Hi I’m Will! I did a lot of LD in high school and am only comfortable with traditional debates. I don’t care what arguments you use (as long as they are relevant to the topic), but I appreciate people speaking really slowly and explaining their own reasoning clearly and insightfully. I don’t like it when people spend most of their time reciting cards—most of your speeches should consist of original analysis and contextualization even if you do bring in some quotes from academic papers/articles/books. Although I take notes, I don’t flow and do not care about “dropped” arguments. Address the cruxes of your opponent’s position, but if there are just too many arguments and/or if some of them are silly, I don’t expect you to waste time going through them. My main thing is that if you speak too fast or don’t debate the topic, I won’t vote for you. Feel free to ask questions before the round, and I look forward to hearing you debate!

Be respectful to each other.

Please don't speak overly fast.

Make your impacts, framework, and important clash clear.

Be clear on what each side's burden is.

Overview Stuff:

She/They

Hi, I’m Aphe Astrachan (Aphe pronounced aff-ee). I debated at Durham Academy for two years, and am currently a sophmore at Duke University. I experienced a fair amount of success on both the local and the national circuit, so although I tend to prefer more progressive forms of argumentation, I’m still open to your standard value/value criterion debate. Yes, I want to be on the email chain: aa424 at duke dot edu. I want to be on the email chain regardless of whether or not you’re spreading- it’ll save me time if I have to call for evidence, and it’s the only real way I have to see if you’re miscutting cards. Record your speeches, we're not doin speech redos. Also please stop saying stuff like "my time starts on my first word," it's annoying, patronizing, and makes you look like a dweeb.

March/April 22 specifics:

I am big fan of epistemological arguments on this debate, especially critiquing or supporting dialectically constructed standpoint epistemologies.

Quick Prefs:

Larp/Theory/Topicality : 1

Postmodernism K’s: 2 (with the exception of Baudrillard 1, and queer futurism/rage/pess : 1)(I've probably read your lit)

Non postmodern K’s: 3

Identity K's: 2

Phil: 2-3

Tricks: 5.

Cliffnotes:

Howdy folks. I try to be tech over truth in all instances, but that doesn’t mean I hold the same threshold of argumentation for everything. I have especially low thresholds for answering a-prioris, truth-testing, and anything which is clearly untrue. I’m willing to vote off of anything with the exception of racist/ableist/sexist/homophobic/xenophobic… arguments. Also on this: Don’t read identity cases if you’re not the identity being represented in case (with the exception of you reading a card at the top of case which makes an argument for why you should be able to read it). My favorite form of debate while I was debating was LARP with healthy doses of theory and topicality mixed in: I’ll vote off of exempted or paragraph theory, but please send analytics if your opponent asks for them. Although it wasn't my favorite while I was debating, I think that introduction to critical literature is the most important thing which debate actually achieves, and thus value K's highly. I didn't run too many K's as a debater but I've read an extensive amount of postmodern theory and should be able to understand most arguments made in most K's. I default to a comparing worlds paradigm, and if you don’t present any framework in round I’ll assume we’re having a nice wholesome util debate.

ALSO

Although I love doing LARP debate, I think that problem of induction is a really good arg against it, and will definitely evaluate it. I highly encourage debaters going up against LARP cases that aren't running a LARP case themself to at least run it as a one off because it's currently a glaring hole in the middle of most debates that isn't paid enough attention to. Especially phil v Larp rounds please give it a shot, preferably not Hume's version :P

More in depth stuff:

LARP: Hell yeah. This is the good stuff right here. For most of my Debate career, policy/LARP arguments were my bread and butter. I love fun/spicy plans/counterplans, and will vote off of most any type of plan/counterplan. I have nothing against agent cps, delay cps, consult cps, or anything else of the like. If you’re running a plan aff, still be prepared to answer topicality. Just because I think it’s topical doesn’t mean you no longer have the burden to prove you’re topical. I really enjoy arguments that I haven’t seen before, and am always willing to talk about geo-engineering after the round. All of that being said, be prepared to answer argumentation that calls fiat into judgement, and I will accept that none of your plan actually occurs even post fiat given the proper argumentation.

Theory/Topicality: Also a huge fan of these forms of arguments. I’ve been known to extempt and collapse on theory, often going for what others might call frivolous theory. I’ll vote on anything with paradigm issues and voters, so make sure you tell me in the theory shell how I or your opponent should deal with it. Same thing goes for topicality. I’m not a huge fan of Nebel-T, but that hasn’t stopped me from winning rounds on it. Go for the RVIs too, those debates are often exciting and get into meta-theory really quickly, which I personally like. Yet again, I have a high threshold for arguments like “evaluate the ____ after the ______,” but won’t just drop them on face.

Tricks: Aight boiz, here’s where things get kind of tricky. Tricks, unfortunately, are real arguments, and I, unfortunately, will vote off of them. With that being said, if your form of tricks is running twenty different spikes layered throughout case, I’m probably not the judge for you. Spikes are ableist, and unless you say “spikes on the bottom,” and proceed to put spikes on the bottom, I’ll have a super low threshold for answering any of the spikes, and will heavily dock your speaks for it. However, I also think tricks can be really fun. Nail-bomb cases and fun theory or pre fiat offense is always fun, whether it be solving a rubick’s cube or doing Tik-Tok dances for the ballot.

K’s: Go for em, run ‘em. I’m most familiar with afropess/wake work/queer futurity/queer pess/queer rage/Baudrillard/Set-Col/Hauntology/Libidinal economy stuff/Necropolitics/Gillespie/Most epistemological or metaphysical applications on ontology and am currently reading D+G, but don’t let that stop you from running your K. Regardless if I’m familiar with your K or not, you still have to explain it fully in round. I won’t vote off of something that’s not explained. Make it clear what the alt does, whether or not you affirm/negate the resolution, and any stances you take. I honestly don’t really get what the difference between the role of the judge and the role of the ballot is, but go for it anyway, just explain it please :) (also K's have real world ramifications feel free to LARP about those if you want idc)(Edelman> Muñoz).

