Western JV Novice Championship
2022 — Oakland, CA/US
Online PF Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideHey!
Add me on the email chain at: saatvikamravathi@sfhs.com
I am Saatvik (he/him) and I am a senior at Saint Francis. I did policy debate for 3 years in high school (taking this year off so I might be a bit rusty). I am also vaguely familiar with LD. I mainly read policy affs all throughout high school and a wide variety of args on the neg.
Update - JV/Novice Nats PF:
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I am a “flow” judge and am open to all types of arguments that you might bring. Keep in mind, I have little idea of PF and its structure + timing.
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Please be respectful -- racism, sexism, homophobia, etc are not acceptable.
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Please be ethical with evidence. I will call for cards if I need to.
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Impact your args and don’t say “they dropped all our args” or some variation of that as is common in PF I am told.
Oh yes, I will disclose (tournament allowing). Anyways, have fun.
Yes, I want to be on the email chain - shabbirmbohri@gmail.com. Label email chains with the tournament, round, and both teams. Send DOCS, not your excessively paraphrased case + 55 cards in the email chain.
I debated 3 years of PF at Coppell High School. I am now a Public Forum Coach at the Quarry Lane School.
Standing Conflicts: Coppell, Quarry Lane
If there are 5 things to take from my paradigm, here they are:
1. Read what you want. Don't change your year-long strategies for what I may or may not like - assuming the argument is not outright offensive, I will evaluate it. My paradigm gives my preferences on each argument, but you should debate the way you are most comfortable with.
2. Send speech docs. I mean this - Speaks are capped at a 27.5 for ANY tournament in a Varsity division if you are not at a minimum sending constructive with cards. If you paraphrase, send what you read and the cards. Send word docs or google docs, not 100 cards in 12 separate emails. +0.2 speaks for rebuttal docs as well.
3. Don't lie about evidence. I've seen enough shitty evidence this year to feel comfortable intervening on egregiously bad evidence ethics. I won't call for evidence unless the round feel impossible to decide or I have been told to call for evidence, but if it is heavily misconstrued, you will lose.
4. Be respectful. This should be a safe space to read the arguments you enjoy. If someone if offensive or violent in any way, the round will be stopped and you will lose.
5. Extend, warrant, weigh. Applicable to whatever event you're in - easiest way to win any argument is to do these 3 things better than the other team and you'll win my ballot.
Online Debate Update:
Establish a method for evidence exchange PRIOR to the start of the round, NOT before first crossfire. Cameras on at all times. Here's how I'll let you steal prep - if your opponents take more than 2 minutes to search for, compile, and send evidence, I'll stop caring if you steal prep in front of me. This should encourage both teams to send evidence quickly.
PF Overview:
All arguments should be responded to in the next speech outside of 1st constructive. If is isn't, the argument is dropped. Theory, framing, ROBs are the exception to this as they have to be responded to in the next speech.
Every argument in final focus should be warranted, extended, and weighed in summary/FF to win you the round. Missing any one of these 3 components is likely to lose you the round. Frontlining in 2nd rebuttal is required. I don't get the whole "frontline offense but not defense" - collapse, frontline the argument, and move on. Defense isn't sticky - extend everything you want in the ballot in summary, including dropped defense.
Theory: I believe that disclosure is good and paraphrasing is bad. I will not hack for these arguments, but these are my personal beliefs that will influence my decision if there is absolutely no objective way for me to choose a winner. I will vote on paraphrasing good, but your speaks will get nuked. I think trigger warnings are bad. The use of them in PF have almost always been to allow a team to avoid interacting with important issues in round because they are afraid of losing, and the amount of censorship of those arguments I've seen because of trigger warnings has led me to this conclusion. I will vote on trigger warning theory if there is an objectively graphic description of something that is widely considered triggering, and there is no attempt to increase safety for the competitors by the team reading it, but other than that I do not see myself voting on this shell often.
I think RVI's are good in PF when teams kick theory. Otherwise, you should 100% read a counter-interp. Reasonability is too difficult to adjudicate in my experience, and I prefer an interp v CI debate.
K's/Non-Topical Positions: There are dozens of these, and I hardly know 3-4. However, as with any other argument, explain it well and prove why it means you should win. I expect there to be distinct ROBs I can evaluate/compare, and if you are reading a K you should delineate for me whether you are linking to the resolution (IMF is bad b/c it is a racist institution) OR your opponents link to the position (they securitized Russia). I think K's should give your opponent's a chance to win - I will NOT evaluate "they cannot link in" or "we win b/c we read the argument first".
