*Updated 1 January 2021

Tldr:

Run whatever as long as it’s not racist/sexist/ableist/homophobic/transphobic/death good. I evaluate the round how you tell me to evaluate it

About me

Novice Coach at SPASH in Wisconsin

SPASH '20, Minnesota '24

My senior year I was double twos but I was 1a/2n for most of my high school career.

Tbh I think the only ethical paradigm is tabs and that it props up a very violent system when judges have the ability to vote a team down/dock speaks because of the meaningless rift between “K” and “Policy” debaters. In general, I will evaluate your arguments and decide the round how YOU tell me to… I don’t really have a “default” paradigm because I think that it would be really unethical to vote down a K just because I default to policymaker framing when neither team made framework analysis, or to reject a DA vs. a Kaff just because I default to pedagogy and nobody told me otherwise.

The information in this paradigm should serve only as a GUIDELINE. Please don't try to judge-adjust too much.

Just for the record I tended to read kritikal arguments on both the aff and neg, but I don’t think that makes me strictly a “K judge.” Either way, I’ve run and won with policy affs throughout my debate career, and I’ve been known to go for DAs/CPs/Topicality in the 2NR.

In terms of facial expressions, I think it's generally important for debaters to be able to see the judge during a round, which is why I try to keep my camera on during speeches and cross-ex at least. That said, I don't tend to be very expressive until the RFD, so don't interpret my lack of reaction as a lack of attention.

Topic knowledge

I like to think I have some basic knowledge... I've been coaching the novice packet affs since September and judging since October, but it's still probably best to assume I don't know acronyms right off the bat.

In-round stuff

I don’t tolerate rudeness/disrespect to your opponents, your partner, or myself. I’ll let you know right away if you’re being rude or disrespectful, and if the behavior is egregious enough or continues after I warn you your speaks will suffer.

If you need to stop or pause the round for any reason, please let me know. Debate should be a safe space for everyone and I understand that there is often quite a bit of pressure to put up with absolutely unacceptable behavior on the part of opponents/coaches/judges/tournament officials, especially for those of us who are already marginalized within the space. You are not obligated to endure hate or disrespect. You are not obligated to be silent while your opponent speaks over you in cross-ex. You are not obligated to read what you are told to read if you know that it is wrong. The only way that we can improve the systemic issues which we all know are present within debate is by confronting them head-on. Ultimately, this is y'all's space. The line between "in-round abuse" as a reason to reject the team and give the other the ballot and in-round violence as a reason to stop the round immediately and DQ one team can be very thin, which is why I'm inclined to listen to the debaters. If you tell me in your speech that something is a violation of debate rules/norms and a reason to vote, I'll evaluate it as a debate argument. If you express to me in or outside of a speech or cross-ex that you don't feel the round can continue, I'll honor that. Because of this, I think that some rounds require a more participatory group discussion in lieu of or following the RFD-- feel free to let me and your opponents know if you'd like to dissect the round as a group and/or have a conversation about something specific that happened.

Yes, put me on the email chain! (graf.daphne@gmail.com)

Please time your own speeches and prep—I’ll record how much prep YOU tell me you’ve taken and remind you of how much you have left, but in general I trust you to have integrity and behave like an adult. Feel free to time your opponents’ speeches as well.

I DO NOT count flashing/emailing time as prep… however, it the time it takes to put together the flashing document/save to the flashdrive/attach to the email chain becomes excessive or involves a lot of typing (as if you were… maybe… writing your speech?), this could be subject to change.

(Not really relevant at the moment but) Paper teams: I expect you to hand any evidence you read to your opponents as you read it. If your evidence is stapled and for some reason you can’t unstaple it, or if you accidentally put your cards on the wrong side of your stand (it’s been known to happen) arrangements will be made to provide the other team with some reading time (depending on the amount of evidence) before cross-ex/prep begins. If one team is paperless and the other team does not have any kind of computer to view speechdocs, a viewer laptop must be provided.

Speed

On the body of cards, go as fast as you want, but PLEASE read tags and analytics a little bit more slowly than you read cards. Clarity is key! I’ll tell you “clear” twice if I genuinely can’t understand you before I stop flowing. If you’re going to spread your blocks as if they’re cards please at least include them in your speech docs.

T/THEORY/FRAMEWORK IS NOT THE PLACE TO BE SPREADING AT TOP SPEED! My ADHD brain is not physically able to process your wall of analytics, and I’ll be a lot more sympathetic to the other team if you end up going for subpoint d of your 7th 10-second theory block from the 2AC. Again, if you send it out on the email chain, we can flow it, but otherwise I don’t think I can ethically vote on something I didn’t catch.

Topicality

I love a good T debate! I think I’m very tech-over truth on topicality arguments… that said, I think that if you genuinely meet the other team’s interpretation and you want to take the risk the 2AR can go for “we meet.”

You definitely need to impact out your violation…. Why does it matter that you don’t have ground against this aff? If YOU IN THIS SPECIFIC DEBATE do have ground, what precedent is the affirmative team setting? Please actually give WARRANTS and EXAMPLES.

Impact calc on the T flow can actually be really helpful for both teams… how do I weigh Aff Choice Vs. Education? Reasonability vs. Fairness?

