Palm Classic
2022 — NSDA Campus, CA/US
LD - TOC Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideWake Forest University '22
Newark Science '18
For email chains: b.aaron3693@gmail.com
Around 10 years of debate experience. I competed in LD/Policy for six years at Newark Science and did 2.5 years on-off of college debate at Wake Forest University.
I was coached by people from Rutgers so a lot of my thoughts on debate will probably reflect theirs. For context on me though, I was primarily a Kritikal & soft-left debater and coached in that variety as well. I also dabbled in a lot of framework debates.
Rather than I having a bunch of opinions on how debates should be and making this paradigm needlessly long, I understand how arguments work. Make good ones and I'll follow. In other words, I don't care what you read so long as you do it well.
That being said....I can't evaluate tricks or hard core phil. Short sentence blips don't process well mentally (or emotionally...) for me. Please don't pref me if this is the only thing in your toolbox. Every argument needs to be fully fleshed out with a claim, warrant, and impact.
Misc things:
Please be CLEAR. Do not forsake clarity for speed. You are slower / less clear than you think. I'Il clear you 3 times max then your speaks will get docked for any subsequent call-outs.
Have fun in CX. It's my favorite (most underutilized) aspect of a debate round.
I love examples and non-abstract argumentation.
My experiences in life will always inform my thinking which means please don't be racist, sexist, or offensive.
And, please for the love of everything, be timely! This is my biggest pet peeve. Don't steal prep (yes, asking a random question to your partner counts as prep time). Don't go over your speech time. CX ends at the timer.
Dhruv Ahuja he/him
Chaminade '21, UCR '25
Please put dhruvsahuja [at] gmail [dot] com on the chain. After the round is over, please send a card document of all relevant cards that were extended in the final rebuttals.
Note for online tournaments:
1. Please slow down and try to enunciate more.
2. If my camera isn't on, I'm not ready for your speech.
3. Please ask for visual or audial confirmation before starting your speech. Thanks!
General:
1. I am firmly strategy > ideology. None of my ideological preferences are strong enough that you should alter how you debate. As long as you make strategic arguments, backed by quality evidence, I don't care what you go for.
2. I care the most about argument resolution. Clear, explicit judge instruction and argument framing make final rebuttals far more efficient and persuasive. The best debaters are able to identify nexus questions of the debate and instruct the judge how to resolve it in their favor.
3. Evidence quality matters, a lot. Presenting high quality evidence, and accurately pointing this out, nearly always trumps mediocre spin. On the flip side, unqualified or otherwise weak evidence can easily be defeated by smart analytics.
K Affs and Framework:
1. K Affs: I find Aff teams are most successful when they use case to impact turn reading framework and/or the model of debate the Neg is proposing.
2. Framework: Neg teams are most successful when they choose framework impacts focusing on the competitive nature of debate, and use that to limit the scope and solvency of Aff offense.
3. K v K: Minimal experience. Detailed judge instruction and big picture framing will help. No strong preference on whether or not the Aff gets a perm.
Ks on the Neg:
1. I care a lot about framework interpretations. Teams should be exceptionally clear about the scope of their interpretation, and how it relates to other portions of the debate (think perms, impact comparison, etc.) as this will be the first part of the debate I will evaluate. I will not artificially insert a 'middle ground' interpretation that is not presented in the debate.
2. Specificity will be rewarded. 2NCs and 2NRs are most successful when they use their theorizing to reexplain the Affs internal links in their favor.
Topicality:
1. The predictability of an interpretation is highly relevant. Teams prepare for the topic based on what they expect it to include, not what they wished it included (otherwise you wouldn't be debating water).
2. Reasonability doesn't mean I'll auto-vote Aff. Please explain what 'reasonability' entails.
Plans/CPs/DAs/Case:
1. Plan and CPs should be specific, and backed by solvency advocates. If your plan is vague, it only means what the evidence supports it to mean. Teams should make smart solvency arguments relating to vague plans and read normal means evidence about how the plan would occur.
2. Better for smart Aff permutations than "CP is illegit". If the CP is competitive, it seems logical that it also legitimate.
3. Note about the Politics DA: "If your uniqueness card is a screenshot of a FiveThirtyEight-esque model, I will not vote for your disad. All it says is that you do not know how probability and risk work." - Parker Coon.
4. Soft-left Aff framing arguments are most intuitive when they provide an alternative model of risk-calculus that sufficiently considers probable impacts, rather than arbitrarily assert a certain form of violence should always be prioritized.
Miscellaneous:
1. No 'inserting' evidence, unless it cannot be verbally read.
2. Mark your cards during your speech. Anything that happens after is your prep time.
3. Clarification questions are CX or prep.
4. Accusations of clipping should include a recording, unless I notice it.
I am a flow judge who debates in college policy and parli for MIT and BU. I am open to hearing all kinds of arguments. See below for specific guidance on arguments and conflicts.
Spreading: I am mildly hard of hearing and rely on some degree of lip reading to understand people so I ask that debaters not spread at their full capacity but just speak fast and I'll let you know if its getting hard to understand.
Signposting: please please please do it, when you're moving to a separate page or getting into links or impacts let me know so I can flow your argument as well as you have constructed it.
(Epistemology) Tabula Rasa: In general, yes. If you drop something on the premise that its absurd or untrue but don't let me know why I will not flow the arg your direction. I use conservative common sense theory in parli but am generally tabula rasa when it comes to what you can and can't drop without explaining.
--------------------------------specific questions and issues (all basically standard) ----------------------------
Theory and Kritiks: Love em in the right context. Standard form should be adhered to but please talk to me before round if you have specific questions or if you want to alert me about how you structure these args differently.
Neg Block Skew: some new off case and on case args in the neg block are valid unless 1AR collapses on theory. Egregious violations and skew will be noted on the ballot. Collapse in the Neg block.
Drops and Collapse: Don't drop important stuff w/o notification, collapse to your best/strongest args.
Presumption of fiat for policy resolutions: fiat grants agency of enactment and enforcement unless a specific issue is highlighted by neg (see: tabula rasa).
Monolithic plans/plan inclusive cp: valid (burden of disproof is on aff and moot args are valid in most cases)
Straight turns: if you run a disad and only offer defensive non-unique args and link turns a straight turn is valid and will be considered on the ballot, to ensure this is noted the opposing team should mention it in rebuttal and closing.
Topicality: sucks, but if someone is egregiously off-topic or skewing the topicality of the debate in some inherently harmful way you should make this arg for sure. Not a fan of topicality stock args if there isn't any specific atopical approach from a team tho (but of course i will abandon this bias to hear whatever debate occurs)
Offense/Defense: I vote on offensive arguments flowed through, if both teams only offer defensive arguments and rebuttals I will adhere to the least responded defense and largest defensive issues. Please do not make me vote on defense it is a messy game.
Anything else I can answer or clarify in the beginning of round! :)
Sexism, Racism, Homophobia, Ableism: no tolerance policy, if you engage in harmful behavior in round we will stop the debate and take it to tab. If your opponent is engaging in some kind of intolerance/harm that I do not notice (which may well be the case) let me know and we will stop the debate and take it to tab. If you are using microaggressions or coded harmful language in your arguments it will be reflected in the ballot.
Affiliations:
I am currently coaching teams at lamdl and have picked up an ld student or 2.
I do have a hearing problem in my right ear. If I've never heard you b4 or it's the first round of the day. PLEASE go about 80% of your normal spread for about 20 seconds so I can get acclimated to your voice. If you don't, I'm going to miss a good chunk of your first minute or so. I know people pref partly through speaker points. My default starts at 28.5 and goes up from there. If i think you get to an elim round, you'll prob get 29.0+
Evidence sharing: use speechdrop or something of that nature. If you prefer to use the email chain and need my email, please ask me before the round.
What will I vote for? I'm mostly down for whatever you all wanna run. That being said no person is perfect and we all have our inherent biases. What are mine?
I think teams should be centered around the resolution. While I'll vote on completely non T aff's it's a much easier time for a neg to go for a middle of the road T/framework argument to get my ballot. I lean slightly neg on t/fw debates and that's it's mostly due to having to judge LD recently and the annoying 1ar time skew that makes it difficult to beat out a good t/fw shell. The more I judge debates the less I am convinced that procedural fairness is anything but people whining about why the way they play the game is okay even if there are effects on the people involved within said activity. I'm more inclined to vote for affs and negs that tell me things that debate fairness and education (including access) does for people in the long term and why it's important. Yes, debate is a game. But who, why, and how said game is played is also an important thing to consider.
As for K's you do you. the main one I have difficulty conceptualizing in round are pomo k vs pomo k. No one unpacks these rounds for me so all I usually have at the end of the round is word gibberish from both sides and me totally and utterly confused. If I can't give a team an rfd centered around a literature base I can process, I will likely not vote for it. update: I'm noticing a lack of plan action centric links to critiques. I'm going to be honest, if I can't find a link to the plan and the link is to the general idea of the resolution, I'm probably going to err on the side of the perm especially if the aff has specific method arguments why doing the aff would be able to challenge notions of whatever it is they want to spill over into.
I lean neg on condo. Counterplans are fun. Disads are fun. Perms are fun. clear net benefit story is great. The sept/oct topic really made me realize I never dabbled in cp competition theory (on process cps). I've tried to fix that but clear judge instruction is going to be very important for me if this is going to be the vast majority of the 2nr/2ar.
If you're in LD, don't worry about 1ar theory and no rvis in your 1ac. That is a given for me. If it's in your 1ac, that tops your speaks at 29.2 because it means you didn't read my paradigm.
Now are there any arguments I won't vote for? Sure. I think saying ethically questionable statements that make the debate space unsafe is grounds for me to end a round. I don't see many of these but it has happened and I want students and their coaches to know that the safety of the individuals in my rounds will always be paramount to anything else that goes on. I also won't vote for spark, trix, punch theory, wipeout, nebel t, and death good stuff. ^_^ good luck and have fun debating
Given that fascists are now doxing judges for their paradigms, I have removed mine from tabroom. My paradigm will not be publicly accessible until cybersecurity and digital access changes are made to protect judges and other members of the debate community. If you want to read my paradigm, feel free to email me at boalsj@gmail.com
Grant Brown (He/Him/His)
Millard North '17, currently a PhD student in Philosophy at Villanova University^
Former Head Coach at the Brearley School; I am mostly retired now from debate
^ [I am more than happy to discuss studying philosophy or pursuing graduate school with you!]
Email: grantbrowndebate@gmail.com
Conflicts: Brearley School, Lake Highland Preparatory
Last Updates: 6/29/2023
Scroll to the bottom for Public Forum
The Short Version
As a student when I considered a judge I usually looked for a few specific items, I will address those here:
1. What are their qualifications?
I learned debate in Omaha, Nebraska before moving to the East Coast where I have gained most of my coaching experience. I qualified to both NSDA Nationals and the TOC in my time as a student. I have taught numerous weeks at a number of debate summer camps and have been an assistant and head coach at Lake Highland and Brearley respectively.
2. What will they listen to?
Anything (besides practices which exclude other participants) - but I increasingly prefer substantive engagement over evasive tactics, tricks, and theory cheap shots.
3. What are they experienced in?
I coach a wide variety of arguments and styles and am comfortable adjudicating any approach to debate. However, I spend most of my time thinking about kritik and framework arguments, especially Spinoza, Kant, Hegel, and Deleuze.
4. What do they like?
I don’t have many preconceived notions of what debate should look, act, feel, or sound like and I greatly enjoy when debaters experiment within the space of the activity. In general, if you communicate clearly, are well researched, show depth of understanding in the literature you are reading, and bring passion to the debate I will enjoy whatever you have to present.
5. How do they adjudicate debates?
I try to evaluate debates systematically. I begin by working to discern the priority of the layers of arguments presented, such as impact weighing mechanisms, kritiks, theory arguments, etc. Once I have settled on a priority of layers, I evaluate the different arguments on each, looking for an offensive reason to vote, accounting for defense, bringing in other necessary layers, and try to find an adequate resolution to the debate.
The Longer Version
At bottom debate is an activity aimed at education. As a result, I understand myself as having in some sense an educational obligation in my role as a judge. While that doesn't mean I aim to impose my own ideological preferences, it does mean I will hold the line on actions and arguments which undermine these values.
I no longer spend time thinking about the minutia of circuit debate arguments, nor am I as proficient as I once was at flowing short and quickly delivered arguments. Take this into consideration when choosing your strategy.
Kritiks
I like them. I very much value clarity of explanation and stepping outside of the literature's jargon. The most common concern I find myself raising to debaters is a lack of through development of a worldview. Working through the way that your understanding of the world operates, be it through the alternative resolving the links, your theory of violence explaining a root-cause, or otherwise is crucial to convey what I should be voting for in the debate.
I am a receptive judge to critical approaches to the topic from the affirmative. I don't really care what your plan is; you should advocate for what you can justify and defend. It is usually shiftiness in conjunction with a lack of clear story from the affirmative that results in sympathy for procedurals such as topicality.
Theory
I really have no interest in judging ridiculous tricks and/or theory arguments which are presented in bad faith and/or with willfully ignorant or silly justifications and premises. Please just do not - I will lower your speaker points and am receptive to many of the intuitive responses. I do however enjoy legitimate abuse stories and/or topicality arguments based on topic research.
Policy Arguments
I really like these debates when debaters step outside of the jargon and explain their scenarios fully as they would happen in the real world. For similar reasons, good analytics can be more effective than bad evidence - I am a strong judge for spin and smart extrapolation. I tend to like more thorough extensions in the later speeches than most judges in these debates.
Ethical Frameworks
I greatly enjoy these debates and I spend pretty much all of my time thinking about, discussing, and applying philosophy. I would implore you to give overview explanations of your theory and the main points of clash between competing premises in later speeches.
If your version of an ethical framework involves arguments which you would describe as "tricks," or any claim which is demonstrably misrepresenting the conclusions of your author, I am not the judge for you.
Public Forum
I usually judge Lincoln Douglas but am fairly familiar with the community norms of Public Forum and how the event works. I will try to accommodate those norms and standards when I judge, but inevitably many of my opinions above and my background remain part of my perception.
Debaters must cite evidence in a way which is representative of its claims and be able to present that evidence in full when asked by their opponents. In addition, you should be timely and reasonable in your asking for, and receiving of, said evidence. I would prefer cases and arguments in the style of long form carded evidence with underlining and/or highlighting. I am fairly skeptical of paraphrasing as it is currently practiced in PF.
Speaks and Ethics Violations
If accusations of clipping/cross-reading are made I will a) stop the debate b) confirm the accuser wishes to stake the round on this question c) render a decision based on the guilt of the accused. If I notice an ethics violation I will skip A and B and proceed unilaterally to C. However, less serious accusations of misrepresentation, misciting, or miscutting, should be addressed in the round in whatever format you determine to be best.
Hi I'm Scott. My background is in policy debate (2004-2018) but I have primarily coached LD since 2018.
I am a great judge for technical, mechanical line by line debate. Clarity and judge instructions are axiomatic.
Online debate: I'm a computer nerd - I use three monitors where I have my flow, the speech docs, campus/zoom, and the ballot all on different monitors. While I do not flow from the speech docs, I do actively follow along. Please note that this is exclusive to online debate and that in brick and mortar debates in person that I do not look at speech docs until after the round has concluded. My flow in both instances will be based entirely on what is communicated during the speech, not reconstructed from speech documents.
Debate is for the debaters. I will vote on any argument that has a valid reason and an explanation as to why that argument wins you the debate. I do not have a preference for how you debate or any particular argument, form, content, or style. I will leave the role of the ballot and the role of the judge up to the debaters to decide in the round. I will try my best to evaluate the debate using the least amount of intervention possible.
Shortcuts
Policy/"LARP" - 1
Philosophy - 1-3#
K - 1
K Aff / Performance- 1
Theory - 1
Topicality vs. K Affs - 4-5
Topicality vs. Policy Affs - 1
Tricks - 1-6#
#ELI5
Updated 2/17/25 Post-D3 Districts/The MAC and Pre-WKU
Hi everyone, I'm Holden (They/He)!
University of North Texas '23, and '25 (Go Mean Green!)
If you are a senior graduating this year, UNT has debate scholarships and a program with resources! If you are interested in looking into the team please contact me via my email listed below and we can talk about the program and what it can offer you! If you are committed to UNT, please conflict me!
I would appreciate it if you put me on the email chain: bukowskyhd@yahoo.com
Most of this can be applied to any debate event, but if there are event specific things then I will flag them, but they are mostly at the bottom.
Topic thoughts - Clean Energy -
No opinion on T - mbi or subsets. Subsets on a truth level are probably topical, but that thought is fleeting and obviously easily swayed with debating.
K links can be awesome or bad, links to the plan >>>>> especially since the literature on this topic is amazing in reference to plan mechanisms (subsidies, taxation, etc.).
Case debating is way too generic I've noticed from the negative. Why are we just reading impact defense and not reading turns to advantages, the combination of both is immensely helpful for any neg debating.
You should be careful not to read a climate deniers, quite easy if you're being careless.
Aff teams against k teams often struggle when reading these "middle ground" affs. The best aff strategies are just straight up "market solutions are good" and turning the foundation of negative link arguments.
Topic thoughts - AI Prohibitions -
This topic sucks.
I think that most disads lack link uniqueness and the ability to generate a link to the aff, I know this isn't exactly the negative debaters fault but it does mean that I have a certain threshold for evidence that needs to be met.
Being negative on this topic seems impossible.
The TLDR:
Debate is about you, not me. I think intervention is bad (until a certain point, those exceptions will be made obvious), and that letting the debaters handle my adjudication of the round as much as possible is best. I've been described as "grumpy," and described as an individual "that would vote on anything," I think both of these things are true in a vacuum and often translate in the way that I perceive arguments. However, my adherence to the flow often overrides my desire to frown and drop my head whilst hearing a terrible argument. In that train of thought, I try to be as close to a "no feelings flow bot" when adjudicating debates, which means go for whatever you want as long as it has a warrant and isn't something I flat out refuse to vote on (see rest of paradigm). I enjoy debates over substance surrounding the topic, it's simulated effects, it's adherence to philosophical principles, and it's critical assumptions, much more than hypertechnical theory debates that aren't based on things that the plan does. Bad arguments most certainly exist, and I greatly dislike them, but the onus is on debaters for disproving those bad arguments. I have voted for every type of argument under the sun at this point, and nothing you do will likely surprise me, but let me be clear when I encourage you to do what you interpret as necessary to win you the debate in terms of argumentive strategy.
I take the safety of the debaters in round very seriously. If there is ever an issue, and it seems like I am not noticing, please let me know in some manner (whether that be through a private email, a sign of some kind, etc.). I try to be as cognizant as possible of the things happening in round, but I am a human being and a terrible reader of facial expressions at that so there might be moments where I am not picking up on something. Misgendering is included in this, I take misgendering very seriously and have developed the following procedure for adjudicating cases where this does happen: you get one chance with your speaks being docked that one time, more than once and you have lost my ballot even if an argument has not been made related to this. I am extremely persuaded by misgendering bad shells. Respect people's pronouns and personhood.
Tech > Truth
Yes speed, yes clarity, yes spreading, will likely keep up but will clear you twice and then give up after that.
Yes insert rehighlightings, caveat is that it must be from the same portion of the article that the respective side cuts, if you read a part not introduced in the debate, you must read it out loud.
Debate influences/important coaches who I value immensely: Colin Quinn.
Trigger warnings - they're good broadly, you should probably give individuals time to prepare themselves if you delve into discussions of graphic violence. For me, that includes in depth discussion of anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide.
I flow on my laptop, and consider myself a pretty good flow when people are clear, probably a 8-8.5/10. Just be clear, number your arguments, and slow down on analytics please.
Cheating, including evidence ethics and clipping, is bad. I have seen clipping become much more common and I will vote you down if I feel you have done so even without "recorded" evidence or a challenge from another debater.
For your pref sheets (policy):
Clash debates - 1
K v K debates - 1
Policy throwdowns - 1/2 (I can judge and am fairly confident in these debates but have less experience in this compared to others and need a bit more hand holding)
For your pref sheets (LD):
Clash debates of any kind (Policy v K, K aff v framework, phil v k, etc.) - 1
K - 1
Policy - 1
Phil - 1
T/Theory - 1/2
Tricks - 4
Trad - 5/Strike
I'm serious about these rankings, I value execution over content and am comfortable judging any type of debate done well.
The Long Version:
Who the hell is this person, why did my coach/I pref them?
Hello! My name is Holden, this year will mark my 9th year in debate. I am currently a communication studies graduate student at the University of North Texas, where I also got my bachelors in psychology and philosophy. During my time as a competitor, I did policy, LD, and NFA-LD. My exposure to the circuit really began my sophomore year of high school, but nothing of true note really occurred during my high school career. College had me qualify for the NFA-LD national tournament twice, I got to octas twice, broke at majors, got gavels, round robin invites. I now coach and judge exclusively, where I have coached teams that have qualified to the NDT, qualified to outrounds of just about every bid tournament, gotten several speaker awards, have accrued 30+ bids, and made it to elimination rounds and have been the top speaker of the TOC.
I judge a lot, and by that I mean a lot. Currently at 700+ debates judged since I graduated high school in 2020. Those (probably too many) debates have ranged everywhere from local circuit tournaments, the TOC, and to the NDT, but I would say most of my time judging is in national circuit LD, with college policy debate coming in right behind that. I think the reason I judge so much is because I think judging is a skill, and one that gets better the more you do it, and you get worse when you haven't done it in a while. I genuinely enjoy judging debates because of several reasons, whether that be my enjoyment of debate, the money, or because I enjoy the opportunity to help aid in the growth of debaters through feedback.
I do a lot of research, academically, debate wise, and for fun. Most of my research is in the kritikal side of things, mostly because I coach a bunch of K debaters. However, I often engage in policy research, and enjoy cutting those cards immensely. In addition, I have coached students who have gone for every argument type under the sun.
Please call me Holden, or judge (Holden is preferable, but if you vibe with judge then go for it). I hate anything more formal than that because it makes me uncomfortable (Mr. Bukowsky, sir, etc.)
Conflicts: Jack C. Hays High School (my alma mater), and the University of North Texas. I currently consult for Westlake (TX). Independently, I coach Berkeley Carroll JH, Jasper SG, Plano West AR, Plano West NS, Plano West RC, and Riverside Independent JD.
Previously, I have been affiliated with Jordan (TX) institutionally, and with American Heritage Broward CW, Barrington AC, Bellevue/Washington Independent WL, Clear Springs EG, Clear Springs MS, Cypress Woods MM, East Chapel Hill AX, Greenhill EX, McNeil AS, and Vestavia Hills MH.
What does Holden think of debate?
It's a competitive game with pedagogical implications. I love debate immensely, and I take my role in it seriously. It is my job to evaluate arguments as presented, and intervene as little as possible. I'm not ideological on how I evaluate debates because I don't think it's my place to determine the validity of including arguments in debate (barring some exceptions). I think the previous sentence means that you should please do what you are most comfortable with to the best of your ability. There are only two concrete rules in debate - 1. there must be a winner and a loser, and those are decided by me, and 2. speech times are set in stone. Any preference that I have should not matter if you are doing your job, if I have to default to something then you did something incorrect.
To summarize the way that I think about judging, I think Yao Yao Chen does it best, "I believe judging debates is a privilege, not a paycheck. I strive to judge in the most open-minded, faor, and diligent way I can, and I aim to be as thorough and transparent as possible in my decisions. If you worked hard on debate, you deserve judging that matches the effort you put into this activity. Anything short of that is anti-educational and a disappointment."
I’ve been told I take a while to come to a decision. This is true, but not for the reason you might think. Normally, I know how I’m voting approximately 30 seconds to 1 minute after the debate. However, I like to be thorough and make sure that I give the debate the time and effort that it deserves, and as such try to have all of my thoughts together. Believe me, I consider myself somewhat comprehensible most times, I find it reassuring to myself to make sure that all my thoughts about the arguments in debate are in order. This is also why I tend to give longer decisions, because I think there are often questions about argument X on Y sheet which are easily resolved by having those addressed in the rfd. As such, I try to approach each decision from a technical standpoint and how each argument a. interacts with the rest of the debate, b. how large of an impact that argument has, c. think through any defense to that argument, and d. if that argument is the round winner or outweighs the offense of the opposing side.
If it means anything, I think most of my debate takes are in camp "2N who had to be a 2A for a while as well so I think mostly about negative strategy but also think that the aff has the right to counter-terrorism against negative terrorism."
What does Holden like?
I like good debates. If you execute your arguments in a technically impressive manner, I will be pleased.
I like debates that require little intervention, please make my job easier for me via judge instruction, I hate thinking.
I like well researched arguments with clear connections to the topic/the affirmative.
I like when email chains are sent out before the start time so that 1AC's can begin at start time, don't delay the round any more than it has to be please.
I like good case debating, this includes a deep love for impact turns.
I like it when people make themselves easy to flow, this includes labeling your arguments (whether giving your arguments names, or doing organizational strategies like "1, 2, 3" or "a point, b point, c point, etc."), I find it harder to vote for teams that make it difficult for me to know who is responding to what and what those responses are so making sure I can flow you is key.
I like debaters that collapse in final speeches, it gives room for analysis, explanation, and weighing which all make me very happy.
I like it when I am given a framing mechanism to help filter offense. This can takes place via a standard, role of the ballot/judge, framework, fairness v education, a meta-ethic, impact calculus, or anything, I don't care. I just need an evaluative lens to determine how to parse through impact calculus.
What does Holden dislike?
I dislike everything that is the opposite of the above.
I dislike when people make problematic arguments.
I dislike unclear spreading.
I dislike messy debates with no work done to resolve them.
I dislike when people say "my time will start in 3, 2, 1."
I dislike when people ask if they can take prep, it's your prep time, I don't care just tell me you're taking it.
I dislike when debaters posture too much. I don't care, and it annoys me. Debate the debate, especially since half the time when debaters posture it's about the wrong thing. There is a difference between being firm, and being performative.
I dislike when debaters are exclusionary to novice debaters. I define this as running completely overcomplicated strategies that are then deployed with little to no explanation. I am fine with "trial by fire" but think that you shouldn't throw them in the volcano. You know what this means. Not abiding by this will get your speaks tanked.
I dislike when evidence exchange takes too long, this includes when it takes forever for someone to press send on an email, when someone forgets to hit reply all (it's 2025 and y'all have been using technology for how long????).
I dislike topicality where the interpretation card is written by someone in debate, and especially when it's not about the specific terms of art in the topic.
I dislike 1AR restarts.
How has Holden voted?
Since I started judging in 2020, I have judged exactly 716 debate rounds. Of those, I have voted aff exactly 52.09% of the time.
My speaks for the 2024-2025 season have averaged to be around 28.559, and across all of the seasons I have judged they are at 28.53.
I have been a part of 209 panels, where I have sat exactly 12.44% of the time.
What will Holden never vote on?
Arguments that involve the appearance of a debater (shoes theory, formal clothing theory, etc.).
Arguments that say that oppression (in any form) is good.
Arguments that contradict what was said in CX.
Claims without warrants, these are not arguments.
Specific Arguments:
Policy Arguments
Contrary to my reputation, I love CP/DA debates and have an immense amount of experience on the policy side of the argumentative spectrum. I do good amounts of research on the policy side of topics often, and coach teams that go for these arguments predominantly. I love a good DA + case 2NR, and will reward well done executions of these strategies because I think they're great. One of my favorite 2NR's to give while I was debating was DA + circumvention, and I think that these debates are great and really reward good research quality.
Counterplans should be functionally and textually competitive with germane net benefits, I think that most counterplans probably lose to permutations that make arguments about these issues and I greatly enjoy competition debates. Limited intrinsic permutations are probably justified against counterplans that don't say a word about the topic.
I am amenable to all counterplans, and think they're theoretically legitimate (for the most part). I think that half the counterplans people read are not competitive though.
Impact turn debates are amazing, give me more of them please and thank you.
I reward well cut evidence, if you cite a card as part of your warrant for your argument and it's not very good/unwarranted then that minimizes your strength of link/size of impact to that argument. I do read evidence a lot in these debates because I think that often acts as a tie breaker between the spin of two debaters.
Judge instruction is essential to my ballot. Explain how I should frame a piece of evidence, what comes first and why, I think that telling me what to do and how to decipher the dozens of arguments in rounds makes your life and my job much easier and positively correlates to how much you will like my decision.
I enjoy well researched and topic specific process counterplans. They're great, especially when the evidence for them is topic specific and has a good solvency advocate.
I default no judge kick unless you make an argument for it.
Explain what the permutation looks like in the first responsive speech, just saying perm do both is a meaningless argument and I am not filling in the gaps for you.
For affs, I think that I prefer well developed and robust internal links into 2-3 impacts much more than the shot gun 7 impact strategy.
Explanation of how the DA turns case matters a lot to me, adjust your block/2NR accordingly.
Thoughts on conditionality/dispositionality are in the theory section.
K's
Say it with me everyone, Holden does not hack for the kritik. In fact, I've become much more grouchy about K debate lately. Aff's aren't defending anything, neg teams are shotgunning 2NR's without developing offense in comparison to the 1AR and the 2AR, and everyone is making me feel more and more tired. Call me old, but I think that K teams get too lost in the sauce, don't do enough argumentative interaction, and lose debates because they can't keep up technically. I think this is all magnified when the 2NR does not say a word about the aff at all.
This is where most of my research and judging is nowadays. I will be probably know what you're reading, have cut cards for whatever literature you are reading, and have a good amount of rounds judging and going for the K. I've been in debate for 9 years now, and have coached teams with a litany of literature interests, so feel free to read anything you want, just be able to explain it.
Aff teams against the K should go for framework, extinction outweighs, and the alt fails more because sometimes the permutation is indeed a nonstarter.
For aff teams answering the K, going for framework does not automatically make the risk of the link zero, especially when there is no judge instruction on why your interp would exclude their link arguments. That necessitates that you need to answer the link most often time, especially if there's a turns case argument. I have had too many debates where the 2AR was just framework with no link defense, and I end up voting neg quickly because of conceded link turns case arguments that the 2NR say directly affect the plan's implementation.
Framework only matters as much as you make it matter. I think both sides of the debate are doing no argument resolution/establishing the implications of what it means to win framework. Does that mean that only consequences of the implementation of the plan matter, and I exclude the links to the plans epistemology? Does that mean that if the neg wins a link, the aff loses because I evaluate epistemology first? Questions like these often go unresolved, and I think teams often debate at each other via block reading without being comparative at all. Middle ground interps are often not as strategic as you think, and you are better off just going for you link you lose, or plan focus. To sum this up, make framework matter if you think it matters, and don't be afraid to just double down about your interp.
My ideal K 1NC will have 2-3 links to the aff (one of which is a link to the action of the aff), an alternative, and some kind of framing mechanism.
I have found that most 2NR's have trouble articulating what the alternative does, and how it interacts with the alts and the links. If you are unable to explain to me what the alternative does, your chance of getting my ballot goes down. Example from both sides of the debate help contextualize the offense y'all are going for in relation to the alternative, the links, and the permutation. Please explain the permutation in the first responsive speech.
I've found that most K teams are bad at debating the impact turn (heg/cap good), this is to say that I think that if you are against the K, I am very much willing to vote on the impact turn given that it is not morally repugnant (see above).
I appreciate innovation of K debate, if you introduce an interesting new argument instead of recyclying the same 1NC you've been running for several seasons I will be extremely thankful. At least update your cards every one in a while.
Please do not run a K just because you think I'll like it, bad K debates have seen some of the worst speaks I've ever given (for example, if you're reading an argument related to Settler Colonialism yet can't answer the 6 moves to innocence).
K tricks are cool if they have a warrant, floating piks need to be hinted at in the 1NC so they can be floating.
For the nerds that wanna know, the literature bases that I know pretty well are: Afro-pessimism, Baudrillard, Beller, Deleuze and Guattari, Grove, Halberstam, Hardt and Negri, Marxism, Moten and Harney, New Materialism, Psychoanalysis, Reps K's, Scranton/Eco-Pessimism, Security, Settler Colonialism, and Weheliye.
The literature bases that I know somewhat/am reading up on are: Abolition, Accelerationism (Fisher, CCRU people, etc.), Agamben, Bataille, Cybernetics, Disability Literature, Puar, and Queer pessimism.
A note on non-black engagement with afro-pessimism: I will watch your execution of this argument like a hawk if you decide to go for it. Particular authors make particular claims about the adoption of afro-pessimist advocacy by non-black individuals, while other authors make different claims, be mindful of this when you are cutting your evidence/constructing your 1NC. While my thoughts on this are more neutral than they once were, that does not mean you can do whatever. If you are reading this K as a non-black person, this becomes the round. If you are disingenious to the literature at all, your speaks are tanked and the ballot may be given away as well depending on how annoyed I am. This is your first and last warning.
K-Aff's
These are fine, cool even. They should defend something, and that something should provide a solvency mechanism for their impact claims. Having your aff discuss the resolution makes your framework answers become much more persuasive, and makes me happier to vote for you, especially since I am becoming increasingly convinced that there should be some stasis for debate.
For those negating these affs, the case debate is the weakest part of the debate from both sides. I think if the negative develops a really good piece of offense by the end of the debate then everything else just becomes so much easier for you to win. I will, in fact, vote for heg good, cap good, and other impact turns, and quite enjoy judging these debates.
Presumption is underrated if people understand how to go for it, unfortunately most people just don't know how. Most aff's don't do anything or have a cogent explanation of what their aff does to solve things and their ballot key warrant is bad, you should probably utilize that.
Marxism will be forever underrated versus K affs, aff's whose only responses are "doesn't explain the aff" and "X explains capitalism" will almost always lose to a decent 2NR on the cap k. This is your suggestion to update your answers to challenge the alternative on some level.
For other k v k debates, I think the emphasis needs to be offense, offense, offense. Often when teams just throw a bunch of cards at an aff there is little resolution of how arguments interact with one another, this is where I think think line by line debating is necessary to ensure that I keep track of the debate in the most clean way possible.
Innovation is immensely appreciated by both sides of this debate. I swear I've judged the exact same 2-4 affs about twenty times each and the 1NC's just never change. If your take on a literature base or negative strategy is interesting, innovative, and is something I haven't heard this year you will most definitely get higher speaks.
Performance based arguments are good/acceptable, I have experience coaching and running these arguments myself. However, I find that most times when ran that the performance is not really extended into the speeches after this, obviously there are some limitations but I think that it does give me leeway for leveraging your inevitable application of the performance to other areas of the debate.
T-Framework/T-USFG
In my heart of hearts, I probably am very slightly aff leaning on this question, but my voting record has increasingly become negative leaning. I think this is because affirmatives have become quite bad at answering the negative arguments in a convincing, warranted, and strategic manner. If you are an aff debater reading this, my response to you is to innovate and to try to emphasize technical debate rather than posturing, you have an aff and you should definitely use it to help substantiate your arguments.
It may be my old age getting to me, but I am becoming increasingly convinced that fairness is a viable impact option for the 2NR to go for. I think it probably has important implications for the ballot in terms of framing the resolution of affirmative and negative impact arguments, and those framing questions are often mishandled by the affirmative. However, I think that to make me enjoy this in debates negative teams need to avoid vacuous and cyclical lines of argumentation that often plague fairness 2NR's and instead
Framework isn't capital T true, but also isn't an automatic act of violence. I think I'm somewhat neutral on the question of how one should debate about the resolution, but I am of the belief that the resolution should at least center the debate in some way. What that means to you, though, is up to you.
Often, framework debates take place mostly at the impact level, with the internal link level to those impacts never being questioned. This is where I think both teams should take advantage of, and produces better debates about what debate should look like.
I have voted on straight up impact turns before, I've voted on counter-interps, and I've also voted on fairness as an impact. The onus is on the debaters to explain and flesh out their arguments in a manner that answers the 1AR/2NR. Reading off your blocks and not engaging specific warrants of DA's to your model often lead to me questioning what I'm voting for because there is no engagement in either side in the debate.
Counter-interpretations seem to be more persuasive to me, and are often underutilized. Counter-interpretations that have a decent explanation of what their model of debate looks like, and what debates under that model feature. Doing all of the above does wonder.
In terms of my thoughts about impacts to framework, my normal takes are clash > fairness > advocacy skills.
"Fairness is good because debate is a game and and we all have intrinsic motivation to compete" >>>> "fairness is an impact because it constrains your ability to evaluate your arguments so hack against them," if the latter is more in line with what your expalantion of fairness is then 9 times out of 10 you are going to lose.
Topicality (Theory is it's Own Monster)
I love T debates, they're absolutely some of my favorite rounds to adjudicate. They've certainly gotten stales and have devolved to some model of T subsets one way or another. However, I will still evaluate and vote on any topicality violation. Interps based on words/phrases of the resolution make me much happier than a lot of the LD "let's read this one card from a debate coach over and over and see where it gets us" approach.
Semantics and precision matter, this is not in a "bare plurals/grammar means it is read this" way but a "this is what this word means in the context of the topic" way.
My normal defaults:
- Competing interps
- Drop the debater
- No RVI's
Reasonability is about your counter-interp, not your aff. People need to relearn how to go for this because it's a lost art in the age of endless theory debates.
Arbitrary counter-interpretations that are not carded or based on evidence are given significantly less weight than counter-interps that define words in the resolution. "Your interp plus my aff" is a bad argument, and you are better served going for a more substantive argument.
