Often I get very confused by the barrage of information 2N's introduce in the block. Here's my advice if you decide to go for a K in front of me, slow down when you get to the K flow and explain everything as if I've never debated before
K debates are way too technical and I hate that. Debate the K like how your authors would, slowly and philosophically
The link debate is honestly the only important thing about the K debate. If you run a K, I'm pretty much going to agree that you that you will outweigh the aff. I will, however, give you a much higher threshold to meet for the link so you need to spend about 75% of your time on the link debate
K tricks are stupid and cheap ways to win rounds so I'm probably not voting for them
On the aff the first thing you should do is just hammer that 1NC link evidence. It's usually super generic

I probably won't for T unless it is pretty much obvious that the aff is untopical. I'm probably going to default to reasonability
If it is a questionable aff, then please make the impacts clear and go slow.
If you prove that the aff is untopical but still lose the impact debate then I'll probably still just vote for you

Non-Traditional Arguments

I honestly don't know how I feel about these since I've only encountered a single unorthodox debate. I would prefer it if your argument is topical
If you do something really weird I'm probably going to have this confused look on my face and default to the more orthodox team

Theory

I hate voting on theory. Please don't make it a theory debate and if you do slow down. Theory about one specific argument is a reason to reject the argument.

Word PICs: have to be extremely justifiable
50 State Fiat: stupid but not an immediate reason to reject
International Fiat: good
Consult and Conditions CP's: depends on the solvency advocate
Condo: probably won't vote on unless dropped or perfcon
Multiplank CP's: fine if you have a solvency advocate for each plank
CP Perms: can make the CP go away, not sure about it as an advocacy
K Perms: kind of dumb. Just go for the no link

Tiffany Bukacek Papillion-La Vista High School None

Suzie Cho Lincoln East High School None

Nyla Crayton Marist School

Last changed on Wed January 3, 2024 at 1:29 PM EDT

A little about me:

I competed on the regional GA circuit and national circuit for 5 years in PF, and graduated in '19. I'm now a senior at Brown. This is my second year as the PF coach at Park City HS.

As a judge, I'm pretty chill:

- I'm fine with speed but, wouldmuch preferyou to not spread. If you do, you must email a speech doc.

- I don't flow cross- if something important happens, tell me in a speech or it will not be on my flow.

- Tech>truth. Obv exception is evidence ethics - if you claim that a source says something and it doesn't, I will not look kindly at that argument.

- I won't evaluate OFFENSE that is extended through ink from rebuttal to final focus- if you want me to vote for you on it, extend it through summary.

- Also- I expect the second rebuttal to respond to all of the offense in the round. Let me just add - given that y'all have four minutes, I also expect interaction with the defense read in the first rebuttal, but I'll be more lenient with accepting those responses in summary.

- On intervention - the only time I will intervene is if there is no comparative weighing, or quite honestly, weighing at all. I don't want to ever do this. So if you'd like to win or lose the debate based on the content of the round, weigh.

- additionally, meta-weighing. Especially if you and your opponents are going for different weighing mechanisms, please tell me why I should prefer your weighing mechanism !

- I understand the appeal of progressive debate, and won't automatically down-vote a team that runs it. However, I prefer judging rounds that don't involve frivolous theory. If there has been an egregious offense in the round and/or you feel very passionately about your theory shell, I will judge it. Otherwise, please don't run theory in front of me.

- Unfortunately, I am still not the best at evaluating K's and their place in PF. That's not to say you can't run a K in front of me, but I might not evaluate it in the way you'd like me to.

- For speaks - my range is normally between 27 - 29.7. I don't usually give perfect speaks, or below a 27. But if you are blatantly sexist, homophobic, or racist, that will change.

- On evidence : I'll be a part of email chains in rounds. Please share it with nylacrayton@gmail.com. I might not read every piece of evidence in full, but if you tell me to read something during, or after, the round I will.

- Speech times - I will continue to flow your speech up until ~10 seconds after your time is up. I will stop listening and stop flowing if you continue beyond that time.

Prep - I keep track of prep in the round, and I am always a bit annoyed when you go over that time. If you prep for more than 30 seconds past your prep time, expect to lose speaks.

