I am willing to hear all types of arguments and evaluate all equally. I have run both critical and policy affs and neg strats and am very open-minded about new types of arguments. I consider debate a competitive game and any rhetorical approach can be effective in gaining my ballot. I do not have a method for evaluating approaches other than rhetoric—dance, imagery, etc.—so please go easy on me when running them. I am perfectly willing to vote on them but as I have no formal education in aesthetics or choreography I may evaluate them incorrectly. Some of my thoughts on specific arguments are outlined below:

(1)    Kritiks – Ks need a clear link story and a clear impact story. Impact stories are strongest when there is relative comparison of the alleged impacts of the K and opposing team. It is also essential that teams running Ks can articulate why the link uniquely increases

(2)    Theory – I am willing to vote on demonstrated abuse. As I have no jurisdiction over the debate community, I will very rarely vote on potential abuse. I have a high standard for arguments against conditionality and multiple worlds.

(3)    Politics – What matters in politics arguments is a clearly articulated link. I rarely consider “my card is more recent” to be an effective argument—there are a bunch of awful news sources out there and unless the newer card is a specific retraction or rejection of the older card’s argument this gets you nowhere.

(4)    Counterplans – I love counterplan arguments but think that  counterplans without specific, carded solvency advocates are open to strong theory attacks. The more complex the better—just be able to explain solvency clearly.

(5)    Framework – Framework is about both epistemology and impacts. I am more interested in the former.

(6)    Speaker points – I appreciate clarity over speed. Good analytics will get you more points than bad cards.

(7) You – I evaluate arguments apart from the identity of the individuals who have made them. All people are equal in the debate round, and I consider them equally devoid of unique identity. If you argument is about your personal experiences and they are not generalizable to the rest of humanity, the fact that they happened to you and you alone will not gain you points in my book. However, arguments about the experiences of specific groups within humanity and the debate community are important (and it can be convincingly argued they are more important than debate) so I am more than willing to evaluate their impacts. Simply put, don't let your ego get in the way of your advocacy.

Joseph Autry

Affiliation: Liberty University

Debated from 2008-2011

Preferred Type of Debate: Clash of Civilizations

Just wanted to let you know this will my first tournament judging in 4 years. I judged and coached for from 2011 to 2015.

Kritiks:

I have always been a big fan of K's, and I have read most of the literature by the different authors. During my time as a debater, I ran racial criticisms, the Cap K, and Queer Theory. I prefer when the K team spends time addressing the other team's arguments. Too many K debates become really top-heavy and the bottom parts of the flow are missed. Like DA debates, impact and link analysis is key. I will mention that I don't like Baudrillard and Bataille K's, but I have been known to vote on them when the K team wins the flow.

Language Kritiks:

Personally, I don't like when sexist, racist, ableist, or homophobic language is used. I am prone to vote on criticisms of these types of language such as gendered language K. However, like most things my judge philosophy, I am flow centric with this argument, and I will not automatically vote for the K if it is run. The opposing team can still win the debate by winning the flow.

DA:

I love politics DA's, and I love to see a team that is willing to go all in on the politics debate. I have no problem with other DA's as well. Like the K debate, impact and link analysis is key, and impact analysis is the most important to me.

Framework/No Plan Affs:

I am not partial to voting on Framework, and I would prefer if a team uses a K against a K aff, but I was about 50/50 for voting for framework as opposed to the aff during the previous season. I ran affs without a plan text when I was a debater, and I have no issue if a team prefers to run an aff without a plan text. As far as framework, I fill that education is usually the best impact for the team running framework, and the team should make the debate about competing interpretations. I have listened to multiple performance debates, and I don't have an issue with the style. I prefer competing methodologies in debates with critical affs.

CP:

I tend to be aff-biased on CP's, but I will obviously vote for the neg if they win the flow. I don't like Word PICs. The team running the Word PIC can still defend it, but I usually see Word PICs as cheating.

Theory/T:

I have a high threshold for both T and theory, and the debate often becomes about competing interpretations for me. Because I'll vote on the flow, teams can win that they are topical on the flow even if they might not be topical or are questionably topical. Even with my high threshold for theory, I am more likely to vote for theory as the conditional worlds of the negative increase. When the negative teams starts running more than 2 conditional worlds, my threshold for theory starts to decline. I usually flow neg on performative contradictions except for Reps K's. If a team is running a criticism of the other team's representations, I don't think the team should be able to sever their representations in the other conditional world.

Updated 3-7-24

Congrats on attending Nationals. Being at a university with the resources to send you cross-country to represent them is an immense privilege Thank those responsble including partners, teammates, coaches, parents & especially your opponents. People matter. Celebrate, respect and appreciate them while you can.

(NEW) TLDR: K Affs, FW, DA/CP strats, K strats, Procedurals - Fine. You do you. Condo- Ok w Limits (read CP stuff below) Base points - 28.7 If you care about pts a) look at who got 29.4+ from me to see what I like. b) 2NRs that don't spend time on case do so at their own risk. When I'm online, a) get verbal/visual confirmation before you speak b) slow down 10%. Won't litigate past debates, social media beefs etc on my ballot. PRE-EMPT- Read no further at your own risk.

General Approach: Add me to the chain if you have my email already. Start the rd when your opponent has the doc up once you confirm all parties are ready. I don't follow along with your speech docs. Flowing on paper. Pen time good. Be organized, Be considerate. Be ready. Recuts of opponents' ev need to be read in round not just inserted into the doc to be assessed on my flow. Good debaters work extremely hard so I will make every effort to be very thoughtful and conscientious as your judge. Whatever decision allows me to inject myself the least into the interpretations of issues in the round is the one I will attempt to make. Compare positions, ev and tell a story in your last rebuttal that frames the round the way you wish me to decide it. I’ll vote where you tell me if it's coherent. If you have multiple stories, prioritize them. Don't rely on my post-round reconstruction. If you only spend 10 seconds on a key point in your last rebuttal, don't expect me to spend much more than that evaluating it. Most rounds come down to impact assessment and warrant comparisons. An author’s name is not an argument. Provide warrants for why your ev is better than theirs.

Tech vs. TruthTech over truth is an inflection point not a value system. My voting record reflects a tech leaning apparently but that's more reflective of how truth is framed in the 2AR vs. my role to protect the neg. My ballot really comes down to the skills and execution of the particular debaters.

The Aff: Do what you want in terms of policy, K or performance. Explain advantages to your model over theirs. Tell me how to evaluate your affirmation prior to the 2AR if you are performing. Make sure that the role of the ballot is articulated and extended and not a 2AR surprise. My evaluation will come down to offense on the FWK flow based on impacts identified by the debaters unless it's one of those rare rounds where the neg has a viable, specific strat.

The Neg: Well-developed, evidence-based strategies are awesome and will be rewarded. 90% of affs, both kritikal and policy have lit that goes the other way. Cut cards and forward options along with T/FW. If you want to defend your right to a Deterrence DA link or a certain interp, go for it. Presumption matters and is underutilized.

TOPICALITY/FWK: I’ll vote either way on T/FW if you win the relevant impacts to your model of debate e.g. EXTERNAL (why is it or is it not productive?) or INTERNAL (what does it communicate or provide you with in the debate space of importance?). You're more likely to have faith in the credibility of your definition and implicit approaches to the topic than I am so be prepared to defend them. Not a fan of: violations that morph in the block unprovoked, crummy counter-interps or generic TVAs that disregard this 1AC. T against policy affs is underutilized. Elevate your answers from the crap you read in HS. It's disingenuous for experienced debaters to say K-affs about AB, Set Col. or Trans Life were unpredictable or that FW is the ultimate form of violence in the world.

DISADS Fine obviously. Providing reasons why the DA turns case is always a good idea. CAVEAT - Including this since it's come up 2x this year. If there is an Existence question relating your DA or aff story (e.g. a rumored "secret" weapon system, Aliens are coming, etc), try or die only kicks in if you win the Existence question as a precursor.

CPs Smart CPs with solvency advocates improve your strat. If you regularly read CPs with conditional planks leading to 10 different versions or more than 3 conditional advocacies in a rd, I'm not the right judge for you. New or undisclosed 1ACs lend credence to more condo options. Feel free to take advantage of teams that read & react without studying your CP text carefully. Sympathetic to "1AR gets new answers" vs CPs with no 1NC solvency ev. or process CPs with no relqtion to how the US government works. I welcome solvency deficits if the AFF is correct on function indicts. I don't judge kick without specific instruction.

K: For teams that generate links from messed-up, in-round behaviors or focus on the debate space-all good. If teams defend external claims and impacts, winning anti-blackness is a superstructure or capitalist gov't solutions have failed on-balance is necessary but not sufficient. Quality examples are essential and readily available whether you're discussing micro-political movements, capitalism, racial injustice, colonialism, sabotage, disability and/or militarism. Your arsenal needs solid answers to scalability, empirical solvency, and why gov't action will not inevitably be needed. Include good reasons why the K turns case. 3 page long cards don't equal explanations.

Topic Specifics Spent 4 years working with Rev Vernon Nichols at the UU-UNO when he chaired the NGO Committee on Disarmament learning about prolif, movements and miscalc. As far as the 2023-24 topic, I read lots of topic lit from both traditional and nontraditional sources and have judged too much.

Pet Peeves that lower points: 1-STEALING PREP TIME -It's a nasty habit. You are taking time from my life that I will never get back. 2-POOR TECH PREP- I have sympathy for unexpected tech issues not poor preparation that delays the tournament. If you're debating online: a) Check your tech between rds for charge etc. b) Have a back-up (phone, tablet, etc.) in case of lmid-speech malfunctions c) Get verbal/visual confirmation everyone is back before starting speeches d) don't record people without permission e) slow down 10-20% because it's hard to hear/decipher stuff online 3--OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE in your speeches. Don't have a bright line but if you need to ask, you're probably excessive. 4--SLOPPY SOURCING. You say “Read the Jones 10 ev after the rd!” I read it and it sucks. In the post-round, it becomes “I meant to say Roberts, not Jones,” or “There were 3 pieces of Jones ev I meant the 1AR card.” That's a "you" problem. Effective communication good.

Updated 3/5/2021 - Email chain mbarlow15@gmail.com

**If for any reason you ever don't wanna debate and both teams agree, we can flip a coin to determine the winner. Losing side speaks will be 29.1 and 29. Winning side speaks will be 28.7 and 28.8

SHORT - I debated 4 years in college and was a NDT Octa-Finalist. I read afro-pessimism and framework arguments, so I am familiar with the mechanics of both worlds. Im willing to vote on a wide range of arguments. I'm very flow centric; Tech determines truth unless contested. In terms of worldview arguments, the aff doesn't necessarily need to defend the USFG (you can make the arg) but should at a minimum have some relationship to the resolution. That relationship should be made apparent (saying no to the resolution is a relationship). Conditionality is probably good, I will judge kick CPs unless told otherwise, 90% of the time framework debates on kritiks are wasteful. More specific rambles found below.

THERE ARE NO RULES IN DEBATE - There are formats are norms that we adhere to but can be challenged with logical arguments. I believe my job as a judge is to facilitate the exchange of ideas. Whether those ideas are connected to a policy option or a performance is entirely up to the debaters. Personally, my debate strategies have ranged from Wilderson to Consult CP/Politics to Zizek. I am more than willing to hear whatever it is you're comfortable with. See the issue specific stuff below.

Topicality--I think it should be a bigger deal on most topics. Too many neg teams are afraid to invest in it. A good T strat will make the violation apparent, along with the standards, AND a topical version of the aff. Anything less is probably not a winning strategy. I think competing interpretations is good, winning reasonability is possible but probably an uphill battle.

Framework--Pretty versed in the techniques and strategies. I'll flow it like a disad but truth claims matter. I do not think "education" and "fairness" are winning impacts. Decision making skills and strategy testing are internal links to explain impacts. I often feel that framework debates become very blippy and over-tech. Use your persuasive ability to develop these internal link chains in the same way you would a disad. Be clear, concise, and explain warrants. Neg without a topical version of the aff probably loses. The aff should have a counter-interpretation that has a role for the negative. If the aff has an argument for why the negative shouldn't contest the aff, that's probably another uphill battle, but should be explained thoroughly with impacts that OUTWEIGH the negative's.

Counterplans-- Admittingly I'm probably willing to entertain the more abusive CPs. This isn't to say that you can't win theory against a recommend CP, but I won't just assume you're right. You'll have to win the theory debate like a disad. As far as competition goes, I tend to lean more in favor of the aff when the way in which the CP generates a Net-Benefit is sketchy. I don't think that Politics is a clear net-benefit to an Executive Action CP. This is a debate to be had.

Kritiks--If there is a theory of power or root cause claim, you should make the framework in which I consider the plan versus the alternative AND its implications clear. In combination with this, you should make the alternative's interaction with the advantages clear i.e. does the alt solve the case or does the case just not matter? I think the aff has the same burden - Does the aff resolve the kritik or does it simply outweigh? Usually big K debates resolve around the clash of viewpoints so make your viewpoint clear in comparison to theirs.

Disads-- Nothing super in-depth here. If you're going for DA only in the 2NR, you need a turns case argument. I think far too often the 2AC is completely defensive against DAs. Highly advise embedded link turns in every disad 2ac (or impact turns for the brave and the bold).

Case Turns--Same as disads. Strong preference that we don't separate each turn on its own page, but ultimately I'll flow it however you'd like.

Updated 2/22/16

I debated for two years at Boston College in novice and JV, where I was a straight-up policy debater. I am now an intellectual property attorney.

Here are some quick philosophical bullet points:

• Speed is fine, but I've been out of debate for a couple of years, so please do your best to speak clearly. Debate is an exercise in communication, so please do your best to remember that.
• I'm not up to date on the latest kritikal theory, but if you can explain a clear, non-generic link scenario and have an alternative, that's fine by me. I vastly prefer topic specific kritiks to generic ones. Remember, I debated under the great John Katsulas, and while I don't necessarily automatically dismiss a kritik as a "non-unique disad," you may have a harder time convincing me that the alt and the plan/perm are competitive than you would another K-friendly judge.
• It's probably not the best idea to run a lot of conditional arguments in front of me. One (MAYBE two) is probably okay, but if you have multiple conditional, contradictory arguments, I can be convinced to vote you down. Affirmative teams should use some of their infinite prep time to craft a well-thought out Condo Bad argument.
• Topicality and conditionality are the only voters. Any other abuse is a reason to reject the argument, not the team.
• I default to USFG framework, I like affs to be topical, and I am not very sympathetic to Ks of topicality.
• Feel free to have fun. I'm not easily offended so feel free to poke fun at yourselves, me, and the other team in good fun. There is a fine line between having fun and being a jerk, so try not to cross it.

If you have any questions or want to know more, feel free to email me at matthew.bartholomae@gmail.com

Cole Bender

Debate Experience:

Assistant Debate Coach, Liberty University (2011-Present)

Years Judging: 2008-present

Former varsity debater at Liberty University

-----------------------

ADDITIONS FOR SPRING 2015 (This section supersedes any subsequent, older part of my philosophy.)

The cliff notes version is: I'd prefer you speak conversational speed, my default assumption is that you have to have a reasonable chance of solving in order to have "presumption" on your side (not just .1%), stop powertagging / overclaiming / making arguments that violate all rules of reasoning and logic, and follow the rules of the sanctioning bodies of the tournaments you attend (which includes but is not limited to having a topical plan at ADA tournaments and addressing the resolution at CEDA tournaments.

I have substantial modifications to my judging philosophy that will radically change how teams pref me. I have listed the changes below.

CHANGES:

1. I will continue to flow, but I would like to hear debates at a conversational pace. I still believe in the existence of common sense and that most people have a sense of how fast “conversation pace” is, but in case you need more specific guidelines, the average conversation speed of speakers using the English language is 150-200wpm. A person not trained in college debate should have no difficulty hearing and processing each individual word being said during your speech. If you’re going too fast, I’ll ask you to slow down. If both teams refuse and go fast, I’ll still prompt you to slow down, but I’ll flow the debate as normal. If the neg intends to go slow, they need to inform the aff before the 1ac begins. If the one team goes slow and the other team goes fast, I’ll default to the slower teams’ arguments and evaluate the debate largely in truth over tech terms. Speaking too fast will impact speaker points because speaker points indicate the level of clarity, persuasiveness, and effectiveness of your communication, but it is not an automatic reason for me to vote against you.

2. I see the role of the judge as being a critic of argument. My threshold for what constitutes “making an argument” was already fairly high relative to the average judge. In addition to this, I think it’s the burden of the team making the argument to produce an argument that is minimally coherent, demonstrates some level of rational consistency, and avoids obvious logical fallacies. The net effect of this is that the rational strength of the argument matters, even if the argument is dropped. Tech still matters, but my calculus for argument is shifting some toward the direction of truth. For example, your advantages in your policy affs are not deductive arguments that yield logical certainty. Doing your plan is not the one and only policy that can stop the 3-4 guaranteed extinctions that will happen in the status quo. Likewise, for non-policy arguments, ‘X’ philosophical system is not the root cause of all violence, nor is a given resistance strategy the one thing that will lead us to utopia. Evidence quality, reasonable extrapolations from evidence, and warrants matter much more in front of me. I’d vastly prefer if teams who intend to debate in front of me would re-structure their arguments to avoid overclaiming / powertagging / general disregard of rationality. I’d also appreciate if you read the qualifications of your authors. Teams that make reasonable, smart arguments will be rewarded with speaker points, and, if their tech is close to as good as their truth, they will be rewarded with ballots.

3. My default position is that I do not think 1% risk is high enough to keep / shift presumption in your favor. You can argue otherwise, but absent an argument in the debate, this is my position. For example, in a policy debate, the affirmative has an obligation to read a plan that has a reasonable chance of solving before they have proven the resolution true (my default assumption is that reasonable means 5-10%). Similarly, if the neg reads a CP, then the risk of the net benefit has to be reasonable (5-10%) in order for presumption to shift in favor of the CP instead of the plan. For non-policy debates, it’s increasingly unclear what presumption does mean or even what it should mean. I tend to be easily convinced that the affirmative ought to at least defend that that something material be done to change the status quo.

4. I will be following the rules of the sanctioning bodies of any tournament I attend, and I will expect those who debate in front of me to do the same. All the remaining tournaments I’m attending are either CEDA or ADA sanctioned tournaments. You can see a tournament’s sanctioning on Tabroom. The CEDA rules are available here (http://www.cedadebate.org/) if you log in, and the most recent copy of the ADA rules is located here (http://www.liberty.edu/academics/communications/debate/index.cfm?PID=22660). I encourage all participants to familiarize themselves with the rules of the various tournaments they agree to attend.

A short summary of how this impacts non-topical affs:

For CEDA tournaments: the CEDA documents only indicate that the debate should be about the resolution. The minimum affirmative burden is therefore to discuss the resolution in some capacity and to affirm something in relation to the resolution. Obviously I can be convinced through a process of debate that the affirmative ought to do much more than this (standard topicality and framework is still a viable strategy). But I cannot be convinced by arguments in the debate that the affirmative can do less than this.

For ADA tournaments: the ADA documents indicate among other things that the affirmative must present a topical plan of action and that topicality is a voting issue. (I’d encourage negative teams to look at the section on critiques as well.)

I will not intervene to make an arbitrary decision that the aff has not met these burdens. The responsibility is still on the negative team to present an argument for their interpretation of the resolution and how the affirmative has not sufficiently addressed the resolution (CEDA) or fallen within it (ADA).

To be very clear, you can and should have a debate about what these rules mean and what their proper interpretation is. But for the purposes of the ballot I won’t evaluate arguments that the rules should not be applied.

----------------------------------

Addition for Decrim and Subsequent Topics:

I do not wish to see or hear any sexually explicit speech acts or performances, nor do I wish to see debaters in any state of undress. To clarify, speech acts that discuss sex, sexuality, and corresponding topics are fine in front of me. Speech acts or performances that simulate or vividly describe sex acts are not fine in front of me. If that statement isn't clear, either ask, or, when in doubt, presume in favor of caution. If you choose to speak or perform in such a way in front of me, I will ask you to stop and adopt a differnet strategy. If you refuse to honor that request, I will excuse myself from the debate for at least the duration of that portion of your speech but possibly the debate as a whole. If I have to leave the debate, I will attempt to get the tabroom to replace me. If this is impossible and I am required to sign the ballot, then the situation will likely result in a ballot for the opposition. This is a personal conviction about the types of acts I want to be exposed to as a judge and as a member of this community, and I ask that you respect it. This is not intended as a statement about how debate should look in general.

As a judge, I will try to balance the importance of allowing debates that might make persons intellectually uncomfortable with also allowing debaters to protect themselves from emotionally damaging situations. I believe that in some circumstances the competitors have the right to let everyone know if they are uncomfortable and they may take appropriate action to avoid witnessing/hearing things they find to be emotionally damaging.

I’ve been at this for 18 years, but I’m old and don’t hear that well.  It’s clear that among the two functions I think a debate judge has, accurate adjudication and furthering education, the latter is my comparative advantage.  If you're looking for a judge who will "get it right" in a fast, technical round, I'm not your judge.  If you're willing to talk slower, and there for education as much as competition, I might be your judge. 

3 rants, and then some explanation:

Rant #1 is about “traditional” kritikal debate.  Whoever decided that spewing excerpts from philosophic tracts at 300+ words per minute (with the reader often not having read the original) was a good idea, was wrong.  I’ll give you a concrete example.  I’m old enough that I actually knew Michael Hardt in graduate school.  I had a hard time understanding him talking face-to-face.  When two teams spew and shout seemingly random excerpts from Hardt and Negri without any explanation until cross-ex and then expect the judge (at least me) to resolve their differences, this is not a good thing.  Explanation is key!

Rant #2 is about “traditional” policy debate.  Whoever decided that reading the tiniest word salad excerpts from 50 cards in a 1AC, often from random Internet sources, and usually from sources the reader hasn’t actually read in their entirety, was a good idea, was wrong as well.  You can go on the Internet and find a bunch of stuff I’ve said as “a political expert” (I do at least 50 such interviews each year).  I know how full of crap I am, so I’m likely to think your Internet “experts” are as well.

Rant #3 is about “performance" debate.  It’s shorter.  Clash and explanation, Clash and explanation!

To sum up, I will weigh what you say and do in a round much more heavily than what you read or play.  Explanation and clash are key.  As for what arguments you run, I don't care.

OTHER STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW:
A. Be nice to your partner, your opponents, and me.  Yelling at me is unfortunate, probably rude, and will result in me not liking you.  Mistreating opponents or partner is worse, and it will result in reduced speaker points.
B. It is vitally important that we remember that we are part of a larger debate community, as well as a larger academic community.  It is also important to remember that host schools make tremendous sacrifices to hold tournaments.  Tournament participants need to clean up after themselves, and they need to do things that will enhance the debate community's reputation in the larger academic community.  When you go to a campus for a tournament, PLEASE do your best to enhance the host program's reputation on its own campus.
C. I hope you have fun, learn a lot, meet interesting people, and make friends from other schools.

Email: berchnorto@msn.com

Lauren Cameron
Debated and Coached at Binghamton University

I'm fine with whatever you want you want to do in front of me. Make sure your impacts are well extended, clear, and comparative.

T-- For me to pull the trigger on T, impacts need to be very well explained. Contextualization to the round will definitely help. I default to competing interps.

CP-- Need clear competition explained on both sides, especially on the perm.

