I did debate for all four years in high school and graduated in 2016. Speed is generally okay if you are clear. If you think you are being clear, probably slow down a little bit further and then you will be. I will yell clear if you aren't and generally will not hold it against you as long as you fix the issue. I will listen to just about anything but you have to tell me why I should care about it. If you want it to be a voting issue, give me an explanation as to why. If no one gives me an explanation on how to evaluate the round and why, I will revert to my own judgement- something neither of us wants to happen. If the other team provides a way to evaluate the round, you have to tell me why yours is better. You can probably consider me tabs provided you actually give me a way to evaluate the round. If that is absent, I am an engineer and will evaluate things based on facts heard in round and weigh them as a logical thinker.

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

Policy Paradigm (LD at bottom)

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

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

Assistant coached LD and Policy at:

Central Valley HS (Spokane, WA 2014-2016)

Capitol HS (Boise, ID 2016-2017)

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

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

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

--For the love, please time yourselves.

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

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

Quick version

Generally good for:

--DA-case debates

--Cheater counterplan debates

--Politics/elections debates

Not as good for:

--Heavy K debates

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

--Baudrillard

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

Online debate things:

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

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

Longer version

General

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Topic Thoughts

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

K debate

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

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

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

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

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

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

K affs

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

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

Theory

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

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

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

Topicality

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

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

Counterplans

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Disadvantages

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

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

Case

Engage the case! Do case debate!

LD Paradigm

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

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

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

--Tricks? nah

--Meta-theory? nah

--Cutting evidence from debate blogs? nah

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

Have fun!! :)

About me

I am a student at Concordia University of Wisconsin and I've debated for 4 years.

Yes, put me on the email chain hayfaiz02@gmail.com

General stuff

Speed is okay, I'd prefer you don't spread, but I understand you may have a lot to get through so just be clear and signpost.

I've been exposed to a few different types of debate, so run what you're comfortable with and explain to me why it should win so it's a fun round for all parties.

I will not do any work for you. If you chose not to call someone out on their evidence being wrong or a flaw in their argument, then I assume that they're right.

I'm not going to vote for any type of racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. arguments. I'll immediately drop the team, but I'm not expecting this to happen.

More specific stuff

T

I love T, but only when used the right way. Make sure you have all four parts or I'm not voting for it. Extend the voters and prove abuse.

On the neg:

Don't run it as a cry-baby thing. If you use it as a time skew, that's cool, but if you really believe that the aff is being abusive, then prove it. What ground do you lose? What's a topical version of the aff?

On the aff:

I need a counter interp. Tell me what the neg could've done and prove that there's no abuse.

Theory

I feel the same way about theory as I do about T. It's fun when argued correctly. I'd love to have a roll of the ballot on theory. Write my flow for me. Why should you win a theory debate? If you let me know and are convincing enough, you're probably going to win. I'll reject the argument not the team, that just makes things more fun.

CPs

On the neg:

Have a clear counter plan text with a strong solvency and a net benefit. I don't really care that much for CPs, but if that's what you're into, then just tell me why the CP is competitive and solves better.

On the aff:

Perms are so important. If you can prove to me that the CP is not mutually exclusive to the aff, then you're getting that flow. Saying "Perm do both", then moving on isn't sufficient enough for me to vote for you.

Disads

On the neg:

These types of debate need hella impact calc. I need a full shell in order to vote for a DA; uniqueness, link, impact. Why should I be more worried about a risk of the DA than the aff? Why is the aff going to trigger the DA?

On the aff:

If you can tell me that you solve for the DA and explain how then it's yours. Or, you could tell me why the impacts don't outweigh what you solve for and I'll also vote on that. Again, I really think DAs are high key boring, but a good impact calc debate will spice some things up.

Ks

I love Ks, but I wasn't entirely taught how to run most of them (excluding cap/neolib) so I'm not very well versed in the literature. Also, don't run Ks if you don't know how to, I may not entirely understand the words you'll be saying, but I can tell when you don't either. So if your varsity gave you a K and you don't know how you feel about it, then unless you don't care about speaks, just let it go. However, try new things, this is all really up to you.

On the neg:

There needs to be a good link. Alts are important, but hey, do what you think will win my ballot. A framework on the K would be really nice along with a ROB. A strong impact has to be there.