I will boost speaks if you disclose (+0.1), read cut cards in rebuttal (+0.2), and do not take over 2 mins to compile and send evidence (+0.1).
Ask me in round for questions about my paradigm, and feel free to ask me questions after round as well.
Email: maverickedwards1@gmail.com
I think that conditionality should be a last resort; I am not sure why it has become so popular as the B strategy for several teams.
Reasonability should not be argued as an alternative frame to competing interpretations because I must endorse an interpretation at the end of the debate. Instead, I think reasonability is best used as a framing argument to raise the threshold for the abuse or potential abuse Negative teams must prove.
Counterplans that result in the plan are problematic; I have a preference for theoretical objections over perm do the cp.
I generally think that fairness is good and the only impact a ballot can 'solve.' Impact turns to clash, fairness, predictability, etc. are difficult to win in front of me absent technical concessions.
I prefer to vote for arguments with concrete, material strategies. An alternative or 1AC that advocates and defends a movement instead of USFG-based action is much more appealing to me than a strategy based on criticism without contestable action.
Critical teams should spend time explaining arguments in front of me in practical terms without jargon. I think the pedantry in academia can easily permeate debaters' blocks and strategies. Big words or concepts that are familiar to people versed in the literature but not the general public will hurt your application of the theory and may lead to a frustrating decision.
I don't have a pair of dime, but i got four nickels
T is not a voter
Fairness is not an impact
although i believe in my heart of hearts that disclosure is good, I don't care about your disclosure theory...
I vote against my personal beliefs all the time it often makes me sad
Make Art Not War
Good Luck out there, show me something I ain't seen before.
I'm not one of of these smug intellectuals, I use a lot of fancy words sometimes but I thrifted them.... so the better you can tell it like it is and give historical examples the easier it is for me to make a decision.
Judge instruction is nice... dont just say it to me, tell me what to do with it.
I'm currently the G in Saratoga GJ and I've been doing PF for the past 6 years, but I only started debating on the national circuit 3 years ago. I've been to TOC and I love rounds that are highly technical and fast with good clash and in depth analysis.
For evidence exchange: add ashish.keebab@gmail.com to the chain. If you plan on reading any new evidence in a speech I expect it to be sent in a doc before the speech on the email chain.
Debate is a game and you should play to win, but remember it's just a game.
TL;DR
tech>truth. Run whatever you want, if you're racist, sexist (any type of -ist) I won't hesitate to drop you with the lowest speaks possible. I'll look to the weighing first when voting. I need warrants for everything, and the better the warrant, the better the argument. I have a pretty high threshold for extensions i.e. I need uniqueness, link, internal link, and impact extensions in the backhalf. No, I don't care about author names, but I do care about what your author says.
If anything in my paradigm is confusing: feel free to ask me before round, email me, or reach out to me on Facebook messenger. If you are still confused after reading this paradigm, I view the round pretty similarly to: Leonardo Jia, Aarush Kaboo, Ananth Menon, & Sully Mrkva.
Pls pls look at this it'll be the easiest round of ur life if you can follow the steps below(yes, this is straight from Ananth's paradigm)
How I evaluate:
-I look to who's winning the weighing debate
-If team x is winning the weighing I look to their case first
-if team x winning their case, the round is over
-if team x is losing case, I look at team y case
-if team y is winning case the round is over
-if team y is also losing case I presume neg
Speeches:
Signpost to let me know where you on the flow, otherwise you risk me not being able to understand your speech. Speed is totally fine as long as it's coherent, but remember I'm flowing off your speech, not the doc. I'll only look at evidence if you explicitly tell me to or if it seems that the entirety of the round is staked on a single card.
Cross:
Don't be rude please. I'm totally fine with flex prep and open cross, but tbh I don't really listen to cross. My favorite crosses are the ones which lighten up the mood and I'll def give you a speaks boost if that's the case. If both teams are ok with this, I'm willing to skip grand cross for a minute of prep time for both teams.
