I competed for Solorio (policy) for 4 years and am back to debating for Illinois State University (LD+IPDA).

Add me to the email chain: flowerfranco444@gmail.com

Arguments and preferences-

I love k debate. Was I a K debater? No, Conor Cameron wouldn't let me be one. Live out my dreams for me.

Cap- Is probably the root cause to every issue. That doesn't mean I'm always going to vote for it. If you read this you need to have a very specfic alt. Movements and revolutions is way to vague and gets you no where in the round.

Also, I am a product of Conor so I believe that cap is sustainable. Do what you will with this information.

CPs- Love them, they should be in every 1nc. Consult and process CPs aren't the most persuasive but I'm not against them. I prefer agent CPs and advantage CPs. In terms of answering- don't read a billion perms, perm do both is fine unless you explain the other perms in detail.

T- Hate it<3. Kidding, I only hate it if you use it as a time skew. Only read T if you intend on going for it OR are literally put at a disadvantage in the round/aff is untopical. Education> fairness. Debate is an educational activity, if you're not learning, wyd?

Theory-I don't love it<3but its fine if it makes sense. I will not give you a cheap win for it.

K-I was a K debater in my past life. I like K's but explain them!!! Don't just use old blocks and random K lingo that doesn't actually say anything. If you believe in your K, chances are I will too. With that being said, be intentional with what's in your 1nc.

Performance- If you have music playing in the background, explain why it's there. The more I see performance rounds the more I love it. It is so different from traditional debate and I think it is refreshing.

DAs-Should be in every 1nc. Disad turns case>>>>>>

K affs-Not totally experienced in them, willing to listen and learn. If it makes sense to the topic- go for it! If its a K aff that is around every year, try to connect it to the topic as much as possible because I'm less likely to vote for it.

If ur rude in round, ew+u lose+ur automatically ugly.

Viraj Bodiwala

University of Chicago '26

Maine East '22

1A/2N

email: mehsdebatevb@gmail.com

IF YOU READ A K IN FRONT OF ME, I WILL HOLD YOU TO A HIGHER STANDARD.

tech over truth.

I'm a second year at UChicago studying quantum engineering, physics, and computer science. I debated at Maine East High School in Park Ridge, IL, for four years, doing moderately well and breaking to semifinals at many national circuit tournaments. I attended camp at Wake Forest University and the Michigan K Lab. Apart from my freshman year, I read primarily critical arguments, but have also have dabbled in topicality and counterplans. My arsenal consisted of afropessimism, baudrillard, settler colonialism, and some performative arguments. I also read a fair bit of memes.

The following is from Parth Shah's paradigm, someone who I more or less completely agree with it when it comes to debate:

I think that debate is a game with pedagogical and political implications. As such, I see my role as a judge as primarily to determine who won the debate but also to facilitate the debaters' learning. Everything can be an impact if you find a way to weigh it against other impacts, this includes procedural fairness. When my ballot is decided on the impact debate, I tend to vote for whoever better explains the material consequence of their impact. Use examples. Examples can help to elucidate (the lack of) solvency, establish link stories, make comparative arguments, and so many more useful things. They are also helpful for establishing your expertise on the topic. All thing said, at the end of the day I will adapt to your argument style.

I dislike judges who exclude debaters because of what they decide to read in a debate round, I will NOT do that as long as you don't say anything racist, sexist, etc.

Speaker points are arbitrary. I tend to give higher speaker points to debaters who show a thorough understanding of the arguments they present. I am especially impressed by debaters who efficiently collapse in the final rebuttals.

Lastly:

Be nice.

Feel free to mmail me with questions about kritiks, philosophy, UChicago, etc.

Hi everyone, this is my paradigm: I am currently a senior at Jones. I have been a debater for the Jones team for four years and I am one of the triumvirate captains of Jones. I use he/him pronouns. If you can mention at some point that you read my paradigms I will give you +0.1 speaks. - The lesson here is ALWAYS READ THE PARADIGM.

It would be great if you could add me to the email chain here acullen2@cps.edu. Also I will be available for questions later if you need them.

First before we start on what I like: Please keep the debate professional, have fun and all but don't waste my time or the opponents time.

No hate speech of any kind will be tolerated results in auto loss, and zero speaks. I will not call out any authors, unless obviously it is incredibly clear that they are problematic, but if the opposing team does this it will be weighed in round.

Try not to commodify violence for the ballot. As we are debating remember that there are very real impacts outside of debate.

Please please please signpost. This saves so much time in round, it helps both me and the opposing team evaluate arguments and makes the entire debate easier.

Time should be run by the team, I will keep a timer going also.

Please signpost

I tend to lean truth over tech but I do really enjoy theory arguments. I think that truth would mostly be evaluated in a debate that is incredibly convoluted.

On K's. Please explain clearly how it links, how it causes the impact and how the alt solves. I really enjoy K's especially when they are well done.

On topicality. I will tend to lean affirmative here. I think it is the job of the negative to prove that the affirmative is non topical, however, if standards are not extended on the affirmative this is a problem for them.

On theory- Run it 100%. Fun theory is one of my favorite parts of debate.

Case Turns- Also another argument that I find really fun. This is one of the arguments that I mainly run, so I am pretty well versed in them.

Part of debate is understanding when is the right time for a specific argument. Please understand and reflect on your privileges as a school before reading arguments like "small schools T". Also understand that debate is a game that we all can engage in, and ensure that every argument you make is welcoming to me and the other team. I am fine with uncomfortable arguments as long as they do not cross into being problematic.

Debate is about learning, and having fun with your arguments. Good luck with your round!

Hello!

I have been involved in policy debate for several years and I am a huge fan of it! I enjoy both competing in debate tournaments as well as judging. When judging, I am pretty open-minded to most types of arguments, as long as you can do a good job defending them. Personal opinions on various topics will never affect my decision. Usually, my decision will ultimately come down to one or more of the following: Adherence to the rules of policy debate, arguments dropped/conceded, arguments introduced/extended, and overall articulation/persuasion. Speaker points are largely based on the following: organizational skills, proficiency/overall understanding of the topic, ability to persuade/articulate, and adherence to the rules of debate.

Solorio Academy HS ‘23 --> UIUC '27

She/Her - Prefer if you didn't address me as "judge"

Put me on the email chain: nicholegarcia2023@gmail.com

Tech > Truth

More policy-oriented than anything. That doesn’t mean I’m not willing to vote on anything else. Feel free to run whatever is your style.

Top Level Tingz

• I have glanced over the high school topic very briefly so assume I know nothing about the specifics of your aff/other arguments
• I'm not doing the work for you. Write my ballot, explain dropped arguments and what that means for the round, explain the warrants for your arguments
• I’m a bit more generous with speaks. Most teams get 28-29. This is decided by how you sound (Confidence!!), quality of arguments, and overall behavior in the round
• Trust that I am competent enough to understand what went on in the round overall – Don’t post round me
• I prefer if you time yourself (if you can’t, let me know), stand up during speeches, face the judge(s), FLOW!
• Not very expressive – my resting face looks a little angry (don’t let it make you nervous)
• Absolutely will not tolerate any sort of racism, sexism, ableism, etc
• This includes putting the other team down and attacking them as people rather than their arguments

Brief Background: I debated 4 years at Solorio, competing in both UDL and nat circuit tournaments. I mostly stuck to a strict policy strategy as the 2N but hit a lot of K teams so I have a decent amount of exposure to both traditional policy and K. I went to debate camp at Dartmouth and was taught to debate by the Conor Cameron and Victoria Yonter (<3). Not currently debating for UIUC.

