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Spring Round Robin

2021 — Online, IA/US

Lincoln Douglas Paradigm List

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Curtis Kaiti Chang Scarsdale High School

Sebastian Cho The Memorial Novices

Kauai Cua West Des Moines Valley High School 8 rounds None

Sebastian Frazier Hire 8 rounds

Last changed on Fri October 13, 2023 at 12:00 PM EDT

Hi I'm Sebastian :D! I debated for NSU University school in LD and qualified to the TOC 3 times.

Email: sebastianfrazier26@gmail.com

*****Scroll down for PF @ Bronx****

General: Tech>Truth. I'll vote for anything given there's at least some sort of warrant for it. My familiarity is primarily with phil and theory debate but I also read tricks, Ks, and policy arguments throughout my career.

Defaults: These sections are incredibly silly but just in case they are needed they are as follows.

Truth testing if no other ROB is read

2NR theory is legit on new 1AR arguments but not on AC arguments

Competing interps, No RVIs, DTA, and a Norm Setting model on theory and T.

Specifics:

Theory: One of my favorite styles of debate. Good theory includes decent coverage and clash on paradigm issues when strategic (including solid RVI arguments) and effective weighing between shells.

Notes: 1) converse/inverse aren't counterinterps and neither is "ill defend the violation" 2) X side is harder arguments are not good arguments 3) "Frivolous theory" is not some objective concept that defines exact boundaries for what is acceptable and isn't. Ill evaluate any shell but things like shoes theory obviously require a lower threshold for responses 4) I prefer in-depth standard weighing to categorical arguments like "meta-theory first" or "aff theory first". You can read both but direct clash is much more interesting.

T: To be honest, T is just theory with semantics/precision. I like unique grammatical interps a lot as well as classic T shells like Nebel. In terms of framework I do think its preferable to read an aff with some relation to/defense of the topic but if you don't thats cool. One thing I'd love to see is actual clash between a CI on framework and the interp as opposed to solely going for impact turns.

Tricks: To be honest I'm not a huge fan of blipstorm tricks rounds. Of course I'll still vote on them but it is so easy to make tricks debates messy, generic and boring. I'd much prefer a really solid and in depth NIB that you're ready to defend than spamming out 50 arguments you don't think your opponent can get through. If you read unique tricks and/or tricky strategies I'll be happy. The only argument I especially despise in this category is eval after x speech arguments. I don't understand how they practically work and so going for them will require actual explanation of what that means for the round.

Phil: Probably my favorite style of debate because it becomes the most interesting. Effective weighing and cross-applications can turn good framework rounds into great ones and well warranted syllogisms are simply the best.

- Small little aside: act hedonistic utilitarianism is a criminally un-strategic framework. Please defend a more robust and modern conception of consequentialism. Please.

Policy: Personally, I did this style the least but I think good policy rounds can be super interesting. Smart CP vs. Plan debates are among my favorites and I think impact turn debates can be really fun. Err on over-explaining counter-plan theory that isn't condo or process arguments as I am not too familiar.

Ks: I really enjoy K debates and am somewhat familiar with them. I'm less familiar with K v K debates (unless one of them is cap) but am familiar with a lot of K literature. One note is it seems many K debaters have low standards for evidence and for the amount of warranting needed to explain why certain practices are bad. As a side not, I don't like arguments that place value/disvalue on debaters race/gender/ethnicity etc. but I suppose if its completely conceded I'd vote on it.

Evidence Ethics: I won't evaluate someone staking the round. If someone truly violated evidence ethics, you should have no problem beating them in a theory debate. I think staking is intervention so I will not vote for you if you do it, even if the violation is correct.

PF Paradigm:

Basically same as LD. Tech>>>Truth. Theory, Ks and whatever other 'tech' arguments you want to read are fine.

Arguments should have Premises, Justifications, and Implications (or claim, warrant, impact)

Speed is fine but I haven't been involved in debate since spring so if you aren't super clear slow down.

Please weigh weigh weigh, otherwise I will be sad (this is equally true in theory debates as it is in contention-level debates)

Lily Guizatoullina Hire 8 rounds

Prateek Gupta AHS Independent

Last changed on Fri January 5, 2024 at 10:20 AM EDT

General: Hi I'm Prateek! I debated LD at American Heritage Broward. I am pretty comfortable with most things so don't adapt, just do whatever you want as long as you are clear. I will try to intervene as little as possible so everything below is merely a slight preference. People who influenced how I see debate are Stephen Scopa and Spencer Orlowski. Be nice and if there are any accommodations I can make to help you let me know :) My email is:

prateekdebate@gmail.com

Cheat sheet:

1 - Ks/Topical K affs/Substantive Phil Affs or NCs

2 - Theory/Tricks/Non-T K affs

2/3 - LARP

3/4 - Traditional debate

Love K debates - I love hearing new lit so read whatever you want! Cool k strats are going for links as DA or floating PIKs

Non-T affs: Go for it! Be creative and engage as much as possible (whether you're reading it or debating against it)

Phil

Also love phil debates. Cool phil strats are skep triggers/contingent standards, hijacks, and NC AC

T/Theory

I think these are entertaining. I did more theory than T but both are fun to watch. I will default to competing interps, yes RVIs. If DTA/DTD or voters aren't read I'll prob just look to substance. Just go slower than you would reading the text of a card

LARP

I enjoy it but I just didn't do it a lot. Explain and you'll be good :) Cool LARP strats are impact turns, unique PICs, and case dumps.

Tricks

Go for it but slow down

Trad Debaters

I like trad debate as well, do what you do!

For Policy

Everything above applies EXCEPT theory stuff. I understand that policy paradigm issues are different so I will default competing interps, no RVIs, and drop the debater but impacting out fairness and education would be appreciated.

For PF

Defense isn't sticky - extend everything you want to be in final in summary

I think progressive arguments are cool but if you're not comfy with them you don't have to read them, I can evaluate substance too and if you have questions about anything else lmk before round. Same things for theory as policy

Sam Hadiono Byram Hills High School None

Sheryl Kaczmarek Lexington HS

Last changed on Tue January 2, 2024 at 12:31 PM EDT

Sheryl Kaczmarek Lexington High School -- SherylKaz@gmail.com

General Thoughts

I expect debaters to treat one another, their judges and any observers, with respect. If you plan to accuse your opponent(s) of being intellectually dishonest or of cheating, please be prepared to stake the round on that claim. Accusations of that sort are round ending claims for me, one way or the other. I believe debate is an oral and aural experience, which means that while I want to be included on the email chain, I will NOT be reading along with you, and I will not give you credit for arguments I cannot hear/understand, especially if you do not change your speaking after I shout clearer or louder, even in the virtual world. I take the flow very seriously and prior to the pandemic judged a lot, across the disciplines, but I still need ALL debaters to explain their arguments because I don't "know" the tiniest details for every topic in every event. I am pretty open-minded about arguments, but I will NOT vote for arguments that are racist, sexist or in any other way biased against a group based on gender identity, religion or any other characteristic. Additionally, I will NOT vote for suicide/self harm alternatives. None of those are things I can endorse as a long time high school teacher and decent human.

Policy Paradigm

The Resolution -- I would prefer that debaters actually address the resolution, but I do vote for non-resolutional, non-topical or critical affirmatives fairly often. That is because it is up to the debaters in the round to resolve the issue of whether the affirmative ought to be endorsing the resolution, or not, and I will vote based on which side makes the better arguments on that question, in the context of the rest of the round.