Rebuttal:
I like rebuttals that generate offense, but that said, every turn you read needs to be weighed (even better if the turn has uq too) otherwise I am more likely to treat the turn as terminal defense than offense. I think weighing yourself out of turns is a pretty neat strategy too. Second Rebuttal should frontline all offense and weighing - otherwise it’s conceded. Offense YOU are going for in the back half must also be frontlined. I have no personal preference as to whether you should collapse or go for all of case in rebuttal, but whatever you do make sure you do it well.
Summary + Final Focus:
Your frontlines need to actually interact with the response, you can't just hand wave and tell me that their response isn't true, tell me why. Everything in final needs to be in summary.
Weighing:
I absolutely love good weighing. To read good weighing, make sure it's comparative(so you need to read actual warrants as to why I should prefer your mechanism). If you read a link-in I expect it to be weighed against their link too. If there are competing mechanisms in the round PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE metaweigh otherwise I am forced to intervene and here's how I will intervene if no one does any metaweighing: Magnitude>Probability>Timeframe>Any Other Mechanism. I'm not sure I even comprehend how strength of link functions, but if there is a conceded piece of offense I do think strength of link weighing is fair game (strength of link metaweighing would be even cooler).
Theory:
I typically never read theory, but I do know how to evaluate, so if that's your strat feel free to go for it. I default to no RVIs and competing interps, and I generally prefer that your shell isn't frivolous. The more frivolous the shell, the lower my threshold for responses and the more sympathetic I'll be to reasonability claims.
Kritiks:
I honestly would not trust myself to evaluate these debates especially if it's a performance kritik, so if you do read one please dumb it down for me. I'll do my best to evaluate, and if you explain it well enough we should be fine.
Benjamin Hagwood, Director at Vancouver Debate Academy
About me - former college policy debater, flow-centric, like all arguments but the politics DA (Elections gets a pass)
Debate is a game that can be played in a multitude of ways. It is the responsibility of the students to determine the parameters of the games and to call "foul" if they think someone has done something abusive. I will judge the round as it happens. Here are a few things about me that you might find useful when preparing for a round:
- Flowing - I do my best to have as accurate a flow as possible while trying to capture but the context and citation of your arguments. Dropping arguments could be detrimental if your opponents extend and weight those arguments properly.
- Observer not a Participant - I won't do work for you or insert myself into your debate. You will win OR lose based on the arguments in the round not my person opinion.
- Style over Speed - swag is subjective - bring yours.
- Petty but not Disrespectful - don't be unnecessarily rude to your opponent - but I must admit being petty is strategic.
- Challenges - if you challenge someone and lose the challenge you lose the debate (this could also apply on theory debates depending on the debate - but not RVI's)
Universal Speaker Point Adjustments: all students are evaluated on their level. A 29 in novice is not the same as a 29 in open. 28 is my base for completing all your speeches and using all your speech time.
- Wear a bowtie (+.5 point)
- Be entertaining (tell jokes...if I laugh...you get points...if I don't you won't be punished) (+.5 point)
- Be rude (-.5 point)
- Don't use all your time (-.5 point)
- Steal prep (-.5 point)
If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me and ask. Students may request my flow and written feedback at the end of the debate if they want. I will only share it with the students in the round unless they consent to the flow being shared with other opponents.
As a new parent judge, I will appreciate if you can speak clearly with relatively simpler sentences. Please do not speak too fast, and do not utilize long sentences or complicated structures, and avoid using acronyms which I probably won't understand. So that I can make a more inclusive judgement, not on the reduced contents. Please do not paraphrase when you first introduce evidence, and make sure your cards are ready to share with the other team. I will evaluate argumentative logic first and care about evidence quality and evidence ethics. Hope you are all polite, respectful, and watch your speech time. At the end of each round, I may need time to sort out the deciding factors from memory and notes, so will not be able to announce the result immediately.
Important: Do not interrupt the other team during cross, as I cannot hear you when both sides talk.
Saratoga '25 | PF | leonardo.jia@gmail.com
Background: I am currently a junior at Saratoga doing PF (my partner is Ashish Goswami). My accomplishments include: quarterfinals at NCFL Grand Nationals, semifinals at Berkeley, and semifinals at TOC.
PF:
To win my ballot:
1. If you are winning the weighing, you must win whatever offense is weighed. This offense must be extended in both summary and final focus and frontlined adequately (this means no terminal defense).
2. If you are not winning the weighing, you must win offense (extended in both summary and final focus and frontlined extremely well-this means not a speck of conceded defense, whether or not its terminal) along with terminal defense on your opponents' case.
