i'm hungry

be nice and be cool in cx

Just dont drop any args and you should be fine. Also, overview, under view and framing.

for LD -

all cards must carded on the card (or off the card)

voter vote, winners win, losers sometimes sneak out the back door (or front)

every triple turn makes your offence buff (or not)

any questions feel free to ask

do tell me what to vote on because i have no clue

Best of luck!

I have coached Lincoln Douglass debate for 5 years. For me, excellent debaters are reasonable, efficient, articulate, logical, clear, audience focussed, fair, and adept at both offense and defense. Effective debaters provide a clear and direct weighing mechanism for why they are winning or have won the round, and they link back to the value criterion clearly and directly. I don't like fast debate. Debate in the real world for me as a human. I don't like tricks and manipulations. Debate your opponents' best arguments, represent them fairly, and use logic, analytics, and critical thinking to clash convincingly. Do the fundamentals well: good speaking skills, look to the audience, good sportspersonship, good clarity of enunciation, energy, posture, concrete framing, big picture framing, signposting, clash, clash, clash etc.

***BELLARMINE RHETORIC INVITATIONAL:

IGNORE EVERYTHING ABOUT:

- NO extra speaks

- NO spreading - this will be a slow round. If you are talking faster than you should, be warned - your grade WILL go down.

- NO Counterplans

EVERYTHING ELSE IN MY PARADIGM APPLIES!!!

Good luck!

Specifics:

Novice Policy:

I am a sophomore policy debater at Bellarmine. I will flow your arguments and pay attention to cross ex. That being said, if you want me to consider anything from cross ex, please mention it in your speech. I have debated a ton on this year's topic, so I'll be fine with abbreviations. Just keep in mind for future rounds that most parent judges might not be.

In terms of what arguments you read, treat me like a parent judge; that is what you should be practicing at this novice tournament.

Topicality: If you're going to read topicality, explain very clearly why the affirmative is not topical. Also explain why I should vote neg because of it.

Counterplans: Although you don't generally read counterplans in novice or lay in general, I'll still consider them equally. But - make sure you have a reason for reading the counterplan, and I wouldn't recommend kicking it because that's not at all intuitive to parent judges.

Speech content: In the final rebuttals, tell me very clearly why I should give you the ballot. For the 2NR, preempt the 2AR. For the 2AR, don't drop all of their arguments just because they don't have another speech - I am flowing. Essentially, do good line by line in every speech. Make sure to also practice framing throughout all your speeches.

Cross ex: Be nice, ask important questions, and no tag team cross ex please.

Speaks: Don't go fast - this is novice debate. I will most certainly dock you points. Some quick things about speaks:

1. Give a speech solely off of paper or computer - I want eye contact. I understand that when reading evidence, you should look at the evidence, but when reading tags or responding to arguments I expect some eye contact.

2. It's okay to be a little aggressive in cross ex, but DO NOT be rude, physical, or overly aggressive either.

3. I understand that this is a novice tournament, so I will be lenient on stuttering and pausing, but any gaps that aren't tiny will also be a small deduction in speaks.

4. If you are neg, I still expect you to flow the 2AR. It is always good to learn from a speech, even if it won't affect you in that specific round.

5. USE ALL YOUR SPEECH/CX TIME! Speech and cross ex time is a gift - USE IT! Using 7/8 minutes means you could've spent more time framing or convincing me of your side. I will dock your speaker points if you are short. (Quick thing - I expect both teams to time their own prep and speeches, please don't steal prep it looks very bad and is unethical.)

6. ALWAYS BE NICE! This is the most important thing. If you are very rude to your opponent that will result in an automatic 25. That means don't laugh during their speeches or after the round, just be cool.

7. +0.3 speaks for every good Minecraft joke - if it's bad I'll give you +0, if it's in between I'll give you +0.2 for effort.

8. +0.1 speaks for any and every Trump joke - I love them and don't be afraid to make more political jokes and references, I will add more speaks accordingly.

9. +0.1 speaks for puns. I might make it +0.2 if it's SUPER cringey.

10. +0.1 speaks for every time you make me laugh throughout the debate. Feel free to remind me after the round.

11. I will bump you up an entire speaker point if you can use the phrase "You can't just drop bombs and then grow wheat"(Dalmia '19) in one of your speeches. However, it has to be in the right context and relevant to the debate.

Final notes:
-I may ask to see evidence after the debate if it comes down to a specific piece of evidence. Thus, it is in your best interest to make sure the evidence makes the claim you say it does.

-I will make sure to give you extensive comments after the round - and if you have any questions please feel free to email me at dhruv.dalmia22@bcp.org. Also, if you use an email chain, add me to it.