Framework -- I often find that these debates get messy fast. Debaters make too many arguments and fail to answer the arguments of the opposition directly. I would prefer more clash, and fewer arguments overall. While I don't think framework arguments are as interesting as some other arguments in debate, I will vote for the team that best promotes their vision of debate, or look at the rest of the arguments in the round through that lens.

Links -- I would really like to know what the affirmative has done to cause the impacts referenced in a Disad, and I think there has to be something the affirmative does (or thinks) which triggers a Kritik. I don't care how big the impact/implication is if the affirmative does not cause it in the first place.

Solvency -- I expect actual solvency advocates for both plans and counterplans. If you are going to have multi-plank plans or counterplans, make sure you have solvency advocates for those combinations of actions, and even if you are advocating a single action, I still expect some source that suggests this action as a solution for the problems you have identified with the Status Quo, or with the Affirmative.

Evidence -- I expect your evidence to be highlighted consistent with the intent of your authors, and I expect your tags to make claims that you will prove with the parts you read from your evidence. Highlighting random words which would be incoherent if read slowly annoys me and pretending your cards include warrants for the claims you make (when they do not) is more than annoying. If your tag says "causes extinction," the text of of the part of the card you read needs to say extinction will be the result. Misrepresenting your evidence is a huge issue for me. More often then not, when I read cards after a round, it is because I fear misrepresentation.

New Arguments/Very Complicated Arguments -- Please do not expect me to do any work for you on arguments I do not understand. I judge based on the flow and if I do not understand what I have written down, or cannot make enough sense of it to write it down, I will not be able to vote for it. If you don't have the time to explain a complicated argument to me, and to link it to the opposition, you might want to try a different strategy.

Old/Traditional Arguments -- I have been judging long enough that I have a full range of experiences with inherency, case specific disads, theoretical arguments against politics disads and many other arguments from policy debate's past, and I also understand the stock issues and traditional policy-making. If you really want to confuse your opponents, and amuse me, you'll kick it old school as opposed to going post-modern.

LD Paradigm

The Resolution -- The thing that originally attracted me to LD was that debaters actually addressed the whole resolution. These days, that happens far less often in LD than it used to. I like hearing the resolution debated, but I also vote for non-resolutional, non-topical or critical affirmatives fairly often in LD. That is because I believe it is up to the debaters in the round to resolve the issue of whether the affirmative ought to be endorsing the resolution, or not, and I will vote based on which side makes the better arguments on that question.

Framework -- I think LDers are better at framework debates than policy debaters, as a general rule, but I have noticed a trend to lazy framework debates in LD in recent years. How often should debaters recycle Winter and Leighton, for example, before looking for something new? If you want to stake the round on the framework you can, or you can allow it to be the lens through which I will look at the rest of the arguments.

Policy Arguments in LD -- I understand all of the policy arguments that have migrated to LD quite well, and I remember when many of them were first developed in Policy. The biggest mistake LDers make with policy arguments -- Counterplans, Perm Theory, Topicality, Disads, Solvency, etc. -- is making the assumption that your particular interpretation of any of those arguments is the same as mine. Don't do that! If you don't explain something, I have no choice but to default to my understanding of that thing. For example, if you say, "Perm do Both," with no other words, I will interpret that to mean, "let's see if it is possible to do the Aff Plan and the Neg Counterplan at the same time, and if it is, the Counterplan goes away." If you mean something different, you need to tell me. That is true for all judges, but especially true for someone with over 40 years of policy experience. I try to keep what I think out of the round, but absent your thoughts, I have no choice but to use my own.

Evidence -- I expect your evidence to be highlighted consistent with the intent of your authors, and I expect your tags to make claims that you will prove with the parts you read from your evidence. Highlighting random words which would be incoherent if read slowly annoys me and pretending your cards include warrants for the claims you make (when they do not) is more than annoying. If your tag says "causes extinction," the text of of the part if the card you read really needs to say extinction will be the result. Misrepresenting your evidence is a huge issue for me. More often then not, when I read cards in a round, it is because I fear misrepresentation.

New Arguments/Very Complicated Arguments -- Please do not expect me to do any work for you on arguments I do not understand. I judge based on the flow and if I do not understand what I have written down, or cannot understand enough to write it down, I won't vote for it. If you don't think you have the time to explain some complicated philosophical position to me, and to link it to the opposition, you should try a different strategy.

Traditional Arguments -- I would still be pleased to listen to cases with a Value Premise and a Criterion. I probably prefer traditional arguments to new arguments that are not explained.

Theory -- Theory arguments are not magical, and theory arguments which are not fully explained, as they are being presented, are unlikely to be persuasive, particularly if presented in a paragraph, or three word blips, since there is no way of knowing which ones I won't hear or write down, and no one can write down all of the arguments when each only merits a tiny handful of words. I also don't like theory arguments that are crafted for one particular debate, or theory arguments that lack even a tangential link to debate or the current topic. If it is not an argument that can be used in multiple debates (like topicality, conditionality, etc) then it probably ought not be run in front of me. New 1AR theory is risky, because the NR typically has more than enough time to answer it. I dislike disclosure theory arguments because I can't know what was done or said before a round, and because I don't think I ought to be voting on things that happened before the AC begins. All of that being said, I will vote on theory, even new 1AR theory, or disclosure theory, if a debater WINS that argument, but it does not make me smile.

PF Paradigm

The Resolution -- PFers should debate the resolution. It would be best if the Final Focus on each side attempted to guide me to either endorse or reject the resolution.

Framework -- Frameworks are OK in PF, although not required, but given the time limits, please keep your framework simple and focused, should you use one.

Policy or LD Behaviors/Arguments in PF -- I personally believe each form of debate ought to be its own thing. I DO NOT want you to talk quickly in PF, just because I also judge LD and Policy, and I really don't want to see theory arguments, plans, counterplans or kritiks in PF. I will definitely flow, and will judge the debate based on the flow, but I want PF to be PF. That being said, I will not automatically vote against a team that brings Policy/LD arguments/stylistic approaches into PF. It is still a debate and the opposition needs to answer the arguments that are presented in order to win my ballot, even if they are arguments I don't want to see in PF.

Paraphrasing -- I have a HUGE problem with inaccurate paraphrasing. I expect debaters to be able to IMMEDIATELY access the text of the cards they have paraphrased -- there should be NO NEED for an off time search for the article, or for the exact place in the article where an argument was made. Making a claim based on a 150 page article is NOT paraphrasing -- that is summarizing (and is not allowed). If you can't instantly point to the place your evidence came from, I am virtually certain NOT to consider that evidence in my decision.

Evidence -- If you are using evidence, I expect your evidence to be highlighted consistent with the intent of your authors, and I expect your tags to make claims that you will prove with the parts you read from your evidence. Pretending your cards include warrants (when they do not) is unacceptable. If your tag says "causes extinction," the text of of the part you card you read MUST say extinction will happen. Misrepresenting your evidence is a huge issue for me. More often then not, when I read cards in a round, it is because I fear misrepresentation.

Theory -- This has begun to be a thing in PF in some places, especially with respect to disclosure theory, and I am not a fan. As previously noted, I want PF to be PF. While I do think that PFers can be too secretive (Policy and LD both started that way), I don't think PFers ought to be expending their very limited time in rounds talking about whether they ought to have disclosed their case to their opponents before the round. Like everything else I would prefer were not true, I can see myself voting on theory in PF because I do vote based on the flow, but I'd prefer you debate the case in front of you, instead of inventing new arguments you don't really have time to discuss.