Slow down a bit in these debates, I consider myself a decent flow but T is a monster in terms of the constant short arguments that arise in these debates so please give me typing time.
You should probably make a larger impact argument about why topicality matters "voters" if you will. Some standards are impacts on their own (precision mainly) but outside of that I have trouble understanding why limits explosion is bad sans some external argument about why making debate harder is bad.
Weigh internal links to similar pieces of offense, please and thank you.
Theory
I have judged numerous theory debates, more than the average judge for sure, and certainly more than I would care to admit. You'll most likely be fine in these debates in front of me, I ask that you don't blitz through analytics and would prefer you make good in-depth weighing arguments regarding your internal links to your offense. I find that a well-explained abuse story (whether that be potential or in-round) makes me conceptually more persuaded by your impact arguments.
Conditionality is good if you win that it is. i think conditionality is good as a general ideology, but your defense of it should be robust if you plan on abusing the usage of conditionality vehemently. I've noticed a trend among judges recently just blatantly refusing to vote on conditionality through some arbitrary threshold that they think is egrigious, or because they think conditionality is universally good. I am not one of those judges.If you wanna read 6 different counterplans, go ahead, but just dismissing theoretical arguments about conditionality like it's an afterthought will not garner you any sympathy from me. I evaluate conditionality the same no matter the type of event, but my threshold of annoyance for it being introduced varies by number of off and the event you are in. For example, I will be much less annoyed if condo is read in an LD round with 3+ conditional advocacies than I will be if condo is read in a college policy round with 1 conditional advocacy.
Dipositionality is fake, genuinely don't understand how teams can defend dispo and say that it is any radically different than conditionality.
Sure, go for whatever shell you want, I'll flow it barring these exceptions:
- Shells abiut the appearance and clothing of anoher debater.
- Disclosure in the case in which a debater has said they can't disclose certain positions for safety reasons, please don't do this
- Reading "no i meets"
- Arguments that a debater may not be able to answer a new argument in the next speech (for example, if the 1AR concedes no new 2AR arguments, and the 2NR reads a new shell, I will always give the 2AR the ability to answer that new shell)
Independent Voters
These seem to be transforming into tricks honestly. I am unconvinced why these are reasons to reject the team most of the time. Words like "accessibility," "safety," and "violence" all have very precise definitions of what they mean in an academic and legal context and I think that they should not be thrown around with little to no care. Make them arguments/offense for you on the flow that they were on, not reasons to reject the team.
I will, however, abandon the flow and vote down that do engage in actively violent practices. I explained this above, but just be a decent human being. Don't be racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic, transphobic, etc.
Evidence Ethics
I would much prefer these debates not occur. If you think there is a violation you either stake the round or don't make an argument about it.If you stake the round I will use the rules of the tournament or whatever organization it associates itself with. Debater that loses the challenge gets a 25, winner gets a 28.5.
For HS-LD:
Tricks
I have realized that I need more explanation when people are going for arguments based on getting into the weeds of logic (think the philosophy logic, IE if p, then q). I took logic but did not pay near enough attention nor care enough to have a deep understanding or desire to understand what you're talking about. This means slow down just a tiny bit and tone down the jargon so my head doesn't hurt as much.
My thoughts about tricks can be summarized as "God please do not if you don't have to, but if you aren't the one to initiate it you can go ham."
I can judge these debates, have judged numerous amounts of them in the past, and have coached/do coach debaters that have gone for these arguments, I would really just rather not deal with them. There's little to no innovation, and I am tired of the same arguments being recycled over and over again. If you throw random a prioris in the 1A/1N do not expect me to be very happy about the debate or your strategy. If I had to choose, carded and well developed tricks > "resolved means firmly determined and you know I am."
Slow down on the underviews, overviews, and impact calc sections of your framework (you know what I'm talking about), Yes I am flowing them but it doesn't help when you're blitzing through independent theory argumetns like they're card text. Going at like 70% of your normal speed in these situation is greatly appreciated.
Be straight up about the implication and warrant for tricks, if you're shifty about them in cross then I will be shifty about whether I feel like evaluating them or whether I'm tanking your speaks. This extends to disclosure practices, you know what this means.
Tricks versus identity-based kritikal affirmatives are bad and violent. Stop it.
Phil
I love phil debates. I coach plenty of debaters who go for phil arguments, and find that their interactions are really great. However, I find that debate has trended towards a shotgun approach to justifying X argument about how our mind works in favor of analytical syllogisms that are often spammy, underwarranted, and make little to no sense. I prefer carded syllogisms that identify a problem with ethics/metaphysics and explain how their framework resolves that via pieces of evidence.
The implication/impact of the parts of your syllogism should be clear from the speech they are introduced in, I dislike late breaking debates because you decided to hide what X argument meant in relation to the debate.
In phil v phil debates, there needs to be a larger emphasis on explanation between competing ethics. These debates are often extremely dense and messy, or extremely informational and engaging, and I would prefer that they be the latter rather than the formr. Explanation, clear engagement, and delineated weighing is how to get my ballot in these debates.
Hijacks are cool, but once again please explain because they're often just 10 seconds long with no actual warrants.
Slow down a bit as well, especially in rebuttals, these debates are often fast and blippy and I can only flow so fast
For those that are wondering, I'm pretty well read in most continental philosophy, social contract theorists, and most of the common names in debate. This includes the usual Kant, Hobbes, Pragmatism, Spinoza, and Deleuze as well as some pretty out of left field characters like Leibniz and Berkeley.
I have read some of the work regarding Rawls, Plato, Aquinas, Virtue Ethics, ILaw, Particularism, and Constitutitionality as well.
I know I have it listed as a phil literature base, but I conceptually have trouble with people reading Deleuze as an ethical framework, especially since the literature doesn't prescribe moral claims but is a question of metaphysics/politics, proceed with caution.
Defaults:
- Comparative worlds > truth testing
- Permissibility negates > affirms
- Presumption negates > affirms
- Epistemic modesty > confidence in skep debates, confidence > modesty in phil v phil debates
Trad/Lay Debate
I mean, sure, why not. I can judge this, and debated on a rather traditional LD circuit in high school. However, I often find these debates to be boring, and most definitely not my cup of tea. If you think that you can change my mind, please go ahead, but I think that given the people that pref me most of the time I think it's in your best interest to pref me low or strike me, for your sake and mine.
NFA-LD:
Everything above applies.
Don't think I'm a K hack. I know my background may suggest otherwise but ideologically I have a high threshold for execution and will punish you for it if you fail to meet it. Seriously, I've voted against kritikal arguments more than I've voted for them. If you are not comfortable going for the K then please do not unless you absolutely want to, please do not adapt to me. I promise I'll be so down for a good disad and case 2NR or something similar.
"It's against NFA-LD rules" is not an argument or impact claim and if it is then it's an internal link to fairness. Only rules violation I will not roll my eyes at are ethics challenges.
Yes non-T affs, yes t - framework, yes cap good/heg good, no to terrible theory arguments like "must delineate stock issues."
Why are we obsessed with bad T arguments that do not have an intent to define words in the topic in the context of the topic? Come on y'all, act like we've been here.
Speaks:
I don't consider myself super stingey or a speaks fairy, though I think I've gotten stingier compared to the rest of the pool.
I don't evaluate "give me X amount of speaks" arguments, if you want it so bad then perform well or use the methods I have outlined to boost your speaks.
Here's a general scale I use, it's adjusted to the tournament as best as possible -
29.5+ - Great round, you should be in late elims or win the tournament
29.1-29.4 - Great round, you should be in mid to late elims
28.6-29 - Good round, you should break or make the bubble at least
28.1-28.5 - About the middle of the pool
27.6-28 - You got some stuff to work on
27-27.5 - You got a lot of stuff to work on
Anything below a 27: You did something really horrible and I will be having a word with tab and your coach about it
Peninsula, Cal State Fullerton
Cal State Fullerton BW
Bakersfield BB
Previously Coached by: Shanara Reid-Brinkley, LaToya Green, Travis Cochrain, Lee Thach, Max Bugrov, Anthony Joseph, and Parker Coon
Other people who influence my debate thoughts: Vontrez White and Jonathan Meza
Emails
HS: jaredburkey99@gmail.com
College: debatecsuf@gmail.com jaredburkey99@gmail.com
2024-25 Update:
IPR: 18
Energy: 14
LD Total: 79
College: Going to be coaching Cal State Fullerton more so I expect to be judging college, have a depth of topic knowledge, and be doing more research for the team.
HS: Mostly will be in LD this year, I imagine I will be judgeing policy teams a few times this year and help out with the Pen policy kids from time to time.
Cliff Notes:
1. Clash of Civs are my favorite type of debates.
2. Who controls uniqueness - that comes 1st
3. on T most times default to reasonability
4. Clash of Civs - (K vs FW) - I think this is most of the debates I have judged and it's probably my favorite type of debates to be in both as a debater and as a judge. I would like to implore policy teams to invest in substantive strategies this is not to say that T is not an option in these debates, but most of these critical affs defend some things that I know there is a disad to and most times 2AC just is flat-footed on the disad. 2As fail to answer PICs most times. 2ACs overinvestment on T happens a bunch and the 2NR ends up being T when it should have been the disad or the PIC. All of this is to say that T as your first option in the 2NR is probably the right one, but capitalize on 2AC mistakes
5. No plan no perm is not an argument --- win a link pls
6. Speaker Points: I try to stay in the 28-29.9 range, better debate obviously better speaker points.
7. Theory debates are boring --- conditionality good --- judge kick is a logical extension of conditionality
Specifics:
K --- The lack of link debating that has occurred for the K in recent years is concerning, the popularization of exclusive-based FW has diminished the value of the link debate. That being said I understand the strategic utility of the argument, but the argument less and less convinces me. I will not default to plan focus, weigh the aff, or assume weigh the aff when each team is going for exclusive fw. This is all to say that the link argument is the predominant argument and the K of fiat as a link argument is not convincing at all. Smart 2Ns that rehighlight 1AC cards and use their link arguments to internal link turn/impact turn the aff should win 9/10 in front of me. All to say that good K debating is good case debating.
FW--- Fairness its an impact but also is an internal link to just about everything --- role of the negative as a frame for impacts with a TVA is very convincing to me - only this debate matters is not a good argument, these debates should be a question about models of debate - carded TVAs are better than non-carded TVAs and are a sure fire way to win these debates for the negative --- I would describe myself as a clash truther most times, debate is net good maximizing clash preserves the value of debate --- 2As whose strategy is to impact turn everything with a CI is much more convincing to me than attempts to use the counterinterp as defense to T, although can be persuaded by the counterinterp being defense to T
DA--- Fast DAs are more convincing, turns case arguments good, any DA is fair game as long as its debated well
CP --- Must know what the CP does with an explanation --- good for functional competition only, not the biggest fan of text and function or textual only.
T --- Boring.
LD Specific:
1. Larp/K
2. K affs
3. Theory
4. Phil - Been convinced more and more about Phil thanks to Danielle Dosch, I would still say I am not the best for Phil
5. Tricks
I have coached LD at Strake Jesuit in Houston, Tx since 2009. I judge a lot and do a decent amount of topic research. Mostly on the national/toc circuit but also locally. Feel free to ask questions before the round. Add me to email chains. Jchriscastillo@gmail.com.
I don't have a preference for how you debate or which arguments you choose to read. The best debaters will 1. Focus on argument explanation over argument quantity. 2. Provide clear judge instruction.
I do not flow off the doc.
Evidence:
- I rarely read evidence after debates.
- Evidence should be highlighted so it's grammatically coherent and makes a complete argument.
- Smart analytics can beat bad evidence
- Compare and talk about evidence, don't just read more cards
Theory:
- I default to competing interps, no rvi's and drop the debater on shells read against advocacies/entire positions and drop the argument against all other types.
- I'm ok with using theory as a strategic tool but the sillier the shell the lower the threshold I have for responsiveness.
- Please weigh and slow down for interps and short analytic arguments.
Non-T/Planless affs: I'm good with these. I'm most compelled by affirmatives that 1. Can explain what the role of the neg is 2. Explain why the ballot is key.
Delivery: You can go as fast as you want but be clear and slow down for advocacy texts, interps, taglines and author names. Don't blitz through 1 sentence analytics and expect me to get everything down. I will say "clear" and "slow".
Speaks: Speaks are a reflection of your strategy, argument quality, efficiency, how well you use cx, and clarity. I do not disclose speaks.
Things not to do: 1. Don't make arguments that are racist/sexist/homophobic (this is a good general life rule too). 2. I won't vote on arguments I don't understand or arguments that are blatantly false. 3. Don't be mean to less experienced debaters. 4. Don't steal prep. 5. I will not vote on "evaluate after X speech" arguments.
Baylor '25
Email: shahinadebates@gmail.com
I did policy at Colleyville Heritage in high school and am currently debating at Baylor
Try to make the subject of the email chain: "Tournament - Round # - School 1 (AFF) v School 2 (NEG)" or something similar
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TLDR
I'm not going to do work for you. That being said, you should write my ballot in the 2NR/2AR and tell me what I’m voting on -- this means these speeches need to be heavy on judge instruction.
Evidence quality matters a lot more than evidence quantity -- a more technical and organized debate is easier to vote on than a card-heavy debate.
Clash is good. Line by line is good. You should interact with the debate you're actively in.
I will not judge kick unless told to do so.
DAs:
I start the round with a 100% presumption of a risk of the DA. This means I need impact calc... Do the risks matter? Do they outweigh the aff's impacts? I don’t know, you tell me.
The same 5 affs and disads on every topic gets boring -- a good impact turn debate is much more interesting to evaluate than people just reading ev at each other.
Tech>Truth is probably the most applicable here.
Counterplans:
You need to explain why it solves better than the plan. Don't just say "counterplan solves" and expect me to vote on it.
Well thought out PICs/PIKs (especially out of k affs) are fun and strategic when debated correctly
Kritiks:
I was a K debater throughout high school and now more flex at Baylor, so I'm probably still a good judge for you if you want to go for the K
I've debated/researched a lot of Asian Identity, Psychoanalysis, Pessimism, Logistics/Racial Capitalism and some Settler Colonialism if that is important to you.
Try not to go for things you're not familiar with -- you're missing out on critical substantive debate when you're reading something just for the sake of it
K debates get muddy if there aren't specific links to the aff, so you should probably find some sort of link that is specific enough to the AFF (or at least attempt to contextualize it). That being said, I’ll vote on a generic link if it's insufficiently answered or dropped.
Tell me what the world of the alt looks like; I'm not going to vote for an alt that I can't conceptualize.
I think the aff gets to weigh the plan, but the neg should also get residual links of reps to the plan -- I can be convinced otherwise, though.
K Affs:
I don't care what kind of Aff you read.
I think your Aff needs a topic link at the very least (unless you have a cohesive answer as to why you don't have one).
Topicality/Theory:
T debates are my favorite when done well. I love good T debates and hate bad T debates. Don't make this a bad one.
Case lists + examples of ground loss + a good interp = a good T debate.
I really like nuanced T debates against policy affs. I think a lot of these affs get away with WAY too much than they should (like fiating away literally everything) which is why I really appreciate fun arguments like extra T and effects T being impacted out in the 2NR.
Topicality is a question of models of debate, not THIS debate. I would rather you go for an education or portable skills/testing impact as opposed to procedural fairness.
I think that condo is probably the only theoretical reason to reject the team, even then, please come prepared with robust explanations of your theory arguments. For all other theory arguments, you should err on the side of over explanation and more judge instruction.
FW v K AFFs:
I've been on both sides of this debate, so I'm comfortable with evaluating either side.
I think a lot of teams have trouble with TVAs and SSD, both on the aff and the neg. Your TVAs should have clear plan texts and SSD arguments should be able to solve the content of the aff as well as the 2AC's answers to framework.
I tend to err neg on the fairness question absent specific aff answers as to why FW can resolve aff offense via the TVA/SSD debate.
I think presumption is SUPER underutilized in these debates. K affs are usually very vague in terms of explaining the advocacy/solvency and I think that presumption is probably a winning strategy against K Affs 9/10 times.
PF
Set up an email chain before the round.
My thoughts about PF are basically Judy and Katelynne's paradigms combined -- look there if you have any lingering questions. Email me if you're still confused.
I think Dave Huston's thoughts on progressive PF are probably a good answer to a lot "Ks" that PFers try to read. I'm not against progressive PF BUT you have to make a strong case for why you're reading what you are. Don't tell Dave that I agree with him (he doesn't need to know that I think he's right)
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Notes:
I appreciate sass/assertiveness, but be somewhat respectful. Use your critical thinking skills to decide what you want to read in front of me.
If you're interested in debating at Baylor, please reach out! You can send me an email or find me in person if you have any questions.
she/they, lay-uh, not lee-uh
[Judge Info]
A) I've competed and coached high school and college policy debate since 2008.
B) I've taught new novice students and instructed K-12 teachers about Parli, PuFo, LD, and Policy
C) I am an educator and curriculum developer, so that is how I view my role as a judge and approach feedback in debate. I type my RFDs, please ask your coaches (if you have an experienced coach) to explain strategic concepts I referenced. Otherwise you can email me.
D) I am very aware of the differences in strategy and structure when comparing Policy Debate and Lincoln-Douglas debate.
d)) which means I can tell when evidence from one format of debate [ex: policy -> ld] is merely read in a different format of debate for strategic choices rather than educational engagement.
heads up: i can tell when you are (sp)reading policy cards at me, vs communicating persuasive and functionally strategic arguments. please read and write your speeches, don't just read blocks of evidence without doing the persuasive work of storytelling impacts.
How I Evaluate & Structure Arguments:Parts of an Argument:
Claim - your argument
Warrant - analytical reasoning or evidence
Impact - why the judge should care, why it's important
Impact Calculus:
Probability - how likely is it the impact will happen
Magnitude - how large is the harm/who will be negatively affected
Timeframe - when this impact will occur
Reversibility - can the harms be undone
[Online Debates]prewritten analytics should be included in the doc. we are online. transparency, clarity, and communication is integral in debate. if you are unclear and i miss an argument, then i missed your argument because you were unclear
pre-pandemic paradigm particularitiesfor policy and/or ld:
1) AFFs should present solutions, pass a Plan, or try to solve something
2) K AFFs that do not present a plan text must: 1. Be resolutional - 1ac should generally mention or talk about the topic even if you're not defending it, 2. Prove the 1AC/AFF is a prereq to policy, why does the AFF come before policy, why does policy fail without the aff? 3. Provide sufficient defense to TVAs - if NEG proves the AFF (or solvency for AFF's harms) can happen with a plan text, I am very persuaded by TVAs. K teams must have a strong defense to this.
3) Link to the squo/"Truth Claims" as an impact is not enough. These are generic and I am less persuaded by generic truth claims arguments without sufficient impacts
4) Critique of the resolution > Critique of the squo
5) NEG K alts do not have to solve the entirety of the AFF, but must prove a disadvantage or explain why a rejection of the AFF is better than the alt, or the squo solves.
6) Debate is a [policy or LD] game, if it is a survival strategy I need more warrants and impacts other than "the aff/alt is a survival strategy" with no explanation of how you are winning in-round impacts
7) Framing is FUNctional, the team that gives me the best guide on how/why I should vote for X typically wins the round. What's the ROB, ROJ, the purpose of this round, impact calc, how should I evaluate the debate?
8) Edu is important. Persuasive communication is part of edu. when the debate is messy or close I tend to evaluate the round in terms of 1. who did the better debating, 2. who best explained arguments and impacts and made me more clearly understand the debate, 3. who understood their evidence/case the most.
9) Dropped arguments are not always necessarily true - I will vote on dropped arguments if it was impacted out and explained why it's a voter, but not if the only warrant is "they conceded _____it so it's a voter"
10) I flow arguments, not authors. It will be helpful to clarify which authors are important by summarizing/impacting their arguments instead of name dropping them without context or explanation.
Background: I'm the Director of Debate at Northland Christian School in Houston, TX; I also coach Team Texas, the World Schools team sponsored by TFA. In high school, I debated for three years on the national and local circuits (TOC, NSDA, TFA). I was a traditional/LARP debater whenever I competed (stock and policy arguments, etc). I have taught at a variety of institutes each summer (MGW, GDS, Harvard).
Email Chain: Please add me to the email chain: court715@gmail.com.
2024-2025 Update: I have only judged at 1 or 2 circuit LD tournaments the last couple of years; I've been judging mainly WS at tournaments. If I'm judging you at Apple Valley, you should definitely slow down. I will not vote for something I don't understand or hear, so please slow down!
Judging Philosophy: I prefer a comparative worlds debate. When making my decisions, I rely heavily on good extensions and weighing. If you aren't telling me how arguments interact with each other, I have to decide how they do. If an argument is really important to you, make sure you're making solid extensions that link back to some standard in the round. I love counterplans, disads, plans, etc. I believe there needs to be some sort of standard in the round. Kritiks are fine, but I am not well-versed in dense K literature; please make sure you are explaining the links so it is easy for me to follow. I will not vote on a position that I don't understand, and I will not spend 30 minutes after the round re-reading your cards if you aren't explaining the information in round. I also feel there is very little argument interaction in a lot of circuit debates--please engage!
Theory/T: I think running theory is fine (and encouraged) if there is clear abuse. I will not be persuaded by silly theory arguments. If you are wanting a line by line theory debate, I'm probably not the best judge for you :)
Speaker Points: I give out speaker points based on a couple of things: clarity (both in speed and pronunciation), word economy, strategy and attitude. In saying attitude, I simply mean don't be rude. I think there's a fine line between being perceptually dominating in the round and being rude for the sake of being rude; so please, be polite to each other because that will make me happy. Being perceptually dominant is okay, but be respectful. If you give an overview in a round that is really fast with a lot of layers, I will want to give you better speaks. I will gauge my points based on what kind of tournament I'm at...getting a 30 at a Houston local is pretty easy, getting a 30 at a circuit tournament is much more difficult. If I think you should break, you'll get good speaks. Cussing in round will result in dropping your speaks.
Speed: I'd prefer a more moderate/slower debate that talks about substance than a round that is crazy fast/not about the topic. I can keep up with a moderate speed; slow down on tag lines/author names. I'll stop flowing if you're going too fast. If I can't flow it, I won't vote on it. Also, if you are going fast, an overview/big picture discussion before you go line by line in rebuttals is appreciated. Based on current speed on the circuit, you can consider me a 6 out of 10 on the speed scale. I will say "clear" "slow" "louder", etc a few times throughout the round. If you don't change anything I will stop saying it.
Miscellaneous: I don't prefer to see permissibility and skep. arguments in a round. I default to comparative worlds. I am not going to evaluate the round after a certain speech.
Other things...
1. I'm not likely to vote on tricks...If you decide to go for tricks, I will just be generally sad when making a decision and your speaks will be impacted. Also, don't mislabel arguments, give your opponent things out of order, or try to steal speech/prep time, etc. I am not going to vote on an extension of a one sentence argument that wasn't clear in the first speech that is extended to mean something very different.
2. Please be kind to your opponents and the judge.
3. Have fun!
WS Specific Things
-I start speaks at a 70, and go up/down from there!
-Make sure you are asking and taking POIs. I think speakers should take 1 - 2 POIs per speech
-Engage with the topic.
-I love examples within casing and extensions to help further your analysis.
For Stanford 2025:
1. I currently help out my alma matter, Loyola, on a volunteer basis. I have cut many cards on the topic and would consider myself extremely familiar with the topic.
2. I did not cut a card or open a wiki during the 22-23 and 23-24 season. I am still good with speed. Do not try to pander to what you think I like. My time out of debate has made me very apathetic about what arguments debaters read, unless your strategy consists of tricks or frivolous theory. If it does, I am still a bad judge for you.
3. Maybe I am old-fashioned, but I think you should read an ethical framework.
bencortez92 [at] gmail [dot] com
Full judging record available here (Speaks + RFD)
Bio: Junior at the University of Chicago studying Economics. I debated at Loyola High School in Los Angeles, California from 2017-2021. I qualified to the TOC twice and broke once. Go Cubs.
Top level: Offense-defense. Tech > Truth. I would rather see an in-depth, well-prepared debate on something outside of my comfort zone than a shallow, unprepared debate on something in my comfort zone. New 2AR and 2NR weighing always.
Comparative impact calculus is a requirement to win no matter if you go for theory, kritiks, philosophy, or policy arguments. I try to start every RFD with "I voted aff/neg because X outweighs Y."
I only intervene when arguments of equal strength are irresolvable otherwise. In these situations, I go by evidence, then truth. Absent weighing instruction, I go by magnitude, then timeframe, then probability.
For coaches: I very much enjoy giving detailed and constructive feedback to debaters no matter their experience level.
Argument history: Every 1AC I read defended the topic: some were big stick, some were soft left, and one was hard left. My 1NC's were usually policy: sometimes 6+ off, sometimes 6 minutes of impact turns, but usually something in between. I went for the K in about 25% of my 2NR's during my senior year.
I've linked my senior year affirmative wiki, negative wiki, and my circuit debater so you get a feel for what I went for.
DA: Politics and riders are fine, but so is intrinsicness (Read This).
No zero risk.
CP: I am fine for any counterplan, even the excessively tricky ones (Read This).
Absent instruction, I judge kick if the debate is irresolvable otherwise.
In my opinion, the only egregiously unfair counterplans are uniqueness counterplans out of straight turns and international agent counterplans.
"Dispositionality should mean that if the aff challenges the link of competition (i.e. makes a permutation) the negative can kick the counterplan, regardless of what else the affirmative reads. This is because a counterplan is functionally a disadvantage where the link is competition, so conceding this no link argument should get the neg out of the offense the aff reads. Other "dispositions" are effectively condo and should be pointed out as such." - Lucas Hunter
Case: Many of my 1NC's senior year were 5+ minutes of impact turns. Yes, you can insert re-highlighting. No preference between hard left, soft left, or big stick.
T: Listing specific examples of affirmatives that are unfair and how they are unfair is more persuasive than "9 factorial affs." Topicality with topic definitions is more persuasive than topicality with a Nebel card. Those are both more persuasive than topicality without any semantic grounding. At that point, it's a theory shell.
Theory: If condo is the correct strategic choice, and it was fully warranted in the 1AR, feel free to go for it.
Hard press for theory besides condo and counterplan theory (AFC, must spec status, Aspec etc.). Feel free to throw these arguments in the 1NC/1AR, but I would rather you not collapse to them.
With that in mind, reasonability makes sense against arbitrary/unpredictable interpretations.
Yes, you can read disclosure theory against someone who doesn't have anything on the wiki. Disclosure theory beyond open source, disclose the aff, and disclose past 2NR’s seems frivolous.
Paragraph theory with education and fairness assumed is fine.
K: My judging record indicates I am about 50/50 in Policy vs. K debates. This seems to be a function of one debater, on average, not understanding either how to answer or go for the K rather than any actual biases or lack thereof.
In my opinion, alternatives usually require framework to be mutual exclusive with the aff.
In my opinion, more 2AR's should concede framework and go for impact turns to the K.
This article explains how I view fiat.
K affs: I read a K aff that met framework my senior year.
If you are aff, feel free to impact turn everything. If you are neg, fairness is a good impact, but clash is a better impact.
Phil: I am usually 50/50 in terms of the Util vs. Non-Util debate, but about 80/20 in terms of the comparative worlds vs. truth testing debate. If your strategy relies on truth testing, it might be a hard-press for me.
Speaker points: Will not punish for humor, sarcasm, or minor cursing. Will disclose points if you ask. 28.7 breaking. Current [28.72] average.
Hey everyone! I’m Tony Cui and I competed on the national circuit for 4 years at Enloe High School, primarily on the east coast. Throughout my debate career, I acquired two bid rounds (Bronx, Valley), a bid my senior year, and broke at a variety of bid tournaments. I now attend Duke University as a sophomore.
Please add me to the email chain: tonyyyycui@gmail.com
Prefs Shortcut:
ID pol Ks, theory, T: 1
High theory Ks: 2
Traditional, Tricks, Phil, LARP : 3-4
Dense Phil/Nailbomb affs: 4
Misc:
Tech > Truth, but your arguments must require a warrant
Don’t use CX as prep time, but yes feel free to use prep time for CX
I’ll try to be as tab as possible, but I won’t vote on arguments that are blatantly racist, sexist, homophobic, etc.
Try not to blitz through analytics pls :( my fingers can only type so fast.
I’ll try to average speaks specific to the tournament (the 4-2 screw has been an enemy of mine in the past so I'll adjust accordingly).
Disclosure is probably a good norm. I understand if you're a novice or new to circuit debate, but everyone else should probably disclose or at least have a good reason why they shouldn’t disclose.
Please collapse.
Ks:
**I will not fill in the gaps for you. If you’re explaining an extremely dense position you personally don’t know then we’ll both be sad.**
Personally, I’ve read a lot of Asian-pess / Settler Colonialism/ Capitalism Ks in the past, so I’m most comfortable with a lot of identity politics literature. I’ve also had a lot of experience debating high theory args (Baudrillard, Deleuze, etc.) so I know the general gist of most of them, but a thorough explanation wouldn’t hurt anyone. (Please don't read these arguments in front me just because I read them in the past, this is just to gauge the different positions I'm comfortable evaluating).
Links contextualized specific to the 1AC are probably better than links of omission and should be warranted as such starting from the 1NC. K tricks like floating PICs/root cause claims are fine.
I’d like to think I’m 50/50 for framework vs. non topical K affs. For non-topical affs, I think a robust explanation of your model of debate is probably a good idea. Most of these affs end up losing to T-framework because they fail to explain why fairness or skills are necessarily bad.
Theory:
As a debater, I read a lot of spec shells, spikes, Nebel, paradigm dumps, etc. so I’d like to think I’m good at evaluating these debates. I think frivolous shells are ok, but obviously the more frivolous the shell, the more likely I am to buy arguments made against the shell.
If you’re reading an excessive amount of spikes with a) b) c) etc., then please *SLOW DOWN* if you want me to flow them all.
LARP:
I was never the best at these types of debate and so I’m probably not the best at evaluating LARP.
That being said if you do end up reading LARP in front of me, please WEIGH (IE magnitude/scope/time frame, metaweighing included). I will be very sad if there is no weighing done.
Tricks:
Personally I’ve debated with and against a lot of these. If there is a genuine warrant and implication conceded in the speech that they are given in, then by all means collapse to it. However, I think a lot of tricky arguments are implicated a lot more than they really are and I’d be very much open to buying conceded defense made on these arguments.
Please don’t be sketchy in CX. Don’t try to pretend you don’t know what an apriori is. Trying to actually explain condo logic or the principle of explosion when asked in CX is probably good too.
Phil:
I know the basic phil arguments (Kant, Util) but anything that strays further than the general debate realm of phil arguments is when I start to get confused. Still though, I primarily debated on the east coast so feel free to still read your 10 point justified normative frameworks, but be ready to explain it.
I think using phil to interact with other arguments on the flow (like Ks and LARP) is smart and probably a good idea.
Explaining the warrants behind “action theory” or “performativity” would be nice.
NOTES FOR ONLINE DEBATE:
I absolutely hated debating online my senior year and I lost lots of rounds because either my wifi cut out or my laptop crashed. With this in mind, please keep a local recording if possible in order to ensure I can still resolve the round.
Additionally, I won't dock speaks for wifi/microphone/tech issues (trust me I understand).
WFU '23
Now at UT-Austin for grad school
Yes email chain — ask before the debate.
D3 Update:
I take district qualifying tournaments seriously because there are people fighting like hell to be here. Please act like you want to go to the NDT if you’d like me to vote for you. I will not hesitate to vote against you if you just say nonsense with no care to engage with opponents’ arguments, and I will not be apologetic in the RFD in refusing to vote for your nonsense. To clarify, say all the nonsense you want, just defend what you say and commit to the bit as if you want to qualify to a selective national championship tournament. Alternatively, demonstrating that you’ve thought about and prepared other teams’ arguments so that you can win a qualifying debate to the NDT will be rewarded handsomely.
As I allude to in other parts of my paradigm, I flow in excel in line by line fashion. I look at the speech doc purely while cards are being read (for clipping + to assess evidence quality) and will not reconstruct parts of a speech if I couldn’t understand an analytic argument or tag. Please number your arguments when you are the first responder (1NC on case, 2AC on DA), answer arguments in order, and refer to your previous arguments by name and number in the final rebuttals.
I'd prefer you not refer to me by any name at all, but if you have to: Ari >> AD >>>>> "judge" >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> "chat" (you are not a twitch streamer and we are real people. please.)
COLLEGE CLIMATE TOPIC ADDENDUM: If you are a team that reads carded evidence, I expect quality to be very high and will find it hard to vote for you if your cards are from Exxon execs or bloggers without degrees when up against an opponent of near-peer skill level with better/more specific/more qualified evidence. Every author on all sides has a take on climate change. Say something smart about it!
Paradigm:
Say what you want and defend what you say. I reward clash of all kinds and dislike cowardice more than almost anything. I will attempt to write down every argument presented in the way you present it, regardless of your argumentative or speaking “style”, to repeat it in my RFD. This means clarity, both in argument explanation and words coming out of your mouth, is imperative. Don’t over-adapt to what you (probably wrongly) think I want to hear. Debate is for the debaters, just have fun and say smart things and I’m your judge.
The only caveat to this is I have very little interest in parsing through interpersonal disputes between debaters over events that occurred outside of the debate round. I understand that sometimes we have personal disagreements with one another as a community founded on discord, and I also understand that sometimes we don't feel comfortable sharing how we feel with the people we disagree with in other interpersonal settings — and that is reasonable. But I struggle to find why the solution to this is to have that precise conversation during a debate round and for judges to insert their own interpretations over events they have little knowledge of. This applies doubly to high school debate. Given this, while I will not ignore any words you say in a debate, you will notice that my decision proper will not pertain to/include the content of personal disagreements tangential to the topics of the debate. To clarify, if you find something the other team has said or done in the debate round to be objectionable, this is obviously fair game and I am more than happy to hear reasons why it should be a voting issue. I think issues of disclosure fall into this category as well given that prep time is part of a debate round and proper disclosure is what enables proper pre-round preparation.
Also, say words if you want me to judge kick the counterplan. I’m indifferent personally, but prefer to go with what debaters say out loud in a debate. If neg conditionality is not contested, saying “the neg should never be stuck with an option worse than the status quo” is sufficient.
Speaker Points:
My speaker points no longer vary as widely as they once did. This is because despite the fact that the quality of debates I judge varies widely, I am much more invested in using speaker points as a carrot than a stick because I prefer (inevitably) imperfect participation over universalized burnout. From now on, my floor will be at a 27. I do adjust my points to the tournament and division, so for example if you got a 29 at a regional and a 28.5 at a major it does not necessarily mean you got worse (in fact, your performance may have improved!)
My approximate scale for the open division is as follows (does not apply to JV and Novice):
You will not get a 30 unless it's your last prelim debate ever -- and even then, it requires spectacular debating. If you ask for a 30, your speaker points will have a 3 in them, but it won't be the first digit.
A speaker whose performance, if replicated, would land them a Top 5 award + deep elims will receive between 29.9-29.7. Most proficient and well-executed winning performances receive between a 29.6-29.4. Most winning performances receive between 29.3-29. Above average execution with a chance at clearing receives between 28.9-28.7
Middle of the pack gets 28.6-28: speeches need work on technical proficiency, block writing, proper use and comparison of evidence, etc.
Lower than a 28 indicates some or all of the following: speeches and CX execution need work including time management, we're not effectively answering the opponent's arguments (if paying attention to them at all), speech order is messy and not cohesive, speaker is unclear and could benefit from speaking drills, dead speech time, ineffective use of prep, speeches leave time on the clock, CX is spent asking clarification or "wouldn't you agree that..." questions.
Any lower than a 27 means something interpersonal has occurred and we will talk about it prior to speaker points coming out -- whether that is in the RFD, in a talk with your coach, or both.
LD Addendum:
I've been out of the game for a few years now, but I did just teach three weeks at NSD, which gave me a deep refresher across the vast LD argumentative spectrum.
I will not constitutively rule out any particular style of argument, but I will apply a strict "makes sense" test to all arguments. This applies just as much to a sparsely-highlighted DA as to a misrepresented K or a poorly-explained philosophy argument.
I will not pretend that I understood your arguments if you were unclear in your speech. Clarity comprises both structure, in explanation of arguments, as well as my physical ability to hear and type words coming out of your mouth. If an argument in the first constructive was 5 seconds long, but it comprises several minutes of the rebuttal(s), it will be hard to convince me that it was structurally clear enough to warrant deciding the debate on it (I'm looking at you, "resolved a priori"). If an argument was analytically made at top speed with no pen time and it does not appear on my flow in an earlier speech, it will be near-impossible to convince me that it was physically clear enough to appear in my decision given that my decisions rely on repeating words flowed back to the debaters.
Despite my belief that debate is for the debaters and you should be able to make the arguments you want, I will not pretend that I don't have biases.
Regardless of style, I prefer arguments to be about the topic. I prefer advantages to be germane to the plan presented. I prefer criticisms, on both the aff and neg, to use topic language throughout the evidence presented (whether that's carded evidence or organic scholarship). I prefer Process Counterplans to compete off core resolutional mechanisms. I prefer philosophical syllogisms to reflect core topic controversy rather than rely on tricks or theoretically-justified standards. I prefer topicality arguments to be grounded in evidence interpreting words in the resolution.