I'm sorry for the length of the paradigm but I think it will be a better debate if you read through it.

Most importantly, have fun!

-Dhruv

finbarr.donovan22@bcp.org : add me onto the email chain if there is one : he/him

-----

I'm in my third year of policy at Bellarmine College Prep.

Be confident and respectful. If you take anything from this paradigm, it's that you should be sportsmanlike. I don't mean to say you aren't allowed to make fun of someone's argument, I mean to say that any kind of personal attack on another debater and/or being super aggressive in cross-ex isn't cool with me.

I'm tabula rasa. As long as you explain your arguments clearly and have a claim-warrant-impact structure I'll follow them. I'll vote purely on the arguments that were made during the debate.

For stock issue policy rounds, be sure to frame the debate for me. (i.e., write my ballot for me - what does a team need to prove to win the debate? One stock issue or plan bad idea? etc.)

Oh, and have fun! There's not much that's worse than a debate where both teams don't want to be there.

Treat me like I am a parent, I can follow along with any argument you want to make, just have a good explanation of your argument and why it matters because if I cant understand your argument then I cant vote for it, have some weighting as to why your argument means you should win the debate

Make sure to be kind to each other in round!

I was in elims of the TOC, but don't mistake that for any kind of expertise. I'm as good at flowing as a fish is at climbing trees. I also don't read.

Here's my deal:

1. Great case debate - Who needs evidence when you've got a mind? As long as you engage and make good, logical arguments on case, you're golden. In fact, you could even nullify an extinction impact if you make it work. The dinosaurs are waiting.

2. Clash - Let's just talk, okay? I don't need a generic block of words thrown at me. Engage with your opponent's arguments. I mean, really, who needs evidence when you're logical? It's like having a receipt for a donut.

3. Slow debate - We're not in a rap battle. I don't need speed. I need substance. I don't care if you're the Usain Bolt of debate; just slow down and let's have a rigorous conversation about the aff plan.

Now, here are some circuit debate norms that make as much sense to me as a fish on a bicycle:

1. Dropped arguments aren't true - I've defeated teams who crushed us on content because they missed the hidden topicality shell between DA links. I mean, who agreed that debates should be judged like this?

2. Kritiks are wack - I could list my reasons, but I'll keep it brief. For one, crazy alt fiat is just that - crazy. Debate should be about possible solutions, not fantasy. Also, uniqueness - if I'm skeptical of alts, the K seems like a non-unique DA. And lastly, links - they're like those puzzles with missing pieces.

3. Judge intervention is good - Yes, I said it. If I don't like your argument, it's probably not going to get my vote. This is because I want you pursuing good arguments, not just the ones the other team undercovers. You're not going to persuade me with a stale argument any more than a stale donut.

So, there you have it. My approach to debate is like my approach to cooking - I don't do it by the book. So, let's get this show on the road!

My views are aligned with Adarsh Nallapa's.

Bellarmine '21

Harvard '25

Assistant coach for Bellarmine.

Email for the chain: ahiremath35@gmail.com. It would be great if you could make the subject "Year -- Tournament -- Round # -- Aff Team vs Neg Team."

Some people who have heavily influenced my views on debate: Surya Midha, Tyler Vergho, Debnil Sur, Dhruv Sudesh, Rafael Pierry, and Anirudh Prabhu. Feel free to check out any of their paradigms too.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Berkeley Tournament '24 Update
- I haven't judged any rounds on the topic. Don't assume I know any topic specific jargon or accept any community consensus.

- Beliefs about AI: AGI is inevitable, actors like OpenAI are most likely to achieve AGI, it is possible to regulate AI, most open source AI is good, and misaligned AGI can pose an existential risk.

- I despise the trend of ad hominem attacks in debates.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

General thoughts

- I don't care what you read. While my partner Surya and I mostly read policy arguments, we occasionally read K affs and even went for the Baudrillard K in our TOC bubble round.

- Rebuttals should acknowledge and address the weakest parts of your own arguments. Reduce the debate to 2-3 core issues and clearly explain why winning those issues mean you have already won the debate.

- Hard numbering arguments is beautiful and makes it very easy to flow the debate. "One, two, three" > "first, second, third."

- Answer arguments in the order presented.

- Don't waste time calling arguments "terrible" or "stupid" or anything like that. Just directly explain the reason why the argument is poor.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FW

- Clash, fairness, and movements can all be great impacts. If you go for fairness, lean into the "debate is a game" framing. If you go for movements / skills, explain why that solves their offense better.

- Please don't just read blocks straight down. Contextualize as much as possible, wherever possible. The first lines of your 2NC/2NR overview should point out a central problem in the aff construction or strategy.

- Impact comparison is crucial, especially in final rebuttals.