Case Turns – LOVE. Pretty much down with any case turn. Keep consistent and extend it throughout the debate along with your warrants.

DA’s – DA ground has looked a bit iffy :( --> I have a pretty good understanding of the more common DA's but don't expect me to fill in the argument for you. Tell me the story of the DA, explain how the Aff specifically links, and make your impact clear. Impact calc and Impact comparison are super important!

CP’s – The more sketchy the CP the more I’ll dislike (also not a huge fan of multi-plank CP's) but if you’re winning the CP I’ll vote on it. Make it clear how the CP solves the NB, and what the CP does. The CP has to be a reason to reject the Aff. Answer the Perm.

K’s – I don’t love K’s but I am willing to vote on it. I have a decent understanding of K’s but I hold the neg to a high expectation in terms of explanation of the K. If you plan to go for the K explain all of it. I expect explanations for how the K functions, what the role of the ballot is, and what the alternative and the impacts are. If I don’t know what it does you can’t reasonably expect that I’ll be able to justify my ballot for the K.

K literature that I am more familiar with: Cap, Imperialism, Set Col, Security, Fem. Anything else that isn’t a more traditional K you should assume I know nothing about. (good rule is to assume I don't know anything about the K though)

K Affs - Not a big fan --> probably not the judge you want for a K aff. Doesn't mean I refuse to vote on the aff tho it just means I expect a lot of explanation of the aff + interaction/clash with the neg.

K Aff v T --> Love T personally (I ran it very consistently), I expect K teams to be able to answer T thoroughly and properly. I lean more towards the neg. Fairness impacts are good but harder to win especially when the aff is oftentimes a turn to fairness. Other impacts I am a fan of: education (super important to me), limits, predictable clash. In order to win T it should be a large component of the block and the 2NR (but make sure you watch out for arguments on case that need to be answered). K teams can win in front of me but it is important that T is sufficiently answered.

Theory - Don't have any strong opinions on theory (but I do love a good condo round ;) ). Its a bit harder to win less traditional theory in front of me but I'll do my best to put my bias aside and weigh the impacts. DO NOT SPREAD YOUR THEORY BLOCKS. I understand its strategic if your opponents can't flow all of it but neither can I --> if you're going to ignore this and spread it at least send the block.

Topicality (policy) - Also don't have a strong opinion on topicality. I am less persuaded by a generic T block that doesn't specify the aff's violation and I am less persuaded if it's against a core file (huge aff with lots of literature/ground). I think topicality is good for keeping teams in check and preventing neg abuse but keep in mind that you should be able to clearly define what is and isn't topical (having a case list would help). Get creative but make sure your sources/definitions are credible and relevant. In order to win T it should be more than a minute of your block and all of the 2NR ( all or nothing basically).

Email: rgu6@illinois.edu and gurachael@gmail.com (in case one doesn't work)

wy '21 (policy)

uiuc '25 (parli)

I am not familiar with the emerging technologies topic this year so please contextualize whenever you can.

I’m not really good with K debates. However, if you do run a K, make sure it is well explained. Be very clear when explaining the link, impact, and alt to the k. I don’t like super wild K’s, so be careful with those.

For the rebuttals, tell me what I should be voting for and why you should win. During novice year, I think it is especially important to do impact calc and evidence comparison.

Please signpost and tell me which argument you are answering and do line-by-line. This would make it easier for me to flow your speech.

Also, have fun and try your best.

hey! i'm tia, a former debater. i participated in policy debate for 5 years throughout middle and high school in Chicago (Skinner West and Lane Tech Alum).

name: tia (tee-uh)

EMAIL CHAIN: tiashawthorne@gmail.com

always add me to email chain!

pronouns: she/her

first, let's get this stuff out of the way:

online debate: please turn your camera on! let's try to simulate a real debate as much as possible (also no one really cares what you look like...we're all here for the same thing)

"techy" debate stuff-

overall, i will vote for arguments that are debated well. i don't have any preference on what is really ran, but make sure it is done well (try your best)! i

if you don't say it, i won't assume it. make the debate as clear as possible for me

T - impact out why the aff is untopical and why the aff should lose. explain why t is a voter and how it is a clear win

DAs - impact work is so important (your impact > aff harms, or why the aff triggers the impact of the DA). same goes for the aff (why the harms of the aff outweigh the impact of the DA(s)) impact calc often!

K - clear alt story (what does the world of the alt look like, how is it implemented, etc.) aff: please read framework on the K (explain why fw matters and how you win the debate under your own framework). as long as the world of the k is explained and it's clearly linked to the aff in question (and this can be explained) we are good to go.

tech>truth

spreading is good and being fast is good but don't sacrifice clarity (we all want to know what is being said) (i will stop you to say clear if it's unintelligible)

all aspects of the debate need good explanations. impact everything out. make it clear why i should vote for you

ANY racism, sexism, homophobia, or any discrimination/discriminatory language will not be tolerated. I will give you the lowest speaks possible, speak to your coach and tab, and you will lose the round.

(Do not be afraid to let me know if something made you feel uncomfortable either during round privately or after the round is over!)

debate is such a great way to learn new things and make new friends, so make sure to try your best to have fun throughout the tournament!

show me your flows after the round and i'll give you 0.1 speaks!

make me laugh (with a non-debate joke, like genuinely be funny) and i'll give you 0.1 speaks (this is totally subjective and based on my humor but have fun with it!)

Of course I want to be on the email chain -- chwangdebate@gmail.com

HS Debate: 19-23 (4 years) -- Walter Payton

College Debate: 23-Present -- University of Michigan

Debate Coach: 23-Present -- Walter Payton

Top Level:

I think that judging records are more informative than whatever I type in my paradigm. Judging Record

Tech > Truth. I always decide the round off the flow first and foremost. Truth will have no bearing on the round unless the debate absolutely requires it because both teams failed to do literally anything which requires significant judge intervention. As an extension of this, I will not immediately strike arguments off my flow because they are too stupid or offensive to answer. The stupider and more offensive the argument is, the easier it should be to answer.

Throughout high school, I have done both policy and kritik strategies as both a 2A and a 2N. I have read big-stick policy affs, soft left affs, k-affs, 9-off 1NCs, and 1-off K 1NCs. My current style of debate is much more rooted in policy than K.

While I coach both policy and K teams, I spend the vast majority of my time doing policy research. I am very involved in argument coaching, and am usually well-versed in whatever the topic presents.

I do not care if you post-round; I am a firm believer that you have a right to express why you think you should've won the round. Debaters invest a lot of their time to win the round so they should have the ability to express why they believe that time should have resulted in a win. If you think part of my decision is wrong feel free to argue as it leads to better conceptualization of the decision.

If I need cards after the round I'll ask for them.

Online Debate:

Slow down regardless, but if you are unclear in person you should doubly slow down. No one wants part of my decision to be "I didn't hear that argument being made in x speech because you were very unclear."

I will type in chat if I am gone and my camera will be on showing that I am not there. If you start without me being there I will incredibly confused.

Things I like:

Clear framing of my ballot and why you win.