This is not to say that I will not vote on your generic positions. I will vote on any argument executed proficiently. However, there is a proportional, linear relationship between the specificity of your arguments and the energy necessary for your opponent to defeat them -- as one goes up, so does the other; as one goes down, so does the other.
An aside is that I find "truth testing vs. comparative worlds" to be a false dichotomy. Consequentialist ethical frames simply say that the way to figure out if the resolution is true or not -- that is to say, whether or not the actorought to pursue said action -- is to compare the hypothetical world in which the resolutional statement is enacted to one in which it is not. Counterplan competition is a great example of this -- you define words to prove that the counterplan does not, in fact, prove the resolutional statement to be true and that it instead is a legitimate opportunity cost thatdisproves the question of the resolution. TLDR: less "truth testing good: jurisdiction" and more "our ethical system proves the plan is intrinsically bad, so it should not occur despite its hypothetical positive consequences." Or vice versa, obviously.
Won’t flow RVIs. Make real arguments.
Also unlikely to believe that most non-resolutional procedural arguments aside from condo or spec are “voting issues.” Arguments in favor of reasonability, proportional punishment (rejecting the argument, not the team), and substance crowd-out will be prevalent in my decisions in these debates if made — but you have to make such arguments somewhere for me to vote on it.
After judging, observing, and coaching a significant number of LD debates at the first tournament, I have concluded this activity has a specific dearth of knowledge surrounding counterplan competition on all sides. Teams who effectively exploit this -- on both sides -- will see an exponential increase in win-rate in front of me. Do with this information what you will.
Procedural Addendum:
I follow along with speech documents because I am curious about evidence quality, applicability, as well as your adherence to the text of the evidence. I have noticed an epidemic of clipping across all debate events that I judge at all skill levels. Clipping is generally defined as misrepresenting the words in your evidence you actually read by highlighting more than what is spoken. The brightline of this is contested, but the most lenient, universally-agreed-upon one is "five words skipped in a row in any card, even once."
To this end, if I notice this, I will apply a "yellow card/red card" method for dealing with speaking infractions. I very much understand it's possible a debater has clipped despite their trying not to/without their knowledge. They're stressed, trying to go fast, and sometimes are reading cards they haven't read before (in some instances, they've never read cards before!). Even more, sometimes people have trouble processing words quickly so they don't even know that they've skipped anything because their brain hasn't told them or they're scrolling too fast. I am sympathetic to all of this. Given that, if I notice that a team debating in front of me has clipped and it seems unintentional (it's less than 5 words in a row here or there, or it only happens once), I will let you know after the debate as a warning for the future. If it happens again in another debate, the debater who clipped will lose with 25 speaker points. If it is particularly egregious the first time around, you may lose the debate without a warning. However, for the educational merit of the activity, I will still flow and detail a decision I would have given if it was not decided on clipping.
Yay debate!
I am the Director of Debate at Immaculate Heart High School.
daviddosch@gmail.com
General:
1. I will vote on nearly any argument that is well explained and compared to the arguments your opponent has made.
2. Accusing your opponent of an evidence ethics or clipping violation requires you to stake the debate on said allegation. If such an allegation is made, I will stop the debate, determine who I think is in the wrong, and vote against that person and give them the lowest speaker points allowed by the tournament.
3. I won’t vote on arguments that I don’t understand or that I don’t have flowed. I have been involved in circuit LD for almost ten years now and consider myself very good at flowing, so if I missed an argument it is likely because you were incomprehensible.
4. I am a strong proponent of disclosure, and I consider failing to disclose/incorrect disclosure a voting issue, though I am growing weary of nit-picky disclosure arguments that I don’t think are being read in good faith.
5. For online debate, please keep a local recording of your speech so that you can continue your speech and share it with your opponent and me in the event of a disconnect.
6. Weighing arguments are not new even if introduced in the final rebuttal speech. The Affirmative should not be expected to weigh their advantage against five DAs before the Negative has collapsed.
7. You need to use CX to ask which cards were read and which were skipped.
Some thoughts of mine:
1. I dislike arguments about individual debaters' personal identities. Though I have voted for these arguments plenty of times, I think I would vote against them the majority of the time in an evenly matched debate.
2. I am increasingly disinterested in voting for topicality arguments about bare plurals or theory arguments suggesting that either debater should take a stance on some random thing. No topic is infinitely large and voting for these arguments discourages topic research. I do however enjoy substantive topicality debates about meaningful interpretive disagreements regarding terms of art used in the resolution.
3. “Jurisdiction” and “resolvability” standards for theory arguments make little sense to me. Unless you can point out a debate from 2013 that is still in progress because somebody read a case that lacked an explicit weighing mechanism, I will have a very low threshold for responses to these arguments.
4. I dislike critiques that rely exclusively on framework arguments to make the Aff irrelevant. The critique alternative is one of the debate arguments I'm most skeptical of. I think it is best understood as a “counter-idea” that avoids the problematic assumptions identified by the link arguments, but this also means that “alt solves” the case arguments are misguided because the alternative is not something that the Negative typically claims is fiated. If the Negative does claim that the alternative is fiated, then I think they should lose to perm do both shields the link. With that said, I still vote on critiques plenty and will evaluate these debates as per your instructions.
5. Despite what you may have heard, I enjoy philosophy arguments quite a bit and have grown nostalgic for them as LD increasingly becomes indistinct from policy. What I dislike is when debaters try to fashion non-normative philosophy arguments about epistemology, metaphysics, or aesthetics into NCs that purport to justify a prescriptive standard. I find philosophy heavy strategies that concede the entirety of the opposing side’s contention or advantage to be unpersuasive.
6. “Negate” is not a word that has been used in any resolution to date so frameworks that rely on a definition of this word will have close to no impact on my assessment of the debate.
Hello :)
I’m Faizaan Dossani. He/Him. Add me to the email chain: faizaan.dossani@gmail.com
Westlake (TX) 2017-2021, I also coached here for the 2021-2022 season.
General/Introductions
I don't really have any disposition to any particular style of debate and will simply vote for whichever argument is winning the highest layer of the flow. I also have a low tolerance of being disrespectful to your opponents; just be nice please.
I competed in LD on the local and nat circuit in which I cleared at TFA and a sizable chunk of nat circuit tourneys. I also taught at ODI for its past two sessions. I think debate is a game with educational value and freedom. This basically means that I am tech>truth, but still care about maintaining the pedagogical value and accessibility that debate should have. I try to do everything possible to not intervene in my decisions, so navigate my ballot for me.
Kritiks + K Affs
I primarily read these arguments, as my go-to strat junior and senior year was 1-off K. I mainly read Settler Colonialism, Baudrillard, Wynter, Anthro, Berardi, Derrida, cap stuff, and Islamophobia lit but am extremely familiar with a lot of k lit (disability lit, most black scholars, and most identity politics). I have an extremely basic understanding of high theory (Deleuze, Nietzsche, etc.), but as long as you do the proper explanation, I can probably evaluate any literature you throw at me.
- Overviews are appreciated but good line by line is usually more compelling for my ballot
- I think reading pess args when you don't identify with that certain group is bad.
- Give trigger warnings. If you forget and remember midway through the speech, pause your timer and just ask everyone; safety is the most important.
LARP
I read/cut many larp positions and it was also the style of debate I hit the most, so I'm pretty comfortable evaluating these debates. I haven't done much research into the topic literature so please explain your positions to me very clearly!
- DO WEIGHING or I won't know which impacts you want me to evaluate first which means I have to intervene :(
- Evidence comparison is a must have in competing claims over the same argument
- I think reading like 6+ off and then just going for the one the aff had like 10 seconds to respond is a lazy strat, but I guess I will vote off it
Tricks
I have a love/hate relationship with tricks. I don’t mind an underview with some spikes scattered in, but I don’t understand most of the paradoxes. (Spark, GCB, Zenos, etc.) I think a lot of the tricks are stupid in nature, but I guess I will evaluate them.
- Don't be sketchy!
- Make sure that all of your tricks are on the doc. Even if you say "im extempting x" in the speech you still should send a doc of whatever analytics you read. In tricks debates, I heavily rely on the doc compared to other debates.
T + Theory
Usually wasn’t an off in my strats, but I think good theory debate can be fun. Bad theory debate means that you are just regurgitating the shell and not actually explaining how I should evaluate the abuse story on a framing level.
- I won't default any paradigm issues; please just make the implications yourself
- The more frivolous the violation, the more likely I will lower the threshold for response
- I think some form of disclosure is probably a good idea, but I also think that can be up for debate
Phil/FW
I barely read any complex framing other than Mouffe. However, I have judged a lot of phil debates so I feel that I can probably handle whatever you read as long as it is properly explained.
- Explain your complex buzzwords to me, examples will boost speaks
- I think framing hijacks/proving why your framework precludes their moral theory can be extremely compelling in these debates
Traditional Debate
I never really partook in any traditional style of debate (VC or definitional stuff) but I did debate traditional debaters a lot and feel that I can confidently evaluate these debates.
- I think the extra attention to ethos is nice in these debates, but at the end of the day I will still evaluate your arguments on a technical level first
- I'd rather you spend more of your time focusing on the substance of the debate instead of value/VC. I often find that most values are kinda the same thing but just worded differently, which makes evaluating weighing between different values kinda futile.
PF Paradigm
I never actually competed in PF but going to Westlake allowed me to drill/prep with a lot of our PFrs so I have been heavily exposed to the argumentation style and evolving nature of PF. The people that I have worked with that I have pretty similar takes on debate are Cale McCrary, Zain Syed, Jawad Bataneih, Jason Luo, and Cherie Wang.
- You can debate as tech or lay as you want in front of me. Doing LD broadened the styles of debate I partook in, so I can handle whatever progressive arguments you throw at me. Speed is fine as well, but be clear.
- I will give both teams plus 0.2 in speaks if yall just flash cases before constructive, we all know your calling for evidence just to steal prep which wastes everyones' time
Speaks + Misc.
I give speaks based off efficiency, argument quality, and just your general attitude in round. I try to be as consistent as possible with speaks, so you will most likely get between a 28-29.6 unless you do something exceedingly bad/good.
- Please record your speeches, especially if you have a history of laggy wifi
- Throwing in jokes during your speeches is always a plus
- For evidence ethics, I'd rather you form the argument into some type of theory shell instead of staking the round and allowing me to decide, but I will try to default on whatever rules the tournament is following
I know debate can be stressful and toxic; just do your best and have fun cause at the end of the day we are just some losers yelling at each other on NSDA campus :)
FOR ONLINE DEBATE- please please please go 70% of your top speed and send all analytics- it is very difficult to catch blips and high tech clash over zoom.
My pronouns are he/him. I'd love to be on the email chain. henry.eberhart@gmail.com
If you are an inexperienced debater, WELCOME! Do your best, I believe in you. I'm here to help and provide feedback! Do your best to explain why your impacts are more important than your opponents, and you will do well!
Now for the Nat circuit nerds,
TLDR: As a debater my goal was to go into every tournament reading something that nobody else is reading. If you are a debater who thinks the same way pref me. I will listen to and evaluate fairly rounds with a common recycled aff vs the camp politics da, they just aren't the rounds I've had the most experience with.
I was a performance and k debater in high school. I went 1 off k basically every single round my sophomore -> senior year. I won't front and say that I'm some magical "blank slate" judge. My internal biases will probably lean me toward arguments I read, but this bias is extremely easy to overcome if you debate clearly and explain why I should vote for you.
Truth> Tech. Let me explain myself. If one debater spits some truth, and your response is to spew off 10 blips from your block file that aren't responsive, and they drop 7 of them, I will be very likely to vote for some truth, and not for 7 conceded analytical blips. But if your opponent concedes an argument, and you spend time to develop it, flesh it out, warrant, impact, weigh, then I will vote for it. That's what I mean when I say Truth>Tech.
critical arguments: These arguments are important. It is my personal belief that kritik literature ought not be run for the sole purpose of strategy. The violences that you speak of in round impacts many in the debate community and the world at large. Please approach these arguments with care and respect.
Theory/tricks: *UPDATE* I have been judging worse and worse theory rounds and am now willing to gut check shells if I do not think they are legitimate abuse. If your strategy is running 1ar thoery and random 1nc shells for the sake of out tech-ing your opponent, I am not the judge for you. At the very least your speaks will be as low as I can go without walking to tab.
I do not vote on skepticism.
Non-black people should not run afropessimism (https://thedrinkinggourd.home.blog/2019/12/29/on-non-black-afropessimism/)
You should probably disclose if you have the ability to do so ("ability to do so"= your school won't threaten your program due to the arguments you make, your parents won't react negatively if they see your arguments, etc, etc)
I'm cool with speed if I have a doc, do slow down a little in rebuttals, or I will miss arguments.
High speaks if you make me laugh.
If you use actively oppressive argumentation or argue for oppression in any light (racism, sexism, classism, hetero-patriarchy, settler colonialism, ableism, etc), I will stop the round immediately, vote you down and go to tab so I can give you 0 speaks.
If you have any questions on my paradigm, ask me before round!
Update fall 2024:I've coached for the last few years but have otherwise been somewhat removed from debate. Below information is still correct; in addition, I spend most of my time now thinking about psychoanalysis, Deleuze, and aesthetics.
Hi, I'm Ben! I debated at Strake Jesuit for 4 years on the TFA and TOC circuits, qualling to TOC sophomore, junior, and senior year. For quick prefs, below are types of args based on how much I feel comfortable judging them. I'm happy to judge anything, and the list isn't meant to be limiting at all!
1. Kritiks, policy stuff
2. Theory, T, phil
3. Tricks
I won't vote on any argument that makes debate unsafe, and, generally, please don't be sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, etc.
More specific stuff (I hope to add to this as I judge more and realize my specific thoughts on debate):
Theory and T:
I default competing interps, drop the debater, and no RVIs for shells that indict advocacies or entire positions (e.g., condo) and drop the arg for other shells (e.g., aff definition choice). Those aren't hard and fast rules, and I'd much rather that you introduce paradigms if you're reading theory.
I'm not opposed to the semantics 2NR at all, but I find that I have trouble flowing the dense grammar stuff at full speed. As such, I really appreciate examples and clarity here!
Policy stuff/LARP:
I'll judge kick if you ask me to, but I won't default judge kick on advocacies the 2NR extends without asking me to do so.
Kritiks:
I enjoy kritik debates where the 1NC makes an effort to contextualize links to the plan's discourse and action. I don't think links to the topic are absolutely necessary to achieve this, but they certainly don't hurt.
I don't often find myself persuaded by collapses against kritiks that are defensive, particularly against reps Ks. Generate offense!
Lots of kritiks, especially pessimistic ones, are read as if they are afropessimism - if your cards don't say ontological death, then you shouldn't either! Please please read and debate the kritik in a way that is consistent with your literature instead of explicitly parasitic on Black debate.
Phil:
I am more familiar with Kant, Pettit, Hobbes, and Levinas and less so with other theories. Happy to hear them, just explain well!
Tricks:
Please signpost effectively or I will not be able to flow these debates.
Miscellaneous stuff:
I'll default to tournament rules for evidence ethics, but I generally think violations like misrepresenting the author's intent or violating tournament rules are sufficient for you to stop the round. I'd rather you introduce violations like missing a few words at the end of a card as a theory argument so I don't have to use my own predispositions to determine if it constitutes losing the round, but you do you.
Prep ends when you finish compiling the doc.
Speaks are a reflection of your strategy, efficiency, and argument quality. I generally think speaks tend to be biased and inflated/deflated depending on the tournament, so I'll keep that in mind
Graduated from CK McClatchy High School in 2020. Graduated from UC Berkeley 2024. Currently DoD at Berkeley. Conflicts: CK McClatchy, West Campus, Harker, Cal.
he/him
Of course i want to be on the email chain. nick.fleming39@gmail.com
Moreover, the 1AC needs to be sent out before the official start time for the debate, unless it is new. Speaker point deductions are in order for debaters that fail to do this.
I flow straight down on my laptop. I frequently flow CX in college policy debates. How/if I flow is non-negotiable.
I frequently take a while to decide college debates. Don't read into it too much.
Novices/Middle Schoolers
Please ignore basically everything in this paradigm. Do not worry about any of my idiosyncrasies and do not try to accommodate them. Just do your best!
College Specific Note
The debate must start on time. Tournaments are increasingly time-pressed and decision time gets shorter every year. As such, I expect college debaters to not only start on time, but minimize delays as much as possible during the debate. You are too old to still be confused about the email chain. The more decision time I have, the linearly better your decision will be. This applies less to JV/novice debates, obviously.
Important Stuff
Below are many feelings about debate. Precisely none of them overcome technical debating, with the exception of the couple clearly flagged. I have rendered numerous decisions for conditionality, against framework, and for the argument that capitalism is sustainable. If my feelings were determinative, I would never vote for these arguments. There is a great deal of wiggle room, but it is exclusively accessed through technical debating.
My two least favorite things on earth are self-importance and cowardess. Don't do either of them.
I think I care more than other judges about judge instruction. Telling me how to read/understand cards, how to frame warrants, etc. will be taken very seriously when the debate comes to an end. Smart, strategic judge instruction and framing will quickly earn speaker points.
I believe being affirmative is fundamentally easy. On those grounds, I err neg on basically all theory. This is significantly more true for policy than LD, but my instinct to resolve theory in favor of the neg will remain strong.
Most of my paradigm is about k debate because I have far less feelings about policy rounds. That is not to say I am not a good judge for them. My favorite debates to judge are big, in-depth policy rounds that are vertically oriented and have lots of good evidence. That being said, I have far less instruction to offer you because those rounds are more straight-forward to evaluate. I will reward smart turns case arguments and clever analytics above a wall of cards in these debates.
Planless affs ---
I generally think that debates are better, more interesting, and more educational when the aff defends a topical plan based on the resolution.
I have been in many of these debates, both answering and going for topicality. My time as a k debater raised my threshold for the aff a bit because I have first hand experience with how easy it can be to beat framework with args that suck. If you are going for an impact turn to T without a counter-interpretation, you should probably win offense against model v model debates.
I like impact turns a lot. I am a good judge for heg/cap good, and a bad judge for affs that don't want to defend anything. In my opinion, if you have taken a radically leftist position and forwarded a structural kritik but are unwilling to debate the most surface level right-wing propaganda, you are both bastardizing the literature and being cowards. I will not be convinced that your indictment of settler colonialism/some other superstructure is conveniently okay with whatever the neg has impact turned. Inversely, if you are a k team that is ready to throw down on these questions, I will consider you strong-willed, brave, and smart.
Skills/clash solve the case with a big external, a TVA, and a robust presumption push on case is the quickest way to my heart.
Similarly, presumption pushes against affs that are just built to impact turn T are very persuasive.
I am increasingly persuaded by the fairness paradox.
I am unpersuaded by the trend of affs being topic-adjacent and answering framework with "you could have read x DA." I believe this reflects a fundamental, novice-level misunderstanding of what topicality is.
I don't like offense that hinges on the subject position of your opponent or me as a judge. I also very strongly prefer not to be in charge of your mental health, livelihood, or identity. EDIT 11/21: have received questions about this and would like to clarify -- args about value to life, ressentiment, etc. are totally fine. I don't want be in charge of you as an individual -- meaning your role in the community, your mental health, or your sense of self.
Kritiks -
Neg - I consider myself fairly sufficient in most kritik literature and have researched extensively, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't explain your theory. I don't think its fair of me to just fill in gaps for you (for example, deciding in my own head what it means if you "win the ontology debate.") The best way to win in front of me is to have a unique link that turns the case and beats the aff without framework. If your argument is about you and contains no theory, I am a decidedly bad judge for you.
Aff - Impact turn things. Weigh the aff against the alt for more than just fairness -- see my framework thoughts for the neg above. If you are going soft left against the k that is also fine, but sounding nice and in the direction of whatever your opponents say doesn't tell me why the link doesn't turn the case.
Theory -
I am not very good at judging T debates against policy affs. I like reasonability and precision, and my record is pretty decisively aff, despite not having strong feelings about T. At least an outside chance this means I am simply not doing a very good job evaluating the debates.
I tend to be lenient with all neg shenanigans. Consult 2N PTSD rant above.
I largely think if cps compete, they are legit. I can sometimes be convinced otherwise, but if your theory argument is just "this counterplan is bad," I am going to be convinced by neg arbitrariness arguments,
That being said, I am pretty decisively aff for a lot of process competition. Teams would be well suited to reformulate their theory arguments as competition arguments in front of me.
Please do not go for condo in front of me. I have no idea why the neg thinking they can kick a counterplan or an alternative is a voting issue -- simply saying conditionality is bad is not sufficient for me to nuke the other team from the debate. I have never participated in or seen a debate between competent opponents in which even the most egregious abuses of conditionality effected the decision. If the neg drops it twice, I guess you have to go for it. I can think of very few circumstances where it is a good idea otherwise. Slightly more sympathetic for LD because of 1AR time pressures, but still will lean heavily neg and will cap speaks at 29 for the aff (assuming perfect debating otherwise --- if you go for condo, you should expect your points to be in the 28-28.5 range.)
Online Debate
If my camera is not on, please assume I am not ready for you to begin speaking.
I would very much appreciate if you could record your speeches in case there are internet issues while you are talking.
Even the clearest debaters tend to be tougher to flow in an online format. I understand that this comes with some strategic cost, but I will reward you with speaks if you go a little slower than usual and make sure to be extra clear.
LD:
I am fine with flex prep if you want to ask questions, but I am not going to pay attention like it is a CX. If you need to clarify things, that's fine, but treating flex prep like time to make arguments is clearly egregious.
Edit 2/11/23
If you do not ask for a marked document in your debate, I will add .1 to your speaker points. Unless your opponent legitimately marked cards, your speaker points will be capped at 29 if you ask for one. Flow better. Asking about what was and wasn't read is CX time. Every time you ask "did you read x" that's minus .1 speaker points.
EDIT 4/10/22: adding this after judging ~120 LD debates:
1. There seem to be issues with clarity plaguing this activity. To try and discourage this, I will do the following things: a.) I will never open your documents during the debate. I will read cards after if you tell me too. b.) I will say clear 5 times, after that, I'm not flowing c.) If, on the other hand, you are clear, I will give way too high of speaks. Some of the best teams in this activity sound great -- its clearly possible to win without being unflowable.
As my record indicates, I overwhelmingly vote neg in LD debates. Usually, this is because the 1AR runs out of time and drops something important, and I feel like my hands are tied on new 2AR args. That in mind -- 1ARs that set up big framing issues, start doing impact calc, and cut out superfluous arguments in favor of barebones substance will be rewarded with speaker points and usually the ballot. Aff teams, the entire activity seems to be stacked against you -- so debate accordingly, and don't waste time on useless stuff like condo.
I am gettable on Nebel/whole rez, but don't usually find it particularly persuasive. Seems counter-intuitive.
Please go easy on the theory -- I get that its a big part of the activity, but if your plan going into the debate is to go for a theory arg, you shouldn't pref me. I am usually going to vote neg.
I am not 100% familiar with all of the LD nomenclature so I may need a little explanation of things like "upward entailment test" and other LD-specific vocab
No RVI's ever under any circumstances
running list of arguments that are simply too bad to be evaluated:
new affs bad
no neg fiat
plan focus allows you to say the n word in debates
my opponent did something outside the round that they should lose for
RVI's
Misc.
- Consider me dead inside -- moralizing and tugging on my heart strings will only earn you negative speaks - debate is not about individual feelings, and I will not consider yours when deciding who won.
- I strongly believe that you should be allowed to insert rehighlightings of evidence that has already been read in the debate if you think it goes the other way/want to add context to an argument. Please do not abuse this by inserting a million rehighlightings, but I will be hard to convince that it is not okay to do so in moderation (especially in the 1AR.)
- Please do not ask me for high speaks -- you lose half a point every time you bring it up
- I will only flow the person who's speech it is (edit: Feel less strongly about this during the 1AC/1NC)
- It is a damning indictment of our community that I even have to say this, but the debate will end immediately if it gets even remotely physical at any point. This includes touching other debaters' property. If this is any way surprising, confusing, or offensive to you, strike me.
- There is nothing more off-putting to me than debaters who take themselves too seriously. Please stop acting like this is anything other than a silly game we all want to win at.
- In that same vein, being rude does not make you cool, funny, or brave. Snarky CX comments, saying mean stuff in speeches, etc. will make me dislike you and actively hope that you lose the debate. If I think you are too rude, I will say something after the round and take pleasure in giving you bad speaks. If it gets to the point where I am saying something to you, you should assume I bombed your speaks. If you are a team cannot moderate your rudeness, or you cannot make your arguments without being mean, please strike me and save us both a headache.
Public Forum (copied from Greg Achten)
Pretty much everything in the above paradigm is applicable here but there are two key additions. First, I strongly oppose the practice of paraphrasing evidence. If I am your judge I would strongly suggest reading only direct quotations in your speeches. My above stated opposition to the insertion of brackets is also relevant here. Words should never be inserted into or deleted from evidence.
Second, there is far too much untimed evidence exchange happening in debates. I will want all teams to set up an email chain to exchange cases in their entirety to forego the lost time of asking for specific pieces of evidence. You can add me to the email chain as well and that way after the debate I will not need to ask for evidence. This is not negotiable if I'm your judge - you should not fear your opponents having your evidence. Under no circumstances will there be untimed exchange of evidence during the debate. Any exchange of evidence that is not part of the email chain will come out of the prep time of the team asking for the evidence. The only exception to this is if one team chooses not to participate in the email thread and the other team does then all time used for evidence exchanges will be taken from the prep time of the team who does NOT email their cases.
natefrenkel12@gmail.com (please put me on the chain!)
Background
Hey y'all I'm Nate (he/him/his). I debated LD at Catonsville for 4 years. I was a trad debater, but I debated on the circuit a bunch, even making it to a few bid rounds and clearing and advancing at nats multiple times so I'm familiar with both worlds of debate and the styles within them. As long as you're respectful and aren't a blatant jerk, we should be fine!
General
Tech > truth unless the args are morally repugnant. All args need a claim, warrant, and impact, I won't do the work to warrant your arg or create an impact for you. I probably won't be familiar with any of the topic lit so don't assume I know what your acronyms or topic specific jargon mean. A lot of kids seem wary of this, but if you're obviously winning the round don't spend 10 minutes repeatedly extending the same arg, end your speech early. More than anything, debate should be an inclusive place, I won't reward an exclusionary practices. I'm also a first year out, so you probably shouldn't pref me too high in the first place lol. Oh also you probably shouldn't read idpol stuff if you don't identify as a member of the group, I probably won't drop you face, but your speaks will probably be tanked and my threshold for responses will be crazy low.
Speed
You can go as fast as you want as long as I can comprehend what you're saying. I don't like to flow off a doc so I'll clear you and then stop flowing if you don't slow down. For online debate it's probably best that you don't go top speed for clarity over zoom. It's probably also best if you slow down on dense analytics, especially if they aren't in the doc. I was the kid that ran anti-spread theory in out-rounds at circuit tourneys so if you're being a dick to a lay kid I'll be extremely receptive to a lay "don't spread against lay kids" kinda theory arg. I'm also super comfortable saying that I didn't evaluate an argument because you were going to fast/being incomprehensible so I couldn't flow it.
LARP
Definitely the style of debate I'm most familiar with and feel most comfortable judging. The most important thing in these rounds is impact calc. I really don't wanna intervene, y'all should be telling me exactly how to vote through your impact calc. Disads need a clear link and impact, and should probably be more than just 1 blippy card if you want me to vote on it.
T/Theory
Ran some theory on the circuit, but def less familiar with it. Not a big fan of dense theory debates and probably not the best judge to adjudicate them. Theory is about coverage and a shell needs to be fully extended in order for it to be a complete arg. More friv theory is probably bs and I'll probably have a lower threshold for responses. Default to DTA and CI, but please don't make me default. Also, please don't run disclosure against a lay debater or a clear novice, I def won't be happy.
Phil
Probably some of my favorite debates. I default to epistemic confidence and truth testing (don't make me default please). Don't assume I know your philosophy. If you're spreading, slow down on the dense analytics, especially if they're not in the doc. Please weigh, don't just tell that your fw is better than your opponent's so you get an auto-win. I also was never a big fan of the prewritten extensions that always got read at the start of every non-constructive speech. I also think the current state of circuit phil debate is centered around extending dropped blips which makes me kinda sad.
Ks
I'm pretty familiar with most of the more stock Ks (cap, fem, security, setcol), but I probably am not the best judge for dense K debate or more high theory/pomo Ks. You should probably treat me like a policy judge for most Ks. Don't assume I'm familiar with your lit. Ks probably need a clear link, links of omission are super dubious in my mind. Your alt clearly needs to do something, and if you don't extend some sort of alt solvency, I can't vote for the K. K affs are also kinda dubious, especially if there's no real explanation of the alt/alt solvency. I'll listen to them for sure, but I'm pretty receptive to T fw here.
Trix
Please don't read trix in front of me lol. If that's your go-to, it's probably to your benefit to strike me. I won't auto-drop you and I'll still do my best to evaluate the args, but my threshold for responses is gonna be much lower.
Lay Debate
I really love high level lay debate. It can easily be more exciting than a good circuit round if done well. Fw debate is great, but don't spend 5 minutes telling me why justice is better than morality or vice-versa. The best lay debaters know when to strategically kick their fws. I also need actual impact calc. If you're going claim material advantages, you have to be prepared to defend implementation and its consequences. Too many lay debaters are comfortable saying "oh this is LD, I don't have to defend implementation or any of these disadvantages."
If email chains needed: forrestfulgenzi [at] gmail [dot] com, please format the subject as: "Tournament Name -- Round # -- Aff School AF vs Neg School NG"
Background: Debated policy debate for four years at Damien High School and currently the head coach over at OES. Have been involved in the debate community for 10+ years teaching LD and Policy Debate.
General thoughts:
Tech before truth. It's human nature to have preferences toward certain arguments but I try my best to listen and judge objectively. All of the below can be changed by out-debating the other team through judge instruction and ballot writing. Unresolved debates are bad debates.
Speed is great, but clarity is even better. If I'm judging you online please go slightly slower, especially if you don't have a good mic. I find it increasingly hard to hear analytics in the online format.
Be smart. I rather hear great analytical arguments than terrible cards.
Overall, I'm open to any arguments - feel free to run whatever you'd like!
Background
First, and most importantly, I am a Black man. I competed in policy for three years in high school at Parkview Arts/Science Magnet High School; I did an additional year at the University of Kentucky. I am now on the coaching staff at Little Rock Central High School. I have a bachelor's and a master's in Communication Studies and a master's in Secondary Education. I said that not to sound pompous but so that you will understand that my lack of exposure to an argument will not preclude me from evaluating it; I know how to analyze argumentation. I have represented Arkansas at the Debate Topic Selection for the past few years (I authored the Middle East paper in 2018 and the Criminal Justice paper in 2019) and that has altered how I view both the topic process and debates, in a good way. I think this makes me a more informed, balanced judge. Summer '22 I chaired the Wording Committee for NFHS Policy Debate Topic Selection; do with this information what you want.
Include me on all email chains at cgdebate1906@gmail.com. If it’s a policy round then ALSO includelrchdebatedocs@gmail.com,If it’s an LD round then ALSO include lrc.lddocs@gmail.com please and thank you
Randoms
I find that many teams are rude and obnoxious in round and don’t see the need to treat their opponents with dignity. I find this mode of thinking offensive and disrespectful to the activity as a whole
I consider myself an open slate person but that doesn’t mean that you can pull the most obscure argument from your backfiles and run it in front of me. Debate is an intellectual game. Because of this I find it offensive when debaters run arguments just run them.
I don’t mind speed and consider myself an exceptional flower. That being said, I think that it helps us judges when debaters slow down on important things like plan/CP texts, perms, theory arguments, and anything else that will require me to get what you said verbatim. I flow on a computer so I need typing time. Your speed will always outpace my ability to type; please be conscious of this.
Intentionally saying anything remotely racist, ableist, transphobic, etc will get you an auto loss in front of me. If that means you need to strike me then do us both a favor and strike me. That being said, I’m sure most people would prefer to win straight up and not because a person was rhetorically problematic, in round.
Judge Commitments
I’m SO sick and tired of circuit-level teams/competitors providing NON-circuit/lay judges to cover their commitment. Debaters spend a LOT of time crafting/drafting arguments and deserve to come to tournaments and have judges who will work equally as hard, when it comes to evaluating debates. If I am judging you and your school did/does NOT provide quality judging then expect me to be more arbitrary in judging debates than I would normally; if you are unwilling to provide others with a quality judge experience then I have no qualms giving bad, arbitrary, or other non-flow based decisions. IF you want me to provide you with a quality judging experience then you should populate the pool with similar-minded people. If you are unsure of what constitutes non-quality judging then see the non-comprehensive list below:
- parent judges
- lay judges
- judges who refuse to listen to certain arguments because they don’t like them (excluding tricks)
- judges who would prefer high school kids capitulate to what THEY want and not what the kids want to discuss
We as a community understand that some people cannot hire out judges and maybe only their parent is available but the lack of training that they give to those parents/certain questionable ways that they teach them to judge are still not good. In short, if you want me to be the best version of myself then provide other judges who are willing to work equally as hard.
Update for Online Debate
Asking "is anyone not ready" before an online speech an excise in futility; if someone's computer is glitching they have no way of telling you they aren’t ready. Wait for verbal/nonverbal confirmation that all individuals are ready before beginning your speech, please. If my camera is off, I am not ready for your speech. Online debate makes speed a problem for all of us. Anything above 75% of your top speed ensures I will miss something; govern yourselves accordingly.
Please make sure I can see your face/mouth when you are speaking if at all possible. I would really prefer that you kept your camera on. I understand how invasive of an ask this is. If you CANNOT for reasons (tech, personal reasons, etc.) I am completely ok with going on with the camera off. Debate is inherently an exclusive activity, if the camera on is a problem I would rather not even broach the issue.
I would strongly suggest recording your own speeches in case someone's internet cuts out. When this issue arises, a local recording is a life saver. Do not record other people's speeches without their consent; that is a quick way to earn a one-way trip to L town sponsored by my ballot.
Lastly, if the round is scheduled to start at 2, don’t show up to the room asking for my email at 1:58. Be in the room by tech time (it’s there for a reason) so that you can take care of everything in preparation for the round. 2 o’clock start time means the 1ac is being read at 2, not the email chain being set up at 2. Timeliness, or lack thereof, is one of my BIGGEST pet peeves. Too often debaters are too cavalier with time. Two things to keep in mind: 1) it shortens my decision time and 2) it’s a quick way to short yourself on speaks (I’m real get-off-my-lawn about this).
Short Version
My previous paradigm had a thorough explanation of how I evaluate most arguments. For the sake of prefs and pre round prep I have decided to amend it. When I debated, I was mostly a T/CP/DA debater. That being said, I am open to just about any form of argumentation you want to make. If it is a high theory argument don’t take for granted that I understand most of the terminology your author(s) use.
I will prioritize my ballot around what the 2NR/2AR highlights as the key issues in the debate. I try to start with the last two speeches and work my way back through the debate evaluating the arguments that the debaters are making. I don’t have to personally agree with an argument to vote for it.
T-USfg
Yes I coach primarily K teams but I have voted for T/framework quite often; win the argument and you win my ballot. Too often debaters read a lot of blocks and don’t do enough engaging in these kinds of debates. The “Role of the Ballot” needs to be explicit and there needs to be a discussion of how your ROB is accessible by both teams. If you want to skirt the issue of accessibility then you need to articulate why the impact(s) of the aff outweigh whatever arguments the neg is going for.
I am less persuaded by fairness arguments; I think fairness is more of an internal link to a more concrete impact (e.g., truth testing, argument refinement). Affs should be able to articulate what the role of the negative is under their model. If the aff is in the direction of the topic, I tend to give them some leeway in responding to a lot of the neg claims. Central to convincing me to vote for a non-resolutionally based affirmative is their ability to describe to me what the role of the negative would be under their model of debate. The aff should spend time on impact turning framework while simultaneously using their aff to short circuit some of the impact claims advanced by the neg.
When aff teams lose my ballot in these debates it’s often because they neglect to articulate why the claims they make in the 1ac implicate/inform the neg’s interp and impacts here. A lot of times they go for a poorly explained, barely extended impact turn without doing the necessary work of using the aff to implicate the neg’s standards.
When neg teams lose my ballot in these debates it’s often because they don’t engage the aff. Often times, I find myself having a low bar for presumption when the aff is poorly explained (both in speeches and CX) yet neg teams rarely use this to their advantage. A good framework-centered 2NR versus most k affs involves some type of engagement on case (solvency deficit, presumption, case turn, etc.) and your framework claims; I think too often the neg gives the aff full risk of their aff and solvency which gives them more weight on impact turns than they should have. If you don’t answer the aff AT ALL in the 2NR I will have a hard time voting for you; 2AR’s would be smart to point this out and leverage this on the impact debate.
If you want toread a kritik of debate,I have no problems with that. While, in a vacuum, I think debate is an intrinsic good, we too often forget we exist in a bubble. We must be introspective (as an activity) about the part(s) we like and the part(s) we don't like; if that starts with this prelim round or elim debate then so be it. As structured, debate is super exclusionary if we don't allow internal criticism, we risk extinction in such a fragile world.