K-- Clear links and alt. Need the links to be specific to the aff-- will have a problem voting for a generic K with generic links. Also, I want impacts to be comparative here most of all. Impacts should be related to those that the aff is extending and vice versa. That being said-- I really do like the K.

Theory-- Not a huge fan of it. Will definitely pick you up on it though-- same basic standards to win it as T.

In debate round please be polite to one another and try to enjoy the debate round regardless of your record. If you are paperless please do not let exchange of files wirelessly be time consuming. If exchange of files takes longer then 2 minutes I will begin to take prep time.  Please do not steal prep time, and try to be polite during cross-examination.

T debate: I will vote on T as long as you explain T thoroughly. Please make sure to answer T on the line by line and make sure to explain how it impacts the debate round.

Disad Debate: I will ultimately decide the disad debate on the links and the impact cal. Please present the disad as a story and make sure to explain the link story. I would prefer the internal link story and it is necessary if the link is generic.  The next factor I consider in the disad debate is the impact cal, first please explain the impact in detail. Explain the probability, magnitude and time frame in detail. Please do not read multiple new cards in the negative blocks because I prefer the debaters to extrapolate the information from the cards, instead of reading 5 new link and or impact cards and expect me to vote on it. I prefer to have debate round between clash and comparison of cards between the teams.

Kritik: Do not assume that I will know the K, just because you know the K. Please explain the K in detail, especially the alternative and how it works.  Make sure to explain internal links to the impacts and explain the alternative in detail. In the perm debate explain the perm(s) and how they work. Make sure to explain each perm individually and do not expect me to understand the perm just by stating the perm text without explanation.

Counterplan: Make sure it has a net benefit or I will not vote for the CP. Explain how the CP is mutually exclusive. Make sure the CP does not link back to the negative’s disad or the kritik.  

Theory: I vote on theory as long as the team does enough work on the argument. I will judge the theory debate on the line by line and on the impact within the debate round. Reading theory in one speech is not enough to win you the round, please explain it during all the speeches and not simply in one single speech if you expect me to vote on theory.  

Overall all try to enjoy the debate round and try to have fun. Making me laugh during the round will earn you extra speaker points 

I debated for CUNY for three and 1/2 years so I ran a decent amount of arguments dealing with policy but not so much in the critical aspect of debate rounds. I vote on anything as long as it is given to me in the rebuttals clear, concise and logical. Even though I am not profound in certain kritiks, as long as they are explained to me then I will most likely vote for it, unless I disagree with the viewpoint of that kritik. My viewpoint deals with race arguments and how it prevents certain impacts such as genocide. I am really patient so I will not take time for jumping files but please make sure that it doesn't prolong the round for too long. Please be sure to accommodate for the other team if all your files are on the computer and you flow on it as well.

Hi, this is my fourth year debating for Army. I do not have any predispositions but I prefer depth over breadth. Make your arguments clear and strong and you should have no problem in front of me.

Theory/topicality: These debates are a little hard for me to judge if you are not incredibly clear. Blippy arguments won't really get you anywhere. Often times teams just read blocks without providing any clash, making it really hard to vote on these two things.

Ks: Are great as long as you can identify a clear link story. I don't think you always need to win the alternative but make sure the perm doesn't solve. I have run a lot of different Ks but am not as familiar with postmodern literature.

CPs: I think these are great. The more strategic, the better.

DAs: Not really too into DAs but I will vote for them. The story here is really important--make sure you really flesh out the cards and have some good impact analysis.

Framework: Either way, just make sure you articulate your interpretation and impact it out. Whoever does that better will come out ahead.

Be nice. There's nothing more frustrating than being in a debate round where people aren't treating one another with respect. Have fun!

I am a Ph.D. student in Political Science at West Virginia University. I have an MA in Foreign Languages and Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a specialization in the rhetoric of Ghanaian presidential debates. I have no prior policy debate experience. However, I have had one year policy debate judging experience and have had the opportunity to panel with some experienced judges where in all cases I voted the same as them. I think debate is a competitive game that needs decency, fairness and decorous disposition.

When it comes to rounds, my preference is civility of speech and validity of argument. Please note that I value clarity over speed. Therefore, kindly take your time to read your Plan text and make sure that transitions between arguments are punctuated with appropriate speech art mechanisms. I also prefer coherent argument supported by specific EVIDENCE on which I place utmost value. Consequently, if the evidence does not support your argument, then it is just your argument and that will not help you much. Stylistically, I expect debaters to give a clear road map before each speech.

Below are some few thoughts:

TOPICALITY: Topicality is a very subjective concept thought it is a voting issue. I therefore, expect that the AFF is able to produce appropriate evidence in support of the topicality of their plan at the 1AC. Topicality only becomes an issue if the NEG brings it up but the AFF either drops it or if the negative wins the exchanges based on their framework. Note that I will be inclined to vote NEG on the grounds of education, fairness and predictability should topicality becomes a critical issue in a debate round.  COUNTERPLANS:

I’ll like the NEG team to hammer home the solvency of the counterplan and show how it’s mutually exclusive as well as net beneficial. Please, should you run counterplan theory, your best bet is brevity and vigor. When it comes to permutation of the counterplan, the burden of prove lies with the NEG team to show why the AFF cannot do her advocacy and that of the counterplan should the AFF select to perm. Again, AFF is also to prove that the counterplan is not mutually exclusive for instance.

DISADVANTAGES:

I think that running DAs is fine and can cause great havoc to the opposing team so try as much as possible to connect them bringing out the links, internal links and impacts in a coherent manner. Again, the opposing team has the burden to respond to all DAs ran against them which I prefer line-by-line address.

CRITICISMS:

I think that should the NEG team select to run a K shell, the NEG team needs to offer a cogent explanation how its particular criticism implicates the affirmative’s impacts. This implies that the NEG team must be prepared to pick evidences from the AFF’s argument and show how these arguments are inconsistent. For instance, the NEG team needs to explain why the AFF plan is a bad one. In this case the NEG needs to point out some impacts of the plan and explain why the plan’s assumptions cause that impact.

FRAMEWORK:

For framework, I believe that you’ll like me to judge the debate that way therefore, if a team initiates framework debate the burden of prove lies with that team to show that their advocacy is the best. The opposing team is also required to respond to the framework argument or take up the challenge and show that their advocacy is better than their opponent’s.  

Welcome aboard and Good luck.

I will prefer judging novice rounds now

I debated high school policy for 4 years on the national circuit from 02-06.  I'm currently coaching with Rutger's university, 1st year.  

I'll vote on the issues the round revolves around. If you love the K or you're a performance team, do what you're good at and what you're comfortable with. This means establishing the role of the ballot is quite important, as is clarity and analysis.  I will vote on any well warranted argument, without preconception (to the best of my ability).   Again, this means clarity is paramount - if I do not understand you or do not hear an argument, it is likely I will not be able to vote on it.  

You should be aware that my background knowledge will vary depending on your type of argument selection, and your presentation should take this into account.  I'm most familiar with politics/current events and this is where my intellectual interests lie, my critical literature base is limited.  I enjoy critical debate however, just be aware part of focus should be on making sure I understand your criticism, not making the assumption that I have read your authors and know what you're talking about before the speech begins. 

Paperless Debate: I will stop prep when you tell me you are done and are jumping files.  I will not give you an inordinate amount of time to do this, it shouldn't take you more than 15 extra seconds to save the file to a flash drive.  

***EDITED FOR 2013-2014 DEBATE SEASON on Oct. 15, 2013 ***

I am two years out of college. I qualified to the NDT my senior year and broke to octa-finals at CEDA. I was a novice in college and debated my entire time there, about 5 1/2 years (do to externalities beyond my control).

Overall, I’m open to any kind of argument. I debated primarily the kritik as the neg and both traditional and critical affirmatives. You don’t need to be 'afraid' to run anything in front of me; I’ll listen. But I’ll likely listen to whatever the other team has to say too.

Topicality:

I approve of it. I prefer debate that is located around the resolution. Consequently, I enjoy people trying to creatively interpret the topic with their plans and advocacies. And likewise enjoy people calling others out on said creativity.

I am a competing interpretations kind of guy. I am most persuaded by competitive equity as a voter but can be persuaded otherwise. I won’t be very open to reverse voting issues and impacting T as genocidal. I won’t vote you down but unless you have a really good reason, I likely wont be persuaded by it.

Framework:

I don’t *like* these debates, but I think they can be necessary. I also think they can be strategic and I appreciate a team willing to take the plunge. I find them useful to at least force the aff to scope out the intent and breadth of their “advocacy”. Again, I abide by competing interpretations. I can be swayed by the critical reasons to prefer moving away from resolution focused debate, but some part should be responsive to competitive equity as a standard. 

CPs:

They are great! Please run them. I don’t think there is a specific type of CP you can or can’t run, just be prepared to defend your CP. I encourage creativity – this will obviously create some theory issues. Above all, don’t be afraid of argument here. I’m okay with the standard base of CP: PIC, states, XO, etc. I also love advantage CPs.

A word on Conditionality: I think having multiple conditional advocacy positions is good as long as its reasonable. I like neg flex and think it produces the best debates. But, hypo-testing is probably excessive, as are like 4 mutually exclusive Ks. Multiple worlds to a limit.

DA:
Link stories are good. And impact calculus is a premium here. Wish there was a better PTX scenario than debt ceiling but so be it. Again, would like creativity here. Ux can be interesting if there is analysis that contextualizes the minutia of cards rather than just a card dump.

Kritik:

I like this style of debate. I’m fairly well read in many schools of thought. I’m a fan of Zizek, obviously, Marx, Nietzsche, Foucault and feminism. But, please explain your position regardless with how well acquianted I may be. I think the alternative is the most important piece of this puzzle (though not 'necessary'). Please don’t ignore it. I want to know how the alt solves the harms in the link story. Next important is the link story. I’m interested not in the fact that the aff links but how severely they are culpable to the accusations presented by the links. Lastly, impact calculus, please!

Affirmatives:

I’m a fan of either policy or kritik debate. I’m  interested in how the plan functions and how it specifically resolves the primary issues debated in the round. I think inherency is a pretty powerful argument, albeit “defensive.” Don’t really understand “underviews” most of the time, I would prefer specific advantages that would address the predicted criticisms or a bevy of impacts to outweigh whatever K you face. I prefer implementation and will be much impressed with an implemented K aff.

I’m a fan of the permutation, if used well. I do, however, believe it is a test of competition and perceive it as an argument about opportunity costs relative to the functionality of the CP/alt. I think it is a great tool for contextualizing key issues in the debate and framing your overall narrative and reason for me to prefer you. I think the perm is especially key against the criticism because usually those alternatives just don’t make much sense. Lastly, I’d like to hear what your interpretation is for “all non-competitive parts of the alternative”, for example, means in the context of the debate at hand.

I will end my overall “philosophy” with a quick note: please have fun and please enjoy it. And above all, please be courteous. You don’t have to be a saint, but you also don’t have to push the line. Respect one another! 

Helllluuuuur,

How juuu doing? 

Well it seems like you or your coaches made the unfortunate mistake of pref'ing me.  Well, I guess now I should tell you not to worry and that I "vote on the flow."  However, that is often not the case.  I find determining who wins a debate round to be a very traumatic affair.  Most rounds take very little effort to decide who actually won “on the flow”, and more time to determining how that win outweighs all the losses “on the flow.”  For instance, a team that goes for T, while not extending any defense on value to life arguments, which are then extended in the 2ar make my life very difficult.  I think debates are about closing doors.  The last speeches should take a holistic view of the debate round and make comparative arguments taking into account all of the flows.  Additionally, arguments can be conditional, but words are not. Pejorative words (bitch/ni&&a/er) that became a point of friction (language k’s) in the debate round will probably lose a team a round.  Back to closing the door:

The negative should think about the 2nr like an all you can eat buffet, that only allows 1 plate.  That plate should satisfy you.  Either diversity that gratifies your pallets desire or indulge on that one thing you’ve been craving (stuffed mushrooms for me).  If you are going for T, make sure you sink teeth in.  If you are going for a CP, make sure you are weighing the net benefits against any conceded case, and make sure you are making comparative claims in terms of impacts.  Diversity brings conflict.  You do not want red velvet touching the steamed mushrooms.

The affirmative should think about the 2ar like a fast-food drive thru menu, with a lengthy line.  You’ve been thinking about what you want for over ten minutes and when you finally have the chance to order you want to make sure they get it right.  Indecision is not your friend.  You have to know what your strategy is and make sure that you deploy it effectively.  You would hate to order a Big Mac combo and find out they put Filet-O-Fish in your bag.

There is not an argument I have listened to in debate and counted it off, so please feel free to make the best arguments possible.  If you decide to go for racism good, please do, but please do so winningly.  I would hate to listen to a ineffective, thus boring, offensive debate.  I only say offensive because I am black.  If you need to go for framework, please do, but understand that links are much less significant than impacts.

I debated for three years in the NYUDL (2001-2004) and three years for CUNY (2009-2012).  I have been a huge fan of debate and believe the debate community is home to a unique group of the most intelligent and kind people in academia.  Please continue to the tradition and I look forward to hearing you debate.

Paperless Debaters Read Here:

I am a timer nazi, as a smoker, I feel that a timer should always be running.  Paperless debates work as follows: Your prep time ends when you begin to give the roadmap/speech.  I care not for anything that has to do with paperless debate.  Conversely, providing evidence is a required courtesy, while providing arguments/analytics is neither required nor a courtesy…However, debaters are nice people and are free to share with each other, but this has nothing to do with the timer.

Affiliation: University of Houston

I’ve been judging since 2011. As of January 2nd, 2022 I am the third most prolific college policy judge in the era of Tabroom. Ahead of me are Jackie Poapst and Armands Revelins, behind me are Kurt Fifelski and Becca Steiner. Take this how you will.

Yes, I want to be on the E-mail chain. Send docs to: robglassdebate [at] the google mail service . I don’t read the docs during the round except in unusual circumstances or when I think someone is clipping cards.

The short version of my philosophy, or “My Coach preffed this Rando, what do I need to know five minutes before the round starts?”:

1. Debate should be a welcoming and open space to all who would try to participate. If you are a debater with accessibility (or other) concerns please feel free to reach out to me ahead of the round and I will work with you to make the space as hospitable as possible.

2. Have a fundamental respect for the other team and the activity. Insulting either or both, or making a debater feel uncomfortable, is not acceptable.

3. Debate is for the debaters. My job, in total, is to watch what you do and act according to how y’all want me. So do you and I’ll follow along.

4. Respond to the other team. If you ignore the other team or try to set the bounds so that their thoughts and ideas can have no access to debate I will be very leery of endorsing you. Find an argument, be a better debater.

5. Offense over Defense. I tend to prefer substantive impacts. That said I will explicitly state here that I am more and more comfortable voting on terminal defense, especially complete solvency takeouts. If I am reasonably convinced your aff does nothing I'm not voting for it.

6. With full credit to Justin Green: When the debate is over I'm going to applaud. I love debate and I love debaters and I plan on enjoying the round.

Nukes thoughts:

The amount of time, reading, discussion, and even writing I have dedicated to American and International nuclear strategy is hard to overstate. Please treat this topic with respect.

The standard argumentative thoughts list:

Debate is for the debaters - Everything below is up for debate, and I will adapt to what the debaters want me to do in the round.

Aff relationship to the topic - I think affirmatives should have a positive relationship to the topic. The topic remains a center point of debate, and I am disinclined to think it should be completely disregarded.

"USFG" framework: Is an argument I will vote on, but I am not inclined to think it is a model that best suits all debates, and I think overly rigid visions of debate are both ahistorical and unstrategic. I tend to think these arguments are better deployed as methodological case turns. TVAs are very helpful.

Counter-plan theory: Condo is like alcohol, alright if used in moderation but excess necessitates appropriate timing. Consultation is usually suspect in my book, alternative international actors more so, alternative USFG actors much less so. Beyond that, flesh out your vision of debate. My only particularly strong feeling about this is judge kick, which is explained at the bottom of this paradigm.

Disads: I have historically been loathe to ascribe 0% risk of a link, and tended to fall very hard into the cult of offense. I am self-consciously trying to check back more against this inclination. Impact comparison is a must.

PTX DAs: For years I beat my chest about my disdain for them, but I have softened since. I still don't like them, and think intrinsicness theory and basic questions of inherency loom large over their legitimacy as argumentation, but I also recognize the role they play in debate rounds and will shelve my personal beliefs on them when making my decision. That said, I do not think "we lose politics DAs" is a compelling ground argument on framework or T.

Critiques: I find myself yearning for more methodological explanation of alternatives these days. In a related thought, I also think Neg teams have been too shy about kicking alts and going for the "link" and "impact" (if that DA based terminology ought be applied one-to-one to the K) as independent reasons to reject the Affirmative advocacy. One of the most common ways that other judges and I dissent in round is that I tend to give more credit to perm solvency in a messy perm debate.

Case debate: Please. They are some of my favorite debates to watch, and I particularly enjoy when two teams go really deep on a nerdish question of either policy analysis or critical theory. If you're going down a particularly deep esoteric rabbit hole it is useful to slow down and explain the nuance to me, especially when using chains of acronyms that I may or may not have been exposed to.

Policy T: I spend a fair chunk of my free time thinking about T and the limits of the topic. I used to be very concerned with notions of lost ground, my views now are almost the opposite. Statistical analysis of round results leads me to believe that good negative teams will usually find someway to win on substance, and I think overly dramatic concerns about lost ground somewhat fly in the face of the cut-throat ethos of Policy Debate re: research, namely that innovative teams should be competitively rewarded. While framework debates are very much about visions of the debate world if both teams accept that debate rounds should be mediated through a relationship to policy action the more important questions for me is how well does debate actually embody and then educate students (and judges) about the real world questions of policy. Put differently, my impulse is that Framework debates should be inward facing whereas T debates should be outward facing. All of that should be taken with the gigantic caveat that is "you do you," whatever my beliefs I will still evaluate warranted ground arguments and Affirmative teams cannot simply point at this paradigm to get out of answering them.

Judge Kick: Judge kick is an abomination and forces 2ARs to debate multiple worlds based on their interpretation of how the judge will understand the 2NR and then intervene in the debate. It produces a dearth of depth, and makes all of the '70s-'80s hand-wringing about Condo come true. My compromise with judge kick is this: If the 2NR advocates for judge kick the 2A at the start of 2AR prep is allowed to call for a flip. I will then flip a coin. If it comes up heads the advocacy is kicked, if it comes up tails it isn't. I will announce the result of the flip and then 2AR prep will commence. If the 2A does this I will not vote on any theoretical issues regarding judge kick. If the 2A does not call for a flip I will listen and evaluate theory arguments about judge kick as is appropriate.

Online Debate Thoughts:

1. Please slow down a little. I will have high quality headsets, but microphone compression, online compression, and then decompression on my end will almost certainly effect just how much I hear of your speeches. I do not open speech docs and will not flow off of them which means I need to be able to understand what you’re saying, so please slow down. Not much, ~80% of top speed will probably be enough. If a team tries to outspread a team that has slowed down per this paradigm I will penalize the team that tried for said advantage.

1A. If you're going too fast and/or I cannot understand you due to microphone quality I will shout 'clear'. If after multiple calls of clear you do nothing I will simply stop flowing. If you try to adapt I will do the best I can to work with you to make sure I get every argument you're trying to make.

2. I come from the era of debate when we debated paper but flowed on computers, which means when I’m judging I will have the majority of my screen dominated by an excel sheet. If you need me to see a performance please flag it for me and I’ll rearrange my screen to account for your performance.

3. This is an echo of point 1, but it's touchy and I think bears repeating. The series of audio compressions (and decompressions) that online debate imposes on us has the consequence of distorting the high and low ends of human speech. This means that clarity will be lost for people with particularly high and low pitches when they spread. There is, realistically speaking, no way around this until we're all back in rooms with each other. I will work as hard as I can to infer and fill in the gaps to make it so that loss is minimized as much as possible, but there is a limit to what I can do. If you think this could affect you please make sure you are slowing down like I asked in point 1 or try to adapt in another way.

4. E-mail chains, please. Not only does this mean we don't have to delay by futzing around with other forms of technology but it also gives us a way to contact participants if (when) connections splutter out.

5. The Fluffy Tax. If during prep or time between speeches a non-human animal should make an appearance on your webcam and I see it, time will stop, they will be introduced to the debaters and myself, and we shall marvel at their existence and cuteness together. In the world of online debate we must find and make the joy that we can. Number of times the fluffy tax has been imposed: 3.

6. Be kind. This year is unbelievably tiring, and it is so easy to both get frustrated with opponents and lose an empathetic connection towards our peers when our only point of contact is a Brady Bunch screen of faces. All I ask is that you make a conscious effort to be kind to others in the activity. We are part of an odd, cloistered, community and in it all we have is our shared love of the activity. Love is an active process, we must choose to make it happen. Try to make it happen a little when you are in front of me.

Samantha Godbey, PhD

Director of Debate

West Virginia University

Debaters please send speech docs here: wvucoaches@gmail.com I only check this email at debate tournaments.

If you would like to contact me, not during a debate tournament please email at SamanthaEGodbey@gmail.com.

A note about my education-I started as a novice in 2004 (fossil fuels)- debated through college mostly in CEDA Northeast. My PhD is in Political Science, in particular my dissertatation is on the American public policy process in the area of human trafficking policy. I also have comped in International Relations and Comparative Politics- I have never taken a communications class in my life. All of that means literally nothing except that there are pretty good odds I have not read whatever it is you are reading (policy or k lit). It is your job to explain it to me and pursuade me, not assume that I already know what you are talking about.

How I feel about arguments

I want you all to do whatever it is you do best/ enjoy the most. There is nothing I won’t listen to/ vote on. I really like offense. It is very persuasive to me. I feel as if that is what I look for when I am making my decision at the end of the round, I also like when debaters tell me how they won. I don't like having to look for those reasons/ decide which is most important myself.

Im not crazy about judge intervention, I do my best to come in to every round as tabula rasa as possible. It is your responsibility to persuade me in one way or another to get my ballot.

I believe that I am extremely flow centric (unless you tell me not to be), also seems like I should note that I flow what you say not what is in your speech doc. I wont have your speech doc open at any time unless I am reading cards at the end of the debate. So, if its said in the round, it'll be on my paper. The round is therefore decided by my flow (again, unless told otherwise).

I vote for who wins the debate, I find all types of arguments persuasive from critical to straight up policy. I don't care what you do, just do what you do best (and impact it).

I also think it is worth noting in framework debates that though I have, and I'm sure will in the future, vote on fairness being an impact to framework, I do not find it very persuasive. I am much more into topic education, roleplaying government good, TVAs, switch side education good, etc being a reason why debate should conform to certain guidelines (i.e. framework).

Updated 9/1/2014

Robbie Goodrich
Current: No Affiliation
Past: University of Vermont Assistant Coach, Rutgers, and WCSU
5th Year Coaching and Judging

I believe debate has a significant educational value that goes far beyond research and accumulation of knowledge. Therefore I consider debate a unique pedagogical experience and the participants should act accordingly. 

Paperless Debate: Novices catch a break. JV and Open, “all time” in between speeches that is not CX will be Prep.

