Justin Burns - Senior at Jesuit College Prep

Email: jesuitbj@gmail.com

Top Level

- I'm willing to vote for pretty much any argument you make, as long as you do the better debating on it.

- Do line by line. This requires you to flow and is made easier by numbering arguments in the 1NC/2AC

- I flow on paper, so it's probably beneficial to slow down on theory and other analytical args, especially online.

- I'll probably read the important ev after the round, so it's better to have a couple high quality pieces than a bunch that are barely coherent

- Overviews should be used to tell me how to evaluate the debate and write my ballot. That means they should not be half your speech; if they are, I'm going to try to put it on the line by line, which means I might miss something.

T/FW

- I default to competing interps. I can't really think of a debate where reasonability has mattered, except when the neg dropped it. Just win that your model of debate is better

- Predictable limits are key. Compare the limits you set vs the limits they set; the best and easiest way to do this is probably a case list. Then you need to describe why those limits are good.

- Clash and topic education are probably the best impacts to go for. Everything else is mostly just an internal link to those, but I can definitely be convinced to vote on procedural fairness if you do enough work.

Theory

- I'm pretty neutral on most theory

- The more specific the theory the better. For example, "multiple conditional PICs without a solvency advocate" is better than just condo or just PICs bad.

- Making individual planks conditional is almost always a bad idea

- Even if you don't think your winning it's a reason to reject the team, theory could still be useful. Rejecting a CP probably helps you against a DA. And theory about contradictory worlds is underutilized to prove things like perm vs the k.

- New affs are good

- "Reject the arg, not the team" doesn't make much sense to me if the theory is condo.

- Putting some-spec at the bottom of T without it being in the doc means I'll probably be lenient for the aff.

- If it's completely dropped, I'll probably vote on it

K

- I'll probably be able to understand most Ks, but you should be able to and should explain it without the buzzwords (especially high theory ks). If you're using jargon for jargon's sake, I'm not going to put much in much effort to understand it. This is especially true if you do it during cross-x.

- FW is often misused and really just becomes a wash. Affs probably get to weigh their impacts. It's probably better to use FW to either explain why the aff can't access their impacts or why the K's impacts come first.

- Contextualize links to the aff and directly explain how they worsen whatever you are critiquing. You should also have a diversity of links (to their method, advs, reps, etc.)

- Extend an external impact, so that you can actually outweigh.

- Have a consistent explanation for the alt and how it resolves the links (and the case if that's an argument you can make).

- I'm neutral on whether there are perms in a method debate

DA

- 0% risk is a thing

- They need to be unique

- Similar to Ks, contextualize links to the aff and try to have a diversity of them

- Politics is a thing if you have recent ev

CP

- Have a solvency advocate for everything in the CP text

- Have a net benefit that's actually an opportunity cost to the aff; this means it should be a DA to the aff, not an adv to the CP. Otherwise, it's usually pretty easy to vote on the perm.

- Sufficiency framing is usually sufficient

- Process CPs are less good than specific counterplans. Especially when the process is contrived and you probably don't have a solvency advocate for all or any of it; in that instance I'd be pretty convinced by theory to at least reject the arg.

- I can be convinced to judge kick, but I don't default to it and if the aff says it's bad because it makes them debate 2 2nr's I'm likely to agree.

K affs

- They're fine, but should have some relation to the topic (which is not hard, when the topic is CJR). If they don't then I'll probably be very convinced by T - CJR.

- If you shift what you advocate for throughout the debate, I'm going to be a lot more sympathetic for the neg

- If you are focusing on the debate space, you either need a good solvency advocate for focus on academic spaces or you need a really good defense of why the ballot matters.

Put me on the email chain: ananya.cx@gmail.com

Disclaimer: I don't know anything about this topic. While I will probably have a grasp on common arguments that are consistent between years, err on over-explaining rather than relying on my understanding or intervention. This is just good policy for how you should approach your debates.

Online Debate:

- Try to keep your camera on if you can, but if you can't because of connection or another issue that's fine

- If someone doesn't have their camera on, wait for verbal confirmation that they are ready before you start

- Try to slow down a little more than usual, especially on tags and analytics

- Record your speeches; saves a lot of time and effort after technical issues

General:

- I will evaluate the round how you tell me to and try to minimize judge intervention as much as possible. It would be better for you to align your strategy than what arguments you read to my paradigm because you should not be relying on your judge's prior knowledge of arguments to win. Obviously I have my own biases about arguments from when I debated (Coppell 2018-2022), but I try to minimize how much I let them influence my decision and evaluate your explanations and strategic decisions.

- Explain your arguments well and extend them with warrants, don't assume I know what all of your arguments are or what your aff does (especially because I know little to nothing about this topic)

- T: Have a clear interpretation and violation with impacted out standards, make your arguments specific to the affirmative and interact with what the other team is saying. When answering T, read the definitions and their actual context, definition cards usually aren't great and it is something you can take advantage of.

- DA: Have aff specific links and a good explanation of the internal link scenario, impact calculus is good and you should be doing it. Please read unique evidence and take current events into consideration.

- CP: Needs a valid reason why it is competitive or why the permutation doesn't solve, needs to have a net benefit and it should be explained. I will vote on conditionality if it is impacted out and warranted in the round. for the aff, i will vote on a creative permutation if they handle it wrong or don't go for theory on it.

- K: Explain the alternative and how it resolves the links, have aff specific links (to the method of the aff, to its scholarship/assumptions, to the consequences of the plan, etc.), don't try to get out of aff questions with vague answers and barely explaining the k because I will base my rfd off what I understand from your answers and explanations; aff teams should utilize framework and perms, press on alt solvency, and at least try to interact with the substance of the k. i generally believe that k's are good for debate and i probably wont be persuaded by "they only get links to the plan" or "its cheating"

- K Affs: Don't try to avoid questions about the implementation of the aff, if your aff really is doing something, you should take the opportunity they give with leadings questions about "but what do you do", to tell us what you do. for affs that are a critique of the topic without a good reason why some part of the resolution is inherently bad, ssd is very persuasive.

- Open CX is okay as long as the person who is supposed to be participating is doing most of it - I also think CX is an important part of the debate and will reward speakers that use it strategically to ask more than "Can you explain [insert random card here]?"

- Spreading is fine but there should be a clear difference between tags and the text of cards and you should leave time between flows; clarity > speed

- When you don't finish a card don't say mark card "there", give the last word you read

- Flow

- Ask questions after the round if you are confused about the decision or have questions about how to improve/work on a redo

Feel free to ask questions before the round

Email: tahafanaswala@gmail.com

Background;

Debated for 4 years at The Barstow School in high school, and for 1 year at the University of Southern California.

Quick Note on getting easy Speaker Points from me and Spreading;

1) If both teams agree to NOT spread before the round and tell me so, then everyone gets +1 speaks. If any team breaks this agreement, then that team will lose the round.

2) If one team does NOT spread throughout the round, while the other team does, the team that did not spread will get +1.5 speaks

3) If the non-spreading team beats the spreading team, the non-spreading team will receive 30s.

In general, if you want me to flow an important analytic or theory arguments, then you should slow down (60-70% speed). The same is true of tags. I have a relatively high bar for clarity, and if it doesn't get on my flow, then it didn't happen. I'm NOT saying you shouldn't spread, but you should spread with a mind for being relatively clear. This is ESPECIALLY true of permutations and theory args.