Phil: I enjoy philosophy a lot outside of debate, and am always open to talk about it. That being said, I’m not the biggest fan of phil arguments in round. Things can get really nitpicky, and people end up yelling at one another about how human evolution dictates emotion, and often stumble into making arguments that are perturbing at best and eugenicist at worst. Yet again, if you like em, go for em. Just explain them. I’m probably familiar with any philosopher you’re reading, even if it’s postmodern. Hegel is annoying. Locke and Kant are both ableist, and Kant is racist, but you can still run em if you want. Please read problem of induction against LARP cases its such a good arg that functions as terminal defense.

Speed stuff: I haven't debated in a hot minute, but I've been doing spreading drills every now and again just cuz. I should be able to understand you just fine, but if my comprehension skills are more rusty than I think, I will call clear twice before I stop flowing. That being said, you should be good for anything speedwise.

Speaks: I think I give decently high speaks most of the time, but also am not scared to give 25s because of violence in round. I start round at a base level of a 28, and go up or down from there. +.1 speaks for using pog in round B)

Misc. Im always down to talk about whatever before round starts if we're just waiting for something to happen, so here are some of my interests: Music (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7pdYJ8smYJSsOCMinuGEL4?si=111f1dc5e0a94d33), postmodern philosophy, drain gang, yeule, lamp, blue period, JJBA, communism, One Piece, bein trans. Also, if you ask me for my email im going to assume you havent read my paradigm, cuz its in here.

I am a parent judge. Please do not spread. I would like to hear arguments that I can clearly understand. I prefer quality over quantity. Have fun.

I look for a solid flow of argument in a debate round. Is the moral value clear? Is there a clear Contention? Are the contentions backed by facts that come from credible sources and do they circle back to the value? I like to flow when I judge so I also watch to make sure no new contentions are brought into the argument during the final rebbuttles. I also look for good facts to back up contentions to make their argument strong.

I look to see if the students are professional and respectful to each other during Cross X and allow each other to speak.

About me: I competed in Lincoln Douglas Debate for 3 years for Northwest Guilford High School. I’ve qualified to NCFL Grand Nationals and reached Semifinals at Durham Academy My senior year. Currently a senior at Duke University. My pronouns are he/him/his

Conflicts: Northwest Guilford High School

Speed: I can handle a pretty brisk conversational pace, but keep in mind that the pace you choose to speak at directly trades off with me (and your competitor’s) ability to truly understand and write down what you are saying. I have zero experience with fast, nat-circuity type debate, so spreading is probably not the move. Slowing down at tags/authors/any important point you want to emphasize will go a long way towards making you more understandable and persuasive, and your speaks will show. If you speak fast in front of an inexperienced debater, expect speaks to suffer. If you are competing in an activity that focuses on engaging with competing ideas, why would you want to shy away from clash? Hiding arguments is not fun and makes debate a waste of time.

Framework: Framework matters as much as you’d like it to. Being marginally ahead on the V/VC Debate only matters if you explain the implications of your framework, and why it should inform my ballot. Your impacts should relate back to your framework, if they don’t Then I’m gonna be confused. Franework debates were my favorite as a competitor, yet it feels like almost nobody cares about framework these days. With that thought in mind, A well though out, creative framework that effectively advances your position will go a long way towards earning my ballot. Stock philosophies are great and have a lot of educational value, but I’d challenge you to think of something original and put your own creative spin on these philosophical issues. Debate is an educational activity after all; show me that you’ve really contemplated the topic and not just read about how 400 year old Englishmen thought about the topic.

Theory/T: I understand how theory/T works. That being said, I rarely ever engaged in this type of debate in high school. If you feel your competitor is being abusive, feel free to read it; I’ll do my best to evaluate it. However, keep in mind I’m definitely not the most experienced judge in these types of matters. If there’s clear abuse, I’m down to listen. Frivolous theory will just make everybody sad.

Plans/CPs: Unless your plan is whole-rez, you’re probably going to be fighting an uphill battle trying to convince me. CPs probably need to be VERY mutually exclusive, and it’s the Neg’s job to establish this from the 1NC. This is a very fundamental issue on a CP debate, so if you fail to explain how your CP is competitive and the Aff calls you out for it in the 1AR, I consider your extra spicy cards explaining how it’s conpetitive in the 2NR to be new. It’s not fair for the Aff’s first chance at responding to these issues to be the 2AR.

Kritiks: Not necessarily opposed per say, I just happen to have zero experience with this type of argumentation. Proceed at your own risk and be sure to be extremely detailed in your explanations because I probably haven’t read the literature

Tricks: No. just No

If you have any questions feel free to ask me before the round! I’m excited to hear what you have to say :)

Bennett Dombcik

Please add me to the email chain: benjaydom@gmail.com

My ballot will be determined by my flow. Technical concessions are taken as truth.

Some random things that may be helpful:

---you can insert re-highlightings, re-cuttings of things not present in the original card should be read.

---please locally record speeches/turn on your camera for online debates.

---line by line is helpful for the purposes of my flow but I will attempt to write down as much of your rant as possible.

---I am generally a fan of creative and interesting strategies.