Decision Calculus: “…each decision is different and requires an absolutely unique interpretation, which no existing, coded rule can or ought to guarantee completely…” Derrida 1990 

I will place a high value on your performance. Therefore your Ethical stance, use of Logic, and Pathos will be evaluated within the presented Framework(s) in-round.  In my opinion debates that examine the historical and socio-cultural significance of law are very important. Furthermore I understand debates that are technical and treat this communications activity as a game but these debates will be critiqued thru a lens that requires the debaters to be epistemologically responsible for their choice of rhetoric deployed; both “pre” and “post” fiat.  Finally I place a significant value on growing a productive reflexivity within debate and enjoy debates about debate.

Speaker Points: I will “not” use a tournament rubric.  Historically I am stingy. If you don’t trust me don’t “pref” me. Cross Apply Derrida 1990.

Cecilia Hagen

What is important to me:

Clarity is important to me. If I cannot understand you I won't be able to flow you. Be knowledgeable about your arguments and be ready to defend your links and impacts.

Novices* Flow the debate so you don't drop important arguments or miss key details.

J.V. and Varsity* Please explain things for me, I am not always up to date on the topic and it is better to cover all your bases and have a nice clean and clear debate.

For Performance, critical teams and any others* In general I have voted for many arguments. The most important aspect of the debate for me are clarity- being clear and concise, also taking the time to explain arguments for me.

Feel free to ask me specifics before your round if you have any more questions.

Benjamin Hagwood, Director at Vancouver Debate Academy

About me - former college policy debater, flow-centric, like all arguments but the politics DA (Elections gets a pass)

Debate is a game that can be played in a multitude of ways. It is the responsibility of the students to determine the parameters of the games and to call "foul" if they think someone has done something abusive. I will judge the round as it happens. Here are a few things about me that you might find useful when preparing for a round:

1. Flowing - I do my best to have as accurate a flow as possible while trying to capture but the context and citation of your arguments. Dropping arguments could be detrimental if your opponents extend and weight those arguments properly.
2. Observer not a Participant - I won't do work for you or insert myself into your debate. You will win OR lose based on the arguments in the round not my person opinion.
3. Style over Speed - swag is subjective - bring yours.
4. Petty but not Disrespectful - don't be unnecessarily rude to your opponent - but I must admit being petty is strategic.
5. Challenges - if you challenge someone and lose the challenge you lose the debate (this could also apply on theory debates depending on the debate - but not RVI's)

Universal Speaker Point Adjustments: all students are evaluated on their level. A 29 in novice is not the same as a 29 in open. 28 is my base for completing all your speeches and using all your speech time.

1. Wear a bowtie (+.5 point)
2. Be entertaining (tell jokes...if I laugh...you get points...if I don't you won't be punished) (+.5 point)
3. Be rude (-.5 point)
4. Don't use all your time (-.5 point)
5. Steal prep (-.5 point)

If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me and ask. Students may request my flow and written feedback at the end of the debate if they want. I will only share it with the students in the round unless they consent to the flow being shared with other opponents.

Heather Holter Hall

Hallheather8@gmail.com

Salem and Tallwood High School Debater 1990-93

Liberty University Debater 1993-96

Liberty University Assistant Debate Coach 20+ years

I love this activity and I look forward to meeting you.

For novices:

Congratulations on being at a debate tournament! I like debates with a few pieces of quality research that you can explain well plus some smart logical arguments. You should focus on good explanation of arguments and on getting better at flowing.  Putting lots of extra pieces of research that you have never read before into your speech is a waste of your time. I would much rather hear you explain research that you understand, compare that research to your opponent’s research and arguments, and tell me why the plan is either a good or bad idea.  The most important comparison in the debate you can make is to tell me whose impacts are bigger, come first, or are more likely. 

I will flow what is spoken in the debate, not the speech document. You should highlight and read complete sentences. I do not count sentence fragments as arguments.

If it is an online debate, please make sure you SEE or HEAR me on the camera before you begin your speech. Please say out loud when you are done with prep time and post how much you have left in the chat. When you say prep time is done, you should be ready to email the speech document immediately. 

For everyone else:

I have spent the majority of the last 20 years coaching novice debate.  I also judge a lot of novice and jv debates. This means that I am not deep into the lit base for most arguments. My days are full of explaining and re-explaining basic debate theory. You should view me as someone who loves learning something new and the debate as your opportunity to teach me. If you want me to assess arguments based upon previous in-depth knowledge of a particular lit base, you will probably be very disappointed. I love the strategic use of each student’s scholarship but get me on the same page first.

Likewise, the theory debates I am used to judging are pretty basic. I would love to hear a well-developed theory debate at a high level, but you will need to slow down, give full warrants, and not assume that “lit checks” means the same to me as it does to you.

About preferred types of arguments—smart strategy with good support that is clearly communicated usually wins. I prefer consistent, thoughtful strategies with a few well developed arguments, but, sadly, I have voted for negatives who won simply by overwhelming the 2AC with skimpy highlighting of 7 off case positions.

I have voted for everything, but I do not judge alternate formats of debates often so you will probably want to slow down, make well developed arguments, and assume I do not know. As long as I am judging and there is a win to assign, my main assumption is that every team is playing the game, maybe in different ways, but still just playing the game. I can only make decisions based on words or actions in a particular debate. I will not begin to speculate about another person’s motive or intentions--that is a job for someone else.

I will flow what is spoken in the debate, including cx.  I will reference the speech doc, BUT if I can’t understand your words or if the words you say do not make grammatically complete sentences, they won’t make it on my flow and only my flow counts. Likewise, if you are hedging the debate on a warrant buried three sentences deep in the fourth card by Smith, you will need to say more than “extend Smith here.”  The more concrete and specific your warrants are, the more likely you are to persuade me.

If it is an online debate, you need to SEE or HEAR me on the camera before you begin your speech.  Yes, this has happened more than once lol.  Don’t steal prep—it is obvious and annoying.

Feel free to strike me. I am not offended at all if you think I am not a good judge for you. Hopefully, I still get a chance to meet you at a tournament and chat.

Finally, I hope you all have a great tournament, learn new things, think deeply, speak well, meet fascinating people, and win lots of debates (unless you are debating my teams)! Have fun and please say hi in between debates!

I prefer to see plans that actually affirm the resolution. Other than that, I will vote on anything as long as the winning team has taken to time to address why their issue is salient, and flush out the impacts both in debate and otherwise.

While I have mostly debated policy, I enjoy running Ks as well and will vote on them just as easily as voting on a disad or cp; however, if its obvious you don't understand your K I probably won't give it much weight.

Mainly, I want you to tell me how to vote and why. I do not like to do work for any team, so I will rarely ask for cards. It's your job to tell me what your evidence says and the other team's job to explain why it is BS if it does not say what you assert.

Sign post. It annoys me to realize halfway through flowing a card that you're on a different sheet of paper.

Debate rounds are long, so I like them to be entertaining. I thoroughly enjoy a pointed/intense cross-x.

I'll almost always believe that conditionality is good for debate BUT I am not a fan of multiple worlds. I will vote on theory, but you must spend as much time and effort developing the argument as you would any other argument.

Prep ends when the flash drive has left your computer.

Updated for Gotham Debates 2024:

Email: Brad.Hodgkins@gmail.com

Please feel free to ask any specific questions prior to the round. I have judged a considerable amount of high school rounds this year, so I'm less familiar with topic specific lit than if I were judging more on the college topic, but I am am active duty Army officer specializing in missile defense, so the topic area is certainly in my wheelhouse. I love good K debates, too. I will vote on anything with a well articulated ballot story and clearly extended warrants, so I would encourage you to debate the style you are most comfortable with.

I'm leaving my generic high school LD paradigm below for reference and so i don't have to rewrite it later. But please, don't hesitate to reach out via email or in person before or after the round!!

Good luck!

Hey everyone!

My name is Brad Hodgkins and I debated for 8 years. I did 4 years LD in California and 4 years of open college policy. I competed at CEDA in open policy all four years. I was deeply interested in theory as a debater, but that does not mean that I am keen to voting on blippy unwarranted theory arguments. I do, however, enjoy well warranted and nuanced theoretical discussions about the debate space.

I have experience running all types of arguments, but please don't expect me to be able to parse 'warrants' in your Baudrillard evidence if you can't explain it . Do not be afraid to engage in the type of debate that you are most comfortable in, I think diversified styles make the activity a lot more valuable and make the judging experience a lot more exciting.

Please feel free to ask any questions, but there is no type of argument and/or style that I would discourage you from running in front of me.

Colby Horowitz

4 Year Debater at West Point/USMA

I am open to almost all types of arguments. I have experience as a debater running both traditional policy-type arguments (disads, counterplans, etc.) and both kritiks and critical affirmatives. How well you debate is much more important to me than the types of arguments you run. I also enjoy a good topicality debate with competing interpretations and the impacts of each interpretation. I am open to theory arguments, and I find them more persuasive when you can show how a certain strategy is unfair in this particular round. I am also open to performance, though I would prefer that your performance be in some way connected to the resolution, and I would expect you to succesfully defend against any kind of framework/topicality argument (although you can argue that topicality is bad if you choose). I dislike teams that ignore the other side's arguments and avoid any type of clash. Regardless of the arguments you run, I expect you to engage your opponent's arguments, and in the end convince me that what you are advocating is beneficial, either because of traditional impact analysis or because of theoretical/ethical concerns.

My primary emphasis is on clearly articulated arguments. I'm willing to vote as I'm told to vote in-round,  but you have to tell me how and why. Explain your arguments from beginning to end. Debate is about dialogue and engagement, don't just pontificate. Argue. Make my job as the judge easy and we'll both be happier.

-CX: I like it. Don't be a jerk, but feel free to engage in debate during CX. I might not be flowing CX, but I will be listening and I will pay attention to answers and responses and evaluate them in my final decision (so long as I'm told to).

-FW/Theory: Give me a clear framework for making my decision. Explain to me what I should value and how I should weigh and then lay out how that framework applies. When in conflict, justify your FW. As for topicality, I've got mixed feelings on it, so I'm very open and receptive to arguments either way as long as they're clearly warranted.

-ADV/DA: I'm very receptive to arguments that call out hyperbole. I really dislike arguments that say everything leads to nuclear war and if it's a .000000001% chance that's still reason to avoid it. So if you're opponent is saying those things, please make arguments pointing out why that's flawed. I like arguments that recognize that actions can be bad without leading to nuclear war. I'm more receptive to arguments that say a decline in the economy creates increased poverty, hunger, etc. than I am to arguments that say a .01% decline in GDP is going to cause the US to nuke random cities.

-K: I've debated the K and have a rough understanding of the way the debate community uses certain authors. I have some academic experience with some authors (esp. in Postcolonial/Colonial Studies and International Relations). That said, when you run the K, assume I don't. Don't try to obfuscate your argument to deceive your opponent, because chances are you'll just be hiding it from me too. Be clear and forward.

-Cards: Read the cards for me. Know your cards and, as much as possible pay attention to your opponents cards. I will call if necessary, but only over particularly disputed topics. I don't want to intervene, so I'd much rather you do the work in round and tell me why a particular card does or doesn't say what the tag says.

-Theory: My threshold for voting on theory is relatively high and if you want me to do more than reject the argument, you need to clearly and forcefully explain why that action is justified. In particular, I expect illustration of the abuse, especially

-Experience: Currently participating in my 4th year as a policy Debater for Army. Previously participated in various forms of High School Speech and Debate (Primarily PF, LD and Extemp)

Feel free to ask me questions before/after the round. That said, once I've made a decision and am giving my RFI, you can ask clarification, but don't try to change my decision. I can't and I won't. Besides, as the judge it's your job to convince me in the round. As such, if I don't vote for you, you didn't convince me. I'm the only one who can decide if I was convinced, so as such, my decisions is always right. Sorry. Beyond that, I do debate because I like the activity and believe that it's valuable.

Above all, be respectful in and out of rounds to your opponents, your judges, your partner. To everyone. It'll go a long way.

Updated March 2019

New School Debater 2007-2010 / New School Coach 2010-2014 / WVU Coach 2014-2019

Please feel free to do what you are most comfortable with. I have a reputation for being very critically oriented, but I feel as if I vote for policy arguments more and more. I am still pretty far left of center, but not as far left as I was when I first started. I will not, however vote for arguments that I find morally repugnant. If you don't know what those things might be, then "better safe than sorry" might be a good strat.

Some general comments that will help you understand how I feel about certain parts of the debate. I think that a compelling, developed argument without cards will often beat a highly carded, poorly explained argument in almost every case. If you can make smart arguments and analytics, then I am probably going to be persuaded by you. I don't think that every arguments needs to have a card to be true, and I don't think an unwarranted card makes a bad argument true.

A few technical things: I vote more and more on my flow than on my overall perception of a debate. If I don't know what you're saying, then you should probably be clearer or slow down. I don't want to read a lot of cards after the round, but I will read important ones that you tell me to if you explain why I have to read that card. Tell me that it directly answers their important cards, or that it is the best piece of evidence that shows why you win, or that it's written by an author I like, and then I'll probably read it. When it comes to the end of the debate, give me specific ways to vote for you. The easier you make it on me, the more likely I'll be to vote for you.

T- I used to be very biased towards T arguments, but I am less so now. I think that T arguments can devolve into blippy extensions of a three word definition. Those are the kinds of T debates I dislike. If there is a specific reason why an interpretation changes the way an aff functions, then I am open to that debate. I think that an argument over "how much is substaintial" is not particularly useful. I am completely fine with non-topical affs, in fact I like them a lot. With that having been said, with great power comes great responsibility and that responsibility is often answering T and FW. For me, “T is fascist” is not enough. You need to explain why you need to be non-topical and why a topical version of your plan is a bad idea. I am more likely to buy abuse stories that involve education in a coherent way, saying non-topical plans kill education is not enough, explain how that type of education is bad, and why a topical version might work better, or just a modified version. If you are going for the "topical version" argument, then you should probably have an example of what a topical version would be.

FW- I default to the framework of the aff unless the neg on face challenges it, but the aff also has to defend their framework and answer the other team’s objections with substantive answers, “aff choice” isn’t enough. If they want to use USFG policy to do something, then so be it. If they want to use themselves as agents, then that is good too. You have to defend which option you choose. I feel that debates about debate can be important and useful, but only if they are substantive and meaningful (I don’t find the Shively “Euthanasia” card falls into those categories).

DA’s- As a debater, I never read DAs, but I am becoming more comfortable with them. I don't do tons of policy research every day, so I may not know every scenario currently being read. That only means that it is the neg's responsibility to explain the story of the disad and the warrants of the cards. This is the bare minimum for any argument. I am sympathetic to K’s of DA’s, so be warned. That doesn't mean that I have an aff bias on disads, but that I am more familiar with the literature critiquing them than the uniqueness card you cut last night. Just one thing that might help you out, I am pretty willing to buy a “try or die” situation against a DA if there is not enough impact work done. This is especially true absent a CP. If it comes to Plan v. DA, I’m probably going to pick plan unless you explain to me why I can’t. If you make it seem like the plan action will certainly lead to the demise of the entire world then there should be some seemingly factual warrants to why this is the case (remember this doesn't have to be a card, see above).

CP’s- Competition is key. Explaining it is even better. There needs to be a clear discussion to how the CP competes and is net beneficial to the aff. I need a clear net benefit and why that is more important than plan action. I also need clear explanation on the Perm debate. Each Perm should be answered individually or group for some logical reason. Do not make a Perm argument on one perm, drop the others and then pretend you answered them all. I flow your answers on the specific Perm you mention. Be clear and be precise on the Perm debate. I will get to theory below.

K’s- I said at the top I was a K debater, so if you are a K team, this is a blessing and a curse. I will be automatically more attracted to these arguments, but will also hold them to a higher standard. Don’t expect that I know what you’re talking about even if I do. I try my best to only evaluate the arguments made, not what I know about the philosopher/philosophies you are citing. You will win easily if you explain how your arguments function in relation to the other team’s arguments. You will lose easily if you throw out high theory jargon and expect me to connect the dots.

Theory- I don’t particularly like it because it always seems to be lacking. Are multiple perms really that detrimental to anybody? Does it really skew your time that much to answer “do both” and “do the plan, then the alt?” I’ve never seen a really good theory debate and I don’t want to see a lot of bad ones to find a good one. If it’s something you like to do, then do it, but you’re really going to have to sell me on why your scripted block beats their scripted block. One way to do this is give specific examples to the debate you're in. I will be much more likely to buy your theory argument if you make it seem like X thing is bad always, but in this round it is just egregious.

Non-Topical Affs- These are the affs I have the most experience with and what I am used to judging. If you are the team that is looking for the straight up policy debate judge that just finished spending his Friday night cutting politics updates, I am not the judge for you. If you are the K team that is looking for the person that won't automatically vote them down for not being topical, then I am the judge for you.

I think that debate should be much more of an open space than it is. Just because something isn't what you do, doesn't make it automatically wrong and if you debate in front of me with that mentality, you will probably lose. Engaging arguments is the most important part of debate for me.

 *Prep time stops when the flash drive is out of the computer*

First and most importantly, please be respectful! If anything inappropriate happens, I will not hesitate to deduct speaker points.

I am open to any and all type of debate arguments. At the end of the day, my decision will be based off of what is on my flows. If there is something important to your argument, such as a link or alternative, please make sure to articulate and extend it thoroughly, as I want to intervene as little as possible in the round. So, if some argument or position is important to your side, make sure that is clear in your speeches.

I am not a very big fan of T, but if it goes dropped or really unanswered I can be persuaded to vote on it. I was a K debater, but that doesn’t mean I will always vote for the k. I need a solid, clear, and consistent explanation of the alternative, along with good articulations of the links and impacts. CPs, DA, I am totally fine with these, even though I did not run a lot of them. Again, just make sure you are really explaining your arguments to me, and not just doing blippy tag extensions.

Overall, have fun! The more fun you are having, the more enjoyable the debate experience will be for everyone involved, including me.

John Katsulas, Director of Debate, Boston College
30 years coaching

Here are the rules for debate:
1) The affirmative side must advocate a plan of action by the United States Federal Government. If you merely read poetry, dance, or play music, you will lose.
2) The negative side must defend a consistent policy position in the debate. The negative may choose to defend the status quo, or the negative may advocate an unconditional counterplan.
3) Topicality is a voting issue and never a reverse voting issue.
4) Conditionality is prohibited.
5) The resolution is worded as a policy proposition, which means that policy making is the focus of debate.
6) Kritiques are not welcome.
7) Performance-style debate belongs in theatre productions.
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Here are suggestions for debating in front of me:
1) The affirmative side has huge presumption on topicality if they can produce contextual evidence to prove their plan is topical.
2) Agent counterplans are fine. Don’t waste your time arguing PICS bad arguments against them. The legitimacy of international fiat is debatable, but I definitely believe there are far stronger arguments favoring limiting fiat to U.S. governmental actors.
3) Politics disadvantages are welcome. I like to hear them. Affirmatives should attack the internal link stories on many of these disadvantages. This is frequently a more viable strategy than just going for impact turns.
4) Both sides should argue solvency against affirmative plans and negative counterplans. Both sides should attack the links and internal links of impacts.
5) If you are incomprehensible, I won’t re-read all of your evidence after the debate to figure out your arguments.
6) Negative can win my ballot on zero risk of affirmative case solvency. Many affirmatives cases are so tragically flawed that they can be beaten by an effective cross-examination and/or analytical case presses.
7) I am very strict on 1ARs making new answers to fully developed disadvantages which don’t change from the 1NC.
8) Cross-examination answers are binding.
9) ASPEC: I won’t vote on it UNLESS you ask in cross-ex and they refuse to specify an agent.
10) Too late to add new links and impacts to your disadvantages during the first negative rebuttal.

I have a low threshold for dismissing non-real world arguments like nuclear war good and wipe-out.

SHORTEST VERSION: THINGS I BELIEVE ABOUT DEBATE

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Lawful Good -----|----Neutral Good -----|----Chaotic Good

1AC Plan Texts, ----|----- Case Debate,------|----Performance Debate,

Open Debaters -----|----Novice Debaters----|----JV Debaters

_______________________________________________________

Lawful Neutral ---|---True Neutral------|---- Chaotic Neutral

Topicality -----------|----Counterplans ------|------Dispositionality

_______________________________________________________

Lawful Evil -------|----Neutral Evil ------|-----Chaotic Evil

Framework args ---|----Standard Nuke ----|----- Baudrillard

from 1996 that ----|---- War Disad

say no K's

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SHORT VERSION:

You are prepping and don't have time to read everything, or interpret. So this is the stuff you most need to know if you don't know me :

1) I run The New School program. The New School is in the Northeast, around the corner from NYU where I actually work full time. (CEDA has Regions, not Districts. The NDT and the Hunger Games have Districts.) I care about things like novice and regional debate, and pretty much only coach for resource poor programs. You need to know this because it affects how I view your ETHOS on certain "who are we" arguments.

2) Email: vikdebate@gmail.com. Skip the rant below about want/need to be on chain.

3)SLOW THE HELL DOWN, especially ONLINE. I flow on paper. I need PEN TIME. I am not reading along with the doc unless the connection gets bad or I have serious misgivings.

4) Do what you need to do to make the tech work.

5) Do what you do in this activity. Seriously, especially in novice, or on a panel, you are not 100% adapting to me, so change how you debate those things a bit maybe, but not what you debate. To help with that:

6) Yes, my threshold for "is there gonna be a nuclear war" is WAY higher than it is for "what we talk about in the debate round going to affect us personally". I will vote on the wars, but I don't enjoy every debate about prolif in countries historically opposed to prolif. That isn't "realism" - that's hawk fetish porn. So if this IS you, you gotta do the internal link work, not read me 17 overly-lined down uniqueness cards.

7) I am more OFTEN in K rounds, but honestly I am more of a structural K person than a high theory person. Yes, debate is all simulacra now anyway, but racism and sexism - and the violence caused by them - ARE REAL WORLD. Your ability to talk about such things and how they relate to policies is probably one of your better portable skills for the modern world in this activity.

8) Performance good. Literally, I have 2 degrees in theater. Keep in mind that it means I am pretty well read on this as theory. All debate is performance. (Heck, life is performance, but you don't have time for that now...). My pet peeve as a coach is reading through all the paradigm that articulate performance and Kritikal as the same thing. It.Is.Not. Literally, it is Form vs. Content.

9) Winning Framework does not will a ballot. Winning Framework tells me how to prioritize or include or exclude arguments for my calculation of the ballot. T is NOT Framework (but for the record I err towards Education over Fairness, because this activity just ain't fair due to resource disparity, etc, so do the WORK to win on Fairness via in round trade offs, precedents, or models.)

10) Have fun. Debate can be stressful. Savor the community you can in current times.

PS: I am probably more flow focused than you think, BUT I still prefer the big picture. Tell me a story. It has to make sense for my ballot.

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Previous Version

The 2020 Preamble relevant to ONLINE DEBATE:

1) Bear with my tech for September for the first round of each day - I work across multiple universities and I am still sorting out going across 3 Zoom accounts, 5 emails accounts, and 2 Starfish accounts for any given thing. Working from home for 6 months combined my day-job stuff into my debate stuff, so I may occasionally have to remember to do a setting. This is like the worst version of a Reese's peanut butter cup.

2) Look, it would be great if I COULD see you as you debate. I am old - I flow what you say and I don't read along with the speech doc unless something bad is happening (bad things include potential connection issues in 2020, concerns over academic integrity/skipping words, and you don't actually do evidence comparison as a debater when weighing your cards and theirs). I don't anticipate changing that in the online debate world. But also, tech disparity and random internet gremlins are real things (that's why we need so many cats in the intertubes), so I ALSO understand if you tell me the camera is off for reasons. That's cool.