LD
If you don't read a "plan" then all the neg has to do is win a link to the resolution. For instance, if you read an aff that's 6 minutes of “whole rez” but you don't defend a specific action then the neg just needs to win a link based on the resolution OR your impact scenario(s). If you don't like it then write better affs that FORCE the neg to get more creative on the link debate.
If theory is your go-to strategy, on either side, please strike me. I am sick and tired debaters refusing to engage substance and only read frivolous theory arguments you barely understand. If you spend your time in the 1AR going for theory don’t you dare fix your lips to go for substance over theory and expect my ballot in the 2AR. LD, in its current state, is violent, racist, and upholds white supremacy; if you disagree do us both a favor and strike me (see above). Always expecting people to open source disclose is what is driving a lot of non-white people from the activity. I spend most of my time judging policy so an LD round that mimics a policy debate is what I would prefer to hear.
I’m sick of debaters not flowing then thinking they can ask what was read “before” CX starts. Once you start asking questions, THAT IS CX TIME. I have gotten to the point that I WILL DOCK YOUR SPEAKS if you do this; I keep an exceptional flow and you should as well. If you go over time, I will stop you and your opponent will not be required to answer questions. You are eating into decision time but not only that it shows a blatant lack of respect for the "rules" of activity. If this happens and you go for some kind of "fairness good" claim I'm not voting for it; enjoy your Hot L (shoutout to Chris Randall and Shunta Jordan). Lastly, most of these philosophers y’all love quoting were violently racist to minorities. If you want me (a black man) to pick you up while you defend a racist you better be very compelling and leave no room for misunderstandings.
Parting Thoughts
I came into this activity as a fierce competitor, at this juncture in my life I’m in it solely for the education of the debaters involved; I am less concerned with who I am judging and more concerned with the content of what I debate. I am an educator and a lover of learning things; what I say is how I view debate and not a roadmap to my ballot. Don’t manipulate what you are best at to fit into my paradigm of viewing debate. Do what you do best and I will do what I do best in evaluating the debate.
TL;DR
4 years exp parli
tech>truth
Don't make debate inaccessible (racism, sexism etc.)
Debate is a game, I accept all arguments
Speed is okay as long as it doesn't make the round inaccessible for you opponent (also being online makes it hard to hear anyways, so go extra slowly if connection is poor)
I'm a physics student, so I can follow and appreciate scientifically heavy arguments
My name is Gus (he/him), currently a physics student at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I competed for Cleveland High School (OR) primarily in parli for 4 years, but I have in-round experience for every debate form. My experience goes: Parli>>>>PF>Policy>>LD. I believe that debate is a game and therefore all types of arguments should be allowed. I will vote on theory and kritik as long as you give the simple argumentation as to why I should, I will probably never make those connections for you. I'm a physics major, I don't read philosophy, so if you're reading a K, don't assume I know your author or what your kritik is about. Speed is okay, I will be flowing the entire time, just make sure it does not preclude your opponents from being able to engage in thoughtful argumentation. I will not vote on presentation, I will only evaluate what I have on the flow. I don't care about weighing mechanisms at all, you can put one out, but for policy resolutions net benefits is usually the way to go. Creativity is super cool, after many years of debate people tend to rehash the same arguments, anything that makes your case stand out is great.
If you have any specific questions please feel free ask me before or after the round! my email is aglas4@illinois.edu
Quick Notes:
- email chain: harrison.hall1999@gmail.com (use for additional questions after round)
- available for virtual coaching on weekends
- tech > truth generally, but I am fond of epistemology arguments
- fully extend unique impacts speech to speech
- restating taglines is not persuasive; extensions need to include interactive warrants
- this is a shared space so please make it accessible
- I need clash and comparative impact calc to stay awake
- jargon/buzzword spamming is not persuasive & mucks up the flow; signpost with intention
- evidence evaluation is very important to me; send out cut speech docs before speaking
Experience:
- 4 years of local & national LD for Centennial High School
- 3 years of policy for the University of Wyoming (executive authority, space policy, & alliances)
---LD AFF's---
1 Person Policy:
- fiat means that the advocacy of the aff is impervious to domestic political inherency for sake of comparative world construction; nothing more
- moderately high threshold for durable fiat; I need 1-2 warrants for it
- more than 30 seconds of frontlines designed to enable abuse are annoying & obvious; just prep the incoming shell and stop wasting 1AC time
- whole resolution please
- framing is optional but encouraged
- try not to write reverse engineered, impact oriented cases that epitomize security k links; you can still win on tech but I'll be a little bored
Traditional:
- framework should be reasons to prefer a method of evaluation for impacts and/or truth in the round, not just definitions
- definitions should have their own section to clarify ground (and function as interpretations for T)
- LD is a debate of philosophy (aesthetics, axiology, epistemology, metaphysics, ontology, etc.), not just vaguely imperative morals; specify your prescribed philosophy to avoid ranting about subjective morality
- if you read an ends-based criterion/standard of any kind, YOU NEED SOLVENCY
- if reading a means-based criterion/standard, you do not need solvency; you also cannot access ends based impacts of any kind
Kritikal:
- discourse, performance, pedagogy, affect, proximity, etc. are all crucial; show me HOW within YOUR aff in THIS round
- if untopical, provide offensive reasons to ditch the resolution
- the more stable your advocacy is, the more stable my vote is; I hate shifty aff's
- please utilize these arguments with the intent to clash and learn more about the topic
Framework Heavy:
- I need at least 1 bit of substantive/contention level offense to weigh through the framework (link + impact); you can't win off of being endlessly theoretically correct
- unframed offense will be evaluated under util by default; make your framing obvious and consistent coming out of the constructive speeches
- epistemology operates above aesthetics, axiology, and moral evaluations in general until you tell me otherwise
- I interpret LD resolutions as truth testing and/or comparative world and enjoy that specific framework debate
- I evaluate competing frameworks under epistemic modesty, not confidence; the neg can weigh their DA's under aff framing, their own, or default util to save time
- stick to your lit; do not use obscurity as a strategy (ie buzzwordy & vague high theory) or I will punish you
---LD NEG's---
Traditional:
- line by line & strategic grouping are a must
- overviews are vital for traditional debaters; condense and collapse the debate to win on depth
- story telling is powerful in traditional debate assuming it isn't highly syllogistic or heavily reliant on pathos
- underviews are time wasters; further contextualize evidence in the rebuttals
- clearly separate the 1NC case from off-case arguments applied to the 1AC flow
DA's:
- do not read linear DA's, especially multiple
- 'DA turns case' is a swell argument, but absolutist rhetoric is sketchy; be specific when explaining the turn on the link and impact level
- high threshold for vague econ, heg, and privatization DA's ; provide recent and specific evidence
CP's:
- condo isn't inherently good or bad, so debate it
- process CP's are boring
- low threshold for PIC's good
- neg fiat must be frontlined in the 1NC; no private actor, no international, no multilateral
K's:
- not everyone is familiar with k's; please make the debate reasonably accessible for sake of clash
- one off k's NEED extensive framing; ROB's, theory, method etc.
- performative contradiction makes evaluating k's super uncomfortable, so please don't do that to me
- do not read multiple prior question/ a priori arguments; that's just backtracking the k and your offense
- the k should NOT operate as a linear DA with an easy to kick CP; provide solvency for your alternative or don't read a k
- links of omission are boring (high threshold)
- rejection alt's are boring (high threshold)
- PLEASE make presumption arguments if the aff functionally does nothing; I will vote for presumption over deontology in most debates
- THEORY TO PRAXIS; CRITIQUE IS A VERB
---GENERAL/RANDOM---
- DISCLOSURE IS GOOD FOR DEBATE and debate arguments
- I am comfortable evaluating policy, LD, and PF but prefer LD simply because framework is fun
- generic t/theory is not persuasive; keep it explicit if you need to utilize those arguments in a 45 minute LD round lol
- high threshold for RVI's; you need to prove that they provided no substance and wasted our time
- do not be condescending or you'll get a low point win
- do not call arguments or people ableist adjectives; your speaks will default to 27
- please default to gender neutral communication; unless your opponent doesn't like being referred to as a side or speaker position just call them those objective terms
- performative contradiction will affect speaker points, but it will only show up on the flow if the opponent impacts out the implications of the contradiction within the debate; subject positioning is crucial to these/all debates
- speed is # of arg's per minute, not words per minute
- if you spread analytics I want a doc (and so does your opponent)
- I'm a sucker for creative impact turns; do NOT impact turn forms of oppression (i.e. Nietzsche turns), but you can totally go the dedev/spark/extinction good/nuke war good route
- you will get dropped for creating a hostile environment; debate is a game, but that should NEVER normalize violence of any kind
- off time roadmaps only need to tell me the order of sheets to flow
- card/file manipulation will drastically affect overall truth threshold and speaks. CLIPPERS BEWARE
- essays with parenthetical citations are not debate cases and hurt my eyes; please utilize discretely cited evidence in the form of tagged cards
- all authors should ideally have qualifications written after the publication date in parenthesis
- please don't use news outlets as sources
- verbally deliver cards with tag, author, and date included
- using a verbal pause followed by "and" or "next" before reading a tag or transitioning in general is a good habit to form
- vague quotes at the top are a waste of time unless they are funny
- being super formal annoys me; just treat debate like the workspace
- I will evaluate any philosophy and sincerely attempt to remove personal biases BUT for the sake of transparency:
--philosophy I hate: Kant (all), Rand/egoism, vague/buzzwordy Baudrillard, Hegel, rule of law, constitutionality, social contract theory (all), trans exclusionary feminism, humanism, cosmopolitanism, minimum effort Rawls that is just colorblindness, state led communism, judeo-christian morality (all), psychoanalysis, and any Marx that dips into material realism
--philosophy I like: anti capitalist scholarship from the last 2 decades, anarchism that accounts for ableism, Beauvoir/existentialism, Braidotti, Butler, Deleuze ♥, Derrida, Escalante, Foucault, Habermas, Nietzsche other than oppression good crap, Puar, Eve Sedgwick (I love paranoid/reparative readings of the 1AC), schizoanalysis, utilitarianism (especially negative, go Karl!) and skepticism (trix 4 dayz)
- trix are fun but don't be mean or overly obnoxious about it
- I low key think that evidence from Rand Corp. and the Heritage Foundation is propaganda
- k debate should not be a 'race to left' with little to no technicality
- traditional debate should not be a 'race to the right' with little to no technicality
- not a fan of choreographed pathos in debate; save it for speech
- not a fan of bravado, condescension, passive aggression, tiny CEO syndrome, meme-ness or any other unprofessional dispositions normalized by debate
- I ultimately think that competitive debate is a black hole of diluted data bent to the egos of hyperconscious maniacs that specialize in sophistic threat construction, so showing off real world research and communication skills is the best way to generate ethos with me
- my goals as a judge are to:
1) attentively & objectively adjudicate
2) learn & teach via critical pedagogy
3) run the tournament smoothly
4) be paid fairly for my time & relevant experience
Debated for and currently coach at Strake Jesuit
Email - hatfieldwyatt@gmail.com
Debate is a game
I qualified for the TOC Junior and Senior years and came into contact with virtually every type of argument
Tech > Truth
I am not a fan of identity-based arguments. Please don't run arguments that are only valid based on your or your opponent's identity.
Additionally do not swear in round or use profanities it will effect speaker points.
Styles of Debate -
I will vote on all of them but these are my preferences.
Tricks - 1
Larp - 3
Phil - 1
K - 4
Theory - 1
K performance - 5
email: colter.heirigs@gmail.com
POLICY PARADIGM:
I have been coaching Policy Debate full time since 2014. Arms sales is my 7th year of coaching.
I view my primary objective in evaluating the round to be coming to a decision that requires the least “judge intervention.”
If debaters do not give me instructions on how to evaluate the debate, and/or leave portions of the debate unresolved, they should not expect to get my ballot. My decision will end up being arbitrary, and (while I will likely still try to make my arbitrary decision less arbitrary than not) I will not feel bad.
In the final rebuttals, debaters should be giving me a “big picture” assessment of what’s going on in the debate to give them the best chance to get my ballot. Extending 25 arguments in the rebuttals doesn’t do much for me if you’re not explaining how they interact with the other team’s arguments and/or why they mean you win the round. In my ideal debate round, both 2NR and 2AR have given me at least a 45 second overview explaining why they’ve won the debate where they dictate the first paragraph of my ballot for me.
Important things to note:
-I don’t ever think Topicality is an RVI (*this is distinct from kritiks of the neg’s interp/use of topicality*)
-If you don’t signpost AND slow down for tags, assume that I am missing at least 50% of your tags. This means saying a number or a letter or “AND” or “NEXT” prior to the tag of your card, and preferably telling me which of your opponents arguments I should flow it next to. Speech docs are not substitutes for clarity and signposting.
-I'm probably a 7 on speed, but please see above ^^^^
-High-theory will be an uphill battle.
-I would prefer not to call for cards, I believe it’s the debaters job to clearly communicate their arguments; if you tell me they’re misrepresenting their cards – I will probably call for them. But if I call for it and they’re not misrepresenting their evidence you’ll lose a lot of credibility with me and my cognitive biases will likely run amuck. Don’t let this deter you from calling out bad evidence.
-You can win the line-by-line debate in the 2AR but still lose the debate if you fail to explain what any of it means and especially how it interacts with the 2NR's args.
-Don’t assume I have any familiarity with your Acronyms, Aff, or K literature
-Swearing is probably word inefficient
-You’re in a bad spot if you’re reading new cards in the final rebuttals, very low propensity for me to evaluate them
-CPs that result in the aff are typically going to be a very hard sell, so are most other artificially competitive CPs. Perms are cool, so are time tradeoffs for the aff when this happens. If you really think you've got a sick techy CP make sure to go out of your way to win questions of competition/superior solvency / a specific link to the aff plan alone for your NB
-I think debate is a competition.
-the best “framework” arguments are probably “Topicality” arguments and almost probably don’t rely on cards from debate coaches and definitely don’t rely on me reading them after the round
-Impact everything out... Offense and Defense... I want to hear you telling me why your argument is more pressing and important than the other team's. I hate having to intervene... "Magnitude," "Probability," and "Timeframe" are not obscenities, please use them.
Arguments you shouldn’t waste your time on with me:
-Topicality = RVI (*this is distinct from kritiks of the neg’s interp/use of topicality*)
-Consult CPs
I am going to have the easiest time evaluating rounds where:
-warrant and evidence comparison is made
-weighing mechanisms and impact calculus guiding how I evaluate micro & macro level args are utilized
-the aff advocates a topical plan
-the DA turns and Outweighs the Case, or the CP solves most of the case and there's a clear net benefit that the perm doesn't solve for
-the negative has a well-researched neg strategy
-I am not expected to sort through high-theory
-the 2NR/2AR doesn't go for everything and makes strategic argument selection
Presumptions I bring into the round that probably cannot be changed:
-I’m voting Neg on presumption until the aff reads the 1AC
-Topicality is never an RVI (*this is distinct from kritiks of the neg’s interp/use of topicality*)
-There is no 3NR
-Oppression of humans = bad (note: I do not know how this compares to the end of the planet/human race, debaters are going to have to provide weighing mechanisms for me.)
-Earth existing = good (note: I do not know how this compares to other impacts like oppression of humans, debaters are going to have to provide some weighing mechanisms for me.)
-I will have a very difficult time bringing myself to vote for any sort of Consult CP if the aff even mumbles some type of “PERM”
-Once the 2AC perms, presumption goes to the neg to prove the perm unworkable or undesirable if the CP/Alt is not textually/functionally competitive
Unimportant things to note:
-Plz read your plan before you read solvency – I will be annoyed and lost if you don’t
-I really enjoy author indicts if/when they’re specific – it shows a team has worked hard and done their research
-I really enjoy case specific strategies – I enjoy it when a team can demonstrate that they've worked hard to prepare a case specific strategy
-I enjoy GOOD topicality debates
-I’ve been involved in policy debate in some capacity for 11 years now – Education is my 5th topic coaching.
-I put my heart and soul into policy debate for four years on high school. I worked tirelessly to put out specific strategies for specific affirmatives and I like to see debaters who I can tell have done the same and are having fun. So, show me you know your case better than anyone else if you're affirmative, or on the neg, show me specific links and answers to the affirmative... I tend to reward this in speaker points. ...That being said, generics are fun, fine, and essential for the negative team. Feel free to run them, you will not be penalized in any way.
Specific Arguments
I'm good for just about anything that is well debated: T, Theory, DAs, CPs, Ks... I can even be persuaded to vote solely on inherency if it is well debated - if the plan has literally already happened, for the love of god please punish the aff.
That being said, I enjoy seeing a strategy in argument selection, and appreciate when arguments don't blatantly contradict each other (i.e. the DA linking to the CP, or Cap Bad and an Econ Impact on politics). Especially in the 2NR.
********************************************************
LD Paradigm
I am pretty tab when it comes to LD. My goal is to reach a decision that requires the least amount of judge intervention.
Signpost and slow down on tags. Slow down even more for theory args. Spreading through tags and theory interps is absolutely not the move if you want me to be flowing your speech. I will not be flowing from the doc.
Slow down. No, you don’t have to be slow and you should certainly feel free to read the body of your cards at whatever max speed you are comprehensible at. If you’ve used signposting, slowed down on tags and pre-written analytics, you’re golden. It's inexcusable and unforgivable to not have signposting in the 1ac.
I come into the round presuming:
-the aff should be defending the resolution
-the aff is defending the entirety of the resolution
-my ballot answers the resolutional question
-debate is a game
These presumptions can likely be changed.
Stylistically agnostic, but probably not your best judge for:
-dense phil that you’re spreading through
-undisclosed affs that don’t defend the entirety of the resolution
-process CPs that result in the aff
-more than 2 condo
-friv theory - I ❤️ substance
-Probably not interested in hearing condo if it’s just 2 condo positions
-theory interps that require me to ignore other speeches
I think that I have a low propensity to vote for most arguments regarding things that happen outside of the round or prior to the 1ac. I am not interested in adjudicating arguments that rely on screenshots of chats, wikis, or discord servers.
Questions, or interested in my thoughts on particular subjects not covered in my LD paradigm? Check out my POLICY PARADIGM above!
Public Forum Paradigm:
First speakers get to ask the first question in crossfire. If you ask about the status of this in round, expect to get one less speakerpoint than you would have otherwise.
File Share > e-mail chain.
Depth > Breadth. You only have four minutes to construct your position, would far prefer to hear 2 well-developed contentions rather than 3-4 blippy ones unless they are incredibly straight-forward. Much less interested in adjudicating “argument checkers” than most.
Currently a coach and PhD student at The University of Kansas.
Add me to the chain plz and thank you DerekHilligoss@gmail.com
if you have any questions or want something clarified feel free to reach out!
for college add rockchalkdebate@gmail.com as well
TL;DR do what you do and do it well. Don't let my preferences/career/coaching record sway you away from doing what you want.
The only thing I ever wanted from a judge, both as a debater and coach, is someone who will try hard and vote no matter who the teams are or what the arguments are. Those are the qualities I try and emulate if given the chance to judge you.
The biggest thing for me is that I value good impact framing/calc. If you aren't explaining why your impacts matter more then your opponents you are leaving it up for me or the other team to decide.
This is greatly influenced by Jarrod Atchison's paradigm as I've come to realize that I care less and less about what argument you go for but more HOW you go for that argument/explain that argument/impact that argument matters.
How I flow----
I will flow on paper in a line-by-line format with my computer near by to look at evidence during cx (i.e. will look at a card that is under subject of cx otherwise will be watching the debate).
Otherwise, my goal as a judge is to only flow and evaluate the arguments presented verbally in the debate. I enjoy watching debater's arguments clash not their documents.
How I come to make a decision----
I take a sheet of paper and write down a few things
First, what are the big issues?
---- typically these come through top level framing and "even if" statements but typically want to get an idea of the "big picture" of the debate.
---- I usually work top down from the flow--- i.e. most of your important framing/big issues will be framed near the top of the flows--- unlikely happening in the last 30 seconds but could!
Second is a list of questions for the big issue/question---- for example---
--- if all arguments are won by both sides who wins?
--- execution errors?
--- where do the arguments interact? on the flow and across flows?
--- impact framing arguments/framing in general for how I should decide?
Third is to create the "mini-debates" that are occurring under or around these big questions attempting to resolve these questions. I.e. link vs link turn debate looking at the third and fourth level of arguments and thinking through that.
Fourth is evidence. In most cases I will probably never ask for a card doc. But I look at questions of evidence last so as to not influence the other parts of my decision. I.e. I want to evaluate your explanation vs the opponents before being influence by my reading of the evidence.
Fifth and finally I will write a short draft ballot and play devil’s advocate with myself--- this can look like "I vote negative because the link on the disad turns and outweighs the aff plus risk of case defense"
and then pretend I'm the aff and ask the "what about?" questions--- my goal is to try and answer most/all of your questions by end of my RFD and doing this ensures I'm thinking through all of your arguments as best I can with what is presented.
I will then type most if not all of this up on the tabroom notes section--- this is 1) to let your go back (with coaches) and review during redoes and 2) to prevent me from rambling, which I tend to do quite often. This means I take some time during the decision time.
Random other things:
I wander around the room during prep to think about the debate as it's occurring/sitting in a room for that long is annoying--- if I'm not back when prep is done just poke your head outside and I'm probably there.
I'll put my headphones on while I write my RFD to block out the noise. If you want to walk around after the debate please feel free.
I tend to have a blank face while judging--- don't take that as I'm annoyed at yall or your arguments--- I'm actually excited and love judging but tend to make tons of face regularly that can be overinterpreted. I will nod at times when something "makes sense" (doesn't mean you are winning just means makes sense to me) or if you can genuinely get me to laugh I will but... don't force it lol.
thing's I'm bad for (read: not impossible but either lack of knowledge or desire make it harder for me to want to vote on them)--- LD tricks/shenanigans, debate theory, "fairness paradox" as an answer to K affs, arguments about things that occurred outside of the round,
a note on Theory--- I think people tend to have these so blocked out and memorized they don't explain things--- mostly true of process theory debates where I tend to lend towards the aff on the perm--- so if this is your strategy just be sure you are breaking down the theory concepts because I don't think as deeply about this part of debate as yall do.
Be nice! :) I love debate and debaters but am also a human. You are more than welcome to disagree with the decision but attempts to belittle or insult me or your opponents won't go over well for you.
Experience:
* 4 years high school policy (national circuit & lay debate) at Pembroke Hill; 1 year college policy at UC Berkeley
* 2 years assistant coaching at Harker; 1-time lab leader at both the CNDI & SCUFI; ~5 years judging
Preferences:
Reflecting back on almost 15 years since I began with the activity, I feel like the strongest benefits of competitive debate are the development of research, persuasion, and advocacy skills.
I've both judged and participated in a wide variety of K & Policy debates, across the spectrum. No matter what kind of argument you want to make, you should run what you are best prepared to excel in.
Dropped arguments aside, and especially in the rebuttals, I've found that depth is more important than breadth. Often the difference between a close round and a decisive victory for one side is having a well-developed impact calculus and clear explanation of why your position is stronger, relying on detailed, comparative analysis.
When deciding on a strategy or which arguments to focus on, I place a high value on truth - gauged by the strength of your evidence and analysis. The truer your position is, the better positioned you will be to magnify or compensate for technical strengths or weaknesses.
The best debaters (29+ speaker points) are able to excel all of the above, while maintaining that delicate balance between "playing the game" at the highest level and exhibiting some awareness of the "bigger picture" of how these issues and your analysis are significant and ideally still make sense outside of the conventions of debate as well.
T/Framework:
The key in any framework or topicality debate, on either side, is to go beyond the buzzwords and really engage in comparative analysis on the central questions at stake.
What are the implications of allowing, or not allowing, a certain kind of argument? Or: prioritizing, or not prioritizing, a certain kind of impact?
Focus as much as you can on these core questions and the relevant impact calculus. Usually, I find that it is the internal links which are the weakest and most in need of development (i.e., why a particular approach to, for example, 'policymaking' or 'discourse' is important and does or doesn't access your impacts)(or: why an argument has or hasn't triggered a certain thresh-hold of limits/predictability that justifies including or excluding it in the debate).
Dis/advantages:
Internal links and impact calculus are generally the most important, and most neglected, aspects of these debates. I really think that the best arguments can be made here if you are able to take a step back and ask yourself whether your position as a whole truly makes sense and is plausible, even outside the conventions of debate. Is the position you are taking - as a whole - one that is really supported in the literature, or by a reasonable analysis? One rock-solid scenario with an air-tight link-chain and a real, serious, warranted impact will beat ten scraped-together scenarios with tenuous link-chains and implausible impacts any day in my book.
Policy v. K:
On either side of the debate, it's really important that you know what you are talking about. Failing to engage with the specifics of your opponents' arguments is the quickest way to lose this kind of debate. Defending the truth of your position and the value of your approach to the relevant issues is the baseline from which you can best defend or refute the validity of any kind of critical theory.
I have read a lot of critical literature and empirical political history, and place a high value on both practical concerns and philosophical depth. The best debaters should be able to take advantage of this on either end of the spectrum.
Speed and Evidence:
Clarity is VERY important, especially if you want good speaker points. Often there can be benefit found in slowing down a little - more time is generally lost to inefficient, irrelevant or repetitive rhetoric than a lack of raw speed.
If your evidence doesn't have strong warrants in it, it is vital that you are supplying additional analysis in your own speeches. The best evidence always goes beyond making basic assertions that are rhetorically specific enough to capitalize on in a round, and instead presents warranted arguments which you can summarize, lean on, or extrapolate and apply to defend the truth of your position.
Competed:
2011-15 – Lawrence Free State, KS, Policy (Space, Transportation, Latin America, Oceans)
2015-17 – JCCC, KS, NDT/CEDA (Military Presence, Climate Change); NFA-LD (Bioprospecting, Southern Command)
2017-20 – Missouri State University, MO, NDT/CEDA (Healthcare, Exec Authority, Space); NFA-LD (Policing, Cybersecurity)
Coached:
2016-17 – Lawrence High School, KS, (China Engagement)
2017-19 – Olathe West High School, KS, (Education, Immigration)
2019-22 – Truman High School, MO, (Arm Sales, CJR, Water)
2020-Present – Missouri State University, MO, (MDT Withdrawal, Anti-Trust, Rights/Duties, Nukes); NFA-LD (Climate, Endless Wars)
2022-23- Truman State University, MO, NFA-LD (Elections)
2022-2024 - The Pembroke Hill School, MO, (NATO, Economic Inequality)
2024-Present - Lawrence Free State, KS (IP Law)
Always add:
phopsdebate@gmail.com
Also add IF AND ONLY IF at a NDT/CEDA TOURNAMENT: debatedocs@googlegroups.com AND the Tabroom.com DocShare email address. Hot Tip - add it to your email chain, and it auto upload your docs. Solves the risk an email server bounces and prevents delays. Use the tech at your fingertips!
If I walk out of the room (or go off-camera), please send the email and I will return very quickly.
Email chains are STRONGLY preferred. Email chains should be labeled correctly.
*Name of Tournament * *Division* *Round #* *Aff Team* vs *Neg Team*
tl;dr:
You do you; I'll flow whatever happens. I tend to like policy arguments more than Kritical arguments. I cannot type fast and flow on paper as a result. Please give me pen time on T, Theory, and long o/v's etc. Do not be a jerk. Debaters work hard, and I try to work as hard as I can while judging. Debaters should debate slower than they typically do.
Evidence Quality X Quantity > Quality > Quantity. Argument Tech + Truth > Tech > Truth. Quals > No Quals.
I try to generate a list of my random thoughts and issues I saw with each speech in the debate. It is not meant to be rude. It is how I think through comments. If I have not said anything about something it likely means I thought it was good.
Speaker Points:
If you can prove to me you have updated your wiki for the round I am judging before I submit the ballot I will give you the highest speaker points allowed by the tournament. An updated wiki means: 1. A complete round report. 2. Cites for all 1NC off case positions/ the 1AC, and 3. uploaded open source all of the documents you read in the debate inclusive of analytics. If I become aware that you later delete, modify, or otherwise disclose less information after I have submitted my ballot, any future debate in which I judge you will result in the lowest possible speaker points at the tournament.
Online debates:
In "fast" online debates, I found it exceptionally hard to flow those with poor internet connections or bad mics. I also found it a little harder even with ideal mic and internet setups. I think it's reasonable for debates in which a debater(s) is having these issues for everyone in the debate to debate at an appropriate speed for everyone to engage.
Clarity is more important in a digital format than ever before. I feel like it would behoove everyone to be 10% slower than usual. Make sure you have a differentiation between your tag voice and your card body voice.
It would be super cool if everyone put their remaining prep in the chat.
I am super pro the Cams on Mics muted approach in debates. Obvious exceptions for poor internet quality.
People should get in the groove of always sending marked docs post speeches and sending a doc of all relevant cards after the debate.
Disads:
I enjoy politics debates. Reasons why the Disad outweighs and turns the aff, are cool. People should use the squo solves the aff trick with election DA's more.
Counter Plans:
I generally think negatives can and should get to do more. CP's test the intrinsic-ness of the advantages to the plan text. Affirmatives should get better at writing and figuring out plan key warrants. Bad CP's lose because they are bad. It seems legit that 2NC's get UQ and adv cp's to answer 2AC thumpers and add-ons. People should do this more.
Judge kicking the cp seems intuitive to me. Infinite condo seems good, real-world, etc. Non-Condo theory arguments are almost always a reason to reject the argument and not the team. I still expect that the 2AC makes theory arguments and that the neg answers them sufficiently. I think in an evenly matched and debated debate most CP theory arguments go neg.
I am often not a very good judge for CP's that require you to read the definition of "Should" when answering the permutation. Even more so for CP's that compete using internal net benefits. I understand how others think about these arguments, but I am often unimpressed with the quality of the evidence and cards read. Re: CIL CP - come on now.
Kritiks on the Negative:
I like policy debate personally, but that should 0% stop you from doing your thing. I think I like K debates much better than my brain will let me type here. Often, I end up telling teams they should have gone for the K or voted for it. I think this is typically because of affirmative teams’ inability to effectively answer critical arguments
Links of omission are not links. Rejecting the aff is not an alternative, that is what I do when I agree to endorse the alternative. Explain to me what happens to change the world when I endorse your alternative. The aff should probably be allowed to weigh the aff against the K. I think arguments centered on procedural fairness and iterative testing of ideas are compelling. Clash debates with solid defense to the affirmative are significantly more fun to adjudicate than framework debates. Floating pics are probably bad. I think life has value and preserving more of it is probably good.
Kritical Affirmatives vs Framework:
I think the affirmative should be in the direction of the resolution. Reading fw, cap, and the ballot pik against these affs is a good place to be as a policy team. I think topic literacy is important. I think there are more often than not ways to read a topical USfg action and read similar offensive positions. I am increasingly convinced that debate is a game that ultimately inoculates advocacy skills for post-debate use. I generally think that having a procedurally fair and somewhat bounded discussion about a pre-announced, and democratically selected topic helps facilitate that discussion.
Case Debates:
Debates in which the negative engages all parts of the affirmative are significantly more fun to judge than those that do not.
Affirmatives with "soft-left" advantages are often poorly written. You have the worst of both worlds of K and Policy debate. Your policy action means your aff is almost certainly solvable by an advantage CP. Your kritical offense still has to contend with the extinction o/w debate without the benefit of framework arguments. It is even harder to explain when the aff has one "policy" extinction advantage and one "kritical" advantage. Which one of these framing arguments comes first? I have no idea. I have yet to hear a compelling argument as to why these types of affirmative should exist. Negative teams that exploit these problems will be rewarded.
Topicality/procedurals:
Short blippy procedurals are almost always only a reason to reject the arg and not the team. T (along with all procedurals) is never an RVI.
I am uninterested in making objective assessments about events that took place outside of/before the debate round that I was not present for. I am not qualified nor empowered to adjudicate debates concerning the moral behavior of debaters beyond the scope of the debate.
Things that are bad, but people continually do:
Have "framing" debates that consist of reading Util good/bad, Prob 1st/not 1st etc. Back and forth at each other and never making arguments about why one position is better than another. I feel like I am often forced to intervene in these debates, and I do not want to do that.
Steal prep.
Send docs without the analytics you already typed. This does not actually help you. I sometimes like to read along. Some non-neurotypical individuals benefit dramatically by this practice. It wastes your prep, no matter how cool the macro you have programmed is.
Use the wiki for your benefit and not post your own stuff.
Refusing to disclose.
Reading the 1AC off paper when computers are accessible to you. Please just send the doc in the chain.
Doing/saying mean things to your partner or your opponents.
Unnecessarily cursing to be cool.
Some random thoughts I had at the end of my first year judging NDT/CEDA:
1. I love debate. I think it is the best thing that has happened to a lot of people. I spend a lot of my time trying to figure out how to get more people to do it. People should be nicer to others.
2. I was worse at debate than I thought I was. I should have spent WAY more time thinking about impact calc and engaging the other teams’ arguments.
3. I have REALLY bad handwriting and was never clear enough when speaking. People should slow down and be clearer. (Part of this might be because of online debate.)
4. Most debates I’ve judged are really hard to decide. I go to decision time often. I’m trying my best to decide debates in the finite time I have. The number of times Adrienne Brovero has come to my Zoom room is too many. I’m sorry.
5. I type a lot of random thoughts I had during debates and after. I really try to make a clear distinction between the RFD and the advice parts of the post-round. It bothered me a lot when I was a debater that people didn’t do this.
6. I thought this before, but it has become clearer to me that it is not what you do, it is what you justify. Debaters really should be able to say nearly anything they’d like in a debate. It is the opposing team’s job to say you’re wrong. My preferences are above, and I do my best to ignore them. Although I do think it is impossible for that to truly occur.
Disclosure thoughts:
I took this from Chris Roberds who said it much more elegantly than myself.
I have a VERY low threshold on this argument. Having schools disclose their arguments pre-round is important if the activity is going to grow/sustain itself. Having coached almost exclusively at small, underfunded, or new schools, I can say that disclosure (specifically disclosure on the wiki if you are a paperless debater) is a game changer. It allows small schools to compete and makes the activity more inclusive. There are a few specific ways that this influences how ballots will be given from me:
1) I will err negative on the impact level of "disclosure theory" arguments in the debate. If you're reading an aff that was broken at a previous tournament, on a previous day, or by another debater on your team, and it is not on the wiki (assuming you have access to a laptop and the tournament provides wifi), you will likely lose if this theory is read. There are two ways for the aff to "we meet" this in the 2ac - either disclose on the wiki ahead of time or post the full copy of the 1ac in the wiki as a part of your speech. Obviously, some grace will be extended when wifi isn't available or due to other extenuating circumstances. However, arguments like "it's just too much work," "I don't like disclosure," etc. won't get you a ballot.
2) The neg still needs to engage in the rest of the debate. Read other off-case positions and use their "no link" argument as a reason that disclosure is important. Read case cards and when they say they don't apply or they aren't specific enough, use that as a reason for me to see in-round problems. This is not a "cheap shot" win. You are not going to "out-tech" your opponent on disclosure theory. To me, this is a question of truth. Along that line, I probably won't vote on this argument in novice, especially if the aff is reading something that a varsity debater also reads.
3) If you realize your opponent's aff is not on the wiki, you should make every possible attempt before the round to ask them about the aff, see if they will put it on the wiki, etc. Emailing them so you have timestamped evidence of this is a good choice. I understand that, sometimes, one teammate puts all the cases for a squad on the wiki and they may have just put it under a different name. To me, that's a sufficient example of transparency (at least the first time it happens). If the aff says it's a new aff, that means (to me) that the plan text and/ or advantages are different enough that a previous strategy cut against the aff would be irrelevant. This would mean that if you completely change the agent of the plan text or have them do a different action it is new; adding a word like "substantially" or "enforcement through normal means" is not. Likewise, adding a new "econ collapse causes war" card is not different enough; changing from a Russia advantage to a China, kritikal, climate change, etc. type of advantage is. Even if it is new, if you are still reading some of the same solvency cards, I think it is better to disclose your previous versions of the aff at a minimum.
4) At tournaments that don't have wifi, this should be handled by the affirmative handing over a copy of their plan text and relevant 1AC advantages etc. before the round. If thats a local tournament, that means as soon as you get to the room and find your opponent.
5) If you or your opponent honestly comes from a circuit that does not use the wiki (e.g. some UDLs, some local circuits, etc.), I will likely give some leeway. However, a great use of post-round time while I am making a decision is to talk to the opponent about how to upload on the wiki. If the argument is in the round due to a lack of disclosure and the teams make honest efforts to get things on the wiki while I'm finishing up my decision, I'm likely to bump speaks for all 4 speakers by .2 or .5 depending on how the tournament speaks go.
6) There are obviously different "levels" of disclosure that can occur. Many of them are described above as exceptions to a rule. Zero disclosure is always a low-threshold argument for me in nearly every case other than the exceptions above.
That said, I am also willing to vote on "insufficient disclosure" in a few circumstances.
A. If you are in the open/varsity division of NDT-CEDA, NFA-LD, or TOC Policy your wiki should look like this or something very close to it. Full disclosure of information and availability of arguments means everyone is tested at the highest level. Arguments about why the other team does not sufficiently disclose will be welcomed. Your wiki should also look like this if making this argument.