---"I have a lower bar for a warrant than most. I am unlikely to reject an argument solely on the basis of ‘being a cheap shot’ or lacking ‘data.’ Unwarranted arguments are easily answered by new contextualization, cross applications, or equally unwarranted arguments. If your opponent’s argument is missing academic support or sufficient explanation, then you should say that. I’m strict about new arguments and will protect earlier speeches judiciously. However, you have to actually identify and flag a new argument. The only exception to this is the 2AR, since it is impossible for the neg to do so." - Rafael Pierry

I am a senior at Yale University studying Statistics and I did LD for 4 years at Cary Academy. I was primarily a traditional debater and prefer traditional debates, although I can accept most things if they are explained clearly and thoroughly. Debate is a communicative event, don't try to impress me with how many words you can force out in one minute. If you do choose to spread, then you should make sure that you are clear and slow down for card names/tags. However, I would highly prefer if you speak at a reasonable pace. Always be respectful of your opponent, I have no tolerance for rudeness. Make sure you understand what you're running, explain your arguments fully and speak clearly!

TLDR: clarity is important and do not be rude :)

email chain: chelsea.fang@yale.edu

I was a Lincoln-Douglas debater for three years as a member of the Cary Academy debate team. I err on the side of traditional judging, although I am open to novel arguments and a departure from the traditional value framework.

The winning side will be whichever makes the most compelling argument that is clearly linked to a thoughtful consideration of the resolution.

Giving clear voting issues is always beneficial, especially if you can make them into a cohesive appeal for your side (instead of a list of dropped cards with no clearly explained impact).

Absolutely no spreading (a moderately brisk pace is fine, although it may result in lower speaks if it detracts from your presentation style - I am very comfortable awarding low-point wins).

Hey, everyone! I have very simple paradigm.

I'm a lay judge who do appreciate beauty of debates if you resonate with me with your overall performance.

Background info: I've had personal experience on debate when I was in college, which is, well, let's just say many years ago. :-) Having said that, I think that I do enjoy and able to critique both of your logics and how you present your arguments.

General Debate Info: The foremost virtue that I like to see is that your overall maturity and elegancy throughout the debate. Respect your opponents with good manner is important. Between being fast and furious, I prefer speak clearly and calmly, think quickly and logically, clarify arguments with good examples, maintain persuasive via a semi-professional tone and your body language and overall appearance.

I look forward to be a lucky observer of your debate! Thanks!

Henry

Hi! I'm a senior at Yale and a former four year LD-er from North Carolina. I have familiarity judging LD, PF, Congress, and some speech and am rather familiar with most event formats.

In debate, I value clash and clarity-- I prefer if you stay resolutional and really cross-apply your arguments against one another (this includes Congress). In speech, just do you, I value content and presentation pretty equally.

As a former female debater, I know judges often mark down women for sounding 'shrill' or 'aggressive'. While abuse will never be tolerated, neither will sexism against powerful/confident women and speaker points will reflect that :)

For circuit VLD: Spikes/tricks are not appreciated, nor are PICs and RVIs. T and narratives ought to be topical and will be evaluated under strict scrutiny. Remember that with online rounds connections can be poor so articulate taglines and impact slower/clearly. Speed is fine but can be inherently ableist so do not be egregious nor abuse your opponent with it.

I have been judging for about 3 years. I expect you to demonstrate your knowledge and depth of the content as well as the ability to make a confident argument towards your stance. Clear and logical communication is key. Fast conversational speed is acceptable.

Carmen Kohn’s Paradigm

I have been judging speech and debate events since 2016. I am also currently the Director and Head Coach for Charlotte Catholic HS in NC.

Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum:

I enjoy both the ethical component of the discussions in LD and the current topicality of most PF topics. I appreciate the informative nature of these debates, especially in the current political climate.

I am a classic flow judge for both events and am looking for good clash between opponents. In LD, I place more emphasis on contentions rather than value, however, that evidence must clearly link back to the VC. I am also more interested in the impacts. A dropped contention is not automatic grounds for a win. It depends on the relevance of the argument. When rebutting, don't just extend the author's card. I am not writing down all of the authors. Please remind me of the evidence that was presented. I prefer the well-thought out, well-paced arguments. While debates are won based on evidence presented, I do find a direct correlation between technical speaking abilities and evidence offered. I also make a note of how professionally debaters present themselves and behave towards myself and each other.

I would classify myself as a advanced traditional lay judge. I am not a progressive judge. Do not run theory shells or any other "progressive" argument with me. While I do appreciate the occasional non-traditional argument, especially towards the end of the topic time frame, all cases should be realistic and applicable in the current environment in which we find ourselves. Please debate the current resolution.

Absolutely No Spreading!!! I cannot follow it, especially with online tournaments. You will lose the round. This is probably my biggest pet peeve. I feel there is no educational value to that in a competitive environment. You run the risk that I will not have caught all of your arguments and may miss a main point in my flow. Please keep technical jargon to a minimum also. Throwing around debate jargon and just cards identified by author gets too confusing to follow. And if you ask a question during cross-ex, please let your opponent answer and finish their sentences. It’s unprofessional to cut someone off. Signposts and taglines are always appreciated. I generally do not disclose or give oral RFD. I want time to review my notes. Debates where opponents respect each other and are having fun, arguing solid contentions, are the best ones to watch.

Congress:

I've just started judging Congress. My "comments" are usually summaries of your speeches. Occasional commentary on the delivery and/or content. Please interact with previously given speeches (by Rep name also) and don't just rehash a "first speech". If you can bring a new point to the discussion 6 speeches in, that is awesome.

I will give points to POs. I appreciate what is involved in POing. During nomination speeches, it can be assumed that a PO will run a "fast and efficient" chamber. No need to state the obvious. However, if that actually doesn't take place, a lower rank will result.

Good luck to all!!

This is my 3rd year judging high school LD. I judge based on what I can understand, so that is bad news for those who "spread" because I cannot evaluate the merits of your argument if I cannot follow the words in spite of my best effort. I prefer logically consistent arguments, supported by evidence. In real life, demagoguery often wins debates, but I have not yet met anybody polished enough to pull that off in any of the LD events that I have judged. It is a high bar but I have great expectations and respect for everybody who is brave enough to engage in a public verbal duel.

