TOC Digital Speech and Debate Series 3
2023 — NSDA Campus, US
Policy (MS-N) Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideShannon Feerick-Hillenbrand
2n/1a
Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart'22
Brown University '26
Add me to the chain please - shannon_feerick-hillenbrand@brown.edu
Read whatever you are most comfortable with, I'd rather see a debate where you are confident than one where you read something to impress me.
TLDR - Tech>truth, Clarity>speed, Quality>quantity, Debate is a game, Fairness is an impact, Turns case are amazing, Be nice, Have fun!
T - I like T and think it can often be the best strategic option if the aff makes it very difficult to find a link to your generics. I ran T a lot on both the cjr and water topics but I don't know if there are good arguments for this topic. That being said, I default to competing interpretations - if you can convince me that your interpretation creates better debates and have good enough evidence - I will vote for you.
Counterplans - I don't know anything about specific cp's on the NATO topic but I will read the evidence and defer to the team that explained their evidence better. Process CP and PICs have a place on this topic but you have to defend them against theory. If you tell me to judge kick the cp I will unless the aff tells me not to.
Theory - I will probably reject the argument and not the team except for conditionality. Answer each other's arguments and contextualize them to the debate - please don't just read generic blocks. IF you want to go for condo on the aff it needs to be a large part of the 1ar!
Disads - I love a good DA and CP or DA and case strat. Politics, T, topic DAs and CPs were most of my 2nrs during my career. Turns the case arguments are great but they should be supported by evidence and have logical warrants. In the 1ar please try to make an answer to these otherwise they can come back to bite you. Impact calculus is a must! For the aff, attack the link and internal link starting in 1nc cross x.
Ks - I don't love k v. policy but if you can contextualize your link to the aff and explain how your alt actually solves or why your framework is preferable I will vote for you. That being said I don't think people actually meet this threshold that often. I generally think that the aff should get to weigh their impacts but I will listen if you say they can't. All that being said I am not the best judge for the k.
K affs - I honestly don't really like them and err very neg on T USFG - that being said if you read one and you win the debate I will still vote for you but you have to explain why no other model of debate can resolve your impacts.
Case - engage with the case - framing arguments on BOTH sides should be contextualized to answer the other team's arguments. advantages are usually not awesome point out logical inconsistencies in cross ex and rehighlight evidence if it doesn't support the thesis of the advantage (you must read rehighlightings)
Andrew Herman
he/him/his
Michigan '25 (go blue)
Debated policy for 3.5 years at Isidore Newman & worked as assistant coach for a year or so
(I was on the umich debate team for like a week if that counts for anything)
Please put me on the email chain: herha@umich.edu
Tl;dr
Usually, debate is a game and my ballot decides who did the better debating and nothing more, but hey if you're good then prove to me that sometimes it isn't and it can mean something!
Generally, your aff should have some form of advocacy statement at least in the direction of the topic, but obviously you can persuade me otherwise if you think you are really really really good at that. Yes you can read a K aff. Reading a planless poetic deleubaudrillartaille K aff that doesn't mention [the topic] once tho...eh...that's another story. You may still win, but it'll be a lot harder for you.
Theory debates are usually annoying and boring to me--please don't go for theory in front of me unless it is either egregious or condo
Write my ballot for me in the last rebuttals -- what specifically am I voting for?
I believe it is the debaters' responsibility to keep track of time, be it speeches, their prep time, or their opponents' prep time.
For K ppl: I find a lot of K debate to be preachy and annoying -- argue in good faith, exemplify level-headedness -- I am not partial to things that try to tug on my heartstrings because guess what it's an extracurricular activity for high schoolers trying to win a trophy, and my ballot is (likely) not going to resolve your personal experiences. Trauma-dumping is not enjoyable to me, and I don't think it's appropriate for this activity. also you're a minor i don't wanna hear all that. just stick to the arguments, guys.
Top Level
Tech>>truth but I certainly value truth too hahaha.
Clarity>>>>>speed, especially on analytics, tags, and theory shells.
I like LbL a lot more than long overviews; if ur overview is completely pre-made I can tell and it's usually either boring or redundant.
Don't clip.
Don't steal prep.
Time your own speeches and prep and try not to take too much time with the email chain.
idk....im not super techy and tricks are kind of annoying to me like i dont wanna vote for just like complete garbage
Topicality
I probably am not very familiar with whatever topic it is in the given year you are reading this, so cool it with jargon and don't assume I know every acronym.