3) Because of connections and general practices - SLOW DOWN. CLARITY is super important. (Also, don't be a jerk to people with auditory accommodation needs as we do this). Trade your speed drills for some tongue twisters or something.

4) Recording as a back up is probably a necessary evil, but any use of the recording after a round that is shared to anyone else needs explicit - in writing, and can be revoked - permission of all parties present. PRACTICE AFFIRMATIVE CONSENT. See ABAP statement on online debate practices.

5) I have never wanted to be on the email chain/what-not; however, I SHOULD* be on the chain/what-not. Note the critical ability to distinguish these two things, and the relevance of should to the fundamental nature of this activity. Email for this purpose: vikdebate@gmail.com .

(Do not try to actually contact me with this address - it’s just how I prevent the inevitable electronically transmitted cyber infection from affecting me down the road, because contrary to popular belief, I do understand disads, I just have actual probability/internal link threshold standards.)

((And seriously Tabroom, what the F***? First you shill for the CIA, and now you want to edit the words because "children" who regularly talk about mass deaths might see some words I guarantee you then know already? I was an actual classroom teacher....debate should not be part of the Nanny State. Also this is NEW, because the word A****** used to be in my paradigm in reference to not being one towards people who ask for accessibility accommodations. ARRGGHHH!!!))

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Things I am cool with:

Tell met the story

Critical Args

Critical Lit (structural criticisms are more my jam)

Performative strategies - especially if we get creative with the 20-21 format options.

CP fun times and clever intersections of theory

A text. Preferable a well written text. Unless there are no texts.

Not half-assing going for theory

Case debate

Reasonability

You do you

Latin used in context for specific foreign policy conditions.

Teaching Assurance/Deterrence with cats.

Things that go over less well:

Blippy theory

Accidentally sucking your own limited time by unstrategic or functionally silly theory

Critical lit (high theory … yes, I know I only have myself to blame, so no penalty if this is your jelly, just more explanation)

Multiple contradictory conditional neg args

A never ending series of non existent nuclear wars that I am supposed to determine the highest and fastest probability of happening (so many other people to blame). You MAY compare impacts as equal to "x number of gender reveal parties".

Not having your damn tags with the ev in the speech doc. Seriously.

As a general note: Winning framework does not necessarily win you a debate - it merely prioritizes or determines the relevancy of arguments in rounds happening on different levels of debate. Which means, the distinction between policy or critical or performative is a false divide. If you are going to invoke a clash of civilizations mentality there should be a really cool video game analogy or at least someone saying “Release the Kraken”. A critical aff is not necessarily non Topical - this is actually in both the Topic Paper for alliances/commitments and a set of questions I asked at the topic meeting (because CROSS EX IS A PORTABLE SKILL). Make smarter framework arguments here.

Don't make the debate harder for yourself.

Try to have fun and savor the moment.

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*Judges should be on the chain/what-not for two reasons: 1)as intelligence gathering for their own squad and 2) to expedite in round decision making. My decisions go faster than most panels I’m on when I am the one using prep time to read through the critical extended cards BEFORE the end of the debate. I almost never have the docs open AS the debaters are reading them because I limit my flow to what you SAY. (This also means I don’t read along for clipping … because I am far more interested in if you are a) comprehensible and b) have a grammatical sentence in some poor overhighlighted crap.) Most importantly, you should be doing the evidence comparisons verbally somehow, not relying on me to compare cards after the debate somehow. If I wanted to do any of that, I would have stayed a high school English teacher and assigned way more research papers.

Put me on the email chain - lovemesomepolicydb8 [[gmail]]

My background

High School debate – None

College debate – University of Richmond

Coaching – Miami Beach High School

Bronx High School of Science

Columbia University

New York University/New York Coalition

West Georgia

University of Richmond

Vanderbilt University

Berkeley Prep

Overview points

The most important thing you should know about me is that when I finished my undergrad college degree I was done with school. Grad school/academia wasn’t for me. I took a jobs in sales (take note those few of you who still associate debate with persuasion), and spent years working for a Survey Research company before taking over the day to day operations of my own company (chemical manufacturing). This shapes my debate outlook.

1. I strive to be a judge that minimizes my beliefs to the greatest extent possible, and votes on the flow. I often vote on things I don’t believe are true but because they are dropped I’ll vote. I will do my best to flow everything and base my decision solely by what was said in the round. You want me to be a policymaker judging USFG action – cool, you want me to be an individual judging a performance – ok, I don’t care per se. I’ve voted for all styles of debate over the years, and I’ve also worked with teams that have run the spectrum of arguments. When I was a debater I didn’t like it when some judges refused to listen and vote on certain arguments (whether it be K or policy because both sides do it) and I don’t want to be grouped like that. End of the day whatever your argument is, I’m going to do my best to understand, treat you with respect, and we’ll see how it goes.

I prefer direct line by line debate above all else. By that I mean – they say/my response straight down the flow. If you are a debater who doesn’t flow to the point that you don’t respond to your opponent’s arguments because you didn’t record what they were then you may have problems winning my ballot consistently.

I view debate like a tennis match. The aff has to get the ball over the net by making an argument, then the neg has to return serve. They may return that ball at over 100mph (offensive strategies with turns and grand impacts of high magnitude) or they may go soft return (defensive arguments). Either/both could trip up the other team. You don’t need offense necessary to win my ballot (but it doesn’t hurt either).

I consider topic education my highest core value. The more topic specific cards (as opposed to backfiles) you read in a round the better all-round you’re going to be.

Providing details and drawing distinctions is always better than being vague and unclear about what you do. My threshold to vote on vagueness is way lower than my o-spec threshold.

Quality of evidence should guide your strategy. Quality always beats quantity. That said I think debaters self-censor in that if they don’t have a card they refuse to make the argument believing analytics to be of lower value then having a card. While that may be true, there are also rounds where the literature needed to properly rebut may not exist. In these cases direct analytics can often be better than generic cards that don’t apply.

If your only response to your opponent’s analytics is “you didn’t read a card”, you may be on weaker ground than you think.

The enthusiasm you display in selling your arguments can be important. A little pathos can yield positive returns.

I can vote against your opponent instead of for you. Sometimes attacking your opponent’s arguments instead of advancing your arguments can capture my ballot. Example, the neg may read a K that I don’t find very persuasive, but the aff ans turn out to be worse. Other times that strategy fails, and you need to advance a positive reason to vote for you.

I pay attention to CX and have seen teams that have won and lost rounds based on CX but that’s becoming much rarer. Any gains made in CX should be referenced in subsequent speeches.

You can try to speak as fast as you want. If you believe you are best served going as fast as you can, and not slowing down when it counts I can reflect that in your speaker points. If I don’t have an arg on my flow that’s probably not good for you. I don’t read the speech docs as you go, it’s still a communicative activity to me.

The specific arguments

If you are Aff: the only burden I will hold you to is that I will check every answer in the 2ar to make sure it has a 2ac/1ar basis. Arguments introduced in the 2ac, dropped in the 1ar, and revived in the 2ar will not count. Beyond that I’m pretty open. Do what you want on the aff. That said over the years I found myself drawn more toward the policy end of things. Affs that are willing to defend a plan or solution to the harms they identify are preferable to affs that are 9 minutes of harms only. I’m usually far more interested in the 3 aff speeches after the 1ac then the 1ac itself. Affs often lose my ballot because they concede too many negative arguments. If you don’t answer each part of an off case argument, you’re handing the ballot to the neg. Oftentimes 2ac extensions of case resolve solely around explaining your 1ac cards, the only thing I care about though is responding the 1nc cards.

If you are neg: anything goes, it’s up to the aff to stop your strategy. If you are looking for a strategy that gives you the best odds in front of me, it would be a plan inclusive CP with a topic specific net benefit. That said no one likes a nitpicker, whatever part of the aff you take objection to should have an impact.

Disads – I’d much prefer you read link/internal link/or even impact uniqueness instead of extra impact scenarios. Developing one or two impacts is preferable than 5-6, and to be honest you lose a little cred in my mind the more extinction scenarios you introduce.

CPs – I default to the lit to decide CP legitimacy. Generally speaking I can see why consult, condition, QPQ, states etc could be unsound, but the quality of the solvency ev can go a long way. Must confess the question of when the neg can kick the CP is not very interesting to me.

Case debate – I was brought up to believe if you don’t have 20+ cards on case you’re in a hole.

Topicality – votes on it. The more specific your violations the better.

Theory – I don’t believe there is a single theory argument, not even conditionality, that justifies rejecting the team over the argument. If you want to win the debate on theory, justifying why I should ignore everything else to vote here is a priori and that discussion should begin early in the debate. That said I would categorize going for theory in front of me as akin to a Hail Mary pass. I find theory debate to be a set of self-serving claims with no proof to support anything. I’m looking to vote on substantive things first and foremost.

Traditional Ks – philosophy plays a very minor role in my life. I likely haven’t read your lit directly, nor would I ever outside of debate support many of the alternatives I come across. Specific links are vital. My voting record on backfile Ks has become very low. I have no why K teams think they can read old evidence (sometimes 20-30 years old) and I’m supposed to think it’s still relevant.

New School debate/identity politics – my voting record for these types of arguments is much higher than when you are neg vs aff. If you are aff I’m often very unclear where the burden of proof line lies. Set up a threshold for pulling the trigger on an aff ballot because leaving me to my own devices may not work out in your favor. Also when I wrote above that sometimes I can vote against your opponent instead of for you, out debating your opponents on framework/I got a better root cause K than you can be a winning strat. All that said as someone who was around at the very beginning of this movement and knowing the justifications that started it, I’m a little disappointed New School debate has taken to speed reading a bunch of cards that don’t always apply.

Framework – I end here because it’s become such a large part of so many debates and I personally think it’s often a real dumb argument. Debate groupthink. If you think speed reading is the way to go in front of me you’re wrong. Depth beats breadth always. If you don’t do line by line on framework, I’ll vote for the aff that doesn’t defend the USFG. I would love for framework to evolve. IMO it’s the same arg now that it was 15 years ago and I find that very stale. You greatly underlimit yourself when your violation solely revolves around the USFG, there are plenty of other reasonable standards you could apply to teams that don’t defend the rez. Identify the voters early because I find many framework arguments to be nothing more than time kill.

Any other questions/clarifications please ask.

For the email chain: kozakism@gmail.com

I am the former founding Director of Debate at Rutgers University-Newark and current Speech and Debate Coordinator for the Newark Board of Education.

I do not have any formal affiliation with any school in the City of Newark. I represent the entire district and have been doing nothing but competing, teaching, coaching, and building debate for the last 22 years. I have judged thousands of debates at almost every level of competition.

I am in the process of rewriting my judge philosophy to reflect my current attitudes about debate better and be more helpful to competitors trying to adapt. The one I have had on tabroom is over ten years old, and written in the context of college policy debate. I apologize to all the competitors in the many rounds I have judged recently for not being more transparent on Tabroom.

Do what you do best, and I will do my best to evaluate arguments as you tell me.

I will keep a slightly edited version of my old philosophy while I work on my new one, as it still expresses my basic feelings about debate.

If you have questions about my judge philosophy or me before a tournament, please email me at ckozak@nps.k12.nj.us.

You can also ask me any questions prior to the debate about any preferences you might be concerned about. Good luck!

Old
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My judging philosophy/preference is simple. Make arguments. That includes a claim, a warrant, and why your claim matters in a world of competing claims. I don't have an explicit judging "paradigm," and to say that I am a tabla rasa is naive. I am going to split the difference and just explain to you what kinds of arguments I am familiar with.

I debated the K for most of college. I value nuanced Ks that are well-explained and applied to a specific context. I like original thinking in debate and will try to adapt to any performance style you wish to present in the round. Just be aware to all teams when debating framework on these issues that I do not consider appeals to "objective rules" persuasive in the context of determining debate norms. Debate is a rare activity in which students can define the conditions of their education. I take this aspect of debate very seriously. This does not mean I am hostile to "policy debate good" arguments; it just means that I am holding both teams to a high standard of explanation when evaluating framework arguments.

I was mostly a traditional policy debater in high school, so I am very familiar with the other side of the fence. I love an excellent straight-up policy round. Give me all your weird counterplans and ridiculous disad scenarios. I am a current events junkie and find that form of debate extremely valuable. I enjoy speed; but I have a hard time flowing quick blips analysis (who doesn't?). If you just make sure you pause for a breath or something between arguments, I will get everything you need me to get on my flow.

It may sound like I have a lot of "biases," but I do honestly try to evaluate arguments exactly as debaters tell me to. These preferences mostly come into play only when debaters are not doing their jobs.

Avoid having to adapt to me at all, and just tell me what you would like my preferences to be, and we will be good.

I welcome you to ask any specific questions you may have about my philosophy before the debate, considering I don't have much of an idea about what to put in these things, as I found most judge philosophies deceptive as a competitor.

Updated for 2014-2015 debate season.

I am no longer awarding points for people taking the veg pledge. However, I still strongly believe that if you care about the environment, racism, or injustice that you should register at tournaments vegetarian or vegan. Tournaments will provide for your nutiritional needs and you will have abstained from using your registration fees paying for the slaughter of sentient creatures whose death requires abhorent working conditions for people of color, massive greenhouse gas emissions, and the death of individuals. 

What people decide to consume is a political act, not a personal one. Deciding to consume flesh at debate tournaments continues the pattern of accepting violence and discrimination. This happens for workers, for people living in food deserts, people living in countries across the world, and for the non/human animals sent to slaughter. Tournaments are not food deserts. Your choice to consume differently can make a tangible impact on debate as a community and beyond. Your choice has global and local ramifications. I urge you to make the correct choice in registering your dietary choice even if it has no impact on your speaker points. Several people said that they didn't want to be coerced into making the decision to go vegetarian or vegan at tournaments for speaker points. Now is your chance to make that choice without the impact of speaker points.

All that being said, how you choose to debate is a political choice as well. You can debate however you like but you should realize that the methodology and the content you put forth are not neutral choices. Whatever choices you make you should be ready to defend them in round. “As Stuart and Elizabeth Ewen emphasize in Channels of Desire: The politics of consumption must be understood as something more than what to buy, or even what to boycott. Consumption is a social relationship, the dominant relation-ship in our society – one that makes it harder and harder for people to hold together, to create community. At a time when for many of us the possibility of meaningful change seems to elude our grasp, it is a question of immense social and political proportions.” (hooks 376).

If it is not already clear, I will say it outright: I view debate as a space for education, activism, and social justice. This does not mean I won't vote on framework or counterplans. What it does mean is that the arguments that I will find most appealing are those arguments that speak to how traditional approaches to debate are beneficial to us as individuals to create a better world. It is not that fairness is irrelevant, but that fairness is relevant only to that extent. Fairness plays a part in constructing meaninful education and activism but is not the sole standard to enable good debate. Concepts of fairness are not value-neutral but it is a debate that can be defend and won in front of me since I do not think fairness is irrelevant either. For teams breaking down such structures, you still must win the debate that your approach to debate is better for advacing causes of social justice. If you like policymaking and are running counterplans you merely need to win that your counterplan is a better approach. The same applies for theory violations. I will vote on them if you win that the impact to the violation is important enough for me to pull the trigger. The same is also true for kritiks and other styles of debate. Win that your approach and your argument deserves to win because of the impact that it has.

Again, to be clear, this does not mean that I intend to abandon the flow or vote based upon my personal beliefs. My belief is that debate is more than a game and that the things we say and do in it are not neutral-choices. This does not necessarily mean that so-called traditional policy debate is bad but that the way it should be approached by those teams should not be assumed to be neutral.

Whether it is what you eat, or what you debate, your choice is political. Our world can change. It is up to all of us to make it happen. Movements are already happening all around us. Don't let the norms dictate what you debate or what you consume. Debate should be at the forefront of these initiatives. Use the education you gain in debate to say something and to do something meaningful both in round and beyond.

In my debating career I have run typical policy plan texts as well as advocacy statements and have run policy disads as well as 1-off criticisms. A couple of tips when debating in front of me:

1) For Ks, please don't gloss over the link story. I will not do the work for you. Even if you have a robust link in theory, I will award a no-link or even a link-turn argument to the affirmative should they consistently out-articulate you on the link story.

2) For politics, be sure you have a clear story that you stick with throughout the round. I will not vote on a politics disad that is nothing more than a string of cards with no explanation. That said, should the affirmative bungle their answer, I will vote on politics.

3) I am reluctant to vote on topicality unless the abuse is clearly demonstrated in round.

4) I generally favor thought out, informed analytics over the parroting of card tags with little explanation.

All that said, I hope you learn something from the debate and look forward to learning from you.

Jim Lyle 
Director - Clarion University 

Constraints: UMW

Shirley 2013: I intend to follow the suggested speaker point guide posted by WFU as best I can. 

General Statement 

1. I see debate as first a competitive activity, and second as an educational activity. Allow me to clarify. I love the educational aspects of debate, but the thing I love the most is that we get to use education in the context of a game. I find myself most interested in the preservation of debate as a fair, competitive activity for both the affirmative and negative teams. If protecting the competitive dimension of the game isn’t our priority in considerations about how debate should operate, then we should all stay back at our respective schools on weekends and discuss these issues on Saturdays in college libraries with other interested people and save the expenses associated with traveling to debate tournaments. 
2. I also love that the game allows us to play with a lot of arguments that might remain out of reach of institutional policymakers. Debate is an activity that allows us to play with more controversial positions, and advocate ideas that can not be articulated elsewhere. This teaches people how to argue on a host of fronts, and develops/enhances critical thinking skills. 
3. I think I am in the same place as a number of judges regarding evidence quality. This is never an issue in the round and the consequence is that teams get away with a slew of claims being advanced by unqualified authors. Additionally, there are a number of instances where a smart argument can beat a card but teams don't bother. 

Topicality 
1. It’s a voting issue. 
2. The key to debating topicality for me is the ability of both teams to concretize their arguments with examples of affs/arguments that allowed and/or disallowed by a particular interpretation. The team that does a better job demonstrating the effect of an interpretation on the game generally probably is gonna win the argument. 
3. Competing Interpretations vs Reasonability. I’d guess I’d say I’m a fan of reasonability. I say that because I generally see all T debates as a question of what is the most reasonable interpretation, and between the aff and the neg we have two…which compete. “Do vs. justify” just doesn’t make much sense if both sides are willing to allow the specific aff in question to be topical. 

Theory/CPs 
1. Most of these debates tend to go for the team seeking to not lose on theory simply because the debates are too fast and too jargon-laden. 
2. The number of debates where fairness is the end-all-be-all on Theory Issue A and education is the end-all-be-all on B is bewildering. What may be worse is that this is never called out. 
3. I think affirmative teams are cowardly lions on theory. 
4. I think conditionality is good and presume the counterplan is conditional. Logic says stick with the status quo if both the cp and plan are bad ideas. Does this mean all conditionality is off the argument table? No. Multiple conditional advocacies may have issues. Certain types of counterplans run conditionally may be problematic (i.e., a conditional consultation counterplan)… Advocating the perm also seems logical. 
5. Think some PICs legitimate, some ask key questions about the desirability of the affirmative plan. Think agent CPs are legitimate, however, I think affirmatives tend to let the negative get away with a lot more in fiating things for counterplans. If we are gonna use fiat, it needs to be reciprocal and predictable/real world for both sides. For instance, if it can be proven that acting on “x” is out of the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, then perhaps the negative (or affirmative) doesn’t have right to that action (unless the opposition is given an equal use of fiat). Think we are asked to evaluate things from the perspective of the federal government. Not a fan of multiple-agent counterplans (i.e., CP has states and federal government act). Don’t like object fiat. Don’t care for international fiat. Specific solvency evidence does wonders in helping justify a particular counterplan, and if it’s from an affirmative solvency author then you get what you deserve. 
6. “This justifies severance perms”….then do it. Reciprocity is good. 

Cross-Examination 
1. Still flowing it. 
2. I “check-out” during the prep time and although I hear things, and may remember them, I will not go back and add to the “flow.” So, use CX strategically. 
3. I generally hate flowing the CX because debaters undervalue it. 

Critiques and so forth 
1. I view myself as a policymaker. I view the question for the debate to be whether or not the plan is a desirable policy option given the status quo and competitive alternatives. 
2. Does this mean I exclude the K? Maybe. Maybe not. I would argue that it doesn’t exclude the K, but rather shapes how I understand the K and how you need to frame the argument. 
3. You can argue that I shouldn’t evaluate as a policymaker, but I will evaluate the consequences of the non-policymaker mode versus the policymaker mode of evaluation. 
4. I “understand” the argument that the K is a “gateway argument” that has some if/then-thing going on when it is run with a bunch of DAs and CPs but am not sure why the AFF doesn’t get to access impact turns to the K when the K is kicked. I guess I am saying that I find it a bit confusing that the K operates somewhere in between DA world and CP world and that this creates potentially interesting, but generally unexplored, lines of argumentation. 
5. Performance. See above. Odds are that if you are a performer, I’m not the judge you want. 

Paperless 
1. I think prep time ends when the debater pulls the flash-drive out of the computer and says they are ready to jump it to the other team. I understand there are some tech issues to still be worked out but this is one issue that shouldn’t be a problem (especially since Whitman 3.0, I and I believe Synergy, have functions that allow for speeches to be saved automatically to the jump drive). 
2. I think paperless teams need to have a viewing computer available for the other team. I have no problem if the other team doesn’t wish to use the viewing computer but think it needs to be available. That said, I personally don’t get the “can we jump it on our own computer” phenomena. Why create a risk of being exposed to a virus? 
3. What if a paperless team reads additional cards in a speech that are not in the initial document? At the end of the speech, the paperless additions should be immediately jumped over. The paperless team should have to use prep for this. 
4. What if a paperless team jumps a file with 100 cards and basically forces the other team to find the evidence read? Not acceptable. 

Presumption 
I’m sure this is a little odd to see in here for most of you but I must admit that I am historically a bit of a neg hack and a large part of this is based on my willingness to vote on presumption. If there’s no clear advantage to doing the plan a tiny risk of a DA seems to be enough to say “don’t chance it.” I guess my point is that I prefer a well-developed advantage over 3 under-developed advantage. 

Delivery 
1. Be clear. 
2. I tend to let people know if they are being unclear, unless I can’t see your face. If you can’t look at me, I can’t let you know when you’ve lost me. 

Got questions? Ask. 

Above all, I’ll decide who wins the round based on who wins on my flow. That means, I’ll only call for evidence if there is a piece of evidence in question or if I’m absolutely forced to in order to decide the round fairly. Further, I try and resolve each round by stripping away all personal biases and by evaluating the argument as it’s explained in the round. That being said, I certainly think there are some arguments that are much more cogent than others, – such as fiat is good – but that doesn’t mean you are incapable of winning any type of argument or argumentation in front of me. To me, an ‘untrue’ argument is ‘true’ if it isn’t answered adequately.  Yes… I debated for Boston College, but that doesn’t mean I’m automatically going to sign my ballot if you’re conditional. So here are the brief specifics:

T – It’s not a got nothing else, last hope, type of argument. If you win that the advantages for excluding the affirmative outweigh the disadvantages, you win. Simply proving an Aff is not topical is NOT enough.

DA’s – They’re good. But w/o a CP, mitigate the case.  

K’s – They’re not magic. They’re DA’s.  Just of course with philosophical links and an alternative. Again, yes I went to BostonProbablyWon’tRunTheK College, but I graduated as a philosophy major.