- Pre-flowing : please finish before the round starts.

Anyways... if you have any more questions, either ask me before the round or shoot an email to nylacrayton@gmail.com !

Salman Djingueinabaye Lincoln HS

Last changed on Mon September 12, 2022 at 11:05 AM EDT

Background

Did college NFA LD for 4 years

Miscellaneous

I like talking to debaters. Feel free to come chat.
If I make a face at an argument, I'm confused. It's never personal.

Bias

Note: I'll vote on any of the arguments below if you win the flow but you may have to work harder depending on your choices. Here are some of my biases.
I like real-world policy action. My favorite debates affirm or negate a material action/policy to reduce suffering.
I'll vote on the K but I like alternatives that do something. Any alt that meditates on the nature of human suffering kinda sucks. I'm easily persuaded to disregard it.
I don't hate philosophy debates but if it's not relevant to the rez, join a book club.
Don't like pessimism arguments.
Won't vote on death good/racism good/etc

Paradigm

Please FRAME THE ROUND! I really don't want to decide which impact I like more.
Tech > Truth but my BS detector is pretty good too.
If you want me to look at your opponent's evidence, call it out in your speech
No sticky defense. If it's dropped and you wanna go for it, extend the warrants. I'm not going to do it for you
I can do basic cross-application of arguments (not the same thing as warrant extension). That also means contradictions deck overall offense.
I like Double binds or "Even if" argumentation
Warrant debates are the best debates. Evidence is good and necessary but you shouldn't hide behind it.
Speed is fine but proportional clarity is required. I'll yell clear a few times. If you go fast, you better use up all the time.
If you want to be super aggressive and condescending, you better not suck fam. Don't yell. Ad hominem = 25 speaks
Don't make faces or talk during the opponent's speech
A trigger warning for sensitive arguments is good but opponents can't prevent you from reading an argument
If you bring outside drama into the round I will listen very very closely so I can gossip in the judge's lounge but I won't vote on an accusation I can't verify. If it's an ethics issue contact the tournament.

NFA LD

K: Not super familiar with most of the literature but walk me through the argument and explain why alt solves the aff. Some kind of material action in the alt is probably recommended. I will vote on a vague alt-bad provided the warrants are good(time skew/allows aff pivot/etc).
DA: Not much to say here. Win the link. Win the impact. Weigh/Frame. 2 good DAs > 4 bad DAs.
AFF: Pretty much an auto-lose on T if you aren't doing a material action through the actor of the rez. Neg just needs to say you are stealing neg ground and robbing everyone of topic education.
T: No proven abuse needed

No new evidence in summary. New analysis based on evidence that has been read is acceptable
2nd Rebuttal is expected to attack and defend. I believe that having all new arguments in rebuttal makes the round clearer, and more educational saving grand cx for final clarifications
If you wanna read theory in PF, I'll listen but it better be clear and good.
Don't talk to your partner during their speech

Brooke Erickson Marist School

Last changed on Wed January 10, 2024 at 1:11 AM PDT

**Less than 5 debates judged on this policy topic so no acronyms without explanation first plz**

Policy Paradigm (LD at bottom)

Currently head coach of Whitefish Bay High School in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin since September 2022

Graduated HS in 2014, policy debater from 2010-2014 (2N/1A) with some national circuit outround/bid round experience.

Assistant coached LD and Policy at:

Central Valley HS (Spokane, WA 2014-2016)

Capitol HS (Boise, ID 2016-2017)

Former co-head coach at Homestead High School in Mequon, Wisconsin (2017-2020)

--Yes, I want to be on the email chain. Blerickson95@gmail.com

--Overall, I am not the brightest bulb in the tanning bed, and I vote for the team that quite literally makes the most sense to me. I am not afraid to take the easy way out if I am given warranted reasons why I should. The harder you make it for me, the more work you make me do, the less likely you are to get my ballot, and I think that makes sense and is fair.

--For the love, please time yourselves.

--Your speaks will increase if you don't spend at ton of time at the beginning of cross ex asking what cards were and weren't read :) (I like flowing!)