Summary of Paradigm;

I've debated mostly policy arguments throughout my debate career, but I do understand the basics of kritiks and will vote on them. For the AFF, I've only ever read policy AFFs, but this doesn't mean that I won't vote for a K-AFF as long as you defend how debate would be like under your vision. I really value teams that can write my ballot for me in the 2NR/2AR.

Affirmatives;

I've really only defended policy affirmatives throughout my career, so this is where I feel most comfortable. By the 2AR (or even the 1AR), there really should be only a single story/impact scenario that you're going for. I don't have a preference for extinction or structural violence impacts, so both sides will have to settle this issue for me.

For K-AFFs, I think that if you can defend your model of debate, than you will win. I think both education and fairness are equally viable impacts for the NEG (or even the AFF depending on how you contextualize your impacts). K-AFF v K debates are something that I haven't really done or judged in before, so if you're NEG, Id recommend either going for T/FW or a simple kritik like Cap.

Counterplans;

I'm down for most CP stuff, even if you don't have a specific solvency advocate (obviously, its better if you do). This being said, if you're gonna read a CP without any solvency ev, you'd better extrapolate in the 1NC how you solve the AFF, rather than explain it all in the 2NC. If you can do that, I'm more likely to view the argument favorably than a generic CP.

Kritiks;

I have debated and gone for a few kritiks, so I am familiar with the basic structure of a K. If you're going for a K, I think you need to clearly explain the thesis of your kritik and in what way it indicts the logic of the AFF. The less buzzwords you use, the better. If you're defending against a K, I think you should first win the AFF is correct and defend your assumptions and how they're made.

Additionally, I prefer links that are not descriptive of the status quo, and would like the explanation of the link to be pertinent to what the AFF does, i.e. "The AFF does X or says Y, which is representative of Z", rather than "The AFF uses the United States federal government, which is bad for A, B, or C reasons"

Topicality;

I am not familiar with the structure of this topic or any popular definitions, so if you debate it well enough, you can probably win any interpretation in front of me.

Theory;

On condo, I largely think that the NEG should hold themselves to no more than 3 conditional off (arbitrary preference). I think the NEG can defend more conditional advocacies and the AFF can say 3 or fewer condo is bad.

I hate getting into more complex theory debates like textual/functional competition, so the NEG should really try to keep their CPs as theoretically kosher as possible

I default to theory args are a reason to reject the argument and not the team, unless specified by the AFF.

Miscellaneous;

• Please don't read new off in the block unless the 2N justifies it
• Don't run theory args purely for the sake of reading theory args (talking specifically about stuff like 10 second ASPEC shell in the 1NC

It's been quite awhile since I judged debate consistently, and my beliefs on the pedagogical nature of the activity have shifted somewhat since working in two graduate programs for communication studies. As such, I'll speak a little to this shift, and end with a few thoughts on debate strategy.

First and foremost, I am a Christian person: God is real, good, and cares about you deeply - as illustrated and continually affirmed through the personhood of Jesus Christ and the historical and mystical tradition of the holy ancient Orthodox Church. I attend, volunteer through, and worship at an Antiochian Eastern Orthodox Christian mission parish. Joy is not the same as happiness; quiet is not the same as silence; instruction/criticism is not the same as cynicism; Wisdom is not the same as knowledge. The existential dimension of approaching life recognizes that inter-subjective prescriptions of meaning are, ultimately, meaningless - but affirming creation in its relationship with/to God is the only true way of knowing love, beauty, value, purpose, ethics, truth, and meaning. How one communicates reveals an act of becoming: your words and actions form you as much as they attempt to inform others; they can make you more Christ-like, or they cannot. Meeting Wisdom, in all Her glory, is the only true value of debate. Don't debate about things that can't make you more wise, loving, or good.

I'm an indigneous/latino person (Incan) from Long Island that has spent over a decade trying to get back to serving my people. We've all lost people along the way. The colonizer's entire system of power in the West has such a vicegrip on the hearts and minds of the masses that if your soul is not anchored in the ancient ways of adhering to the Holy Spirit - it's easy to slip and lose it. This fantasy of a utilitarian individualism sears itself into the flesh of the West and can only end in destruction. As an indigenous Orthodox Christian, I am interested in the true liberation of all people as expressed through spiritual/material action from the chains that have been cast over our hands, minds, and spirit. Truly integrated approaches to trauma incorporate one's physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual condition - they can never be separated and always affect one another.

I study psychodynamic approaches to communication in Christianity. The psychoanalytic approach to language (along with its underlying, and fairly undeniable, religious current) reveals how and why we've formed attachments in relation to different points of trauma. Any liberatory approach can be trauma-informed or trauma-inducing, relative to their ability to truly love their neighbor as their self. Can there be such a thing as a self when the continual love and service of your neighbors (and hopefully, 'they you') has you constantly place the 'other' as a spiritual site of affirmation? The refusal to cease suffering is an important conclusion of both psychoanalytic and Christian existentialist logic - the ego is a site of comfortability, earthly pleasure, and nihilistic self-destruction. What do you do for your neighbor?

Lastly, a prayer:
"Oh, Lord Jesus Christ, may a blessing rain down over the people seeking truth, justice, and ways to love. May you keep them safe in travel, mind, and spirit. May they seek good things through their work. May they have clarity of the mind, joy within their bones, and feel safe within this space. May your everlasting love comfort us. May we all have courage to pursue what is right, even when it is not easy. May it all be to your glory. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; amen."

Strategy, in no particular order:

Everything you say in a speech must contain a claim/warrant/impact. If you are finishing a thought and can ask yourself “Why is this true,” and/or “Why is this important, given what everyone else is talking about in this round,” then you should keep talking. Stumbling across a complete line of thinking is better then racing through your many, incomplete, opinions.

There was once a debater that began what would become a >4minute final rebuttal on a Sunday morning with the line: "I'm going to end this early so that you can get to church on time!" The floor for that debater's speech was a 29, and they would later win the debate as well. I believe our Sunday morning's are better served worshipping in a Church setting, so anything done to shorten the debate time (even noting this as an argument) is immensely persuasive with an eternally more significant impact. Additionally, debaters willing to roll the dice on an argument that they believe wins them the debate (conceded double-turn; logical truism; moral obligation; etc.) and ending their speech early are also significantly improving their chances.

I will have nothing of the witchcraft that is the ritual encantation of tabula rasa that judges have engaged in in order to appear value-neutral. It is a lie - finding ways to establish relationships with people whom are simply and truly different from one another is a truer means of persuasion. Pretending like judges aren't people is not a good way of cultivating persuasion, education, or really good practice in general.

Debate is a rhetorical practice of character formation: we repeat and instill the virtues that we want to see in the world over and against other visions. I will vote for whomever makes me feel and/or presents a more logically coherent vision of the good life. Yes, you still need a link.

The exception: I will not tolerate trauma-inducing behavior, language, willfull ignorance, etc. I just don't have the energy in my old age to pretend to care like all actions and reactions are morally equivalent. Channel your rage into beating your opponents - considering the lengths that debaters will go to worship the idol of winning in this activity, they are more likely to suffer more greatly from an L.