- I generally vote for the team that is more offensive in these debates.

- Counter-interpretations need to have a somewhat clear caselist. Negative teams should make fun of counter-interpretations that don't.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CP

- Send all perm texts in the 2AC.

- Textual and functional competition are great standards to hold CP's to. 2A's should also be prepared to go for textually non-intrinsic but functionally intrinsic perms.

- Counterplans can solve for an advantage's internal links or an advantage's impacts. The best CP's do both.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

K

- The negative only gets to weigh the impacts of their links. How large the impacts are is up for debate.

- I don't have great background knowledge on the majority of these literature bases, so please be clear when explaining dense concepts. If I can't understand your arguments then I won't vote for you.

- 2A's should be mindful of what they need to win given 2NR pivots. They kick the alt? Winning framework basically means you auto-win the debate. They go for the alt? Winning a substantial DA to the alt can help you in multiple areas of the debate.

- Pick 1-2 pieces of offense on the framework debate and explain them well in the final rebuttals. These debates get muddled when either side tries to do too much.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

T

- Predictable limits are more important than limits for the sake of limits.

- Interpretations need to have a clear intent to exclude, otherwise the affirmative will have a much easier time winning "we meet." Surya's paradigm has a great explanation of this.

- Plan text in a vacuum is a better standard than most people give it credit for. If the alternative to plan text in a vacuum justifies the negative procuring violations from non-underlined portions of cards, then the aff should make fun of that.

- The 2AR/2NR should isolate 1-2 pieces of offense, explain why they outweigh, and explain why they solve/precede the other team's offense.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Theory

- Please be as slow as possible.

- Things that are good: conditionality, 2NC CP's, kicking planks, CP's without a solvency advocate.

- Things that are bad: international fiat, multi-level / multi-actor fiat.

- Theoretical objections other than conditionality can be made into better substantive arguments. A CP doesn't have a solvency advocate? Probably means your deficit is more credible. A CP uses an archaic process to establish a precedent? Probably means the perm shields.

Email - benmanens@gmail.com - put me on the chain

Camp Tournament:

1) Don't change how you debate for me - this tournament is for you to learn, so I'll listen to anything you throw at me.

2) Be a good sport - this is a first varsity tournament for many, and the beginning of the end for many others. Make sure everyone learns and has a good time and you will be rewarded with speaker points.

General thoughts:

1) Tech over truth - I like certain arguments and dislike others. This does not change how I evaluate them in the context of a debate and my ideological predispositions are easily overcome by outdebating the other team. That being said, while adapting to my argumentative preferences will not affect my likelihood to vote for you, it may affect the quality of my judging for both sides absent clear explanation and judge instruction.

1b) Dropped arguments are true, but only as long as they are attached to a claim, warrant, and impact. My threshold for what constitutes those three components is low if left unanswered.

2) I have zero experience with the topic. Err on the side of overexplaining rather than underexplaining.

3) I flow on paper, and have never been very neat. I will reward good signposting* and clear judge instruction that frontloads the most important arguments in the debate.

*From Surya Midha's paradigm: "Number everything. 'One, two, three' is preferable to 'first, second, third.' If your gripe with numbering is that it 'interrupts the flow of your speech,' you have incidentally just articulated the most compelling justification for the practice."

4) Final rebuttals should identify the most important issues in the debate and coherently flesh them out. 2NRs and 2ARs too often get lost in the weeds of line by line and forget to extend complete arguments and/or instruct the judge on why the debate so far should lead them to a decision one way or the other.

5) I flow CX. It's a lost art. You can go ahead and waffle or use it as prep time, but smart, well-thought out CX strategies that impact the course of the debate will be rewarded.

Topicality:

1) I default to competing interps, but have recently been more and more open to reasonability if the aff invests time in fleshing it out and making it a part of their strategy. I'm most compelled by aff explanations that use reasonability to weigh substance crowdout as offense against whatever the negative goes for.

2) Reading a piece of evidence that defines a word in the resolution is a very basic threshold for a T interp, but one that less and less T interps are meeting. If you have to spin what the words in your interp card say, you're probably stretching it. Not only does it make it a nightmare to watch, it should, if executed properly, make it very easy for the aff to win on predictability.

3) I've gone back and forth on plan text in a vacuum - I lean neg but oftentimes teams are underprepared for a 2A bold enough to go all-in on the argument.

4) It is the negative burden to establish a violation. Please don't make your 1NC shell say "Interp: [x must do y], Violation: they don't."

Theory and Competition:

1) Condo can (or can not) be a voting issue, everything else is a reason to reject the argument. I dislike that a 15 second argument in the 1AR can be blown up to a 5-minute 2AR, and will hold the line on egregious overextrapolation.