Pranav Kaginele Hire 8 rounds

Kyle Kopf Iowa City West

Last changed on Wed February 28, 2024 at 3:37 AM CDT

***I've only judged a couple of tournaments this year, so I won't be as used to some of your top speeds***

Kyle Kopf (He/Him/His)

West Des Moines Valley High School ‘18 || University of Iowa '22 || Iowa Law '26

I want to be on the email chain (but I do my best to not flow off of it): krkopf@gmail.com

Conflicts: Iowa City West High School, West Des Moines Valley High School

Bio: I coached Iowa City West LD for 5 years. I debated LD for Six Years. Received one bid my junior year and 3 my senior year.

I don't like long paradigms so I did my best to keep this as short as possible. My opinions on debate aren't what matters anymore. I try to be as tech as possible and not intervene.

OVERVIEW:

I won’t automatically ignore any style of argument (Phil, Theory, K, policy, T, etc), I will only drop you for offensive arguments within that style (for example, using a policy AC to say racism is good). That being said, I am more familiar with certain styles of arguments, but that does not mean I will hack for them. Shortcut for my familiarity with styles:

Phil – 1

Theory/T – 1

K - 1

Policy - 2

Tricks - 3

Online Debate:

-Please speak at like 70-80% of your top pace, I'll be much more likely to catch your arguments and therefore vote for you if you actually slow and don't rely on me shouting "slow" or "clear" a lot. Also, slow down extra on underviews, theory, and author names because I'm extra bad at flowing those.

-Please keep a local recording in case your speech cuts out to the point where I miss arguments. If you do not there is no way for me to recover what was missed.

-I find myself flowing off the doc more with online debate than I do normally

-If you think there are better norms for judging online I should consider, feel free to share before the round!

-I will always keep my camera on when debaters are speaking. Sometimes I turn my camera off during prep time. Feel free to ask me to turn my camera on if I forget.

SPEAKS:

Based on strategy, quality of discourse, fun, creativity etc. NOT based on speaking style. I will shout “clear” as needed without reducing speaks.

SPEED:

Don’t start speech at top speed, build up to it for like 10 seconds. Slow down significantly on author names and theory underviews.

IDENTITY AND SAFETY:

Firstly, I've stuttered for my entire life, including the 6 years I was in debate. Speech impediments will not impact speaks or my evaluation of the round whatsoever. I default shouting “clear” if needed (I always preferred being told to clear than losing because the judge didn’t understand me) so please tell me if you prefer otherwise.

Secondly, If there is anything else related to identity or anything else that might affect the round, please let me know if you feel comfortable doing so.

Ks:

This is what I primarily read in high school. I’m familiar with K strategy, K tricks (floating PICs need to be in some way hinted at in the 1N), etc.

Theory/T:

I read some theory although significantly less than Ks. Since I've started coaching I've become a lot more familiar with theory strategy. Assuming literally no argument is made either way, I default:

- No RVI

- Competing Interps

- Drop the debater on theory and T

- Text of interp

- Norms creation model

- “Converse of the interp/defending the violation” is sufficient

Phil:

I started reading phil in high school and I coach a lot of phil now. I'm comfortable in these debates.

Tricks:

I'll vote on just about anything with a claim warrant and impact.

Policy:

While I never debated policy arguments in high school, I've judged a lot of policy-style rounds and am much more comfortable with them now.

Postrounding:

I think post-rounding is a good norm for debate to encourage good judging, prevent hacking, etc. Always feel free to post-round me. I'll be VERY strict about starting the next flight/round, allowing debaters to be on time, etc but feel free to find me or email me later (email at top).

Misc:

*If you're kicking a CP or K, you need to explicitly say "kick the CP/K", not extending is not sufficient to kick

*All arguments must have some sort of warrant. The warrant doesn’t have to be good or true

*If an argument is new in the 2, I will disregard it even if it’s not pointed out. To clarify, you still should point it out in case I missed it.

Zoella Lin Lexington HS

Last changed on Wed January 3, 2024 at 1:50 PM EDT

Zoey Lin (she/her/hers)

Lexington '20 | Dartmouth '24

Please put me on and properly name the email chain! [lin.debate@gmail.com] [Tournament - Round X: Aff Team v Neg Team]

I'm colorblind, so please highlight in green (or give me time to change your color)

Also if y'all wanna bring me food, like... I won't say no. To be clear I'm not asking for food, I'm just saying it will make me happy <3

tl;dr

Be genuine, be nice, just do what you’re good at. I promise I'm very low maintenance, as long as you're nice, give me an outlet and a chair, and are a reasonable human being I will and flow what you say! Don't be rude pls

This picture encapsulates both my personality and my judging philosophy

Please be super clear. I can flow you, but I might not be able to flow you + mumble + echo + distance + zoom. If you're unclear and lose even though "but I said it in my speech", imma give you this look: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Policy (Updated 9.23.23)

Do what you're good at, don't adapt for me (yes I have biases, but if I'll be persuaded more by what you say than what I think).

Frame the round and tell a good story, unless told otherwise I am tech > truth, theory is a reason to reject the arg (but condo is a reason to reject the team), judges don't kick, and anything goes. Other than that, I am a sucker for specific strategies. Even if you don't go for them I will reward case specific research (aff recuts, counterplans that solve the internal link, specific pics against k affs, etc). Do your best with neg ground—even though you need a DA, that's not an excuse for awful ptx scenarios.

Other thoughts: I don't think enough 2a's are willing to go for theory and I'm happy to vote on 2+ condo bad!

What You're Here For (K Stuff)

Debate is definitely a game and clash is an intrinsic good for debate. I find myself particularly persuaded by switch-side debate arguments and well crafted TVAs. Despite that, I think debate could be much more than a game even though we're here "playing" it and the history of the args I read supports that idea. I'm most familiar with and went for identity critiques (anti-blackness and queer theory) and security (fem ir, racial ir, and traditional ir). I'm pretty decent for psychoanalysis and various anti-capitalist lit bases (marxism, left accelerationism, semio-capitalism). I'm average for other white pomo, and pretty bad for death good. That being said, I don't want to listen to nebulous appeals to buzzword impacts... K teams win when they are able to contextualize their k to their opponent's args, especially with links. You don't need a "good k" you need a well applied k.

LD (Updated 11.18.23)

I'm a policy debater who doesn't care what you read. The only thing you should consider is that although I will flow your argument and its warrants, I might not fully understand it to your liking (i.e. just because you said permissibility doesn't mean I'll fill in the warrant for you).

If you want to know specifics though, I'm definitely better for k/larp compared to phil, and definitely questionable for theory and tricks*. I don't care if you defend the topic, but have some sort of grounded criticism, please.

Long LD Specific Paradigm: I aspire to be Henry Curtis

*Caveat: Lexington Debater Brett Fortier told me "if you're willing to listen to tricks, you're a tricks judge." While that is me... I really do not want to listen to RVI's, trick's, nebel t, a prioris and just LISTS of paradoxes. Much thanks!

Misc Stuff

I flow on a computer and sometimes often away or stare blankly. Don't worry I can type without looking, this just means I'm thinking

I've realized that zoom debate has made it so that y'all prep so loudly. I don't super care but it's also just jarring that I can hear all of your conversations about the debate and especially your conversations about me...

Bottom Line

Debate is a great place to challenge yourself and have fun while doing it... the first thing that I want to see is that everyone is enjoying themselves and having a good time. Some debaters think that they're too good or cool to afford their opponents respect and decency in-round: if this is you, I will not be a good judge to have in the back of your round. We are all here to have fun and get better, so if you are jeopardizing that in any way, don't expect me to be as willing to vote for you.