--Maybe I am just old and grumpy but, do not wear your headphones in round, at any time, once the debate starts. Not in one ear only, not because "you'e just the 1N", not because you are the 2A and don't want to listen to the 1AC. I think it's rude, pompous, and just plain obnoxious. No debater in the world is too important to listen to a full debate. It is so disrespectful to the other team, the judge, and everyone who took time to be at that debate. Ugh. I hate it so much. Headphones on during a debate are an auto 27 or lower. That's all :) *Obviously this does not carry through for online debate!

Quick version

Generally good for:

--DA-case debates

--Cheater counterplan debates

--Politics/elections debates

Not as good for:

--Heavy K debates

--Any type of death good argument (I think death is bad, and we should try to avoid it)

--Baudrillard

--Any strategy that is largely based off of debate being inherently bad/irredeemable

Online debate things:

--I would prefer if the person speaking had their camera on, but I am obviously understanding if that cannot happen.

--I keep my camera on for the debate but I turn it off during prep to go sit on my couch and hold my dog. So, please make sure, before you start your speech, I am back on the camera. If I am not and you start, that would be no good.

Longer version

General

--I, for the most part, love this activity, and respect anyone who takes the time and effort to participate. This activity is rigorous, and good for you for even being here. I welcome questions before and after the round. I realize some people won't agree with my decision, and I welcome questions as to how I came to my conclusion. However, what I don't welcome, is blatant disrespect because you disagree with my decision. Slamming your things, muttering rude things under your breath, or screaming at me, won't make me email tab begging to change my ballot. In fact, it will make me really not like you.

--I flow on paper, so I need pen time. I understand and follow the debate better this way, but that also means I am not writing everything down verbatim, so if you have arguments you think are important, sit on them.

--I am very expressive. I have tried to have a better poker face, but I simply cannot do it. You should be able to tell if I am unhappy or not.

--Don't be racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic, transphobic, etc. You will lose immediately and receive the lowest speaker points I am allowed to give u

--Prep ends when you’re done prepping and begin flashing/emailing (I can tell if you’re flashing/emailing or prepping, if I see you prepping off prep time, I’ll start your speech time)

--If you clip and it's recorded, you lose. It needs to be recorded.

--I will not evaluate things that happened outside of the debate.

Topic Thoughts

Very few judged on this topic. Plz don't use acronyms without explaining them first.

K debate

--The role of the judge is to decide who did the best debating. The role of the ballot is to tell Tabroom who won.

--Fiat isn't real and that's fine.

--This is my area of less familiarity. Although I have fairly frequently found myself in the back of clash of civ debates, I am less familiar with critical arguments. IR K's such as cap, security, gender, etc. I do not have a problem understanding. I have a harder time understanding high theory, philosophy debates. Pleeease do not assume I have read your author. Do not let this dissuade you from reading your bread and butter K arguments in front of me, just know I need more explanation. I think in good debates this can even just be done in a cross ex.

--I need a reason why the aff is bad. I often find myself voting on the perm because I do not know why the aff is specifically bad for causes more bad things to happen. I am not saying this can't be done, it definitely can be done, and should be.

--I am not here to change how you debate, but it would be disingenuous for me to say my experiences in debate have not affected how I am used to and comfortable evaluating debates. That being said, I tend to think speech times are good, and an hour and a half of discussion is not as good. If we are going to throw speech times out the window, I need to know what the structure is for the remainder of the debate. I.e. when we are done, how I should evaluate arguments in this new format, etc. If there is no structure, I need to know why not having a structure for the debate is good. I do my very best to not intervene, and if the debate devolves into a discussion, the only time I will intervene is to say when time is up for the round. It would be GREAT if that was done for me by one of the teams. I try to talk in debate rounds *literally* as little as possible but I also do not want to make the tournament run behind.

--I have evaluated many framework debates, but I think I am about even voting for and against it. That being said, I think predictable limits are my point of most persuasion. But do what u do.

K affs

--I need to know what the aff does. I just do.

--I do not necessarily need you to defend hypothetical USfg action, but I really appreciate topic relevance.

Theory

Anything is legitimate until you prove to me that it’s not. If you drop these things, you lose*: Conditionality, ASPEC. Flow! Don't just follow the speech doc! Ask what reasons are to reject the team in cx!