I default to competing interpretations over reasonability, but aff can certainly sway me.
I like good T debates and hate bad T debates. Engage in good clash -- I really like when people do good impact weighing for the standards debate and treat it like a disad.
FW/T-USFG
Debate's a game and my ballot means nothing, but I can be persuaded otherwise, it's just kinda hard. I definitely like clash of civ debates more than K v. K, so if you're neg and about to hit a k aff, keep that in mind.
Fairness is an i/L unless convinced otherwise.
If you are aff and want to win against FW, articulate reasons as to why your advocacy necessitates a distancing/rejection of the resolution, and why resolutional debate is a bad model. Just saying that the USFG is bad is not enough--you need to articulate how your model is better, rather than just exposing that the current model is bad (a general rule of thumb for Ks in general on the neg too). Again, Impact weighing is key here.
TVAs so true!! Please say this!!
SSD so true!! Please say this!!
Theory
I hate theory debates. Don't run frivolous theory.
"Reject the argument not the team" will usually get any team out of it (except condo obviously).
I will vote on condo, but it has to be abusive (and like...actually demonstrable, like reasonably abusive)
No seriously y'all theory is a bad strat in front of me and if you do go for it you need to slow wayyy down and over-explain everything to me and exactly what I'm voting on in the final rebuttal.
Kritiks
I ran a lot of Ks on the neg. Mainly went for setcol, cap/neolib, psychoanalysis, and security. My favorite Ks are definitely cap/neolib and security -- anything topic specific makes for more fun, interesting, and productive debates. call me basic.
Not big on jargon-ey pomo stuff!!(If it's well explained and you win on the flow I'll still vote on it obviously)
Most (if not all) Baudrillard debaters are far less funny than they think they are.
I hate giant overviews--they are a waste of time. I don't want to have to flow it on a separate page just practice good LbL.
At the end of the round, I need to know what I'm voting for--please explain your alt. I will not vote on something I (or you) don't understand
You need to engage with the aff. Specific links to the 1ac are 1000000000x better than generic topic links or "they use the state"
I think far too many teams get away with linking to the squo, and I think it's an easy way for an aff to get out of a K's links.
Links of omission are bad(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Floating PIKs are bad.
I won't vote for an argument based on something out of round, period.I don't keep up with debate politics anymore and I forgot all of the debate lore so referencing famous debaters/rounds/teams doesn't work on me that well, but also never did either tbh.
Don't confuse your I/Ls with your impacts; e.g., capitalism is not an impact, it's an internal link to climate change, genocide, war, etc. Capitalism is not good or bad; it's a political economy, and it's up to you to prove that to me otherwise. You can't just be like "that's capitalist" full stop and not explain why that's bad. This applies to a lot of Ks but cap was easiest to use as example.
Disads
Have good evidence.
Make sure your uniqueness ev is good on those ptx disads!
I like riders DAs and really garbage disads that mess around with how fiat works, but it's also pretty easy for aff to tell me why they're bad
CPs
I love a good garbage advantage CP and internal NB
I don't judge kick by default but it's fine if you tell me to.
Post-rounding (you shouldn't have to read this so if ur prepping for ur round and u got me obviously don't waste time reading this)
As right as you probably are (or at least think you are), I probably don't care enough about the round once my ballot is submitted enough to listen to you. My caring about the round stops the second my RFD is finished being given and your questions are answered. At best, If you really sway me on how stupid I am for making the wrong decision, then I'll go "oh shoot sorry!" and then walk out of the room and maybe be sad for a 20 seconds before getting some food and never thinking about it again. Debate is a persuasive activity--so persuade me better. If I missed/misinterpreted something that was critical to you winning the round then yes, that is on me, but also that probably means you didn't stress it enough in the 2a/nr.
Misc
For online debate: it's so obvious when you cheat and steal prep, and even if you aren't cheating, you should minimize looking like you're cheating.
+speaks for being funny and having fun. I don't like people who put on an a-hole persona in-round. It's just kind of embarrassing for your like once again it's a high school extracurricular dude.
Stealing this from jon sharp's paradigm but other than like clipping or having your coaches help you during the round or making fake evidence, there isn't really such thing as "cheating" in debate, at least in terms of strategy/arguments -- if you think there is actual cheating, you file an ethics violation and the round stops, not whine in the 2ac.
I like meme arguments, just make sure they're funny (seriously) and somewhat strategic and not a complete waste of time.