3. If nobody is clearly winning the weighing, I am forced to intervene and decide who has more offense. In the unlikely scenario that neither teams have better offense, I presume based off of a coin toss or whatever presumption warrants are read.
Non-substance: I consider myself to be a substance debater, but I am fine with non-substance. Run at your own discretion.
Speed: I am fine with anything <=250 wpm. Anything faster is your own risk. I don't flow off docs, they are only for evidence sharing.
Timing: Time yourself. I give a 5 second grace period after a speech's time is up. Anything after is off the flow.
Behavior: DBAA policy.
Everything non-PF: Treat me as a guy who flows. Don't do anything fancy.
I am a parent judge. I don't have any personal debate nor coaching experience. The fundamentals of your argument is the most important to me. I appreciate clarity and structure in speech so please speak in reasonable speed, and I don't understand debate jargons. Poise is important as I value communications in a civil and educated manner. I appreciate the opportunity to go on an intellectual ride with you and your components, so please speak clearly, be civil, and most importantly show me your ability to think critically.
I am a first-year parent judge, but I will evaluate argumentative logic first and care about evidence quality and evidence ethics. Speaking presentation and style are for speaker points but do not substantively impact who wins or loses the debate. Please do not paraphrase when you first introduce evidence, as our school institutionally believes it a terrible norm for PF debate.
I am a first-year parent judge, but I will evaluate argumentative logic first and care about evidence quality and evidence ethics. Speaking presentation and style are for speaker points but do not substantively impact who wins or loses the debate. Please do not paraphrase when you first introduce evidence, as our school institutionally believes it a terrible norm for PF debate.
I will be flowing the whole round. I will be paying close attention during crossfire and that is an important part of my decision making. I would like to see debaters able to think on their feet and demonstrate confidence.
Yes chain: onorthcuttwyly@gmail.com
College: University of Southern California
Pronouns: they/them
ALL: Probably don't care what you read. I read Ks in college on the aff and neg. I tend to default to an offense defense paradigm and section off my flow in big picture ideas
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Policy/CX Debate
I ultimately evaluate truth over tech. With that being said if you are substantially ahead in the tech debate I have a significantly lower threshold for your truth claims.
Presumption on these debates is much easier to win and is a smart arg. If the aff wants presumption to flip you need to tell me that - otherwise presumption is always a valid 2NR option separate advocacy or not.
KvK / Method v Method debates - the K needs to be competitive.
Framework - Go for it but debate the impact turns please with that being said I will default to a competitive activity so there has to be some sort of role for the aff and negative in your model of debate.
Theory - Go for it - diversify yours standards for speaker points here. I won more rounds than I should have on ASPEC, so your theory arg is probably fine w/ me.
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Public Forum Debate
Editing this based on what I saw at last weeks tournament - internal link chains MUST be in the final focus. If the final focus is JUST impacts there is ZERO chance you will get my ballot.
Fast is fine and can be strategic given the short amount of time allocated to speeches.
Off time roadmaps should only consist of the words 'pro case' 'con case' and 'framing'. I start the time if the roadmap > 10 seconds.
ONLINE DEBATE: I expect both pro and con teams to have their evidence readily available and share with teams and judge before round. This helps minimize the extend internet speed/connectivity has as well as cuts down/eliminates awkward "I didn't hear you" can you re-state moments.
if you debate the entire round without technology, you'll get auto 30s
For everything else please refer to Yuvraj Walia’s paradigm.
I am a lay judge with 3 yrs of judging experience. I would like participants to speak loud and clear. Also, would be great if they can keep the camera on their face while talking. Sometimes I see their heads only and hard to figure out what they are saying.
I prefer clear speeches, though they don't have to be super slow. I welcome great professional cross-examination that doesn't need one to be rude to others.
I evaluate Public Forum Debates based on strong logical arguments, supported with evidence. Slow down , since I can flow only what I can understand. Abusive/Disrespectful arguments are not tolerated.
Note: Once my timer goes off, I am no longer flowing what you say.
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I want to be on the email chain: kamorav10@gmail.com
I debate College Policy for 4 years at NYU. Earlier in college I read more soft left Affs with performative elements, but I've been getting progressively more performative and more kritical as my college career progresses. That means I'm open to hearing whatever arguments you want to read as long as you're able to defend it. In terms of policy, I've never read a strictly "policy" AFF, but I've coached teams reading them and am familiar with that style. With this in mind, you should read whatever makes you most comfortable and confident and I'll vibe with you.