2) I'll vote for dropped ASPEC (and other arguments of the sort), but I will not be happy doing so. Don't drop it.

3) Slightly neg-leaning on condo and process CPs, solidly neg-leaning on PICs, multiplank, agent, solvency advocate, and concon theory, solidly aff-leaning on delay and international fiat. Still, dropped arguments are true, and I will happily vote on conceded or undercovered pieces of offense.

4) The 2NC is a constructive, 1NR is not.

5) You will be best served by ditching whichever blocks you stole from a college round to spread at top speed and instead collapsing down to your best one or two pieces of offense, fleshing that out, and comparing it to your opponent's main piece of offense.

6) I'll default to judgekick unless debated out.

7) I generally prefer competition over theory, but theory bolsters whatever arguments you make about competition. Positional competition is a hard sell, limited intrinsicness, PDCP, and all the other typical process CP perms can go either way. It is the neg burden to establish competition.

Counterplans:

1) Sufficiency framing is both underrated and overutilized. It is extremely helpful in establishing burdens and thresholds in regards to judge instruction, but is only valuable insofar as you apply it to specific internal links rather than a 5-second buzzword-filled explanation at the top.

2) I will reward long, creative advantage counterplans that throw a curveball at 2As. I will also reward 2As that respond with deficits that demonstrate they've thought through the strategic value of their advantages and can creatively apply them. On that same note, solvency deficits are underrated vs process CPs if you've written your aff correctly.

Disadvantages:

1) Try-or-die, impact turns case, and other impact framing arguments of the sort are rhetorically compelling, but not very helpful in terms of evaluating relative risk. The question I ask myself in these debates is which side I vote for will prevent the greatest impact. This also means that saying "timeframe - intervening actors/live to fight another day" absent a specific warrant behind that is not super helpful.

2) Specific link analysis and contextualization is indispensable. Carded evidence is the gold standard, but cleverly spinning generic evidence can suffice in a pinch. Storytelling is key.

3) I don't believe in zero risk unless something damning is dropped, but that doesn't tend to matter much. Quantifying the risk of disadvantages only matters insofar as it is necessary to make a comparative claim, and oftentimes the arbitrary difference between zero and near-zero risk does little to change that comparison.

4) Always down for an impact turn - am not a huge fan of spark/wipeout, but will still evaluate it. Organization of these debates is key, and especially in later speeches collapsing down to a couple of core claims and clearly explaining how they implicate the debate.

5) I have a soft spot for politics and the rider DA. Doesn't mean I'll vote for it (the rider DA goes away if the aff says the right things), but I'll be happy to see it well executed.

Kritiks:

1) The quickest way to my ballot on the aff is winning that your case outweighs. The quickest way to my ballot on the neg is winning a framework interp that mitigates that. I find that oftentimes they are poorly answered and implicate the other, so taking advantage of that will do you a lot of good.

2) I don't mind long overviews in the right circumstances if flagged beforehand. They're helpful to explain necessary thesis-level components of your argument, but counterproductive when they begin replacing line-by-line.

3) I'm somewhat familiar with most common kritiks - afropess, setcol, security, cap, etc. Err on the side of overexplaining if unsure.

4) From Anirudh Prabhu's paradigm, "All debate is storytelling, but K debate especially so." Specific link analysis is not only satisfying to watch, it will make it more likely that you win.

5) The Cap K is my pet peeve. I find it ridiculous that someone labeled capitalism bad a kritik and then could basically read that as an impact turn versus almost any aff. At the same time, aff teams tend to do a poor job at exploiting the tensions between the impact and framework, link magnitude and the perm, etc. I say this not to stop you from reading it, but be aware when it's strategically valuable to extend.

K Affs/Framework:

1) Ideologically, probably not great for the aff. I've never read a K aff nor gone for anything other than FW against K affs, and I believe affirmative teams should affirm the resolution. However, I will do my best to evaluate these debates independent of my own beliefs. Good framework vs K aff debates are my favorite to watch, and many of the judges I look up to are quite middle-of-the-road in these debates so I strive to reach that standard myself.

2) Packaging and framing in framework debates is just as important as the arguments themselves. The team that is more offensive in final rebuttals gains a massive advantage.

3) I find impacts grounded in debate's form more compelling than those related to the content of the debates themselves, not out of personal belief, but in terms of strategic utility. Fairness is probably good, but whether it is an impact is left up for debate - I've gone back and forth, can be persuaded either way.

4) I have a slight preference for the aff to forward one or two impact turns rather than a counter-interp with numerous shoddily extended disads, but oftentimes negative teams do far too little to exploit the offense they could generate from the counter-interp. Regardless of which route you take, the best way to persuade me and excise any of my implicit skepticism is to phrase your offense as if you were answering the question, "why not read it on the neg?" It is not necessary, but it will go a long way to help me vote for you.