*I think sometimes cross applications are sufficient. Or aff outweighs arguments for critical affs. It literally just depends how the debate shakes out, but I would just try to answer them explicitly the first time.

I think fairness can be an internal link or an impact depending on how you spin it. Tell me how you want me to view and evaluate fairness.

Topicality

I have recently realized that I take a little more than the average person to vote on T. I default to competing interpretations unless told otherwise. T isn’t an RVI. Slow down on T debates plz.

For me to vote on topicality, I need: a topical version of the aff (doesn't need to solve the aff, it just needs to show an alternate, topical version of the discussion), a list of topical aff's under your interpretation, a list of what you were deprived of in the debate because of the aff's untopicality OR a reason why I should vote on potential abuse.

Counterplans

I’m a big fan. Counterplans should be competitive and have a solvency advocate, in my perfect world. But hey, I am becoming more and more okay with counterplans that do not have a solvency advocate for some reason.

The more specific, the better. Sufficiency arguments are persuasive to me. I need to know HOW the counterplan solves every portion of the aff, don’t just assert that it does. Process, conditions, delay, consult, advantage etc. I’m fine with; like I said, anything is legitimate unless proved otherwise. I really like smart pics/word pics.

My mantra has always been, if you ain't cheatin' you ain't tryin'. Cheating counterplans can get the job done and if there is no theoretical objection to reject the argument, you may be in trouble. That being said, compelling reasons why that specific cheating counterplan is bad can sometimes convince me to reject the argument. Again, it's ~debatable~

*The only counterplan I think is silly and likely won't vote for is a PIC out of the ballot. Never got it, never will, likely will always think it's silly.

Aff: Solvency deficits need to be impacted. But WHY is the federal government key? Also, I would really like if permutations were more than just "Do both" at the end of the debate, but if the neg never presses you on what this means, I will likely give the aff a lot of leeway throughout the debate on what that means/how it functions. This is important--negative teams are deciding what the permutation is and how it functions for the aff and it is just destroying the aff. Tell me what your perm means and how it functions, if you let the neg do it for you I can bet it won't turn out well for you.

I am hearing a lot of "perm shields the link to the net benefit so it solves". WHY. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WHY. HOW. WHY AND HOW. I am begging you to give me some sort of permutation explanation.

That being said, “Protect the 2nr” is a persuasive phrase to me in situations that call for it. I will kick the counterplan for the negative, if it's conditional, unless I am given a reason not to by the aff.

Disadvantages

A disadvantage has: uniqueness, a link, an internal link, and an impact. 2 card disads make me sad and I am immediately skeptical of them.

Disad-case debates are my favorite. What I was told as a novice still applies today: tell me the story of your disad. How does the link/internal link chain work to achieve the impact, etc. Disad overviews are important (cards in overviews are cool too); turns case arguments are basically necessary to my ballot. Tell me how your impact relates to the aff.

Case

Engage the case! Do case debate!

LD Paradigm

I debated at two LD tournaments in high school: Nat quals and NFL (now NSDA?) nationals my junior year. I coached LD for 3 years before coming to Homestead. I have coached/judged very traditional, value-criterion LD debate, and I have also coached/judged progressive LD debate. I am truly fine with either. For more progressive LD debate, my policy paradigm applies. A couple caveats:

--T or theory is not an RVI. I realize the time skew in LD debate. T or theory is not an RVI. I will vote on theory, just not silly ones.

--Shorter speeches than in policy, so I think a bunch of short off-case positions are less preferable than less, more in-depth off-case positions. But do what u need to do.

--Tricks? nah

--Meta-theory? nah

--Cutting evidence from debate blogs? nah

--In-depth, educational debates about the topic? Yeah!!!

Have fun!! :)

Charles Hollis Sidney High School

Miranda Hussey Millard North High School

Serena Jentz Lincoln Southwest High School None

Angela Kwambamba Lincoln Southwest High School

Preston McInelly Millard North High School None

Troy Nguyen Lincoln Southwest High School

Last changed on Sat March 13, 2021 at 6:01 AM CDT

Competed in public forum for 4 years from 2012-2016 for Lincoln Southwest, dotted with a little Congress debate as well. Competed at the 2015 NSDA national tournament in public forum.