I really care about the participation of queer debaters, especially gender minorities and poc. It's really difficult to find queer spaces in general, never mind in debate and worst of all in an online debate environment. I will be extremely sensitive to the way people who are not cis white men are treated in the debate space. If you are looking for additional resources, please check out https://www.windebate.org/ for the most passionate mentors and https://www.girlsdebate.org/ for funny memes, cool people, and amazing overall help.

If you have any questions, don't be afraid to shoot me an email or ask before the round starts. I'd be happy to clarify anything on this paradigm or offer you any other insight that I might have forgotten to include here.

Good luck!

Alyssa Makena West Des Moines Valley High School 8 rounds

Last changed on Thu January 18, 2024 at 2:05 PM CDT

I debated for Valley High School and I'm a first-year at Yale. I qualified to NSDA Nationals in Policy and the TOC in LD.

Email: alyssa.makena2@gmail.com

Pronouns: s/h/h

TLDR

Speed is okay. I'll say "clear" if necessary. Everything you run will probably be fine, as long as it's not discriminatory.

Give trigger warnings.

Don't misgender your opponent.

Preferences

K - 1

Performance - 1

Topicality - 1

Phil - 2

LARP - 3

Theory - 4

Tricks - 5

Defaults

RVIs over No RVIs

Tech > truth, but could be convinced otherwise in a performance debate.

TLDR

K's

I love topical and non-topical K's but specifically identity K's if you read a Cap K or a Security K in front of me I'll understand it so theres no big issue. I'm mostly familiar with Afro-Pess, Afro-Futurism, Black Fem, Killjoy, etc. I don't mind overviews but you need to LBL. I vote on the ROB and ALT analysis.

K-AFFS

Read them. I am a big fan of K-AFFs. You need to prove why I should prefer your model of debate over your opponents and warrant it. But I think there is a line in which it gets too regressive so just try to make it authentic and interesting.

Performances

I'm most familiar with this style of debate. I don't care how out there the performance is but please don't try to make the round into some joke. If you have a truth claim that your impacting as a round-winning argument please 2-3 point and warrant it.

Phil

I'm very familiar with this type of debate, I love NC/AC debates. I'll vote on pretty much anything. If your reading Phil please be strategic, I think it's a basic skill to ensure good clash in the round.

- I'm a big fan of hijacks, root cause, meta-ethical claims, etc

Truth Testing

- If you're going to read truth testing, read it. I think it's an underrated strat.

LARP

- I vote on the impact calc debate.

- Don't pref me high if you're gonna go for a heavy larp debate because i probably won't be the best judge.

THEORY/T

Topicality

I think T is both strategic and necessary at times which means I will vote for it but I still need the debaters to do the work even if the violation is true. I like it when debaters make a distinction between procedural and structural fairness. Set a model of the debate. Collapse. Try to engage with the AFF past Topicality.

Theory

- Competing Interps>Reasonability, but I can be swayed either way to be honest.

- RVIs>No RVIs

- I don't like friv theory but that doesn't mean i wont evaluate it, but tbh I probably will not be compelled to vote for it.

- Not a big fan of disclosure theory debates in general.

TRICKS

- Not a big fan so probably don't go for them in front of me.

Remi Moet-Buonaparte East Chapel Hill High School

Last changed on Sat October 2, 2021 at 6:48 AM EDT

Email: debate@inboxeen.com

**Be kind. Have fun. Don’t be afraid of me! I was once you and I know what it’s like! When I award speaks, they are heavily influenced by the level of kindness and congeniality shown in round. I am judging because I love the activity as much as you, and I want to help you do better if I can!**

School Affiliation(s)

Current Affiliation: East Chapel Hill HS

Current Role at Institution: I'm currently the Associate Director for Digital Communications at the Yale School of Management, but dedicate my off-time to S&D!

Previous Affiliation(s) and Role(s)

The Bronx High School of Science (Bronx, NY)

I coached primarily Public Forum Debate and Legislative Debate (Congressional Debate) at the Bronx High School of Science from roughly 2011-2015. I judged across all events – speech included. I began my coaching career at Bronx as an extemp coach.

River Valley High School (Mohave Valley, AZ)

I have judged and coached (primarily Public Forum) throughout the years since graduating from this school.

Debate Experience

River Valley High School (Mohave Valley, AZ)

I competed primarily in policy debate at River Valley High School in Mohave Valley, AZ. I also competed in other speech and debate events.

Columbia University in the City of New York (New York, NY)

I was a member of the Columbia Policy Debate team and competed for one year during my time in college.

Other

Tell me what to do – i.e. ‘tabula rasa’ insofar as one might even exist, and insofar as it might be helpful to roughly describe my ‘paradigm’.

Please ask specific questions at the beginning of the round for further clarification. E.g. my threshold for buying a reasonability standard has significantly heightened with age.

Run whatever you’d like – hypotesting, retro theory, nothing at all! I can handle it!

Most importantly, this is an educational activity and I believe in Debater/Debate -- i.e. you are more important than the round, so please speak up if you feel uncomfortable and tell me/your coach/tab immediately if something bothers you. I believe in the platinum rule - treat others as they'd like to be treated. Be kind to each other and have fun!

Abby Morris Lake Highland Prep Independent 8 rounds

Last changed on Thu September 16, 2021 at 12:04 PM EDT

Lake Highland Preparatory School '21

University of California, Berkeley '25

email: abbymorris@berkeley.edu

Hi everyone, I'm Abby. I debated at LHP for 6 years, earned 2 career bids, and broke even at TOC my senior year. I consistently broke at tournaments and amassed a lot of bid rounds throughout high school. I specialized in reading critical and high theory positions but read everything else from phil and theory to even LARP and tricks. Below is the ranking of my comfortability in debate topics:

1- Ks

1- T/Theory

2- Phil

3- LARP

4- Tricks

Overview:

I will evaluate all styles of debate and I want you to debate your specialty as opposed to catering to my preferences. However, I am not a fan of debaters whose strategy is limiting in-round clash (i.e completely mooting your opponent's ground or being sketchy with your positions), so if that's your game-plan I wouldn't pref me. I am 100% okay with reading theory solely for strategic purposes, but reading 3 1ar shells after a 1 off 1N isn't the way to go if you want good speaks.

Specifics:

Ks: specific links are good. overviews w evidence are good. reading 5 mins of pre-written extensions is bad. don't read afropess if you're not black. don't read set col as a settler if you don't know what you're talking about.

T/Theory: Nebel is fine but the more interesting the shell, the better the round. Friv theory is fine. Default voters: jurisdiction > fairness > education, drop the debater, competing interpretations, no rvis.

Phil: This is good if you know how to explain your theory, don't assume I know what it says.

LARP: Not the most interesting thing to me but completely fine to read. However, I'm gonna need more than a 10-second extension of the advantage in order to get what the aff does and how it does it. Also, don't assume you have an extinction impact.

Tricks: This is okay if you read it in a way that isn't annoying and incomprehensible. Issues arise when reading tricks if the argument can be extended to win you the round in a very short amount of time. I'm not a fan of "oopsie you missed this" arguments that end the debate fast. I will evaluate these arguments but will evaluate them with a lower threshold for sufficient responses. Basically, burdens = good, a prioris = not the best.

Performances/Non-T Affs: These are cool if you explain to me why and how I vote for you. T-Framework is legitimate but I don't have biases either way.

Disclosure: I think debaters should disclose. I'm fine with disclosure shells like must disclose, must disclose full text, or must disclose open source. I dislike shells like must disclose round reports or other additional disclosure requirements bc I think they are unnecessary. I'll evaluate it if you read it but I will give you low speaks if you go for it because there are just so many better strategies you could have implemented. And, this should go without saying but don't read disclosure against novices or under-funded/non-competitive schools.