On the aff:

Perms work the same with the Ks. Tell me why you can do both, EVEN IF THE ALT IS TO REJECT THE AFF YOU CAN STILL PERM!!! If they don't link then say that. Impact calc is important here as well obviously.

K debates are my favorite, let's have fun with these.

Case

Obviously, extend case throughout the round. Call out dropped arguments or else they're still going to be on my flow. Please don't shadow extend, that's really annoying. As a neg, I usually only go for solvency, but if you can find cards on other aff advantages, then, by all means, go for it.

On the neg:

Link turns are key. Please stay organized with case. I'm not going to flow if I get lost, so don't lose me.

On the aff:

Be responsive, and explain how the solvency functions. Good debaters can use their case to answer most off case arguments.

Stay positive, I know it's cliche, but no one here is a loser. We all walk out of the round with new knowledge and friendships and all that fun stuff, so try to maintain a positive attitude.

But yeah, that's all of it. If there are any other questions, let me know, you have my email.

Who is this cat?- I graduated from the University of Illinois in May after doing Parli for three years ('19-'22). I was the assistant coach at Ronald Reagan College Prep in Milwaukee. I debated policy at Reagan for four years, (`15-`19). (he/him/his).

Yes, email chain- thenimajn3b@gmai.com

TL;DR- Debate is a game. Analysis and argument-making win my ballot. Stay organized, consistent, and strategic and you'll have success in any round. My paradigm is quite lengthy, but don't let it deter you from running what you are the best at. There isn't a single way to win my ballot, there are arguments that I prefer, but that doesn't mean you should run them just to fit my vision of a debate round. A good rule of thumb is to do what you're the best at.

Specific Arguments- Don't get too caught up in all of this, it is just my preferences, I think if you tend to run a specific argument, then look into my preferences on this, but if not, this really isn't all too important. I tend to judge policy, but if you want to look into my preferences in LD, Parli or PF, that's near the bottom.

CP- It isn't too easy to win on a CP unless it is abusive. The debate community, in general, has seemed to forget something- perms are tests of competition. This is a saying that's been said and resaid a hundred times, without much of an understanding of its meaning. Perms do not offer any advocacy. Thus, the affirmative team cannot gain anything offensively from running a perm. One cannot perm a counterplan and make speeches centered around "The world of the perm." A perm is not advocacy, it is merely a test of competition, and a means to hinder the offense that the negative team can gain from running a CP. Also, CPs do not have to be topical. It is difficult to think of a CP that is not mutually inclusive, thus, it does not have to be topical. Presenting a Net Benefit in terms of a DA or a means to solve the Aff's contentions better than they are able to is one of the few ways I believe that offense can be gained by the negative team. A CP needs to have reasons why to vote for it, just CP text isn't going to move the needle for me. I think PICs are pretty cool, but also they're pretty dangerous if you're bad with theory. Related to this, I am a huge fan of theory in response to CP's. CPs tend to be pretty abusive if they aren't permeable, so take advantage of this!

DA- Admittedly, I've become more and more policy since graduating high school. I really like DAs- I think they're the easiest way for the neg to win in any round. With that being said, the ease is double-sided, as this non-complex nature doesn't hide any true motives, meaning they aren't very difficult to respond to. Putting it simply, a reliance on a DA as the neg's sole offense in a round makes my ballot very easy to fill out. Thus, if you plan on, and you want to run a DA, do it well. Missing an argument missed by either side not flowing makes it quite simple for one side to win quite easily. When it comes to big stick impacts, I am not going to bring any personal biases to conflict with the round. You're going to have to do that yourself on framework. Tell me why nuclear war doesn't matter, or why to prefer structural impacts. Please run framework that runs best in line with your impact, as it makes it easier to write my ballot.

Framework- Somehow I've managed to include the importance of framework in almost every single rundown of arguments. I think framework should be a thing in every single round. Run it well, respond to it well, and tell me what viewing the round under your framework means. I think unless it comes down to t or completely dropped arguments, I am going to use framework to decide my ballot on which impacts I see as important, and what mechanism is the most important to vote under. Framework should be the base of any well-built case, even if you are relying on low-probability, high-magnitude impacts. Please run this, as it makes the round make a lot more sense, and it makes it possible to remove any covert biases I have towards arguments or impacts.