Debate is a fun and educational activity: always keep that in mind :)

Public Forum:

I'm not too particular, just be sure to speak about the impacts of arguments in terms of their magnitude, probability, and timeframe. Synthesize arguments so they're easy to follow throughout the round. Please don't refer to evidence (cards) just by their author name and year.

Other nuances:

1. Cross fire is not factored into the decision in itself. If something arises from cross fire, be sure to bring it up in a speech for it to be weighed

2. Summary and Final Focus are not a time to bring up new arguments. New evidence for existing claims is okay, though.

3. Framework debate interests me a lot - especially when it observes a unique burden to a certain side or points out a key interpretation of the resolution

4. Topicality is essential. If you don't tie your arguments or rebuttal back to the resolution, it's not productive.

5. Carry through arguments through all speeches. If something is dropped in Summary but brought back up in Final Focus, I will not consider it. Similarly, dropped arguments are typically lost arguments, particularly if the other team highlights the dropped argument.

--------------------------------------------------------

Congress:

1. I like when speeches progress the debate. Each speech should add something to the table. On the flip side of things, I generally do not like when your speech just rehashes a point made in a prior speech. If you make reference to a specific piece of evidence mentioned in a prior speech or mention the representative who originally brought up a point and build on it, that's better.

2. I enjoy when insightful questions that advance the topic are asked in the questioning period.

3. Remember that we are debating everything surrounding the legislation at hand. There is great value to negating based on semantics or wording, as it can push for an amendment of the legislation.

4. POs should be fair, correct, and succinct. I don't judge based on how "to-the-book" the PO phrases motions and such. Keep it short and follow the necessary process, but I'm not looking for exact wording.

5. Use evidence in your speeches.

6. Logic and arguments over presentation. Please have clear claims, warrants, and impacts. If you can weigh your impacts based on magnitude, timeframe, and probability I'll love it.

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Avani Nooka Lincoln East High School

Last changed on Fri March 31, 2023 at 2:06 PM CDT

Avani Nooka (She/Her/Hers)

Lincoln East '20, Princeton '24

Experience: 4 years of PF (2016-2020), PF TOC '19 Gold Bid, Beyond Resolved Nebraska Chapter Head '19 and Chapter Alumni '20-21

Conflicts: Lincoln East

Feel free to email me with any specific questions. For the sake of running an online tournament efficiently, I am going to keep my RFD and ballot comments short so if you or your coach have any questions or concerns about my decision, please don't hesitate to reach out to me at nookaavani@gmail.com.

PF:

The easiest (and best) way to win my ballot: weigh, weigh, weigh, weigh, weigh, weigh, weigh, weigh, weigh, weigh. Which way? Dat weigh.

I prefer the final focus to be less focused on line-by-line and more focused on framing, impact weighing, and round story. Since this is PF, narrative is important and if you win the round it's because you did a better job explaining why I should prefer your world as opposed to your opponents'. The best debaters start creating their narrative in the rebuttal and weighing in the summary, not just the final focus !!

Randoms:

Feel free to collapse if you want...if you do it in a strategic way.

I'm not a big fan of theory or spreading in PF. If you do run theory, make sure you can actually argue it well and it's developed properly with less speech time in PF compared to a typical policy round.

If the round is super messy and there's a lot of reiterated clash, go the simple route and give me three reasons why you won the round in the final focus. Being able to step back and clean the narrative of the debate when it's getting muddled speaks a lot on how skillful of a debater you are.

Other specifics (from John Holen's Paradigm):

All evidence used in the round should be accessible for both sides. Failure to provide evidence in a timely manner when requested will result in either reduced speaker points or an auto loss (depending on the severity of the offense)." ***Even if you want me to read your opponents' evidence, it is still a safer bet to win the argument by weighing***

Please be civil during cross fire. It makes judging and competing in the debate community more enjoyable and comfortable for everyone. I tend to give high speaker point averages but if you are extremely rude, I will take off speaker points.