Most outlandish claims get checked at some level, but spiritual matters are often presumed to be true by the louder voice in the room. I've heard some fairly wild accusations about ancient Christianity in general, and not tailored criticisms to specific Christian groups/people. It's irresponsible, and I have no problem ending a debate over it. Full criticisms on any topic are interesting and good; moralizing cliffnote half-researched soundbyte citations are not good.

This is not to say that you might, as some say, "know more than you know." I once heard a debater start an argument with "is there a reason that when you say 'x' it makes me feel 'y' or remember 'z'?" and then proceed to turn that feeling into a critical question of the presentation of the argument. What you say and how you say it are equally important.

If your neighbor or content require a warning based on the graphic nature of your speech, give it. Be willing to adjust or defend why you chose to speak a gratuitous thing into existence. Many things need to be discussed, but not everything needs to be discussed in a trauma-inducing way.

This is something that generally insecure individuals like to attempt a refutation at, but while we're here: "The standard for pizza is cooked in New York; everything else is a simulacrum."

If I can't understand you, then you didn't make an argument. I will not yell clear.

Regarding speaker points; I am impressionable. I have been known to give high speaker points, but I'm blissfully unaware of speaker point trends over the past 5 years and cannot (and likely will not) account for inflation. A perfectly average team is likely within the range of 28.5-28.6. If you are unenthusiastic, antagonistic, and lack in tonal variation, you may find your speaking points to be as undesirable as the speech's execution. I like speed, but you can be fast and have tonal variation: it's a public speaking event, after all.

Slow down on Plan Texts/Advocacies/CP Texts/Alternative Texts/Permutation Texts. If I can’t flow it, and the other team points it out, that’s on you.

The stock issues are a bit underrated. They are an opportunity to discuss what services/disservices debate. Inherency and Solvency (along with inherent and solvent versions of the AFF) are something with quite a bit of traction to it.

On topicality, proper: fairness is an internal link to people quitting, or, "the death of debate" - but a better and qualitatively similar internal link are ground claims. A persuasive argument I routinely heard was a short pairing of ground w/the TVA: basically that the AFF presented a K the NEG was going to use to test the resolution (defense), which lowers/eliminates their ability to practice advocating said critical rhetoric + hurts in-round education. Debating about debate is a unique K-AFF advantage (communal subject formation impact). Education is a terminal impact - death of debate is probably the other. Lastly, you need to impact why your education is good though: doesn't help much if you win teaching people is good if what you teach them is not good.

Captain America was right in Civil War.

I assume that people are engaging k-aff's more and more due to the fact that books, yano, exist - but if my belief in the literacy of this community over-stated, here's a simple problem for the appeal to abstract notions of ground loss vs. particular ones: the ceda finals round has (since the early 00's popularization of the K) historically featured a KvK debate with a signifcant quantity of NEG wins. PIK's of various metaphors due to their tropological connection to various other signifiers and impacts are creatively interesting to me. Black Framework debates have been interesting. There's a thin line between criticism and whining, and there's way too many intellectual traditions with relations to the topic to presume there's "no debate" to be had.

Everything you say, you defend, unless if you win a specific reason why you don't have to. Don't be afraid to defend good things.

Debaters would be magnifably more successful if they read communication theory as part of their solvency. Media Studies, Performance Studies, Rhetoric Studies, Affect Studies, etc. - it's all there and gives a reason why the ballot matters. A common explanation for why engaging in the plan's role-playing simulation is that repeated education helps us make similar decisions in the future, maybe - sounds like it, yano, non-uniques the advantages and/or a reason to vote.

Bad history makes history. If someone says something about something that's categorically false, and if you read a card in the other direction and then a card about how historical erasure/denial legitimizes all sorts of heinous atrocities - that's an easy DA flow that would either A) be a good debate, or B) be an easy debate.

I once found quite a bit of joy in being a part of a competitive dance crew. I bring this up because I want debaters that make the argument "debate bad" to know they have options. I have just never heard it communicated persuasively within the context of a competitive activity. Opacity for similar reasons. Also, with few exceptions, a critique of wanting the ballot is non-unique. Don't waste everyone's time.

Judges whom have influenced my thoughts on debate, at some point or another: Calum, Hagwood, Shree. Any non-contradictory aspects of their paradigms can be cross-applied here.

Impact Calculus is under-rated. Don't bring (more) links to an impact fight.

Strong Defense can win Debates.

Uniqueness wins most, if not all, debates.

I have been thinking about the Louisville Project of the mid-early 00's and their thoughts on debate (in general, clearly), and flowing (in particular). I'm undecided on this and have talked to different experts about it, but I am unconvinced that one has to flow the majority of the debate to both understand and properly give a good decision. Focus on what's important and extend your arguements properly and all shall be fine. If I do choose to flow, know that I flow straight down, always.

Creativity, comedy, and an intentional desire to engage form the best debates.

Prep ends when the email is sent/flash-drive leaves the computer/cards are otherwise compiled. I will enforce this: if you are using scholarly citations/cards then that evidence needs to be made available to your opponent before your speech begins. Preparing for your speech includes organizing the information you're about to read; if it's organized then it should be readily accessible for your opponents - traditionally by holding a stack of physical "evidence" as you give an order, but in a more contemporary context the virtual transmission of said evidence to the other team. If you've withheld evidence and the opposing team asks for it post-speech, your prep will begin and end when the e-mail is sent. You are not expected to send analytics/blocks - only cards/scholarly evidence. Team rules that you "can't share cases" are either not about evidence or are arbitrary in a world where you can share them minutes after reading but not during. Everyone be fair, share and, when in doubt, feel free to see "Shree Awsare" and/or his paradigm.

I'll ask if I want to be on the e-mail chain, but generally I do not.

Keep your own time.

Theory is a question of good/bad debate practices, is fine, and requires an interpretation, a violation or link, and an impact or reason to reject that practice.

Also, I've been teased about voting repetitively on either "the floating pik" or "the internal link turn." But I'm right: answer the argument or get in the robot, Shinji.

I am most interested in debates about/that involve Christianity, religion/spirituality, psychoanalysis, existential thoughts on language and/or reality, high theory, subject formation in the context of communication theory, and nuanced approaches to the topic.

I'll change my mind eventually, or the world will light on fire due to man's selfish desire to set everything good on fire. One of the two.

God bless~

Email: aarinj@gmail.com

Jesuit '22(2a/1n, 2n/1a(Junior Year)), Georgia Tech '26(Not Debating)

He/Him

Don't call me judge, I have a name(pronounced Are-in)

Quick Notes Before the Round:

I am fine with essentially every argument. If you want to go for ASPEC, I'll begrudgingly listen to it. I'll reward better arguments with better speaker points, but not vice versa. The more niche your argument is, the more you have to explain it for it to make sense to me, but I assure you I will try my best to understand based on what is presented in the round. I have not read anything related to the topic, so keep that in mind when you use acronyms and words of art.

That said, I will not vote for anything I do not understand. If the 2ar/2nr does not give me a coherent reason to vote for them, I will probably vote for the other team. If neither give me a coherent reason, then I will do the work to figure out who won, but I really don't want to do that.

Make the debate as easy as you can for me. Trust me, it will greatly award you in terms of the outcome of the debate and speaker points.

Preferably, both you and I will keep track of time for speeches/prep. If our times differ significantly, I'll intervene, otherwise, I'll leave it up to you.