B. If you are in the open/varsity division of NDT-CEDA, NFA-LD, or TOC Policy. Debaters should go to the room immediately after pairings are released to disclose what the aff will be. With obvious exceptions for a short time to consult coaches or if tech problems prevent it. Nothing is worse than being in a high-stress/high-level round and the other team waiting until right before the debate to come to disclose. This is not a cool move. If you are unable to come to the room, you should be checking the wiki for your opponent's email and sending them a message to disclose the aff/past 2NR's or sending your coach/a different debater to do so on your behalf.
C. When an affirmative team discloses what the aff is, they get a few minutes to change minor details (tagline changes, impact card swaps, maybe even an impact scenario). This is double true if there is a judge change. This amount of time varies by how much prep the tournament actually gives. With only 10 minutes between pairings and start time, the aff probably only get 30 seconds to say "ope, actually...." This probably expands to a few minutes when given 30 minutes of prep. Teams certainly shouldn't be given the opportunity to make drastic changes to the aff plan text, advantages etc. a long while after disclosing.
PFD addendum for NSDA 2024
I am incredibly concerned about the quality of the evidence read in debates and the lack of sharing of evidence read.
Teams who send evidence in a single document that they intend to read in their speech and quickly send an addendum document with all evidence selected mid speech will be rewarded greatly.
I will ask each team to send every piece of evidence read by both teams in ALL speeches.
I am easily persuaded that not sending evidence read in a speech with speech prior to the start of the speech is a violation of evidence sharing rules.
I have judged a couple of tournaments and have no debate experience myself. When judging, I look for powerful delivery, insightful analysis and ease of handling questions.
I’m a parent judge with engineering major. I have no debating experience.
I expect debaters to keep track of their own prep time.
My normal range for speaker points is 25-30. Clear, simple, and concise can earn extra speaker points.
I may say clearer out loud if a debater is unclear. But I prefer not to disrupt debate unless it’s necessary.
I am not comfortable with spreading. I vote heavily on your ability to verbalize the links between your evidence and the resolution. If I cannot hear or understand what you are saying because you are speaking too quickly, I cannot vote for you.
During final speeches, I want you to clearly and succinctly explain to me why I should vote for you (for example, give me numbered reasons). Weighing directly at the impact level is also important.
I did policy debate on the national circuit for four years at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA High School) before graduating in 2020. I now coach and judge for LASA (in policy) and Northland Christian High School (in LD).
If there’s an email chain, add me at i.sruthi13@gmail.com
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TLDR:
Do what you do best. I would rather listen to you debating the arguments you are most comfortable with than you adapting to my preferences. Having said that, I’m most comfortable judging technical CP + DA debates, since that is the literature base I know best. Write my ballot in the 2NR/2AR, and tell me what I’m voting on. Your speaks will thank you. Tech > Truth.
For novices: The most important thing is to have fun! It’s important to remember that debate is a process, not a product. Focus on learning as much as you can from these debates, instead of focusing on the results. If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to ask me or send me an email. I promise I’m not scary!! Yes, I’m okay with speed (as long as you are clear). No, emailing is not prep (unless it’s excessive). Yes, I’m okay with open CX.
For LD: I have been coaching and judging LD since 2020. Since my background is in policy debate, I’m most comfortable judging LARP and kritiks (to a lesser extent). I’m probably not the judge for you if you specialize in phil/theory/tricks. That being said, I’ll evaluate and vote on any coherent argument.
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Framework:
I went for framework a LOT. This means I subconsciously look at these debates through the lens of a 2N. I went for fairness as an impact, and I can definitely be persuaded to vote on it as such. Too many K affs forget impact calculus. It’s not enough to extend the impact of the aff on the case page. Explain how it implicates T-USFG/Framework and why it outweighs the Limits DA (or whatever the negative team goes for). In that same vein, make sure you are not just extending arguments. Explain the broader implication of winning that argument and why it means you win the debate. "I find it really hard to explain why the act of reading framework in and of itself is violent or bad." -- Mason Marriott-Voss. Retweet.
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Topicality:
I love highly technical topicality debates. These debates always come down to the execution of your standards. Quality of your definition matters, especially if you are going for a precision or predictability impact.
“Reasonability is a debate about the aff’s counter-interpretation, not their aff.” -- Yao Yao Chen. Retweet. Topicality is a question of models of debate, not THIS debate.
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Kritiks:
I have very little expertise in critical literature, so be clear with your explanations. The more case-specific your link is, the more likely you are to get my ballot. If your 2NR/2AR strategy relies on winning framework, explain what winning framework gets you in terms of the rest of the debate. Floating PIKs should be clearly made in the 2NC. If your strategy relies on busting one out in the 2NR, I’m probably not a great judge for you.
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Counterplans:
Theory debates are fantastic if executed well. I probably lean affirmative on process CPs (consult, delay, etc.) and probably learn negative on PICs. I am neutral about conditionality, 50 state fiat, and international fiat.
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Disadvantages:
Evidence quality matters a lot more than evidence quantity, especially in politics debates and impact turn debates. Evidence comparison is under-utilized.
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Be a good person and meet your opponents’ accessibility needs. I will not vote on any argument that endorses racism, sexism, homophobia, or other offensive ideologies. I will also not listen to any arguments that endorse self-harm, suicide, or purposeful death. I will vote you down, and it will be completely on you for not reading this paradigm.
Plano Senior '20
Indiana University '23
3X NDT Qualifier (21,22,23)
Add me on the email chain ajasanideb8@gmail.com
Please name the email chain: "Tournament - Round X - Team (AFF) vs Team (NEG)" - "Kentucky - Round 1 - Indiana JP (AFF) vs Indiana GJ (NEG)"
CONFLICTS: Plano Senior(TX), Southlake Carroll (TX), Indiana University(IN), Greenhill (TX), Plano West AR, Plano West RC, Plano West NS, Jasper SG
TLDR: Flexible, but don't read anything that is offensive.
Largely agree with
Some Generic Stuff
1)I believe that debaters should have fun while debating. I realize that certain debates get heated, however do your best not to be mean to your partner, and to the other team. There are few things I hate more than judging a debate where the teams are jerks to each other
2)No judge will ever like all the arguments you make, but I will always attempt to evaluate every argument fairly. I will always listen to positions from every angle. Be clear both in delivery and argument function/interaction and WEIGH and DEVELOP a ballot story.
3) Don't cheat - miscutting, clipping, straw-manning etc. It's an auto-loss with 0 speaks if I catch you. Ev ethics claims aren't theory arguments - if you make an ev ethics challenge, you stake the round on it and the loser of the challenge gets an L-0. (this only applies if you directly accuse your opponent of cheating though - if you read brackets with an ev ethics standard that's different).
4)The quickest way to LOSE my ballot is to say something offensive (racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, etc.)
5) I will assume zero prior knowledge when going into a round on any subject, which means it's on you to make me understand your warrant purely from the speech itself.
6) Use all of your speech and cross-ex time. I will dock speaker points if you use cross-ex for prep, or if you end a speech early. I think that there's always more you can ask or say about an argument, even if you're decisively ahead.
7) I care a lot about evidence quality. Use your cards well and utilize them the best you can. Unpack your warrants and be comparative; use lines of your own and your opponents' evidence to flag important arguments that matter to my decision.
8) I can handle speed as long as you are CLEAR, BUT please accommodate for your opponents who have disabilities
9) Tech>Truth
10) NOTE FOR ONLINE: Record your speeches. If anyone's internet goes out you should immediately send the recording to everyone in the round. If you don't have a recording, you only get what I flowed. I would strongly prefer that we all keep our cameras on during the debate, but I obviously recognize the very real and valid reasons for not having your camera on. I will never penalize you for turning your camera off, but if you can turn it on, let's try. I will always keep my camera on while judging.
Policy Paradigm
K Affs: I don’t care whether you read a plan or not, but affs should have a specific tie to the resolution and be a departure from the status quo that is external from the reading of the 1AC. Impact turning framework is more strategic than counter-defining words or reading clever counter-interps, but you should have a clear model of debate and what the role of the negative is.
Framework: Affirmatives should have some relationship to the topic, even if not traditional endorsement or hypothetical implementation of a policy. At the bare minimum, affirmatives should "affirm" something. I am much less sympathetic to affirmatives that are purely negative arguments or diagnoses. Teams should have a robust defense of what their model of debate/argument looks like and what specific benefits it would produce. Teams tend to do better in front of me if they control the framing of what I should do with my ballot or what my ballot is capable of solving. Whether it signals an endorsement of a particular advocacy, acts as a disincentive in a games-playing paradigm, or whatever else, my conclusion on what the ballot does often filters how I view every other argument. Teams tend to do better with me the more honest they are about what a given debate or ballot can accomplish."TVAs" can be helpful, but need to be specific. I expect the block to provide an example plan text. Solvency evidence is ideal, but a warranted explanation for how the plan text connects to the aff's broader advocacy/impact framing can be sufficient. If the 2NR is going to sit on a TVA, be explicit about what offense you think the TVA accesses or resolves.
Policy v K: Don't lose the specificity of the aff in favor of generic K answers. Reading long framing contentions that fail to make it past the 1AC and 2ACs that include every generic K answer won't get you as far as taking the time to engage the K and being intentional about your evidence. You should clearly articulate an external impact and the framing for the round. I'm more likely to buy framework arguments about how advocating for a policy action is good politically and pedagogically than fairness arguments.
K v Policy: Ask yourself if you can explain your position without the use of buzzwords, if the answer is no, you risk being in the latter category. Take time to clearly explain and implicate the links/impacts/framing arguments and contextualize them to the aff. Make sure to tell me why the impacts of the K come first and weigh the impacts of the K against that of the alt. Absent serious investment in the framework portion of the debate/massive concessions, the aff will most likely get to weigh the aff's impacts against the K so impact comparison and framing are vital. Framework arguments should not only establish why the aff's framework is bad but also establish what your framework is so that my ballot is more aligned more closely with your framework by the end of the debate. K's don't have to have an alt and you can kick out of the alt and go for the links as case turns.
K v K: Affs should have an advocacy statement and defend a departure from the status quo. Affs don't have to have a clear method coming out of the 1AC, although I am more likely to vote neg on presumption absent a method. I have a higher threshold for perms in debates where the aff doesn't defend a plan but just saying "K affs don't get perms" isn't sufficient for me to deny the perm.
Policy v Policy: Nothing much to say here, but please weigh!!
T: I enjoy a good T debate and think T is very underutilized against policy affs. Make sure you are substantively engaging with the interpretation and standards and aren’t just blitzing through your blocks. I default to competing interpretations unless told otherwise.
CP: Explanation is crucial. I need to be able to understand how the CP operates. 2NCs/2NRs should start with a quick overview of what the CP does. Blazing through this at top speed will not contribute to my understanding. Fine with you reading PICS
DA: Framing is everything: impact calculus, link driving uniqueness, or vice-versa, the works. Smart arguments and coherent narratives trump a slew of evidence.
Theory: I will default to competing interpretations unless told otherwise. Conditionality is fine within reason. When it seems absurd it probably is, and it's not impossible to persuade me to reject the team, but it is an uphill battle. It's hard to imagine voting aff unless there are 4 or more conditional advocacies introduced.
LD paradigm
Theory: I believe that RVI is very illogical and non-sensical, thus I will not vote on RVIs. Everything else look at the policy paradigm.
Philosophy/FW: I really like a good framework debate. Please make all framework arguments comparative. I will default to truth testing unless told otherwise.
Tricks:After doing policy for a while, I just think tricks are silly and are usually very underdeveloped. If the strategic value of your argument hinges almost entirely on your opponent missing it, misunderstanding it, or misallocating time to it, I would rather not hear it. I won't vote on a trick that I don't understand or doesn't have a warrant. Please don't blitz through spikes. I am quite willing to give an RFD of "I didn't flow that," "I didn't understand that," or "I don't think these words in this order constitute a warranted argument.
Policy and Kritik: Look at the policy paradigm.
PF Paradigm
I prefer line-by-line debate to big picture in summary, rebuttal, and final focus. I am fine with Policy/LD arguments in PF.
1) The only thing that needs to be in summary and final focus besides offense is terminal defense. Mitigatory defense and non-uniques are sticky because they matter a lot less and 2 minutes is way too short for a summary. BUT, if you do not extend terminal defense, it doesn't just go away; it just becomes mitigatory rather than terminal ie I will still evaluate the risk of offense claims.
2)The First summary only needs to extend the defense with which 2nd rebuttal interacts. Turns and case offense need to be explicitly extended by author/source name. Extend both the link and the impact of the arguments you go for in every speech (and uniqueness if there is any).
3)2nd Rebuttal should frontline all turns. Any turn not frontlined in 2nd rebuttal is conceded and has 100% strength of link -- don't try to respond in a later speech.
4)Every argument must have a warrant -- I have a very low threshold to frontlining blip storm rebuttals.
5) If you want me to evaluate an arg, it must be in BOTH summary and Final Focus.
6)I'm fine with progressive PF- I don't have a problem w plans or CPs. PFers have a hard time understanding how to make a CP competitive- please make perms if they aren't. Theory, Kritiks, and DAs are fine too. If you wanna see how I evaluate these, see my Policy/LD paradigm above.
7)You get a 1:15 grace period to find your PDF, and for every thirty seconds you go over, you will lose .5 speaker points. If you go over two minutes and thirty seconds, the PDF will be dropped from the round.
8)Please have a cut version of your cards; I will be annoyed if they are paraphrased with no cut version available because this is how teams so often get away with the misrepresentation of evidence which skews the round.
9)If you clear your opponent when I don't think it's necessary, I'll deduct 0.2 speaks each time it happens. Especially if there's a speech doc, you don't need to slow down unless I'm the one clearing you.
10)Because evidence ethics have become super iffy in PF, I will give you a full extra speaker point if you have disclosed all tags, cites, and text 15 mins before the round on the NDCA PF Wiki under your proper team, name, and side and show it to me. I would love for an email chain to start during the round with all cards on it.
Speaker Points Scale
29.3 < (greater than 29.3) - Did almost everything I could ask for
29-29.3 – Very, very good
28.8 – 29 – Very good, still makes minor mistakes
28.5 – 28.7 – Pretty good speaker, very clear, probably needs some argument execution changes
28.3 – 28.5 – Good speaker, has some easily identifiable problems
28 – 28.3 – Average varsity debater
27-27.9 – Below average
27 > (less than 27) - You did something that was offensive / You didn’t make arguments.
Update for Princeton Tournament:I haven't judged or kept up with debate in the past two years. I still have high confidence in judging policy and K rounds, but anything else will require more explanation than you might usually give to a judge who's active with the meta. I however don't really care to have debate opinions anymore so I am happy to evaluate anything.
Email: jj4485@princeton.edu
General description of how I evaluate debates.
1] I exclusively debated policy (including topicality) and K in high school. I evaluate all arguments, which has a claim warrant and an impact in the first speech presented but the further you are from how I debated, the less comfortable that I am. I am best for policy v. policy, clash debates, good for T vs. policy K v Ks, ok for phil, meh for everything else.
2] I view debate through a lens of relative risk (magnitude of impact * probability of impact). Weighing arguments bring up the magnitude of an impact and are usually not preclusive filters. If you win that X outweighs Y, I will not evaluate the round on who has a stronger link to X but consider X to have a higher risk. This means that weighing arguments (K vs. theory, warming vs. nuke war, predictability vs. limits) all still need to put defense on the other impact. The exceptions are non-consequential Ks and phil frameworks.
3] This means that I strongly value well-warranted arguments. Risk starts from 0 and goes to 100 with how well you warrant it. A well-warranted, dropped argument has near 100 risk. Good evidence or historical examples bolster empirical debates such as K and Policy (although good evidence alone without spin wont help you). Well thought out logical syllogisms will help in phil debates (don’t require cards as much because of the abstract nature of these debates).
Specifics: All of below can be changed with good debating.
Policy—Not much to add here. I am somewhat worse for convoluted politics disads than other judges. Agnostic on whether I think agent counterplans, process counterplans, states are competitive. Tend to think competing off certainty and immediacy are illegitimate. Near impossible to convince me that international fiat is legit. Any advantage counterplan that doesn’t fiat negative action (US should not go to war) is legitimate. Object fiat is not a real thing. Judge kick is a logical extension of conditionality and unless the aff contests conditionality, I will judge kick.
Ks—Strongly dislike overuse of buzzwords. Bad for framework arguments that make it impossible for the aff to win. Good for links indexed to the plan with root cause, links turn aff arguments. Fiatted alternatives should lose to permutation double bind. Good for alternatives that have a framework argument and establish competing values from the aff. Bad for utopian alts that say that people should be “nicer to each other.” Good for any aff offensive strategy (extinction outweighs, link turn perm, da to the alt). Affs should mercilessly attack the alt. Terrible for Ks that ripoff Afropess when your cards don’t make an ontology claim.
K aff vs. Fwk—Personally think debate has value which is why I spent so long doing it. Good for K affs that re-define words and have a coherent counter-model. Worse for affs that impact turn everything (although I get why it’s strategic with LD’s short 2ARs). Great for fairness and clash. Bad for skills. Hard to convince me that fairness and clash aren’t impacts; can convince me other things matter more. Terrible for five second arguments that debaters treat as TKOs (ci: your interp plus our aff, truth-testing).
Theory—strongly dislike frivolous shells. Hard to convince me that all theory is DTD. Very persuaded by DTA and reasonability. Unwarranted 1AR shells that blow up in the 2AR are unbelievably bad. Think counterplans should be resolved at competition, not theory. Need argumentation for why an argument makes it harder to answer other layers of the debate; otherwise it’s a reason to drop that individual argument.
Phil—I like good warranted phil debates. My understanding is quite bad in these debates admittedly which means that extra judge instruction, warranting, and weighing is needed than if you debated in front of average east coast judge. Agnostic on epistemic modesty vs. epistemic confidence. Personally think nuclear war matters more than lying.
Extraneous thoughts:
Likes (will help speaker points)
Strong historical knowledge/examples
Tasteful snarkiness (see below)
2NRs off paper
Innovative strategies
Dislikes (will strongly hurt speaker points)
Scripted 2NRs and 2ARs
Unfunny/just rude snarkiness
Shiftiness
Shadiness about disclosure
Being rude to novices (don’t think you have to debate down whatsoever but don’t be rude)
Throwing a water bottle because you lost a round
Joshua F. Johnwell (he/him/they/them/queer/josh/whatever)
NYU Policy Alumni (2016-2020)
Houston, TX / Nat HS Circuit (4 Years) @ Dawson HS
GDI (Gonzaga) Alum - 4WK, 5WK Scholars, 2WK
Email questions to debatejosh@gmail.com
or just ask before round, preferably. oh & YAS, EMAIL CHAIN ME
Current Affiliations: NYU
Past Affiliations: BL Debate (2020-2021), Success Academy HS (2019-2020), Dawson HS (2012-2016)
2024-2025 Update: (Wake)
- Hi, I've now been out of this activity for a hot-minute now. I'm back in school at Rutgers Law.
- Sans my paradigm, please do not ask me any personal questions, we're here for a debate round not to network/catch-up lmao, and I'm gucci with that.
- Y'all do y'all, and I'm just here making a decision lol. Read whatever you want. I dig creativity, a good sense of humor, and confidence (like, read them to filth, please).
- I make a lot of facial expressions; they're most likely about the round, and I dig eye-contact a lot.
- Speed = fine.
- I will yell "clear!", or post in chat (for remote), when I cannot understand your spreading.
- Please do not "steal" prep time; do not use offensive, racist, and/or gendered language; just don't act up in front of me, please. Like, leave the drama and all that noise outside of our round, thank you.
- I have no idea what the current topic is or what research has been done on it, nor the current norms; please do not assume that I do. This is my first tournament judging this season. Please be warned lol.
- Please take extra time explaining solvency and topicality arguments to me, also slow down for these arguments.
- I vote on T & FW, but fairness is meh. . .
- I read a lot of race and sexuality/gender nihilism/pess in HS and college, but I do not endorse any specific ideology.
I have completed the cultural competency credential and I am ready to deploy the skills in debate rounds. Remember, your words have power.
Please uphold positivity in the round. I give speaks from 20-30 but I will almost never give 30 speaks. If you are perfect you deserve a 30 but I have almost never seen anyone deserving of a 30.
I think that the best debaters are those who effectively utilize ethos, pathos, and logos in their speeches.
Good luck!
progressive arguments - read at your own risk
The only things you really need to know:
1. If you berate, threaten, verbally or physically attack your opponents, I will end the debate and you'll receive a loss along with the lowest points Tabroom will allow me to assign.
2. Don't endorse self-harm.
3. Arguments admissible for adjudication include everything said from when the 1AC timer starts until the 2AR timer ends. Anything else is irrelevant.
4. I'm unlikely to vote for random barely explained theory arguments. This includes things like ASPEC in the middle of a tag on your politics da, new affs bad as a subpoint on conditionality, severance is a voting issue, etc. I generally want to reward technical debating, but these arguments solely deciding debates make the the activity worse.
Other than that, do what you do best. Technical debating is more likely to result in you winning than anything else.
The Rest:
I am a coach at The Harker School. Other conflicts: Texas, Emory, Liberal Arts and Science Academy, St Vincent de Paul, Bakersfield High School.
Email Chain: yes, cardstealing@gmail.com
You will receive a moderate speaker point bump if you give your final rebuttal without the use of a laptop. If you flow off your laptop I will use my best judgement to assess the extent to which you're delivering arguments in such a way that demonstrates you have flowed the debate.
Framework- Fairness is both an internal link and an impact. Debate is a game but its also more. Go for T/answer T the way that makes most sense to you, I'll do my best to evaluate the debate technically. If you make arguments that I should assess the debate in other ways, I'm unlikely to find them persuasive. If you win that fairness isn't a relevant consideration, then fairness is no longer a relevant constraint on how I evaluate your arguments and I'll simply vote however I want.
Counter-plans-
-spamming permutations, particular ones that are intrinsic, without a text and with no explanation isn't a complete argument. [insert perm text fine, insert counter plan text is not fine].
-somewhat neg on "if it competes, its legitimate." Aff can win these debates by explaining why theory and competition should be separated and then going for just one in the 2ar. the more muddled you make this, the better it usually is for the neg.
-non-res theory is rarely if ever a reason to reject the team.
-I'm becoming increasingly poor for conditionality bad as a reason to reject the team. This doesn't mean you shouldn't say in the 2ac why its bad but I've yet to see a speech where the 2AR convinced me the debate has been made irredeemably unfair due to the status of counter plans. I think its possible I'd be more convinced by the argument that winning condo is bad means that the neg is stuck with all their counter plans and therefore responsible for answering any aff offense to those positions. This can be difficult to execute/annoying to do, but do with that what you will.
Kritiks
-affs usually lose these by forgetting about the case, negs usually lose these when they don't contextualize links to the 1ac. If you're reading a policy aff that clearly links, I'll be pretty confused if you don't go impact turns/case outweighs.
-link specificity is important - I don't think this is necessarily an evidence thing, but an explanation thing - lines from 1AC, examples, specific scenarios are all things that will go a long way
-these are almost always just framework debates these days but debaters often forget to explain the implications winning their interpretation has on the scope of competition. framework is an attempt to assign roles for proof/rejoinder and while many of you implicitly make arguments about this, the more clear you can be about those roles, the better.
-i'm less likely to think "extinction outweighs, 1% risk" is as good as you think it is, most of the time the team reading the K gives up on this because they for some reason think this argument is unbeatable, so it ends up mattering in more rfds than it should
LD Specific-
The policy section all applies here.
Tech over truth but, there's a limit - likely quite bad for tricks - arguments need a claim, warrant and impact to be complete. Dropped arguments are important if you explain how they implicate my decision. Dropped arguments are much less important when you fail to explain the impact/relevance of said argument.
RVIs - no, never, literally don't. 27 ceiling. Scenario: 1ar is 4 minutes of an RVI, nr drops the rvi, I will vote negative within seconds of the timer ending.
Phil - haven't judged much of this yet, this seems interesting and fine, but again, arguments need a claim, warrant and impact to be complete arguments.
Arguments communicated and understood by the judge per minute>>>>words mumbled nearly incomprehensibly per minute.
Unlikely you'll convince me the aff doesn't get to read a plan.
PF Specific -
If you read cards they must be sent out via email chain with me attached or through file share prior to the speech. If you reference a piece of evidence that you haven't sent out prior to your speech, fine, but I won't count it as being evidence. You should never take time outside of your prep time to exchange evidence - it should already have been done.
"Paraphrasing" as a substitute for quotation or reading evidence is a bad norm. I won't vote on it as an ethics violation, but I will cap your speaker points at a 27.5.
I realize some of you have started going fast now, if everyone is doing that, fine. However, adapting to the norms of your opponents circuit - i.e. if they're debating slowly and traditionally and you do so as well, will be rewarded with much higher points then if you spread somebody out of the room, which will be awarded with very low points even if you win.
I debated LD and PF in hs, APDA in uni. Currently studying applied math, biology, and computational medicine at Johns Hopkins
Pronouns: He/Him
Email Chain/Contact: ikhyunkim2138@gmail.com | Facebook
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Quick Prefs
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Note: For PF teams, I am comfortable with Ks, Theory, etc. just execute it well...please
1-2: K/LARP
3-4: Phil/T/Theory
5-6: Tricks (please just strike me)
It seems like there is a tendency to pref based on speaks given so here are some quick stats on that
LD
Avg Aff Speaks: 28.9
Avg Neg Speaks: 28.8
Avg Overall Speaks: 28.8
Side Skew: 50.575% Aff, 49.425% Neg
PF
1st Speaker Avg Speaks: 28.8
2nd Speaker Avg Speaks: 28.7
Side Skew: 42.500% Aff, 57.500% Neg (idek what's going on here tbh)
CX
Avg Speaks: 29.1
Last Updated: 10.22.2022
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Defaults
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• I default to semantics > pragmatics
• I default to epistemic modesty but I don't mind using epistemic confidence; just warrant why I should.
• I default to competing interps. Feel free to run RVIs when deemed appropriate but warrant why I should err towards accepting the RVI.
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Non-T
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• No matter what you do, please have a non-arbitrary role of the ballot else I will likely struggle in terms of framing the debate on both sides. Make sure you explain how your case functions in the round and explain why it's important through the ROB/J/S. That said, explain why we should reject/interpret the resolution differently.
• Aff, please respond to TVA as too many rounds with these types of affs have been lost because of a dropped interp or dropped TVA. Conversely, neg, please run TVA on these types of cases and it will make your work a lot easier if you win it. However, TVA is not enough for you to win the round.
• Cross is binding for me as I do believe that you can garner links/DAs off of the performance of either you and or your opponent even if your evidence says something else. That said, I'd like to emphasize that for these debates that the form of the evidence presented becomes far less restricted and there isn't some inherent hierarchy between them so don't disregard them.
• The permutation tends to be more awkward to both understand and evaluate in these debates so I'd suggest that you overexplain the perm to make it clear. This includes how you sequence the perm.
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K
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• Ks that only link to the aff’s FW and not to their advocacy feel awkward to me, so take that with a grain of salt.
• I default to perms being a test of competition rather than advocacy. You can try to change this, but you'll have to overexplain to me what it means for a perm to function as advocacy and clearly characterize the advocacy of the perm.
• PF teams, I love hearing Ks but only if they are well done. This means you should know what you are talking about and have a deep understanding of the literature you are reading. That said, please don't be a prick by reading a K in front of a team that clearly has no experience with progressive debate (just use your common sense, it's not that hard to figure this out).
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T/Theory
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• I don’t have defaults w.r.t. to voter questions such as DTD vs DTA, fairness/education being a voter, etc. It is YOUR job to tell me why your shell is a voting issue.
• I don’t particularly have an issue with RVIs. Feel free to go for an RVI, but I will need convincing on why you get them in the first place, characterize/construct it for me, etc.
• Please don't run frivolous theory in front of me. If the round becomes messy because of it, then your speaks will suffer.
• PF teams, while I am a supporter of theory in PF, please please please don't read shells unless there is/are an actual abuse story behind them. If not, your speaks will suffer.
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LARP
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• I generally am not a fan of conditional counterplans especially since I feel like the neg time skew arguments can be really strong. That said, I am fine with listening to them and will vote on them just please don't be dodgy by not clearly answering whether the counterplan is conditional or not.
• If the neg is running a conditional counterplan, I won't kick it unless it's clear that the counterplan is kicked. This means that just because squo is better than aff doesn't mean I default to voting neg if it wasn't made clear that the conditional counterplan is kicked.
• My position on perms is the same in LARP strategies as it is for Ks.
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Phil
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• If you are comfortable doing so, feel free to message me on FaceBook or email me if you want to ask if I know your philosopher well. Otherwise, don't assume that I am well-read up on the specific philosophy that you're reading and do the work of walking me through with it.
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Tricks
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... <- this summarizes my thoughts and feelings about tricks, take that as you will
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Other Points of Interest
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• Aff/Pro should have a speech doc ready to be emailed by round start time. Flight 2 should enter the room at Flight 2 start time.
• If both sides are fine with it, I’m fine with granting flex prep. Don’t be rude about it, or else your speaks may suffer. Don’t take too long flashing prep unless you want your prep docked along with your speaks
• Engaging with the tagline alone ≠ engaging with the argument or the card. This is a huge pet peeve of mine so please don't just engage with the tagline but engage with the internal warranting of the cards being presented. Cards don't exist simply to back up the claims made by taglines but they have within them their own layers of argumentation which is centralized by a thesis that links to the tagline. TL;DR respect what the authors are actually saying especially given that probably over 80% of your speech is their words verbatim.
• If your speech includes abbreviations or acronyms, please explain them first. Never assume that I know what they mean.
• While I recognize there's no obligation to share your analytics, I will award +.3 speaker points for those speeches including all/nearly all analytics in the speech doc AND that are organized in a coherent manner.
• I tend to make facial expressions that reflect how well I am processing an argument when it's being read i.e. if I am confused then I'll look confused and if I think the argument is good then my face will show this.I apologize in advance if my expressions confuse you; strike me if this is an issue.
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Concluding Remarks
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If you have any questions for me before the round starts about my paradigm, please ask after all the debaters are in the room so I don't have to repeat myself. Quick shoutouts/other paradigms that may be worth your time looking at of those who have influenced me as a debater, judge, and a person include Anne-Marie Hwang, Adam Tomasi, Sim Guerrero-Low, Michael Koo, Martin Sigalow, and Annie Wang I am more than happy to explain my decision whether it be in person after the round or through email/social media. Thanks for reading, good luck and have fun!
Email: gordondkrauss@gmail.com
Claremont, UCLA, Peninsula
1. Offense-defense. Every argument will be evaluated probabilistically, except for ‘we meet’. I do not vote on presumption or permissibility.
2. Technical debating matters most. I prefer judging debates with arguments that are well-researched and specific to the topic. I still vote for arguments that have nothing to do with the topic, usually because the team answering them makes an error.
3. Arguments must make sense. I could not explain why the possibility that an evil demon exists is a reason to vote for either side. Similarly, I could not explain why it's good to require the Aff to provide a solvency advocate for the neg in the 1ac.
I'm a Master's student at UTHealth Houston.
I did LD at Westwood from 2015-2019.
I have been an active judge since then. From 2019-2022 I coached debaters from Westwood and DebateDrills (but am no longer affiliated with either program), as well as other independents. I've also taught at TDC and UTNIF.
Email: trumantle@gmail.com, but I prefer speech drop.
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2025 Update:
1] I'm significantly more impressed with debaters that don't require a laptop to give rebuttal speeches. If you give a good rebuttal speech without a laptop in your face and off paper, I'll give you a 30. Obviously I'm the judge of what a "good" rebuttal is but there'll probably be a boost regardless. I am not a fan of debaters reading off a script for an entire rebuttal at top speed.
2] I will follow along the doc to check for clipping/read evidence, but I am not flowing off the doc. Debaters have gotten extremely unclear and it's become unflowable. It should be pretty obvious if I am not flowing/unable to flow a part of the debate. Adjacently, it would greatly benefit debaters toslow down and explain things, you will like my decision more.
3] I am not a good judge for tricks debates and would prefer not to see it, as I'm bad at catching hidden tricks and bad at flowing a bunch of tricky args bundled together. This, however, does mean I'm more ok with substantive/less tricky stuff (log con, falsifiability NC) as opposed to one-liners intended to avoid clash/debate (condo logic, indexicals). I evaluate every speech.
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Main things:
1] I am most comfortable judging policy-style debates and T/theory debates, though the worse the shell gets, the more unhappy I am. I am comfortable judging phil and kritik debates if they don't get too advanced for my brain (which also seems to happen when debaters over rely on buzzwords to explain their arguments). I am not comfortable judging tricks debates, and though I will still evaluate those debates, your speaks will likely take a hit and my threshold for answering those arguments is much lower than other arguments.
2] My views on debate have mostly been shaped by Rodrigo Paramo, Morgan Grosch, and Jugal Amodwala. What you choose to do with that information is up to you. I also agree with Rodrigo Paramo on evidence ethics and trigger warnings.
3] Your chance of getting a ballot significantly goes up if you write my ballot for me somewhere in your speech. Whether that means framing arguments at the top or slowing down on key things or making things simple at the end of your rebuttal is up to you.
4] My perspective on tricks is the more I believe the argument is used to avoid clash the less I like it and the less likely I'll vote on it. This seems to exclude a lot of arguments debaters tend to read now, including but not limited to "evaluate the debate after the 1AC," indexicals, tacit ballot conditional, and various other paradoxes/1AR restart strategies. This is in large part because I just don't understand these arguments, but also because of my belief these arguments are not beneficial or educational to the activity. If you're not sure whether an argument is too tricky to read in front of me, err on the side of caution, or just email me pre-round.
5] I believe in open-source disclosure. I think most disclosure arguments that go beyond this are bad (contact info, round reports, actual tournament name, etc.).
6] I give speaks based on how far I believe your performance would get you at the tournament I'm judging at (which also tends to mean I give generally lower speaks at octas bid tournaments compared to finals bid tournaments). Yes I will disclose speaks if requested.
7] I require much more explanation for arguments than you think I do. Many 2AR's that I've judged go for a 3-second argument in the 1AR that I did not catch/have an understanding for, and many 2NR's that I've judged blitz through overviews of the theory of power/philosophical position that I cannot keep up with. Either slow down or be clearer in explanations, especially in online debates. You will not be happy with my RFD if I don't catch something because you're blitzing too fast.
8] I am extremely visually expressive. You should almost always be able to tell if I like something/find something confusing.
9] I don't know anything about this topic. Err towards overexplaining and try not to use too many acronyms.
PF specific - I do not time your speeches; you, as a debater, are responsible of keeping track of time during your speeches. If you go overtime then you go overtime
Please have the email chain or speech drop set up before round –yoyolei.debate@gmail.com
---------TLDR---------
1- policy/ks/k affs
3-theory/t
5- trad/phil/tricks
~treat me like a policy judge who will buy almost if not all ld positions~
I do disclose speaks
Please send analytics that are being spread
--------- GENERAL --------
I felt like my original paradigm was too convoluted and drawn out, so I decided to move it to a google docs that is linked at the end. Otherwise the tldr should be enough if you're just doing preround prep or prefs. feel free to look at my essay of a paradigm if you desire, it just elaborates on my stances above.
I am pretty generous with speaks as well as just general debater nonsense in round. With that being said, please be a kind person, I have very little patience for people who are rude without reason.
[FOR K DEBATERS SPECIFICALLY] Please do not use jargon while explaining your theory of power, you should be able to tell me the story of your k, either in cx or in your overview without using words that only a PhD candidate would understand. I've been googling what words mean in round and that shouldn't happen so please dumb down your speech at least 20% for me, thx!
Lay judge -
- Impact calculus is important, leave time in the 2AR and 2NR for you to compare your impacts with your opponents
- Speak clearly, spreading is fine but isn't preferred. Mumbling words fast isn't debate nor spreading
- The less LD slang, the better.
- Speak with evidence, it is clear when something is made up
Put your cases in the file share, along with any speech documents you have.
tldr - do what you do best; i'll only vote for complete arguments that make sense; weighing & judge instruction tip the scales in your favor; topic-specific research is good; disclosure is good; i care about argument engagement and i value flexibility; stay hydrated & be a good person.
--
about me:
she/her
i coach policy debate at damien-st. lucy's
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My strongest belief about argumentation is that argument engagement is good - I don't have a strong preference as to what styles of arguments teams read in front of me, but I'd prefer if both teams engaged with their opponents' arguments; I don't enjoy teams who avoid clash (regardless of the style of argument they are reading). I value ideological flexibility in judges and actively try not to be someone who will exclusively vote on only "policy" or only "k" arguments. I am good for teams that do topic research and not the best for teams whose final rebuttals sound like they could be given on any topic/against any strategy.
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Topic Knowledge: I don't teach at camp but I do keep up with the topic. I'm involved in the Damien-St. Lucy's team research. My topic knowledge for events that aren't policy debate is zero, but I'll rarely be judging these events anyway.
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email chains:
please add both
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non-negotiables:
1 - speech times - constructive are 8 minutes, rebuttals are 5, each partner must give one constructive and one rebuttal, cx cannot be transferred to prep.
2 - evidence ethics is not a case neg - will not vote on it unless you can prove a reasonable/good-faith attempt to contact the other team prior to the round.
3 - clipping requires proof by the accusing team or me noticing it. i'll vote on it with no recording if i notice it.
4 - i will not evaluate out-of-round events. this means no arguments about pref sheets, personal beef, etc. i will evaluate disclosure arguments.