Most importantly, have fun :)

LD:

Not experienced in this event at all so please explain your arguments well. Go to Azza Elhaj's. The only differences are that I can't flow well if you spread (some speed is fine) and that I actually prefer three reasons why you won the round. By that I mean to not compensate on the flow, but to hammer in on arguments that have good clash and allocate more time to weighing them.

Framework makes the game work. Easiest way to win my ballot: have clash and make clear why I should prefer your framework/concede to your opponents framework and link into it better.

Impact weigh. Impact weigh. Impact weigh. Impact weigh. Impact weigh. Impact weigh. Impact weigh. Impact weigh.

Samuel Province Lincoln Southeast High School

Natalie Reynolds Norfolk High School None

Kamryn Sannicks Hire None

Aarron Schurevich Millard North High School

Last changed on Sun January 7, 2024 at 12:49 PM CDT

LAST UPDATED: NOV. 4, 2023

My previous paradigm preferences are four years old at this point and likely outdated. I have deleted them for now.

I am likely much, much worse at flowing these days than I was when judging all the time. I have been a tournament tab resident for years on end now, and that likely means I'm not as up to date on new progressive developments in rounds.

Here's what I'll say:

- Don't treat me like I'm a dummy, but don't presume I understand everything you're saying. I need you to do the work of explaining arguments, articulating impacts, and explicitly weighing within the round.

- I expect that a PF team going 2nd will have a rebuttal that both answers the opponent's case and rebuilds their own. Any argument not addressed in the 2nd team's rebuttal is a conceded argument, and if the first team makes it a voter, that's likely ballgame (assuming there is offense on the argument for the 1st team).

- I'm watching everything, but if you don't make it matter, it doesn't matter.

- In PF, I'm not going to break my back to follow you at a thousand miles an hour, so if you're fast, I'll give you one verbal "CLEAR" in the round to let you know you're leaving me behind. I will not feel at all responsible for what you might think is a bad decision if the way you're speaking disregards my ability/inability to follow and flow you.

- I expect clear and explicit voters in the final speeches.

- I'm not at all impressed by debaters who are jerks to opponents. This is a community, and everyone in it should be a steward of that community. Decorum, in extreme cases, is a voting issue for me, and I do consider my ballot my greatest means of discouraging outlandish and abusive behavior.

- I want full text reading of evidence, not paraphrasing. Upon the request of the opponent, cards not provided in a reasonable timeframe will be disregarded as if they don't exist.

If you have any specific questions, ask them pre-round.

Will Sjostrom Marist School

Last changed on Sat January 27, 2024 at 7:56 AM EDT

Current Coach -- Marist School (2020-present)

Former PF Debater -- Marist School (2016-2020)

Current Student at the University of Georgia

Please add maristpublicforum@gmail.com to the email chain

Debate is first and foremost a safe, fun, and educational activity so we should do our best to keep it that way

TL;DR: I am a tech judge and I will vote off my flow. Please do whatever you do best and enjoy the round.

General important stuff:

1) Extend every part of the argument... uniqueness, link, internal link, and impact. A claim without a warrant is not an argument. If you do not extend your argument then I can not vote on it. I really do listen and pay close attention to this so please do. I will vote with no shame against teams that probably would have won if they had just extended their argument fully.

2) I cannot stress enough that fewer well developed arguments will always be better than blips with no argument development or good warrants. I've noticed teams that collapse and more thoroughly explain their arguments tend to win my ballot more often than not against a team that goes for too much.

3) Please weigh your arguments. Explain why your argument is more important than the other teams.

4) My only real pet peeve is wasting time during or before a debate. Please be ready to start the debate on time and don't cause unnecessary delays during it. Preflowing should be done before the debate. When prep time ends you should be ready to start your speech right away. "Pulling up a doc" or something like that for 30 seconds is stealing prep and should be done before you end your prep time.

5) Second rebuttal must answer first rebuttal, defense is not sticky

Other specific stuff:

Argument types:

I don’t care what type of argument you read as long as it is well explained, has warrants, and is weighed (case, k’s, theory... whatever are all fine). You do what you're best at!