Don't take excessive time setting up the email chain. It should be set up and sent right at start time. I will dock speaker points if its taking too long for you to send the email.

Theory debates are good. Affs should go for them more, don't be afraid to read and go for theory, especially on CP competition.

If you have a cool sticker for me to add to my computer, I will be eternally grateful.

Topicality:

Topicality debates are very very complex thus reading your 2nc/2ac blocks slower will help a ton for me to actually catch every warrant you want me to. Since a lot of topicality is based on analytical arguments, spacing/numbering of arguments will keep the flow clear and help me keep up. If you choose to go 100% speed through your block, don't get angry at me when I miss a warrant.

Topicality is about setting limits to the topic, so I instinctively compare both the affirmatives and negatives interpretation of how limits should be set. Giving me a clear topic list under both interps will help me compare both. Also making your standards comparative will go a long way. If you couldn't guess, comparing is a really good idea for topicality.

I default to competing interpretations, but I can be easily persuaded to default to reasonability if the aff claims and supports that they are a core of the topic aff.

Disadvantages:

The more specific your link, the more likely I am going to vote for you. If your evidence is cherry-picked, poorly highlighted to get a link, then I will have a very high threshold to vote for you. I think the best thing either side can do is be comparative about why the link story is wrong/right. Affirmatives should always be skeptical of the negative link evidence. Use your 1ac to answer disadvantage, the 1ac should pre-empt common disadvantages against your aff.

Counter Plans:

Affirmative--please read theory. Negatives read too many nonsensical counterplans. Read and go for theory, I will probably vote for you more often than not if there is clear abuse. Also, please use your 1ac evidence, you read 8 minutes of evidence that should help to prove your solvency claims.

Negative--I like smart counterplans. The more specific the better, especially if the solvency advocate is fire. I am fine with most counterplans. Process counterplans are fine, but you need to prove an opportunity cost to the aff, not a reason why the CP is better than the aff. I also think negs need more of a defense of their strategy. Don't just throw out 5 counterplans with bad highlighting. Think about which ones are actually strategic.

Kritiks:

I have gone for these the most. I like Kritiks. They are fun to read and fun to judge. Framework esque kritiks are fine, but you need to slow down on the nitty gritty so I can flow. Other types of Ks are what they are. Make sure to give examples of links and contextualize them to the aff. Show me why the aff is bad and feeds into a violent system. I'm fine with any of the common Ks, but if it is more niche, I need a longer explanation in the 2nc/2nr.

Affirmative--Tell me why your aff is good and why you should get to weigh it. A lot of negative f/ws are kinda limiting and I think affs can win that they get to at least weigh their aff in which case outweighs is your friend. I also think that slowing down on the link debate is to your benefit because then I can more easily understand your warrants and will probably subconsciously do a lot of the work for you.

Negative--It is essentially the first paragraph, but recognize when FW is two ships sailing at night. Ditch it if you don't need it. Don't go for it if it doesn't tie into the alt. Speaking of alts, paint a picture of the alt. Tell me what I am voting for and I will be a little more lenient on the link debate.

K affs: I don't think that fairness is an impact. At best, it is an internal link to things like advocacy skills. I don't think "core generics" is a good argument because the negative saying is that they are forced to read generics when half their 1ncs are the PTX DA and some random camp DA is equally as bad. Aff teams should push more on education being a terminal impact.

Clearly define your model of debate and the relevant terms. I will view FW debates through a comparison of models so the more comparative you are the more you are likely to win. I think that K affs are important for policy debate, so you are highly unlikely to convince me that the aff is cheating. Instead, the negative should be making arguments about why there needs to be a connection to either the topic or governmental action. This is absent a clear TVA where the aff could easily be done through policy action. Making demands on the state doesn't require USfg action. I will vote for the negative, but I think that a. you have to get off your blocks and b. you got to actually respond to what the aff is saying. I think that a lot of judges are very neg biased and I will NOT be.

Go for presumption or case against K-Affs, most of K-Affs don't actually do anything besides ask for the ballot. I am in the camp that reading K-Affs are good and should be read, NOT in the camp that they actually spill out. A good case push or a presumption ballot is very good imo.

Speaker Points

I start at 28.5 and go up or down based on what you do in the debate that either helps you or makes the debate harder for you or for me.

Don't be rude to your opponent or me

Don't say problematic things in the debate

If you are a novice and you got this far, show me your flows at the end of the debate and I will give you +0.5 points, also tell me your favorite TV show and I will give you another +0.5 points if I haven't seen it.

PF/LD

I have no experience with either or what is expected. I will judge these rounds like Policy. I do not keep up with the topics for these events so please explain well otherwise I will be lost.

Texas DK

arnavdebates+judging@gmail.com

LD Update

This activity confuses me. I am not quite sure yet how the affirmative ever wins given speech times. I find myself always seeing too much ink for the negative and no affirmative responses. I expect to vote affirmative about 20% of the time.

I am a debate coach at Little Rock Central. Please put both on the email chain: jkieklak@gmail.com; lrchdebatedocs@gmail.com

General

You do you. Let it rip. Seriously. A judge does not exist without the debaters, and I view my role as a public servant necessary only to resolve arguments in a round to help empower young people to engage in meaningful discourse. I believe that it is important for me to be honest about the specific things I believe about common debate arguments, but also I find it more important to ensure I am prepared for debaters to persuade me away from those beliefs/biases. Specifically, I believe that my role is to listen, flow, and weigh the arguments offered in the round how I am persuaded to weigh them by each team. I will listen to and evaluate any argument. It is unacceptable to do anything that is: ableist, anti-feminist, anti-queer, racist, or violent.

I think debates have the lowest access to education when the judge must intervene. I can intervene as little as possible if you:

1) Weigh your impacts and your opponents' access to risk/impacts in the debate. One team probably is not most persuasive/ahead of the other team on every single argument. That needs to be viewed as a strength rather than a point of anxiety in the round. Do not be afraid to explain why you don't actually need to win certain arguments/impacts in lieu of "going for" the most persuasive arguments that resolve the most persuasive/riskiest impacts.

2) Actively listen and use your time wisely. Debaters miss each other when distracted/not flowing or listening. This seems to make these teams more prone to missing/mishandling arguments by saying things like, "'x' disad, they dropped it. Extend ____ it means ____;" yet, in reality, the other team actually answered the argument through embedded clash in the overview or answered it in a way that is unorthodox but also still responsive/persuasive.

3) Compare evidence and continuously cite/extend your warrants in your explanations/refutation/overall argumentation. Responses in cross that cite an individual warrant or interrogate their opponents' warrants are good ethos builders and are just in general more persuasive, same in speeches.

Policy Affirmatives

Go for it. Your pathway to solving a significant harm that is inherent to the status quo with some advantageous, topical plan action is entirely up to you. There are persuasive arguments about why it is good to discuss hypothetical plan implementation. I do not have specific preferences about this, but I am specifically not persuaded when a 2a pivot undercovers/drops the framework debate in an attempt to weigh case/extend portions of case that aren't relevant unless the aff wins framework. I have not noticed any specific thresholds about neg strats against policy affs.