CP’s – Some are great, some are good, and some are bad. If you run one of the bad one’s with clear theoretical objections, you better be good at theory. Or hope the other team doesn’t point it out.

Theory is incredibly useful for A LOT of different reasons – why the judge should reject an alt, should allow you to weigh case against a K, reject a CP, allow a certain permutation, reject a team…. Etc. Plus, I believe its argumentation culminates some of the most portable skills in debaters. So use it!  

Director of Debate at Riverdale Country School.

Participated in policy debate

HS- late 90s

College 2000-2018

Coached Public Forum

2000-now

Open to most arguments.

Please ask questions.

Yes. I do flow.

Yes. I do vote on Theory or T.

Yes. I do vote on Kritiks.

Judging Philosophy:

            I am a cadet and Army debater with 2+ years of college policy debate experience. I am generally open to all types of arguments as long as they are explained well. Really convincing arguments are also explained in the context of the round and interacted with other the other arguments in the round. Teams should clearly articulate impact scenarios and the logic justifying them. Additionally, in their final speeches teams should seek to provide an underview/overview of the round that creates an overall image of the world of the affirmative or negative. Debaters must speak clearly and indicate when they are moving on to new cards/arguments if they want them to be properly and accurately placed on my flow.

Kritiks:

I am open to all types of critiques as long as a clear link story is articulated and the underlying philosophy of the kritik is explained. The most effective kritiks bring in the ideas of original authors and explain how those original ideas link together the overall story of the kritik. If running a critique, debaters must clearly articulate their impacts and explain the framework that allows them to access their impact. I will evaluate critiques about the debate space/practices as long as their implications for debaters and the world once we leave the room is explained.

Theory:

            Theory arguments must be specifically tied to in-round abuse and the arguments that are being articulated in the debate round. Generic theory blocks run by both sides are only convincing if they are tied to what is happening in the round and teams answer each others’ specific theory arguments. Teams must do impact work on theory and continue their theory arguments in each speech in order to win on theory.

CP:

            CPs must have a clearly articulated text read in the round. They must also have a solvency advocate. I believe advantage CPs are strong arguments that get to the core of policy debate and offer strong positions of advocacy for the negative. Any permutations on CPs, especially more complex ones, must have a text in order for me to accurately evaluate them.         

Conditionality:

            Teams can run multiple conditional arguments. However, if the combination or nature of the arguments is used abusively by the negative team and the affirmative points this out, running an effective conditionality bad argument, I will vote on condo. The in round abuse must be clearly identified and impacts must be communicated and weighed effectively.

Politics:

            I will evaluate politics arguments that have specific links and a clearly articulated internal link story that explains the politics scenario.

Critical Affirmatives/Framework:

            I am open to critical affirmatives as long as they are connected to the resolution and are run with effective framework arguments. The most effective framework arguments are typically not exclusive and they allow each team to debate their ideas on a similar level to determine the better arguments. Additionally, I believe arguments concerning methodologies can be particularly compelling in these critical debates. Impacts must be clearly communicated and their logic explained by both teams in these debates.

Identity:

I believe one of my teammates best communicated how I view identity in debate rounds: “I evaluate arguments apart from the identity of the individuals who have made them. All people are equal in the debate round, and I consider them equally devoid of unique identity. If you argument is about your personal experiences and they are not generalizable to the rest of humanity, they will not do well in front of me. However, arguments about the experiences of specific groups within humanity and the debate community are important (and it can be convincingly argued they are more important than debate) so I am more than willing to evaluate their impacts.”

General: Be sure to explain how specific args on the flow should affect my overall evaluation of the debate. In many debates, both teams have offense on different pages of the flow after the final speeches. When this occurs, comparing your impacts to those of your opponents is critical, as is explaining the relevance of these impacts to my decision. The 2NR/2AR should compare the world of the affirmative to the world of the negative. 

Cross-X: I view answers in cross-X as binding unless told otherwise. Feel free to be funny if you can, but don’t be rude, and there is a fine line. 

Topicality/Procedurals: Negatives going for topicality should provide specific examples of ground that they lose and why that ground is important. Generally, quality of ground (on both sides) is more important than quantity of ground. 

“Nonpolicy” affirmatives: I am open to affs that do not defend a specific policy action; in fact I hear them quite frequently. Negatives going for framework need to impact their arguments beyond just “fairness” and “education.” As with any other debate, both sides should engage in impact comparison. 

Counterplans: I’ll listen to just about any counterplan you want to run. I tend to lean negative on most counterplan theory questions, although I don’t find claims of “aff side bias” very persuasive. I can be swayed to vote aff on theory if the negative does not specifically justify their type of strategy. For example, if the negative reads a critique and a counterplan that links to the K, the affirmative can make arguments as to why contradictory positions are uniquely bad. In this case, the negative should justify not only conditional positions, but conditional args that link to each other. Teams should be clear on what the different CP statuses entail. Does conditionality mean that the status quo is always an option when I make my decision, or does the negative have to make a decision in the 2NR? If dispo means that the aff can make you go for the counterplan by straight turning it, then what constitutes a “straight turn?” I assume that permutations are tests of competition unless told otherwise. 

Disads: The more case-specific the better. Direction of the link is key; if the aff wins the entirety of the link direction, I view this as at least terminal defense for the aff, even if the negative is winning the uniqueness question. If you’re going for a d/A in the 2NR, weighing is always important. While timeframe is still important, I view probability and magnitude as more essential factors in the decision calculus. 

Kritiks: Impacts! Negatives running critiques often focus too heavily on the link level, forgetting why the K is important. That said, specificity of links to the aff is still key when answering permutations. Be sure to explain the way I should evaluate the implications of the K against the impacts of the aff. An analysis of the role of the ballot is helpful. It helps to have an alternative, but if you can win that the K functions as a case turn, you don’t necessarily need an alt. For affirmatives: don’t let your case go away when answering a critique; be sure to extend the 1AC. Aff framework args are more powerful as substantive rather than theoretical questions. That is, “critiques are cheating” is not a compelling claim, but the aff can use framework args to instruct the way I should evaluate different types of impacts. Oh, and please don’t make “aff choice” one of your framework args. 

Good luck and have fun! 

I coached and judged CEDA, NDT, BP, IPDA in my 20 year coaching career. Aside from some online coaching during the pandemic, it has been 8 years since my day to day involvement with a debate topic. I have judged CARD for the last few years and enjoy the format immensely. I really have no argument or style preference anymore. I want to hear well constructed arguments about the topic. I will be clear when I see them and will not hesitate to explain why I didn't feel they were well constructed or about the topic. I will take good notes about the debate but I will not transcribe the debate. If it is not in my notes it is usually because I didn't feel you made it seem important or relevant. Please ask me any questions before or after the debate .

natemilton@gmail.com

Background

I debated for four years in high school and three years at Liberty. I mostly debated a “CP and politics” type strategy on the neg and also enjoyed going for T and theory when it was strategic. I did read the K sometimes though. My favorite debates are large case debates with a DA or two.

General Philosophy:

I try my best to let the arguments in the debate determine how I evaluate the round although I will admit that I have biases that can influence how I view certain arguments. I have included some opinions that I hope you will find useful in specifically tailoring your arguments to me. I am flow centric. I enjoy clash. I believe that both sides should have an equal opportunity to win the round, so while not defending a “policy action” (ie not having a plan text) doesn’t mean you will automatically lose in front of me, I believe that if pressed, you should have some sort of a division of “ground” that enables the opposing side an equal chance to win (I believe in “fairness”). I believe that having to argue in favor of something you don’t believe is beneficial (“switch side debate is good”). I have a minimal threshold for arguments for me to evaluate them, they must have a warrant that makes sense. It is important for you to talk about impacts and compare them to the other side’s impacts on all arguments. I do not evaluate arguments that aren’t in the last two rebuttals. I don’t think debates should get personal, it should be about the arguments, not the people. I try not to have to read evidence, I prefer it to be explained and impacted in the debate, “call for this card after the round” is not an argument, explaining the warrants of the evidence in question is a more productive use of your time. Don't try to talk too fast (speed is overrated) and you probably shouldn't use profanity.

T + Theory

I will vote on T/Theory. I lean towards competing interpretations on T and that Condo is usually ok (1 CP and 1 K). I ere Aff on T, Neg on Theory. Please remember to impact these arguments, it’s not a “Voter” just because you say it is. T is not a reverse voter. Please be aware of argument interaction between different theory arguments.

Cross-Examination:

CX starts (my timer starts) promptly after the end of the constructive speech. Open CX is fine, however I feel that it is best to not engage in it whenever possible. I think the CX is an underutilized speech, and good questions are often not turned into arguments, it is important to turn CX questions and answers into arguments during a speech. I don’t flow CX but I do pay attention. CX greatly influences how I award my speaker points.

CP’s

I like clever PIC’s (not word PIC’s). I ran SC CP and politics a lot. However, I’ve been doing some thinking about agent CP’s, and the more I think about them the more I think they aren’t competitive (if the agent is within the USFG). Obviously this is a debate to be had and I can be persuaded either way. I am not a fan of delay or multiple CP’s (the exception to the multiple CP’s is if you are reading advantage CP’s and/or unconditional CP’s). In the 1NC, please SLOW DOWN when reading your CP text so I know what the CP is, thank you in advance. For conditional CP’s, unless the 2NR explicitly says that the SQ is still an option, if you go for the CP I transition into Plan vs CP framework in which the CP must be net beneficial to warrant a neg ballot.

K’s

I am not the biggest fan of the K. That being said, I will and have vote/d for/on the K, I would say that I just have a high threshold for the level of explanation that needs to occur for these kinds of arguments to be persuasive and make sense. I do not appreciate a bunch of post modern jargon; the simpler you can explain your K the better. Please explain what your alternative is and what voting for you means/does, what the role of the ballot is, and why all of that is more important than an endorsement of the Aff. I find that when I don't vote for a K it is usually because the explanation of what the alternative is/does is lacking. While I do not find some K's to be very persuasive, just because the debate makes me grumpy(ier) doesn't mean I won't vote for you, I'll probably just complain about it afterwards (although I will happily provide you with a list of my least favorite K's upon request). I will say that I very much dislikes K's based on a link of omission. If in doubt, read what you are best at and most comfortable with and tell me not to be so grumpy.

Paperless

Please be as prompt and courteous as possible. DO NOT: intentionally include 9 million cards that you aren’t going to read into your speech document (please feel free to ask for a new speech document with just the marked cards that are read, no charge), intentionally disorganize your speech document, or steal prep-time (no one should be doing anything during “tech” time). I am rather trusting on this issue so feel free to police yourselves, I won’t hold it against you if you call your opponents out (even if they are behaving).

MISC

I do not prompt for clarity, if I can’t understand you, I will stop flowing and make a face at you. I believe that judge adaptation is an important part of debate and so if you have a question about anything I have not covered here, please feel free to ask, but I will get angry if it’s clear you haven’t read this.

When in doubt: "Make with the good debating, not the bad debating."

I started in the activity in 2003 as a debater and haven't left. Please note that over the past couple of years, I've judge a lot less, and have spent much more time in the tabroom. As such, my ability to handle unintelligible speed has probably diminished. 

Etiquette: Debate is a fun activity; if you don’t enjoy it, you probably shouldn’t be doing it. Don’t make it miserable for others. Be polite, answer cx questions (tag team is ok, just don’t take over your partner’s cx time). Extremely offensive language will probably be reflected in lower speaker points (unless of course, it’s an actual argument). Most importantly, have fun!!

Pet Peeves: Don't steal prep time, it's unfair and it causes the whole tournament to run slower.  For paperless teams, prep time ends when you remove the flash drive from your computer to hand to your opponents.

Speed: Speed is fine IF you’re clear. Slower is better when it comes to T, theory, and framework. Don’t sacrifice good analysis and argumentation for speed. I’ll shout “clear” if I can’t understand you, but I won’t do that more than two or three times. While I will call for important cards at the end of the round, I won’t call for so many that I’m reading everything you read on the position you go for at the end of the round.  

Do what you’re comfortable with doing. I will listen to what you say, flow it (unless you tell me not to), and vote for it; but there are certain types of debate that I’m much more comfortable with adjudicating.

Topicality: T is about competing interpretations. Provide a sound interpretation, a clear violation, and impact it. T exists to establish fair ground. It’s ok to take a different perspective and/or use a different style of argument, but I believe that you should have to affirm the resolution to provide some predictable neg ground. I believe switch-side debate is good. While I’m open to the argument, it will take some work to convince me that T is genocidal and/or shouldn’t come first when evaluating the round.

CP/DAs: I love good CP/DA rounds. Make sure your DAs have good uniqueness, links, internal links, and impacts. Weigh the impacts against the aff impacts! Magnitude, probability, timeframe: they’re all good things to analyze. What are the solvency deficits or DAs to the CP? 

Kritiks: I’m open to listening to kritiks, but keep in mind that I don’t spend the little free time I have reading Zizek, Derrida, etc. Clearly explain the link and implications. Have a well-articulated alternative. Reject the aff is not usually a good alternative. Articulate how the aff can’t solve or how the K solves the aff better if that’s what you’re going for. What are the disadvantages to the perm? A lot of analysis and good explanation will go much farther than reading a few extra cards.

Performance: If you are going to perform, have a framework that allows for fair debate. Make an argument. Respond to your opponents’ arguments (yes, you may have to respond to a DA; you don’t have to read cards, but you do have to answer it). This is not the type of debate I’m most comfortable judging, but I will listen to you. I just may be easily convinced that you aren’t topical and/or don’t provide a fair framework for debate. If you do those things, go for it!

Theory:  Conditionality is fine, however running multiple contradictory conditional positions is probably abusive.  Don't just read blocks.  Draw distinctions, have a clear interpretation.  Show in round abuse, or explain why potential abuse should be a voting issue.  Impact analysis is important. 

Please include me in your speech doc thread. My email is johnfnagy@gmail.com

If I am judging you online, you MUST slow down. I will not get all of your arguments, particularly analytics, on the flow. You have been warned.

I enjoy coaching and judging novice debates. I think the novice division is the most important and representative of what is good in our community. That being said, I opposed and still oppose the ADA Novice Curriculum Packet. It's an attempt by some in the community, who don't even have novice programs, to use the novice division to further their vision of what debate "should" look like. I don't like that.

I really like judging debates where the debaters speak clearly, make topic specific arguments, make smart analytic arguments, attack their opponent’s evidence, and debate passionately. I cut a lot of cards so I know a lot about the topic. I don’t know much about critical literature.

Framework debates: I don’t enjoy judging them. Everyone claims their educational. Everyone claims their being excluded. It’s extremely difficult to make any sense of it. I would rather you find a reason why the 1AC is a bad idea. There’s got to be something. I can vote for a no plan-text 1AC, if you’re winning your arguments. With that being said, am not your ideal judge for such 1AC’s because I don’t think there’s any out of round spill-over or “solvency.”

Topicality: Am ok with topicality. Competing interpretations is my standard for evaluation. Proving in-round abuse is helpful but not a pre-requisite. If am judging in novice at an ADA packet tournament, it will be very difficult to convince me to vote on topicality. Because there are only 2-3 1AC's to begin with, there's no predictability or limits arguments that make any sense.

Disadvantages: Like them. The more topic specific the better.

Counterplans: Like them. The more specific to the 1AC the better. Please slow down a little for the CP text.

Kritiks: ok with them. I don’t know a lot about any critical literature, so know that.

Rate of Delivery: If I can’t flow the argument, then it’s not going on my flow. And please slow down a little bit for tags.

Likes: Ohio State, Soft Power DA’s, case debates

Dislikes: Michigan, debaters that are not comprehensible, District 7 schools that cut and paste evidence from other schools and present it as their own without alteration. Do that in front of me and I might vote against you automatically.

I've been the Director of Debate at the US Naval Academy since 2005. I debated at Catholic University in the late 90s/early 2000s.

Put me on the doc thread: danielle.verney@gmail.com. Please use the wiki as much as possible!

Four things I hate--this number has gone up:

1. WASTING TIME IN DEBATES--what is prep time? This isn't an existential question. Prep time is anything you do to prepare for a debate. That means when it's start time for the debate, everyone should be READY TO START--restrooms visited, water gathered, stand assembled, doc thread started, timer in hand, snacks ready for your judge (jk). Any of these things that need to happen during a debate are technically prep time and thus should probably happen either during your prep or the other team's prep. The 2:15 decision deadline is an unequivocal good because it makes me 100% more likely to get a reasonable amount of sleep at night which makes me a better judge/coach/administrator/human, but y'all need to get better at managing your time to make it work.

2. Elusiveness (especially in Cross-Ex but during speeches too): “I don’t know” is an acceptable answer. Taking your questioner on a goose-chase for the answer to a simple question is not. Pretending you don't know how the plan works or what it does or that there are a whole bunch of ways it MIGHT happen is not persuasive to me, it just makes it look like you don't know what's going on. Answer the counterplan; tell me it's cheating--I'm one of the like 5 judges in the community who believe you.

3. Debaters who get mad that I didn’t read their one piece of really sweet evidence. If you want me to understand the warrants of the evidence and how they compare to the warrants of the other team’s evidence, maybe you should talk about them in one of your speeches. Read less bad cards and talk about the good ones more--tell me how your one good card is better than their 12 bad ones.

4. Rudeness. Don’t be rude to your partner, don’t be rude to the other team, and DEFINITELY don’t be rude to me. Excessive cursing is frowned upon (louder for the people in the back). Conversely, if you are nice, you will probably be rewarded with points. Entertain me. I enjoy pop culture references, random yelling of "D7", humorous cross-x exchanges, and just about any kind of joke. I spend a LOT of time judging debates, please make it enjoyable, or at least not uncomfortable.

Performance/Ks of Debate:

I’m going to be painfully honest here and say that I don’t like performance debate or critiques of current debate practices. I’m also going to state the obvious and say that I really like policy debate. Why? Well, I guess it’s the same reason that some people root for the Yankees over the Red Sox—I’m evil. Actually, it’s because I think there are a lot of specific educational benefits to traditional policy debate that you can’t get anywhere else. There might be a lot of educational benefits to performances, but I think that you can get those benefits from doing other activities too, which isn’t necessarily true of policy-style debate. If this makes you want to strike me, I heartily encourage you to do so.

HOWEVER--the opposing team would need to advance those arguments to win the debate. Do I think status quo debate is good? Yes. Will I vote on "debate is good" without that argument having been made? No. If the opposing team concedes the framework debate or doesn't advance "status quo debate good" as their framework arg, I'm not going to vote on it, obviously; the debate would proceed as agreed to by both teams. I have judged these debates before and have voted on the arguments in the round.

Kritiks:

Whatevs, if it’s your thing, you can do it in front of me. I’m pretty smart, which means I attempt to avoid reading post-modern philosophy as much as possible, and the only languages I currently speak with any level of fluency are English and Pig Latin. This means you should probably SLOW DOWN and find a convenient time to define any words that are Greek/German/made up by an aging beatnik. The problem I have with most Ks is that they have totally sweet, awesome impacts but there’s little link to the aff (or no harder link to the aff than to the status quo), so maybe that’s something that both the aff and neg should work on in the round. I really prefer Kritiks with alternatives, and I prefer the alternative not be “reject the plan”.

Counterplans:

I think lots of counterplans (consult, international actor, conditions, etc) are probably cheating. As a director of a small school, I don't have a huge problem with cheating if you can defend it and do it well. I wouldn't make this the "A strat" for me if you've got other options, but I appreciate that there sometimes aren't any and I promise not to throw things or set the ballot on fire if you've gotta roll with it.

Not to sound like a grumpy old person (though I am) but I think conditionality run amok is hurting debate. I'm probably okay with 1 CP, 1 K, and the status quo as an option until the 2nr (test the rez from a variety of standpoints, etc). Any more than that and you're pushing my buttons. I'm about as likely to "judge kick" a CP for you as I am to kick a winning field goal for the Steelers (not gonna happen).

Disads:
There’s nothing better than a good disad. What do I mean by a good disad? Well, it should have a pretty clear, and ideally pretty specific, link to the affirmative. It should also (and here’s the part lots of debaters forget about) have some form of internal link that goes from the link to the impact. Aff—if the neg doesn’t have one of those things, you might want to point it out to me.

If your disad makes my internal BS-ometer go off I'm gonna tank your points.


Topicality/Other Procedurals:
I don’t evaluate T like it’s a disad, which I think is the current fashionable thing to say, because unlike lots of people, I don’t think your aff advantages can outweigh T in the way that the aff could outweigh a disad. So I don’t focus as much on the “best” interpretation—if the aff interp is good but not as good as the neg’s, the aff will probably win in front of me. This means I think the neg really needs to focus on the ground and limits debate—here is where you can persuade me that something is really bad.

I think topics are becoming more broad and vague, and understand negative frustration at attempting to engage in a debate about the plan's mechanism or what the plan actually does (often the very best parts of a debate in my opinion). I feel like I can be fairly easily persuaded to vote against a team that just uses resolutional language without a description of what that means in a piece of solvency evidence or a cross-examination clarification. I think neg teams will need to win significant ground loss claims to be successful in front of me (can't just roll with agent cps key) but I think I am more easily persuaded on these arguments than I have been in the past.

Experience - 3 years of High School Policy (this was from 07-10) then started debating for Army halfway through last season, so I have 2 semesters worth of college experience.

I'll consider any argument you make, so debate what you enjoy in front of me. I think you should understand your argument well, and be able to explain not only your own claims, but also how they interact with the other team's arguments.

Kritiks - I'm not incredibly familiar with most krititks so don't assume anything. Be able to explain the link and alt stories as well as defend your methodology.

Theory - My threshold for theory is somewhat high. I will generally default to reject the argument if that is presented. That being said if you feel that there is genuine abuse then feel free to go for theory just be sure to explain where the abuse is and why that should equal a victory for you. I am mixed when it comes to Topicality. I need a clear violation but I will vote on it.

Framework - Give me a clear framework for making my decision. Explain to me what I should value and how I should weigh and then lay out how that framework applies. When in conflict, give me a clear reason why I should prefer your framework.

CPs - I'm fine with all counterplans just explain how they solve some or all of the AFF and clearly describe the net benefit and how it interacts with your counterplan.

DA's - I'm fine with all disads just be able to explain the link clearly and do good impact work.

Please don't be disrespectful, debate is much more enjoyable to watch and be a part of when everyone is respectful and enjoys the round. Most importantly have fun!

Former Captain at New School University
3 years experience debating, 2nd year judging.

Oh hai. I like kritiks. And warrants.

General stylistic preferences:
Big picture over line-by-line
A few well articulated stories over 20 blippy arguments
Smart arguments over bad cards


Policy Debaters: Don't be too scared, I probably have a higher threshold for explaining a kritik against you considering most "K" debaters were handed a back-file they don't understand and pronounce it "Zee-zek". Link turns and offense on the alternative will be your best friend. That being said, I love a policy option that is not inherently imperialist/islamophobic/etc. Chances are, you're lying about all of your cards so I'm going to give as much weight to "Mitt Romney is the zero-point of the holocaust" and "Consult Gaga" as to "Canadian soft power key to avert nuclear war" and "Consult India"


Counterplans/DAs: I didn't debate these, nor do I judge many. There's nothing wrong with running them in front of me, but if you're looking for a judge who gets the nuance of CP theory, I'm not that guy.