K- I was a K debater in high school. I understand that something like Wilderson or any Capitalism K can be run against any affirmative. This is not necessarily a bad strategy, but it relies on the negative team winning and expanding upon the link debate and the alt debate (I don't think I've ever seen a K impact be contested). The weakest part of the K is generally its alternative. I do not require the alternative to be ontological per se for the negative team to win on a K, but I expect that the alt is well expanded upon and actually explained. Unless the aff is losing on case, I find it difficult to vote for a world that I don't really understand, and a muddy alt presents a confusing world. The same ideology about perms for CPs holds true for K's. The affirmative team cannot win on a perm without also winning case. The best-case scenario for the affirmative if their contestation on K/CP is a perm is that this perm is a wash. Because perms are tests of competition and not advocacy, offense cannot be gained by the perming team. Please tell me what voting for the K does. If it isn't anything out round, that's fine, but I want a ROTB on the K.

On Case- I think one of the most important parts of a debate is the affirmative team's framing of the round. To offset the neg getting the neg block, and back to back speeches, the affirmative teams get the first and last speech. Your should make the best use of this by telling me, and contesting what is the most important argument to vote on, or what theoretical lens to view this round through. I think this goes both ways- rounds have the most clash, meaning the best education and competitiveness when on case is responded to thoroughly and throughout the round. I understand it could be a team's strategy to completely disregard case and argue completely for their case or k, but by abandoning any argument on case, the framing of the round needs to be won as well. When it comes down to it- I'm going to go back on my flows and view the framing of the round in the 1ac. Even if case is a nonfactor, framing by the affirmative team, and contestation of this framing is incredibly important. On case proper- I love case turns. It's a lot easier to make turns when they're based off of your knowledge of the topic, and the current political happenings, as teams tend to rely too much solely on reading cards for case. Watch the news, read articles, and stay updated- this makes it easier to base case-specific turns around, and an easy way to take out a ton of aff offense. Flowing is probably the most important when it comes to responding to case. Flowing, and line by lines is what separates good and great debaters, and this is most important on case, as it is what the majority of rounds can come down to.

Speed- Speed is fine. If the other team can't handle it, speak up, please. I understand that rounds being online makes it quite difficult for those who had trouble with speed in person. Feel free to "clear" your opponents during the speech. If they don't change, then this is grounds for in round abuse if you want to run with an argument similar to this. In general, spreading your opponent out of the round isn't a very good strategy, but to each their own. If you start talking prior to the round, and your audio quality is poor, then I might ask you not to spread, because it isn't fair to anyone. If you don't adapt to your situation, then poor speaks should be expected. Just because you can spread, doesn't mean you should.

T- In order to win t, I think you have to be winning the argument convincingly. If rounds are close and the neg goes for t, then it was likely the wrong decision. Neg should go all in on t, at least eight minutes in the neg block and all five minutes in the 2NR. Explain to me what abuse occurred in the round, and have specific standards. I want contextualized abuse and voting issues if you expect me to vote for you on topicality. Is t an RVI? I don't know, but I'd love to find out. Do the work for me.

Theory- Since high school, I've fallen more and more in love with theory. I think that t can be run in basically any round, but it also can very easily be run poorly. One of the most important parts of either running or responding to t is making sure you flow. I don't think a team should go into a round expecting to run theory, but it is something that one may have in their back pocket in a response to a specific argument. One of the best parts about theory is that it hinges on thinking on the spot, as blocks really aren't a thing for most theory analysis. I think very little is off the table for theory, and this goes for the response to it. I'll listen to an RVI, but a lot of it just comes down to the work that you put in, and how well you flow.

LD Specific
-Do what you're the best at
-Frame how I should vote and see the round, I'm not going to do too much work for you
- I don't understand the hullabaloo about being nice, especially in LD; this isn't a manners class. We're here to debate, not to make each other feel better about ourselves and brown-nose the guy who's writing the ballot. Be aggressive, be confident, and just give me a competitive round where you are the best debater version of yourself.
- A climate of judging debaters based on how they dress or present themselves makes me sick to my stomach, please just do what you're the most comfortable with within the round.