Kritikal Affirmatives

Go for it. Your pathway/relationship to the resolution is entirely up to you. I think it’s important for any kritikal affirmative (including embedded critiques of debate) to wins its method and theory of power, and be able to defend that the method and advocacy ameliorates some impactful harm. I think it’s important for kritkal affirmatives (when asked) to be able to articulate how the negative side could engage with them; explain the role of the negative in the debate as it comes up, and, if applicable, win framework or a methods debate. I don't track any specific preferences. Note: Almost all time that I am using to write arguments and coach students is to prepare for heg/policy debates; I understand if you prefer someone in the back of the room that spends a majority of their time either writing kritikal arguments or coaching kritikal debate.

Framework

This is all up to how it develops in round. I figure that this often starts as a question of what is good for debate through considerations of education, fairness, and/or how a method leads to an acquisition/development of portable skills. It doesn't have to start or end in any particular place. The internal link and impact are up to you. If the framework debate becomes a question of fairness, then it's up to you to tell me what kind of fairness I should prioritize and why your method does or does not access it/preserve it/improve it. I vote for and against framework, and I haven't tracked any specific preferences or noticed anything in framework debate that particularly persuades me.

Off

Overall, I think that most neg strats benefit from quality over quantity. I find strategies that are specific to an aff are particularly persuasive (beyond just specific to the overall resolution, but also specific to the affirmative and specific cites/authors/ev). In general, I feel pretty middle of the road when it comes to thresholds. I value organization and utilization of turns, weighing impacts, and answering arguments effectively in overviews/l-b-l.

Other Specifics and Thresholds, Theory

• Perms: Be ready to explain how the perm works (more than repeating "it's perm do 'X'"). Why does the perm resolve the impacts? Why doesn't the perm link to a disad?

• T: Normal threshold if the topicality impacts are about the implications for future debates/in-round standards. High threshold for affs being too specific and being bad for debate because neg doesn't have case debate. If I am in your LD pool and you read Nebel, then you're giving me time to answer my texts, update a list of luxury items I one day hope to acquire, or simply anything to remind myself that your bare plurals argument isn't 'prolific.'

• Case Debate: I am particularly persuaded by effective case debate so far this year on the redistribution topic. Case debate seems underutilized from an "find an easy way to the ballot" perspective.

• Disclosure is generally good, and also it's ok to break a new aff as long as the aff is straight up in doing so. There are right and wrong ways to break new. Debates about this persuade me most when located in questions about education.

• Limited conditionality feels right, but really I am most interested in how these theory arguments develop in round and who wins them based on the fairness/education debate and tech.

• Please do not drop condo or some other well-extended/warranted theory argument on either side of the debate. Also, choosing not to engage and rely on the ethos of extending the aff is not a persuasive way to handle 2NRs all in on theory.

TOC Requested Update for Congress (April 2023)

General

Be your best self. My ranks reflect who I believe did the best debating in the round (and in all prelims when I parli).

The best debaters are the ones that offer a speech that is appropriately contextualized into the debate the body is having about a motion. For sponsors/first negs, this means the introduction of framing and appropriate impacts so that the aff/neg speakers can build/extend specific impact scenarios that outweigh the opposing side's impacts. Speeches 3-10 or 3-12 (depending on the round) should be focused on introducing/weighing impacts (based on where you are in the round and where your side is on impact weighing) and refutations (with use of framing) on a warrant/impact level. I value structured refutations like turns, disadvantages, presumption, PICs (amendments), no solvency/risk, etc. The final two speeches should crystallize the round by offering a clear picture as to why the aff/neg speakers have been most persuasive and why the motion should carry or fail.

The round should feel like a debate in that each speaker shall introduce, refute, and/or weigh the core of the affirmative and negative arguments to persuade all other speakers on how they should vote on a pending motion.

Other TOC Requested Congress Specifics/Randoms

• Arguments are claim, warrant, impact/justification and data when necessary. Speeches with arguments lacking one or more of these will not ever be rewarded highly, no matter how eloquent the speech. It is always almost more persuasive to provide data to support a warrant.

• Impacts should be specific and never implied.

• Presiding officers should ensure as many speeches as possible. The best presiding officers are direct, succinct, courteous, organized, and transparent. Presiding officers shall always be considered for ranks, but ineffective presiding is the quickest way to a rank 9 (or lower).

• More floor debaters are experimenting with parliamentary procedure. Love it, but debaters will be penalized for misapplications of the tournament's bylaws and whichever parliamentary guide is the back up.

• Nothing is worse in floor debate than repetition, which is different than extending/weighing.

• Decorum should reflect effective communication. Effective communication in debate often includes an assertive tone, but read: folx should always treat each other with dignity and respect.

Arkansas Debate

Woo Pig. I am not here to force you to capitulate a paradigm that you find in someway oppressive to what your coach is teaching you to do. I will drop you for clipping/cheating, and I do not reward (and will rank low in congress) bad/no arguments even if they sound as rhetorically smooth as Terry Rose and Gary Klaff singing "Oh, Arkansas."

Beomhak Lee

Updated March 2021

Affiliation - Dallas Jesuit.

If you have any concerns/questions/asking for email chain: lbh7746@gmail.com

CJR topic - Very interesting topic. I have pretty good exposure to the topic. Yet, this still does not justify teams in speaking jargons. Personally, I find DA and CP literature on this topic quite disappointing (unless the link narrative can be specific to the aff). So I believe this perhaps is a good opportunity for some teams to engage in critical literature deeper than before.

Stylistic Issues:

- Speed is fine. But clarity >>> speed. Especially given the virtual-ness of debating, I would suggest going a bit slower.

- Please line by line. If you don't even at least attempt to line by line, your speaks will suffer.

- Depth outweighs breadth. One well-warranted argument beats numerous poorly explained/constructed arguments. This applies to the cards too. Poorly and disjointedly highlighted cards are bad. Call them out on it.

- No I don't take prep for emailing/flashing unless it's excessive.

- Usually, it is tech > truth but not all the time.

- Stop being a jerk. There is a fine line between being passionate/competitive vs. being a total jerk.

- I am totally fine with any style of argument. You do you. I am here to listen. Obviously, this excludes arguments like racism or sexism good :)

- This is probably obvious but I think it's important. For me to vote on an argument, it has to make sense in my head. While I will probably understand the general thesis for most of your arguments myself, every argument (K, DA, CP, T, K aff, etc.) requires a nuanced explanation that is different, depending on the circumstances of the round. So, spend some time doing that in the round.

Topicality

Love them if done well. Personally think they are very underutilized in this topic. Will default to competing interpretations if not convinced otherwise. T is all about weighing your interpretation versus theirs. Specificity (i.e. examples of how the aff would explode limits or gut grounds) is good. Just saying meaningless phrases like 'they explode limits' won't be convincing at all.

Counterplans/Disadvantages

Most of my 2NRs were CP+DA or DA alone. More specific your evidence (solvency advocate or link) is to the aff, the better. I think solvency advocate for the CP should be a thing most of the time. If you don't, it's not really a theoretical reason to lose but rather a solvency question. Impact calculus on DAs usually is really really really important. Use the impact debate to frame the ballot and be comparative (especially if you are going for the DA without the CP with only the case defense, which by the way is heavily under-utilized). Good link narratives on DAs will be awarded. Smart analytics will be awarded as well.

Kritiks

Love them. But, if you start to talk in disjointed vocabularies without contextualizing the K to the aff, then the K is not so loving. I think that aff should generally get to weigh the action of the plan, though I can be convinced otherwise in many ways - so put in the work.