5) Specificity, specificity, specificity - on both sides, please explain in concrete detail what debates would look like under each team's model: what affs and off-case positions get read, what those debates come down to, etc.

6) I have never been in a K v K debate, nor have I ever judged one. Please overexplain, and then explain a bit more just for good measure.

Cal '24 Update:

I have been out of competing and coaching debate for two years now. I do not have any familiarity with the current topic. So many people have just become so mean in debate. This is part of why I left and makes me sad. I wish people were nicer and had a basic level of respect for others.

Background

1. Bellarmine '21.

2. Georgetown '21 - '23 (on leave).

3. Assistant Debate Coach at Bellarmine '21 - '22.

The Basics

1. I have no preferences about the arguments you read. My senior year, my partner Adarsh and I defended affirmatives that administered the death penalty to super-intelligent AI, established criminal justice for future space colonies, and endorsed “viral tactics of resistance through hacking digital infrastructure” which destroyed “data that furthers the state’s necropolitical functions.” We spun the most contrived link for the elections DA against affirmatives that modified obscure cyber statutes but also went for the Baudrillard K in our TOC bubble round. Despite that, my heart lies with well-researched positions. My favorite memories in debate are getting into the mechanics of the China appeasement debate and combing through IR journals to cut updates. In short, read the arguments you wish to read and I’ll accommodate you.

2. At the end of the debate, I ask myself what the two or three nexus questions are and use whatever frameworks the final rebuttals have left me with to answer them. It would behoove you to begin your rebuttals with what you think these important issues are and why I’ll resolve them in your favor. This includes impact calculus, but also goes beyond it. Did the 1AR drop case arguments that were applicable to both advantages? Did the 2NR get to the revisionism debate with 15 seconds remaining? The best rebuttals are reflexive; don’t tell me why you’re winning, tell me why you have already won.

3. Add suryamidha [at] gmail [dot] com to the email chain, format the subject as “Year -- Tournament -- Round # -- Aff Team vs Neg Team,” send every card in a Word document (not in the body of the email), and always compile a card document (unless the 2AR is just a theoretical objection).

Stylistic Concerns

1. Number everything. "One, two, three" is preferable to "first, second, third." If your gripe with numbering is that it "interrupts the flow of your speech," you have incidentally just articulated the most compelling justification for the practice.

2. Speed should never come at the expense of clarity.

FW

1. I’ve mostly been on the negative side of this debate.

2. Fairness being/not being an impact begs the question of what an impact is. Fairness, skills, self-questioning and the gamut of negative framework impacts all seem important, but so are other values. The way to my ballot is impact comparison. Choose your 1NC standards wisely and explain why they outweigh the Aff’s framework offense through discussions of their relative importance and the ability of framework to access them.

3. I have no preference for either the skills-based or fairness-based framework strategies. Be cautious that defending standards like movement-building opens you up to Aff impact turns since you’ve granted them debate has value outside of the ballot.

4. Hyperbolic claims about limits can be easily overcome by a well-developed explanation of functional limits.

CP’s

1. Perm texts must be sent in the 2AC.

2. Textual and functional competition seem like good standards to hold CP’s too. Defending positional competition will require a robust definition of what an Aff “position” is.

3. Speak to the normative implications of definitions in addition to reading cards. Forcing Affs to be immediate would justify “do the Aff after our politics scenario” while certainty would allow for “end arms sales to Taiwan, but only if China gives us a dollar.”

4. The “mandates vs effects” articulation of competition has made more sense to me than “yes for DA’s, but not for CP’s.” Mandates are what the plan text defends. Effects are how they would likely be implemented. The mandate of the plan can be ambiguous about immediacy, but the effects could likely be immediate. All of this defends on the Aff winning how the plan would be interpreted (and, more importantly, who gets to interpret it). Negs are best served by complaining about plan shape-shifting and explaining why immediacy and certainty are necessary for DA links.

5. Recognize when it’s strategic to couple/separate the competition and theory debate. That being said, I don’t know about “competition justifies theory.” The CP “China should not go to war with the US” is competitive, but seems theoretically suspect in every direction.

6. Creative permutations have a special place in my heart.

7. For process CP’s, the unprecedented nature of the CP is often what grants the Neg an internal net benefit, but Affs should be ready to generate smart solvency deficits based on those same claims.

8. No one goes for perm shields anymore. It breaks my heart. Think about the political implications if every one of the 50 states (including conservative ones) for the first time in US history unanimously affirmed a certain policy option. There are both sides to this debate but 2N’s seem terrible at answering intuitive presses.