Random:

Please read trigger warnings !! It is a good practice if you think you have content that could be jarring for someone.

Be nice to younger or less privileged debaters. If you don't I will tank your speaks and think you are mean. Use those rounds as a teaching opportunity, NOT as an experience that makes them scared of debate.

I won’t listen to arguments like “eval substance after the 1N” or “eval theory after the 1AR."

If you are racist, sexist, or homophobic, expect an L 0.

Good speaks = making me feel like you know what you're talking about, CX is a good place to do that.

If you have any specific questions please email me!

Breigh Plat Hire

Last changed on Thu March 3, 2022 at 12:52 PM CDT

Hi, I'm Breigh!

Legacy Christian '21; UT Austin '25

platbreigh@gmail.com

I qualified to the TOC twice with 6 bids. I mostly read postmodern Ks, theory, and topicality; but I'd strongly prefer if you debated your best layer, the way you'd like to (and will be disappointed if you read something just because you think I'll like it).

Prefs Shortcut

1 – pomo/high theory, theory, T

2 - id pol Ks, phil

3 – cp/da/pics, security/IR Ks

I think the most important part is the framing — ROB/J need to defend your theory with the same rigor as a dense phil framing.

I feel comfortable adjudicating: Baudrillard, Deleuze, Bataille, Glissant, Yancy, Weheliye, Hardt + Negri, Muñoz, and Ahmed. I have sufficient knowledge about: Foucault, set col, Virilio. I have the least knowledge about: ableism lit, security, anthro, and IR Ks.

K Affs (non T/performance) + T-FWK

Reading K Affs: These affs need an explanation of why the topic is bad, why debate is the space for the aff, and why I should vote aff. Make sure when answering framework to have both a counter interp and impact turns, not just the latter.

Answering K affs: T-FWK is fine but I find it kinda unimpressive. I’ll strongly reward a good case press!

Theory

I like it as a time suck, as an integral part of your strat — whatever you want it to be. I tend to think most shells aren't frivolous, so take that as you will. The only shells I don't like are those that comment on a debater personally (e.g. formal clothes).

I think disclosure debates are a little annoying but I'll vote on them.

I’m think most evidence ethics challenges should be debated out in round; however, if the accuser wants to stake the round on it, I’ll stop the round, read the ev, and decide w the correct debater getting a W30 and the opponent an L20.

Phil:

I’m most familiar w most conventional phil frameworks (Kant, Hegel, existentialism, Levinas etc.) and feel fine adjudicating more nuanced frameworks. Triggering skep is fine + so are calc indicts.

Tricks

I prefer theory tricks (winning one layer to affirm, one uncondo route, etc.) to substantive tricks (trivialism, condo logic, etc.), but I’ll vote on either.

I won't vote on arguments that don't warrant their conclusion (e.g. "the sky is blue so vote aff"). However, even if tricks are silly, that just means it is your job to call them out.

Policy Arguments

I know the least about policy arguments but responded to them more often than virtually any other style of debate. I'm not a fan of doc bots and strongly think smart analytics can often beat cards.

Other -

Robby Gillespie coached me so naturally, I did a lot of thinking about debate with him/he informed 90% of my debate opinions.

Content warnings are not only good, but necessary. I have a zero-tolerance policy on this — ask before round and/or choose your words carefully in round.

If you're debating someone significantly worse than you — you can read basically anything you want as long as [1] you go slowly and explain your positions clearly and kindly in cx [2] you make a genuine effort to make the round educational.

I'll boost your speaks +.3 if you send a nice/encouraging message to someone else in the community and lmk before round — debate is super toxic and we should do everything to make it a kinder space.

Likes!:

- Nebel!!!! good semantics 2ns!!!!

- theory underviews with creative 1ar implications

- making k fwks like analytic phil fwks

- judge instruction, especially in the following areas: fiat/circumvention, 2nr/2ar weighing

Dislikes:

- arguments that disparage the legitimacy of another style (“bad tricks,” “dumb policy args,” "Ks are cheating")

- conceding the aff

- "gut check"

- reading "let us weigh case" in the 1ar v a K when the 1NC didn't preclude you from weighing case

Alyssa Sawyer Hire 8 rounds

Last changed on Sat January 20, 2024 at 8:20 AM PDT

hi! i'm aly (second year out, qualified to toc x2 (semis senior year))

toplevel:

have fun and be kind

show up before the round start time, that is when the 1ac should begin. starting early, sitting down early if you've won, taking less prep, etc = speaks boost.

please be as clear as possible, signpost, and do complete warranting (a conceded tagline is not an argument); i have no problem not voting on arguments i didn’t understand or flow in the first speech they were introduced - this is especially true considering i am much less involved than i used to be

i primarily read and am better for policy debates about the topic

arguments start at zero and go up with warranting based on the claim, ie larger or unintuitive claims need stronger warrants (spark/ontology need more warranting than nuke war bad/contingency)

compiling a doc and flow clarification are prep or cx; there is no flow clarification time slot in debate

not a fan of scripted rebuttals, arguments recycled across topics, and strategies that rely on your opponent missing something

will not vote on:

arguments that deny the badness of racism/sexism/ableism/homophobia/death/etc, this is probably an auto loss with very low speaks depending on severity

independent voters that are not labeled as such in the speech they are introduced and do not have a reason why they are

less necessary specifics:

needs to prove the aff is bad; links don’t need to be to the plan, but should be to ideas that a good potion of the aff focuses or relies on

if i can’t coherently explain your theory of power back to you, you will not win

please answer the case/contextualize links… or i will probably vote on extinction ows

not a fan of ks that rely on blippy 2nr tricks to win (vtl/unwarranted root cause/etc)

dont like long overviews — preferably put stuff on the line by line and in the order of the 1ar

i will disregard a floating pik claim if it isn’t hinted at in the 1nc or cx

policy:

please weigh / ev comparison / argument resolution

spin is more important than the evidence but it’s not if your opponent points it out, so make sure you still have warrants

inserting rehighlighings is fine for defense (but you still need to explain it in the speech), you should read for offense

default judge kick

default policy presumption

theory:

good for topic related t args, not so great for spreading through plans bad blocks or any other similar silly generic

theoretical objections to process cps should be permutations, not theory

in the absence of any argumentation(these can all be changed w a sentence): ci on t, reasonability on theory, dtd on 1nc t and theory, dta on 1ar theory except condo, no rvis, t > 1nc theory > 1ar theory > everything else, fairness and edu are voters

k affs:

non t affs—never ran them, not great for you if you’re aff

please try to put stuff on the line by line as much as possible, or contextualize your top level arguments

don't feel comfortable adjudicating personal narratives/performances/survival strats/ad-homs

phil:

needs to be sufficiently explained (especially if not kant), but i'm a big fan of taking advantage of the fact that most util justifications are missing pieces and/or assume consequentialism

default epistemic confidence

lay/trad/novices:

go slow and be accessible

i will evaluate every round technically regardless of style, that being said lay debaters can beat circuit debaters through solid warranting and isolation of key args

ev ethics:

would prefer to see this read as a shell instead of you calling it - if you call it on something friv that doesn’t change the meaning of the evidence you're not getting great speaks. this is what constitutes a challenge:

—card starts or ends in the middle of a sentence or paragraph

—the original text of the cited work has been edited (not bracketed)

—card has been cut to make a claim that the actual article does not make (this should be really obvious if you are calling it)

clipping:

you need a recording and i’ll evaluate based on tournament or nsda standards

online:

record your speeches, i won't let you regive them if you cut out

other:

i coach for dd -- relevant policies here: https://www.debatedrills.com/club-team-policies/lincoln-douglas-team-policy

Caroline Shi Scarsdale High School

Last changed on Sun January 16, 2022 at 7:17 AM EDT

SHS' 22

email: caroline3shi@gmail.com

facebook: Caroline Shi

Hi! I'm Caroline, I debate for Scarsdale High School, primarily on the national circuit. If you have any questions before the round, email or message me on FB

for novice debate:

[1] WEIGH!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!