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i will not flow from the speech doc.
i will only open speech docs in the middle of a debate for the following purposes:
1 - checking for clipping (i'll do this intermittently throughout the debate)
2 - to look at something that was emailed out and flagged as necessary for my understanding of the debate (rehighlighted evidence, disclosure screenshot, chart that's part of a card, perm text with certain words struck out, etc)
i will download speech docs at the end of the debate to read all relevant evidence prior to submitting my ballot
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flowing: it is good and teams should do it
stolen from alderete - if you show me a decent flow, you can get up to 1 extra speaker point. this can only help you - i won't deduct points for an atrocious flow. this is to encourage teams to actually flow:) you must show me your flows before i enter the ballot!!
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Some general notes:
Accessibility & content warnings: Email me if there is an accessibility request that I can help facilitate - I always want to do my part to make debates more accessible. I prefer not to judge debates that involve theory arguments about accessibility and/or content warnings. I think it is more productive to have a pre-round discussion where both teams request any accommodation(s) necessary for them to engage in an equitable debate.
Speed/clarity – I will say clear up to two times per speech before just doing my best to flow you. Going fast is fine, being unclear is not. Going slower on analytics is a good idea. You should account for pen time/scroll time.
Online debate -- 1] please record your speeches, if there are tech issues, I'll listen to a recording of the speech, but not a re-do. 2] debate is still about communication - please watch for nonverbals, listen for people saying "clear," etc.
Disclose or lose. Previously read positions must be on opencaselist. New positions do not need to be disclosed. "I do not have to disclose" is a losing argument in front of me 100% of the time.
Evidence -- it matters and I'll read it. Judge instruction is still a thing here. Don't just say "read this card" and not tell me why. Ev comparison is good. Cutting good cards is good. Failing to do one or both of those things leaves me to interpret your bad cards in whatever way I want -- that's likely to not be good. The state of evidence quality these days is an actual crime scene. If you read ev that is better than the national-circuit average, I will be so happy and your points will reflect that.
Technical debating matters.I have opinions about what arguments in debate are better/worse. I think things like the fiat k and process counterplans probably produce less in-depth and educational debates than positions that require large amounts of topic research. I've still voted for these positions when the team reading these arguments executes a technical win. This means that you should not be too stressed about my predispositions -- just win the debate and you'll be fine!
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Opinions on Specific Positions (ctrl+f section):
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Case:
I think that negatives that don't engage with the 1ac are putting themselves in a bad position. This is true for both K debates and policy debates.
Extensions should involve warrants, not just tagline extensions - I'm willing to give some amount of leeway for the 1ar/2ar extrapolating a warrant that wasn't the focal point of the 2ac, but I should be able to tell from your extensions what the impact is, what the internal links are, and why you solve.
2ac add-ons must be coherent in the speech they are presented. You don't get to turn a random card on a random sheet into an add-on in the 2ar.
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Planless affs:
I tend to believe that affirmatives need to defend the topic. I think most planless affs can/should be reconfigured as soft left affs. I have voted for affs that don't defend the topic, but it requires superior technical debating from the aff team.
You need to be able to explain what your aff does/why it's good.
I dislike planless affs where the strategy is to make the aff seem like a word salad until after 2ac cx and then give the aff a bunch of new (and not super well-warranted) implications in the 1ar. I tend to be better for planless aff teams when they have some kind of relationship to the topic, they are straight-up about what they do/don't defend, they use their aff strategically, engage with neg arguments, and make smart 1ar & 2ar decisions with good ballot analysis.
I think framework is true but I will do my best to evaluate your arguments fairly.It is easier to win against framework when affirmative teams explain the warrants for their arguments and don't presuppose that I immediately agree with the warrants behind their impact turns to framework.
--
T/framework vs planless affs:
In a 100% evenly debated round, I am better for the neg. However, either team/side can win my ballot by doing better technical debating. This past season, I often voted for a K team that I thought was smart and technical. Specific thoughts on framework below:
The best way for aff teams to win my ballot is to be more technical than the neg team. Seems obvious, but what I'm trying to convey here is that I'm less persuaded by personal/emotional pleas for the ballot and more persuaded by a rigorous and technical defense of why your model of debate is good.
I don't have a preference on whether your chosen 2nr is skills or fairness. I think that both options have strategic value based on the round you're in. Framework teams almost always get better points in front of me when they are able to contextualize their arguments to their opponent's strategy.
I also don't have a preference between the aff going for impact turns or going for a counterinterp. The strategic value of this is dependent on how topical/non-topical your aff is, in my opinion.
--
Theory:
Theory arguments other than conditionality are likely not a reason to reject the team. It will be difficult to change my mind on this.
Theory arguments must have warrants in the speech in which they are presented. Most 2ac theory arguments I've seen don't meet this standard.
Conditionality is an uphill battle in front of me. If the 2ac contained warrants + the block dropped the argument entirely, I would vote aff on conditionality, but in any other scenario, the aff team should likely not go for conditionality.
Please weigh! Many theory debates feel irresolvable without intervention because each team only extends their offense but does not interact with the other team's offense.
--
Topicality (not framework):
I like T debates that have robust and contextualized definitions of the relevant words/phrases/entities in the resolution. Have a clear explanation of what your interpretation is/isn't; examples/caselists are very helpful.
Grammar-based topicality arguments: I don't find most of the grammar arguments being made these days to be very intuitive. You should explain/warrant them more than you would in front of a judge who loves those arguments.
"Plans bad" is pretty close to a nonstarter in front of me (this is more of a thing in LD I think).
--
Kritiks (neg):
I am best for K teams that engage with the affirmative, do line-by,line, and read links that prove that the aff is a bad idea. Good k debating is good case debating!
I am absolutely terrible for K teams that don't debate the case. Block soup = bad.
I vote for K teams often when they are technical and make smart big-picture arguments and demonstrate topic knowledge. I vote against K teams when they do ... not that!
In general, clash-avoidant K strategies are bad, K strategies that involve case debating are good.
--
Disads:
Zero risk probably doesn't exist, but very-close-to-zero risk probably does. Teams that answer their opponents' warrants instead of reading generic defense tend to fare better in close rounds. Good evidence tends to matter more in these debates - I'd rather judge a round with 2 great cards + debaters explaining their cards than a round with 10 horrible cards + debaters asking me to interpret their dumpster-quality cards for them.
--
Counterplans:
I don't have strong ideological biases about counterplan theory other than that condo is probably good. More egregious abuse = easier to persuade me on theory; the issue I usually see in theory debates is a lack of warranting for why the neg's model was uniquely abusive - specific analysis > generic args + no explanation.
No judge kick. Make a choice!
Competition debates have largely become debates where teams read a ton of evidence and explain none of it. Please explain your competition evidence and I will be fine! I'll read cards after the debate, but would prefer that you instruct me on what to do with those cards.
--
Speaker points:
Speaker points are dependent on strategy, execution, clarity, and overall engagement in the round and are scaled to adapt to the quality/difficulty/prestige of the tournament.
I try to give points as follows:
30: you're a strong contender to win the tournament & this round was genuinely impressive
29.5+: late elims, many moments of good decisionmaking & argumentative understanding, adapted well to in-round pivots
29+: you'll clear for sure, generally good strat & round vision, a few things could've been more refined
28.5+: likely to clear but not guaranteed, there are some key errors that you should fix
28+: even record, probably losing in the 3-2 round
27.5+: winning less than 50% of your rounds, key technical/strategic errors
27+: winning less than 50% of your rounds, multiple notable technical/strategic errors
26+: errors that indicated a fundamental lack of preparation for the rigor/style of this tournament
25-: you did something really bad/offensive/unsafe.
Extra points for flowing, being clear, kindness, adaptation, and good disclosure practices.
Minus points for discrimination of any sort, bad-faith disclosure practices, rudeness/unkindness, and attempts to avoid engagement/clash.
--
Arguments that are simply too bad to be evaluated:
-a team should get the ballot simply for proving that they are not unfair or uneducational
-the ballot should be a referendum on a debater's character, personal life, pref sheet, etc
-the affirmative's theory argument comes before the negative's topicality argument
-some random piece of offense becomes an "independent voter" simply because it is labeled as such
-debates would be better if they were unfair, uneducational, lacked a stasis point, lacked clash, etc
-"tricks"
-teams should not be required to disclose on opencaselist
-the debate should be evaluated after any speech that is not the 2ar
-the "role of the ballot" means topicality doesn't matter
-new affs bad
--
Arguments that I am personally skeptical of, but will try to evaluate fairly:
-it would be better for debate if affirmatives did not have a meaningful relationship to the topic
-debate would be better if the negative team was not allowed to read any conditional advocacies
-reading topicality causes violence or discrimination within debate
-"role of the ballot"
-the outcome of a particular debate will change someone's mind or will change the state of debate
-the 5-second aspec argument that was hidden in the 1nc can become a winning 2nr
--
if there's anything i didn't mention or you have any questions, feel free to email me! i really love debate and i coach because i want to make debate/the community a better place; please don't hesitate to reach out if there's anything you need.
CKM '18
Berkeley '22
Assistant coach at Immaculate Heart. She/her. annabellelong@berkeley.edu
I’ve heard/debated it all and will listen to/vote on anything, provided you do it well. Specific argument preferences are below, but none of these preferences should significantly change what you read or how you debate in front of me. If you win the debate, I will vote for you.
Ks: I’ll vote for them. I'm familiar with most commonly read Ks. I think good K teams do more than just read the same shell and 2NC overview every round, and I’ll appreciate it and find it easier to vote for you if you have contextual links to the plan/impacts. It will be difficult to convince me that debate is bad.
K vs K: the area where I’m least familiar. I'm not super comfortable evaluating these rounds. You will have a hard time convincing me that the perm doesn't solve.
Counterplans: On condo: it’s good. On kicking planks: you can do it. On 2NC counterplans: they are good. None of these preferences mean I can't be convinced otherwise, but if debating on the question is equal, that is how I will typically lean.
Disads: I really care about evidence quality – if any card you’re planning to read has frankensteined a sentence out of words from three different paragraphs, it’s probably a bad disad, and I won’t be a fan. Zero risk is definitely a thing.
Framework: yes. Plans = good, debate = good, topic education = good. I’ll vote on fairness. I think portable skills are real and that movements-style framework can be strategic. I am not the best judge for you if you read a k aff, but I certainly won't auto vote neg on framework. Always tech over truth.
LD: I strongly dislike and do not feel comfortable judging theory/tricks debating, I love policy-style arguments, and am not fond of judging traditional LD philosophy debates (convincing me util is wrong/not the best way to make governmental decisions will be difficult). It will be nearly impossible to win an RVI in front of me. You should not pref me if you frequently go for theory or tricks. I will functionally judge the debate as if it is a 1v1 policy round (with the exception of maybe being more sympathetic to condo).
Misc.:
It is often in your best interest to go slower than your top speed. I do not flow off the doc and will not vote for arguments that I do not have on my flow.
Record your speeches locally in the event of a technical issue.
I am not timing your speech or your prep time.
Pandemic update: Please send all speech docs including pre-written analytics. My email is sl1578@georgetown.edu
Hello! I'm Serena, did LD in high school for 4 years, now a senior at Georgetown. Most familiar with util/policy-style debate (for a better idea, this was my wiki).
Please go at about 75% your top speed and don't rely on jargon to replace warrants. I will call clear 3 times before I start deducting speaker points.
Other important info:
- Slow down on tags, phil-heavy positions, theory/T, and analytics
- Well executed weighing, collapsing, overviews, etc. will make evaluating the debate a lot clearer for me - please do this!
- Theory defaults: reasonability, no RVIs, drop the argument
- If you plan on reading a dense or uncommon position, please explain it well
- I think affs should be in the direction of the topic but can be persuaded otherwise. I ran framework often as a debater and have voted on non-topical affs as a judge. On that note, I will vote on pretty much anything if it's explained well and not blatantly offensive
- If you are an experienced debater and are debating someone who is clearly a novice, I expect you to adjust accordingly (ie. don't go top speed, don't read 10 off-case positions, etc.) - you will not get higher than a 28 if you do this.
- I will reward slower but more efficient debaters with lots of speaker points
- Please be nice and respectful to each other! Don't be sexist / homophobic / racist / etc.
northwood hs 19 (no longer coaching. coaching northwood ff; debatedrills ld) chain: danielluo.pi@gmail.com
northwestern 23 (ma econ, ba econ + math + some other stuff): not debating.
past: i don't debate in college, but coach policy (and previously ld). when i was debating, i got a few bids in policy and ld, was mostly a double 2 (2n otherwise), and usually read a plan.
0. racism, sexism, queerphobia, ableism, and other arguments which advocate violence based on immutable characteristics are bad and will result in an L 0.
1. boilerplate: tech > truth, judge instruct and i'll abandon my predispositions. don't clip. dropped args = true, but implications = up for contestation. evidence quality matters. spin, contextualization, and judge instruction matter much more.
2. "judge type": ideological differences are usually a result of heterogenous academic background filtering the way we read arguments. to be explicit: i work in abstract economic theory and pure mathematics (particularly game theory, mechanism design, information). this implies
a. i think of the world much more through the lens "definition theorem lemma proof." i enjoy specific claims with good warrants that have clear implications for why you should win, and do not enjoy "warrant by n = 1 example."
b. if you ask me to read cards that cite statistics, i will read unhighlighted portions to check statistical significance of the results.
c. i did not go for, nor do i interact with the literature for, "hard-left" critical arguments; you will need to do more work to win my ballot as a consequence of the above. even though i find myself voting for k affs and all types of ks when i do judge them, i have found my predisposition towards preferring axiomatically formal, rigorous argumentation implies winning these arguments is an uphill battle in front of me.
3. what i like:impact turn debates, multiplank process counterplans with smart advantage and uniqueness planks, aggressive 2acs that don't modularize the debate, and well-contextualized politics disads.
4. what i dislike: high theory buzzwords, assuming i have the same references/knowledge as you, a lack of judge instruction, and particularly messy block/1ar organization.
5. condo: conditionality is good. a lot of conditionality is even better.
6. theory: counterplans are arbitrary modifications to the status quo using the actor identified in the resolution to identify the existence of an opportunity cost. any counterplan that meets this definition is a-priori not abusive (i.e. theory is an uphill battle). however, "sketchier" counterplans might justify creative permutations and bolder strategic concessions, both of which will give you higher speaks.
7. ld: i don't anticipate having to judge ld again in the future. if i do and you are reading this trying to pref me, if the word "kant" means anything to you, strike me.stanford 2023 update: the aff gets to read a plan. the neg gets at least some conditionality. these are non-negotiable dispositions and cannot be argued away by judge instruction.
8. speaks: if you care, my speaks have mean 28.45 with standard deviation 0.57. if you know what you're doing, you'll probably get fine speaks.
I'm a flay LD judge and a lay LD judge. My background is in Parliamentary, but this doesn't mean I need you to talk pretty, though please talk at a reasonable pace because I want to understand you just as much as you want me to.
My email address is venkatnet@yahoo.com (for any question or when emailing your case)
- I do appreciate a conversational, relatable tone.
- Also love it when you pair pathos with logos (maybe even some ethos) haha
Safety is my #1 priority in the round:
1. Avoid oppressive discourses including but not limited to sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. It’s not just an argument.
2. If you need any accommodations before the round, please email me
3. Give trigger warnings with an anonymous opt-out before reading any potentially sensitive argument.
- I like clear signposting, great weighing, and being considerate. These things are key!
Specific Debate Categories:
LD: I don't know what wpm I max out at, so I would appreciate a speech doc, but if you are unable to provide one, that's totally fine, just remember to outline your contentions once again after your Constructive :)
- I need a hint at a floating pik during the 1NC, make sure your root cause argument is contextualized to the Aff.
Theory: I am probably not the best for this debate, and I won't evaluate frivolous theory. If there is actual abuse, then it’s fine.
LARP: I am fine evaluating a decently in-depth phil debate. If there are no standards presented, I default to util.
- I don’t lean either way on conditionality. But, reading six-off is sort of ridiculous
Tricks: Don’t. Haha
Excited to judge for all of you, and I wish y'all good luck!
The briefest background info ever:
former 2A at Binghamton - I did a lot of K debate.
1- K, phil
2- policy/LARP
3/strike- theory/tricks
Put me on the email chain
Do whatever you want* just tell me how to vote, what to vote on, and why I should vote on it
* Misc things that are not up for debate
- problematic behavior/rhetoric/language/vibes means your speaks = the number of hours of sleep I got last night
- I will flow shared speeches, please do not feed lines to your partner, just say them yourself
- If you're reading Schmitt or Heidegger your speaks are capped at 26 regardless of whether or not you win
- if you are reading afro pess blocks to answer a position that's not afro pess I am subtracting 1 point from your speaks
- Brownie points in the form of speaks for a well-executed phil strat in any event (that includes util if you do it right)
- if you spread your unsent analytics at card speed im only going to evaluate what i was able to flow so be careful
My default procedure for evaluating a debate -
*I believe very strongly that the three points under this heading are up for debate - these are just defaults*
1. Who am I, what is the round, what is the ballot and what can it do? Absent arguments that tell me otherwise:
- I am a recently graduated college debater who majored in linguistics and psychology, I care a lot more about the activity than policymaking
- The round is a competition predicated on your ability to persuade me to vote for you
2. What are the roles/burdens of the aff and the neg
- I don't care if the aff reads a plan, defends a change from the status quo, makes no arguments at all, you just have to explain why it means I should vote aff
- the negs job is to convince me to vote neg
3. Who solves which impacts and how do I evaluate/compare them?
- I start my evaluation with framework/framing
- discourse/education matter (ie. I would rather you just go for liberalism good than argue that your reps aren't important)
more detailed takes for people who want them:
K's:
I have probably read your lit base, if I haven't I'm equally excited to hear it
Do something fun and exciting, do something we've all seen before, just do it well and enjoy doing it. It's your round, I'm just living in it
There are probably no perms in a methods debate, but you still have to win that
DAs:
Love them (and never get to judge them lmao)
Don't be afraid to go for a DA and case just don't forget presumption
CPs:
Solvency advocate theory is probably true
These are a solid and underutilized strategy against k affs
Theory/T:
think of this as like a break glass in case of emergency option in front of me; if you can demonstrate and impact out in round abuse then do it
I am very persuaded by perf con
Disclosure theory means I need screenshots with a timestamp
if you're a circuit debater and your opponent has no idea what's going on I will deck your speaks
affs
I've read all kinds of affs.
K aff's- literally do whatever you want. I don't care if you mention the topic. I don't care if you have a c/i on fw.
I will vote for soft left affs, and honestly, I miss them, probability>magnitude is very winnable in front of me.
Policy affs- please keep your internal link chains alive ???? - tell me how the aff solves your extinction scenario
Hi, I'm Leo (he/him), and I debated for Bronx for 3 years, doing mostly circuit my senior year. My paradigm is mostly the same as this one here
https://www.tabroom.com/index/paradigm.mhtml
(If link isn't working search under William Freedman in paradigms)
For any further questions feel free to ask before the round, and the order of stuff I like to evaluate is listed here:
Tricky Phil > Phil > Larp > K's > T> Tricks > Lay
Non T stuff is fine but I do lean towards TFW being true especially with a compelling TVA.
I've also been out of debate for a hot minute so please ease into speed and err heavy on explanations.
I also read a lot of tricky Phil, so if you can do something fun with a Phil case and know ur stuff well you'll probably get decently high speaks, but I'll err higher on speaks in general as long as ur good at whatever ur doing.
Add me to the email chain: Speechdrop@gmail.com
Affiliations: Harvard Westlake (2022-)
TLDR: the debate space is yours and you should debate however you want. Don’t call me judge Jonathan and/or Meza is fine.
My GOATs: Shanara Reid-Brinkley, LaToya Green, Vontrez, Scott Philips, Krizel
Shout out: CSUF Debate, CSULB Debate, LAMDL
specific thoughts:
K: Please have a link. Framework heavy strategies have value but I am more convinced by a bigger link debate than framework no plan. That being said I don’t default to weighing the aff, or plan focus. Both sides should be able to win on either framework. Good K debating is good case debating when going for the kritik make sure to include how your links turn the case. Link contextualization is not just about explaining how the affirmatives use of the state is bad but how the underlining assumptions of the affirmative uniquely make the world worst this paired up with case take outs make for a real good NR Strategy.
FW: Clash > Fairness, but you can go for any impact you want. I appreciate carded TVAs. (K v FW) should center competing models, aff teams should have a counter interp and role of the negative as defense to T even if going for the impact turns. More convinced by impact turns than we meet. K affs should be in the direction of the topic but can be persuaded otherwise.
DAs: Should be fast and turn case. Strategic straight turns in response to disads are appreciated
Counter plans: I appreciate good competition debates. Functional > textual competition. Counterplans probably should have a solvency advocate but it is what it is. Good advantage counterplans are good.
T: Aff probably needs a counter interpretation. Standards should be impacted out
Theory: I am a good judge for theory, I am a bad judge for silly theory. Explain norm setting how it happens, why your norms create a net better model of debate. if you go for theory, actually go for it do not just be like "they dropped xyz gg lol" and go on substance. Splitting isn't horrible but extend warrants and the story of abuse. Up layer arguments must be clearly warranted out.
LD Specific:
Phil: it is a valuable aspect of LD, that being said over explanation and Judge instruction is very important for me in these debates. I lean towards epistemic confidence. phil innovation is cool.
Trix: beclear on warrants in order to beat the inevitable gut check. When answering trix calling out the silliness is fine but shouldn't be the only answer.
Speaks:I give them fr.
Email: lenamizrahi@berkeley.edu
Online Debate : You should record your own speeches. Be prepared to send them if the wifi goes out mid-speech. No re-giving speeches.
Misc stuff :
Don't cheat. Disclose. Clipping = L25
"There is no "flow clarification" time slot in a debate. If you want to ask your opponent what was read/not read, you must do it in CX or prep -- better yet, flow!" - Danielle Dosch
I don’t care if an argument is a “voting issue." Tell me why that matters. Same goes for "terminal defense" and "zero risk" -- these words mean nothing to me.
Strong impact calculus wins debates
2AR and 2NR impact calculus arguments are not new (2AR turns case arguments are new though)
I'm flowing CX. Treat it like a speech, not prep.
Your 1NC should always answer the case.
I'll only vote for an argument if I heard it and can reasonably explain it.
Know your positions well; it will win you debates.
Counterplans :
I'm of the belief that conditionality is good. More than 2 is pushing it. When answering condo, the 2NR needs to do impact calculus. “Cheaty” counterplans are smart and should be included in more 1NCs. Will judge kick if you tell me to! (so do)
Kritiks :
Negating: Links must be tailored to the aff. A good kritik with disagrees with and disproves the affirmative. Ideally, your 1NC should include a link wall.
Affirming: Make the debate about your aff! The case outweighs. Answer -- and ask about -- the alternative. Impact turn when you can.
K Affs:
Affirming: Arguably most important to me is a coherent counter-interp. Explain your offense and make it super clear which affs would be allowed under your interpretation.
Negating: I think one-off framework is a smart strategy (especially if you have no idea how to give a 2NR on the other positions you're filling the 1NC with.) Fairness is an impact but you need to explain it as such.
If you're reading FW, answer the case. FW 2NRs must be thorough. Don't rely on your 5 minute overview to answer every 1AR argument -- it probably won't.
Philosophy:
I believe that framework serves as impact calculus, not a preclusive impact filter. I can be persuaded otherwise.
Read NC's! But answer the case
Theory:
I like reasonability. The more frivolous an argument is, the lower the threshold I have for responding to it.
Hi! My name is Megha. I have about 4 years of var pf experience. Just some general things to note:
- my email is megha.nagaram@gmail.com (email chains or questions)
- Be respectful! I will not hesitate to dock your speaks if you are rude/disrespectful to your opponents. Keep this in mind during cross. I do not want to see y'all talk over each other and be rude to one another.
- I'm tech>>truth. Try not to run anything that will make me want to change this part of my paradigm.
- I do flow, so I appreciate roadmaps and signposting along the way. Be clear about extending arguments and your voters.
- I don't flow cross so if you want anything from cross to count, repeat it in your speech.
- Speed is generally okay but I'll expect a speech doc if you decide to go crazy.
- If you have any more specific questions, ask me.
Overall, make sure to have fun! If you manage to make me laugh, your speaks will thank you.
Short version of judging paradigm/my debate background:
age 33 now, X Florida debater- both policy and LD ; had a very high overall country wide ranking and at least 3-4 bids to the TOC my senior year in LD (preferred event if policy partner not available); was recruited by a college policy coach to debate with them in college right out of high school, but after a summer of pre-season, I decided to quit debate to go “paint pictures” and play d3 & some d1 ultimate frisbee; now I’m a chef LOL. *other notes: speed is fine; but this internet is new so please be clear on the internet; I am/was one of the fastest speakers and excellent spreaders clarity wise probably in the history of debate; also being rude disgusts me try not to do that in the round- your speaker points will suffer, watch it happen.
being rude vs. being confident is totally different.
racism sexism antisemitism etc being nasty to women- those things also will not be tolerated; your speaker points will suffer as will your personal karma LOL; lastly interrupting without purpose even during cross x is not tolerated. unlike the last ie most recent presidential debate between the two “babies” who couldn’t control not going over their own time limits - we live in an organized, comported society. as a former debater and just reasonable human being, I was shocked to see such lack of respect for rules especially among grown men; as such I now especially expect better of our youth and hold the next generation to a higher standard- one of my ONLY reasons for judging your competition! *evidence and the "flow" and flow of things is very important whether it be policy, LD, parli, extempt, congress, I dont care what.
BE A MASTER OF YOUR CRAFT & WITH YOUR WORDS. those who do this will also be rewarded with appropriate wins and speaker points. any sign of hope or brillance any spark for the future of our country from you youngsters would be AWESOME. FEEL FREE TO ASK MORE QUESTIONS about specific judging preferences/argument BEFORE ROUND OR TOURNAMENT. just have fun please and do a nice job.
if you are a tournament director etc, someone looking to hire me i have EXCELLENT ETHICS, MORALs, and STELLAR communication both written and verbal in english/spanish; i am always looking to demonstrate excellence on behalf of you as judging indeed is extremely important to both the debate activity and NEXT future American generation; finding qualified judges who still REALLY CARE about this activity, the future of our country and planet, and about being a good person is super important for debate :)
i wish everyone a healthy and happy 2022; we are ALL in this TOGETHER. :)
best
chef Heather Nagle
My email is: jacobdnails@gmail.com
Do a Ctrl+F search for “Policy Paradigm” or “PF Paradigm” if you’re looking for those. They’re toward the bottom.
LD Paradigm
I debated LD in high school and policy in college. I coach LD, so I'll be familiar with the resolution.
Summary for Prefs
I've judged 1,000+ LD rounds from novice locals to TOC finals. I don't much care whether your approach to the topic is deeply philosophical, policy-oriented, or traditional. I do care that you debate the topic. Frivolous theory or kritiks that shift the debate to some other proposition are inadvisable.
Yale '21 Update
I've noticed an alarming uptick in cards that are borderline indecipherable based on the highlighted text alone. If the things you're saying aren't forming complete and coherent sentences, I am not going to go read the rest of the un-underlined text and piece it together for you.
Theory/T
Topicality is good. There's not too many other theory arguments I find plausible.
Most counterplan theory is bad and would be better resolved by a "Perm do the counterplan" challenge to competition. Agent "counterplans" are never competitive opportunity costs.
I don’t have strong opinions on most of the nuances of disclosure theory, but I do appreciate good disclosure practices. If you think your wiki exemplifies exceptional disclosure norms (open source, round reports, and cites), point it out before the round starts, and you might get +.1-.2 speaker points.
Tricks
If the strategic value of your argument hinges almost entirely on your opponent missing it, misunderstanding it, or mis-allocating time to it, I would rather not hear it. I am quite willing to give an RFD of “I didn’t flow that,” “I didn’t understand that,” or “I don’t think these words in this order constitute a warranted argument.” I tend not to have the speech document open during the speech, so blitz through spikes at your own risk.
The above notwithstanding, I have no particular objection to voting for arguments with patently false conclusions. I’ve signed ballots for warming good, wipeout, moral skepticism, Pascal’s wager, and even agenda politics. What is important is that you have a well-developed and well-warranted defense of your claims. Rounds where a debater is willing to defend some idiosyncratic position against close scrutiny can be quite enjoyable. Be aware that presumption still lies with the debater on the side of common sense. I do not think tabula rasa judging requires I enter the round agnostic about whether the earth is round, the sky is blue, etc.
Warrant quality matters. Here is a non-exhaustive list of common claims I would not say I have heard a coherent warrant for: permissibility affirms an "ought" statement, the conditional logic spike, aff does not get perms, pretty much anything debaters say using the word “indexicals.”
Kritiks
The negative burden is to negate the topic, not whatever word, claim, assumption, or framework argument you feel like.
Calling something a “voting issue” does not make it a voting issue.
The texts of most alternatives are too vague to vote for. It is not your opponent's burden to spend their cross-ex clarifying your advocacy for you.
Philosophy
I am pretty well-read in analytic philosophy, but the burden is still on you to explain your argument in a way that someone without prior knowledge could follow.
I am not well-read in continental philosophy, but read what you want as long as you can explain it and its relevance to the topic.
You cannot “theoretically justify” specific factual claims that you would like to pretend are true. If you want to argue that it would be educational to make believe util is true rather than actually making arguments for util being true, then you are welcome to make believe that I voted for you. Most “Roles of the Ballot” are just theoretically justified frameworks in disguise.
Cross-ex
CX matters. If you can't or won't explain your arguments, you can't win on those arguments.
Regarding flex prep, using prep time for additional questions is fine; using CX time to prep is not.
LD paradigm ends here.
Policy Paradigm
General
I qualified to the NDT a few times at GSU. I now actively coach LD but judge only a handful of policy rounds per year and likely have minimal topic knowledge.
Framework
Yes.
Competition/Theory
I have a high threshold for non-resolutional theory. Most cheaty-looking counterplans are questionably competitive, and you're better off challenging them at that level.
Extremely aff leaning versus agent counterplans. I have a hard time imagining what the neg could say to prove that actions by a different agent are ever a relevant opportunity cost.
I don't think there's any specific numerical threshold for how many opportunity costs the neg can introduce, but I'm not a fan of underdeveloped 1NC arguments, and counterplans are among the main culprits.
Not persuaded by 'intrinsicness bad' in any form. If your net benefit can't overcome that objection, it's not a germane opportunity cost. Perms should be fleshed out in the 2AC; please don't list off five perms with zero explanation.
Advantages/DAs
I do find existential risk literature interesting, but I dislike the lazy strategy of reading a card that passingly references nuke war/terrorism/warming and tagging it as "extinction." Terminal impacts short of extinction are fine, but if your strategy relies on establishing an x-risk, you need to do the work to justify that.
Case debate is underrated.
Straight turns are great turns.
Topics DAs >> Politics.
I view inserting re-highlightings as basically a more guided version of "Judge, read that card more closely; it doesn't say what they want it to," rather than new cards in their own right. If the author just happens to also make other arguments that you think are more conducive to your side (e.g. an impact card that later on suggests a counterplan that could solve their impact), you should read that card, not merely insert it.
Kritiks
See section on framework. I'm not a very good judge for anything that could be properly called a kritik; the idea that the neg can win by doing something other than defending a preferable federal government policy is a very hard sell, at least until such time as the topics stop stipulating the United States as the actor.I would much rather hear a generic criticism of settler colonialism that forwards native land restoration as a competitive USFG advocacy than a security kritik with aff-specific links and an alternative that rethinks in-round discourse.
While I'm a fervent believer in plan-focus, I'm not wedded to util/extinction-first/scenario planning/etc as the only approach to policymaking. I'm happy to hear strategies that involve questioning those ethical and epistemological assumptions; they're just not win conditions in their own right.
CX
CX is important and greatly influences my evaluation of arguments. Tag-team CX is fine in moderation.
PF Paradigm
9 November 2018 Update (Peach State Classic @ Carrollton):
While my background is primarily in LD/Policy, I do not have a general expectation that you conform to LD/Policy norms. If I happen to be judging PF, I'd rather see a PF debate.
I have zero tolerance for evidence fabrication. If I ask to see a source you have cited, and you cannot produce it or have not accurately represented it, you will lose the round with low speaker points.
kedarpandya459@gmail.com
I debated for Elkins High School in Policy and LD. I primarily worked with the K and IR Policy, and that is what I most like to judge.
CX/LD:
TLDR: Tech>Truth. High threshold on T arguments against K affs. Fave debates are K aff v K, or Big Stick v Big Stick.
K and K aff: (top of the pref) -
Know your K. I'm not going to hold small semantic mistakes against you, but if they start adding up it'll make it much harder for me to vote. I'd like to think I know most kritiks and the arguments of their authors, but I'm always open to new ideas.
I need specific arguments about the assumptions/structures you critique, and how they relate to the affirmative. That goes for everything, but generalities tend to pop up in link, K solves case, and A2 Perm arguments.
I also like multi-layer interaction. I default to the idea that debate is kids learning things by arguing about them in a room, not a vacuum. That means real issues that you critique outside of debate exist in debate. K debaters rarely take the jump from critiquing a problem that exists in the world to finding its implications for the round. "What's the point of argumentation skills if they just end up being marketized to serve the constant expansion of global capital," is something I really like to hear an argument about.
More creative/out there the K, more speaks you get. Especially if I feel the need to google the author.
DA, CP, Policy Aff: (top of the pref for IR) (#2 or #3 for anything else)
I give some leniency towards the conclusiveness of a card vs. the purported conclusiveness of a tag. Well-researched is always better than randomly cobbled.
T/Theory: (near the bottom of the pref is this is usually your 2nr)
High threshold against K affs, Default to Reasonability and have to be convinced otherwise, I need actual explanations of terminal impacts beyond the 1nc shell.
Phil: (in the middle of the pref)
I didn't read much of this, but I don't have any predispositions about it.
Speaks: Dune and well-done Star Wars references will get you a 30. Being egregiously mean, or engaging in any phobic/rac/sex-ist behavior will get you a 25. Creative IR and K arguments, especially if I've never heard the scenario or author, will get you a 30.
PF - Be as fast and progressive as you want.
Immaculate Heart '21, Berkeley '25
I am an assistant coach at Immaculate Heart
Do not clip or cheat in general eg; scrolling ahead in the doc, stealing prep, etc. I take accusations seriously for both parties, so you should be willing to stake the debate on a cheating violation.
Please read the arguments you feel most comfortable with - I will listen to and vote on arguments with both claims and warrants regardless of my argumentative preferences.
I will not vote on arguments that I do not have on my flow - I don’t flow off of the doc and expect you to be clear.
As a debater, my favorite affirmatives were ones with plans and big-stick advantages. Being knowledgeable about your affirmative is invaluable perceptually and strategically.
I enjoy NCs that include counterplans and DAs. I think that case debate is important and should be utilized far more.
Smart impact calculus and turns case arguments win debates - don’t rely on your prewritten overview.
Arguments in debate are probabilistic. I rarely vote on presumption because I think there’s almost always a risk.
CP:
I will kick the counterplan if you tell me to. Condo is good but more than 2 is pushing it. (This just means that >2 is when condo becomes a real argument for me not that I am inclined to vote on it.)
I like smart competition arguments and permutations. Competition evidence should be in the NC.
K:
I think that K link walls must be read in the NC; 2NR is too late
K framework arguments are usually under-warranted and too reliant on winning the K's theory. You should have to win offense for why your model is better.
I lean heavily neg on T-FW debates. I think that the aff should defend a plan and I find fairness impacts the most compelling. However, I read a non-T aff in high school and don't consider myself a hack for this argument at all.
Theory:
Generally I am sympathetic to reasonability and not a fan of silly theory arguments.
If a debater makes a good-faith effort to open source, I am unlikely to vote on an arbitrary disclosure shell.
I am not a fan of Nebel T. I find most shells to be 'plans bad' in disguise, which is a hard sell for me. I think the Aff’s PICs argument is true and very compelling.
I don’t like tricks and believe that you must win truth testing for them to be a reason you win the debate.
Philosophy:
I like well-constructed NCs and framework arguments. I think framework should be a reason why your impacts matter, not a preclusive impact filter.
Misc:
Inserting rehighlighting is fine.
Asking questions about what was read/not read is prep.
A "marked" doc simply shows where cards were cut -- it is not a transcript of what was said. You do not need to delete cards you did not read wholly. If you opponent wants this, they should take prep.
Debated LD and Policy at Harvard-Westlake for 5 years
Stanford '23
add me to chain- spaul2@stanford.edu
I mainly read and went for policy arguments and kritiks (Set Col, Security, Afropess, and Cap) as a debater and am best for these debates.
I have paradigmatically shifted from how I judged last year to be less interventionist. I am will to vote on any argument that reaches the threshold of a claim, warrant, and impact (including friv theory) that I can explain back in an rfd. That being said I think that the threshold for defeating these arguments is pretty low.
My thoughts on online debate are the same as Rodrigo Paramo which you can see below -
***Online Debate***:
- here is the procedure i will follow if a student drops off a call, or i drop off a call: students are expected to maintain local recordings of their speeches - if they drop off, they should complete the speech and immediately email their recording upon completing it. i will not allow students to restart speeches / attempt to figure out how much time they had left, particularly in elimination rounds.
- if someone drops off a call, please do not steal prep time.