Theory: Sometimes theory debates are really great. Most of the time, they're just a nice way of telling me you refuse to engage the other team's arguments. I'd prefer if you told me why their K is wrong rather than telling me it kills aff offense. I probably am unfamiliar with your blippy theory arguments and you'll probably be reading 10 of them in about 5 seconds. This is probably bad for you and me. I'd rather you save the theory arguments for when there is legitimate abuse and the arg is articulated well.


Kritik Debaters:
I prefer warranted analysis to 20 "cap causes war" cards. I'm not going to vote on a K just because I'm a K hack. I think ethos is pretty important.

Knowledge bases I am very familiar with:
Cap
Queer Theory
Feminism
Spanos
Heidegger on technology

Knowledge bases I'm sort of familiar with
Post-Althusser Frenchies (Badiou, Derrida, Foucault)
Hardt + Negri
Race theory
Wilderson
Deleuze

K on K Debate: I don't have any predispositions for how K v K debates should be had. I think I have a "default" that will influence my decision if neither side frames what the purpose of the round is. That default is probably framed in traditional offense/defense/permutation terms. That being said, I think that frame of evaluating the debate is probably not well suited for two teams that don't defend fiat. Debaters should frame how I view evaluate the round, and why thats uniquely good for education/liberation. I'd probably be the most tabula rasa here compared to any other circumstance.

I like when teams defend something. That seems to be my only burden for K affs, even if it means you only defend that "defending things is bad". Just be upfront about it, rather then making claims like "the aff wins because we start a discussion" and permuting any advocacy they ever make. As the great John "Rossita" Fowle once said, it's really easy to "add their something to our nothing" and therefore ensure aff victory.

Framework: I love good framework debates. I hate bad framework debates. For K affs, I will almost NEVER be persuaded that the aff steals neg ground, or kills clash. You're better off indicting the way they engage with politics/the world rather than going for standards. In other words, I'd rather you read 9 minutes of policy making good, roleplaying good, etc, then 9 minutes of OH NOES WE CAN NEVER DEBATE THEM.

Topicality:
Unless their aff is blatantly abusive (give one visa to one immigrant, for instance) then don't bother.

I think there are two standards for topicality.
One: If a team is intentionally not engaging with the USFG, congratulations, they probably have offensive reasons why topicality is bad. That being said, you'd be better off having a substantial FW debate about why engaging with the USFG is good rather than trying to tell me that queer theory explodes the topic
Two: if you're going to use the USFG, don't be shady. This means I will probably vote on all sorts of T for a team with a policy option and policy impacts that is clearly abusive. I think abuse can be easily shown with FX T affs and Extra-T affs.


Cards: Don't piss on my leg and tell me its rain. Don't read me a card that specifies that the fluid on my leg, is in fact, comprised of distilled rain water. I don't need a card to tell me what is blatantly true or false and neither should you. I will weigh un-carded arguments fairly generously as long as I am familiar enough with the arg to know you're not lying. Debate should be about what you know, not how many lonely nights you've spent in your dimly lit room cutting cards while listening to Bright Eyes.

Kate Ortiz

Assistant Director of Debate - Rutgers University

3 years High School Debate Experience

4+ years College Debate Experience

Updated - 11/12/2013

Here is how I evaluate the debate: I will determine who in this space debated best. That means I will do everything in my power not to intervene with what has been presented to me for the hour and half (maybe more depending if there's tech failure invovled) we spent together.

I will flow using pen and paper. Sometimes I will use my computer if I don’t feel like writing. When it comes to fast, tech debate my pen to paper time will lag depending how quickly you speed through your theory and/or analytical discussion.  Not so much the case when I flow on a computer. Why, then, you ask I prefer to flow mostly on pen and paper? I simply prefer to record the debate in this manner. My flowing skills on a computer are not up to snuff compared to others.

I also have a tendency to not have a timer on me but I will time the debate using my phone. My responses as to how much time you have left will delay because my phone times out and it takes a few seconds more to pull out the timer again. So keep these few points in mind and I will do my best to evaluate your debate to the best of my abilities.

With that said, let's get to the nitty-gritty of my paradigm:

Topicality (also applicable for Theory debates): I use competing interpretations as a default to evaluate if neither side resolves this debate. Oftentimes I judge T debates where neither is explaining really why their interpretation is better for the overall quality of debate. And that’s where I think the discussion really needs to happen. “It overlimits the topic and that’s bad for education…judge” What about education? Is about the burden of research? Is there an area of the topic that will help us understand this topic better? As for K’s of Topicality; I view them as another way of saying counter-standards as opposed to saying they are an independent voter.

Disads and CPs: These sort of debates I am open to hearing (and quite welcome it actually!) since I do love to indulge in hearing a clever link story or perhaps a really tricky CP. Perhaps I might not be the best critic on the circuit because of my response time in flowing. I would prefer if these debates were done a tad bit slower when it comes to analytic and tag-line reading. I'm not talking about Public Fourm slow but just enough that you're clear enough for me to write up a coherent tag on my paper. Generally, I resolve these debates depending on the quality of link and impact discussion. If the debate becomes really close then I will call for evidence that was presented in the final rebuttals and will determine who constructed the most compelling scenario.

Kritiks: Before I had a ridiculous, prentitious standard to understanding how I evaulate kritik debates but really? Debate it out. The more nuanced and specific your analysis of the link discussion is then the more likely you are ahead in the debate. If the debate comes close then, as always, I will evaluate based on the evidence presented and the quality of the analysis that was made.

Alternative Style/Framework: Alternative styles of debate? Yes. Love it. Been there, done that. I enjoy judging them. This is your space and I am not going to dictate to you how you should use your space and voice. That is to be determined by your opponents. Now, speaking of framework, just because I enjoy a particular way people debate does not mean I will not listen to your framework arguments. Ones which call that the aff or neg should do some sort of policy action within the realms of the USfg. As I've said before, this is your space and you should engage your opponents to whichever makes you feel most comfortable engaging in. Does that necessarily make your framework argument a winning strat? Sometimes, yes and sometimes, no. I have voted on framework in the past because the other team either conceded it or had a really defensive answer which does not sway me to vote in their favor.

Paperless Debate: I don’t run prep time if the team is transferring their file into their USB-drive. Let's all pray that there isn't any tech issues.

Speaker-Points:

I evaluate speaker-points based on the level performance of the debate. If you're a novice and don't give the most stellar of warrants in the debate, I will be a lot more forgiving than if you're a JV-debater. But keep in mind the following:

1.) Don't be a McDouchebag. While I am a sucker for the crude and snarky, it shouldn't be at the expense of the other team's feelings by taking cheap ad hominems. Let's be real: you are a bunch of nerds congragating in someone else's school to show off your 700+hours of research. You are the last person to be talking smack. Be smart, not an asshole. 

Another note:
Don't say horribly offensive things. We're talking about "slavery doesn't exist" or straight up "racism doesn't exist because Obama is in office" or call any of the members of this space a demeaning name type comments, If this is pointed out by the other team, no accountability has been taken and you still continue with such conduct then, as stated above, I will have to take this into consideration when assigning speaker points.

2.) I am fine with fast-debate however your speed should not degenerate your clarity. I will shout clear for three-times. If you still continue to be unclear then I will stop flowing until I hear an argument coherent enough to flow.

So here's the breakdown:

29-30: You deserve a speaker award within the top-five and deserve a spot in the late elimination rounds.

28-.28.5: You should be in the top-ten speaker range and I expect to see you in elims.

27-27.5: An average performance. Nothing that really stands out in the debate. There are still areas that can be improved to get you to that 28-range.

26-26.6- There are a lot of areas that can be improved. It could be your execution of arguments or your overall performance in the debate (ie speaking, clashing with the other team). 

25 and under- I think we might have a problem here. You probably done something terribly offensive.

Good luck! I look forward to judging you soon.

Joe Patrice

USMA

Paperless Policy:I'm at joepatrice@gmail.com. Or I can do the situational dropbox thing. Whatever. Regale me with your evidence. I don't read it during the round, I just want it all for post-round evaluation and caselist obligations. I still flow based on what you SAY so don't cut corners on clarity just because I have your speech docs in my inbox.

Flowing: Seriously, I’m not reading your evidence during your speech. Why doesn’t anyone ever trust me on this? Did I do something in a past life that makes debaters pathologically incapable of believing me? Anyway, if you’re not articulating your distinct arguments, you’re taking your chances that I’m not getting what you’re trying to put out there. I consider debate to be a contest between teams to communicate to me what should be on my flow and where, so orient your argumentation accordingly.

Everything Else: I characterize myself as a critic of argument, which is the pretentiousway of saying that I listen to everything, but that, all else equal, certain things are more compelling than others.

NOTE: Do not necessarily interpret any of my preferences as bans on any kind of arguments, or even guides to how to select down. It's a threshold of believability issue.

Policy Debates: Compare your impacts, weigh them, and tell me a story of the world of voting Aff vs. voting Neg. I’ll choose the one that’s comparatively advantageous.

I prefer fewer positions withlonger evidence, clearer scenarios, and more analysis of impact probability ratherthan harping on the massive scale of the impacts. If I hear that a slight increase in spending collapses the world economy triggering a nuclear war, you may as well tell me aliens are invading. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll vote on it, but I’ll die a little inside and there’s frighteningly little of my soul left to kill – I’m a lawyer.

I’m not particularly excited about the world of flinging 4 CPs at the Aff and just playing the coverage game. It’s just not the makings of a compelling debate, you know? Pick a lane! And it doesn’t seem especially cool on a topic featuring legal scholars proposing almost infinite specific counter-proposals to research. I’ve got no preferences on CP/Perm theory arguments other than it bugs me that people don't feel compelled to explain the abuse story like they would on T. I do not think the blip "the Perm is severance" is enough to get the job done and if I’m going to vote on it, I’d really prefer if, before the round is over, I can comfortably explain why it severs and preferably a reason why that is uniquely disadvantageous. But given that caveat, I'm more than willing to vote on these args because people all too often don't answer them well enough, probably because they don't know how to flow anymore. NOTICE A TREND!

In other words, if you're going the policy route, you’ll make me so happy teeing off with specific arguments tied to the real academic/policy debate over the subject.

And if you’re reading this harsh criticism of policy debate with a smug look on your face, slow your roll there Kdebater...

Kritik Debates: Kritiks challenge the advocacy of the other team in salient ways that could be lost in a pure utilitarian analysis. Issues of exclusion and oppression ingrained in the heart of a policy proposal or the representations of the other team can be called out with kritiks ranging from simple “-ism” args to a postmodern cavalcade.

It is NOT an excuse to say random pomo garbage that sounds cool but doesn’t bear upon what’s happening in the round. Esoteric ramblings from some dead French or German thinker can – and often do – have as little to do with the debate round as the hypothetical global nuclear wars that have killed us a million times over in this activity. Look, I actually KNOW what most of that garbage means, but that's not a reason for you to not make sense. Make the K relevant to the specific policy/issue discussion we’re having and I’ll be very happy.

Again, I vote on this stuff, but see above about killing me inside.

When it comes to K/Performance Affs, I’m pretty open to however you justify the Aff (metaphorically, as activism, as some kind of parable), so long as deep down you’re advocating that all things equal, “giving rights or duties to the things listed in the topic would be good.” Faint in the direction of the topic and you’re in good shape.

With that caveat, if you outright refuse to "affirm" anything in the "topic," that's all well and good, just be a really good T/Framework debater. I'll vote for a compelling justification — I’ve recently been told that according to Tabroom, I’m almost exactly .500 in K v. Framework debates over the last few years. I don’t know if that’s true, but it sounds right. Frankly, I'd rather hear "we can't be Aff because the resolution is broken and we'll win the T/Framework debate" than some squirrely "we're not topical, but kind of topical, but really not" thing.

But who am I to judge! Oh right... I'm the judge. Kinda my job.

An honest pet peeve (that I can be talked out of, round-by-round) is that I don't think “performance” means acting out the argument in-round. For example, Dadaism is an argument, not a reason to answer every question with “Fishbulbs!" You job is to sell me that people answering questions with “Fishbulbs” would be good – if you’re doing it in-round you’ve skipped the foundational part.

Topicality: I feel like I've told enough people in enough rounds about this that I'm comfortable putting it here: if you're running this Scalia evidence as a definition of "vest" despite the fact that it is EXPLICITLY not about rights and duties and solely about Article II power or if you're running the "rights are 15 things" from a definition about how the Indian legal system makes distinctions between constitutional rights and statutory legal rights, you're engaged in an act of such intellectual dishonesty that I think I'm willing to vote on that alone if the other team mentions it.

Every time you steal prep time will also kill me a little more inside. But you’re going to do it anyway.

About me:

Director of Debate at George Mason University.

Please add me to chain: japoapst@gmail.com

11/26/2023 Speaker Point Update:

I will be utilizing the Regnier speaker point scale

5+ Random Things that Annoy me:

1. Hostility - I am too old, too cranky, and too tired to hear undergraduate students treating opponents, partners, or me like trash. I literally can't handle the levels of aggression some rounds have anymore. Please just stop. Be community minded. You are debating another person with feelings, remember that. Opponents are friends on the intellectual journey you are having in debate, not enemy combatants. Give people the benefit of the doubt and try to practice grace in rounds.

2. Debaters who act like they don't care in debates. If being a troll or giving some performance of apathy about debate is your shtick I am absolutely not the judge for you. Debate is a privilege that many individuals do not have the ability to participate in due to lack of collegiate access or financial well being, and I think we should treat the opportunity we have to be in this activity with respect.

3. Multiple cards in the body of the email.

4. Yelling over each other in cx - everyone will lose speaks.

5. Interrupting your partner in cx - I am seriously close to saying I want closed cx, I am so annoyed at how egregious this is becoming. I will deduct speaks from both partners.

6. Extending Cross ex past 3 minutes. I will actively stop listening in protest/leave the room. Anything past the 3 minutes should be for clarification purposes only.

7. Wipeout, Baudrillard, Malthus, Con Con CPs, Strike 'x' country CPs, trivializing the holocaust, reading re-prints of books from 1995 but citing it as the reprint date, fiating mindset shifts.

Topicality:

The nukes topic is great for the negative and I do not think I will be persuaded on sub-sets arguments against NFU. This topic is too small give the aff a break.

If cross ex actually checked for specification questions (i.e. "who is the actor" - and they tell you "Congress") - that is the only argument the 2ac needs to make against a 1NC spec argument.

NOVICE NOTE: I think it is ridiculous when novices read no plan affs - do whatever you want in other divisions, but these kids are just learning how to debate, so providing some structure and predictability is something I think is necessary. I err heavily on framework in those debates for the negative in the first semester.

Theory:

Besides conditionality, theory is a reason to reject the argument and not the team. Anything else is an unwinnable position for me. I genuinely do not know how I lean in condo debates. Some rounds I feel like the amount of conditional positions we are encouraging in debates is ridiculous, others I wish there were more. Open to being convinced in either direction.

Counterplans:

Are awesome. The trickier, the better. I’m okay with most of them, but believe that the action of the CP must be clearly explained at least in the 2NC. I don’t vote on something if I don’t know what my ballot would be advocating. I shouldn’t have to pull the CP text at the end of the round to determine what it does. I err to process/agent/consult cp’s being unfair for the aff (if you can defend theory though, this doesn’t mean don’t read them). Also, I think that perm do the cp on CPs that result in the plan can be rather persuasive, and a more robust textual/functional cp debate is probably necessary on the negative's part.

**Delay and consultation cp’s are illegit unless you have a specific solvency advocate for them. Agenda DA Uniqueness cp’s are too – I’m sorry that the political climate means you can’t read your politics strat on the negative, but that doesn’t mean you should be able to screw the aff’s strategy like that. Have other options.

Important CP Judge Kick Note: I always judge kick if the negative would win the debate on the net benefit alone. However, I will not judge kick to vote on presumption. Going for a CP forfeits the negative's right to presumption.

Disadvantages:

Wonderful. Disadvantages versus case debates are probably my favorite debates (pretty much every 2NR my partner and I had). I love politics disads, however, I can be very persuaded by no backlash/spillover answers on the internal link – in so many situations the internal link just makes NO sense. I think there is such a thing as 100% no link and love thumper strategies. Like elections DA's - not a huge fan of impact scenarios relying on a certain party/candidate doing something once they get in office. Think shorter term impact scenarios are necessary.

Kritiks:

2023 update: For the past several years my work with Mason Debate has primarily focused on research and coaching of our varsity policy teams and novices. I am not keeping up with the K lit as I was a few years ago. Please keep this in mind. Everything below is from a few years ago.

I wrote my thesis on queer rage and my research now focuses on a Derridian/Althusserian analysis of Supreme Court rhetoric - but that does not mean I will automatically get whatever random critical theory you are using. Due to who I coach and what I research for academics, I am most familiar with identity theories, biopower, Marxism, any other cultural studies scholarship, Baudrillard, Derrida, and Deleuze. If your K isn't one of those - hold my hand. I think the most persuasive kritik debaters are those who read less cards and make more analysis. The best way to debate a kritik in front of me is to read slower and shorter tags in the 1NC and to shorten the overviews. I find most overviews too long and complicated. Most of that work should be done on the line-by-line/tied into the case debate. Also, debating a kritik like you would a disad with an alternative is pretty effective in front of me. Keep it structured. Unless your kritik concerns form/content - be organized.

Note for policy v K regarding the "weigh the affirmative or nah" framework question - basically no matter how much debating occurs on this question, unless the affirmative or negative completely drops the oppositions' arguments, I find myself normally deciding that the affirmative gets to weigh their aff but is responsible for defending their rhetoric/epistemology. I think that is a happy middle ground.

Critical Affirmatives:

Nukes note: I think the affirmative should *at least* defend that the US' reliance on nuclear weapons for military policy is bad. Some type of critique in the direction of the resolution. Inserting the word "nuclear" or "weapons" into your aff is not enough of a topic relevant claim imo. In general, I believe affirmatives should defend some universalized praxis/method and that deferral is not a debatable strategy.

Overall Framework update: Procedural fairness IS an impact, but I prefer clash key to education. I find it difficult to vote for impacts that preserve the game when the affirmative is going for an impact turn of how that game operates.

Generic Case Update: I find myself voting neg on presumption often when this is a large portion of the 2nr strategy. I recommend affirmatives take this into account to ensure they are explaining the mechanism of the aff.

I find judging non-black teams reading afro-pessimism affirmatives against black debaters an uncomfortable debate to decide, and my threshold for a ballot commodification style argument low.

Individual survival strategies are not predictable or necessarily debatable in my opinion (i.e. "This 1AC is good for the affirmative team, but not necessarily a method that is generalizable). I enjoy critical methods debates that attempt to develop a praxis for a certain theory that can be broadly operationalized. For example, if you are debating "fem rage" - you should have to defend writ large adoption of that process to give the negative something to debate. It is pretty difficult for a negative to engage in a debate over what is "good for you" without sounding incredibly paternalistic.

Overall Sound:

I am partially deaf in my left ear. It makes it difficult to decipher multiple sounds happening at the same time (i.e. people talking at the same time/music being played loudly in the background when you are speaking). I would recommend reducing the sound level of background music to make sure I can still hear you. Also means you just have to be a smidge louder. I'll let you know if sound level is an issue in the debate, so unless I say something don't let it worry you.

Flowing:

I love flowing. I do my best to transcribe verbatim what you say in your speech so I can quote portions in my RFD. I do NOT flow straight down, I match arguments. I most definitely WILL be grumpy if speeches are disorganized/don't follow order of prior speeches. If you ask me not to flow, the amount I pay attention in the debate probably goes down to 20% and I will have mild anxiety during the round.

Your Decorum:

Debate should be fun - don't be jerks or rhetorically violent. This includes anything from ad homs like calling your opponent stupid to super aggressive behavior to your opponents or partner. Speaker points are a thing, and I love using them to punish jerks.

My Decorum:

I am extremely expressive during round and you should use this to your advantage. I nod my head when I agree and I get a weird/confused/annoyed face when I disagree.

<3 Jackie

School: Vanderbilt
Experience: 1 year novice, 1 year JV, 1 year open

General

You should not have to modify your debate style in front of me. Stick with what you know, and you should be fine for the most part.

Unless convinced otherwise, I will default to an offense/defense paradigm. I like trickiness, but only when it’s not underhanded. Dropped arguments are not necessarily guaranteed wins unless capitalized upon, so don’t think the round is over. However, if explained well, I am willing to vote on almost any dropped argument, even if it is (initially) a silly analytic.

Evidence sharing is a must. This does not include analytics, but if the other team wants to see the evidence/sources you read, you MUST provide it to them. This is something I strongly believe in, and I will be very disinclined to vote for you if you refuse. When you give a speech doc to the other team, it must be the exact same file that you are reading from (again, you may delete analytics, but that is the only exception that comes to mind). If you skip cards, then say so during your speech.

Cross ex starts right after the speech ends, and prep time starts right after cross ex ends. I’m not a stickler about flashing files, but if it starts taking too long I’ll tell you to hurry up and start counting against prep time.

Be nice. There is a fine line between being assertive and being a jerk.

Theory

Please provide examples of in-round abuse. Keep in mind that while you may be reading prewritten blocks, the other team and I have to flow. If you spread full speed on theory and I miss something, that’s too bad for you.

Fairness is always good; I highly doubt you will be able to convince me otherwise, but if you do, you lose (think about it). I lean slightly negative on conditionality, but anything beyond one counterplan and one kritik is pushing it.

Counterplans

Counterplan plus disad is a very effective strategy, but be prepared to defend the perm. Many counterplans are cheating, but I’ll vote for them if the aff doesn’t point out why they’re abusive. Theory on this is usually a reason to reject the CP, not the team.

Kritiks

I’m not well-versed in critical literature, so be prepared to explain the K well if you’re running it. I think many teams just run the K in an attempt to confuse the other team, but I won’t vote for something that I don’t understand. That being said, I will vote on a K if (and only if) you can explain the argument using words smaller than fifteen letters and not ending in “-ology.” Otherwise, you’re doing it wrong.

I also believe that many aff teams rely too heavily on cards during K debates. More often than not, rational analytics are just as powerful. The K has many obvious barriers that must be overcome, but it is up to the aff team to point them out and exploit them.

If you are a “non-traditional” team, I will listen to what you say, but I will not do any extra work for you. Tell me what I need to do; don’t expect me to interpret songs or performances on my own.

Cross-Ex

This is my favorite part of debate because it’s where the best analysis usually happens. A lot of debaters get away with making up answers on the spot, but I encourage you to call them out and question deeper. I promise that a good cross ex will be reflected in your speaker points. I should clarify that I do not encourage being a jerk during cross ex; as I’ve said before, there is a fine line between being assertive and being rude.

my email for email chains is arevelins@gmail.com

Quick update 2018 - some years ago I drafted the rubric for speaker points that you see below. Since then I have monitored developments in the debate community on typical speaker point distribution across all judges/tournaments, as discussed online by people who keep track of such things. I don't really dwell on this data much, but I do try to be mindful of community tendencies. Also, I notice how my own debaters read judge philosophies in crunch-time right before a round, and realize debaters reading this want a tl:dr.

Therefore, note that I probably now give speaker points that inch higher than what I initially suggested. This means in most cases I'm giving 28 and above, for debaters who seem to be doing elim-level debate it's usually 28.5 and above, and for especially impressive debate it's 29 and above. I do still dip into the mid-to-high 27's in occasional instances where I want to make it clear that I think the particular speeches really could use some work. At the time of writing (Jan 2018) my average speaker points are about a 28.5.