TVA: I think that in the case of straight topicality a case list might be a better way to go but it’s up to you if you want to go for the TVA instead. I think that on this topic, there are several T violations that are very strategic against K-affs, in which case you should DEFINTIELY be reading me a TVA.

Framework

Say it with me, folks: FRAMEWORK! IS! NOT! T!

Too often, teams run a “T USFG” violation and try to act like it’s framework. If you’re going to make the argument that affirmative teams must defend FIATED government action, then there should probably be a definition of “should” in your 1NC or some other indication of how FIAT is intrinsic to the resolution. Your violation should be supported by definitions.

The best way to win a framework debate in front of me (whether you’re aff or neg) is by CLASHING WITH THE OTHER TEAM’S ARGUMENTS. If they read me a specific indict of your definition or a DA to your interpretation and all you do in response is read a six-minute overview, I’m not going to be super persuaded. Obviously teams that read kritikal affirmatives are usually very prepared to hit framework, and teams that read framework probably had to dig it up from some decades-old backfile, but you need to do more than just read me your blocks.

TVA: I think that if the negatives prove that their interpretation is good, a TVA can be fatal for the affirmative case. That said, I don’t think that the TVA is a voter if you’re not winning the violation or interpretation.

Theory

Go for it! If your theory violation is explained well/debated well/impacted out/not violent and you legitimately beat the other team in the theory debate then I’ll vote on even the whack stuff regardless of my personal feelings on whether or not something should be allowed in debate.

See “speed” for more advice on how to run theory in front of me.

Aff advantages/Solvency

This might be revolutionary but I don’t think that “They didn’t contest the internal link chain so give us full weight of a nuclear war vote aff automatically” is an extension of your case. PLEASE give a quick overview of your actual advantage scenario… it doesn’t have to be long, but if it’s being weighed against a DA/CP/K that’s explained well I’ll have a really hard time voting aff.

We stan a solvency takeout... but we also stan an impact turn. I think that if the off case/on case arguments prove that the aff is either a) a bad idea or b) no real change from the status quo I'll have a really hard team voting aff.

K affs

Here it is, the moment you’ve all been waiting for—yes, please run your k aff in front of me! I don’t think you *need* to have in-round solvency, but if you do, tell me about it! I don’t think your overview on case *has* to be super long but I’m also not against long overviews… if you want to offer a role of the ballot specific to your aff, that’s fine. If the role of the ballot is just “vote for the best idea,” that’s fine too. If your aff does not defend a reduction in foreign military sales and/or direct commercial sales of arms from the United States, then you should explain why your lack of topicality is necessary—feel free to be creative with your explanations.

Definitely see the Ks section for more info on debating your advocacy/ROB/impacts

DAs

I mean… it’s a DA. I’ll be really annoyed if I have to vote on a nonsensical link but I do vote on the flow so… if you’re negative, read a good link card and if you’re affirmative and their link card is bad, PLEASE attack it. I’m fine w/ new link scenarios in the 2NC to an extent… I think there’s an unfair burden on the 1AR if you’re basically running a new DA, but if you win the theory debate I won’t intervene.

I’m not super persuaded by 6 different marginally different DAs with the same nuclear war impact in the same 1NC… I’ll be much more sympathetic in that case to the aff cross-applying answers.

CPs

Fairly self-explanatory… I don’t think that CPS nEED to be topical or nEEd to be non-topical either way. I think that the goal of the counterplan is probably to solve the impacts of the aff, but if the net benefit is strong enough and the only aff argument on the CP flow is a solvency deficit, I could vote for the CP anyway.

I think the CP flow is where the most theory pops out so please, feel free to go off!

Ks

I don’t think you need to read a super-long overview at the top but you can if you want… I also *HATE* that I have to say this but the 1nr/2nc does NOT have to follow the order of the 2AC. The 2AC should try to follow the order of the 1NC but with perms and maybe framing at the top. Please rest assured that I AM FLOWING YOU. Whether you’re reading psychoanalysis/nationalism/colonialism/queerness lit (in which I am very well-versed) or something that I’ve never heard of before, I’ll listen to your speeches and use what you tell me to make my decision. I know that a lot of debaters are voted down too often because the judge either thinks that they understand the theory of power and doesn’t flow OR the judge is convinced that they are incapable of understanding the theory of power and refuses to flow it.

On the link level, I think that your link should be to the 1AC or Cross-ex in some way… but what part of the 1AC/cross ex (plantext, advantages, framing, fiat, problematic language, etc) is up to you. I don’t tend to buy arguments from the affirmative that “this is how debate has always been so we should keep debating the same way” just because that’s not… a warrant.

I think that negative framing can be new in the 2 because you’re really answering the 2AC framing argument. If the 1AC didn’t explicitly say “We get to weigh our impacts bc fiat good” I don’t think the 1NC should be forced into spending time on trying to guess how the aff wants to frame the round. That said, I give the 1AR a little bit of leeway for tagline framing arguments.

Go for whatever impact you want… pre-fiat, post fiat, whatever. I’d like to see either framing or some kind of calculus with the aff’s impacts, although, as always, this depends on the specific round.

As far as the alt goes… I’m cool with refusal alts if you explain what I’m refusing and why. I’m also cool with fiated/hypothetical alts like “embrace the communist party” or whatever. For the aff, I’m much more persuaded by arguments about how the negatives’ arguments are wrong than I am by backfiles cards indicting the theory of power as it was 20 years ago.