Really smart technical tricks or concessions.

When debaters time their own speeches.

Being funny and creative in your speeches.

Things I don’t like:

Saying the words “oops” or something along those lines at the top of your speech.

Calling me anything other than my name. “Judge” is the main one. You all are like a year or two younger than me calling me that makes me feel older than I am.

Unnecessarily saying my name in a speech just to prove you read the above line.

Being a jerk to your partner and/or the other team.

When the 1AC has not been sent out by the time the debate is supposed to start.

Trying to be funny and failing miserably.

When both people leave after the round. Too many times have I made a decision and have to run into the hallway looking for the debaters.

Kritikal affs:

I have read kritikal affs in the past, but I am still sympathetic to negative framework arguments.

Framework v. K-affs are some of my favorites debates to watch and judge. In my experience the aff wins these debates by winning their offense on the counter-interp and/or turning the neg's offense, while the neg tends to win these debates with smart framing of their interpretation and standards to mitigate aff offense.

If the 1AR makes vague, nebulous assertions about their aff with zero application to any negative offense, I am very reluctant to weighing any new 2AR spin.

I believe that fairness is the best impact, but that it can be either an impact or an internal link depending on how the teams contextualize it in-round.

Teams are not willing enough to go for presumption even when it is the correct 2NR. I am more than willing to pull the trigger on presumption should the negative arguments for it be strong enough. Varying inconsistencies between the 2AC and 1AR on case make pulling the presumption trigger that much easier.

I have little experience with KvK debates. I generally think that the aff gets perms, but I am very flexible on that.

Policy affs:

Do whatever.

A lot of affirmative teams are getting away with way too much and negative teams are allowing them to get away with it. Strong analytics are sometimes enough to take out shoddy internal link chains.

I am better for soft-left affs than most judges are.

Counterplans:

I enjoy counterplan competition debates but I fear that the majority of teams have literally zero clue what functional and textual competition actually mean and just use them as buzz words.

I think that people are either underutilizing immediacy and/or certainty key against process CPs, or they are giving terrible reasons for immediacy and certainty. Generic reasoning behind certainty and immediacy won't win you the round, but actually winning the deficit specific to the CP might.

Counterplan theory is a lost art of debate, which is a real shame because I love these debates. Affirmative teams are allowing negative teams to get away with murder. In a perfectly even debate I generally lean defense, but I am will decide the round purely off the flow. Should you invest the time and effort into effective and high quality theory debating, I am very receptive to such. The words “condo is a voting issue - time skew strat skew” do not constitute a complete argument. If you are just regurgitating your backfile theory blocks against each other I will disgruntledly vote for whoever backfiles are better and give both teams bad speaker points. Conversely, teams that utilize topic specification to describe the division of ground and how the theoretical objection changes will make me happy and be awarded high speaker points.

Saying "we get x condo" or "x condo is good/bad" is really arbitrary and I think is super hard to win, especially when the debate is "1 condo vs 2 condo" or something similar.

The reasoning for why new affs justify infinite condo is strange but I lean either way.

I generally find that word PICs are weak and unpersuasive. If you think that your word PIC is an exception you are welcome to try.

Kritiks:

I have found myself in the back of multiple rounds where the 2NR has been the K and am more than capable of evaluating it.

There has been a fundamental issue with how some teams are extending the K, and it has nothing to do with my predispositions on kritiks. Either:

1. 2NRs are not going for framework or the alt at all and are losing on extinction outweighs a non-causal link, or
2. 2NRs are not extending an impact (to framework, the links, or the K in general).

If you properly extend the K I am very receptive to it; I have found myself voting neg on the K when the 2NR does not have these issues and when the 2NR extends clearly articulated and nuanced arguments. I have no intention of voting up the K on vague, nebulous assertions made in the 2NR that are not applied to other parts of the flow.

I understand the basic premise of identity K's, but I have very limited experience reading them. I read an Orientalism K for a little which was more closely akin to an IR K than an Identity K. I think that saying that there's a link to the plan because of a historical event is a defensive argument for why progress is not possible but without further analysis will most likely not constitute a link to the aff.

I have next to zero experience with postmodernist/poststructuralist literature. I am not someone that easily understands that type of literature, thought or arguments. I will try and evaluate these debates as well as I can, but these types of arguments are far outside my realm of knowledge. You repeatedly saying the word “ressentiment” will definitely not help me. If you really want to win my ballot err on the side of over-explanation.

Topicality:

I am a better judge for evaluating T than most judges. There’s a strange paradox with judges that say that they are “tech over truth” but then have strong preconceptions of T debate that all but signal it is unwinnable for the neg. I have no such preconceptions. I have no preference for one standard compared to another.

I go either way on plan text in a vacuum.

I think that reasonability is very winnable, but only if you properly debate the negative’s debatability/limits push. I think debates are a lot easier to win on T if you frame it as a game of inches rather than a game of extremes. Rather than winning "our interp is good, their interp is bad", it is much easier to win that both models can be good and that either there is a small comparative advantage to one interpretation or conversely that because both are good it's a reason why competing interpretations in this instance is bad. I haven't seen any debates like this, but I definitely think teams should.

Disads:

I think that zero risk is real, and I have not heard a convincing reason why it is not real that is not interventionalist.

Other than that, I don’t think there’s a whole lot that can be said, or honestly should be said. There’s this strange dilemma surrounding politics and “generic” DAs which I don’t really get. A disadvantage is just a negative implication to the plan, there realistically shouldn’t be this much hemming and hawing to what that means. Read the disads you think will win.

Impact Turns

Impact turns are a unique opportunity to research and deploy arguments that challenge conventional wisdom, and are very fun and creative debates. I don't have any strong feelings for one side or another on any impact turn. I do not think that genocide good is an answer to war good.

If the 1AC has read an extinction impact and has said "the plan prevents extinction" the AFF has committed to extinction being undesirable and we should prevent it. If the 1NC stands up and says that the best way to prevent extinction is to go to war with a country, I think that the AFF saying "genocide bad" is not a responsive answer.

Speaks:

Theoretically the mean speaks should be 28.5, and I try will give speaks around there. The chance that (unless something went terribly astray) you get a 27 or a 30 is basically 0. I have and will give substantially different speaker points between partners if it is fitting, and I think low point wins are more common than is documented.

I think that giving speaker points for things like "make me laugh" or "mention x debater" is really dumb. I also think that taking away speaker points for doing thinks like calling me judge is also really dumb. If you are a funny debater that probably already affected the speaks I am giving you positively, so adding more just artificially inflates speaks.

Hotter Takes/Misc.

If you go for a new argument in the 2AR based on the 2NR, you must tell me how to evaluate it or I assign 50% weight to everything which opens the debate up to way more intervention that I am sure anyone wants.

Breaking new on paper, or sending one card at a time, or something in those regards is a little silly, but I guess I see where you are coming from.

There are individual instances of debate or state action that could be contextualized as good or bad, but I think it's hard to say that debate or the state as a whole is inherently either because of those examples. I think that using said specific examples in order to determine that debate and/or the state wholistically is either good or bad is really dumb.

About Me

Whitney Young 23 → UIUC 27

She/They

julia.h.kulinowski@gmail.com and wydebatedoc@gmail.com

My name is pronounced "you-li-ya" and please call me that instead of judge. Being called judge inflates my ego too much.