Parli/NPDA Specific
-I'll pause POO's but not POI's
-I don't expect either side to accept more than two POI's during a speech; it is your side to advocate for yourself and be specific. Prior to answering a POI, I like to say "One out of two" or "Two out of two," just so I am blatantly consistent.
-If you're more comfortable with policy jargon, don't bother correcting yourself. I still view it as the Aff v Neg, rather than Gov v Opp.
-Give me a weighing mechanism or I'll just vote on net benefits.

PF Specific
-I'm not a big judge intervention guy in a round. I'm not going to step in if belittling is occurring. The majority of you are nearly adults, and I'm sure you can act like it.
-Please don't make me intervene in cross-fire
-Please just keep me posted on where you're going. Do whatever you want honestly.
-Don't interrupt or use crossfire to make arguments; it's not another rebuttal, it is a questioning period.
-Straight policy rounds get dry, throw some crazy philosophy in there if you feel like it.
-I've done PF, but I'm a policy debater at heart, aff is pro and neg is con

Policy Specific
-Open cross-ex is fine, utilize this however you want. Debates can be won and lost in CX
-Tech>Truth
-Impact calc in 2NR/2AR
-Splitting the block is a thing
-Don't be an a-hole. I understand that policy is generally one of the more competitive types of debate, but keeping your calm is important in CX. You can be witty without being mean
-Stay organized, signpost

A Final Word
I'm a white male, and debate is a community that has long been monopolized by people of my same race and gender. I have privileges that I may not be completely aware of and I may commit microaggressions within a round. Please tell me, privately or publically if I do something that makes anyone in the round uncomfortable.

Post-rounding is fine, I'm flawed as a person and a judge, and my paradigm is constantly adapting to the experiences I have and the rounds I have. I'll make mistakes, and miss analysis, and I apologize if I do. I try to be a good judge, but I'm a flawed human being just like you. I seem to update my paradigm after every tournament. My paradigm is far from ever complete, and I have rounds and experiences which shape what I value in a round, and what preferences I have.

If you have any questions about my ballot, or you want any extra advice, my email is thenimajn3b@gmail.com

Teressa Shaw

Current Affiliations: None

Past/Debated: Rufus King High School

Pre-Round

My predispositions about particular arguments should not influence what you run (with a caveat). I have not judged ANY rounds on this topic.

I honestly believe that you should run the arguments you are comfortable with. Am I better for certain types of rounds? Maybe. Does that mean you should try a completely new strategy? If you want.

I have experience with most arguments so I believe you should run the arguments you know. Feel free to ask before round if you have any concerns about arguments. I'm currently working on updating my paradigm to include argument specific thoughts.

I will also try to leave biases out of decision-making as much as possible, but I am far from perfect.

I really really really dislike judge intervention. It makes me feel gross. Please don't put me in situations where I have to intervene aka situations where it isn't clear what I should vote on. Make it clear what arguments you think are most important and do the analysis yourself. In rounds where I have had to intervene, everyone was very unhappy so tell me what you think I should vote on.

Stealing prep will result in a loss of speaker points. Clipping cards will result in a loss and zero speaker points.

Being excessively rude irritates me greatly (and costs speaker points...). I think there is a distinction between assertive/confident and condescending. If you win the round, I'll vote for you but your speaker points will suffer.

Please add me to the email chain.

Background

I debated policy for four years with stronger background in critical/theory. Broke at nats/speaker in t20s //all sorts of irrelevant stuff. Researcher in immunology lab. I now judge -very- occasionally.

Logistics

I have thoughts about particular arguments and it's probably better to ask before round if you are concerned. I highly recommend this for any judge because, in my experience, folks tend to deviate away from paradigms.

I'm a terrible judge for science not real. However, I think discussions of science being bad are great (ex. the theft of HeLa cells demonstrating how horrible institutions have been).

Ks: Don't assume I know exactly what your argument or kritik means (even if you think you explained it well...).This would imply that I am willing to do work for you which I won't. That being said, I feel more comfortable evaluating these rounds than I would a round that came down to a politics disad. I like creative arguments, but have seen more teams fail to win on framework/theory debates in front of me.