Flow - I will flow what I hear. If you're fast, I can keep up as long as you're clear. If I can't understand you I will say "clear." I flow performative elements (music, poetry, dance), but if you think I might not flow something, flag it for me. It's your job to tell me what is most important, I won't do that work for you.
Flashing/email chain - Be organized. I don't want to wait 5 minutes for you to reply to the email chain or flash files. If I feel like you're taking too long prep time will start again. Don't waste my, your opponent's, or your partner's time. Stealing prep is disrespectful and if I see it, your speaker points will be docked. That applies to Novices too (although my threshold is a bit higher) because it's important to get into good habits from the beginning.
Speaking/CX - Be respectful. I love sass and attitude in CX and in speeches, but be aware of where the line is between sass and disrespect. This includes being disrespectful to your own partner (don't talk over them during CX). Debate should be a community and space where we all feel safe, if you jeopardize that and the other team problematizes and impacts this out, I am willing to vote on that outweighing all of your hypothetical policy impacts. If you make me laugh your speaks are going up.
FW/T - I will vote on T and FW, so feel free to read it in front of me. For both AFFs and NEGs, you need to have a clear abuse story and explain to me why your interpretation creates a better model of debate. Don't just say "our model of debate is better for fairness and education," you must also prove to me why those things are necessary and good and why the counter-interp is insufficient.
K - I mostly read them in college and they are my favorite arguments in debate. THERE SHOULD BE CLASH WITH THE AFFIRMATIVE. You need to link specifically to something in the AFF, not the squo. Even though I am familiar with K lit, I'm not going to do work for you. Explain clearly and have a compelling story. You need to show me the world of the Kritik. If at the end of the debate I don't understand what your alt is (how it functions, what it looks like, how it resolves the links, how/if it solves the AFF) I probably won't vote for it. You should be giving explanations that compare the world of the AFF and the world of the K.
NOTE: Be careful if you read anthro against anti-blackness teams. I find it is often argued in very problematic ways and I typically hate hearing anthro in those rounds. I have, however, voted for anthro many times (unfortunately), so it can be done successfully, just TREAD CAREFULLY.
DA - Here, it's all about the link and impact debate. Have specific links to the plan and have a cohesive impact story. If you're going for the DA, I want to hear in depth impact comparisons. If everyone is claiming the same impacts or everything leads to extinction, you will need a more robust story to get me to prioritize the DA. My preference is that you read a CP that solves for the DA. If you're not reading a CP that can overcome the DA, make it clear to me why this is worse than the squo.
CP - It's all about solvency and competition. That means you need to have a net benefit.
I am a parent judge who has judged for about two years. I won't understand super fast talking of any kind, so I advise you to speak at a normal pace.
I will only vote based off what is said in the round, and will not make any assumptions myself. This means that you should assume that I know nothing about the topic, which is probably true. If you want me to consider an argument, I suggest you bring it up in the final speeches of the debate. This is mainly where I will make my decision, so I think clearly stating your reasons on why you won here is important.
Other than that, have fun.
Current Public forum/World Schools debater:
1. Extend in summary!!!
2. Defense is not sticky
3. Frontline in second rebuttal and summary
4. Please weigh - preferably in rebuttal, but at the latest during summary
5. Make sure to have fun during the round, remember debate is supposed to be a fun educational space!
TLDR on my paradigm:
I debated my junior and senior year of high school in the West LA/OCSL circuits and graduated in '20; qualified to nats and STOC my senior year & coached for ~3 years after that. I am now pursuing a bachelors in Politics & Public Affairs & coaching the debate team @ Denison U.
email: tan_s1@denison.edu
Important Things for the skimmers:
-I am about 75% tech 25% truth.
-Spread and I will drop you.
-I default to Cost-Benefit Analysis w/ a value of human life if no other framework is read and first speaking if there is no offense on the flow.
-I require weighing and extensions if you want to win the debate. Both defense and offense are not sticky (more on this below). I should hear extensions from the 1SS onward.
-I flow on paper, so keep it somewhat slow.
It has been quiteeeee a while since I've last judged, so please be gentle with my feeble mind.
If you are running theory or Ks, both sides must OK it for me to evaluate the arg. I never debated and have hardly judged pre-fiat so don't expect me to be anywhere close to my post-fiat judging abilities.