I've been debating since 2019 and have done a decent amount of judging. I mainly do CDL with a couple nats tournaments sprinkled in. For the past two years, I've been captain of the debate team at Whitney Young. I am going to UIUC and majoring in philosophy. I've gone to the Umich debate camp twice, so feel free to ask me about that or anything in general.

General

Yes, I want to be on the email chain. Please add both emails.

I like kritikal debates more than policy ones. If judges can say that they hate judging K-affs and rarely vote for them, I feel comfortable saying that I hate policy and find the debates boring and one note. Most of them are just an argumentative game of checkers that very rarely amounts to good education. "If the plan passes then extinction from Russia war!!" No. That won't happen and everyone knows that. But, somehow every single policy round ends up sounding like that quote. Read whatever you want in round, however, since you were forced to read my paradigm because you are good, little debaters, I decided to give my little rant.

Time yourselves. I forget to press start on my timer more often than I remember.

Debate is never that deep. Have fun. I hate having to be a round where everyone is taking this way too seriously because it is just so awkward. Go for that meme off case, make jokes, and enjoy yourself.

Please subject the email chain "Tournament - Round# - Aff Team v. Neg Team." I am tired of having a million chains labeled "Email Chain" making a mess in my inbox.

Tag team is fine. But if one partner keeps taking over cx, it will reflect poorly on your speaks.

You can spread in front of me, but I have bad hearing. If I missed your arguments, oops. A good way to make sure I get it down is to send analytics on the doc.

Fast spreading doesn't equal good speaker points. I look at other things like organization, strategy, how you interact with the other team way more than how you actually speak. Personally, I view speaks based on clarity and speed as pretty ableist. That being said, I try to keep my evaluation pretty consistent, but I don't have a solid basis for awarding point. I just go off the vibe.

I am technically tech > truth, but I'm not the best tech judge.

Ethos will take you very far in front of me. I think debate is a communicative activity and it is important be able to persuade the person you are in front of.

Since I wanna encourage flowing as much as possible, if you show me your flows after the round (even if they are really bad), you will get +0.1 speaks.

If you are mean, I will be less likely to vote for you because I hate rewarding rudeness. Sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. will not be tolerated. You will get voted down and get the lowest speaker points possible.

Summary

If you don't wanna read my whole paradigm, here is a synopsis of what I like and don't like.

Love: Case Turns, T, Kritiks, K-Affs, K v K, Theory

Hate: PTX DAs, RVI, CPs but specifically process CPs

Case

Understand your aff. There is nothing more embarrassing than an aff that barely knows what the 1AC says.

Extend the whole story of the aff.

Case turns are funky little arguments that people should read more.

Disadvantages

I HATE PTX DAs! Do not read them. I do not care. They are literally all the same, the evidence is all bad, there is no uniqueness, and the links are generic. There is no "good" PTX DAs. If you read one, I will vote for it, but I will throw tomatoes at you. Do you really wanna spread while dodging rotten tomatoes?

Other than that, DAs are arguments. I'll vote on them.

Topicality

I love topicality.

I don't care if it is a core-files aff, it can still be untopical.

RVI IS STUPID, BRAINLESS, FOOLISH, VAPID, DUMB, LUDICROUS, NUTTY AND CUCKOO! I DON'T CARE IF YOUR WHOLE 2AC, 1AR, AND 2AR ARE ONLY ON RVI AND THE OTHER TEAM DROPS IT, I WILL NOT VOTE ON IT!!!!

Counterplans

Give me an example of a good counterplan. See how you couldn't. That's because counterplans are mid. There is nothing I dislike more than having to evaluate a counterplan debate.

If you read one, they have to solve the ENTIRE aff and have a good net benefit.

Forfeiting the round >>>>>>>>> process counterplans

You can try to convince me that process counterplans aren't cheating, but it won't work.

PIC are abusive, but it is up to the debaters to convince me. I won't just reject a PIC, I have to be told to do so.

However, if you have a funny counterplan........ I could be convinced.

Kritiks

Love, love, love kritiks. They are my favorite arguments in debate.

Explain your kritik as if I've never heard of *insert philosopher of your choosing.*

Please explain how the aff links! Generic links are pretty meh and I much prefer specific links to the aff. Rehighlighted 1AC cards for a language/discourse k links is chef's kiss.

Do you have some kritik in a meme arguments folder that you don't think could ever win a round? Run it in front of me. I can't promise you will win, but you will be high speaks for making me laugh.

I will vote on death good, HOWEVER, if you do the gross death good (you know which one I am talking about) I won't. But a debate about how we view death and how that affects policy-making/debate is very interesting.

I think identity arguments are valid and aren't cheating. Truism arguments are stupid. Always go for inround impacts.

Personal Favs: Security, Baudrillard, Techno-Orientalism, Bataille, Any nontraditional cap tbh

K-Affs

DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!

There is this tradition in debate that novices shouldn't read K-affs. I don't know why. You should read it. I will give you good feedback and enjoy it more than a policy round, even if you sucked.

K v K

DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!

The best debates and no one can change my mind.

Framework

Rules in debate are fake. I don't default to anything as a judge. If you don't read role of the judge and/or role of the ballot, I will flip a coin to decide who wins (I'm kidding....... or am I?).

My favorite framework is epistemology because I think it is true. I don't know why people default to policy-maker as the judge. Until I have access to the nuclear codes, I am just a person deciding who did the better debating.

Really impact out your framework. I need to know why your form of debate is the best.

Hard debate is good debate is literally the best framework argument and no one can change my mind.

I think I tend to lean aff on most framework args. It is very unpersuasive in front of me to say that all k-affs should be excluded from debate. I need clear articulation on why k-affs don't allow for clash, iterative testing, etc.

Theory

I'm one of the only judges who thinks they are kinda fun, especially if they are really dumb.

Don't spread theory blocks. If I don't write down one of your points, too bad so sad.

I don't have set in stone opinions on theory. If you have reasons for why debate should be done a certain way, persuade me.

Condo is the worst theory violation. It isn't your fault, but I've seen a million condo debate, so I don't care anymore.

I will vote on disclosure theory, but don't read it if they have a really nice, updated wiki.

She/her

Jones co-captain, senior, enjoyer of weird arguments

Email chain: evlothian@cps.edu

- Please don't be mean to your opponents or partner, debate should be fun!

- Signpost and give roadmaps

- Label your off case (if you just number them I'll dock speaks-- I don't see it as strategic, just poor organization)

- Tag teaming is fine

- Time your own speeches and prep

- Please don't make me vote on t for a core files aff

- Selective enrollment schools: do not read the "small schools" t argument to me. Think about the resources your school has and if this argument actually makes sense.

- Explain why t and theory are voters

- Explain your links

- Don't run a K you don't understand

Hi, my name is Katelyn, and I am former policy debater for Skinner West and Whitney Young. I now currently judge/mentor both teams, and have been in debate for around 6-7 years. I judge both PF and policy.