Speed:

You can go as fast or slow as you want. I will be good flowing any speed you decide to go. My only caveat if you go fast is to slow a bit down on taglines and still signpost well

Theory:

Any theory arguments need to be real violations that have real impacts. Frivolous theory is unpleasant to judge and will be almost impossible to win in front of me. I believe paraphrasing is bad and disclosure is good. At this point in the activity reading cuts cards and disclosing has become a norm that most teams adhere to which I think makes my threshold for responses to the shell even higher than it has been in the past.

Any theory argument should be read in the speech directly after the violation. For example disclosure theory should be read in constructive, but if a team reads cut cards in case and then paraphrases rebuttal then you read paraphrasing in rebuttal/summary whichever is next.

Speaks:

If you flow on paper and give second half speeches off of that flow a small boost in speaks. I give speaks primarily based on quality of the debating in round. Making good strategic decisions, collapsing, and weighing are all things that can help your speaks. Being nice and not wasting time also help. I do not really care how "good" you sound if you are not making good arguments at the same time. To put this into perspective, when I debated I always felt that winning rounds was more important than sounding good, but with winning generally comes better speaks.

Sam Spethman Lincoln Southwest High School

Addisson Stugart Marian

Last changed on Sun February 18, 2024 at 5:06 AM CDT

**I have judged this NFA topic once (1). Please go slow and explain. If youre fast on tags, or fast on theory, it is entirely your fault if you drop because there was an argument I didn’t hear or understand.

They/Them

Competitive Debate Participation: Millard North 2014-2017 (PF), University Nebraska-Lincoln 2017-2021 (NFA-LD, 1 v. 1 policy)

Coaching: Assistant Debate Coach, Lincoln High School 2017-2018. Assistant Debate Coach, Marian High School 2018-2021; 2023-Present

Email: addissonLstugart@gmail.com

TBH you can probably avoid the rest if you're familiar with Nadia Steck's or Justin Kirks paradigms.

TL/DR:

Content warnings: If you are running something sensitive, you need to have a trigger warning. This means things such as suicide, human trafficking, domestic violence, etc. NEED to have a disclaimer before you say them. Furthermore, you NEED to have a back-up plan if reading it puts the safety of someone in the room in jeopardy. And, for both of our sakes, please don't use something sensitive solely as a means to win a round. Commodification of trauma isn't something that I will listen to.

I will vote on content warning procedurals.

Tech > Truth (what does that mean?)

I will always disclose first and will always give a detailed rfd. Not doing so is bad for education

Speed is a wonderful thing in all events unless it's used as an exclusionary tactic. If either opponent doesn't want speed, neither do I.

You can probably tell if I’m buying an argument based on my facial expressions.

Judge intervention will only ever happen if the safety (physical/mental) of a student in the round is at jeopardy.

Presume/default neg in all circumstances UNLESS the alt/cp does more than the aff. Then presumption flips aff.

Flex prep is a-okay in all events.

Evidence

I will call for evidence after round in 3 circumstances:

1. I have read the evidence beforehand in some context and believe that how you are construing it is wrong and unethical

2. The opposing team has asked me to

3. The round is decided on this evidence

Speaks:

Should be primarily based off of skill of debate, not eloquence of speaking.

While I believe speaks are arbitrary, I will generally determine speaks through this loose model:

28-29: You debated incredibly well. Strategic choices were made, and I have very little feedback for improvements.

27.5-28: Most frequently awarded speaks from me, baseline for my evaluation.

27: Arguments were poorly explained and require much more development throughout the round.

If you owe someone an apology at the end of the round, I may drop your speaks down to <26.

For public forum debate:

Observations: I will listen to anything. I LOVE strategic observations. I LOVE observations that narrow the topic based on grammar/interpretations of the resolution.

On the flow: Don't drop turns. Extend terminal offense. Ghost extensions of terminal defense from rebuttal--> final focus are the only extensions I allow to not be in summary. Other than that, if you want it weighed in final focus, have it in summary.

Rebuttal: It is preferred, but not required, for the second rebuttal to cover both sides. I used to card dump in my rebuttals, so I understand how it can get you ahead on the flow, though. I'm not strategically against it, but pedagogically I am.