Winning a general explanation of the world is not enough. Use the specific link and internal link narratives to prove why the aff would make X worse. To do that, I think real-world manifestations or examples help a ton. Way too many teams just assume "if I win a link, then the impact happens" - welp, a good internal link work will be awarded. Long overviews are mostly useless. Line by line is good.

K/Non-traditional affirmative

Personally, I find these affs way more interesting than listening to generic process CP debates per say. Clarity on what the aff does (i.e. the mechanism of the aff) is the single most important thing to explain to me. Personal narrative, music, poetry - anything is fine with me. Just have a particular reason why you included those parts in 1AC. You need to have at least some relations to the topic, and some reason why you don't use governmental institutions. You still need a reason why your ROB is good, and for the neg teams going for FW, that must be challenged. As always, impact debates on FW must be comparative.

Theory

Chill for a second and SLOW DOWN

Don't run New Affs bad in front of me - I'm not gonna vote on it.

Conditionality is usually good - unless multiple conditional contradictory world is a thing (but is it a theoretical reason to reject the team? Eh - though I think it would benefit you substantive-wise if used well)

Other theory arguments (generally) probably are a reason to reject the argument, not the team UNLESS I'm convinced otherwise. If they drop theory, then the story is quite different (assuming that you invest some time into it).

ETC.

I really love this activity. There probably is a reason why I keep in touch with debate and the community even though I decided not to debate in college. If I happen to judge you, know that I will judge debates as fairly as I can Please respect each other and have fun.

Also, for more nitty-gritty judging philosophies on the style of arguments, look into these judges’ philosophies: Tracy McFarland, Ryan Gorman, and Dan Lingel. They introduced/influenced me a lot (like debate + life) that we almost have a similar "view of debate" if that makes sense. If three judges contradict in their judging philosophy, it would be on my therapy list.

Jonathan Li

Debated 4 years at Greenhill

Mostly a 2N but had to be a 2A here and there

Put me on the email chain Jonathanli7733@gmail.com

TLDR; CP and DA probably better than K. Tech > Truth. Flowing is very useful and so is clashing with the other team. Tag-team CX cool. I’ll listen to anything and everything

General Stuff

I love debate, it’s one of my favorite activities and I want you to have fun while debating.

I’ll be as open to any arguments as possible, it doesn’t matter how ridiculous as long as it’s not just straight up offensive.

In my opinion, while tech is greater than truth, that doesn’t mean you can stop being persuasive. If both teams horribly mishandle arguments, I’m gonna give my ballot to who was more persuasive to me. Ex. If the aff drops a DA and the neg drops and advantage, but the aff explains to me why you should the aff should come first and gives me a better explanation than the DAs scenario, I’m gonna vote aff.

CJR Specific

CJR is a weird topic. Topic DAs are usually my default 2NR but that’s obviously just kind of been nuked on this topic. Normally I’m probably not the best for the K but I’ve developed a decent enough understanding of abolition so don’t be afraid to go for it in front of me.

CP

I love a good CP. I’m honestly more neg leaning on most of the neg CP theory so I’ll give a bit more credence to neg teams than aff teams on this.

DA

DAs are what I’ve gone for the most in my debate career. Specifically, politics and lots of topic generics. I’m also a sucker for a good aff specific DA and just straight up case. Those were definitely some of my favorite debates as a debater.

Ks

Honestly, I’m probably not the best judge for Kritiks but I’ll try my best. I understand the basics of Capitalism, Security, Biopolitics, Anti-Blackness, and Set Col. I am not deep into K lit. E.g., if you’re gonna start name-dropping anti-blackness authors and expect me to know what you’re saying without explanation, you’re gonna have a bad time. If you’re gonna debate the K in front of me, please contextualize it to the aff and explain. I really don’t want to have a flow in front of me full of just pure jargon and no explanation on how that matters to the aff. The link debate will be key as I think that is the way that most Ks will win the round

K affs

Please don’t read this in a novice round. Everyone should have K aff debates and I honestly really enjoy FW, but the fact of the matter is novice debate is not where this should happen. Can you have some K aspects in your aff like talking about how you are tackling the biopower of the state sure, but don’t try and make this a FW debate. There’s a reason why my coach made me listen to a 3 day long lecture on FW and there’s a FW lecture at every single debate camp. It’s not something one learns this early on

They/them/he/him

Put me on the email chain: andrewhpdebate@gmail.com

I think judges shouldn't prefer a type of debate.

That being said:

Fairness in an internal link

I was a policy debater for my first two years of debate, going for the K sometimes. Now I'm a K debater lol

Of course, tech>truth

Understanding what your evidence says is a fundamental skill that novices should make sure they work at

I will give leniency for online debate spreading through cards, but I will say clear if I can't understand your analytics

Also, it's okay to not know what debate terms mean. Just try and work at it. I remember starting off my novice year not knowing what it meant when the judge said "What's the road map?" or "How many off?"

If you have any questions whatsoever, don't feel afraid to ask

Experience - B.A. in Women Gender and Sexuality Studies, 1 year of college policy, KU, 4 years of high school, for Barstow. Currently coaching for Barstow for the 2023-2024 season. I am most familiar and equipped to judge debates involving Queer Theory, Necropolitics/Foucault, Settler Colonialism, Deleuze & Guattari, and Derrida/Hauntology in terms of both my ability to evaluate technical debate on the flow as well as give productive and pedagogically valuable responses.

Determining Speaks - To me, a good speaker is articulate, persuasive, confident, respectful, and kind. I allocate speaker points based on a debater's skill. However, even if someone is a "good debater" in a skill sense, if they are rude or dismissive to their opponents, their ability as a debater matters much less because they have failed to be a good person. Good speakers should be good people first.

Notes - I have some hearing problems, if you are unclear, I will say "clear." Don't sacrifice speed / the extra off at my behest, just make sure you articulate. Ideal clarity is I should be able to flow without referencing the doc at all.

You are responsible for keeping track of where you mark cards. Please be able to timely send a marked doc / card docs must be marked if you marked cards in the debate.

If reading "extra" cards in a speech that are not in the doc, send them BEFORE you read them rather than after.

Incentivizing Strategies

+.3 for Flow Rebuttals

+.1 for Kicking an Advantage

+.1 for DA/CP/Case 2NR (Novice)

+.1 for K / Case 2NR (Novice)

+.1 for Evidence Comparison (Novice)

-.1 for Unhighlighted Cards - Please take the extra 30 sec of prep to highlight

My name is Josh. I am a college Debater at the University of Missouri Kansas City and previously at Johnson County Community College. I have been to the NDT and as far as Octafinals at CEDA.

Debate is a game. Everything else is up to interpretation. I had a heavy inclination towards Kritikal arguments and specifically antiblackness arguments.

Impact turning framework is not only alright but probably a smart move if you are clearly not topical.

If you have that spicy shit in your back pocket that you haven’t broken yet but think is low-key genius or you think it is too trolly to read then I am the judge for you. I will vote on anything as long as you win the argument.

I don’t default to reasonability or competing interpretations. Debate it out.

I will vote on theory if you impact it out correctly and persuasively.

I am looking to be persuaded. I think persuasion is a art that is being lost in debate and shouldn’t be ignored from the position of the critic as much as it is.