I'm a former debater of Congress, but have been out for seven years.

The most important factor of your case is evidence/ethos. If you don't have evidence or your opponent discredits your sources, you will lose. Remember that it's not enough to have compelling evidence if it does not clearly link to the topic at hand. REMEMBER THAT IT IS YOUR THOUGHT I AM JUDGING, AND NOT THE CARD ALONE.

Please be clear and concise. The clearer you are (signposting; "For my second contention,.."; "My opponent's subpoint B of Contention 1 says...") the higher I will rate you.

Please be nice to your opponents. Tricking your opponents/failing to clearly answer their questions, using up time in crossfire on what should be obvious, and personal attacks will make you lose.

Past Experience: I debated in North Carolina from 2012-2016. I’m currently a PhD student in robotics and AI ethics at UT Austin and previously attended MIT, and did a concentration in Latin American politics and political philosophy. I was the district champion in the Tarheel East District and went to nationals my senior year, qualified for CFLs my junior and senior year, and placed 3rd at States my senior year. I made it to out rounds at Wake Forest. I've been judging/coaching off and on since 2016. I debated in both traditional and progressive styles, and have no implicit preference between the two. Both paradigms are below:

Traditional Paradigm: I’ll evaluate any argument you make in the context you make it. That being said, don’t take advantage of my paradigm to be abusive. If you use speed to overwhelm your opponent or employ other tricky or gimmicky strategies, I will probably be annoyed (as will your opponent) – I like to see actual clash of arguments, not a race to give the most arguments. The faster you talk, the higher burden you have to make thoughtful, powerful arguments, not just a multitude of weak ones. I can understand spread fine, but given the virtual format, spreading is probably a suboptimal strategy.

I give higher weight to framework consistency over contention level/statistical disputes – if you are clearly winning the framework debate, link your framework to the resolution, and can impact off it effectively, you’ll almost certainly get the win. I don’t expect either debater to be an expert on the literature, so focus more on winning the core of the value criterion debate than specific pieces of evidence. I won’t drop you for dropping a card if you use that time to extend meaningful impacts directly linked to the resolution. Tell me what I should care about and why.

For speaker points: everyone starts out with a 28 in my book. If you do good things (clear argument structure, signposting, well organized rebuttals [I LOVE when debaters number/label their arguments for me, it makes the flow much neater], etc.) I’ll reward you. If you do bad things (e.g. poor organization in your rebuttal) I’ll dock points. I’ll clearly explain my reasoning on the ballot and am happy to give additional feedback if requested. Given the virtual format, I’ll pay more attention to argument structure than how you actually sound and in general am lenient with speaker points.

Acknowledgement: Historically, women and minorities have been docked points in debate* for coming off "too aggressive," etc. I won't do that. Be as aggressive as you want.

* http://vbriefly.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Tartakovsky_Tabroom_Analysis.pdf

Quote Kanye, get a 30**. That's the rule.

**unless you're losing and the tournament doesn't allow low point wins. Regardless, I'll give you the max speaks I can.

Note: you can convincingly win cross-examination without being condescending. Make strong arguments and ask difficult questions/put your opponent on the spot, but there's a difference between aggression and condescension.

I’m excited to hear your cases, just be respectful to your opponent and let’s have some fun!

for file exchange/comments/questions/concerns/additional feedback: kyle.morgenstein@gmail.com

Progressive Stuff, if that's your thing:

TLDR: do whatever you want, but I'm a hard ass about links. Otherwise, you can probably convince me to vote on almost anything. Tech > truth, usually. Ask me to clarify if this matters to you.

In general: Reading a card is not a warrant. Reading a card AND PROVIDING ANALYSIS is a warrant. Explain to me the mechanism for how you justify your claims. Why should I prefer your study over theirs? Why should I prefer this analytic over emperics? I care more about your link tree than about whether or not you get to existential impacts.

Kritiks: I love 'em, K affs are fine, and I can generally follow the literature, just make sure you slow down for the links. I have a very high standard for links (in general, but especially with Ks) so make sure those are clear. Explicitly tell me what the roll of the ballot is. Why does voting for the K matter, and why is that more important than arguing the resolution at face value? My only pet peeve with K debaters is if your opponent clearly can't/doesn't understand the argument. If that happens just slow down a little, make it clear; you'll do better in front of me if your opponent understands why they're losing to the K than if you just spread DnG while your opponent fights back tears. Otherwise, I'll evaluate any argument you make in front of me if you can justify it/it isn't literally racist/sexist/etc.

Theory: Please don't make me evaluate theory that isn't in standard shell form. Give me the violation, link, impact, role of the ballot, etc., and I'm happy enough. I'm kind of bored of the same education and fairness arguments. If an actual violation happened and you're using theory defensively, fine, but if you're going for theory as a strategy at least make it interesting.

Topicality: yeah fine, do what you want.

LARP/Policy Stuff (Plans, CPs, Disads, Multiple Advocacies, etc.): Same as before, I'm happy to evaluate it, just make the links clear and if your opponent is struggling to keep up, slow down on the tags/flash case.

Tricks: I'd rather you didn't. But if you do, justify it. I'll let you run your spike if it's clear why you deserve it. I'm not going to give you the win because you fit in the 8 words it takes to say "aff gets RVIs cuz time skew is unfair" but debate is a game and I'll evaluate any strategy you want to try to use to win it.

Performance Stuff: Honestly I think these type of debates are super interesting and I'm happy to vote for it if your link is good (I'm a broken record about links, I know). If you have a trad opponent I expect you to take the time to explain it to them: if you're going to argue that debate space is best filled by this performance and lead to XYZ real world impacts, then making sure we're all along for the ride is key. This is maybe the only type of argument for which I expect you to persuade me is authentic.