*******Paradigm Edited 11/10/13, prior to Wake Forest 2013 *******

** Scroll past speaker point scale to get a shorter philosophy explanation **

Speaker point scale:

0 = the debater committed some sort of ethics violation during the round (e.g. clipping cards)

26 to 26.9 = one or both of the following things happened: a) the debater made some kind of major tactical mistake in the debate, such as a completely dropped off-case position, without any attempt to address how they might still win the debate even if that argument is charitably given the full weight that the opposing team prefers. (more leeway on this is given to novice debates) b) the debater was hostile or rude towards competitors in the debate such that opportunities for respectful discourse concerning different ideas devolved into a breakdown of communication. Debaters have different personalities and approaches and I encourage you to explore ways of comporting yourself that express these personalities and approaches (be proud, indignant, cunning, provocative, etc), but please at all times also communicate with each other as students from different schools who respect each other for taking the time to have a lengthy debate round, in whatever part of the U.S. where you may presently have journeyed for such an encounter.

27 to 27.4 = the debater's overall strategy made sense, but various parts of the debate could have used more depth when instead those parts were fairly 'paint by numbers' (e.g. addressing certain arguments with generic/block answers instead of dealing with them more specifically). Evidence comparisons were fairly sparse, but the basic story on a given sheet of flow paper was clear enough.

27.5 to 27.9 = the debater did a solid job of debating. A coherent strategy was executed well. For certain key issues, initial clash advanced into higher forms of assessment, including a charitable understanding of why your opponent's arguments might be good yet your argument is ultimately more important/relevant.

28 to 28.4 = the debater did a solid job of debating across all the flows that were alive in the round. The debater focused on what mattered, was able to swiftly discount what did not ('closing doors' along the way), and took initial clash on key points to highly advanced levels. Given what I just witnessed, I would not be surprised if a debater with points like this advanced to early elimination debates (e.g. double octo's)

28.5 to 28.9 = the debater did everything from the previous scale, but was also able to do this with incredible organization: the most important things were in rank order, the crucial arguments were made without repetition/with cogent word economy, and I felt that the debater's communication seemed to guide my flow along with me. If cards/evidence are in question, you're able to speak of the overall ideologies or motivations driving a certain scholarship/movement, thus "getting behind" the card, in some sense. If a point is made without evidence or without a traditional claim/warrant structure, the debater does so in way that requires translation/interpretation on my part, yet the manner in which I should translate/interpret is also elicited from me/taught to me over the course of the debate. Given what I just witnessed, I would not be surprised if a debater with points like this could advance past early elimination debates.

29.0 to 29.4 = the debater did everything from the previous scale, but approached a sort of fluency that amazed me. The debater not only did what they needed to in order to match or outclass their opponents, but I furthermore felt that the debater was connecting with me in such a way where your arguments trigger understanding almost as a gestalt phenomenological experience. Given what I just witnessed, I would not be surprised if you did well in any of your other debates, prelim or elim.

29.5 to 30 = If memory serves, I have rarely if ever given speaker points that inch this close to 30. This is because 30 is perfection, without any umms, ahhs, odd turns of phrase, instances where you just lost me or where, given a rebuttal redo, you yourself would probably have done that part of your speech differently. If you are this close to 30 then you have perfect command of your opponent's position, of whatever gap you have to bridge in order for things to 'click' with me, and you are able to talk about your research and core arguments in a way where you yourself are clearly ready to push the scholarship/performance that you draw upon to its next heights, if you are not doing so already.

Objectivity and consistency is an elusive ideal: the reality is that subjectivity and some variability is inevitable. I think a good judge should be attentive in debates and vigiliant with self-assessments, not solipsistically but in light of evolving encounters with others. One of the biggest lessons I got out of my philosophy work was the extent to which all humans are prone to habits of self-deception, on many levels.

***** Debate experience

- Debated policy 4 years in high school (won the TOC)

- Debated policy 4 years at University of Southern California (4-time NDT qualifier, elims in my senior year)

- I was away from debate while in graduate school for philosophy

- I have coached Policy and PF debate at two high schools (Notre Dame and Millburn)

- I have coached Policy debate at two universities (Binghamton and Cornell)

- I am currently Assistant Director of Forensics/head debate coach at Cornell University

***** Some views on certain arguments

Any kind of argument is fine by me: I wait to see how debaters respond to what happens in the round and try not to import any predispositions concerning the default way that I should evaluate things. There are various harms/impacts that can orient a given side’s concern, plus various meta/framing/sequencing arguments that grant, reorient, or block my access to consideration of those harms/impacts, depending on how these issues play out in a debate.

Various kinds of challenges to the resolution and norms of the community are fine by me.

Kritiks: I ran them often in high school/college. I studied philosophy in graduate school.

Counterplans can take various forms: bring it on. See below about having full cp/permutation text for the entire round (to check against ‘morphing advocacies’).

Topicality debates: if an affirmative is trying to present a topical example of the resolution being true, but the negative thinks the aff is not topical then it is the negative’s right to go ‘all in’ on such an argument.

I debated policy advantage/da/impact debates almost as often as kritiks. Any politics link and link turn debates need to be laid out pretty clearly for me - mind your jargon please. The same goes for impact scenarios: who, what, against what country, etc.

For any asserted advocacy or test of competition, the plan text, permutation, etc needs to be clearly articulated in the round and written down so that it can be evaluated. For any card that you want me to read in last rebuttals, you should be telling me what I will find when I read that card and why it matters for the debate. I won't sift through a series of cards if you have just mentioned them/rattled off the citations without making use of them.

***** final notes

I have an aversion towards 'cloud clash', i.e. rattling off 2-3 minutes of overview and then basically hoping that the judge plucks out whatever applies towards some later part of the debate. Line-by-line debate and the elegance of organization that it offers is in decline lately. This has a lot to do with recent norms and computer-debating. This is at the cost of clash and direct refutation, and can come across as being aloof/wanting the judge to do the work for you. So, overviews should be short and then get on with actually responding to individual arguments.

I prefer the email chain over jumping flash drives, when possible. One click of ‘send’ and there is no longer the agonizing wait of flash drive driver installation, throwing jump drives around, etc.

Please communicate with each other, instead of yelling at each other (see my speaker point scale above for the under 27 range).

At the end of any round, I will vote for one team over the other and indicate this with my written ballot. This will be the case for any debate round that I can presently imagine.

That is all I can think of. Feel free to ask me more questions in person.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXDFaoEZsbc

Kathryn Rubino
USMA
Put me on the chain: kathrynrubino@gmail.com

I dislike intervening in debate rounds. I would much rather apply the criteria the debaters supply and work things out that way. As a result the final rebuttals should provide me with a clean story and a weighing mechanism. If only one side provides this I will default to their standards. If neither side does this, I’ll use my own opinions and evaluations of the round.

Simply put the debate is about impacts- weigh them, their likelihood and magnitude and we’re doing fine.

I think it is the debater’s responsibility to explain the analysis of their cards, particularly on complex positions. However, I recognize the time constraints in a round and will read cards that receive a prominent place in rebuttals. But I do not like to read piles of cards and being forced to apply my analysis to them. As a side note, I rarely flow author names so don’t just extend the author’s name- also be clear to which argument the card applies to.

I’ll listen to whatever people want to say- but you should probably know my dispositions ahead of time. Be warned however, I have voted against my preferences many times and anticipate doing it again in the future.

I like kritik/advocacy debate. That being said, I do not have a knee-jerk reaction when I hear them. Part of what makes kritiks interesting is the variety and depth of responses available. To get my vote here I generally need a clear story on the link and implication levels.

I enjoy framework debates- debating about debate is fun- and as a bonus I don’t think there are any right or wrong answers- just arguments that can be made.

I rejoice the return of topicality! And I have no problem voting on topicality, even if I don’t agree with a particular interpretation, but I do think a T story needs to be clear and technically proficient.

DAs are great, and the more case specific the better. Make sure you have a clear story and try to create distinctions between multiple end of the world scenarios if that's your thing.

I don’t mind listening to PICs or other interesting CPs, and I often feel they’re good way to test the validity of a plan. However, I am open to theoretical debate here and I’m willing to vote on it.

I will vote on the easy way out of a round- I don’t try to divine the ultimate truth of what the debaters are saying. I’m just adjudicating a game- a fun game that can teach stuff and be pretty sweet- but still a game. So enjoy your round, do your job and I will too.

Quick Info

Last Updated: 05 MAR 2015

Conflicts: USMA / Army, Fremont-Mills HS, Millard North HS

Experience & Background: Army (2 Years), Fremont-Mills High School, IA (4 Years)

Should You Pref Me?

If you are a critical team, or a policymaking team that doesn't just go for theory, then pick me. 

If your only answer to a critical Aff is "T and Framework"... I'm not for you.

I enjoy tricky and intelligent counter-plans, and will reward 2N's accordingly.

With this said, if you have me in the back of the room, run what's going to make the best debate. I might not be the best judge for a T round, but that doesn't mean I won't try to put my prejudices aside.

Cheat Sheet

All of the following are my biases and flawed views of debate. Make sure you do the extra work necessary if you're going against something that I believe by default:

- I like clash-of-world debates. Go for the impact turns on heg or global warming. Read a Nietzsche K  

- Critical / Performance Affs: Yes! But have a good defense of your method.

- Kritiks: If you run it, know it. Also, I love critical debates, but please tailor your links to the Aff. Also, make the framework in which I consider the plan versus the alternative clear. And, you should make the alternative's interaction with the advantages clear (i.e. does the alt solve the case or does the case just not matter?) The Aff definitely has the same burden to clarify this.

- Critical Terminology: I'm probably adequately versed in the literature, (or at least try to be), but my biases are in reading Foucault, Nietzsche, and queer theory. If your kritik comes from a different philosophical field than with what I'm familiar, and uses similar terms with different meanings, (e.g. the big difference between "war is politics" in Foucault and Virilio), make sure you're explaining these terms to me and not just assuming that I know them. Otherwise, comedically bad things could happen.

- Theory: I have a high burden on voting for Affs on conditionality. Two or three conditional options in the 1NC is probably okay. However, that doesn't mean that two conditional counter-plans, one of which is an agent counterplan, (for example), isn't a bad thing. Combining theory arguments is usually to your advantage. Also, the other team conceding a five second extension of theory isn't going to make me pull the trigger for you.

- Topicality: I'm probably not the best judge if you're planning to go for T in the 2NR. Maybe my 2A bias makes me think that reasonability is true, but you're going to have a high burden for me rejecting the Aff if there isn't actual abuse. However, if the Aff is clearly spiking out of your disads, (or whatever), then feel free to go for it. Things like plan lists and clearly defined ground loss are helpful for me when deciding on T definitions. 

- CX: I flow it. Make arguments in it. Refer to it in later speeches.

- Cards: I won't call for cards unless it's a very contested issue and neither team is closing the door for me. If you explain warrants from your evidence and the other team doesn't, I'm going to assume you're correct.

- Feedback: I will make an effort to communicate with you while you are speaking. Me nodding my head is acknowledgement that you're making an argument that is offensive (e.g. not defensive) and makes sense. Looks of confusion or me not flowing mean you might need to reexplain what you're doing.

Things that Annoy Me

- Don't tell me to "read the Smith card after the round." You need to be explaining the warrants from Smith in the rebuttals in a way that clashes with the other team's evidence. If I have to call for cards, that means neither side has done an adequate job.

- Prep time thieves will have their speaker points punished accordingly.

Decision-making

This is not originally written by me, but I think it accurately captures how I view rounds:

"I evaluate with two concurrent modes of “reading” the round: line-by-line technical (to evaluate the tactics of the meaning-machines) and strategic coherence (to look to the efficacy of the second-order construction). Some times, the tactical machines (e.g. a perm debate or impact turn) end up being where we should make decisions (aka flow-debate/line-by-line) and some times the effectuality of the assemble order (“crystallization” “big picture”) matters. You should be guiding me on why we find more meaning in which level (tactical/strategic)."

Adam Scher

USMA

My thoughts on Why Debate is important are best explained here: http://havokjournal.com/nation/can-college-debate-improve-the-civil-military-divide/

COMBAT TROOPS ARE PRESENCE (this is my basic assumption unless it goes completely dropped in the round to the contrary)

Philosophy: I started intercollegiate debate as a novice in 2000 and left the activity in 2004 to begin my career as an Infantry officer in the United States Army.

I returned to the activity as judge/coach in 2012 when the Army returned me to West Point to teach American politics and government.

I believe my experience as a debater helped me become a better thinker, a better leader, and a better defense intellectual than I otherwise would have been without debate. 

I find it hard to operate on any other assumption than debate is about education in the round, in the broader community, and in society writ large. 

I believe we access this education through our discourse, our performance, our policy analysis of potential actions by the United States Federal Government and other state and non-state actors, as well as our understanding of ontology, epistemology, and our preconceived notions constructed by the society we live in.

I don’t think that it is possible for me (or any judge for that matter) to ever make a WRONG decision at the end of the debate round.  We have designed an activity that is subjective – we have rules and guidelines (that are open for debate themselves) to help create objective standards, but at the end of the debate we quantify success by a decision made by the human being in the back of the room. 

That being said there are plenty of BAD decisions in our activity that are/will be made and I am sure that I do/will make more BAD decisions than most other judges in our activity. 

I believe, however, such BAD decisions happen when debaters fail to realize their ultimate goal in the round.  The job of each debater is to convince, compel, persuade the person in the back of the room to cast a vote, sign a ballot, endorse the advocacy, or affirm/negate a resolution.  Explain to me how you think my decision should be made.  Define my calculation process or articulate a framework that can guide my method of thinking.

Mechanics: I dislike intervening in debate rounds. I would much rather apply the criteria the debaters supply and work things out that way. As a result the final rebuttals should provide me with a clean story and a weighing mechanism. If only one side provides this I will default to their standards. If neither side does this, I’ll use my own opinions and evaluations of the round.

I think it is the debater’s responsibility to explain the analysis of their cards, particularly on complex positions. I do not like to read piles of cards and being forced to apply my analysis to them.

As a side note, I have not embraced “paperless” debate since I am just recently returning to the activity.  I flow on paper and I rarely flow author names so don’t just extend the author’s name- also be clear to which argument the card applies to. 

I don’t appreciate sly or clever attempts to steal prep time.

I am not sympathetic to technologic difficulties.

I like to vote on the easy way out of a round- I don’t try to divine the ultimate truth of what the debaters are saying. I’m just adjudicating a fun activity that has been a very important part of my growth and development- but still an activity that is abstract and disconnected in many ways from much of society and many other aspects of our lives.

I hope you enjoy your time as a debater and your round with me as your judge regardless of the final ballot decision - do your job and I will do mine.

Bio: Former PF debater (2014-2018). Been judging PF from 2018-present.

Logistics:

Timing: Time yourself/your opponents. If your opponents are going over time, just raise your phone up (be chill). However, if they go over time and you don't call them out, they get the benefit. Evidence reading off-time, but I reserve the right to say, "Hey, this is taking too long." If all the debaters in the round agree, we can skip grand cross (you can get an extra min of prep instead).

Speed/Speaking: If I'm looking up from my flow and not writing, it means that either a. I can't keep up with you or b. you aren't saying things that I can write on the flow. Either way, not good. If you are worried about the speed issue, give me a copy of your speech.

Etiquette: I'm not very uptight about these things. You can sit during speeches and cross. I don't care about language. I like jokes. To be clear, this just means I like when debaters act chill/normally/informally, I am not ok with insulting/disrespectful language. No need to shake hands.

Also, please get to the round on time, especially at nat-circuit tournaments. If you need a little bit of time to get your stuff together before the round, I will give it to you. Just try not to be late because then I have to tell tournament directors that you don't exist and that will make me and tournament directors sad.

Debate-y Stuff:

Signpost everything. Signpost everything. Signpost everything. Signpost everything. Signpost everything. Signpost...pretty please?

I'd rather not judge a K, you'd better be really good and your opponents really have to not do anything with your K to win with a K. Just don't do it pls. Stay on topic.

No specific advocacy of the Aff (akin to a Policy plan). No alt on the Neg. You can probably tell that I am asking you to not Policy in PF.

Partners can communicate with each other while one of them is giving a speech. Pass them writing on a paper or something if necessary.

Holistically, I am pretty tabula rasa, but if a team says something ridiculous like elephants are purple, if the other team says "no, elephants aren't purple, make them explain the warranting for that claim extensively", that will be good enough response for me.

The beginning (Constructive):

If your frameworks agree, please just stop mentioning it, I'll use it. "But bro, they didn't have a framework, so you HAVE to use ours" is not a good argument (unless your opponents didn't address it at all and it flows cleanly through).

Cross-Ex: I will not judge on what it said in cross-ex. If something important happens, please bring it back up in a speech so I can put it on the flow. Remember I don't care what you say, so don't just engage in cross just to grandstand! Cross-ex can be used to clarify and understand your opponents case so you can make better arguments. Focus on the warranting, cards are not the same things as warrants. Make the discussion meaningful. Seriously, if you don't have any meaningful questions, do not just say things to say things, I do not care at all, we can stop early.

The middle (Rebuttal/Summary):

I like off-time roadmaps before speeches (make it simple, "framework, their case, our case").

I will accept overviews, tell me where the overview goes on the flow (your case or their case).

If you're refuting an argument, tell me what specifically you are responding to. If you're frontlining a response to your case, tell me exactly which responses your frontline applies to. I like numbered responses.

The 2nd rebuttal must address the first one. The first summary should respond to the 2nd rebuttal (also the first speaking team's defense will stick if the second speaking team hasn't responded to it in rebuttal).

When extending cards, I benefit more from hearing you explain the warrant of the card because I really suck at remembering/writing down author names. Example: "Remember the second warrant from John Doe, explaining blah blah blah" <- see how there was an explanation and not just the author name?

Please extend arguments throughout all speeches in a non blippy way, I will straight up cross off stuff on my flow that is not clearly extended. Remember, the summaries contain all the content that you are allowed to discuss in final focus.

Please verbally label turns on the flow, so I can see the offense (just say the word "turn").

If you are gonna collapse on an argument, you can literally just tell me "hey, we are collapsing on contention X"

The end (Summary/FF):

I like carded weighing analysis, but definitely do analytical weighing and explore methodology of studies etc. I really prefer seeing debaters explain the intricacies of their arguments rather than maintain a narrative with what cards flowed through the round. I really hate key voters because they usually lead to bad weighing. Keep it on the flow, tell me why the arguments that are left actually allow you to win (essentially I prefer line-by-line). I strongly encourage collapsing, just make sure to tell me what's important. At the end of the round, I will vote off whoever has the most offense relative to the winning framework. Remember, do analysis using weighing mechanisms like probability/timeframe/magnitude/irreversibility, but then also do analysis on why I should prefer one mechanism over another (strength of link is important). If the last sentence didn't make sense to you, just ask me before the round. If you don't do these things, I will face palm at the end of the round and have no clue as to how I should evaluate offense.

I might ask for cards after the round if I feel like something is sketch or it has been made an issue in the round. However, I would really like for you to call for me to read cards if you feel its needed. I try to be non biased when it comes to my take on the legitimacy of evidence, so unless a team completely misrepresents a card, I can't call them out on their BS unless you tell me to.

Please feel free to ask me questions about my paradigm and the way I judge before the round. I will probably disclose, unless you don't want me to. I will provide a verbal RFD too. You can ask me questions after the round about anything. If you still have important questions but we are out of time because next round needs to start, email me.

Update (2/12/2019): I am in the novice/JV judging pool for the upcoming D6/SECEDA tournament. Except for the Miami Dade Urban Debate League, I have not judged a policy debate this year, and only a handful last year, so please take it easy on me! Be slow, clear and organized. The rest of this judging statement reflects my thoughts when I was judging policy tournaments regularly and is fairly accurate.

I will vote for the team that in my opinion wins the debate, even if inconsistent with my predispositions. But if you adapt your arguments and presentation to me, you have a much better chance of winning. Keep in mind that I do not hear many policy debates and I am not researching the topic as you are. I still enjoy debate, and I believe in it. There are as many ways to do debate as their are debaters, and I appreciate creativity.

I believe that the focus of the debate is the proposition. And if (as with the current CEDA Resolution) that is a policy proposition, it is impingent upon the affirmative to offer and defend a topical plan. Affirmative advantages and negative arguments should have unique links to the affirmative plan, and policy comparison is my default decision framework. I also believe in the burden of rejoinder, the expectation that you offer on-point answers to your opponent’s arguments, and so, the flow matters. But, my flow is not great, especially in a very fast debate, so you should work to keep a clear and clean flow with references to the specific arguments to which you are responding and which you are extending. Computer debating has diminished the direct clash in debate. Debate is defined by clash. You should reference and respond to each other's arguments and track the linear progression of arguments as they evolve horizontally across my flow. Debate requires reading (of evidence), but reading is not debating. I believe that debate is an oral communication activity requiring some reading, but at its best, also offering spontaneity, wit, and creativity.

I believe that debaters should adapt to their audience (i.e., the judge, ME), NOT the other way around. So I am pleased to offer my thoughts about debate in hopes that you will respect them. And feel free to ask me for more detail. Also, I will at times offer some nonverbal feedback during the debate. Pay attention.

Moral, ethical and critical considerations are not only relevant in debate; they are essential components of policy analysis. But the link to the proposition and the plan advocacy do matter to me. I focus on the topic or the topical plan. So negatives, run counterplans, disads, case turns, solvency arguments, and relevant Kritics that link. Run topicality not as a technical violation based on the game, but as a genuine difference in interpretation or definition based in the world. Don’t assume that I know what you know. Please start with clear explanations and definitions. It is your job to identify points of clash or decision criteria for me.

I have no problem admitting that I didn't get it or understand it if I didn’t. It is your responsibility to help me understand the evidence and position during the debate, not after.

I enjoy style and creativity in debate and I support the effort to expand what is considered acceptable proof. But your time is better spent making arguments than playing music during the round, and profanity does not belong in debate. I appreciate style, humor and wit in debate. On the other hand, I am somewhat uncomfortable with excessive self-disclosure and emotion in debate (and, probably, in most contexts outside debate as well).

For years, I have identified myself in the role of debate judge as an educator and evaluator of argument. I am not a referee. Debate is a subjective activity and there is generally not an absolute winner. Rather, it is my job to express my inherently biased perception of which side did the better job of defending or opposing the proposition based on the content of their arguments. I try to minimize my intervention, but to suggest that I can operate outside of my own perceptual screens and personal history is unrealistic.

I look forward to hearing debates, and I enjoy and believe in the process. I hope I will be able to promote a learning environment and a comfortable experience.

Please enjoy the experience and don’t take it too seriously! It is a game in which we are priviledged to participate. It should be enjoyable. And treat your opponents and me with respect and courtesy.

I'm debating for the United States Military Academy for my second year this year. I think debate is fundamentally an educational activity, and my judging will reflect that.

I'll consider any argument you make, so debate what you enjoy in front of me. I think you should understand your argument well, and be able to explain not only your own claims, but also how they interact with the other team's arguments. I'm pretty open to all kritiks, most counterplans, and don't mind a politics disad, just explain them well. Smart analytics will get you further than bad cards.

My threshold for theory is clearly explained in-round abuse. I'm generally of the opinion that both policy and K debates are useful and should happen as long as the affirmative isn't cheating. If you think they are cheating, go for theory, but I'll need you to explain how exactly they put you at a disadvantage. I'm very receptive to counterplan theory arguments, but I would have a pretty high standard for rejecting the team.