Please be organized and have good LbL
Please signpost well
I am very expressive -- if you are saying something atrociously bad I will probably react. That probably makes me a bad judge but whatever.
Make fun of my buddy David Sposito
Updated Jan 2024
TLDR: Make this interesting, thought provoking and fun. Don't waste my time doing some dumb shii for 2 hours just cuz u thought it was gonna be funny. It's not. It's gonna piss me and the other team off.
General:
Northeastern '27
Pine Crest '23
Topic Knowledge: assume ion know a damn thing
yes i like email chains---k.ivanovdebate@gmail.com
How to get my ballot:
Do whatever tf u want, i will evaluate it and then choose aff or neg. Just don't be trash, corny, annoying or rude
I'm disgustingly mid for k debates - do with that what you will
I rlly fw with T
I rlly fw with CP debates (Process and 10 Plank Adv CPs are the best, the more planks and the more ridiculous the better.)
I rlly fw Impact turns
I fw DAs
I fw theory only if its fun, i can vote for whatever but imma only vote for u if make arguments and not just read ur team's blocks from 8 years ago
Actual steps to get my ballot---
CLARITY OVER SPEED---if u go quickly but i don't understand the words u say then i won't flow it
1. dont cry that they conceded something when they didn't, mostly because a lot of the time they didn't "drop" or "concede" it and everything just stems from the fact that u miss flowed
2. Be organized. Do line-by-line, impact calc, judge instruction, and evidence comparison. Do not just read evidence in the 2AC/2NC/1NR. Smart analytics can overcome bad evidence.
3. I read evidence, but only if I feel as though it is necessary for the debate. Tell me why evidence is important and the warrants of the cards. Just re-reading the tag won't cut it. If you tell to me read a card after the round I will do it but this shouldn't be necessary.
4. Be aggressive BUT NOT RUDE in cross ex, sarcasm and witty comments to get your point across are always appreciated but don't start being rude to the other team, ion feel like dealing with tabroom or your coaches.
5. have a cohesive cx strategy don't just ask random stuff abt random things
6. don't just read blocks, contextualize them to the round and actually clash otherwise you won't get good speaks
"I vote for the team that debated the least terribly and won the right arguments. Traps/dropped arguments matter more to me than some. Use them." (cred. Pedro Ribeiro)
Miscellaneous:
Speaks:
I can tell when you don't write your own blocks---and it doesn't help your speaks. Meaning; understand your arguments well if you wish me to vote on them and at least pretend you are not reading off a script.
Disclose. Speaks will be harmed if you do not.
Speaking of speaks
>29.5- excellent-- best debater in the tournament
29.1-29.5-- deserve a high seed for elims
28.7-29 -- I can see you in elims
28.4-28.6 -- pretty good just keep working at it
27-28.3 -- Needs improvements.
<27 -- lots of improvement is needed or you said slurs.
Well played comebacks help your speaks but an emphasis on well played. Come off as clever but not as disrespectful.
Other stuff abt me:
Tech--------X--------------------------------------Truth
Policy---------------X-------------------------Ks
Read no cards-------------------------X----------Read all the cards
Conditionality good------------x--------------------Conditionality bad
Judgekick----------------x----------------------You are stuck with it
Process CP good -X----------------------------------Process CP bad
Politics DA is a thing----X---------------------------Politics DA not a thing
1AR gets new args----------------------X--------------1AR doesn’t get new args
UQ matters most---------------------X-----------Link matters most
Limits--------------------x--------------------------Aff ground
Reasonability------------------------------X---------Competing interpretations
AT: -X--------------------------------------------------------- A2:
Not our Baudrillard-------------------------------X- Yes your Baudrillard
Baudrillard ----------------------------------x-- Reality doesn't exist and neither does your arg
I am okay with judging anything in round. I firmly believe that debates should be left up to the debaters and what they want to run. If you want to read policy or a new kritik; I am good with anything y'all as debaters want to run. Do not read anything that is homophobic, racist, ableist, or sexiest in round. Debate should be a safe place for everyone. A little bit about me I was a 1A/2N my senior year. I recently graduated from Sac State with a major in Communications and Women's Studies. I am currently applying to Law school and will be attending a law school in fall of 2024. I am currently a policy coach for the Sacramento Urban Debate League, coaching at CKM and West Campus.
Kritikal Affs: I love identity politics affirmatives. They are one of my favorite things to judge and hear at tournaments. I ran an intersectional k aff my senior year. If you run an identity politics affirmative then I am a great judge for you. For high theory k affs I am willing to listen to them I am just not as well adapted in that literature as identity politics. But on the negative, I did run biopower.