Role of the Ballot: lol you tell me. To me it's just pressing a button but if it means something more significant than that, tell me about it.

Hello! I'm so glad to be judging you today! My name is Val and I live in DC working for a non profit, and I'm going to UNC Chapel Hill, enough about me tho! Let's get to the paradigm.

Structure of the cases and following along:

HAVE TAG LINES! Please do sign posting so I can keep up with your case, it will also end the round sooner. I have ADHD so I very much can get lost once I get bored-- so it's very important to work on your presentation and make sure everyone in the room is following along. If you're going to have a road map, then please follow it! I'm okay with you all going a tiny bit overtime in the case that you are structured, if it's simply endless ramblings then I will cut you off at time. If you don't give me voter points then it'll be harder to weigh in your favor.

PUBLIC FORUM

PF is a stat heavy debate and I will hold you to that. I am taking note of your most used and most important cards, and expect you to explain them well. If your opponents call for them, I expect you to pull them up quickly. But don't make this a just a numbers debate: what do the numbers mean? Why are they important? Make sure that the Summary Speech and the Final Focus both talk about the things in the round you want me to carry; what mattered the most and why should you win. Extra points if you use metaphors to break things down.

Claim-Warrant-Impact speeches are best, but if you follow another structure that works for you and you're doing sign posting, that's fine! If you do CWI, make sure that everything is coherent. If you're going to have a crazy claim like "Nuclear War" or "extinction" make sure you're ready to defend it.

Warrants: I will weigh on the side of more recent sources for PF. This is not a reason or pathos (or even logos sometimes) argument, it's about what materializes. You can give me a beautiful delivered speech about what the US "plans" on doing, but unless you prove to me that they will actually do it (and your opponent doesn't attack your credibility) I will not carry it across as a voter point. Make sure that your cards make sense and aren't cherry picked evidence, I will be able to tell and I will card. Extra points if you get your stats from something that isn't a newspaper!

Impact: I tend to weigh on lives but am willing to hear arguments (that are more important? idk). If you give me no impacts and no materialization of your warrants and everything is subjective or to chance, it'll be hard for me to vote in your favor.

Cross: do NOT speak over each other to interrupt one another. No eye rolls, no sass. Please be respectful. Yelling is not a way to get your point across. However, don't be passive. I want all partners to engage during cross. If one person is dominating cross and you do not know your points, then I will remember that when weighing voter points. Know your case, make sure that you and your partner are on the same page.

LINCOLN DOUGLAS

Value and value criterion have to align. If you do not prove to me how they are connected then there is no way to evaluate your case. If you don't defend your value or vc then I will go based on your opponents structure.

LD is a philosophy and ethical debate. I want to hear quotes of theory, political thinkers and philosophers. THIS DOESN'T MEAN TALK ABOUT SOMETHING YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND! Explain how your case stands according to human behavior or natural law. Psychologists are also valid to list!

Similar to PF however, you need to show me stats and long term effects of your side. If you do not have any stats then I cannot vote for your side. If you come up with a pretty logical argument to explain a point without a stat during cross-x, then I might overlook the need for evidence. LD has more wiggle room for subjectivity and counterplans are allowed, but you still have to prove to me how things are going to happen. (Don't necessarily dumb it down, but make sure that if there is a plan, it has to be presented.)

In the end, I will be voting for the side that presents me with an argument that is more long term or the side that requires urgency. You need to impact your case-- tell me why what your talking about will actually happen, and what it'll do to our society, and why it's better than your opponents.

In the end, have fun! I loved debate when I did it in high school and I think a lot of these topics are very important to think about. I will only disclose in round if you ask me at the beginning of the round or if the tournament rules ask for it.

Overview

Hi, I am Jacob Palmer (he/they). I do policy at Emory. I debated for and now coach at Durham. If you will be on the Emory debate team in the fall you should put me as a conflict.

Feel free to ask questions about my paradigm before the round. It's better to hop into the competition room early as opposed to email me since I might miss your question.

Add me to the chain: jacob.gestypalmer@gmail.com. Sending docs is good. It lets both me and your opponent verify the quality of the evidence you are reading. Sending docs is not an excuse to be unclear. I won't backflow off the doc, and I will yell clear or slow if needed. Docs should be sent promptly at the round start time. If we reach the round start time and you are just starting to set up the email chain, I will be very sad. Even if I am judging on the local circuit, I would like a card doc since I like to look over evidence and just sending cards out from the beginning is easier than me trying to call for cards while the decision time ticks away. On a somewhat related note, although I do think disclosure is good, I'd rather not watch debates about this. This is especially true if your opponent does disclose in some fashion, even if it's not what you consider the best norm.

Feel free to read the arguments that interest you. I find many of the ways that people classify themselves as debaters, such as being policy or k or traditional or circuit, largely artificial distinctions. I similarly don’t particularly care whether your arguments are properly formatted in line with whatever norms exist in various local, regional, or national circuits, such as if you read a standard or a value and a criterion. I do care that you make warranted arguments and tell me why they matter in the broader context of the debate. Smart arguments will win rounds.

I will evaluate any argument that has a warrant, clear implication, and isn't actively exclusionary. I am tech in that I will keep a rigorous flow and evaluate the debate solely off that flow, but I think the distinction between tech and truth in debate is largely silly. That means there are some limits to my tech-ness as a judge. I will always evaluate every speech in the debate. I will not evaluate arguments made after speech times end. I think arguments must be logically valid and their warranting should be sound. I think lazy warranting is antithetical to technical argumentation. As a logical extension of that, spamming arguments for the sake of spamming arguments is bad. Reading truer arguments will make your job and my job substantially easier. I won't vote on something not explained in round.