- fell off a call today at the tail end of the 1nc - when i was able to get back on, the kids were mid cross-x and hadnt noticed! in order to avoid things like this, it will make the round easier for all of us if you figure out a way to be able to see both me and your opponent on screen - non-verbal communication is really helpful for e-debate working at its best, and if we both nod at "everyone ready," you need to be able to see that, not just be waiting on us to un-mute ourselves and speak up! if you do not hear from me or see me indicate i am ready in some form, you should not assume i am ready. one thing i think this means is that "is anyone not ready" is no longer the right question to ask - "is everyone ready" is gonna be key to ensure no one misses anything.
- slow down. i think online you should be going at 70% or so of the speed you would go in person. if you do not slow down and technical difficulties mean i miss arguments, i will not be very sympathetic to the post round - i have had a lot of kids not be able to hear me bc of the way zoom handles microphones - i am sorry if you do not hear me say "slow", but i cannot emphasize enough the need for you to slow down.
- you should have an email chain - if you are flight b, the chain should be set up before you hop on the call if possible.
General Thoughts
1. I will try to be as impartial as possible. This philosophy reflects my ideological leanings; it is not a set of rules I abide by in every decision. All of them can be easily reversed by out-debating the other team.
2. You have to send your opponent a doc. Prep ends when you are done compiling it.
3. I tend to think I am pretty flexible in terms of judging. I enjoy a dense ptx debate, well executed 2nrs on the k, T debates, and FW v K aff debates. The one exception to this is awful theory debates.
4. I can’t vote on arguments that immediately evident to me to be false. By that I mean, if you read a theory shell or make a competition arg and you are just objectively wrong about the violation, I cannot see myself being compelled to vote for you.
5. I love CX and think it’s the most interesting part of debate. I will reward you with good speaks if you execute it well. You can’t use it as prep.
6. Ethics challenges stop the round immediately and if you are right you get what would be the average speaks I give for someone with you record prior to the round and your opponent gets the lowest speaks. If you are wrong the opposite is true. It is your job to call your opponent out on clipping and miscut evidence.
7. I would find my self hard pressed to vote for an RVI on T.
8. Evidence quality matters a lot to me. A lot of close debates I judge ultimately come down to Ev quality.
9. I tend to vote neg in plan v K debates when link articulation is done well and presents a genuine DA to a permutation or if framework is decisively won by the neg.
10. I’m 50/50 on Framework v K affs. I find skills/clash more persuasive than fairness but will vote for either. Being able to impact out your arguments on either side is critical in these debates.
11. I feel very comfortable evaluating high tech policy rounds. Most of my 2nrs were CP/DA.
12. Debating the case well is underutilized and can make a big difference in close rounds.
13. I’m neutral on most CP theory. I lean neg on one condo bad and more split if it is multiple condo.
14. I think comparison of definitions in T debate is critical. Precision should be an impact in every 1nc T argument IMO.
15. I think that my threshold for newish arguments in rebuttals is pretty low, but I think it is up to the debaters to instruct me and argue about what arguments the other side gets access too.
Northside '21 (debated)
KU '25 (debated freshman year)
samir.i.rahaman@gmail.com
For Marist Invitational:
- I'm terrible for kritiks and k affs. I'll almost always vote on framework and/or extinction outweighs, even if the kritik is largely conceded. I'm not a fan of continental philosophy or 'critical theory' and I think fairness is an impact. It is difficult to convince me to abandon consequentialism/to stop me from caring about tangible solvency.
- I don't think the typical objections to utilitarianism made in policy debate are even slightly persuasive. As such I will almost always vote on a DA with an extinction impact over an aff without an extinction impact, unless the neg is completely incompetent. Note that I think that animal suffering is a relevant utilitarian concern.
- I am more willing than average to vote on 'bad' arguments (process counterplans, wipeout, animal wipeout, dropped aspec, dropped bad theory arguments, spark, death good, etc.), although most of these are hard to win if your opponents are competent.
- I try not to read cards at all and I only flow what I hear. I do usually read some cards but not that many.
yes, add me to the email chain: claudiaribera24@gmail.com
I've worked/taught at camps such as utnif, stanford, gds, and nsd.
overall thoughts: I believe it's important to be consistent on explicit labeling, generating offense, and extending some sort of impact framing in the debate because this is what ultimately frames my ballot. Debate is a place for you to do you. I will make my decisions based on what was presented to me in a debate and what was on my flow. This means I am unlikely to decide on debates based on my personal feelings about the content/style of an argument than the quality of execution and in-round performance. It is up to the debaters to present and endorse whichever model of debate they want to invest in. Have fun and best of luck!
Case
-- Case is incredibly underutilized and should be an essential part of every negative strategy. You need to have some sort of mechanism that generates offense/defense for you.
Policy affs vs. K
-- I am most familiar with these types of debates. With that being said, I think the affirmative needs to prioritize framing i.e. the consequences of the plan under a util framework. There need to be contestations between the aff framing versus the K's power of theory in order to disprove it, as not desirable, or incoherent, and why your impacts under the plan come first. Point out the flaws of the kritiks alternative and make solvency deficits. Aff teams need to answer the link arguments, read link defense, make perms, and provide reasons/examples of why the plan is preferable/resolve material conditions. Use cross-x to clarify jargon and get the other team to make concessions about their criticism.
CP
-- CP(s) need to have a clear plan text and have an external net benefit, otherwise, I'm inclined to believe there is no reason why the cp would be better than the affirmative. There needs to be clear textual/function competition with the Aff or else the permutation becomes an easy way for me to vote. Same with most arguments, the more specific the better.
-- The 2NR should generally be the counterplan with a DA/Case argument to supplement the net benefit. The 1AR + 2AR needs to have some offense against the counterplan because a purely defensive strategy makes it very hard to beat the counterplan. I enjoy an advantage counterplan/impact turn strategy when it’s applicable. Generally, I think conditionality is good but I can be persuaded otherwise.
DA
-- Please have good evidence and read specific DAs. If you have a good internal link and turn case analysis, your speaker points will be higher. For the aff, I think evidence comparison/callouts coupled with tricky strategies like impact turns or internal link turns to help you win these debates.
Theory
-- I don't really have a threshold on these arguments but lean towards competing interps over reasonability unless told otherwise.
-- When going for theory, please extend offense and weigh between interps/standards/implications.
-- When responding/going for theory, please slow down on the interps/i-meets.
Topicality
-- Comparative analysis between pieces of interpretation evidence wins and loses these debates – as you can probably tell, I err towards competing interpretations in these debates, but I can be convinced that reasonability is a better metric for interpretations, not for an aff. Having well-explained internal links to your limits/ground offense in the 2NR/2AR makes these debates much easier to decide, as opposed to floating claims without warranted analysis. A case list is required. I will not vote for an RVI on T.
T-FW
-- I prefer framework debates a lot more when they're developed in the 1NC/block, as opposed to being super blippy in the constructives and then the entire 2NR. I lean more toward competing interps than reasonability. Aff teams need to answer TVA well, not just say it "won't solve". Framework is about the model of debate the aff justifies, it’s not an argument why K affs are bad or the aff teams are cheaters. If you’re going for framework as a way to exclude entire critical lit bases/structural inequalities/content areas from debate then we are not going to get along. I am persuaded by standards like Clash and topic education over fairness being an intrinsic good/better impact.
K affs vs. T-Framework
-- There are a couple of things you need to do to win: you need to explain the method of your aff, the nuanced framing of the aff, and the impacts that you claim to solve. You should have some sort of an advocacy statement or a role of the ballot for me to evaluate your impacts because this indicates how it links into your framework of the aff. If you’re going to read high theory affs, explain because all I hear are buzzwords that these authors use. Don’t assume I am an expert in this type of literature because I am not and I just have a basic understanding of it. If you don’t do any of these things, I have the right to vote to neg on presumption.
-- You need a counter-interp or counter-model of debate and what debate looks like under this model and then go for your impact turns or disads as net benefits to this. Going for only the net benefits/offense without explaining what your interpretation of what debate should look like will be difficult. The 2AC strategy of saying as many ‘disads’ to framework as possible without explaining or warranting any of them out is likely not going to be successful. Leveraging your aff as an impact turn to framework is always good. The more effectively voting aff can resolve the impact turn the easier it will be to get my ballot.
Kritiks
-- I went for the Kritik in almost every 2NR my senior year. I have been exposed to many different types of scholarship, but I am more familiar with some critical race theory criticisms. This form of debate is what I am most comfortable evaluating. However, it is important to note I have a reasonable threshold for each debater's explanation of whatever theory they present within the round, extensions of links, and impact framing. I need to understand what you are saying in order for me to vote for your criticism.
-- You should have specific links to affirmatives because without them you will probably lose to "these are links to the squo" unless the other team doesn't answer it well. Link debate is a place where you can make strategic turns case/impact analysis. Make sure you have good impact comparison and weighing mechanisms and always have an external impact.
-- The alt debate seems to be one of the most overlooked parts of the K and is usually never explained well enough. This means always explaining the alt thoroughly and how it interacts with the aff. This is an important time that the 2NR needs to dedicate time allocation if you go for the alternative. If you choose not to go for the alternative and go for presumption, make sure you are actually winning an impact-framing claim.
K vs. K
-- These debates are always intriguing.
-- Presumption is underutilized by the neg and permutations are allowed in a methods debate. However, it is up to the teams in front of me to do this. There needs to be an explanation of how your theory of power operates, why it can preclude your opponent’s, how your method or approach is preferable, and how you resolve x issues. Your rebuttals should include impact comparison, framing, link defense/offense, permutation(s), and solvency deficits.
Tricks/frivolous theory/skep
-- I am not the best at evaluating these types of arguments. It is important to extend the claim, warrant, and impact of your argument and WEIGH. Please slow down on analytics that are important, especially in theory debates.
I currently work as a Director - Product Management at Salesforce. I have worked for various software companies like Oracle, Safenet/Gemalto, and Vormetric.
I have judged various high school level debate tournaments for last six years when my sons participated debate tournaments from Monta Vista High school, Cupertino. I have judged Public Forum and Lincoln Douglas debate tournaments at Santa Clara University, Stanford, James Logan MLK etc.
If there are any other questions feel free to email me at ssaha9@yahoo.com
Argumentation:
Framework
Make your argumentation the most important part with clear, concise points. Provide details, evidences and summarize in the end.
Dropping arguments
Drop them properly. Don’t just stop talking about them.
Speed
While I an fine with speed, I prefer convincing, clear, not too fast argumentation.
Jargon
I understand most PoFo and LD debate jargons, but if there are any new ones that you think that I may not know, explain to me.
Affirmatives
Provide an in-depth analysis along with strong evidences.
Negatives
Provide powerful in-depth analysis along with strong evidences
Cross
Be respectful, examine professionally with counter points
TLDR: Flow over your args. LBL is good. Apply cards to the round instead of just reading them. I know Ks, but not all of them, act like I'm dumb when giving your exposition.
Howdy Friends!
:) Just some stuff to show I'm not completely lay:
I debated CX and PF for 4 years in HS and am currently an applied mathematics major at TAMU. I've been to 2 nats for PF and to state twice for cx. I quarter-finaled for UIL 5a CX state. I also qualified for nationals Extemporaneous twice.
Moral stuff:
Have fun, unless your fun is morally wacky. Fun is considered "morally wacky" when it is one or multiple of the following; racist, sexist, homophobic, promotes self-harm, attacks people within the round, is directed at a specific religion, or ya know invokes things that make you seem not so vibey in the public eye. If you run any of the prior it's an L0. Also, don't misgender your opponent, that'll also be an L0 (if on purpose obviously).
Pre-round questions?:
I am open to any questions prior to the round, so just shoot me an email at a.david.salazar.ii@gmail.com and I'll answer asap . If you have any questions at all, no matter how small or significant they may be, please ask them! I remember reading some judging paradigms that actively dissuaded questions and it made the atmosphere of the round cold and tense. I promise you I won't get mad at any question posed or if anything out of your control occurs.
Oh yeah, please add me to an email chain with the above email, thank ya!
Important Note: I do have impaired hearing. I can hear sounds but intermittently fail to make out words. When debaters spread, whether LD or CX, I ask that they share a copy of their speech with me if at all possible. If Debaters are not comfortable sharing their speech, I completely understand and will judge to the best of my abilities.
CX:
My views on specific types of arguments are as follows:
Framework: When arguing against an opposing framework, I ask that you explain to me why your framework is inherently better than that of your opponent. Make sure to relate all of your impacts towards your framework.....please.
Case: Case is what CX revolves around. Failing to answer or weigh the case in round is something that will drastically affect the way I view the round. As aff, if you win all of the off-case but fail to flow over your on-case then you will be at a significant disadvantage.
Da: Links should adhere specifically to the mechanisms of the opposing case. Vague links are a plague in today's format (at least from what I experienced). I will value a DA based on the argumentation you put behind it.
CP: Tell me why the CP shows a better world than the case. The net benefit is the sole reason for voting.
K: If you run a Kritik you need to bluntly state how the alternative works within the world and how it is better than that of the affirmative. When running Kritiks regarding the opposing team's propagation of harmful pedagogy out of round, I ask that you clearly link the argument to a blatant example of this through the opposing team's speeches rather than a one-off comment (unless egregious). I am familiar with a lot of kritik lit's, but to make the round accessible you should still be able to contextualize and blatantly explain the k throughout the round in case your opponent has never come across the k you are using. Not only does it provide a more fair round, but also demonstrates that you actually understand what you're talking about. If you don't know the full extent of your K, don't run it. Also, if you're running a kritk that relies on the experience and pain of a certain group of people that neither individuals in your team represent, that's kinda messed up. Agency does matter. Don't profit off the pain of others for a win in a high school competition.
T: If ground is lost, tell me why that matters and how that affects the round. If a team does not tell me why the proposed ground loss is a voting issue, then I will not vote on it.
Theory: I mean it's a thing...if left uncontested it's obviously going to be a voting issue, but please apply it throughout the round and show how the given violation actually affects your standards rather than just stating "They dropped, we win"...please. Oh and RVI :).
Speed: Regarding the note at the top, I can still flow spreading as long as it is clear. I will miss some bits and pieces, but I have and most of the time will be able to flow general args if they are analytically given. Note: if the opposing team is not comfortable with spreading, or if they are hearing impaired, please make the speech accessible to them. Accessibility & education within debate is a voting issue.
LD:
I am mostly a policy/Flow judge, so please treat me as such if possible.
Pref Cheat Sheet;
1-Policy
2-K
3-Theory
4/strike-Phil
5/strike-Trix
RVI- I believe that winning a theory shell is a voting issue. I loathe theory for time sucks, it ruins the purpose of running a theory. If you introduce theory, be prepared to carry it all the way through.
Competing interps- I believe that clash on theory is important. Even if the theory is a wash, you should still have a counter. Answering and winning washed theories would help you will the round since I value each theory won as a voter.
Drop the arg- If a theory stands by the end of the round and the violation is relegated to one specific argument, then that arg will be dropped on my flow.
Disclosure- I like disclosure. If the opponent doesn't disclose pre-round, that doesn't instantly make it a voting issue for me. Run a full theory arg so that the violation is on the flow.
kicking args in last speech: If you feel like you have one topic won, and its impact calc, when compared to the standing framework, is the largest on the flow, and you want to run the entirety of your last speech flowing it over and solidifying it, go for it. Condensing is good, desperately holding onto arguments that are lost is not good. Of course, if you kick out of the thing you're winning then it could also hurt you, but y'all have a good idea of what y'all are doing so it should be fine. I'm not doing judge kicks, so explicitly state what you're kicking
PF:
PF is chaotic. That being said, I vibe with all types of arguments within PF (unless you advocate for racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, self-harm advocacy, or moral arguments that would land you a special spot in Dante's Inferno, which is something I apparently need to add to a paradigm because people don't know how to act :\). While I understand paraphrasing is accepted, I feel that reading a carded case appears more professional and provides informational validity better. That doesn't mean it affects your speaks or anything, just a little aside.
OVERALL:
Please be nice to one another. Respect your opponents for the competitors they are. Rounds can get heated, and when they do sometimes tempers rise and people become more aggressive than needed. While this is a competition, please remember that it is an educational competition. Have fun, make friends, learn new arguments, and overcome your mistakes. At the end of the day, your rounds are simply pedagogical interactions, but when competitors' egos come before their logic in rounds, debate loses all meaning.
Aashir Sanjrani:
History: Hebron HS '20, TOC qual, UT '24, debated for one year in college
email chain- Aashir.debate@gmail.com
*If there are any residual questions about how I would evaluate an argument more specifically feel free to ask
**PLEASE READ- I always preferred judges to be honest so here's my attempt to do so:
1. I was really only successful in policy. This means I can flow, but I may not be familiar with LD's meta or LD lingo being thrown around- if you have any doubts feel free to ask me before round
2. please take your time to clearly articulate arguments and most importantly make clear implications- I feel judge instruction is severely underutilized by a majority of debaters- rather than being confused about why I viewed an argument a certain way, tell me how to view it and what it means for my decision making.
3. I will try my best to get every argument I hear- but remember, everyone, makes mistakes- it never hurts to repeat something you think is important- doing so only increases the chances that it makes it to your judge's flow and subsequently into my decision
**EDIT for 2024/2025 Season
1. Topic- keep in mind I haven't done any topic research- I'm confident you're familiar with the topic literature so please explain it thoroughly
2. Speed/Spreading- SLOW DOWN for analytics pls- I've noticed some debaters spread analytics, and to be honest I don't flow fast enough to keep up with that- for me specifically I would say analytics should at around 50% your top speed. if you want it on my flow I advise you to articulate it clearly
Paradigm:
"If you want my ballot, this is a simple concept. Tell me 1) what argument you won; 2) why you won it, and 3) why that means you win the round. Repeat."
Most of my debate experience was with Ks, however, I will try to evaluate each argument to my best ability.
------For LD-------
Phil and Tricks- I never really debated these, but it's not like I won't vote for it- I will, however, require more explanation than a judge more familiar with the argument.
Defaults- all of these can be persuaded differently you just need to give me a reason why:
1. No RVI on Theory- IE theory is no risk (Same for T)
2. Competing Interps > Reasonability
3. Default Framing = Util
4. Tech > truth (in all instances except for things like racism good, sexism good, etc)
Please, do not spread analytics at 100%. I doubt I type faster than you speak
Judge Instruction:beyond just telling me what you're winning (and why you're winning it) give me the implication of the argument (IE what that means for my decision)- doing so makes my judging experience much easier and subsequently makes your routes to the ballot a lot more clear
"Accept that you're a pimple and try to keep a lively sense of humor about it. That way lies grace - and maybe even glory." Tom Robbins
Hello! I'm Skye. I love debate and I have loved taking on an educator role in the community. I take education very seriously, but I try to approach debates with compassion and mirth, because I think everyone benefits from it. I try to be as engaged and helpful as I can while judging, and I am excited and grateful to be part of your day!
My email is ssspindler97@gmail.com for email chains. If you have more questions after round, feel free to reach out :) No one really takes me up on this but the likelihood I forget to edit your ballot is really high, so please consider emailing me a back up option if you want clarification.
Background
Right now, I'm studying to be a HS English Language Arts teacher in a Masters of Education and initial licensure program at the University of Minnesota. I'm on track to be in the classroom by Fall 2025 and can't wait to get a policy team started wherever I end up!
Backing up a bit, I graduated from Concordia College where I debated on their policy team for 4 years. I am a CEDA scholar and 2019 NDT participant. In high school, I moved around a lot and have, at some point, participated in every debate format. I have a degree in English Literature and Global Studies with a minor in Women and Gender Studies.
I have experience reading, coaching, & judging policy arguments and Ks in both LD & policy.
I have been coaching going on 4 years and judging for 7. I am currently a policy coach at Washburn Senior High in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is part of the Minnesota Urban Debate League. I also coach speech and debate at the Harker School in California.
I've also worked full time for the Minnesota Urban Debate League and coached policy part-time at Edina HS, Wayzata HS, and the University of Minnesota.
Top Notes!
1. For policy & varsity circuit LD - I flow on paper and hate flowing straight down. I do not have time to make all your stuff line up after the debate. That does not mean I don't want you to spread. That means that when you are debating in front of me, it is beneficial for you to do the following things:
a) when spreading card heavy constructives, I recommend a verbal cue like, "and," in between cards and slowing down slightly/using a different tone for the tags than the body of the card
b) In the 2A/NC & rebuttals, spreading your way through analytics at MAX SPEED will not help you, because I won't be able to write it all down; it is too dense of argumentation for me to write it in an organized way on my flow if you are spewing them at me.
c) instead, I recommend not spreading analytics at max speed, SIGN POSTING between items on the flow & give me literally 1 second to move onto the next flow (I'm serious do a one-Mississippi in your head)
If it gets to the RFD, and I feel like my flow doesn’t incapsulate the debate well because we didn't find a common understanding, I am very sorry for all of us, and I just hate it.
2. I default to evaluating debates from the point of tech/line by line, but arguments that were articulated with a warrant, a reason you are winning them/comparison to your opponents’ answers, and why they matter for the debate will significantly outweigh those that don’t.
General - Policy & Circuit LD
"tag teaming cross ex": sure, just know that if you don't answer any CX questions OR cut your partner off, it will likely affect your speaks.
Condo/Theory: I am not opposed to voting on condo bad, but please read it as a PROCEDURAL, with an interp, violation, and standards. Anything else just becomes a mess. The same applies to any theory argument. I approach it all thinking, “What do we want debates to be like? What norms do we want to set?”
T: Will vote on T, please see theory and clash v. K aff sections for more insight, I think of these things in much the same way.
Plans/policy: Yes, I will enjoy judging a policy v policy debate too, please don't think I won't or can't judge those debates just bc I read and like critical arguments. I have read policy arguments in debate as well as Ks and I currently coach and judge policy arguments.
Because I judge in a few different circuits, my topic knowledge can be sporadic, so I do think it is a good idea to clue me into what all your acronyms, initialisms, and topic jargon means, though.
Clash debates, general: Clash debates are my favorite to judge. Although I read Ks for most of college, I coach a lot of policy arguments and find myself moving closer to the middle on things the further out I am from debating.
I also think there is an artificial polarization of k vs. policy ideologies in debate; these things are not so incompatible as we seem to believe. Policy and K arguments are all the same under the hood to me, I see things as links, impacts, etc.
Ks, general: I feel that it can be easy for debaters to lose their K and by the end of the debate so a) I’m not sure what critical analysis actually happened in the round or b) the theory of power has not been proven or explained at all/in the context of the round. And those debates can be frustrating to evaluate.
Planless aff vs. T/framework: Fairness is probably not your best option for terminal impact, but just fine if articulated as an internal link to education. Education is very significant to me, that is why I am here. I think limits are generally good. I think the best K affs have a clear model of debate to answer framework with, whether or not that includes the topic. So the side that best illustrates their model of debate and its educational value while disproving the merits of their opponents’ is the side that wins to me.
Plan aff vs. K :If you actually win and do judge instruction, framework will guide my decision. The links are really important to me, especially giving an impact to that link. I think case debate is slept on by K debaters. I have recently started thinking of K strat on the negative as determined by what generates uniqueness in any given debate: the links? The alt? Framework? Both/all?
K v. K: I find framework helpful in these debates as well and remember that even if I know the critical theory you're talking about, I still expect you to explain it throughout the debate because that is a significant part of the learning process and I want to keep myself accountable to the words you are saying in the debate so I don't fill things in for you.
LD -
judge type: consider me a "tech" "flow" "progressive" or "circuit" judge, whatever the term you use is.
spreading: spreading good, please see #1 for guidelines
not spreading: also good
"traditional"LD debaters: lately, I have been voting a lot of traditional LD debaters down due to a lack of specificity, terminal impacts, and general clash, especially on the negative. I mention in case this tendency is a holdover from policy and it would benefit you to know this for judge adaptation.
frivolous theory/tricks ?: Please don't read ridiculous things that benefit no one educationally, that is an uphill battle for you.
framework: When it is time for the RFD, I go to framework first. If any framework arguments were extended in the rebuttals, I will reach a conclusion about who wins what and use that to dictate my decision making. If there aren'y any, or the debaters were unclear, I will default to a very classic policy debate style cost-benefit analysis.
PF -
I think the biggest thing that will impact you in front of me is I just have higher expectations for warrants and evidence analysis that are difficult for you to meet when you have a million tiny speeches. Quality over quantity is a beneficial way to think about your approach in these debates!
Fun Survey:
Policy--------------------------X-----------------K
Read no cards-----------x------------------------Read all the cards
Conditionality good---------------x---------------Conditionality bad
States CP good-------------------------x---------States CP bad
Federalism DA good---------------------------x--Federalism DA bad
Politics DA good for education --------------------------x---Politics DA not good for education
Fairness is a thing--------------------x----------Delgado 92
Try or die----------------------x-----------------What's the opposite of try or die
Clarityxxx--------------------------------------------Srsly who doesn't like clarity
Limits---------x-------------------------------------Aff ground
Presumption----------x----------------------------Never votes on presumption
Resting grumpy face-------------------------x----Grumpy face is your fault
CX about impacts----------------------------x----CX about links and solvency
AT: ------------------------------------------------------x-- A2:
Parent judge:
Hello all, I am a parent judge and I have been judging LD, PF, and other individual events for the last 6 years.
My email is chetana.nataraj@gmail.com please use it for pre-round questions and for the email chain. Sending me your cases will help me flow and adjudicate your round better.
FLOWING: I will flow a line-by-line analysis. Please start out with specific arguments and then summarize at the end. I am tolerant of going slightly over time limits. I am fine with moderate spreading and persuasive speeds. in the case of persuasive debate, I will weigh the argumentation, and will consider intonation, inflection, diction, clarity, and truth of the arguments in question.
DECISION: I evaluate framework, arguments, reasoning and evidence. Please have a clear framework that's well explained, I default to Util but explain how your impacts function under that FW.
OTHER PREFERENCES: For speaking, please speak clearly and speak to the point. In terms of speed, please do NOT SPREAD. Speaking marginally fast is okay as long as you slow down at the impactful parts, tags, numbers you want me to flow, etc. Do NOT RUN THEORY . If I do flow part of your theory argument , it will not be a major evaluation in the debate. Please don't read Kritiks or dense philosophical fws. Counter-plans are fine if you explain them well and show why they are preferable to the aff.
Matt Stannard
Debate Coach, Lewis & Clark College; J.D. University of Wyoming College of Law
stannard67@gmail.com
Me: he/him, did policy debate for West Jordan High School and Weber State University, coached multiple formats at Eastern Utah, Long Beach, Wyoming and Lewis & Clark, and directed and/or taught at a vast multitude of institutes.
Delivery: Speak clearly no matter your rate of delivery (there are some mind-bogglingly fast debaters who are crystal clear--it's fun to listen to them and they are flowable). Over-enunciate. Don't leave comprehension to chance; control what I write down. I won't try to flow analytics I don't understand.
The (very important) game: All styles and formats of debate are good, policy/critical/procedural all valuable, I am not the state, topics and topic research are good, I vote for all kinds of arguments even when I intellectually disagree with them (but will reject arguments predicated on bigotry).
Besides clarity, I have these predispositions: (1) conditionality is fine until the 2NR; you need to explicitly tell me what advocacy you are kicking. (2) I seem to have a greater need than other judges for good solvency cards for affs, counterplans, and K alternatives. Many K alts I hear feel vague to me at the outset. Love voting for movements and don't think fiat is confined to the state, but the threshold is specific advocacy with solvency cards. (3) political and social implications of T and other procedural/framework interps can be reasons to prefer/reject them, weighable against other reasons. They aren't "genocide" per se, but they aren't ideologically neutral; debate it out. (4) aff should provide a clear statement of advocacy, neg should provide a clear reason to reject the aff.
Tech: If you're debating on Zoom or other online platform, please use the best mic tech you have and don't project your vocals directly into an internal laptop mic. Prep time ends when you say so and then IMMEDIATELY hit send, and in all debate tech scenarios if anything goes wrong don't panic, we'll be fine and figure out what to do.
Ethics: Be chill--even kind--to each other outside of your speeches (feel free to be vociferous and scathing during your speeches if that's your thing), don't cheat, and let's all commit to dismantling classism, racism, sexism, heteronormativity, patriarchy, ageism and ableism, and to listen to those affected by exclusion--not just as debaters making arguments but as responsible and accountable human beings making our world. It's okay that debate is weird and different. Please make it a safe place for everyone. We should celebrate the exemplary and exceptional skills debate provides rather than being ashamed of our weirdness. Our weirdness is going to end up being what saves us. Let's get right with each other in it, have a good time doing it, and find the tools we need from it.
https://debate.msu.edu/about-msu-debate/
Pronouns: she/her
Yes, put me on the chain: jasminestidham@gmail.com
Please let me know if there are any accessibility requirements before the round so I can do my part.
JKS
I coach full-time at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. Previously, I coached at Dartmouth for five years from 2018-2023. I debated at the University of Central Oklahoma for four years and graduated in 2018. I also used to coach at Harvard-Westlake, Kinkaid, and Heritage Hall.
LD skip down to the bottom.
High school policy debate 2024-25
I am not actively coaching a high school policy team this year. This means you can truly treat me as a blank slate when it comes to IPR. I have zero predispositions or biases. I don't know your acronyms or the community consensus on certain issues. I did coach at Dartmouth on the college antitrust topic, so I am somewhat familiar with that topic area.
January 2024 Update -- College
The state of wikis for most college teams is atrocious this year. The amount of wikis that have nothing or very little posted is bonkers. I don't know who needs to hear this, but please go update your wiki. If you benefit from other teams posting their docs/cites (you know you do), then return the favor by doing the same. It's not hard. This grumpiness does not apply to novice and JV teams.
At the CSULB tournament, I will reward teams with an extra .1 speaker point boost if you tell me to look at your wiki after the round and it looks mostly complete. I will not penalize any team for having a bad wiki (you do you), but will modestly reward teams who take the time to do their part for a communal good.
Tldr; Flexibility
No judge will ever like all of the arguments you make, but I will always attempt to evaluate them fairly. I appreciate judges who are willing to listen to positions from every angle, so I try to be one of those judges. I have coached strictly policy teams, strictly K teams, and everything in between because I love all aspects of the game. I would be profoundly bored if I only judged certain teams or arguments. At most tournaments I find myself judging a little bit of everything: a round where the 1NC is 10 off and the letter 'K' is never mentioned, a round where the affirmative does not read a plan and the neg suggests they should, a round where the neg impact turns everything under the sun, a round where the affirmative offers a robust defense of hegemony vs a critique, etc. I enjoy judging a variety of teams with different approaches to the topic.
Debate should be fun and you should debate in the way that makes it valuable for you, not me.
My predispositions about debate are not so much ideological as much as they are systematic, i.e. I don't care which set of arguments you go for, but I believe every argument must have a claim, warrant, impact, and a distinct application.
If I had to choose another judge I mostly closely identify with, it would be John Cameron Turner but without the legal pads.
I don't mind being post-rounded or answering a lot of questions. I did plenty of post-rounding as a debater and I recognize it doesn't always stem from anger or disrespect. That being said, don't be a butthead. I appreciate passionate debaters who care about their arguments and I am always willing to meet you halfway in the RFD.
I am excited to judge your debate. Even if I look tired or grumpy, I promise I care a lot and will always work hard to evaluate your arguments fairly and help you improve.
What really matters to me
Evidence quality matters a lot to me, probably more than other judges. Stop reading cards that don't have a complete sentence and get off my lawn. I can't emphasize enough how much I care about evidence comparison. This includes author quals, context, recency, (re)highlighting, data/statistics, concrete examples, empirics, etc. You are better off taking a 'less is more' approach when debating in front of me. For example, I much rather see you read five, high quality uniqueness cards that have actual warrants highlighted than ten 'just okay' cards that sound like word salad.
This also applies to your overall strategies. For example, I am growing increasingly annoyed at teams who try to proliferate as many incomplete arguments as possible in the 1NC. If your strategy is to read 5 disads in the 1NC that are missing uniqueness or internal links, I will give the aff almost infinite leeway in the 1AR to answer your inevitable sandbagging. I would much rather see well-highlighted, complete positions than the poor excuse of neg arguments that I'm seeing lately. To be clear, I am totally down with 'big 1NCs' -- but I get a little annoyed when teams proliferate incomplete positions.
Case debate matters oh so much to me. Please, please debate the case, like a lot. It does not matter what kind of round it is -- I want to see detailed, in-depth case debate. A 2NC that is just case? Be still, my heart. Your speaker points will get a significant boost if you dedicate significant time to debating the case in the neg block. By "debating the case" I do not mean just reading a wall of cards and calling it a day -- that's not case debate, it's just reading.
I expect you to treat your partner and opponents with basic respect. This is non-negotiable. Some of y'all genuinely need to chill out. You can generate ethos without treating your opponents like your mortal enemy. Pettiness, sarcasm, and humor are all appreciated, but recognize there is a line and you shouldn't cross it. Punching down is cringe behavior. You should never, ever make any jokes about someone else's appearance or how they sound.
Impact framing and judge instruction will get you far. In nearly every RFD I give, I heavily emphasize judge instruction and often vote for the team who does superior judge instruction because I strive to be as non-interventionist as possible.
Cowardice is annoying. Stop running away from debate. Don't shy away from controversy just because you don't like linking to things. This also applies to shady disclosure practices. If you don't like defending your arguments, or explaining what your argument actually means, please consider joining the marching band. Be clear and direct.
Plan texts matter. Most plan texts nowadays are written in a way that avoids clash and specificity. Affirmative teams should know that I am not going to give you much leeway when it comes to recharacterizing what the plan text actually means. If the plan says virtually nothing because you're scared of linking to negative arguments, just know that I will hold you to the words in the plan and won't automatically grant the most generous interpretation. You do not get infinite spin here. Ideally, the affirmative will read a plan text that accurately reflects a specific solvency advocate.
I am not a fan of extreme or reductionist characterizations of different approaches to debate. For example, it will be difficult to persuade me that all policy arguments are evil, worthless, or violent. Critical teams should not go for 'policy debate=Karl Rove' because this is simply a bad, reductionist argument. On the flip side, it would be unpersuasive to argue that all critiques are stupid or meaningless.
I appreciate and reward teams who make an effort to adapt.Unlike many judges, I am always open to being persuaded and am willing to change my mind. I am rigid about certain things, but am movable on many issues. This usually just requires meeting me in the middle; if you adapt to me in some way, I will make a reciprocal effort.
Online debate
Camera policy: I strongly prefer that we all keep our cameras on during the debate, but there are valid reasons for not having your camera on. I will never penalize you for turning your camera off, but if you can turn it on, let's try. I will always keep my camera on while judging.
Tech glitches: it is your responsibility to record your speeches as a failsafe. I encourage you to record your speeches on your phone/laptop in the event of a tech glitch. If a glitch happens, we will try to resolve it as quickly as possible, and I will follow the tournament's guidelines.
Slow down a bit in the era of e-sports debate. I'll reward you for it with points. No, you don't have to speak at a turtle's pace, but maybe we don't need to read 10-off?
Miscellaneous specifics
I care more about solvency advocates than most judges. This does not mean I automatically vote against a counterplan without a solvency advocate. Rather, this is a 'heads up' for neg teams so they're aware that I am generally persuaded by affirmative arguments in this area. It would behoove neg teams to read a solvency advocate of some kind, even if it's just a recutting of affirmative evidence.
I will only judge kick if told to do so, assuming the aff hasn't made any theoretical objections.
I am not interested in judging or evaluating call-outs, or adjacent arguments of this variety. I care deeply about safety and inclusion in this activity and I will do everything I can to support you. But, I do not believe that a round should be staked on these issues and I am not comfortable giving any judge that kind of power.
Please do not waste your breath asking for a 30. I'm sorry, but it's not going to happen.
Generally speaking, profanity should be avoided. In most cases, it does not make your arguments or performance more persuasive. Excessive profanity is extremely annoying and may result in lower speaks. If you are in high school, I absolutely do not want to hear you swear in your speeches. I am an adult, and you are a teenager -- I know it feels like you're having a big ethos moment when you drop an F-bomb in the 2NC but I promise it is just awkward/cringe.
Evidence ethics
If you clip, you will lose the round and receive 0 speaker points. I will vote against you for clipping EVEN IF the other team does not call you on it. I know what clipping is and feel 100% comfortable calling it. Mark your cards and have a marked copy available.
If you cite or cut a card improperly, I evaluate these issues on a sliding scale. For example, a novice accidentally reading a card that doesn't have a complete citation is obviously different from a senior varsity debater cutting a card in the middle of a sentence or paragraph. Unethical evidence practices can be reasons to reject the team and/or a reason to reject the evidence itself, depending on the unique situation.
At the college level, I expect ya'll to handle these issues like adults. If you make an evidence ethics accusation, I am going to ask if you want to stop the round to proceed with the challenge.
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LD Specific
Updated November 2024 before GBX to reflect a few changes.
Conflicts: Harvard-Westlake (assistant director of debate 2018-2022), and Strake Jesuit (current affiliation).
My background is in policy debate, but I am fluent in LD. I co-direct NSD Flagship and follow LD topics as they evolve. I am a hired gun for Strake Jesuit.
If you are asking questions about what was read or skipped in the speechdoc, that counts as CX time. If you are simply asking where a specific card was marked, that is okay and does not count as CX time. If you want your opponent to send out a speechdoc that includes only the things they read, that counts as your CX time or prep time -- it is your responsibility to flow.