[2] If you wish to bring progressive debate into the round, please make sure your opponent is okay with it beforehand. That being said, don't just read progressive arguments for the ballot if you don't understand them. I will be very sad, and your speaks will reflect that

general:

I'm not the best at flowing, and this whole online thing makes it a bit harder, so please be clear and slow down on taglines/interps

Extensions need warrants, but if your opponent did not spend that much time on your argument/dropped it, you do not need to spend that much time extending it

Tech > truth, but there needs to be a warrant. Run what you want*; I will try to be as non-interventionist as possible/evaluate your arguments to the best of my ability, except for a few cases that I will list below:

- if something is marked as an independent voter, but not warranted as to why it is an independent voter/in general in the speech it is introduced, I probably will not evaluate it how you want me to (as in, I will not vote on it)

- I won't vote on personal attacks based on out of round incidents such as a person's clothing, appearance, mannerisms, etc., with the exception of disclosure w/ screenshots

- don't cheat/miscut evidence

if no arguments are made for or against these, here are my defaults (although I will be pretty sad if I have to use them):

- fairness and education are voters

- comparative worlds

- DTA, reasonability, no RVIs on theory

- DTD, competing interps, no RVIs on T

- presumption/permissibility negate

- 1ar theory legit

*i'm fine with most arguments, but I would highly recommend against reading tricks in front of me (strike or pref low), since I do not believe I am well-equipped to judge them. If you still decide to read tricks in front of me after reading this, don't be sketchy, go slow, and at least hint at its application in the first speech it's introduced in.

*LARP with caution: I'm probably fine to judge basic DA/CP/plan AFF strats, but I'm not familiar with advanced LARP jargon/super complicated LARP strats.

addendum: please adapt to novice/traditional debaters as best as you can. your speaks will thank you for this :)

note: if you felt uncomfortable in the round because of something I did/your opponent did, please contact me after the round

Zachary Siegel Scarsdale High School

Last changed on Tue April 16, 2024 at 4:03 PM EDT

TOC Conflicts 2024: Anika Ganesh, Yesh Rao, Tanya Wei, David Xu, Mason Cheng, Spencer Swickle, Derek Han, Riley Ro

New Updates:

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about studying computer science or philosophy in college or if you're interested in computer science research, especially in artificial intelligence or natural language processing!
Debate is an educational activity, and I feel completely comfortable ignoring arguments that add no value (or negative value) to the activity. Here is my brightline: if you would not feel comfortable extending an argument unless it were completely conceded, you should not read it.Arguments like evaluate the debate after X speech, Zeno's paradox, Meno's Paradox, etc. (at least the way they're read as one-liners) all fall into this category. You have been warned. On the other hand, I would certainly vote on other types of 'tricks' that are interesting and have good warrants (if your argument is carded from a philosophical journal, for instance, it is probably legitimate). If you can execute this kind of a strategy well, I will likely be impressed and reward your speaks.
I strongly prefer the type of rounds where debaters extemp smart, intuitive arguments, and make high-level strategy decisions about what to do. On the other hand, if your strategy relies on reading mainly off the doc without any original thinking, I am not the judge for you and your speaks will almost certainly be capped. Essentially, your speaks are a function of how strategic your decisions were and how much original thinking you put into the round.
Check out the Circuit Debater Library wiki for explanations on all of the most common LD arguments!

---

Hey, I'm Zach, and I debated for Scarsdale High School '21 in LD, where I broke at the TOC twice. I now coach LD at Scarsdale and attend Princeton '25, pursuing a major in computer science and minors in philosophy and mathematics.

Email: zachary@siegel.com

I have the most experience judging theory and philosophical framework debates. I have less experience judging policy and K debates, although I will do my best to evaluate all rounds in a non-interventionist manner. I feel fine judging clash debates (e.g. policy v K) but you DO NOT want me in the back of the room if the round comes down to a technical policy debate.

Some musings:

Arguments must have a claim, warrant, and impact. If I do not understand the warrant of an argument or do not believe it to justify the claim, I will not vote on it. I won't vote on extended arguments if I don't catch them in previous speeches.
I will attempt to default to the assumptions made by debaters in the round. However, if this seems unclear, on theory, I will default to fairness, education, competing interps, no RVIs, and drop the debater, and on substance, truth testing with presumption and permissibility negating.
I will not vote on out of round violations that, if contested, provide no clear way to resolve who is correct. That means I will not check the wiki or any other source external to the debate round, and in many cases, I will drop the violation in question if I feel there is no objective way to determine who is correct.
I will follow the NSDA guide when evaluating evidence ethics concerns. If you want to stake the round on an issue, you may, but know that A. I strongly prefer you debate the concern in round, and B. If you stake the round, win, but I feel the violation is frivolous (e.g. ellipses, brackets that don't change the meaning of the card, etc.), your speaks will be capped.
I will not vote on argument extensions that logically prevent the opponent from responding by being reliant upon the truth value of the original argument (e.g. extending no neg arguments by saying the neg's responses don't apply because they are neg arguments) because the original argument could only be true if the original argument could take out responses to itself, which is circular.
Try to have some fun! Debate can become monotonous, and I'm sure everyone would benefit from having a more entertaining round (including your speaks).

Sriya Subramanian Dulles HS

***Please slow down a bit, especially in later speeches***

Hi! I'm Sriya (she/her) and I did LD at Dulles. I mostly did lay debate and qualled to TFA state, but I did national circuit debate senior year and cleared at 1 tournament. I mostly read larp and theory, but I've responded to Ks, phil, tricks, etc. I'll try my best to evaluate to evaluate any type of argument, but I am not familiar with most literature bases and am not very good at flowing spreading. You can read the types of arguments I say I'm bad at evaluating (I won't dock your speaks), but I will most likely get lost. Please put me on the email chain: subramanian.sriya@gmail.com

Overall: You can spread as long as you send the doc, but you should somewhat slow down for analytics and things not in the doc and paint a very clear ballot story. Be nice if you are debating a novice, please tell me if you need to stop the round, explain your arguments very clearly and in simple terms, signpost, weigh asap, and collapse. I default yes 2nr/2ar weighing, presumption negates, permissibility affirms, and comparative worlds>truth testing. I will try to be tab, but I will only vote on arguments with a clear warrant. I won't vote on morally bad arguments or ad homs.

Quick Prefs:

Trad/lay- 1

Larp- 3/4

Theory- 2

K- 3/4

Phil-3/4

Tricks- 4

Larp- Assume I know nothing about the topic, explain any topic specific jargon, and do evidence comparison. I'm not good at judging politics DAs or complicated CPs and will likely get confused. I'm not very good at judging larp at a high level.

Phil- I am somewhat familiar with Kant, Prag, Hobbes, and GCB; Levinas and Wynter to a lesser extent. I am probably ok with a larp v phil round but not phil v phil. Explain your syllogism very clearly like you are talking to a 5 year old. Explain exactly where and very clearly why you are winning your framework. If you go for tjfs, that will be a lot easier for me to evaluate lol.