Lastly, be a good person. Debate often brings out the worst of our competitive habits, but that is not an excuse for being rude or disrespectful. Respect pronouns. Respect accessibility requests. Provide due content warnings.

TDLR: Don’t cheat. Be a good person. Make real arguments. Do those things, and I will adapt to you.

Since other people do this and I think its nice to respect the people that helped me in my own debate journey, thank you to the all the people that have coached me or shaped who I am as a debater: Jackson DeConcini, Bennett Dombcik, Allison Harper, Brian Klarman, DKP, Ed Lee, Becca Steiner, Gabe Morbeck, Mikaela Malsin, Marshall Thompson, CQ, Nick Smith, and Devane Murphy. Special thanks to Crawford Leavoy for introducing me to this activity and teaching me most everything I know about debate.

Specifics

Policy – Plans, CPs, and DAs are great! Advantages and DAs shouldn’t be more complicated than they need to be. Plan and counterplan texts should also be specific and have a solvency advocate. Spec is fine against vague positions but the sillier the shell the harder it will be to win an actual internal link to fairness or education. I'm generally fine with condo counterplans, but the more condo you read the more receptive I'll be to theory. To win the 2ar on condo the 1ar shell needs to be more than a sentence. Judge kick is fine, but I won't do it unless you tell me to. I lean negative on most competition issues, and I think I am better for process counterplans than most other LD judges. The 2nr is not a 2nc. If your 2nr strategy relies on reading lots of new impact modules or other new arguments, I am not the judge for you. To an extent, carded 2nr blocks are fine, e.g. when answering a perm, but all the evidence you should need to win the 2nr on most positions should just be in the 1nc. If you sandbag reading your CP competition cards until the 2nr, for example, I will be sad.

T – I love a good T debate. Don't be blippy. Weigh between interps and show what Affs, Advantages, DAs, etc. are actually lost or gained. The worst T debates are an abstract competition over ethereal goods like fairness. The best T debates forward a clear vision of what debates on the topic should look like and explains why the debates based on one interpretation of the topic are materially more fair or educational than others. I think affirmatives should generally be predictably limited. I think functional limits can solve a lot of neg offense if correctly explained.

K – K debates are great, just know the literature and be ready to explain it. If I don't understand your argument, I won't be able to vote for it. These debates are also probably where I care the most about quality over quantity. Specificity matters - Not all Ks are the same and not all plans are the same. If your 1nc shell doesn’t vary based on the 1ac, or your 1ar blocks don’t change based on the kritik I will be sad. I generally think I should vote for whoever did the better debating, but y'all are free to hash out what that means. Alternatives should be tangible, and you should have examples.

More often than not, it seems like I am judging K debates nowadays. Whether you are the K debater or the Policy/Phil debater in these rounds, judge instruction is essential. The 2nr and 2ar should start with a clear explanation of what arguments need to be won to warrant an aff or neg ballot and why. The rest of the 2nr or 2ar should then just do whatever line-by-line is necessary to win said arguments. I find that in clash debates more than other debates, debaters often get lost in extending their own arguments without giving much round-specific contextualization of said extensions or reasons why the arguments extended are reasons they should win the debate. Whether you are going for an impact turn to the K or extending the K itself, you need to tell me what to do with the arguments you think you are winning and why those specific arguments are sufficient for my ballot.

Non-T/Planless Affs – I am happy to judge these debates and have no issues with non-t affs. Solvency is important. From the 1ac there should be a very clear picture of how the affirmative resolves whatever harms you have identified. For negatives, T USFG is solid. I’ve read it. I’ve voted on it. Turn strategies (heg good, growth good, humanism good, etc.) are also good. For T, I find topical versions of the aff to be less important than most other judges. Maybe that’s just because I find TVAs to be largely underdeveloped or not actually based in any real set of literature. Regardless, I don’t think the negative needs the TVA to win, but it also won’t hurt to make one and extend it. Cap and other kritiks can also be pretty good if you understand what you’re doing. I no qualms evaluating a K v K or methods debate.

Phil – I love philosophical debates. I think phil debates benefit greatly from more thorough argumentation and significantly less tricks. Explain your syllogism, how to filter offense, and tell me what you're advocating for. If I don't know how impact calc functions under your framework, then I will have a very hard time evaluating the round. If your framework has a bunch of analytics, slow down and number them.

Theory – Theory should be used to check legitimate abuse within the debate. As with blatantly untrue DAs or Advantages, silly theory arguments will be winnable, but my threshold of what constitutes a sufficient response will be significantly lower. Slow down on the analytics and be sure to weigh. I think paragraph theory is fine, but you still need to read warrants. I think fairness and education are both important, and I haven’t really seen good debates on which matters more. Debates where you weigh internal links to fairness and/or education are generally much better. I think most cp theory or theoretical objections to other specific types of arguments are DTA and really don’t warrant an RVI, but you can always convince me otherwise.

Tricks – If this is really your thing, I will listen to your arguments and evaluate them in a way that I feel is fair, granted that may not be the way you feel is most fair. I have found many of the things LDers have historically called tricks to be neither logically valid nor sound. I have no issue with voting on arguments like skep or determinism or paradoxes, but they must have a sufficient level of warranting when they are first introduced. Every argument you make needs to be a complete argument with a warrant that I can flow. All arguments should also be tied to specific framing that tells me how to evaluate them within the larger context of the debate. Also, be upfront about your arguments. Being shady in cx just makes me mad and sacrifices valuable time that you could spend explaining your arguments.

Independent Voters - I think arguments should only generate offense through specific framing mechanisms. Somewhat tied into this I feel incredibly uncomfortable voting on people's character or using my ballot to make moral judgements about debaters. I also don’t want to hear arguments about events outside of the round I am judging. If something your opponent did truly makes you feel unsafe or unable to debate, then you should either contact me, your coach, tab, or the tournament equity office. We can always end the round and figure something out.