Summaries: This is the MOST important speech in the round. This should set up the framing for the final focus, and should have all of the offense you want to go for in it. All previous opposing offense needs to be addressed in this speech (for example, if team a drops team b's turns in summary, strategic strat is for team b to sit on them in final focus. It's too late for team a to come back on that part of the flow.)

Final focus: The same framing should be given as was given in summary. But overviews or underviews are the best. I flow summaries and final focuses in columns next to each other. The final focus' main job is impact analysis. Explain to me why your impacts o/w because, as an owner of four dogs, if left to my own fruition, I could vote for 10 dog lives over nuclear war.

For Lincoln Douglas/CX Debate:

Inherency: I THINK THIS IS ACTUALLY A VERY VALID ARGUMENT TO GO FOR. Ya got me, I am a stock issues judge

"status quo acts as a delay counterplan" = *chefs kiss*

Value/criterion: I will typically default util~ especially in muddied v/c debates.

PLEASE, for the love of all that is good and holy, COLLAPSE V/C DEBATES IF IT DOESN'T MATTER (if I have to see another util vs consequentialism debate ???? I might SCREAM)

Also, please explain how the substance of the ac or nc actually relates to your v/c, or better yet, how it could *also* relate to your opponents.

Theory: After being in the activity for a while I have come to the conclusion that proven abuse is a silly metric to win theory debate. I do not believe that in order to win theory you should have to skew yourself out of your own time.

I am unlikely to vote for RVI's on theory in regards to things like "the theory is just a time suck".

I find “Drop the argument, not the team” to be fairly persuasive for general theory arguments (excluding t).

I probably won't vote for condo bad when there's one conditional advocacy.

Topicality: (I will never vote on "they have to prove abuse") I default competing interpretations on t but will listen to reasonability arguments. I believe effects t/extra t can be independent voters with independent standards. I think a dropped violation will *almost* always win a t debate. But because t is try or die, consider the following:

1. If you win the "we meet", reasonability explanations are easier.

2. T is something the neg has to win, not that the aff has to prove opposite. What does that mean? I am not doing the work for the neg to find the aff untopical. Extend and EXPLAIN your standards. (utilize clash, don't just rely on blocks) Tell me why the neg's definition is better than the aff's. Tell me why things like competitive reciprocity is key to eduaction, etc. I know all of these things but will judge *only* based on your explanations.

3. T is just like any other debate. The interp is the claim. The violation is the warrant, the standards are the internal link to>>> the voters being the impacts. So, just like any other debate, I expect you to win on all parts of the flow *especially because topicality is try or die for the aff*.

5. HOWEVER, I will always prioritize being tech over truth. That means that *even if* I don't agree with one's sides strats, or find that they are bad at performing the t strat (or responding) if the opposite side drops something of importance (a violation, concedes a voter, or even a standard that is sat on as the key internal link) I am probably voting there. Concessions are the easiest way for me to pick a winner on T debates.

Tricks: Take like 15 seconds to crystallize it after you do it to make sure I got it, and if you don't do this, don't be mad at me if I don't catch on.

Kritiks: I am open to all kritiks, but I am not familiar with all of the literature. Don't expect me to know the argument off the top of my head, but expect me to flow it and (hopefully) understand it the way that you communicate it to me. Debate is inherently a communication activity, and k debaters can lose sight of this. If it helps you to understand my experience with k's better, when I compete, I always go for framework.

I say K aff's have a higher burden of proof for solvency/explanations than standard policy affs.

Disclosure: Well first off, everyone should disclose. Debate is for education, not just the wins. IDK how I feel about voting on this theory. I have, but I don't like it.

Da's: disads with specific links are probably for the best. I am all about the net bens to counterplans. I am open to any type of argument here.

Counterplans: "Yes. The more strategic, the better. Should be textually and functionally competitive. Texts should be written out fully and provided to the other team before cross examination begins. The negative should have a solvency card or net benefit to generate competition. PICs, conditional, topical counterplans, international fiat, states counterplans are all acceptable forms of counterplans." -Dr. Justin Kirk; the man, the myth, the legend.

Hannah Tunks Millard North High School

Grayson Weckerle-Dietz Norfolk High School

Rose Witt Hastings None

Liu Yang Jasper HS Independent

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