Inaugural Joseph F Uhler Memorial Intrasquad Classic
2022 — Austin, TX/US
LD Judges Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideHi! I'm Alex! (she/her)
Pls add me to the email chain alexcoulter512@gmail.com
I did 4 years of LD at Westlake
Read what you're best at. Please respect pronouns, triggers and be kind!
Fine with any speed but pls be clear with tags/analytics
I haven't sat in a debate round since March and do not have in depth knowledge of the topic so please explain your niche link scenarios
Ks
Read what you want to read! I mostly read K's Sophomore year and beyond. Please have clear links, rob, and alt. And do not read identity Ks if you do not identify with that identity group! I will drop you with very low speaks.
Policy
I'm good to eval. Please weigh and have a clear explanation of your link chain
T/Theory
I think T can be super strategic. If you read frivolous theory you should have a clear explanation of the interp and why it is good for debate.
Phil
I have a good understanding of Deleuze, and decent understanding of Kant, Hobbes, Rawls, etc. For dense phil pls understand your fw/ method and be able to articulate it to me.
Tricks
Not my fav but if you have a solid warrant I can be persuaded
Have fun and be nice!!
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 :)
Hey y’all!
I’m Anastasia/Ana – Westlake LD '23, Baylor Policy '27 (2A/1N in the '23-24 season, transitioned to a 2N/1A for '24-25)
In High School, I got to three bid rounds and went to TFA all four years, I was in elims Junior/Senior year.
If you're interested in debating in college, Baylor has a great team with a ton of resources! Email me if you're just scrolling through tab, or talk to me before/after round and I can connect you with the coaching staff.
Pronouns – she/her
General:
Please be nice to each other! Debate is a fun activity & should be treated as such, your opponents pronouns & triggers are non-negotiables. Safety > any round win ever. We are all human and deserve to be treated with the respect as such.
fine with speed just slow down on analytics, I flow on my laptop for reference.
please send all docs – prefer speech drop but email is anastasiaskeeler@gmail.com
In high school, I exclusively read the K post-sophomore year. Before that, I did soft-left policy debate, and throughout my career enjoyed going for T. I have not done any topic research and am not actively coaching high school. Please explain super specific link scenarios slightly more than you would with active coaches.
if you want more specifics of how I think about debate look to Holden Bukowsky's paradigm - they coached me for the majority of my career & we think about debate very similarly.
Specific thoughts:
policy:
I think policy debate is cool. A lot of nuanced debates have been super interesting to watch & be a part of, but the same 3 affs and disads on every topic gets boring. I love creative advocacies and a good impact turn debate.
Some of my favorite speeches to give are a 2n on an impact turn (spark and dedev being my go-tos)
Please, for the love of God, weigh. This largely applies to any novice rounds/ less experienced debaters – but regardless, 15+ seconds of impact calc will get you much higher speaks.
T/theory:
Once you get into more blippy/tricky shells I will be fairly lost, if you go for the shell I need a clear explanation of the abuse story and why I should vote on it/the norm it would create.
I don’t have defaults for paradigm issues – being in policy has made my threshold for justifications lower. That being said, don't assume I don't need justifications for DTA/D, or CI/reasonability, you just don't need to 5 point everything.
Ks:
This is what I do the most, I am the most comfortable evaluating this kind of debate & would love to judge this.
Familiar with just about everything. For reference, I went for cap on the aff and neg my senior year, grove as a 2n and 2a this season, and dabbled in Baudrillard, Setcol, Delueze, Disability (kolorova, mollow, etc) and Beller in high school.
Doing policy has raised my threshold for explanation significantly: I think a good portion of K debate can be done on the theory of power page using your offense to do line by line. Please make my life easy.
Phil:
I am familiar with a lot of ethical framing args and Phil positions. just explain everything and make sure that what you are saying actually makes sense - ie your ethic + meta ethic and how the framing operates in the round
That being said, the way that phil gets executed now is something I am infinitely less comfortable with, the one paragraph of framing and then a bunch of blips. I am going to need you to go slower & give more explanation for these positions.