T/FW/Theory: Yeah I group these things together if that tells you anything. I end up voting on these issues a lot more than I would expect. I'm not a fan of RVIs, but will listen to them if cheating is present. I haven't been compelled to vote on one yet.

I am probably better for critical rounds (especially if is critical race, gender, and/or queer theory) than old school policy but have done and understand both.

I can't specify whether I firmly "believe" in truth vs tech or tech vs truth because it rarely comes down to one of these things. However, I observe tech >> truth in my decisions.

If I am left wondering what I am voting for after the 2AR, I tend to vote neg on presumption if the neg has done a decent job of interacting with the aff.

While "debate is a game", I think there is room to make the game better. I have seen some really creative affs/strategies, but I have also seen affs/args written to avoid debating at all. I end up voting on fairness/ground more than I'd like to in rounds like that.

If you think something may be offensive, it often is.

Clash is important for many reasons. Engage the aff.

Don't steal prep, don't clip cards, and don't cheat. I expect students to time themselves and each other. Prep ends with the flash drive leaves the laptop. If it becomes a problem, then I will start the timer and I will be diligent. (**I will make prep exceptions in virtual debates if necessary).

Speaking fast is fine. Speaking clear is better.

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

I'm not going to look at the card text unless someone in the round calls into question something in the actual text of a card, so please explain the warrants of your card yourself if you want me to evaluate it!

Background

I'm currently a 4th year undergraduate at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities majoring in Computer Science and Statistics. Debate-wise, I'm the former captain of the La Crosse Central High School Policy Debate Team. I did debate for all four years of high school strictly in policy. Note that I haven't competed in competitive debate for about 4 years now, so please keep that in mind. I like to be positive with everyone I meet, so feel free to loosen up and have fun!

If I happen to be judging your PF or LD round, please understand that I have a strictly policy background. I consider myself somewhat capable of evaluating any argument, so there shouldn't be much of an issue. However, if there's something very PF/LD specific, I'd make sure you'd explain it more plainly to me.

Judging Philosophy

I will vote on what I'm told to vote on in the round. In other words, role of the ballot and framework is important! For example, if the neg has a killer nuclear war DA that they win almost 100%, but the aff totally wins framework and tells me to vote for the team that solves best for real world structural violence, I will vote aff.

Arguments evaluated at the end must be pulled through the whole debate. If a team calls out that an argument was dropped in the block/1AR and they're right, I'm not evaluating it. In general, you need to point out that the opponent dropped the argument if you want me to drop it. If you don't, I will generally evaluate it as if it wasn't dropped if your opponents bring it up again later. This holds especially true if you address the dropped argument as if it wasn't (i.e., you have responses to the argument in your speech). The only major exception is that, if the 2ar pulls through an argument that was obviously dropped in the 1ar, I'm not evaluating it if I notice it. This is because the negative has no chance to call this out.

That being said, I will vote on any argument if its argued well and is actually won in round. My political and philosophical biases should not play a role in my decision.

Round Rules

Open CX is fine, just make sure whoever is supposed to be doing the CX or supposed to be CXed is doing most of the talking. If not, speaks are going down.

I will start prep more or less when you say you're starting and stopping. You should start prep when you start working on an argument and you should stop it when you are saving the file for sending. Please don't take forever sending files. I'm pretty generous with time, so don't abuse it. If I or someone else catches you stealing prep, I'm starting prep and docking speaks. Rule of thumb, if you can, please take your hands off your computer/pen when prep stops if you aren't the one sending the file.

Do not be racist, sexist, Islamophobic, homophobic, etc. People of all different identities are welcome in this space. If you have a problem with that, you can leave the round.

Be nice. Really, that's it. Debate should be a fun activity and debaters should leave a round being happy and being friends with their opponents. I don't want to see harassment or insults, both in round and out of round. You're losing speaks if you do that. I'm also probably going to be more empathetic towards the team being harassed/insulted, so I probably might subconsciously give them more credit in their arguments. So, even if you only care about my ballot, it would still benefit you to be respectful of the other team. I'm the last judge you should be making snarky comments at the other team in front of. Be courteous, and understand that everyone deserves respect.

Tech

No, I don't know all abbreviations or debate jargon. if you wanna be safe, take the time to explain the more sophisticated jargon or abbreviations if it's crucial to your arguments later in the round.