Don't read the crime DA it's anti-black.

Email: moncurejoshua@gmail.com

Coppell '21

Email is rahul00rajamani@gmail.com

McDonogh WZ is my favorite team.

Background

- Jesuit Dallas '21 - Debated Education, Immigration, Arms Sales, and Criminal Justice Reform (If this matters)

- A&M '25

- 2N/1A - 1 year (Freshman year)

- 2A/1N - 3 years

- Email for email chains and speech docs: joshram2021@gmail.com and jcpdebate@gmail.com (email my personal email for questions about past rounds/general questions; for questions, just give me a couple days to respond)

-- For GDI, just use my personal email

Top Level

- Line By Line matters, clash is key (I will auto number Case args and the 2AC block, if it isn't numbered)

- Please be nice

- My coaches have impacted my view of debate a lot (Tracy McFarland and Dan Lingel), along with my fellow Jesuit Class of 2021 and some alum

- All of these are just my initial views on certain things but obviously my mind can be changed based on who did the better debating

- Evidence comparison is great

- Read your re-highlightings in round unless it doesn't makes sense to do it

- Underviews and overviews that aren't used for judge instruction aren't useful for anyone

- CX is a useful reference to refer to in speeches, I'll try to pay attention

- Short Overviews --X------- Long Overviews

- Explanations X--------- Enthymemes

- Tech ----X----- Truth

- Don't steal ev and disclosure is good, re-highlighting or recutting a card is different than using a card from another team in a debate (I can help with giving access to pdfs/articles, especially if they're Jesuit cut). Also don't clip

- I will try to read the important ev after the round, especially if you flag it down

- Please feel free to ask any clarifying questions before and after the round

- PLEASE don't read any advocacy advocating for suicide, I will vote you down if you do end up advocating for suicide (There are explicit arguments for that phrase that the authors who use it have, USE THAT EXPLANATION, you are still open to criticisms of that advocacy to begin with). Regardless, I think there are better arguments instead of suicide advocacy.

- Feel free to ask if you need a clarification of my RFD, I sometimes ramble

FOR NOVICES - Novice year really pushed me to want to continue debate so make sure to have fun and ask questions, I'll do my best to explain the argument and what your answer could've been.

FOR ONLINE DEBATE - I'd ideally like everyone's camera to be on during the debate, or at least when you're giving a speech, but I understand if there's technical problems that mean it's not possible. PLEASE start slightly slower, I have good quality headphones now but like if your mic is peaking I'm just not gonna properly process what you're saying

Econ Topic Specific Thoughts/Ramblings

- Rounds Judged: 5

- T over what "financial redistribution" is seems important

- I'm a little new to learning about how some of the econ stuff works so I'm more likely to read the ev when it comes down to some of the nitty gritty tech stuff for it

T/Procedurals

- Majority of my 1NRs were either a DA or T

- Good T debates are really fun to watch and judge, clear up impacts and how your interp best accesses those

- I default to competing interpretations (Reasonability requires you to win some semblance of a we meet or your Counter interp resolving limits)

- Caselists are very very important

- Limits is important but limits for the sake of limits is bad

- Ev should be read in T debates (either interps or what their interp would justify; If you can read a solvency advocate for what their interp would include, that would be very impressive and gives Neg's game on the limits debate), call out interps that aren't related to the topic (PLEASE DON'T JUST CARD DUMP, especially if your interps contradict or aren't in the context of the res, cause the 1AR will be very persuasive to me if they point that out)

- That being said, Interps should probably be in the context of the res, Aff's should either point out it doesn't or draw lines from their interp to prove we meet

- Please make these clean, messy T debates are really easy to cause and make everything harder

- Procedurals should have some relation to the res

- Extra-T and Effects T are both cool, but need thorough explanation (I would know cause some 1NRs I would just say it without like a decent explanation). Will definitely vote on it though (probably Extra more than Effects cause Extra is more justifiable)

DAs

- Specific DAs = perfect

- There can be 0% risk of a DA

- It's very important that DAs have some form of external impact compared to the Aff, please do impact calc that frames the impact stories and their interaction (through like turns case or time frame/probability/magnitude)

- Evidence specificity is important when it comes to DAs

- Politics DAs are potentially alive now, stay within reason, I value recent ev over tech (unless you're spinning the ev harder than Beyblades), I also need you stay coherent with the link story

- Diversify Links and give them some short, flowable labels

CPs

- Sufficiency framing should work for most things except structural violence impacts

- Smart, specific CPs are great combined with specific DAs

- Creative Perms are good

- CPs should be competitive, at least functionally if not both textually and functionally

- Affs should call out shady CPs (i.e. the process of the CP or how the CP would solve the Aff)

- Clear up the technical parts of process CPs as I can get lost in the jargon when it's not explained clearly

- I won't automatically judge kick (I also am adverse to judge kick)

Ks

- A K was in all of my 1NCs except for one round my senior year (the break down is something like 55% Abolition, 35% Cap/Historical Materialism, 5% Security, 5% Settler Biopolitics, and then like 0.1% Borders)

- FW is so underutilized

- I'm still confused with high theory Ks (like pomo type stuff, am familiar with the theories but the more vocab you throw at me the more I'm gonna get lost)(race/identity based stuff I'm super familiar with and am comfortable deciding on as long as it doesn't get messy) but I'll do my best (I've run Cap/Historical Materialism, Borders, Deschooling, Security, Abolition, and Bioptx and debated a plethora)

- Link stories are important and explaining exactly what part of the Aff you are kritiking (your life is so much easier if you impact out links)

- Overviews that require a page or half of my flow are not good and will annoy me, ESPECIALLY if you start doing just all the K work on the other page, cause then what's the point of that initial K flow

- Case debating is very important, I'll give the Aff leeway on weighing the Case vs the K if there's 0 contestation throughout the debate/in the 2NR (i.e. Case impacts, value of debating the Aff on FW, Perm explanation, etc.). Neg's can challenge this by either A) actually implicating case args with the K or B) on the K flow, explaining how it relates to the mechanisms of the 1AC/Aff, if that make sense

- K alts should be explained (i.e. explain how the world of the alt would looks), they are often the weakest parts of the K so please try to explain them in some way that resolves the links and the Aff (I use the language of resolve because the Alt doesn't need to "solve" but like prove how the Alt addresses the bad assumptions of the Aff and the harms that the Aff attempts to address); Also, please don't make your K's just sad tarnished case turns.