I have been judging and coaching primarily LD, PF, and Policy debate for the past 28 years.

My preference is a moderate style of debate. Although, I can, and will keep up at any speed. I flow while judging and therefore appreciate the use by competitors of signposting.

Clearly state your Value Premise and Value Criterion. Let me know how they are related. And, be sure that your observations/contentions relate to your VP and your VC.

Be aware that definitions are important. An opponent may win a round by emphasis on the definitions of one or two key words in the resolution.

I am currently the debate coach at Middle College High School at Durham Technical Community College, a position that I have held since 2005. I started my debate coaching in 1997 at Hillside High School in Durham, NC. And, I was the first paid faculty debate coach at East Chapel Hill High School in the year 2000 under the leadership of principal Dave Thaden.

Education:

UNC-W (MALS) Master of Arts in Liberal Studies.

UNC-CH (NC Teach Graduate Program) Major, Education.

UNC-CH (BA) Subject Major, American History.

International Baccalaureate Certificate in North and South American History -

Nashville, TN

Victoria, Canada

Certified in Personal Financial Literacy from www.wise-ny.org/

I am a parent judge who has been judging at local tournaments for a few years.

I have been a debate coach for the last few yeara.  I am experienced in both LD and PF.  I prefer a conversational pace as opposed to spreading.  You can easily speak so quickly that the merits of your arguments can go unnoticed.  Above all, be respectful to your fellow competitor.  

Sophomore at UNC who debated LD four years in North Carolina.

In HS, I only did traditional debate so while you can run progressive forms of debate and I'll listen, bear in mind I never debated it and thus am likely to not fully understand it. If you chose to do so, signpost VERY well and clearly articulate your case.

Remember, speak clearly, warrant your arguments, warrant your value structure, signpost as you go along, and GIVE VOTERS at the end of your last speech (2AR or 2NR).

Be respectful to everyone in the room, rudeness will dock you speaker points.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask before the round.

Hi! I debated LD for Ardrey Kell, graduating in 2018, both traditional and circuit debate. I'm a recent grad from UNC-Chapel Hill with a background in statistics & business, and I currently work in technology consulting. I (generally) know what I'm doing, but I haven't been involved in debate for a while now. Please keep this in mind when choosing your style and strategy! My email is juliannesinclair@gmail.com if you need it to send cases/evidence.

• I'm not opposed to spreading, but I don't feel confident in my ability to understand extremely high levels of speed being out of debate for such a long time. However, you can speak at a very quick conversational pace in front of me, especially if you are using speed for effective argument coverage.

• In a traditional round, read whatever you'd like! I'll use the V/VC debate in my decision, but I honestly care more about the topic-specific arguments you make. Please don't make me hear a debate on morality vs. justice as a value - it's not going to sway my decision! Consider how important the framework debate is in relation to both cases; winning FW isn't always necessary to win the debate.
• Please weigh arguments throughout the round, not just in the 2AR!
• I'm all good with topical Ks, policy arguments, and any traditional arguments.
• I'm probably not the judge to read theory in front of. Or tricks. I simply don't have the background to evaluate these debates.
• I also don't really have the background to be evaluating a very dense phil debate. I do enjoy unique frameworks, but I'm gonna need some extra background if it's not something that would be taught in Philosophy 101.
• Humor executed well will raise your speaks. Snarkiness can be great, but do not be mean to your opponent, especially if they are less experienced than you.
• On a similar note - do not read progressive arguments to confuse a less experienced / traditional opponent. I'm totally fine evaluating progressive debate arguments, but the round should be educational and fair for everyone involved.
• If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me before the round! :)

Pronouns: He/Him/His

Experience: Debated in public forum throughout high school.

Style Preferences:

Speed is fine as long as you enunciate. I do not vote on delivery, but strong delivery will help my understanding of your arguments. That being said I am very particular about volume. I understand that debates can get heated sometimes, but I ask that you refrain from any disrespectful behavior (yelling, eye-rolling, condescension, etc).

Judging:

Debate is about the clash of ideas. I try my best to come into a round as a blank slate with no preconceived notions or biases. As long as an argument has a logical claim and warrant, I'll accept the impacts of that claim, until it is refuted with greater logic and evidence.

The only time my personal opinion will be a factor will be in topicality debates --on this point, I find topicality debates very annoying/avoidable, links and burdens should be built into your framework or observations so that time in the round is not wasted elsewhere, if it's absolutely necessary to clarify please be brief.

Cross:

Debate is about the clash of ideas. Crossfires are the best opportunity to display a direct clash between arguments. I do not care who "looks best" at the end of crossfire and I do not flow crossfire for argumentation unless you are clarifying something previously mentioned. --crossfire is not the time to bring up brand new arguments or to read cards-- If you need to refer to a new card that is fine but do not read a paragraph as this just wastes time.

*If you successfully poke holes within your opponent's arguments this must be extended into future speeches to be notably weighed in my decision.

Do:

- Be Clear and consistently signpost

- Provide clear impacts that stem from Claim-Warrant-Impact structures.

- I like unique arguments as long as their relevance to the resolution is made clear with links.

Do Not:

-Say "I/my partner can bring that up in their next speech" and then never mention it again. If this happens, I will drop the contention that the question was related to.

-Raise your voice to the point of yelling --if you do I will likely stop listening and drop whatever point you are screaming about.

Debate is supposed to be fun. I enjoy civil debates where opponents are respectful to one another. If you have any questions, feel free to ask before the round as long as we're not running behind. Good luck!