You need to be on time. I cannot stress this enough. LDers consistently run late and it drives me bonkers. Your speaks will be impacted if you are excessively late without a reasonable excuse.
I realize my LD paradigm sounds a little grumpy. I am only grumpy about certain arguments/styles, such as frivolous theory. I do my best to not come off as a policy elitist because I do genuinely enjoy LD and am excited to judge your debate.
FAQ:
Q:I primarily read policy (or LARP) arguments, should I pref you?
A: Yes.
Q: I read a bunch of tricks/meta-theory/a prioris/paradoxes, should I pref you?
A: No thank you.
Q: I read phil, should I pref you?
A: I'm not ideologically opposed to phil arguments like I am with tricks. I do not judge many phil debates because most of the time tricks are involved, but I don't have anything against philosophical positions. I would be happy to judge a good phil debate. You may need to do some policy translation so I understand exactly what you're saying. I've gotten a lot more fluent in phil recently and truly don't have anything against it.
Q: I really like Nebel T, should I pref you?
A: No, you shouldn't. He's a very nice and smart guy, but cutting evidence from debate blogs is such a meme. If you'd like to make a similar argument, just find non-Nebel articles and you'll be fine. This applies to most debate coach evidence read in LD. To be clear, you can read T:whole rez in front of me, just not Nebel blog cards.
Q: I like to make theory arguments like 'must spec status' or 'must include round reports for every debate' or 'new affs bad,' should I pref you?
A: Not if those arguments are your idea of a round-winning strategy. Can you throw them in the 1NC/1AR? Sure, that's fine. Will I be persuaded by new affs bad? No.
Q: Will you ever vote for an RVI?
A: Nope. Never. I don't flow them.
Q: Will you vote for any theory arguments?
A: Of course. I am good for more policy-oriented theory arguments like condo good/bad, PICs good/bad, process CPs good/bad, etc.
Q: Will you vote for Ks?
A: Of course. Love em.
Any other questions can be asked before the round or email me.
I couldn't say it better myself so to borrow from Beau Larsen's paradigm:
"Every coach, opponent and teammate has shaped how I judge. I love this activity and consider myself a lifer.
Please introduce yourself to me, I like to think of myself as a judge that gets to know the debaters they judge over the course of a season/a debater's career".
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I enjoy being called "jsp" or "Josh" rather than "judge".
My email is joshuasp.debate@gmail.com
Everything said below in the paradigm is pure theatrics and in my opinion unnecessary but read on if you will.
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Recent Affiliations:
Coaching: Ivy Bridge Academy (PF), Thomas Kelly College Prep (Policy), Able2Shine (PF), Branson HS (Policy)
Debating: Western Kentucky University (2024-present), Georgia State University (2021-2024), Sequoyah High School (2017-2021)
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PF:
Treat me like an average "tech" judge. Have the debate you want and I will be fine, as fast or as slow just do you. Be accomodating to the other judges on a panel and to your opponents.
The judges I disagree with the most are ones who have strong unwavering opinions on things like Truth vs Tech when the reality is truth and tech inform and can't without each other.
The judges I agree with the most have little argumentative preference besides rules like "front lining is good". This debate is for the debaters.
I have a policy background meaning I am okay with Kritik's and Theory but also am very critical of bad/annoying uses of such.
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LD:
I have debated and coached all styles of LD, don't be afraid to do the style you are comfortable to vote with. You rascals really want me to say these things though:
Tricks: Not the best for tricks, but am willing to depending on the tricks (ie TJF's are more persuasive than something like eval after 1ac). I have been made to judge some dense tricks and theory debates however I flow on paper and don't look at the doc, and if I miss it then that is 100% on you.
Framework: I am 50/50 for this, i have found i am almost always voting for the team that is winning impact level and then the most direct line to the impact level.
Traditional: I love these debates, I think progressive debaters should adjudicate things like speed but arguments should make enough sense the opponents can engage. "Unreasonableness" still is never an argument against a progressive position.
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Policy:
In short: your standard flex/clash judge, i am only putting notes I think are necessary info
I am realistically 50/50 for framework, I think I am a good judge for the side that impacts out their arguments on the framework flow, this means i don't care about your fairness push unless there is an impact to why fairness matters and I need a more thorough impact level analysis of the debate.
I need pen time, i flow on paper and by ear, my laptop will likely be closed till the rebuttals, I will yell "clear" or "loud" as much as needed but I would rather not have to and I will just stop if I get tired of saying it - speed will always be fine - clarity though is just as important
I don't enjoy purely inserted rehighlighting, if you do that though I need a theory argument as to why its justified as I am a believer in the opposing team being able to argue inserted rehighlighting is not allowed and should be read as to make me not evaluate it. I don't particularly lean either way on this debate but i think that almost no one has stances on this even though
I do not usually vote on presumption absent a planless affirmative
Tabula rasa is a conservative debate dogwhistle
I debated LD for three years for Strake Jesuit (after a brief period in PF). I qualified for TFA State and TOC in LD, and I have instructed at TDC and NSD. I am conflicted with Strake Jesuit. Contact me/add me to docs at jpstuckert@gmail.com
You can call me "JP." "James," "Mr. Stuckert" or "judge" are fine but weird to me.
For online rounds:
1. Keeping local recordings of speeches is good. You should do it.
2. If I or another judge call “clear” video chat systems often cut your audio for a second. This means (a) you should prioritize clarity to avoid this and (b) even repeat yourself when “clear” is called if it’s a particularly important argument.
3. I don’t like to read off docs, but if there's an audio problem in an online round, I will glance to make sure I at least know where you are. I would really prefer not to be asked to backflow from a doc if there's a tech issue, hence local recordings above.
4. You should probably be at like 70% of your normal speed while online.
· I aim to be a neutral party minimizing intervention while evaluating arguments made within the speech times/structure set by the tournament or activity to pick one winner and loser for myself. Some implications:
o The speech structure of LD includes CX. Don't take it as prep and don't go back on something you commit to in CX (unless it's a quick correction when you misspeak, or is something ambiguous). I generally flow cx and factor it into speaker points, but arguments must still be made in other speeches.
o The speech structure also precludes overt newness. Arguments which are new in later speeches should be implications, refutations, weighing or extensions of already existing arguments. Whether 2N or 2AR weighing is allowable is up for debate and probably contextual. Reversing a stance you have already taken is newness -- e.g. you can't kick out of weighing you made if your opponent didn't answer it. (Obviously you can kick condo advocacies unless you lose theory.)
o I won't listen to double-win or double-loss arguments or anything of the sort. You also can't argue that you should be allowed to go over your speech time.
o Being a neutral party means my decision shouldn't involve anything about you or your opponent that would render me a conflict. If I were involved in your prefs, I would consider myself to essentially be a coach, so I won't listen to pref/strike Ks. If other types of out-of-round conduct impact the round, I will evaluate it (e.g. disclosure).
o Judge instruction and standards of justification on the flow are very important, and if they are not explicit, I look to see if they are implicit before bringing to bear my out-of-round inclinations. If two debaters implicitly agree on some framing issue, I treat it as a given.
o Evidence ethics: I will allow a debater to ask to stake the round on an evidence ethics issue if it involves: (1) brackets/cutting that changes the meaning of a card; (2) outright miss-attribution including lying about an author's name, qualifications, or their actual position; (3) alterations to the text being quoted including ellipses, mid-paragraph cutting, and changing words without brackets. Besides these issues, you can challenge evidence with theory or to make a point on the line-by-line. For me, you should resolve the following on the flow: (1) brackets that don't change meaning; (2) taking an author's argument as a premise for a larger position they might not totally endorse; (3) cases where block quotes or odd formatting makes it unclear if something is a mid-paragraph cut; (4) not being able to produce a digital copy of a source in-round. If another judge on a panel has a broader view on what the round can be staked on, I'll just default to agreeing it is a round-staking issue.
· Despite my intention to avoid intervention, I am probably biased in the following ways:
o On things like T framework and disclosure I think there is an under-discussed gap between "voting on theory can set norms" to "your vote will promote no more and no less than the text of my interp in this activity."
o I will be strongly biased against overtly offensive things (arguments which directly contravene the basic humanity of a marginalized group). I don’t think it’s prima facie offensive to read moral philosophy that denies some acts are intrinsically evil (like skep or strict ends-based ethical theories) or which denies that consequences are morally relevant (like skep or strict means-based theories). I also don't think generic impact turns against big stick impacts are innately offensive. But I will certainly listen to Ks or independent voters indicting any of those things.
· Other:
o Speaks: each speech counts, including CX. Strategy and well-warranted arguments are the two biggest factors. My range typically doesn't go outside 28 to 29.5. I adjust based on how competitive the tournament is. I don't disclose them.
o Be polite to novices, even if you can win a round in 20 seconds it’s not always kind to do so. Just be aware of how your actions might make them feel.
o I am usually unpersuaded by rhetorical appeals that take it for granted that some debate styles (K, LARP, phil, theory, tricks) are worse than others, but you can and should make warranted arguments comparing models of debate.
riley.rosalie@gmail.com ; 7 years of policy debate experience
University of Wyoming '21 | Current MPA Student at the University of Washington '26
Debate Coach at Weber State University
Over the last few years of judging policy and CARD, I find myself being a big picture type judge. While I still believe that a dropped argument is true and I can follow tricky framing arguments on the flow, debaters need to provide clear judge direction in the rebuttals on what those arguments mean and how I should deal with them at the end of the round. I am most persuaded by teams that go for fewer arguments in the rebuttals, spend time impacting/fleshing them out, and telling me how it implicates the rest of the debate.
Impacts need to be fleshed out in the final speeches. I need to know what is triggering the impact, where some war is happening, why it's uniquely coming now, etc. I find myself voting for teams that spend a lot of time in the final rebuttal giving me specific details on their impacts, how they can be avoided, and doing impact comparison with the other team. Same goes for more structural impacts. Use your evidence! The details are there but they need to be brought into your analysis.
Case engagement is one of my favorite aspects of debate. I find the block not spending as much time on case, and it makes the debate a lot closer than it should be. If you read one off vs. a policy aff, reading impact defense, solvency take outs, and evidence indicts to these policy teams will go far in front of me. If you are aff, I am persuaded by teams that know their ev in/out and consistently talk about their aff (thorough impact explanations/comparison, drawing me a picture of what the aff world looks like, talking about the aff on other sheets, etc).
If you want me to vote on a role of the ballot/judge, there needs to be clear weighing and impact extension as to why this plays an important role in the debate. Evidence comparison and indicts are also great weighing mechanisms that I find are underutilized.
For kritiks v. policy affs, I prefer teams that give extensive analysis of their evidence and provide specific examples to contextualize their link with the aff, rather than dumping a bunch of cards or shadow extend arguments. If you read psychoanalysis or other high theory, I am going to need a lot of explanation on some basic concepts so please keep this in mind.
With counterplans, I default to judge kick unless told otherwise.
If you want to have some fun with what you read, I am all for it! I love impact turns including nuclear war good, untraditional styles where you’re playing games instead of debating with speech times, etc. – so long as there is a metric for how I as the judge evaluate the debate I am here for it.
Overall Interp: I look for expressive characters that are distinct from one another. I want clear ideas that are elaborated on with all plot lines to be resolved nicely and give to the overall performance. I also want diversity in performances, whether that be diversity in age, race, gender/sex, etc. This should help in making them distinct from one another anyways.
Overall Speech: I want the topic at hand to really be picked apart and explored in new and interesting ways. The topics should be comprehensive, with the perspectives of marginalized groups acknowledged if not centered. The speeches should be entertaining as well as informative, and the way that those two are weaved through the crafting of the speech is extremely important to me.
LD: I'm okay with speed reading (spreading) and do prefer to be included in email chains if possible. I focus more on good CX and strong rebuttal, so even if your argument is leaving something to be desired there is strength in a good counterargument. I do not mind K cases if they're argued well but you have to commit and be convincing of your point. I also want to see good sportsmanship, even when you're aggressive be respectful.
Trevor Turner
He/them
Yes email chain: trevorturner2001@gmail.com
Debated 6 years in the Raymore-Peculiar School District (MO), 5 years at Kansas State
M.Arch '24, MA.Comm '26
I used to have a paradigm broken into the different arg typologies to give you a comprehensive overview on how I feel about them, but I'm hardly convinced people were reading any/all of it. Below is a framework of the most important things that could win/lose you my ballot. Assume if something is not explicitly called out here, my ideology falls in-line with the broader community's thoughts on the subject. Yes I'll answer additional questions about things not covered/undercovered before the round starts.
Top-level:
I'm not one for "wearing a poker face", so if it looks like I think your argument is wrong/bad or I'm confused, that's probably the case.
My threshold for two non-Black individuals running afropess/futurism/even certain anti-Blackness args is really high. As a Black person, it's pretty hard for me to sit through two non-Black people trying to prescribe, then force me to vote for, the best solution to violence that's unfathomable to non-Black beings. This Tweet from Katherine McKittrick is beautiful on this question.
My first Masters was in Architecture. During my time as a debater, I was often making haptic/visual arguments. I think art is a valid and extremely important form of argument. I do need to be prompted when to begin flowing (ie. if you are playing music before a speech) or if there are visuals in a doc.
Generally, Fast debate > Slow debate, barring any accessibility needs. Top of the 2N/AR should be top of my RFD.
K Debate:
Yes its good and valuable.
Yes I vote both ways in FW vs K aff debates. My RFD either direction on FW should probably start with how convincing the TVA is.
Presumption has become way too dangerous against K affs. Yes I'll vote on presumption if you can't explain why I shouldn't, but the 15sec 1NC presumption shell should really be shut down in the 2AC (hint: Impact turn + K of presumption -- you're prob not winning a link turn).
FW:
Again, have a good TVA.
Out of the box FW interps are fun!
Theory:
Why did 2As stop reading Condo???? It's the internal link for massive amounts of aff flex. Undercover a sheet in the 2AC? Thank god Condo gives 1AR leeway. Double-turn yourself? Contradictory condo (even potential abuse) bad. 1AR drop a perm? Oops -- but Condo gives you cross-apps. Yes I think that Condo is good for debate, but 2A's should be taking advantage of all additional flex opportunities that come their way.
Yes I vote both ways on PIC theory. Your speaker points will be rewarded for quality PICs.
If you want to want to make a formal evidence/ethics violation complaint, you need to prompt me to stop the round -- I will then follow tournament protocol. Yes, you can make arguments about evidence/ethics that do not involve stopping the round.
DAs:
I read a Disad in the 1NR maybe one singular time in all of my years of debating. My answer to them in the 2AC was always(?) an impact turn. Do with that info what you will.
List of random gripes:
If you read an unhighlighted card and BEFORE YOU BEGIN READING don't tell me whether you're reading the whole card, just underlined, just bold, etc. -- I'm putting my pen down.
Underviews are gross. Do impact calc instead.
I'm not a time keeper.
I debated throughout high school and then at Idaho State University for 5 years. I then coached at Idaho State University for 2 years, Weber for 1, USC for 1, and am currently with Houston.
I am a firm believer that debate is for debaters. I've had my time to make others listen to whatever (and I mean absolutely whatever) I wanted to say, and it's my turn to listen to and evaluate your arguments, whatever they may be. While I'm sure I have my limitations, make me adapt to you instead of the other way around.
I try my damnedest to line up all the arguments on my flow. I am, however, open to alternate flowing styles. I really do prefer when debaters make specific reference of which argument(s) they are answering at a given time regardless of flowing style. I also flow the text of cards.
I prefer not to call for evidence (although I would like to be on your email chain... misslindsayv@gmail.com). This means explain, explain, explain! Tell me what the card says; tell me why I should care and how I should apply it. That being said, I do not think that cards are always better than analytics.
Be prepared to defend all aspects of your argument.
Everything is open to (re)interpretation. For example, some questions that may be relevant to my ballot include: What is the purpose of debate? How does this affect the way that impacts are evaluated? These kinds of top-level framing issues are the most important to me.
This means things like framework and T (fun little-known fact: I've always found topicality in general super interesting--I love the nit-picky semantics of language) can be viable options against K affs. However, you are better off if you have a substantive response to the aff included as well.
I'm still kind of deciding how I feel about how competition functions in method debates. I think the most accurate depiction of what I think about it now is this (and it all obviously depends on what's happening in the debate/on the flow, but in general): I'll probably err that the affirmative on-face gets a permutation to determine if the methods are mutually exclusive, and so that means the best strategy for the negative in this world is to generate their links to the aff's method itself to prove that mutual exclusivity.
I'd really appreciate it if you could warn me in advance if there will be graphic descriptions of sexual violence.
About Me
she/they
Broken Arrow HS ‘19 (LD 4 years)
Mo State '23 (NDT/CEDA + NFA LD 3 years)
Grad Student @ Wichita State
Conflicts: Pembroke Hill, Maize South, Lawrence Free State, Missouri State, Wichita State
yes email chain: lilwood010@gmail.com
Overview
These are just my random thoughts about debate collected into one place. If you do what you do well, you will be fine. I am down for almost anything.
yes open cx - yes you can sit during cx - yes flex prep
!!:) please send out analytics :)!!
Please provide trigger warnings if there is graphic descriptions of violence against fem ppl included in your arguments
Policy
K Affs/Ks
I prefer K affs that are related to the topic OR the debate space. I enjoy watching performance K affs that incorporate parts of the topic.
I believe fairness (procedurally or structurally) is not an impact. I believe it is an internal link.
I love a good TVA.
I believe perf con is bad.
I'm starting to believe I prefer movements / material alternatives over reject / thought project alternatives. I find myself easily persuaded by arguments that alternatives lack the means to resolve the links and impacts. I like when alternatives are specific in what they accomplish in the block.
I LOVE perm debates. I am a sucker for creative perms that are specific to the alternative. If you execute this strategy correctly, you will be rewarded.
CP
I think condo is good to an extent. The extent is up for debate.
I default to judge kick.
T
I LOVE T!
In round abuse should be present, but I also believe that setting a precedent for the community might be more important.
I think grounds and limits are both good arguments, but I find I am more persuaded by limits. Going for either is fine.
Misc.
I LOVE ptx.
Impact turn debates are super fun.
NFA LD
NFA LD has some norms that are different than policy so I will try to establish my thoughts on some of those in here.
yes spreading - yes disclose - yes email chain - (sigh) yes speech drop
Disclosure
TLDR: nondisclosure has to actually inhibit your pre round prep.
Will vote on disclosure theory IF it's egregious. I think empty wikis are probably bad after attending 2 tournaments. I think if every aff they've ever read is uploaded, even if not every round is, zeroes the impact. I think not disclosing an aff 15 minutes prior to the round is probably bad if no wiki entries or multiple affs on the wiki.
Condo
Kicking planks + judge kick = probably bad
Other Thoughts
Stop being scared to put offense across the pages in the 1ar.
Bad DAs can be beat with analytics and impact D.
Update your ptx UQ cards.
Call out people's crappy case cards.
Cut better case cards.
I hate underviews.
Hi, I'm Derek.
he/him
Put me on the email chain: djying2003@gmail.com
"If debate was about truth the debate would end after the 1ac and 1nc" - Matthew Berhe
This is a bit disorganized, but I've ordered these sections based on importance (in my opinion).
Last major update was on Jan 14 2022 for evidence ethics rules clarifications and some more reasons to increase speaker points.
HOW I EVALUATE DEBATES:
I evaluate debates by isolating the most important issue(s) in the round, then doing more nitty-gritty flow comparisons to determine who is winning that issue. This method will inherently favor judge instruction and explanation: you will be more likely to win if you isolate said issue and explain why you're winning it before I find a different issue and decide you're losing. It also favors collapsing to a few issues and even fewer layers: extending all seven of your off-case positions or all three of your advantage scenarios in the final rebuttal is not going to be much of a winner.
Debate, at its core, is a game. However, the nature and meaning of that game is extremely malleable. This means two things:
1. Tech>Truth unless safety, evidence ethics, or other rule-breaking is an issue.
2. My ideological preferences otherwise will have no bearing on the round and you can and should do whatever it takes to win, whether that entails bracketing out consequences, impact turning the apocalypse, critiquing rhetoric, or reading a nine-point dump on why taking prep time destroys education.
WHAT I WON'T VOTE ON:
There are a few things I won't vote on or evaluate:
1. Arguments that are made outside of your speech time (e.g. during prep time or your opponent's speech time) or lack warrants. I think Rafael Pierry's definition of a warrant is correct and have pasted it here:
"My general guideline for a warrant is: could I explain this argument to the other team in a reasonable post-round and feel confident that it was said by their opponents? This explanation doesn’t mean I need to have a deep intellectual grasp of the position, simply that I could re-state it and the losing side would understand why they lost."
2. Ad hominems or any attack on an individual debater's integrity/character.
3. Anything about clothes (unless you're wearing something super messed up like a well-known hate symbol)
4. Things that are patently unsafe (for clarification: I will vote on things like spark, animal wipeout, or even just Ligotti-style "death good", but not something like "white supremacism good" or any other sort of explicit bigotry - you'll get an L0 if you read the latter and I will inform the tournament organizers, possibly coaches as well).
5. Stuff about speaks (e.g. "give both debaters a 30 for reciprocity")
6. Arguments that are "inserted". That means you have to read re-highlights. I'll grant an exception if you have only re-highlighted punctuation.
7. New arguments in the final rebuttal (unless they're responding to something read in the speech immediately preceding, obviously) or arguments that proactively justify such (e.g. "I get new 2ar arguments for timeskew"). I'll put another two Rafael Pierry quotes here to clarify:
"Dropped arguments are absolutely true, but an argument only consists of the words you said. Additional words, warrants, or evidence are certainly new and merit new responses."
"In a similar vein, cross-applications are never new. You can persuade me that the opposing team made new arguments while cross-applying something and I’ll likely grant you new contextualization, but I am extremely unlikely to disallow cross-application in a final rebuttal."
LOGISTICAL RULES:
If you blatantly contradict your case in cx (e.g. claiming you skipped an off that you actually read) your speaks will begin at a 26, though I will "accept" the answer (e.g. I will remove the off from my flow). If you lie about having read something you didn't that is equal to clipping and will be evaluated as such (see clipping section).
Give content warnings for sensitive subjects and death good - if you think it could be sensitive just err on the side of caution - if someone does get triggered because you didn't give a warning you will be dropped and speaks will be tanked.
Please time yourselves, and feel free to call out your opponent if they are taking more time than they should or stealing prep. I've been trying (and will continue to try) to time the rounds I judge but I often find myself forgetting to.
Prep time stops when the speech doc is sent, or when the thumb drive is removed. You don't need to take prep time for tech issues or bathroom breaks, just try to get things resolved in a timely manner.
You won't be penalized for not answering a question asked outside of CX.
TOPIC KNOWLEDGE:
In general, I will not be particularly knowledgeable on the topic. You should explain particular nuances to me or else I will not get them. However, I will note down some things that I am aware of for each topic. This does not mean that you can avoid explanation altogether: If your opponent reads and wins something that completely contravenes my understanding of the topic (e.g. if they read "to strike means to hit" and it's dropped), then I am more than happy to vote on it.
Jan-Feb 2021: I know generally what the Outer Space Treaty says about national appropriation of space and the general consensus among legal scholars about what that means for private entities (spoilers: they can't appropriate space either! unless it's mining for some reason - and apparently building bases perhaps? International law is very strange).
Nov-Dec 2021: I know enough about the NLRA to know that just expanding its scope is clearly not topical.
Sept-Oct 2021: I am familiar with what the term "evergreening" means and the length of time it takes for a patent to expire under TRIPS.
LESS IMPORTANT THINGS THAT STILL SHOULD BE NOTED:
I'm not good at minesweeping so I'd prefer if you put tricks (if you read tricks) in the doc. At the very least, slow down if you are coming up with a prioris off the top of your head.
If you tell me not to flow you, I won't flow, but I also won't evaluate.
What you do with evidence is more important than the evidence itself. I don't intend to read a lot of the evidence after the round unless I find it suspicious (see ev ethics). Unintuitive claims require more evidence and/or more explanation.
I don't disclose speaks.
You can use CX as prep time. I won't dock points for it.
You can call me "judge" "Derek" "Mr. Ying" or anything.
If you open-source all of your cards (including the ones on case!!!!! and the 1AR!!!!!) and tell me before the round I'll give you +0.3 speaker points.
"Eval after...": I will flow the whole debate, but I can be persuaded to not look at certain sections of the flow. In other words, if "Evaluate the debate after the 1AR" is won, I won't stop flowing and immediately start writing the RFD after that speech, just that after the round is over I will be disinclined to look at anything past the 1AR. I should also note that if the "eval after" argument is made inside the speech the argument is telling me to evaluate after then I will accept responses in the speech immediately after (e.g. the 2NR can respond to "eval after the 1AR" if it was made in the 1AR and I'll evaluate it).
ONLINE DEBATE:
Having your camera on is preferable but not needed.
Keep local recordings of speeches on hand. If I don't hear something due to connection issues and no recording is available, I will have no choice but to assume nothing was said.
If my camera is off, you should assume I am not ready or even present at my computer absent an explicit verbal cue.
I currently live in the UK. If I am judging online you should be aware that I am between 5 (for east coasters) and 8 (for west coasters) hours ahead of you. If I make statements that seem incongruous with the time (e.g. "wow it's dark" even though it's noon where you are) or seem far more tired than would be expected this is why.
In addition, my residence is next to a very busy street which gets especially loud at night (on my end, it will likely be sometime closer to the afternoon for you). Feel free to ask me to repeat things as many times as you wish if you did not hear them.
EVIDENCE ETHICS:
I think that, for the most part, evidence ethics and quality should be debated in round - if a card is cut out of context or is highlighted to misrepresent authorial intent this seems more of an in-round issue than something you should stake the round on. I am open to theory shells that defend a norm outside of the actual evidence ethics rules (e.g. "no brackets ever" or "cite must have DOA"), but I will evaluate it like any other argument.
Originally, I had a section explaining the evidence ethics rules I personally adhered to, but after some consideration, I have chosen to defer to the NSDA rules, as they are the highest authority, whether I agree with their judgments or not. I'll reproduce the rules here, though they will be shortened based on how I interpret the text of the manual.
Evidence is anything that is directly attributable to a specific source. For example, quotes and cards are evidence because it can be attributed to a single author or organization, but something like "the population of Earth is seven billion" is not evidence because it is not attributable to any specific source, it is just some fact floating out there.
There are four evidence ethics "hard rules" that constitute a loss if they are violated. If a debater is found to have violated these rules, they will get an L0:
1. Words that are added to the card's body must be bracketed in, and cannot distort the author's intent.
2. Evidence must have cites, and they must be correct. If someone (correctly) points out that the cite is not there the debater has twenty minutes to find it and show it.
3. The argument in a card cannot have been written with the intent to disprove it. (e.g. if someone says "Some say that white chocolate is superior to dark. Here is why they are wrong." and the only part you read is "white chocolate is superior to dark" then that is a violation.) I personally interpret this to mean that the argument is introduced in the original article specifically and only so that it can be torn down with practically no merits left standing, not a light critique of the argument or a partial agreement with nuances or corrections.
4. Text cannot be removed from the middle of a card. Substituting removed text with an ellipsis (three dots) is apparently especially heinous for the NSDA. I believe using "they continue" is an acceptable substitute for making a whole new card, because it clearly demarcates when each section begins and ends, like a card tag would, even if not actually a card tag.
Violations of points 1 and 2 are reasons to be disqualified from the tournament.
These four points are the only ones that can a debater stop the round on. Wrong evidence ethics allegations will be punished with a loss. The rules don't define any speaker point penalties, so I will just give an L26. The "winner" of an evidence ethics dispute will be given a W29.3 (rules don't specify anything for the winner, so I'll just give a somewhat above-average speaker score).
There are other evidence rules, but the rules say that I don't need to take action if they are violated, so I won't, with one exception: If it's not published or otherwise available online, it's not evidence and I will not evaluate it. If you want to card your email exchange with a scholar, put it on a blog first.
CLIPPING:
I read along with cards. if I catch a debater clipping I'll let the debate finish (unless someone stakes the round, then I'll stop), then drop the offender with the lowest speaks possible. If you skip 3 or more words, it's clipping.
If you stake the round on clipping you should have a recording in case I didn't catch it, but if I did catch it then whether or not you have a recording won't influence my decision.
DEFAULTS:
I don't like having to use defaults for anything other than presumption or judge kick. Judge instruction will be rewarded with a less confusing and more "correct" ballot.
1. Presumption flows negative unless someone gives a warrant for why it shouldn't.
2. I don't start off with judge kick, but I will allow it if someone says that they should have it, even absent a warrant (unless it's contested, obviously).
3. When it comes to anything else, I will try to operate under the shared assumptions of both debaters. For example, if the 2nr collapses to theory and the 2ar collapses to an RVI but neither DTD no RVIs were ever justified or refuted (don't do this btw), I'll assume that theory is DTD with RVIs. This also applies to substance: If the aff's sole contentions are "plan prevents a nuclear war" and every neg argument consists of "plan causes nuke war" I would assume nuclear war is really bad and the only thing I should care about even if neither side gives reasons why.
SPEAKS:
I'm not going to put one of those speaks chart things because I know I won't be consistent with it. Just know that I will reward good, well thought out strategies and creativity with higher speaks and punish irritating/bad strategies with lower ones. Unfortunately, "good" and "bad" strategies are ultimately ideological, so I have clarified what I think here. However, just because I think something is bad doesn't mean I won't vote on it nor will it bias me against it (ideally).
Creativity: I like it when people demonstrate that they have kept up with the lit on a subject instead of simply relying on what are now basically ancient blocks. Kritiks and phil FWs with recent evidence, are proof of this, as are up-to-date impact turns or defense. Novel Ks and FWs, those that are outside of the established Kant/Hobbes/Baudrillard/pessimism "canon" are also very good, and such venturing into unexplored territory combined with recent evidence will make me a very happy camper.
I think also that arguments tailored to the arguments being read are also quite nice, like an aff-specific counterplan or K link. Some topicality or theory shells may also be somewhat aff specific, but obviously no shell will be completely germane to the aff, otherwise it wouldn't establish any real rules or limits. Combo shells are an exception, but in my personal opinion their interp texts are overcomplicated and could be simplified considerably into a generalized shell - they're only specific in name.
Specificity is also a good thing for on-case stuff. For policy stuff, answers that are specific to the advantage being read or some deficit to the specific plan text is always better than just reading generic impact defense constantly. For responding to a K or K aff, I should note that the lit used in Ks is by its nature controversial and thus, barring the field or idea being completely new (which is very unlikely), there will be a healthy amount of works arguing against it. I will enjoy responses that indicate you have actually gone across the library and read about why the specific author or thesis is wrong rather than a generic "politics is good" defense.
Speaking of Ks, I also like it when multiple different fields of critical scholarship are merged into a coherent argument. Exploring intersections between, for example, cybernetics and race, demonstrate a good grasp of the fields, though obviously it must be argued well or I will not be convinced you truly understood it.
Phil debate is weird to me not because of the tomfoolery it is associated with (which I will mention in the "bad strategies" section) but because it, in my experience, has had a lot of the specific argumentation I praised earlier - for example, answers to Kant tend to be only applicable to Kant - yet most of it is analytical. I think that there is potential for phil debates to center more around evidence and I will reward people who have more (good) cards: I think that much of the understanding of phil debate as a "blip-storm" would not exist had the style cited more scholars.
I enjoy weird counterinterps to T shells as long as they are backed up by definitions or some way of understanding words in the resolution. While this is mostly meant for K affs, there are many policy affs that push the boundaries of what the topic includes, and when those affs have viable counterinterps with definitions, they often are more impressive than the K affs. On that note, Nebel T is boring and I will look more favorably upon any T definition that can achieve a similar effect (that is, exclude nearly all advocacy texts save for one or perhaps two) without using the phrase "bare plural".
Theory (not topicality) is in a strange position for me. I think that right now theory debate is a bit too bound to fairness. While certainly theory debaters love to harp on about the value of the game and equity and such and such, perhaps some more creative (or perhaps more absurd, for theory's critics) interps can be revealed by building shells around standards like education (and its subtypes e.g. phil ed, critical ed, real world, etc.) or norm-setting, or some part of the game we call debate outside of raw procedural fairness.
Bad strategies: I believe personally that debate's competitive nature encourages the above things: creativity, novel scholarship, and good research in general. However, the need to extract concessions from the opponent, often also encourages some nonsense, like obscene amounts of non-topic-specific NIBs and a prioris (three's pushing it) and buzzword vomit extensions that explain nothing. I will dock points for such strategies. There are also some obvious blunders that I will decrease points for, like reading multiple disclosure shells or dropping something that clearly blows open your whole contention like a case turn.
Being an [redacted for tabroom] gets your speaks tanked and coach+tab informed. Debate's community is rather toxic as it is right now and I do not wish the problem to continue. Ethos is one thing, but harassment is another.
NOVICES AND TRADITIONAL:
If you are debating a novice or a traditional debater and you are not either of those you should try to make the round more accessible. That does not mean you should change your strategy significantly, but I will expect you to do the following or else suffer low speaks:
1. Send analytics and extensions. This is thousands of times more important than anything else. If you are reading something dense, you should send analytics even if you don't spread.
2. Be very clear in cross-x. Do not try to pull any "what's an apriori" stuff or other tomfoolery. Get to the point.
3. Explain things more and slower than you usually would. Make sure the round is educational. Ideally, the opponent should be able to understand what you have said, and, in theory, could beat it back. Is it Kant? Make sure they exit the round knowing what the categorical imperative is. Baudrillard? Both sides should get the gist of the hyperreal by the time everything's done. Obviously, this is wishful thinking but please try.
BACKGROUND:
I have put this second to last because I don't believe it is important - the only thing you should take away from this was that I dabbled in many styles but did not master any.
I debated in LD for Lexington from 2017 to 2021. I was a trad debater as a freshman, a phil debater as a sophomore, a policy/phil debater as a junior, and fairly flexible my senior year - I read Ks and K affs whenever I could with occasional policy, theory and phil strategies. As a debater, I leaned more towards high theory (e.g. Paul Virilio, Giorgio Agamben, Yuk Hui, Ingrid Hoofd) than identity, though I did read an identity aff my senior year.
It should be noted that "fairly flexible" does not mean "circuit success" - I was in fact a very subpar debater and rarely cleared.
I am not debating in college.
FOOD:
I never understood why people gave judges food, but I had at least one teammate who was given food by a debater they judged so I will note some things down if you decide to do this.
1. Usually, I am not hungry. I will reject offers of food under nearly all circumstances. Do not be offended if your offer is for naught.
2. I despise eggplant dishes, most soy products (e.g. soymilk, tofu, edamame, etc,), and apples. The latter two cause my throat to itch and swell up a bit (not anaphylaxis, just a minor, if very unpleasant reaction). I have never eaten the former without literally gagging.
3. My spice tolerance is absurdly low. Shin black instant ramen has made me cry before. I wish this was a joke.
About me:
What I do: Second (2nd) year law student at Kline (with a primary focus on property law, environmental law, and energy law). Coach here and there.
What I’ve done: Debated for four (4) years in high school (LD/CX), three (3) years in college (LD/NPDA/BP), and coached here and there.
Please: Add me to the email chain thanexzeeh@gmail.com.
How I judge:
i) Top-level – how you get me to vote for you: debate is a game of a “clash of the issue[s]”. Every argument requires me, the judge, to address an issue (e.g., “whether the negatives’ framework argument creates a better vision for debate and if not whether the affirmative is winning a sufficient causal link between the uniqueness debate and the internal link chain to the impact” The clearer you establish: a) what the issue[s] is(are) and; b) how I should evaluate the issue, the easier it’s going to be for me to vote for you. The best debaters know which issues they’re winning, they go for that issue, and then tell the judge why the judge should evaluate that issue as an a-priori issue. On arguments, go for whatever - "arguments are arguments" issues on the limits and scope of those issues are determined on a round-to-round basis.
ii) Technical stuff:
a) if you don’t extend a card or argument through the flow, it doesn’t exist post-round (this requires you to analyze and be selective in what you’re advocating for by identifying where you're ahead).
b) I defer to what the evidence says and not what the debaters claim it says – in other words, I “stick to the four corners of the evidence”.
iii) Speed: If I can’t understand you, I’ll say clear.I will say clear a few times and after that, I’ll do my best to flow, but no promise I’ll be able to understand what you're saying.
iv) Preference of arguments: Arguments are arguments. Issues such as “Does policymaking come prior to subject formation” or “Is the affirmative’s topicality reasonable” are to be determined on a round-to-round basis.
v) Topicality: I defer to the reasonable definition of a word in the resolution based on how a reasonably prudent person in the debate community would come to understand that definition.
vi) Framework: If there’s a clash of framework, the first issue I will almost always determine is whether the affirmative or negative's framework controls given the offensive, benefits, etc. of the application of that framework to the round. Whoever controls the framework, controls the debate.
vii) The Kritik: see subpoint vi. I will judge the K through the lens of framework. I enjoy the K but I am behind on the literature so do a solid job of explaining the foundation of the literature.
viii) Conditionality: Policy debate, two (2) max; LD, one (1) max; PF, please don't.
ix) Fiat: Fiat is presumed in the round but a solvency takeout is sufficient to overcome. Yes, I tend to hold fiat to a lesser regard than other judges.