Speed is usually OK, but I can get lost if you either go too fast or you aren't signposting well. I had OK speed as a debater myself, but I was never really that good at it, so please keep that in mind. Speed on cards is a-OK, just make sure differentiate and slow down a bit on tags so I know what's going on. Analytics/explanation/non-carded arguments are another beast. Please slow down for these. You don't need to speak unbearably slowly, but don't speak so fast that words start getting slurred or missed. My tolerance for speed is not bad, but if there's a key argument to your whole argument, you should definitely slow down for that (good practice for any sort of discussion, really). Rule of thumb, if I don't know what you're saying due to speed, I'm not flowing it. If I don't catch a little argument in the middle of your long, un-carded speech at 300000 WPM and the opponent doesn't catch it, I'm more willing to give them leeway when you say "they dropped it!!!", since it's probably not on my flow either.

If you want to be loud, go ahead, just please don't scream at me. There's a difference between being loud and assertive and just straight up screaming. That threshold for loud vs. screaming is really high, but it's there. I'm going to find it hard to figure out what you're saying if it's being screamed at me. That being said, I do not believe that being loud means you are more persuasive. It is totally possible to speak decisively and assertively without being loud. Additionally, there's a distinction between being passionate and being loud; passion will actually probably make you more persuasive in more k/philosophical rounds. Volume will not.Rule of thumb: Favor enunciation over volume- it will make your argument much easier to follow.

I'll try my best to avoid expressing during a speech, but it's probably going to be obvious if I'm confused or lost, so if you notice that I'm lost, please slow down and take time to explain.

Arguments

Disadvantages: No problem here. Make sure you explain the link chain well enough and it should be convincing to me. I find internal links to nuclear war pretty weak, so you better make sure to explain how the plan somehow causes nuclear war if you go for this argument in the 2NR. Case turns with disadvantages are very convincing and powerful, do them. Unless you tell me otherwise, I will default to weighing the impact of the DA to the Aff at the end of the round if the neg decides to go for it.

Topicality: I actually quite like good T debates, it's just that they are more often then not really bad. Make sure you defend your interpretation. I need to know why its the best in the round (standards, standards, standards!) and why I should focus on yours over your opponent's. You also need to explain your voters, why should I vote down the team for it? If there's not compelling standards arguments on the T or the reasons to vote for T are bad, I'm going to default that the aff's topicality violation doesn't really hurt the round and I'm not voting them down for it. Therefore, if you aren't clearly explaining why the topicality violation is bad for debate, you can still lose the topicality debate even if they concede that they aren't topical.

Kritiks: I'm decently versed in kritiks, especially security kritiks. Please note that most of my experience with Ks and their arguments are within the context of debate. It would probably help you to assume that I haven't heard of your K before if it isn't a more conventional K like "security" or "capitalism" Ks. I am not that well read on this type of theory. That being said, I can follow a K quite well and I tend to understand the arguments pretty fast. Please take time to explain the link and alt very well, especially if this is your 2nr argument of choice. I need to know why the aff specifically links to the K and I need to know why the alt solves. If I don't understand the K at the end of the round, it's going to be hard for me to vote on it if it wasn't completely dropped by the aff. For most Ks, I see alts as in round, real world solvency, so no fiatted action. Basically, the ballot is what contributes to the alt solvency. How and why does my ballot help solve the large issues the K addresses? Answering this should be a key focus of your final speech(es) if you are going for it. My reasoning for this is that, if I didn't judge like this, you could theoretically win the K argument by doing:

"The aff doesn't solve the inherent issues with capitalism. The alt is a miracle cure that solves capitalism. Therefore, we should win."

If I let you do that, then I should also probably let the aff do extremely unfeasible plans that would solve large issues as well. I don't think that leads to good and interesting debate.

The important thing is that, if you lose the alt, you're losing the K. Without an alt, I'm just seeing Ks as non unique DAs, which won't win you the round. Case turns with Ks are probably the best things Ks have though, so do them!

Counterplans: Counterplans are great. I won't vote on a CP without a net benefit though unless you make a very compelling theory argument, so make sure you have a net benefit to leverage over the aff. Perms work wonders for the aff. The neg needs to win a solvency deficit to the perm in order to beat it, and the aff needs to win a solvency deficit to the CP in order to win. Basically, prove to me why your plan is best.