Tricks:
I dont like these. If you read these i will probably sigh loudly. I can eval them but speaks will be low and i will be sad.
Have fun & be nice! Looking forward to judging y'all :)
I've been coaching and judging for 8 years, primarily PF and LD.
Email- cale@victorybriefs.com (SpeechDrop works too)
Affiliations: Del Norte, Magnolia, Director of PF at VBI
Former: Westlake, Flanagan, Corona del Sol, Brophy, Quarry Lane
General:
I want you to read whatever you are best at provided you are clear. Judging debaters who enjoy what they read is fun.
Debate is hard work, so I will work hard to flow closely and give you a well reasoned decision. However, absent clarity, I can't do that.
Being clear means you:
- Send a well-organized doc.
- Don't spread off-doc analytics.
- Are explicitly line by lining arguments, not vaguely cross-applying an overview all over the place.
- Signposting when you're transitioning between arguments.
- Numbering and delineating different answers.
Whenever I am not confident in a decision, I can usually trace it back to one of the above elements.
I won't 'gut-check' or hand wave away your opponents' argument because you think it's silly or under warranted. Engage in the argument- if it's as frivolous as you're suggesting, doing so should be easy.
Finally, be kind to each other. I am a teacher and would appreciate if you treated each other the same way you would in a classroom. This includes arguments that insert screenshots or other personal information about your opponent: save for disclosure arguments, this is not the place.
Policy:
I will judge kick the CP. I am good for your competition-based or process CP and find most blippy cp theory claims to be less persuasive than meaningful engagements in a competition debate. With that being said, walls of three word perms aren't 'meaningful engagement'- contextualize your permutations. My default is limitless condo. I won't hack for it, but it is a strong default.
Zero-risk exists, and while it is difficult to achieve, it is entirely possible to make an argument's implication so marginal that its functional weight in the round is zero.
I do not actively coach policy, and have primarily judged LD the past three seasons, so you should probably err on the side of being extra clear in standards debates on T.
I can judge critical debates, but often find myself frustrated with teams that are too overview heavy. Please explicitly line by line your opponent's fw claims, particularly if you're a planless aff.
I deeply appreciate well executed impact turn debates.
LD:
Policy- what I judge most. Everything above applies, although I am much more open to claims against limitless condo given speech times- just make your cp theory claims more precise.
Theory- For some reason, this is 90% of what I judge. Please always send interps at a minimum, and slow for anything you extemp. To make this more tolerable, please lbl your opponent's theory hedge clearly. Debates where the 1n theory hedge is vaguely cross-applied to a 1ac theory overview are impossible to disentangle.
Tricks- Requirements for me to vote here: 1. It has a warrant & implication 2. It is delineated in the doc (not in the cut of a card or hidden in a tag) 3. You're not being intentionally obtuse in cross 4. You slow way down in the rebuttal speeches to make the extension + application of the argument exceptionally clear. With all of that being said, I have no predisposition against voting here, particularly if you're reading triggers for a fw, skep, or p&p.
K- I frequently judge and cut a variety of cap and setcol arguments. External to that, I will need more judge instruction/won't be steeped in your literature's jargon. Please lbl clearly: I find myself most lost in k 2n/2ars when the overview is jargon-heavy and crossapplied everywhere.
Phil- I have next to no experience save for Kant- I mostly judge nonsense tricky stuff. Need you to slow down and give me extra judge instruction if you're reading anything dense, but happy to learn.
Traditional- I am unfamiliar with how to evaluate value/value criterion style debate. I am rarely sure what is happening in these rounds and will need extra judge instruction.
PF:
Extend defense the speech after it's answered and be comparative when you're weighing or going for a fw argument.
I can judge theory, critical arguments, and other forms less common to PF- I only ask you don't read these positions just for the sake of doing it.
PF is basically never too fast, so the clarity stuff is less important. Just remember to signpost and to differentiate tags from the cut of your card.
Come to round ready to debate (pre-flowed, have docs ready if you're sending them, etc). The only way to frustrate me beyond being rude is to drag out the round by individually calling for a lot of evidence and taking forever to send it.