My email: kjluu@cps.edu

Here are some general rules/things I like to see:

- Time yourself please, this should be a debater's responsibility

- Spreading is always nice but give roadmaps + signpost (clarity>speed)

- Always include impact calculus in the rebuttal speeches

- I prefer overviews in speeches rather than giving me an underview with remaining time (overviews are always good to hear)

- Organized line by line in the rebuttal speeches is always good

- tag teaming is ok but don't take over CX

- please overexplain rather than underexplain to get through more arguments

- I tend to prefer substance of the debate over generalized arguments or evidence, so make sure you are not just extending cards and evidence but also providing analytics and building clash

- I tend to not take questions/arguments made in the CX into account in my ballot, you must bring whatever it was that occurred up in a speech for me to weigh it and flow it

- tech over truth

AFF:

- always always always extend your impacts- I tend to weigh presumption so please give me impact extensions through your rebuttals

- evidence/source debate is good clash in my opinion, updated evidence is always good

- I don't vote too heavy on perm- I want to see why you expand on refuting net benefits, solvency advocates, etc

- I vote on T, so please take your time to refute it - I really REALLY like well thought out and run T arguments

- I typically go for extinction rather than moral/human rights arguments

NEG:

- I vote on NEG presumption, so please expand squo solves arguments and turns- there are a lot of good case turns that can be abused that typically are not extended in debate rounds- I would love to see clash on case

- I weigh all offcase arguments, but I tend to see DAs as net benefits or loopholes rather than physical arguments on their own (please do run DAs though)

- I don't weigh K too heavily, but I do appreciate framing and theory arguments

- I really like T arguments and clash - please go all in or drop T in the rebuttals- I really hate to see poorly run Topicality

- Be clear when kicking out of offcase arguments and please don't commit a forfeit offense :)

- I am familiar with a few K args, majority of the CPs, DAs and more, but I love to hear new arguments every now and then

That's all I've got, I love to see respectful and educational debates filled with clash. Thanks for reading my paradigm, and good luck debating!

cam, they/she, camnofdebate@gmail.com

last time large substance changes were done : nov 2022

if you are a contemporary reading this and i have stolen things from your paradigm, it's because they are good and i will not rehash something already well-written.

bio

- 8 years of cx debate experience and counting

- happily in college debate limbo (transfer student blues)

- lane tech debate captain ('21)

- lane tech debate co-coach (‘22-now)

- went to the toc in hs if that sort of thing has significance to you

- people who have had a significant effect on my debate style and experience: lila lavender, george lee, geo liriano, sam price, uiowa CE, and the entire university west georgia with an emphasis on CL

top level

online debate: please turn your camera on, I hate listening to 4 black boxes - this excludes tech problems, my laptop is also prone to very dramatic tantrums.

don't call me judge, my name will do just fine.

very little offends me. it should be simple for you to prevail if it's so wrong and you're so right.

in my personal career i primarily went for policy aff's and k's or t on the neg. i generally think that good things are good and bad things are bad. i have few stipulations (probably even less than most) on how the "rules" of debate ought to work, if you win the thing that you are running then i will vote on it.

1) an argument is a claim and a reason (at least).

2) evidence supports your argument, evidence is NOT your argument

3) i won't kick arguments for you

4) line by line debating is non-optional

5) tech > truth (this has nuances, you won't read them if i write them...)

5) if you cannot collapse, you are a bad debater

the most significant thing to remember is that i am a human (by most definitions) that does make mistakes (despite my best attempts). i'm generally proficient at flowing, and i will flow the entire round-barring something catastrophic. i've had excellent and extensive conversations with many other college-age judges about this, during which i have concluded the following. my job as a judge is to do my best to fairly adjudicate the round to the best of my ability, which i can assure you that i will do. if you feel the need to hammer me in the post-round, by all means, go for it, but make note that i will respect you as much as you respect me. there are right and wrong decisions in varsity debates, and judges can & do fail to deliver the right ones, which is a regrettable, yet inevitable part of the game; i do my absolute best to avoid this, and i can assure you i have interpreted every argument on the flow to the best of my working ability.

now, much like keryk kuiper outlines, i am a fairly expressive judge. i laugh when things are funny, i do make faces at things, and i have been known to throw flow paper about in a rather dramatic way. you are under no obligation to change strategies based on the way i react to it, and you will win something that i don't "like" as long as you are winning it on the flow. you may, however, choose to alter it. that is your right and your decision. you are also a human with "free will". do as you please - but note that reacting to those things is a crucial part of becoming a better debater - and if your argument is so bad that i look like i’m about to throw up, good luck getting me to hack for you in the rfd.

i believe it goes without saying i would much rather judge a well-executed policy v policy round than a poorly executed k v k round. just because i have a better substantive grasp on a larger body of k lit than an average clash judge does not mean that i think you should pref me higher as a k team. my ideal debate is something you have the best grasp of, and that you are the most excited about. if that happens to be the k, then wonderful, but if it is also a CP you have labored over then i am equally as enthusiastic. all good debate teams do their best to exert themselves on arguments that they think have the most merit - that is what i want to hear.

below are, as the intro would suggest, my many conflicting opinions on debate. do not confuse this with rules for a round. these are just my personal thoughts, and i take pride in my ability to objectively adjudicate whatever presents itself to me.

k things

K's proper: LT PN was explicitly a set col team for many moons, so i am personally most familiar with that set of lit in the context of my own competitive practice. in my time as a coach, i've also worked on plenty of semio-cap/po-mo/ "high theory" based k's. external to debate, i'm fairly well-versed in anti-capitalist and queer theory literature. this is not an excuse to not judge instruct. i have a strong distaste for k teams whose strategy is to confuse the opponent out of ballots with large, and often unnecessary words. i find this practice incredibly disingenuous and i have (unhappily) noticed its presence increase over time. if you rely on obfuscation, the argument is probably quite poor, and you should not be reading it. on a personal note, in working with the lovely lila lavender for quite some time, i have found myself more drawn to k v k debate over time, as i firmly believe it is the most interesting and innovative form that debate can take.

additionally, i do wholeheartedly agree with her analysis of non-colonized and non-black people reading afro-pessimism as a strategy, for more information I have included the same blog link here

https://thedrinkinggourd.home.blog/2019/12/29/on-non-black-afropessimism/

K on the aff: you must be willing to commit. it is far too often that i judge k aff teams that are determined to make their aff more middle-of-the-road/palatable. clever k teams should be able to achieve equilibrium with effective policy teams with the amount of tools at their disposal and yet they seem unwilling to use them. i am far more willing to hear that debate is better with no competition models, debate should be thrown off a cliff, or that debating the resolution has no intrinsic value than your average clash judge. that being said, i have a stronger preference for k affs that defend something material (specific political project) than the average k judge. too many k affs shy away from fiating the alt, but i digress. as far as content goes, the material that i have the most personal familiarity is outlined above. i think lila says it best when they say "If you are going to reject the res, which is totally cool with me, you should make sure to have justifications as to why the res is bad, and why rejecting it on the affirmative is key."

if you are going to perform, and it is significant to you that the performance is flowed a certain way, indicate that.

i will probably not flow your overview if it is longer than 30 seconds.

i will definitely not flow your overview if it requires a separate sheet.