Theory

1. I would love to watch a well-developed theory debate, but block-reliance has ruined everything. If you plan to read your standards straight down and not explain anything comparatively, you’re better off going for a substantive strategy in front of me.

2. Arguments about conditionality are most persuasive when couched in a descriptive claim about the current topic. Is the neg so hosed that they need to throw CP’s at the wall to catch up? Or, is there sufficient literature for in-depth debates? The ability to read DA’s to CP planks is meaningful to me. If the negative can introduce dozens of policy options (some of which would definitively cause a civil war) and choose to go for any combination of them at whim, the affirmative policy literally needs be the 11th commandment to generate a substantive deficit.

3. Other than conditionality and a few other theoretical objections, I’d rather you turn your poor standards into good substantive arguments. For example, the lack of a solvency advocate seems like less of a reason they shouldn’t get the CP and more of a reason why your uncarded solvency deficits should be given an enormous amount of weight. Plan vagueness begs the question of what is “vague.” A much better strategy is reading solvency cards that interpret the plan differently or punishing them for including words in the plan they aren’t ready to defend.

4. Theoretical objections are rarely “dropped.” Either the block made new arguments extending it or you had cross-applicable offense from other flows.

T

1. This is probably the position where I diverge the most from other judges. I suspect I have a higher threshold for what constitutes a negative interpretation and does not immediately lose to “we meet” given some Aff pushback. For example, take the T-Criminal Justice is not Criminal Law piece of evidence that won dozens of debates (including a TOC elim). It reads “Criminal justice, interdisciplinary academic study of the police, criminal courts, correctional institutions (e.g., prisons), and juvenile justice agencies, as well as of the agents who operate within these institutions. Criminal justice is distinct from criminal law…” What? How is this an interp? Just because something is NOT something else does not mean that it cannot be a part of that thing. Texas is NOT the US, but it is part of the US. In fact, this interpretation of the card belies all logic because it defines criminal justice as an “interdisciplinary academic study.” That limits out NOTHING. To be clear, if you have well-researched negative evidence with an intent to exclude, go for it. But, I’m very willing to vote on we meet against poorly written interpretations that do not definitively establish a violation.

2. Affs lose these debates when they’re too defensive. Isolate one or two core pieces of offense (Aff ground, predictability, etc.) and develop them at the top of the 1AR and 2AR.

3. Reasonability is always about the interps and never about the Aff.

4. If the affirmative advances an argument about reading the "plan text in a vacuum," the negative should propose an alternate model of either understanding the plan text or the affirmative's policy.

K’s

1. Technical framework debating will matter more to me than most judges. What it means to “weigh the aff versus the K” is far from a settled controversy and interesting to think about. I’d appreciate guidance on how to resolve offense from both sides.

2. That being said, I’m continually confused by how the Neg’s links interact with their own framework interpretation. For example, if you have said scholarship is the only thing that matters, but then have read links to the effects of the plan, it feels like you’re asking me to evaluate all the bad parts of the Aff and none of the good parts. There are many ways to overcome this: make your framework a sequencing question, narrow the scope of the links, or (my preference) significantly reduce the risk of the case.

3. I think Affs lose these debates most often when they don’t recognize Neg pivots (kicking the alternative, going all in on framework, etc.).

DA’s

1. Often contrived (more a fault of the topic than debaters), but I have very little remorse for new 1AR’s when the 2AC fails to make substantive arguments.

2. Turns case arguments need to be carded if not immediately intuitive.

3. I’d rather you just explain why the parts of the DA you’re winning matter contextually rather than throwing out “link controls the direction of uniqueness” or vice-versa.

4. Evidence comparison is important to me. I will not sift through the card document after the debate digging for a warrant. I expect the final rebuttals to provide the author name and the warrant for most of the cards they are citing in their analysis.

Impact Turns

1. No argument is too presumptively incoherent to answer. If you are correct about how inane an argument is, you are better served by completely obliterating it rather than complaining about its pedagogical value.

2. Risk calculus matters a lot to me. For example, the reason why SPARK seems inane outside the context of debate is because we’re gambling with the survival of the human race. We would have to be incredibly confident that future technologies would actually end civilization for us to roll the die. In debate, a card citing 20 scientists published in a peer-reviewed journal might exceed this threshold. But should it? It almost certainly wouldn’t be enough for us to endorse human extinction in a more legitimate policymaking setting. How confident must we be? Arguments along the lines of “the risk that we are right outweighs the risk that we are wrong” and explaining them contextually is persuasive to me.

3. If a team is going for an impact turn, Aff teams should recognize that they now have the full weight of their internal link. If the Neg is going for DeDev but the internal link to Econ was tech development, Affs should be strategic about explaining how rapid technological progress might be helpful in staving off climate change.