My favorite kind of debate is a good framework debate, especially if you find ways to substantively engage the other team with your arguments. That said, I don't have a strong preference for one type of framework. K affirmatives are awesome, but you should have a good reason for your particular methodology. I think debate should be as inclusive as possible, so an exclusionary framework probably isn't going to get very far in front of me.

I'll evaluate the round based on what I see on my flows, but I care a lot about your in round ethos. Speaker points will reflect that. Be nice to your opponents and your partner. Sass can be funny and effective, but don't go overboard.

After the round, I'll be happy to talk about what happened, but I would prefer to discuss how you can better explain your arguments to someone like me, rather than why you think I made the wrong decision.

Have fun!

I'm down for whatever. Just tell me why you win And why they lose.  Also I really enjoy personal analysis on the cards you read, as opposed to just clinging to your card everytime you don't have an answer. It makes you look weak when you keep saying, "well the card says" and then you verbatim read the card.   That tells me you don't understand your own evidence.  Use your own analysis and intuition based on your own evidence or knowledge and tell me who is the winner and why, then tell me why the loser is nothing more than a loser. Thanks.

Introduction:

I debated for Liberty University for four years and have judged for the past two seasons. I have a B.A. in international relations and philosophy, a master’s in religion and theology, and am working on my master’s in public health with a concentration in global health policy.

Because of my diverse educational background, I feel equally at ease adjudicating policy rounds as well as those that are critically oriented. I will discuss specific strategies and positions below, but I would like to highlight two important preferences here:

First, your rebuttals must contain impact analysis. This seems rather intuitive, yet again and again I hear rebuttals that are 95% solvency and link articulations and then, with 20 seconds to go, I hear “extend the impact, causes extinction” or “causes violence.” Write down all the impacts in the round, both your impacts and those of your opponent. Ideally, the 2NR and 2AR should mention each of these impacts, elucidating why yours are more important and how they relate to those of your opponents.

Second, do not alter your strategy for my sake; do what you do best and I will adjust accordingly. If you think you are winning T, go for T. If you think the other team has severely mishandled the K, then go for the K. You can win my ballot with a lucid articulation of just about anything.

Topicality and Framework:

I believe the topic can be a strong starting point for discussion. If you – as the affirmative – believe this is not the case, then argue otherwise. If you believe that the resolution does not provide the best approach to discussing violence or oppression, by all means, offer your viewpoint on the issue. Though I am fairly lenient on what the affirmative must do, I want to make it clear that I will vote on framework if I believe the negative offers a more persuasive articulation as to why USFG action - or, in some instances, any action - is critical for education and ground....and/or the affirmative drops important arguments like topical version of the aff. 

Above all else, interact with each other’s arguments, particularly the framing issues. Yes, line by line is important and all of your opponent’s arguments should be responded to, but please remember the meta-debate that is happening here: what should the aff be doing and how does debate educate those of us who participate in this activity.

Lastly, if you are going for topicality, please explain potential aff’s the untopical aff justifies as well as what abuse as occurred. If you are answering topicality, extend a counter-interpretation. The neg’s interpretation versus no-interpretation extended by the aff almost always means a neg ballot.

K’s/Performance:

I will listen to whatever you feel best conveys your argument. If that involves singing, dancing, powerpoints, or cross-dressing, so be it. You must, however, explain the relevance of your performance to the debate round and to your argument. I am familiar with a wide swath of critical literature; however, my knowledge of Wilderson, Baudrillard, Butler, or Deleuze does not excuse you from explaining what your position is and how it provides a better method of approaching the world.

Role of the ballot: what does “role of the ballot” actually mean? So often – too often – I hear both sides advancing ROBs that are conveniently tailored to their positions. Please do more than just extend the ROB and how you meet. In fact, I would rather hear a somewhat shallow ROB extension and a more detailed discussion of why your impacts outweigh or come first. At the very least explain how the two ROBs interact and attempt to give me a reason why I should prioritize yours.

Disadvantages:

Link and impact analysis is of utmost importance. I really enjoy a good politics debate, one with ample impact analysis and specific link scenarios. Affs: you need uniqueness for that link turn. Please stop extending link turn cards without uniqueness. Also, just because you link turn doesn't mean you should forego putting defense on the DA's impact. 

I will only pull cards if they are highly contested; otherwise I go strictly on what either side has said about those cards. Reading more evidence in the block is strategic; extending the evidence by name and tag in the 2NR is not. Explain why things are true and give me warrants. The greater your specificity, the higher your speaker points will be and the more likely I will believe your scenario.

CPs:

I do not like consult CPs or CPs that compete based solely on the immediacy of the plan. Aside from that, I am open to any CP you have. In terms of theory, I view them in a similar fashion to DAs. If you win a link, but fail to articulate an impact as to why that’s bad, I will not vote for you. Spend most of your time on the impact standards if you are going for theory. As I said on T, an aff that does not extend a counter-interpretation is in trouble. Please do so.

I do not enjoy theory debates (and who does, really?), but for the umpteenth time, I will vote on persuasively articulated and impacted positions.  

Concluding thoughts:

I flow and you should do the same. I’ll know if the other team actually dropped an argument or not. I also flow cross-x, or at least things I deem important from cross-x.

I have an utmost desire to be useful and to make debate as educational a game as it can be. Over the past few years I have judged a wide array of debates and I truly enjoy the variety. Never be afraid to impact turn K’s, critique specific words, perform, or go for politics DA’s for the entire block; do what you need to do and I will give you my attention as unbiased as I possibly can. If you have any questions regarding arguments, authors, etc. feel free to talk to me. 

Patrick Waldinger 

Assistant Director of Debate at the University of Miami

Assistant Debate Coach at the Pine Crest School 

10+ years judging 

Yes, please put me on the speech doc: dinger AT gmail

Updated 9.2.14

Here are the two things you care about when you are looking to do the prefs so I’ll get right to them:

1. Conditionality: I think rampant conditionality is destroying the educational aspects of debate slowly but surely. You should not run more than one conditional argument in front of me.

Reading a K without an alternative and claiming it is a “gateway” issue doesn’t count. First, it likely contradicts with your CP, which is a reason that conditionality is both not educational and unfair. Second, there are no arbitrary “gateway” issues – there are the stock issues but methodology, for example, is not one of them the last time I read Steinberg’s book.

I also think there is a big difference between saying the CP is “conditional” versus “the status quo is always an option for the judge”. Conditional implies you can kick it at any time, however, if you choose not to kick it in the 2NR then that was your choice. You are stuck with that world. If the “status quo is always an option” for me, then the negative is saying that I, as the judge, have the option to kick the CP for them. You may think this is a mere semantic difference. That’s fine – but I DON’T. Say what you mean and mean what you say.

The notion that I (or any judge) can just kick the CP for the negative team seems absurd in the vein of extreme judge intervention. Can I make permutation arguments for the aff too? That being said, if the affirmative lets the negative have their cake and eat it too, then I’ll kick CPs left and right. However, it seems extremely silly to let the negative argue that the judge has the ability to kick the CP. In addition, if the negative never explicitly states that I can kick the CP in the 2NR then don’t be surprised when I do not kick it post-round (3NR?).

Finally, I want to note the sad irony when I read judge philosophies of some young coaches. Phrases similar to “conditionality is probably getting out of hand”, while true, show the sad state of affairs where the same people who benefited from the terrible practice of rampant conditionality are the same ones who realize how bad it is when they are on the other side.

2. Kritiks: In many respects going for a kritik is an uphill battle with me as the judge. I don’t read the literature and I’m not well versed in it. I view myself as a policymaker and thus I am interested in pragmatics. That being said, I think it is silly to dismiss entirely philosophical underpinnings of any policy.

Sometimes I really enjoy topic specific kritiks, for example, on the immigration topic I found the idea about whether or not the US should have any limits on migration a fascinating debate. However, kritiks that are not specific to the topic I will view with much more skepticism. In particular, kritiks that have no relation to pragmatic policymaking will have slim chance when I am judging (think Baudrillard).

If you are going for a K, you need to explain why the PLAN is bad. It’s good that you talk about the impact of your kritik but you need to explain why the plan’s assumptions justify that impact. Framing the debate is important and the frame that I am evaluating is surrounding the plan.

I am not a fan of kritiks that are based off of advantages rather than the plan, however, if you run them please don’t contradict yourself. If you say rhetoric is important and then use that same bad rhetoric, it will almost be impossible for you to win. If the 1AC is a speech act then the 1NC is one too.

I believe that the affirmative should defend a plan that is an example of the current high school or CEDA debate resolution. I believe that the affirmative should defend the consequences of their plan as if the United States or United States federal government were to actually enact your proposal.

The remainder:

“Truth over tech”? I mull this over a lot. This issue is probably the area that most judges grapple with, even if they seem confident on which side they take. I err of the side of "truth over tech" but that being said, debate is a game and how you perform matter for the outcome. While it is obviously true that in debate an argument that goes unanswered is considered “true”, that doesn’t mean there doesn’t have to be a logical reason behind the argument to begin with. That being said, I will be sensitive to new 2AR arguments as I think the argument, if logical, should have been in the debate earlier.

Topicality: Topicality is always a voting issue and never a reverse voting issue. I default to reasonability on topicality. It makes no sense to me that I should vote for the best interpretation, when the affirmative’s burden is only to be good. The affirmative would never lose if the negative said there is better solvency evidence the affirmative should have read. That being said, I understand that what “good’ means differs for people but that’s also true for what “better” is: both are subjective. I will vote on competing interpretations if the negative wins that is the best way to frame the debate (usually because the affirmative doesn’t defend reasonability).

The affirmative side has huge presumption on topicality if they can produce contextual evidence to prove their plan is topical. Specific examples of what cases would be/won’t be allowed under an interpretation are important.

People think “topical version of the aff” is the be all end all of topicality, however, it begs the question: is the aff topical? If the aff is topical then just saying “topical version of the aff” means nothing – you have presented A topical version of the aff in which the affirmative plan is also one.

Basically I look at the debate from the perspective of a policy debate coach from a medium sized school: is this something my team should be prepared to debate?

As a side note – often times the shell for topicality is read so quickly that it is very unclear exactly what your interpretation of the topic is. Given that, there are many times going into the block (and sometimes afterwards) that I don’t understand what argument you are making as to why the affirmative is not topical. It will be hard for me to embrace your argument if I don’t know what it is.

Counterplans: It is a lot easier to win that your counterplan is theoretically legitimate if you have a piece of evidence that is specific to the plan. And I mean SPECIFIC to the plan, not “NATO likes to talk about energy stuff” or the “50 states did this thing about energy one time”. Counterplans that include all of the plan are the most theoretically dubious. If your counterplan competes based on fiat, such as certainty or timeframe, that is also theoretically dubious. Agent counterplans and PICS (yes, I believe they are distinct) are in a grey area.  The bottom line: the counterplan should not be treated as some throw away argument – if you are going to read one then you should defend it.

Theory: I already talked a lot about it above but I wanted to mention that the only theoretical arguments that I believe are “voting issues” are conditionality and topicality. The rest are just reasons to reject the argument and/or allow the other side to advocate similar shenanigans. This is true even if the other side drops the argument in a speech.

Other stuff you may care about if you are still reading:

Aspec: If you don’t ask then cross-examination then I’ll assume that it wasn’t critical to your strategy. I understand “pre-round prep” and all but I’m not sure that’s enough of a reason to vote the affirmative down. If the affirmative fails to specify in cross-examination then you may have an argument. I'm not a huge fan of Agent CPs so if this is your reasong to vote against the aff, then you're probably barking up the wrong tree. 

**Addendum to ASPEC for "United States"**: I do think it is important for the aff to specify in cross-ex what "United States" means on the college topic. The nature of disads and solvency arguments (and potentially topicality) depend on what the aff means by "United States". I understand these are similiar arguments made by teams reading ASPEC on USFG but I feel that "United States" is so unique and can mean so many different things that a negative team should be able to know what the affirmative is advocating for. 

Evidence: I put a large emphasis on evidence quality. I read a lot of evidence at the end of the debate. I believe that you have to have evidence that actually says what you claim it says. Not just hint at it. Not just imply it. Not just infer it. You should just read good evidence. Also, you should default to reading more of the evidence in a debate. Not more evidence. More OF THE evidence. Don't give me a fortune cookie and expect me to give the full credit for the card's warrants. Bad, one sentence evidence is a symptom of rampant conditionality and antithetical to good policy making. 

Paperless: I only ask that you don’t take too much time and have integrity with the process, e.g., don’t steal prep, don’t give the other team egregious amounts of evidence you don’t intend to read, maintain your computers and jump drives so they are easy to use and don’t have viruses, etc.

Integrity: Read good arguments, make honest arguments, be nice and don’t cheat. Win because you are better and not because you resort to cheap tricks.

Civility: Be nice. Debate is supposed to be fun. You should be someone that people enjoy debating with and against – win or lose. Bad language is not necessary to convey an argument.

Judging Philosophy of AJ Warne

I debated 3 years at WVU, I was a critical debater, but I think that I am much more moderate when evaluating rounds. I enjoy the execution of arguments more than their substance most times. Any team can get up and read blocks; good debaters interact with each other and make the activity about having fun and engaging the judge and your opponents.

Do whatever gives you the best chance of winning. With that being said if being morally repugnant is part of your best chance of winning, I’m probably not a good judge for you 

When I evaluate a round I have a default for evaluating the round that you should be aware of. In my mind ever debate has four levels, and I’m not saying I can’t evaluate it in a different order, but you’re going to have to sell me on it because I strongly believe that this is the best order for debate.

1.      You have to be a decent human being. If you’re being sexist, racist, homophobic, or ableist, and the other team makes a compelling case for this as a reason you should lose the round, you’re probably going to lose. With that being said, if they don’t call you on it, you’ll still lose credibility and speaker points. This does not mean that unwarranted instances of the before mentioned -isms should be brought up because you think I’ll vote for them. If you aren’t comfortable with these debates its really easy to avoid them,… don’t do or say anything offensive, if you do it by accident, and explain and apologize for this, you’re going to be in a lot better shape than trying to impact turn racism or lie about what you said.

2.      The second level is framework. My default is to be a utilitarian policymaker, but I am happy to give up that default at the drop of a hat because frankly it’s a bad place to start. More likely though, is that one team or the other will win the way that the round is framed. If you want me to evaluate the round a certain way, tell me, the sooner the better. If both teams are decent human beings, I will then decide the framework debate and evaluate the round from there. It is also important to note that I think framework is seldom a place you can win or lose a round, unless you can win that the other teams interpretation of the framing of the round is bad for you, a group of people, or debate in general, otherwise, its just the forum for making the rest of the decisions in the round.

3.      The third level is theoretical objections. Here is where I’ll weigh theory violations and topicality. It’s important to understand that T comes after Framework in my mind, and you’ll have to convince me otherwise if you want to win that debate. Also keep in mind that the winning framework may preclude theoretical violations. If you have any questions about this, feel free to ask. Theory wise, condo is normally good, but often a reason that the negative’s arguments are going to come up short. A conditional revolution isn’t very convincing in my mind. Perm theory is almost never a reason to reject the team, save your breath and tell me why it means the perm doesn’t work.

4.      The fourth level is the substance of the debate. This is where you talk about the issues, and ultimately where the majority of the debate should take place. Substantive impact analysis will steal my heart and ballot on this flow. Spend time extending and explaining your impacts, I won’t do much work for you here.

A couple quick notes about argumentative styles that should help you out:

Affirmatives don’t have to have a plan text but they should have some sort of advocacy and a reason that I should vote for them. Teams should have some relation to the subject matter of the topic, but I’m very open to interpretations that limit them to USFG action per the resolution and affirmatives that are less so engaged with the resolution as long as you can justify their presence in the debate space and the negative has some way to negate you without saying something that is definitely false (like racism good).

CPs and DAs are very interesting and the best way to win them is to explain the nuances of your link and uniqueness evidence better than the other team. Competition is very important to me in a CP debate.

Ks should have a very strong link. I’m rarely persuaded by a generic state bad link. There should be firm link analysis in the block that explains it more than just a 1NC card extension. I like Ks a lot, but bad Ks are worse than no Ks.

Speed is fine, but you MUST be clear. I will only say clear once pre debater, after that I will make it clear that I am not flowing you.

Be nice, debate is a competitive activity but you don’t get to be rude or inconsiderate to your opponents.

Don’t be a shady debater, give your opponents your evidence in the order you read it in. You shouldn’t need to confuse your opponents in order to win, that isn’t cool.

Paperless debaters should understand how a jump drive works, how to load them onto a viewing computer, and how to get on with life. A paperless debate shouldn’t take any longer than a paper debate. I will stop prep time when the jump drive comes out of your computer, but you should still let me know when you're ending for the most accurate reflection of you prep time usage. 

I debated for USMA for 4 years from 2004-2008. I am now a Gynecologic Surgeon. I enjoy the debate activity.

Email for round evidence chains: fairshasta@outlook.com

In summary, I will vote for anything as long as it is clearly articulated and explained to me. I do prefer that the Aff be topical, but if the Aff can demonstrate that topicality is not important better than the neg, I’m fine with voting for a non-topical aff. I also prefer to hear well articulated policy debates. Assumptions and perspective are important parts of policy making and should be debated if relevant. Good argumentation leads to good education however that may play out in the round. Do not take my leanings as an indication that any arguments are banned. This is not the case. I vote for the best argumentation, not what I agree with.

Be nice to your opponents, even if you are winning/losing badly. Debate is about exchanging ideas, so don’t get upset if someone disagrees with you. It’s sort of the point of the activity. Just debate the arguments. If you think something is immoral and that morality is important, make that argument rather than whining. People will disagree; get over it. Cross ex is binding. Don’t shout at each other or start fighting here either.

Topicality:

I think T is about competing interpretations. Impact your voters. Debaters must define what they are arguing about. Don’t be afraid to go for T, but if the Aff is doing a good job here, it may not be your best option, especially if you are winning some other position in the round.

Theory:

I like deep theory debates if relevant. Debating rules and procedure can be an important aspect of life. Reading a bunch of shells with no examples at lightning speed may not help you. Be strategic here. Tell the story, impact the voters, and cover all your bases on the flows if you are going for this.

Kritiks are just like any other argument in debate. If it is well explained, I’ll vote for it. You must defend your alternative. Tell the story. I prefer well articulated debates with clear impact analysis.

Disads:

Explain the scenario. I don’t want to see some amorphous disad throughout the round that suddenly makes sense in the 2NR. Weak disads (aka, ridiculously complex, improbable, poorly written, bad internal links) typically are not that compelling to me. Trying to win how many times the world will be annihilated based on budget rules stretches my imagination to say the least. War is miserable without needing to escalate to nuclear winter. Tell the story, win the links and uniqueness, and do some impact calculus.

Counterplans:

I like Counterplan debates. Be tight on the theory. Multiple conditional advocacies can be abusive. Gateway arguments can be abusive, but if you can win the theory args, run whatever floats your boat. I do tend to protect Affs from really abusive counterplans, but that doesn’t mean I won’t vote for them. Determine how you are running arguments and go for it. Wanky counterplans can be fun if you do it well.

Performance:

Fine if done well. I see many poorly constructed policy affs with improbably impact scenarios spoken at lighten speed to be a performance in some ways. Be prepared to debate the line by line. Impact the arguments. Tell the story and tell me why you win the ballot. I am not a fan of opacity. A clear exchange of ideas is important.

Years judging college: 12

Topicality: My default is that topicality is about competing interpretations of the resolution. Prove that yours is more net beneficial and provide an impact and you win the debate. I think of this as an evaluative tool for T debates and it applies to non-traditional aff's as well, unless the debaters provide me with an alternate framework. Spec args are fine also.

Theory: Love good technically proficient theory debates. Sentences like "Dispo solves the Neg's offense" are good but warranting them is even better. When I am judging a debate I always feel like it is more important to evaluate the arguments made as opposed to inserting my own personal opinion in the mix. However, when I say that to debaters they still seem to what to know what my general feeling is regarding things like Dispo and Agent CP's... So here you all go. I tend to think that Dispo is OK, Conditionality is rather shady and PICS can go either way depending on the nature of CP. Just to let you know... not a huge fan of the "Our K is a gateway arg". I think that it is often advantageous to have the groundwork for weighing the impacts to CP theory, perm theory, and alternative theory debates explicated and framed by the 1AR. This means reasons why this comes before T and warrants as to why it is a reason the reject the team and not just the arg should probably be made by that point in the debate.

Kritiks: For me, most times good critical debates that center around a position that has an alternative come down to offense (disads) to the permutation vs. in roads against the "solvability" of that alternative. I'd prefer not to feel as though I have to read a ton of your cards at the end of a round to synthesize your argument. My preference when I have to read evidence is to only read cards that is the focus of the finals rebuttals.

CP/DA: I heart a really involved DA/CP debate. I often think some of the best deployment of the DA involves interacting the disad impact with the case. Please take the time to kick them cleanly.

Framework- I really enjoy these debates. Framework debates necessitate that both teams do extremely effective impact work. My biggest suggestion when debating framework in front of me is to make sure to keep the rest of the debate in mind. How can your Aff be offensive even in a world that you are loosing a portion of the framework debate? Competitiveness- Are portions of the Neg’s framework not competitive with Aff's? How does that circumvent the Neg’s ability to garner offense off of the impacts to the framework debate?

Engaging the Resolution/Performance-  If you are a performance team with a coherent arg that in some way engages with the topic area of the resolution you are good to go. I don't need you to advocate state action, endorse fiat... but I do think the Aff should in some way engage the topic area (legalization and one of the subtopics). I really enjoy these debates when they are done well and when, at the end of the round, there is an argument that is being made. I am not the best judge for you if your strategy is to say nothing in an effort to bait the other side into being the only one who actually makes an argument. I feel as though this leads to debate that are woefully underdeveloped, frustrating, and debate only actually occurs when the final rebutalists decide to finally illuminate why they think they should win. 

Run what you want and what you feel you are good at. Speed is fine. Speed and clarity are even better :) Please remember to be polite and considerate. I know many of us tend to turn into a cracked out version of Perry Mason when the timer starts but please forgo this urge and remain civil. Answer questions in CX. Being evasive/sketchy looks bad and makes you seem unsure/insecure about your args. Make me laugh. Don't steal prep. I hate it. No, I really hate it. I feel a certain burden to protect the 2NR from new and unpredictable 2AR extrapolations and cross applications. Finally, debate is for the debaters. Take what I have said above as a guide and not the end all. If you have any questions feel free to ask me! Good luck to all and have fun!

Hi, I'm the Director of Speech and Debate at Poly Prep.

I did 8 years of policy debate in HS & College. I started my career coaching college policy at NYU, was then the Director of Debate at Byram Hills HS, and now have been at Poly for the last 5 years.

I see rounds as technical applications that interact with each other and split out a winner. My goal as the judge is to be the least involved with the decision I make as possible. The more you let this happen for me, the happier you will be with speaker points.

I have no preferences in the types of arguments you run - but make sure to provide a framework for how to evaluate said arguments.

**2020 TOC add-on:

I have been on the sideline from judging for the last several years due to health issues that limited the use of my hands. I am so pumped to be able to judge again. That being said - in order to make sure I have a correct flow, if you are going too fast for my hands to catch up (which for PF should be fine, but just so you know), I will unmute and say 'slower'.