-Jacob Skeehan

I am a first generation Cuban-American who grew up in rural NC (so my Spanish is weak at best). I competed in speech (poetry and prose interpretation mostly) in both middle and high school. I have had two children compete in debate so I am aware for both formal rules and conventions.

I am a veterinary pathologist with extensive diagnostic and research experience (including covid studies); I also am a huge history buff. So I will probably know if your science or history is wrong / out of context / or misleading. That said, I do not penalize the speaker unless the error is egregious, meaning that a reasonable person would know the speaker is in factual error off the top of their head. Otherwise, I expected the opposing side to point out the error themselves. I do penalize if the opposition misquotes the other sides argument.

Please do not speak so quickly I cannot understand what you are saying.

And good luck!

I'm currently a freshman at Duke, but I did LD for 4 years at Ardrey Kell. I focused more on traditional LD due to the nature of the LD circuit in NC. I don't have too much exposure to more progressive styles of argumentation, but I should be good with basic LARP type stuff if you choose to go that route. However, I do prefer, at more traditional/lay tournaments, that you stick to the norms of the circuit unless both you and your opponent are fine with a little more speed/complexity. Basically, don't make it difficult for your opponent to participate in the round. Also, please be courteous and respectful to your opponent and generally don't make them feel like shit. Don't be racist/sexist/bigoted or you will be dropped. In general, please weigh, run cool cases, and don't lie.

Specifics:

1) I enjoy seeing unconventional approaches to the topic, but make sure you explain it clearly enough that I know what I'm voting for.

2) I've found that inexperienced debaters don't spend enough time on link-level debate, so please try and do that. BUT, experienced debaters often forget about impact level debate. Your arguments should be very clearly impacted out and weighed, and I think this sometimes doesn't happen because of how caught up debaters get in justifying/proving arguments. At the very least, give me voters that detail how exactly the resolution changes (positively or negatively) society.

3) V/VC-Not entirely sure how I feel about this. Basically, if you think winning your value or value criterion actually changes the way I evaluate arguments and gives you an edge in the round, please debate it. I enjoy well-done phil debate a LOT and I'd love for it to be more prevalent on the NC Circuit. But, make sure your phil debate actually has implications for the round. I'm not a big fan of random Morality vs. Justice debates where neither side clearly articulates why it actually matters whether the value is Morality or Justice.

4) Evidence-so, while I did debate I was a lot more pro-cards and empirics than most, but I've kind of moved away from that mindset. Evidence still matters to me though. Please run good, high quality evidence in limited amounts with good analytics to go with it. Try and understand exactly what the card is saying and don't misrepresent evidence. In terms of responding to evidence, I REALLY would appreciate more people on the circuit calling for cards and looking through methodological flaws and other inconsistencies in the evidence. A big power move is pulling up the PDF and just listing off all the ways that your opponent misrepresents the evidence. If you give me a competing piece of evidence, please make it CLEAR why exactly I should prefer your card instead of your opponent's. Anecdotes are good to exemplify a problem and add context, but don't rely exclusively on them.

5) Flowing-I can flow at basically the higher end of NC debate. Don't spread, but also don't feel the need to go super slow. I flow on my laptop so if I'm on my laptop during the round, that's why. I generally catch most of what you're saying, but you can help out by going slower on key points and emphasizing them throughout the round.

6) Speaker Points-I'll probably give out speaks based on strategy. If you run cool arguments, approach the topic in a nontraditional way, and execute the strategy well, expect higher points. I enjoy humor and sass, but make sure you respect your opponent while you're at it.

Standardized testing topic specifics: This seems like it'd turn into a card war REALLY fast, so keep in mind what I said about making clear why I should prefer your evidence over your opponent's. I don't know much about the topic, so explain acronyms, abbreviations, etc. Also, it's my first time judging so please make it easy on me by doing a ton of weighing and giving me clear voters' issues.

That's more or less my thoughts on debate. If you have any specific questions about debate or even college or something, feel free to ask before the round or email me. My email address is vineel.vanam@gmail

I am a patent judge with several rounds of experience judging debate events. I am the typical “lay judge”. However, I am more than capable of evaluating strength of argumentation and evidence when deciding who has won the round. Please make sure your arguments and evidence are clear.

Sophomore at Duke, I debated ld and pf in high school.

general stuff:

Please no progressive arguments or spreading, I will drop you.

I highly prefer debaters who have clear pace. I don't mind if you go a bit fast, but make sure to emphasize important points and arguments.

I also like to see impact weighing, original analysis, and voter issues. Arguments with insufficient evidence or analysis will not be evaluated at the same level as arguments backed by solid evidence.

Please be respectful to each other in the round.

for ld:

Remember, speak clearly, warrant your arguments, warrant your value structure, signpost as you go along, and GIVE VOTERS at the end of your last speech (2AR or 2NR).

for pf:

have a clear narrative and find the easiest path to the ballot.

Hey everyone! I'm Jessica, and I did four years of LD in North Carolina.

Full disclosure, I'm not a huge fan of progressive debate, so do avoid it if you can – that being said, I'll listen to anything you have to say as long as you present it clearly and explain it well. Please don't spread. I can handle a decently fast conversational speed, but the strength of your arguments will suffer if I can't understand you. Also, it's just not a good idea to try to cram too many arguments/evidence into the limited time you have; I'll always pick quality over quantity.

I really value debate as an educational activity and believe that a good debater should be able to get their point across without being sneaky or excluding their opponent (e.g., through overly complex arguments or jargon). Break things down, y'all. I will be flowing, but it's up to you to explain and emphasize your important points and make sure I get them. Warrant and impact your arguments, tell me how to weigh the round, signpost, give voters, all that good stuff. Try to find the clash rather than just restating your own case.

Other than that, please just be nice. Respect your opponent, don't be condescending, and don't be rude :) We're here for a good time! Feel free to ask me any questions before the round.