I have voted aff 69 times and neg 87 times (give or take), meaning an almost 56% neg bias. Yikes. I would guess the bias is from defaulting neg; I have since shifted to voting for first speaking in the interest of fairness.
Parli:
Debated parli mainly my junior year, I am versed in the event.
POIs need to be short. I will not flow them. Bring it up in a speech if it's important.
I'll tell you if I accept your Point of Order.
I am versed in topicality shells. I am receptive to prefiat args in this event, but you'll still need to slow them down and dumb them down a bit.
I prefer that Ks link in to the res, but non res Ks are fine, I'm just more receptive to res level.
I know that quantified impacts are hard to come by in parli. If you don’t have a quantifiable impact, I expect some sort of framing that replaces terminalization. If you don’t have terminalization or a framing level thing going for your impact, I find it difficult to vote for it.
LD:
I tend to evaluate the round on framing and VC above all else. Treat me like a flay judge (quick reminder that I have the least amount of experience judging this event). Pre-fiat args are ok (and encouraged), but no guarantee I can evaluate them well.
PF:
What I like to see in round:
Extensions: My threshold for extensions is fairly low. I expect you to extend every link in the arg you're going for; they can be paraphrased. I expect your impact scenario to be extended.
Signposting: I hate guessing where I should be flowing. Be explicit where you are going on the flow both before your speech and during it. If you think you're being obvious, be a little more obvious. Seriously, this is one of my biggest problems in-round. Signpost.
Two worlds analysis: I like to see this both on the weighing, warrant, and evidentiary level. Why should I prefer your weighing over your opponent's? Compare them. Why should I prefer your warrant over your opponent's? Compare them. Why should I prefer your evidence over your opponent's? Compare them.
Weighing: Weighing is a must if you want to win the round. If you don't weigh and your opponent does, they win. Irrespective of the quality and integrity of your link chain and impact, I will always vote for the side with the winning weighing. If you both weigh, you'll also need to metaweigh to get my ballot.
Evidence analysis: I like it when you call for evidence. Evidence standards in pf suck and have been getting worse. You're likely to find some great responses if you call out crappy evidence. It also makes me happy to hear people call out a crappy card.
What I don't like to see in round:
Sloppy crossfires: Crossfire can be a great way to clear up confusion and communicate critiques of the other side. They can also be horrible screaming fits where nothing gets done and you both end up angry. Make sure you are having constructive conversation or I will drop speaks.
Disorganization: If your speech is not organized and super jumpy, regardless of signposting, I will likely get lost. Please have a strategy when you deliver.
Ad hominem: If you're racist/rude/homophobic you get L20'd & tournament management will be notified.
My quirks:
Defense is not sticky: Lack of defensive extensions, even if dropped, makes for a messy backend debate. You will win the defense if it is dropped, no need to spend too much time on it.
Post-rounding: I encourage post-rounding in order to better myself as a judge. Judges that drop you and say, "everyone did great!" made me extremely angry when I debated. If I missed something, bring it up. However, it will not change my ballot. If I missed it, I missed it.
The "truth" part of my paradigm: If the round gets really messy or your evidence sounds far too absurd then I will intervene. It pains me to say this, but the standard for evidence is already rock bottom and I am trying to make a minuscule difference. If you don't have messy rounds and read good evidence then this shouldn't worry you.
Remember that I am a human and debate is a game. I will sometimes make mistakes, please do not hate me for it.
I am a parent volunteer judge. Here are the key elements I look for in a debate:
- Evidence and Reasoning: Thorough understanding of the topic. Sound logic backed with facts, statistics, and evidence. Evidence quality is critical.
- Organization: Effective Introduction and Conclusion(not just wordy but effective). Well structured, and coherent theme development. Smooth transitions, effective use of time, knowledge of rules, effective use of your partner/collaboration(effective participation of both partners is important for me).
- Refutation and defense: Effective use of logic to refute opponents arguments, ability to think on your feet (negative points for rote speeches/memorization), and recognition of fallacies. Organized and collected (and not flustered). Listening, and accurately understanding opponents premise is important. Effective cross examination, effective use of cross fire questions/time (effective questions, honest answers, skillful responses). Leverage cross examination to undermine opponents fundamental premise, and bolster your own POV(quality of cross examination questions is important).