K on the neg: should deal with the case in some way (either moot it entirely on the FW flow/ fiat the alt/ what have you). generating philosophical or research practice based competition is most likely to be persuasive to me - i am of the many that believe beyond game theory, debate is a research practice. one team will win their FW interpretation, as most other standards are arbitrary. same content familiarity applies here. generally, the neg shouldn't be lazy with their links, and the aff should be smarter debating fiat arguments. i prioritize specificity and spin above all else. i also think affs should be smarter (and earlier) on the FW flow.

my favorite part of nick rosenbaum's theory of debate is that "you do not need an alternative if you are winning framework OR if your links are material DA's to the aff's implementation where the squo would be preferable OR if your theory of power overdetermines the aff's potential to be desirable OR if you can think of another reason you don't need an alt." same material praxis alternative preference as k aff's (internal or external to debate). fiating mindset shifts/epistemic reorientations (i have yet to hear a sound description of what that is) is probably abusive and generally not a good argument. i will (and have - dont ask) vote on death good - if you win it.

FW: i generally believe that framework is probably true to some extent, and net good for clash v k affs because reciprocity is good and so on and so forth. as my judging record would indicate, i am neg leaning in K v FW debates, mostly for the reasons outlined in the k aff section of this paradigm. i find tournament and season preparation disparity arguments fairly silly. for the negative, use smart defensive tactics like switch-side debating and TVA's, explain the flaws in the counter-interpretation (unlimited topic, links to aff offense), and produce smart arguments about limits, mechanism education, or clash.

making sure there is fairness in a competition between two teams is one of the judge's main responsibilities. judges are fundamentally expected to evaluate the discussion honestly; forcing them to disregard fairness in that appraisal removes the prerequisite for debate. on the aff, you should impact turn the process of policy debates on the topic - this is distinct from the affs on the topic. if you win that the process of debating the topic is bad, then preserving fairness is futile to the game.

policy things

T: probably makes its way into 75% of my own 1NR’s, competing interps/quality of evidence comes first. do not hinge your strat on some vague cross ex answer, clear and concise arguments only. additionally, both or either team reading blocks through the rebuttals without refuting the other team's arguments in depth is very boring and not something I want to watch.

Theory: See T. I err aff on condo generally and for the sake of transparency thing, most consult/agent counterplans are probably abusive, but don't let that sway you, i will still vote on the flow work (yes i am a strong believer in the debate truth that neg fiat is bad). i'm predisposed to believe exactly what YOU think debate ought to be.

Da's: make sure you do plenty of impact work, and PLEASE articulate why the impact of your DA overwhelms the harms of the aff. Links exist on a spectrum; the "chance of a link" has to be qualified and then incorporated into the risk assessment component of impact calculus. Expert turns case analysis is invaluable. “Any risk” is inane. Below some level of probability, signal should be overwhelmed by noise, or perhaps the opposite effect might occur. Pretending that one can calculate risk precisely is stupid. Are you really sure that the risk of a disad is fifteen percent? Are you sure it’s not, say, twenty? Or maybe ten? Or, God forbid, twenty-five? If you are able to calculate risk with such precision, please quit debate and join the DIA. Your country needs you, citizen. If not, recognize that risks can be roughly calculated in a relative way, but that the application of mathematical models to debate is a (sometimes) useful heuristic, not an independently viable tool for evaluation. - mollison stolen from matheson which has now trickled down to here.

CP's: win the net ben and how you access it, otherwise i will vote on a nice Aff perm. That being said, If a perm is present in the 1ar, I will NOT automatically judge kick the CP if the squo is preferable. In this scenario, the 2nr would need to instruct me as to why I should do this, however I think judge kick goes aff easily in the presence of a perm.I think lots of counterplans that steal much of the aff (interpret that as you wish) are illegitimate and the aff should hammer them. the aff still needs has to win theory regardless of my personal disdain for certain CP's. i do like a well executed tricky PIC though on a NATO topic, i find them widely entertaining. not sure of their legitimacy, but at least i'll be in a good mood.

final notes

have fun, debate should be something you enjoy doing. be nice and cordial to your opponents, that being said don't be afraid to be assertive. don't clip cards. i follow the nsda handbook re: evidence violation, so any of those issues must be resolved through tab. if the tournament is not NSDA sanctioned and i am instructed to make the decision, i will default to my best interpretation of what "good practice" looks like on the current college circuit/"general accepted community norms". all that good stuff

bonus speaks section

+0.1 for open sourcing (let me know, i won't look)

+0.1 for any good joke in a speech (this is at my discretion, good luck)

+0.1 for novices that show me their flows after the round has ended

Dimarvin (Dah-MAR-Vin)

Email Chain: puerd20@wfu.edu

Nobel '16, Lane Tech '20, Wake Forest '24, Wake Forest M.A '26, Patterns of Movement '∞∞

Forever indebted to Black and Native Debate

The Goats; Amber Kelsie, Daryl Burch, Ignacio Evans, Taylor Brough, Kenny Delph, Ari Collazo, Aysia Grey, those unnamed...and Nate Nys (honorary white man).

TLDR; Since high school, I have been a "K debater". I focus on arguments such as Afropessimism, Black Performance, Black Baudrillard, and other forms of black studies. I think debate should be a space for critical thinking skills and the production of strategies/performances. This mostly implies K v policy debates or KvK debates. You should win that your model of debate over the other team.

K aff vs K:

Prove to me why your model is better, whether that means framework (either), the perm (aff), or the link story and alt (Neg), etc.

Soft-Left Affs/Policy Affs vs K Aff's:

FRAMING IS KEY (judge framing, impact framing, link story, etc.)!!! You should prioritize the offensive you want to go for and make sure you are implicating the other side's arguments. For example, framework and the impact debate, disproving ontology and saying progress is possible, or proving why antiblackness is the paradigm that determines everything and proves why the aff reproduces cruel optimism and how it makes your impact.

FW vs K Affs:

Honestly, this can go either side. It depends on what happens in the debate. But I think the question both sides need to engage with, is how your model of debate produces the best form of education/critical thinking skills, or what (un)limitations there should be to make the best engagements in debate.

Policy:

I didn't do policy land, but I have judged them. Take that whatever way you want for prefs.

Speaker points:

I prefer clarity over speed. Ethos moments are fire too.

Theory:

I haven't been in the back for a lot of these debates.

LD:

1. Every argument needs a claim, warrant, and impact. "Vote Neg after the 1nc because it's reciprocal, we both have one speech" is not a complete argument.
2. Not a good judge for Phil and/or Trix - Don't pref me
3. I am new to LD; however, I have extensive experience in the highest levels of high school and collegiate debate.

Even though I'm debate partners with Sebastian Cho and close with Raunak Dua, I do not believe in the same argumentations that they do, but hopefully, I'll be a new judge for you. Thank you!

Misc:

Even if I have a certain style of debating, if the flow differential is mad different, then GG.

Don't be anti-black, say racism good, etc.

If you make an anime reference like One Piece, DBZ, JoJo's, Blue Lock, JJK, My Hero, Attack on Titan, HXH, Tokyo Ghoul, 7DS, etc; (Mainstream) expect a speaker point boost (.1-.3). Don't overuse them unless they fire.

Just have fun.

Kevin Ramirez

Solorio Alumni 22'

UIUC 26'

They/Them

Email {kramirez6904(at)gmail(dot)com.}

General Stuff:

- Tech>Truth

- Write the ballot for me

- Will dock points if you speak over others/ your partner in cx repeatedly

- Explain why it matters that they dropped stuff, don't just say " They dropped it, we win. Moving on"

- Slow down on/ be clear on Analytics, Tags, and Authors.