Miscellaneous

1. I learned everything I know from Anirudh Prabhu and Tyler Vergho. Ideologically, I align completely with Adarsh Hiremath. If there’s an issue that’s ambiguous on my paradigm, I would suggest looking through theirs for additional clarity.

2. Rehighlightings can be inserted to demonstrate the other team’s reading of the article was incorrect. They need to be read if they’re introducing new claims.

3. My email response time is always a fault of me and never an annoyance with you.

My views are aligned with Neal Dwivedula - just ask whatever questions you have in the round, I've debated policy for a few years and have some experience judging novice policy and LD.

tl;dr treat me as a lay judge

Competition history

2019-2023 at Bellarmine College Prep; partner debate events (CX, PF, Parli) from 2019-2021, IX 2019-2023

2022-2023 Bellarmine Extemp Co-Captain

Primary circuit: CFL

Highlights: NSDA Nationals Octafinalist, TOC Octafinalist, Two-time CHSSA State Finalist

Speech

1. Extemp

I did mostly IX during my career, but have also done NX and Open extemp. I try to weigh content and delivery equally, but will place particular emphasis on the clarity of your answer and how well it is supported by your evidence. I do not expect a hyper-technical speech with 12 citations and 4 points or anything like that--you should treat me as a lay judge and speak as you would in any other round.

2. All others

I don't have enough exposure to the specifics of the other speech events to provide much useful specific content feedback (at least, in my opinion), but I'll try to point out areas where I think improvements could be made. As such, I will focus mostly on delivery in my evaluation.

If you have any lingering questions about my feedback, you can email me at oliver.owen.pers@gmail.com. Please include in the subject line of your email the tournament in which you are inquiring about, so I don't miss your email (I will not respond to any of these emails during the tournament). I may not answer emails for a while, but I will try my best to do so within a week. Ya boy is an engineering student, cut me some slack.

Debate

I only have about a year and a half's worth experience competing in Policy, and about 2 months or so in both PF and Parli. It has been almost three years since I've even watched a full round, so my grasp of the minute details of debate is not what it once was. Point being, regardless of the event, you should make it clear how I should cast my ballot (i.e. frame, weigh arguments in terms of their effects on the entire debate, etc.)--I don't want to have to comb through my flow at the end of the debate to see which team had the most strong arguments remaining (nor do I think I can flow well enough anymore to make that a fair evaluation of the round...). Think of me like a slow judge.

Do not spread, and don't run K's. While I have been exposed to fast, I am not capable of effectively understanding/flowing once you up the WPM's. You can use a little bit of jargon (ex. I know what the stock issues are, I know what a counterplan is, I know how to evaluate T, etc.), but I would discourage it because: 1. That's not the kind of experience you're going to have most of the time, and 2. You don't know where my limit of understanding is--you could have me one moment and lose me the next depending on how complicated your use of jargon/argumentation is.

*If I'm on a panel with a majority fast judges and you think it's in your best interest to have a fast debate, clear it with the other team and all judges first. I'll try my best to stay with the round, but no promises.

Please add me to email chains! Use oliver.owen.pers@gmail.com. I probably won't check most of the evidence unless there is clash about the credibility specifically/what claim the evidence is making (ie. sketchy highlighting/sources).

Above all, keep it clean. I will not tolerate any questionable behavior in either speech or debate. At the end of the day, this activity is something that we all choose to do because we enjoy it; it stops being fun if you or your opponents take advantage of it.

Direct any further questions to the above email address.

Best of luck!

I'm just a simple guy who loves 7 cite speeches, 'but all jokes aside,' and footy with the lads.

About Me: My name is Anthony Reynolds, I am a Junior at Bellarmine College Preparatory, I do both slow and fast Policy Debate at the Varsity level, and I also do Extemp at the Varsity level. Pronouns: He/Him.

Email: Anthony.Reynolds22@bcp.org

If it is a fast debate I want to be on the email chain, if it is slow debate please also put me on the email chain.

Voting Issues:

The K:

This is what most people care about so I am starting with it. I am mostly a Policy only debater but I am completely open to Ks and K affs. I will not favor them, but I do not see them as dirty or bad forms of debate. Arguing that Topicality is bad is interesting and I like it. I respect K debaters and think they are equal to Policy only teams.

Framework:

Fairness is not always a voting issue. You can argue that it is, and that it isn't. I do not have a strong opinion on it. Anything can be a voting issue for me, and it all depends on how you argue it. I go for framework often but that doesn't mean I am against K affs.