On the other hand, I really don't like consult CPs, PICs, etc. For those of you who don't know what those are, I envy you, but here's an overblown example:

Counterplan: We should do the aff's plan but ask NATO first.

I think these CPs are basically cheating and that they make for very bland and arbitrary debate. I'll still vote for them if the aff doesn't call you out on it, but if the aff makes even a simple theory arg, you better win that debate decisively or I'm dismissing the CP.

KAffs: I can follow most K affs, as long as you keep taking some time to walk me through your criticism. Make sure you have your in round solvency. if there's no policy action/plan text, I'm not evaluating any fiat. You need to explain to me why the ballot is key to the movement of the K aff and why ignoring the resolution is good (similar to how you win Ks). T/Framework on K affs are pretty convincing to me, so you may need to do more work as to why we need to dismiss the resolution. That being said, I have no problem voting for K affs, you just need to win your args. The biggest pitfall to watch out for here is articulating why you need the ballot. Otherwise, I will probably default voting neg on T for norms'/rules' sake even if I agree with everything you said.

Framework: Please do this. This is probably one of the easiest way a team can boost their stance in a round. Tell me what's more important in the round. This is especially important if there's competing impacts like structural violence vs. nuclear war. If you win this, I'm evaluating the round within your framework, so I'll ignore what you tell me to ignore.

Theory: I kinda like theory debates when done well. You need to explain why whatever the other team is doing is bad for debate (AKA, standards). You also need to tell me why I need to vote down the team for the violation, otherwise I'm defaulting to just rejecting their argument. Asking for me to reject the argument is a lot easier to win than asking me to reject the team, so make sure you know what you're doing if this is your final rebuttal strategy.

Speaker Points: I find assigning speaker points quite challenging. However, there are a list of things that I know I will dock points for. If you care about speaker points a lot, here's a non-exhaustive list of things I will definitely knock you down for:

• Discrimination
• Offensive Language (not swearing in general, but language that can be harmful to other people)
• Personal attacks on other team
• Confusing speeches (especially line by lines where you don't clearly connect your argument to the argument you are addressing. Please signpost)
• The "laugh" (laughing/chuckling/scoffing at the opponent's argument or question as a way to attack its legitimacy. You aren't actually proving that the question/argument is illegitimate, you are just coming off as mean)
• Not treating your opponents like equals/not respecting your opponents
• Interrupting Speeches
• Clear disorganization with partner
• (Repeatedly) claiming that arguments were dropped even though they weren't
• 2AR cheating (bringing up new or previously dropped arguments in the 2AR)

I will be deciding speaker points using criteria beyond the ones above, but the list above serves as a good list of things I really don't like in a round.

Remember to have fun! It can be easy to get lost in the competition, but remember that we're all here to have a good time. Debate is much better when you're having fun!

I work for MPS - Rufus King High School

I did 4 years of policy debates in high school, what is now called "traditional debate".

I've judged mostly novice debate for a few years.

Speaking

How fast can students speak during speeches? Medium Speed

If a student is speaking too fast or unclear, will you give any cues to them? Usually I will say slow/slow down or clear

List stylistic items you like debaters to do.

1. Debaters should start with a roadmap and include signposts during their speech.

2. Debaters should do a line by line refuting the opponents arguments

3. Debaters should include an impact calc in the final speeches

List stylistic items you do not like debaters to do.

1. I do not like rudeness

2. I do not like partners to talk to the speaker during their partners speech excessively

Arguments

List types of arguments you prefer to listen to/evaluate.

1. Disadvantages are important to the negative attack

2. I’m open to inherency and solvency attacks

3. I’m open to counter plans

List types of arguments that you prefer not to listen to.

1. I do not understand kritiks very well, it will probably be hard to get me to vote on this for you. I come from the more traditional debate mindset.

2. I rarely vote neg on topicality, it would need to be the full shell with voters that make sense. And the neg must give this sufficient time in the round but I will be swayed aff by them being reasonably topical.

Other Notes

I love clash, I love line by line. I really want debaters to take apart each other’s arguments. This is best accomplished by listening to each other.

I want the last speeches to include an impact analysis that shows why their position leads to be a better world.