- Not familiar with the topic this year, doesn't mean I am completely lay however its gonna take me a bit to understand the arguments

Arguments:

DA: Most DA's blend in together, just explain your link and impacts well and you'll be fine

K: I have a lot of experience running a variety of critiques like Nitzche, Anthro, Security, Cap, etc. Although I do get lost at times during high theory k rounds. Just contextualize your link to the aff and explain your alt.

K Aff's: Quoting my glorious leader

" Good luck to you " - Conor Cameron

T: Im not the biggest fan of T debates, however its not like I wont vote for it. If you explain your impacts and topicality violations well and win then I will vote for you. I am not persuaded by reasonability though which is something to keep in mind.

CP: I give a lot of leeway to the aff when it comes to cp theory since I think a lot of cp's being used now-a-days is just cheaty, I also dont do judge kick unless you tell me to. Otherwise im fine with CP's.

Theory: I used to be very into theory, but not that much anymore. Just like topicality just explain your violation and impacts and you'll be good. However a lot of theory is just not viable, so unless its blatantly conceded or under-covered I wont base my ballot of it. Just stick to the basics like Condo and you'll be fine.

Solorio 23'

I prefer policy have leaned into the big stick impacts and low probability impact calculus more than I would like to admit. (much to the dismay of judges whos rounds devolve to solvency in order to determine probability in counterplan debates) 

This should indicate to you that often I am tech over truth. No matter how little explanation an advantage or DA scenario gets, if its dropped by the other team, 15 seconds of yelling its been dropped thus it is true typically is sufficient to allow me to weigh marginal risk of an impact which for close debate may be all you needed to win.

DA's 

I feel generally positive about voting for non-sensible Bizcon or Politics DA's but its in the execution. Please have updated evidence and a proper link no matter how strong the link is any specificity to the aff is much better than generic links (topic links are a strange grey area but need some "2NC Spin" or new evidence to better justify the link.)

grios11@cps.edu

haaziya saiyed

(Haa-zee-yuh)

LUC 2026

MEHS 2022

used to be 1a/2n

Email - haaziyas@gmail.com

If you have questions feel free to email or ask me after the round!

Not read up on the topic this year, so be sure to explain your arguments in depth.

Top Level:

Very policy but will do my best to adjudicate the round based on the arguments presented in the speeches.

Aff:

Not the best at evaluating critical affirmatives, but explain to me why I should vote for you.

Neg:

DA - Have a link to the aff, if generic contextualize it well enough for me to vote on it. Extend all parts of the DA, uniqueness, impact(s), internal link(s), and link(s). Tell me why it outweighs the impacts on case.

CP - Explain why the counterplan solves the affirmative. Affirmative should extend perms, and negative should answer them if dropped by either side tell me why to either reject or prefer the affirmative.

K - Not the best with these, but give me a clear coherent explanation of why it links to the affirmative, (if you go for the alternative explain why it solves the affirmative impacts), and why your impacts outweigh.

T - Topicality is a voter! Extend standards, limits, and impacts. Tell me why the affirmative is not topical and why it's worse being negative. Please don't read blocks in the 2NR and try to do some line-by-line.

General Comments:

Tech > Truth

Explain and extend your arguments, I can't do all the work for you.

Respect your partner and your opponents.

Tag team cross-ex is cool, just don't take over!

Time your speeches! I'll also time them but it's good practice for future rounds.

Clarity is really important, I'll say clear a few times and if it doesn't improve I'll have to dock speaks.

DO NOT CLIP CARDS IN FRONT OF ME. It's an autoloss and 25 speaks.

hanktsanchez@gmail.com

Payton 23 Michigan 27

he/they

If you think the Rams beat the Saints in the 2019 NFC championship, strike me.

Judging Record

Top level:

tech>>>truth

If you want to know anything about my thoughts, you can ask me in person or email me.

I am good for pretty much anything. I think that ideological freedom and allowing teams to go for silly or counterintuitive arguments is one of debate's best attributes. This does not mean that you should read random nonsense that you do not have a strong defense of.

Postrounding encouraged.

Everything below is just preferences and biases–if you justify what you do and win that its good you should be fine

Only exception is completely new 2ar arguments that dont directly respond to new 2nr args–you can pretty much never justify these

Not a big card reader–its the debaters responsibility to point out the quality of a card/if i should read a card–similarly, its the debaters responsibility to direct me towards which cards support which arguments–only then will i read cards to make sure they’re correct

I will almost never read unhighlighted parts of a card unless directed to during speeches

If you drop something–please justify new answers–i would much rather judge a debate about if the 2nc/1ar/2nr gets new answers than a debate where i decide in 5 seconds because the aff dropped aspec and never justified new answers–similarly, teams should make args that their opponents dont get new answers

If the 1nc or 2ac fails to make a complete/clear argument and the 2nc or 1ar decides to blow it up or apply it in a new way, it seems logical that the next speech should get new answers

If both teams agree to debate the arms sales topic everyone gets a 29.5+

Impact Turns:

Yes

Read lots of cards!!!

KvPolicy:

Good framework debates are some of the most interesting and fun rounds to judge. Bad framework debates are some of the least interesting and fun rounds to judge.

I’m probably better for the k than you think–that being said i debated policy almost all of high school+my 1 year in college.

If you want your performance flowed a certain way lmk

I am not gonna make up my own arbitrary middle-ground framework--i will adhere strictly to the interp that wins the framework debate and any spin about what that means for the round

Should i go for fairness or clash?

I almost exclusively went for fairness in high school, so probably lean that, but do whatever

If your strategy relies on making nebulous assertions and expecting the judge to interpret them for you and then apply that to different parts of the flow, i am not the judge for you

KvK:

I think these debates would be fun to judge, unfortunately, i would have no idea what i am doing but would obvi try to defer to the flow

CPs:

In any given year, i think there a single-digit number of high school teams that can competently and consistently go for competition arguments against counterplans

It makes sense to me that perms should be a yes/no question and not offense/defense

Love theory and competition debates–a few suggestions tho:

• Please have an interp/model

• Impact out your standards

• Prove and impact out arbitrariness

Most persuasive arg against most theory for me is just theory prolif but this generally should be paired with some defense to debatability

How many condo?

I truly do not care

DAs:

I love a good ptx disad, hate a bad ptx disad

1nc uq card: “moderates like x bill” 1nc link:“40 republicans in the house hate nato”--this and similarly ludicrous disads can be brought to zero risk by one 5 second 2ac analytic

T:

T debates seem like the area where debaters read blocks and don't do line by line, which is sad

I really don't care at all what the community consensus on t(or anything else) is

Don't say 'oops'

I prefer Jairo (pronounced hi-roe) over judge, but im fine with either

He/They

jairovillalobos94@gmail.com

2A/1N for Solorio 19-23

Not debating at Northwestern 23-27

Assistant Coach at Von Steuben 24-Present

Background+Top level stuff

I debated both in nat circ and udl (Chicago Debate League) tournaments during high school. Went to camp during my freshie and soph (virtual) years, so if any questions then I am more than willing to answer.