Theory:

I think that theory debates are just like every other part of debate and are just as important. I am open to judging theory debates, but there are some theory arguments that I personally don't like, but that does not mean I will auto downvote them. These are:

- Disclosure theory: I just think disclosing isn't a rule or necessary.

- CP Theory: I think PICs are bad, but I will still vote for them. Even though I am against PICs I still see them as a legitimate argument.

Overall I think that there are no hard and fast rules in a debate, so anything can be said. This means I am open to a neg team reading 12 counterplans and if the aff loses on condo then they lose on condo. Similarly, if a neg team reads 1 counterplan and the aff wins on condo, they win the debate. Everything in the debate is about the arguments and theory is just another argument to me.

Topicality:

I will usually be neg leaning on Topicality, and it is all about articulating your argument. If you are running an aff that is obviously not Topical but you win the argument I will still vote for you. I still think that Topicality is another argument to be had and I can go either way.

Tech over Truth:

I think that if you win an argument, even if what you are saying is false, you still win the debate. Responding to arguments and having clash always comes first, and even if an argument is false you must respond to it. That being said, an argument being false makes it a lot harder to win simply because the other team can literally say "what they are saying is a lie and will have no impact because of it" and well if you are lying then yeah there isn't an impact at all.

You could run a counterplan that is in reference to a country that does not exist and if you definitively win the argument then you could still win the debate.

Framing vs Line-by-line:

Both are necessary to win a debate in my opinion. I can go both ways on which is more important. If an aff team loses a bunch of arguments on the flow but can prove to me through framing that they should still win because the aff impacts outweigh, then I might vote for them. I can also go the other way, and completely vote on line-by-line depending on the debate, but it is completely based on how either team articulates their arguments.

Other Issues:

Please just be respectful to your opponents. Racism, homophobia, sexism, and any other kind of hate speech will not be tolerated.

I am open to most arguments if I think they are legitimate. However, I think something like using the wrong pronoun once in a speech is not a reason to reject the team, but you can still argue that it is and I might vote for you. Also, swearing during a debate is fine by me, as long as it is not blatantly offensive to the opponent or to another group of people.

Also, if you claim the opponent is forging evidence or is violating some form of real rule of evidence, make the argument in the debate, and if you convince me I will vote on it.

I am pretty loose with prep time. Flashing is not prep, sending files is not prep, if your computer crashes during a speech just pause and figure it out, and for the most part I will be pretty flexible. Stealing prep will obviously not be accepted and will affect your speaks, and possibly the ballot in extreme cases.

Most of that section was for fast debate.

Slow Debate:

This is a lot more simple so I will be brief.

Both framing and line by line are important in a debate. Just because I have fast debate experience does not mean I only value line by line and argumentation, slow debate framing is a huge part of the debate and it should be in your speeches.

A lot of convincing parent judges in slow debate involves being convincing and believable, so I will likely take this into account during the round. Of course the argumentation is the most important part of the debate, but if I think the round is a wash with both sides having equally good argumentation, I will likely go with the side that simply persuaded me more with their delivery or phrasing or something else that isn't purely a part of argumentation. Despite this, I wil value the argumentation higher.

Speaker Points:

How good did you speak. Did you speak well? Yes? What do you know now you have high speaks. Did you speak poorly? Aw man now you have lower speaks.

An exposer at heart but I know some LD debate

Hi! I’m Keshav.

For the Bellarmine Rhetoric Tournament / Novice:

Please be:

- Polite

- Clear

- Slow, or the same speed as your opponent(s)

I like:

- Confident and well-prepared debaters

- Strategic CX questions

- Well organized speeches and signposting

Speaker points:

30 or 50 = :)

29 or 49 = Good

28 or 48 = Above average

27 or 47 = Below average

26 or 46 = Not there yet

25 or 45 = :(

History:

I've debated both LD and Policy for Bellarmine College Prep.

My views are aligned with Benjamin Manens

I will judge the round however the debaters say the round should be judged (within reason), but in the absence of any debate over framing of how the round should be judged, I'll side with whether I think the aff is a good idea within a utilitarian framework, and less on stock issues.

If there's no response to an argument in the debate I'll probably believe it, unless it's truly ridiculous or just out of line with reality. On an argument level, I'll prefer the side with better evidence over better logic, but if you can prove your point well with reasoning alone I am open to believing a claim that doesn't have hard evidence.

If you and the other team are both making arguments with evidence that directly contradict each other, please explain why your evidence and logic are better than theirs.

If you're going to assert that a single argument is enough to win a stock issue, or that you should win the debate because you won a certain stock issue, give a good explanation as to why, and don't just tell me I "have to vote aff" or anything like that without an explanation.

Be nice in cross ex, ask questions (don't just make arguments at your opponent).