K- I have some very basic understanding of queerpess, disability pess, afropess, set col, and cap. If you read a K, please explain your theory of power very clearly like you're talking to a 5 year old and tell me exactly how to evaluate the rd/how the k interacts with your opponent's positions. I am probably ok with a larp v K round but not K v K. I most likely won't vote for implicit clash.

phil vs k- I will most likely be lost. Explain very clearly your ballot story, how your framework interacts with the K's theory of power and ROB, and exactly where I should vote.

K aff vs T-fw- I am ok at evaluating this. Weigh between the 2 layers and explain any arguments on why your K takes out theory clearly. I am fine with you going 1 off T-fw.

Performance- I have never read performance nor had it read against me, so I am not the best judge for this.

Theory- Read as many shells as you want, I'm fine with friv theory but I won't vote on outside of round violations other than disclosure. I am familiar with nebel (if you go for semantics explain it very clearly and in simple terms), t-fw, spec status, afc, disclosure (round reports, open source, highlighting all fine, provide screenshots) etc. I default dtd, competing interps, and no rvi. I am not that good at flowing so please slow down, signpost, and weigh.

Tricks- I will definitely miss stuff. Explain and paradoxes/presumption and permissibility triggers clearly. Don't read them vs a novice. I am not good at judging this type of debate.

Ev ethics- Please make this a theory argument or independent voter.

Speaks- I will try to average 28.5. I will boost your speaks if you make some creative/meme arguments and win on them, don't rely on a doc a lot, make me laugh, extemp some unique shell, collapse clearly and make the round easy to evaluate, and/or make good strategic decisions.

Feel free to ask me any questions after the round or about my paradigm, have fun!

Ben Waldman Hire 8 rounds

Last changed on Sun February 18, 2024 at 6:44 PM EDT

I coach on the DebateDrills Club Team - please click here to access incident reporting forms, roster, and info regarding MJP’s and conflicts.

I debated for Walt Whitman for 5 years. I accumulated 10 career bids in LD and 1 in PF and qualified to the TOC in '19, '20 and '21. I currently attend the University of Chicago. I am most familiar with framework and theory positions. My pronouns are he/him.

Send docs to: bmwaldman0918@gmail.com

Note for Harvard: I have not attempted to flow a real debate round in over a year. I still coach, so I shouldn't be totally lost when judging, but I would not pref myself very highly! If you do get me in the back, please do not go top speed, please enunciate, and please do not read one sentence analytic tricks that I will be unable to flow. Best of luck!

Unconditional Rules

Speech times are absolute. If you clip, you lose. I will evaluate every speech. Arguments need warrants and implications in the speech they're read, or I won't evaluate them. I won't evaluate out of round arguments except for disclosure. The more unintuitive your argument is, the higher bar for explanation it has. I will drop you for evidence ethics violations if the round is stopped or if I notice it on my own.

General preferences

I like strategies that contain fewer, well-developed positions. I dislike strategies that are designed to avoid clash, whether that is due to intentional obfuscation about the content of a position or due to spamming of many underdeveloped positions in the hope one is dropped. I tend to dislike theory and tricks debates but am willing to listen to them. I think 1NCs should rarely contain more than 3 off, and I think they should devote a substantial portion of the 1N to answering the case.

I do not judge or think about debate very much now. This means that you should slow down in hyper technical debates and do more impact calc and overview work. If you do not do these things, I will still try my best but the odds you will be frustrated with my decision increase substantially.

Philosophy

Framework positions should be comprehensible in the speech in which they're introduced. I think many frameworks are consequentialist (and thus turned by extinction impacts) or are absolute nonsense or both. I've probably read some of your literature but that doesn't make explanation less important. I think I am best at judging framework debates and also enjoy them most.

Tricks

I'm not good for any argument that you wouldn't feel comfortable going for if it was competently contested. I'm not great at flowing (especially now), and I don't flow off the doc. I'm happy to judge creative philosophical or logical positions as long as they're meant to be defended against meaningful contestation. I think triggering skep can be fun if done well. I have no problem refusing to vote on theory spikes/tricks because they lack a warrant and have done so on many occasions.

Theory

I'm good for reasonability (without a bright line), drop the argument, and the RVI (though probably not in conjunction). I'm bad for any theory argument concerning a debaters clothing or appearance. Paragraph theory is fine. I wish people would read less spec but I'm willing to vote on it. 1AR theory is usually strategic even if it makes me sad to judge.

I have noticed that I seem to be worse for frivolous theory positions than many people expect when they pref me. I have also noticed people seem to get the most annoyed with my decisions in theory debates.

Policy

I have no ideological bias against policy debates, but I didn't have them particularly frequently and I don't usually coach them. I'm pretty sympathetic to many policy pushes against other styles of debate. I won't judge kick unless I'm told to. I'm sympathetic to the aff in most CP competition debates. I like impact turns (including death good).

I'm good for Ks that are well-explained and implicated clearly. Good K debate is techy K debate. Being sketchy in the 1NC is bad and will make new 2NR spin less viable. I think T-Framework is probably true, but I won't hack for it. I'm bad for poorly developed independent voter arguments that become entire rebuttals.

Miscellaneous

I tend not to give very high speaker points.

I will pay up to 500 dogecoin for information leading to the arrest of Zara Chapple.

Jalyn Wu West Des Moines Valley High School

Last changed on Wed April 10, 2024 at 10:02 AM PDT

Hi I'm Jalyn (she/her/hers), I go to UCLA and debated for WDM Valley in LD for ~7 years. I now coach LD at Millburn HS.

pre-PF TOC: i have very few paradigmatic preferences in PF, other than evidence must be carded, have proper citations (MLA is fine), and accessible to your opponent/judge should they ask for it.you should expect that i'll judge PF like I'm an LD judge.

____________

I honestly think that my paradigmatic preferences have gotten less and less ideological. I'll vote for anything that constitutes an argument. yes you can read policy stuff, tricks, and kritiks in front of me. i like phil but i'd rather judge anything else over bad recycled kant. I've left my old paradigm (written as a FYO) below as reference, cuz i still have the same takes, but to a lesser extent.

i give high speaks when you make me enjoy the round and drop speaks by like 0.3 every 30 seconds of a bad (read: unstrategic and not thought through) 2nr/2ar.

If there's an email chain, put me on it: wjalynu@gmail.com. In constructives, I don't flow off the doc.

TLDR - LD

Please note first and foremost that I am not that great with postrounding. To clarify, please ask questions about my decision after the round--I want to incentivize good educational practices and defend my decision. However, I really do not respond well to aggression mentally, so please don't yell at me/please treat me and everyone else in the round with basic respect and we should be good!

quick prefs (but please read the rest of the TLDR at least)

1- phil

2- theory, id pol k/performance, stock k

3- pomo k, LARP

4- tricks

for traditional/novice/jv debate: I'm good with anything!

i honestly do not care what you read as long as the arguments are well justified. less well justified arguments have a lower threshold for response.

I am fine with speed. At online tournaments, please have local recordings of your speeches ready in case there's audio issues/someone disconnects. Depending on tournament rules, I probably can't let you regive your speech if it cuts out, so be prepared. I will say clear/slow.

I rate my flowing ability a 6/10 in that messy and monotonous debates are difficult for me to flow but as long as you're clear in signposting, numbering, and collapsing, we shouldn't have any problems.

I view evaluating rounds as evaluating the highest framing layer of the round as established by the debaters, then evaluating the application of offense to it. In messy debates, i write two RFDs (one for each side) and take the path of least intervention.

i assign speaks based on strategic vision and in round presence (were you an enjoyable person to watch debate?). However, if you make arguments that are blatantly problematic, L20.