For the current high school topic, assume I know very little---the only experience I have with it is from the other times i've judged/helped coach teams at tourneys

Tech>Truth---Doesnt mean you dont have to contextualize/explain what them dropping something means for the round, you still have to explain and make clear what the argument is for me to evaluate it in your favor

Better for policy---didn't do K debate, but don't let that stop you from running what you want///i'll vote for anything if you are winning it

No specific way to assign speaks, just be nice, speak pretty, explain things well, and youll do alright

I feel like I can be a pretty visual person with my face, so if I approve or disapprove of something then you will be able to tell(nodding head for good, scrunching my face for not so good, you get the gist)

Anything that promotes violence, discrimination, or hate is an immediate L, lowest speaks possible, and a report to tab

Specifics

In case you are wondering about in depth thoughts on arguments:

DAs

I really like disads and I think they are a staple of what neg args should be in debate. For every disad, paint me a story of how the disad actually happens if the plan were to pass, from the UQ up to the moment of the impact(big red button is pressed, oceans rise and we get 2012 IRL, the environment collapses, etc.)

• For the neg---should always be in a 1nc. For later speeches, if running DA by itself, tell me why it turns the case and do impact calc. If running as a net benefit, tell me exactly how the cp avoids the DA. Avoid generic links as much as possible; if generic link is called out then I am much much less to weigh the DA as highly as the aff
• For the aff---the best strat to go for is straight turn imo. If done well , then you have forced the neg into an awkard position and you are fully in control of that flow. Honestly if the neg fumbles the straight turn answers too then I am all for a pure straight turn 2ar. If not possible, then the main canon of arguments work, just prove why case outweighs

CTs

I LOVE case turns. These debates can get messy tho, so for both sides make sure to 1. keep the story clean and concise 2. try to organize LBL as much as possible

• Neg---If you wanna go for a CT, then you have to make sure to tell me all throughout the debate how the aff links and how the impact outweighs. Personally, I dont mind it if you sandbag in the block, so go crazy with impacts if you have them, just make sure to answer all the aff args they present cus even once concession can take out the whole ct for me
• Aff---For most of the CTs run, theres a high likelihood you link. It might just be me, but if its clear the aff links, then I just want to see you bite the bullet and tell me why that linking is good(i.e, if you increase growth then do growth good, if heg then heg good, so on, and give me specifics as to why its good). Obviously, this doesn't mean you can just disregard their impacts, so make sure to also answer or group the impacts they had. If they sandbag in the block, then crossapplying is your friend

CPs

CPs are really interesting because theyre either really good or really mid. In general, Agent/Process cps are legit, I find consult cps boring, and if your cp has more than like 5 planks then don't even run it(even you know its abusive). Also, sufficiency framing is iffy---if your cp doesnt solve the impact of the aff, then why even run it

• Neg---THE CP HAS TO BE A REASON TO REJECT THE AFF, PLEASEEEEEEE. That means even if the cp is plan plus, I still wont vote for it. You need to prove to me in the 2nr 2 things: First, you are able to access the plan and solve for the impacts through your cp, and second, doing the plan alone is bad/doing the cp would solve for discrepancies with the plan alone. That being said, you ALWAYS need a net benefit, whether it be internal or external, and explain how the CP avoids that
• Aff---Personally, I like seeing shifty perms being run and exploited like crazy if conceded. By shifty, I dont mean different wordings of the cp text so dont do that, but shifty as in like "do plan and have agency do x instead". In general, POSTAL works great with cps so just stick to that and youll be good

T

T has sucked these past few topics cus everything is so untopical but borderline topical. That being said, don't just run T as a strat skew cus that just wastes flow and could be used for more substantive off. However, still good to always have T on both sides in case of anything

• Neg---I feel like T is really underappreciated against smaller affs. If you are able to call out a team effectively on how theyre untopical, then keep it going all throughout the round and call out if their counterinterps are generic, if they severely underlimit, and so on. T can get very messy though, so unless you have a really good feeling about T, dont run it because I know we dont wanna argue over definitions for 2 hours
• Aff---If you know you're borderline topical, you better have a damn good counterinterp. Apart from that, main canon of arguments work in front of me

Ks

Ks are really interesting but far from my specialty(I had to debate under a hard right policy coach for 4 years, dont blame me). With that tho, I am really only interested/know more of the main canon of neg ks, so stuff like cap, security, afropess, queer. fem, etc. If your k is high theory, then dont pref me(I dont wanna hear about baudrillard for 2 hours)

• Neg---In front of me, you link you lose is valid ONLY IF you win framework(run it as like a da in a way). I really dont buy many alts of the ks as realistic, so if you know your alt isnt that amazing and the aff is calling you out on it, just drop it and resort to talking about how they make matters worse and why I need to evaluate the K more than I do the aff. However, if you run some generic links against the aff, then I am much much less likely to weigh it that highly if they call out the generality
• Aff---Ima be straight and to the point in what I like to see v ks- first strat, call out why the alt fails and why its probably unrealistic/doesnt solve. Second, if they kick the alt, go for case outweighs and specifically why case outweighs, so if you need util then run it in the 2ac, or impact d then also run it in the 2ac, and hell you can even do case turns k to take out the impacts. For all of that to work though, you NEED to win and stay on top of framework, so keep framework on top of the k flow in every speech. Perms are pretty weak v ks, so still read them but dont depend on them for the 2ar

K affs

In all honesty, I am not in tune with k affs like that, so I am not the best judge to run these in front of. However, if it is your main strategy, then you should run what you are most comfortable with

• Neg---Unless you would also run Cap against them, you should just run FW. I buy FW the most against k affs, just stay on top of their answers to your arguments and you should be alright
• Aff---For a k aff to stick in front of me, I need a clear explanation why running the k aff solves for your impacts and why this round is specifically necessary. I need a role of the ballot from the get go(2ac fs, 1ac preempt maybe even) and for this to be explained in depth in the later parts of the round. In a similar fashion, I need an explanation of why running on the neg cant solve, and you need to explain to me how the alt looks like in action

Theory

Most theory is really a wash for me. The only one I will vote for is condo, but that also depends on the round and how many conditional off are run

Misc. Stuff

I like jokes---if you make me laugh then i'll give you +.1-.2 speaks---specifically, joke about Conor Cameron or Victoria Yonter(and if it flies), i'll give +.3

Please put me on the email chain: sammywinchesterwalsh@gmail.com.

I debated for Northside for four years and graduated in 2022. I am not debating in college.

I lean policy, but I will vote on anything if you are winning it.

Clash is especially important, go a level further than the tag, tell me why you are right and they are wrong.

Please do not forget about Case. 

T and Theory - If you lose any T or theory arguments that are ran against you, I will usually vote against you. Though the standards of the argument need to be impacted out to be considered. For example "They lost T." is not enough for me to vote on, you need to go a level.

DAs and CPs - Very comfortable with them, go for it.

Policy Aff v. K - As I lean policy, if you are running a K, turns case arguments work best with me. On framework for both sides, make sure it is consistent. Please try not to change your interpretation or standards throughout the round. Unless it is an integral part of the K to ignore Case, don't concede or forget about case in the 2NR. I am decently comfortable with the standard Ks, but anything super specific or academic, you will need to make it make sense to me. I will not vote on something I do not understand by the end of the round. If you are going for it, you should be able to explain it adequately.

K Aff - I will not vote on something I do not understand by the end of the round. If you are going for it, you should be able to explain it adequately. Especially since academic K's are about learning. However, if you're framing is based on being confused, you're going to need to do some explanation there, but if you win it, I will vote accordingly. Arguments against K Affs that I like are other Ks and Cede the Political, though anything can work.