- Understanding of basic debating rules, and effective use of clock and rules against opponents. Being nimble, and ability to handle any style of opponent.
- Penalties: Poor conduct/Bad language/Personal attacks. Poor teamwork. False evidence. Unfair methods. Not following the debate rules/time allocation.
Speaking presentation and style are for speaker points but do not substantively impact who wins or loses the debate.
DEBATE:
I am a parent judge. I appreciate clear enunciation and reasonably paced speaking.
Current and up to date information and references are important to be me as part of the evidence.
Maintain decorum at all times during the debate.
I am keen on clear rationalization of the argument. Don't rush.
Convince me with good evidence and carefully made arguments. Minimize repetition.
SPEECH:
This is my 4th year as a speech judge. I appreciate clear enunciation, well paced speaking and loud voice.
I enjoy HI and OO speeches. Time management is important. Use pauses and time gestures as appropriate.
i did PF in high school (2014-18) and coached for ~2 years after.
i have not thought about debate in the past 4 years, i don't have topic knowledge, and am not comfy with technical/theory-ish things in PF. please treat me like a flay judge! i like seeing lots of impact calc, meta/weighing throughout the round along w/ a clean narrative — doing all of these well will mean i give u high speaks (29+). i will lower speaker points for teams that are mean :(
you can wear whatever is comfortable for you in rounds. i don't believe in having to wear a suit for tournaments.
more importantly, i hope you are having a good day :)
sanjim@berkeley.edu
2024- 2/4/2024
I'm not just any judge; I'm a ”cool” judge with a journey dating back to 2000. So, when you step into this arena, know that you're dealing with someone who's witnessed the ebb and flow of the debate currents over the last 2 decades. I am old.
General:
Yes you can go fast if you want to, just be clear, and loud enough for me to hear. I will be flowing along and won’t look at doc’s or cards unless warranted by y’all. I will do my best to time with you.
World Crafting:
Your task is to construct a compelling narrative, competing worlds, both sides have a world to offer, you sell it.
Argument Framing:
Frame your arguments as pillars that support the world you've built. Your job is to make me see the strategic significance of your narrative. Don't just present; show me why your world outweighs the others.
The K:
I have a soft spot, but only if done well. Critical acumen is your secret weapon. Integrate it seamlessly into your world, making it a key component of your narrative. I also am not a fan of non black POC running afropress, or similar k's, so please don’t. Other than that, no issues with K’s.
Theory:
Preemptive theory is unnecessary imo unless the topic warrants it, but most debates do not need a theory most of the time, but it is your round, so do you.
Tech vs. Truth:
Truth sometimes trumps tech, and in other rounds, tech might take the lead. But what matters most is how well your crafted world stands.
Rudeness is a No-Go:
Discourteous vibes won't elevate your speaks. For real
Impact Calculus and Critical Thinking:
Impact calculus is the key to your world's strategic significance. Dive into critical thinking, showing why your crafted universe is not just valid but important.
Authentic Knowledge Over Blocks:
Don't just parrot blocks; show genuine understanding. Bring knowledge to the forefront, not just rehearsed lines.
Voting Issues:
Present me with clean voting issues – make it glaringly apparent why your world is the one I should endorse. THERE IS NO 3NR. So please make it definitive in the last rebuttal
TL;DR
Be clear
Weigh
Impact calculus
>If you want to add me to the chain or send hate mail.<
2023
i will flow to the best of my ability i have the carpal tunnel but can still keep up
spreading is only chill if you are clear
I don't need to be on the email chain but here it is if you feel like adding me anyway
liberal.cynic.yo@gmail.com
I am indifferent to the kind of argument you are choosing to use, i care if you understand it
ask questions
My paradigm was lost to the void, who knows what it said...
for long beach 2018
i'll make this, and fix it later
1. yes, i flow
2. yes, speed is fine
3. flashing isn't prep (unless it takes wayy to long )
4. i look at the round as competing narratives, i do not care what you run as long as you know what it is you are running
5. ask questions
I don't have any particular preference for the debating style. I noticed from previous tournaments that fast-talking doesn't help to win the debate. An argument with strong logical reasoning and supporting evidence is more convincing. Additionally, if possible, I would prefer to avoid using "off-time roadmap", which sometimes takes 30second and does not add much value to the argument. In term of time management, sharing files and cards may help but also take up prep time. The debate should be focused on making logical argument and thus requesting for card can be minimized.