Many judges say they don't tolerate racism/sexism/homophobia/ableism/etc, but know that I take the responsibility of creating a safe debate space seriously. If something within a round makes you feel unsafe, whether it be my behavior, your opponent's behavior, or the behavior of anyone else present in that round, email me or otherwise contact me. I'll do my best to work with you to address these problems together.

LONG VERSION - LD

Ev ethics

- If a debater stops the round and says "I will stake the round on this evidence ethics challenge" I will follow tournament/NSDA rules and evaluate accordingly (generally resulting in an auto win/loss situation). However, I usually prefer ev ethics challenges are debated out like a theory debate, and I will evaluate it like I evaluate any other shell.

- I really am not a fan of debates over marginal evidence ethics violations. like i really do not care if a single period is missing from a citation.

Disclosure

- I don't hold strong opinions on disclosure norms. Disclosure to some extent is probably good, but I don't really care whether it's open sourced with green highlighting or full text with citations after the card.

- reasonability probably makes sense on a lot of interps

- I strongly dislike being sketchy about disclosure on both sides. Reading disclosure against a less experienced debater without a wiki seems suss. Misdisclosing and lying about the aff is also suss.

- disclosure functions at the same layer as other shells until proven otherwise

Theory

- I strongly dislike defaulting. If no paradigm issues or voters are read by either debater in a theory debate, this means I will literally not vote on theory. I don't think this is an unfair threshold to meet, because for any argument to be considered valid, there needs to be a claim, warrant, and impact.

- You can read frivolous stuff in front of me and I will evaluate it as I would any other shell, but more frivolous shells have a lower threshold for response. For more elaboration, see my musings on the tech/truth distinction below.

- Paragraph theory is fine, just make sure that it's clearly labeled (i flow these on separate sheets)

- Combo shells need to have unique abuse stories to the interp. generally speaking, the more planks in a combo shell, the less persuasive the abuse story, and the more persuasive the counterinterp/ i meet.

- "converse of the interp" has never made much sense to me/seems like a cop out, if you say "converse of the interp" please clarify the specific stance that you're taking because otherwise it's difficult to hold you to the text of the CI

- overemphasize the text of the interp and names of standards so i don't miss anything

- you can make implicit weighing claims in the shell, but extend explicit weighing PLEASE

- RVIs make less sense on T than they do on other shells, so an uphill battle

- T and theory generally function on the same layer for me but I can be persuaded otherwise

- Good/unique TVAs are underutilized, so make them. best type of terminal defense on T IMO

- altho I read a ton of K affs my jr year, I fall in the middle of the K aff/TFW divide.

- if you're going to collapse on T, please actually collapse. don't reread the shell back at me for 2 minutes.

- see above for my takes on defaults

- I am more familiar with asian american, fem, and cap (dean, marx, berardi), but have a decent understanding of wilderson, wynter, tuck and yang, deleuze, anthro, mollow, edelman, i'm sure theres more im forgetting, but chances are I've heard of the author you're reading. I don't vote on arguments I couldn't explain back at the end of the round. if the 1ar/2nr doesn't start off with a coherent explanation of the theory of power, I can't promise you'll like my decision.

- buzzwords in excess are filler words. they're fine, but if you can't explain your theory of power without them, I'm a lot less convinced you actually know what the K says.

- some combination of topical and generic links is probably the best

- i find material examples of the alt/method more persuasive than buzzwordy mindsets. give instances of how your theory of power explains subjectivity/violence/etc in the real world.

- floating piks need to be at least hinted at in the 1n

- idc if the k aff is topical. if it isn't, i need a good reason why it's not/a reason why your advocacy is good.

- you should understand how your lit reads in the following broad categories: theory of the subject, theory of knowledge, theory of violence, ideal/nonideal theory, whether consequences matter, and be able to interact these ideas with your opponent

Phil

- the type of debate I grew up on. NC/AC debates are criminally underrated, call me old school

- I'm probably familiar with every common phil author on the circuit, but don't assume that makes me more amenable to voting on it. if anything i have a higher threshold for well explained phil

- i default epistemic confidence and truth testing (but again. hate defaulting. don't make me do it.)

- that being said, I think that winning framework is not solely sufficient to win you the round. You need to win some offense under that framework.

- i like smart arguments like hijacks, fallacies, metaethical args, permissibility/skep, etc.

- sometimes fw arguments devolve into "my fw is a prereq because life" and "my fw is a prereq because liberty" and those debates are really boring. please avoid circular and underwarranted debates and err on the side of implicating these arguments out further/doing weighing

Policy

- Rarely did LARP in LD, but I did do policy for like a year (in 8th/9th grade, and I was really bad, so take this with a grain of salt)

- All CPs are valid, but I think process/agent ones are probably more suss

- yes you need to win a util framework to get access to your impacts

- always make perms on CPs and please isolate net benefits

- ev>analytic

- please weigh strength of link/internal links

- TLDR I'm comfortable evaluating a LARP debate/I actually enjoy judging them, just please err on overexplaining more technical terms (like I didn't know what functional/textual competition was until halfway through my senior year)

Tricks

- well explained logical syllogisms (condo logic, trivialism, indexicals, etc) (emphasis on WELL EXPLAINED AND WARRANTED) > blippy hidden aprioris and irrelevant paradoxes

- i dont like sketchiness about tricks. if you have them, delineate them clearly, and be straightforward about it in CX/when asked.

- Most tricks require winning truth testing to win. Don't assume that because i default TT, that i'll auto vote for you on the resolved apriori--I'm not doing that level of work for you.

- warrants need to be coherently explained in the speech that the trick is read. If I don't understand an argument/its implication in the 1ac, then I view the argument (if extended) as new in the 1ar and require a strong development of its claim/warrant/impact

TLDR - CX

I have a basic understanding of policy, as I dabbled in it in high school. Err on the side of overexplanation of more technical terms, and don't assume I know the topic lit (bc I don't!)

Misc. thoughts (that probably won't directly affect how I evaluate a specific round, but just explains how I view debate as a whole)

- tech/truth distinction is arbitrary. I vote on the flow, but truer arguments have a lower threshold for being technically won (ex. the earth is round) and less true arguments have a higher threshold for being technically won (ex. the earth is flat)

- I think ROB/standard function on the same layer (and I also don't think theres a distinction between ROB and ROJ), and therefore, also think that the distinctions between K and phil NCs only differ in the alternative section and the type of philosophy that generally is associated with both

- I highly highly value adapting to less experienced debaters, and will boost your speaks generously if you do. This includes speaking clearly, reading positions and explaining them well, attempting to be educational, and being generally kind in the round. To clarify, I don't think that you have to completely change your strategy against a novice or lay debater, but just that if you were planning on reading 4 shells, read 2 and explain them well. It's infinitely more impressive to me to watch a debater be flex and still win the round than to make the round exclusionary for others.

- docbots are boring to me. I just don't like flowing monotonous spreading for 6 minutes of a 2n on Nebel, and it's not educational for anyone in the round to hear the same 2n every other round. lower speaks for docbots.

- I will not evaluate arguments that ask me to vote for/against someone because they are of a certain identity group or because of their out of round performances. I feel that oversteps the authority of a judge to make decisions ad hominem about students in the activity

- pet peeve when people group permissibility/presumption warrants together. THEY'RE TWO DIFFERENT CONCEPTS.

- i'm getting tired of ppl asking "what did you read" "what didn't you read" during cx/prep but ESPECIALLY after the speech before prep. like please just flow. it's kinda silly to just ask "what were your arguments on ___" for 2 min of prep cuz like just tell me you weren't flowing then!

- this list will keep expanding as I continue to muse on my debate takes

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