- Diversify the Links (either with cards, how they explained the Aff would function, or how the Aff is written), if you read generic evidence, please explain how it relates to the Aff and how the Aff is what the card is talking about (generic links are probably alright if they relate to the Aff in some aspect, i.e. if the card doesn't have x part of the Aff in the card or mentions the Aff in any capacity, the Neg should explain why the card still applies)

K Affs

- Explain what voting for you means and what my vote means in the context of the Aff (I know that I vote for the better debater, at least that is my default understanding of what the ballot means, but what is the advocacy/worldview of the Aff), both sides must explain the importance of the ballot in relation to the Aff (There's a big difference between advocating for a method related to the topic vs pointing out how x thing is racist and that's bad, etc.; Just because I read K Affs doesn't mean I won't vote on presumption if I have no idea why I vote Aff or what the Aff's method is trying to accomplish)

- Please have some form of advocacy, related to the topic, that you can defend throughout the debate (Don't shift it because it confuses me more and probably gives more leverage to T/FW; consistency is key for Aff offense and fighting the zump)

- I'm much more persuaded on Models of Debate discussions paired with turns/offense over straight Impact turns to education and fairness (doesn't mean I won't vote on education and fairness turns, I just happen to be more familiar with these debates over Counter Interps/Models of Debate)

Neg strats

- T/FW - Debate is a game (a very fun game), Fairness is more of an internal link (Like debate is a game but education/portable skills is stuff we actually get out of round, it's the telos), I prefer Clash/Advocacy Skills/External Impacts over the usual Fairness/Education, TVAs are great and almost always a must. Focus on forwarding offense cause these debates can get compartmentalized, contextualize your blocks (please clash with the args instead of reading your blocks, this goes for both teams) (I find many rounds when I was Aff where I got away with a lot of things b/c of the moving parts of offense). I understand the small distinction between T and FW but at the end, it comes down to models of debate (that is gonna be my default unless you make the distinction clearer for me)

- K's - I understand Historical Materialism/Cap the best out of all the K's in K vs K Aff debates. Probably neutral on whether there are Perms in a method debate (ofc depends on the types of methods engaged in), link debate and framing is where I determine whether I should allow a Perm (FW debate too, probably). Please PLEASE contextualize links to the Aff's method or theory's assumptions, it makes the Link clearer and gives the Aff less room for link turns/Perm explanation.

- Other strats - PICs, procedurals, Counter Advocacies etc. are strategic and interesting. I'll listen to them but will probably evaluate them similar to some of the way I view things above. Feel free to ask specifics.

- Case is/can be important for either 2NR you would go for and some of the Case cards should be cross applied if not referenced. 2NRs not getting to Case gives 2ARs way too much room to use the weight of the Aff vs whatever the 2NR was, which I'm sympathetic to because there wasn't an answer to case (super helpful during my Senior year when Case was like barely anything in the 2NR)

Theory

- Theory is pretty cool

- Specific theory = even cooler

- Contextualize it to other arguments run and what happens in the round, this is probably my weakest area to judge a debate on, partly cause if you go too fast, I can't write everything down (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ACTUALLY COMPARE STANDARDS AND INTERPS, it gets frustrating when both teams just rant about what their interp on theory is, without actually clash between the two)

- Ask if there are any specific views that I have on CPs and other things (Condo is dependent on the situation, PICs are good, Word PICS are 50/50 (probably need a good interp on what words you should be able to PIC out of), Multi-plank CPs with more than one solvency advocate aren't good, Dispo is just spicy Condo, Process CPs are meh, Con-Con and NGAs are boooo)

- This is probably my weakest area to judge (ironic for a former 2A), so please please please make sure that you're clear when spreading through your blocks and make sure that you're doing the right work, because I really don't want to do the comparison for you, especially if I wasn't able to get half your standards

Case

- If I didn't have a DA or T, I always took Case in the 1NR, it showcased how important/helpful it is for in depth case debating that relates back to whatever the 2NC took, whether it was a K or DA or CP

- Offense and defense matters, make sure to frame them

- Impact turns that are smart are great (Won't vote on Racism good, Sexism good, etc.; I don't think I understand Death Good well enough to be able to form an opinion, at least the high theory Baudrillard level of it) (PLEASE don't just card dump, I've done this before and it wasn't clean; if it works against a K Aff go for it)

- 2AR/2NR framing/judge instruction is pretty important and very helpful, didn't realize how important it was until I started listening to some of my speeches, there's a big difference between extending your offense and framing offense against each other and giving me words to write in my ballot and give in the RFD

Please add me to the email chain, and feel free to email me if you have any questions!

coppelldebateas@gmail.com

Online Debate:

- Speed: 70%.

- Don't cut arguments from twitter or medium.com that aren't written by trustworthy, researched authors lol

- I will evaluate all arguments based on how well it is weighed. Make sure you impact out your arguments and tell me WHY you outweigh.

General Info:

- Please make sure you have enough time to read the plan text!!

- Any argument you want me to weigh, extend it with a warrant and have evidence

- I will keep time for both sides and flashing/emailing won't count as prep (as long as you dont take too long)

- I am fine with open cross x, as long as the person who is supposed to be answering takes the lead

- Spreading is fine but clarity > speed

- You can prompt, just keep it at a minimum

- No new 2NR/2AR arguments

arriqs@gmail.com

Pronouns = they/them.

Framework is not always policing, but it can be weaponized. Focus on framing central ideas and offense. I am not a super technical judge.

High School

Speed is fine, but go only as fast as you can handle. Conditionality is generally okay. Everyone in the debate should be timing.

Explain Ks through history and current events. Examples are the easiest way to make a complex concept simple enough to evaluate in the short span of time we have.

Add me to the email chain: evanhpdebate@gmail.com

Senior at Highland Park.

Debated policy for three years, did LD on the UIL circuit.

Policy:

I've seen a lot of things, but I myself have run tons of stuff. Went for the cap K a lot, and have seen most generic Kritiks so if its not a more mainstream one pretend as if I have no knowledge on the topic because I probably don't.

I'm not too familiar with this water topic, but I know the basics so if you're gonna be super jargony explain the first time around and I'll get it.

Online Debating:

I prefer if you have your camera on just to make speeches easier to follow, but if you have camera problems it's all good.

3 years of CX with Prosper High School (TX)

Broke at TFA state and nat circuit tournaments

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

General Preferences:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LD/Anything Other Than CX:

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

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

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

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

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

Policy Affs:

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

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

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

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

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

K Affs:

-I’ve run them, I love them.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Performance Affs:

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

Framing:

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

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

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

K:

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

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

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

-Explain why perms can/can’t solve.

-K framing is going to be pretty important.

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

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

T/Framework:

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

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

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

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

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

DA:

-Specificity + uniqueness >>>> super generic

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

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

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

CP:

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

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

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

-Solvency advocates make your CP so much better.

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

Theory:

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

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

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

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

-Speed theory/accessibility-related things are interesting

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

Speaker Points:

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

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

30: Wonderful debater :)

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

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

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

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

I am a comms and stock issues judge. I do not like spreading. Please give a clear road map before each speech and follow it (sign post throughout the speech). I am not going to vote on the flow- I will vote on the arguments that make it to the 2nc/2ac. 2nc and 2ac speeches that follow stock issues are very helpful. Generally, I am a tech judge, but because my flows are not as detailed as yours, I am not perfectly tech. I will put personal bias aside, but I prefer arguments that are logical and well explained. If you are going to use purely evidence, I would appreciate a short under-view that clarifies the argument.

Disadvantages: I like these- if you have a long link chain please explain it. Impacts are important- make sure they are well warranted (nuclear war needs a significant backing of evidence for me to vote on it).

Counterplans: I think counterpleas are an important off-case position. As long as you explain the text, I'm good. Make sure to explain the perm- flippant perms won't be evaluated.

Topicality: I am willing to vote on topicality. I like well-explained topicality arguments and will treat it as an a priori voting issue.

Other Theory Arguments: I will only vote here if I think there is abuse. Don't read this unless someone blatantly breaks the rules.

Kritik: I do not like Kritiks. Please do not read them. I will not vote for you.

K-affs: See Kritiks.