Policy Affirmative: Well duh.... I am good at judging a hard-core policy round or a soft-left affirmative. Once again whatever the debaters want to do I am good with judging anything.
Framework: I feel like the question for framework that debaters are asking here is if I am more of a tech or truth kind of judge. I would say its important for debaters to give me judge instruction on how they want to me to judge the round. If you want me to prefer tech or truth you need to tell me that, and also tell me WHY I should prefer tech or truth. The rest of the debate SSD, TVAs etc need to be flushed out and not 100% blipy. But that's pretty much how I feel like with every argument on every flow.
CP/DA: If you want to read 9 off you can.
Theory: I will be honest; I am not the best at evaluating theory arguments. I know what they are, and you can run them in front of me. But if you go for them, judge instruction is a must, and explaining to me how voting for this theory shell works for the debate space etc.
I like being told what to vote for and why. I am lazy to my core. If I have to look at a speech doc at the end of the round I will default to what happened in the round, not on the doc.
On a side note, go follow the Sacramento Urban Debate League on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Also, I want to be in the email chain. My email is smsj8756@gmail.com thanks!
"It’s one thing to study something, but it’s an entirely different thing to actually experience it." -- Dr. Shani Tahir Mott
i value debate for its ability to teach students about issues and literature that are unlikely to come up otherwise. i hope that this activity shapes the activities and education you pursue outside of it!
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i debated in a small region with many outdated practices and graduated with no accomplishments. i'm currently the head policy coach at georgetown day school. outside of debate, i'm studying public health and africana studies at johns hopkins university.
if you’re an asian debater looking for community and resources, i welcome you to apply for the asian debate collective!
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i am exhausted and frustrated with how long rounds take, and it's usually avoidable. prep time ends when the email has been sent. document compilation and attaching the file is not free time.
the 1ac should be sent by start time, even if i am not in the room. if it is not, the aff's speaker points will suffer. if the neg has failed to be present and offer their emails in a timely manner, the neg's speaker points will suffer.
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quick and easy: i am mediocre to bad at straight policy, theory, and topicality debates. i will try my best though! on the other hand, i am much better at evaluating kritikal and clash rounds.
good and better debating > any of the preferences i list below.
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general:
georgetowndaydebate@gmail.com — add me to the email chain.
simdebates@gmail.com — for other inquiries.
go as fast as you want. i will clear each speech no more than twice and if you fail to adapt, you’ll just have to accept that my flow will have missing pieces.
if you want me to flow something, it needs to be read out loud — this includes re-highlighted evidence.
everyone needs to weigh and layer more.
clear extensions for core parts of an argument are absolutely necessary — if you jump straight into the line by line, don’t expect me to extend the rest of the argument for you.
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kritiks & fw:
i believe that judges use ballots for kritikal arguments to remedy racial guilt/anxiety, but that is not me. if your only response to any argument read against you is to call it racist, particularly when it relies on unwarranted or circular claims, i am not a good judge for you. for some reason, the disease of anti-intellectualism is rampant in k debate nowadays, and i am uninterested in listening to rounds where arguments would not even be defended by the authors of evidence.
being of a specific identity is not a standalone reason for anyone to get the ballot.
there needs to be far more substantive explanation in these rounds and far less jargon/made-up words.
framework always determines these rounds — at the end of the round, i need to have a clear way to evaluate between the 1ac’s impacts and criticisms of their scholarship.
specific links to the aff’s mechanisms are fantastic, and i love it when there’s evidence that shows you clearly researched and strategized against a specific aff.
you do not need an alt in the 2nr to win. if you are going for one, please give me a reasonable explanation of what it does rather than vague grandstanding.
i think debate is a game, one that have epistemological implications and consequences, but you can debate otherwise.
both teams need to provide a workable model of debate with clearly defined roles of aff/neg teams.
i have a mild preference for clash and education impacts over fairness, but i’ve voted both ways. just weigh well and explain why procedural fairness is an independent good.
a lot of k affs read DAs to fw that are functionally the same thing — labeling arguments differently does not make it a different argument. have distinct and explained warrants.
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policy:
this is not my forte so i definitely have a higher bar for explanations.
impact turns are very fun.
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theory & topicality:
i evaluate t violations using the plan text and nothing else.
explain very well and don’t be blippy — not fantastic at judging these.
hidden aspec is fine as long as it’s not hidden to me. i flow by ear and won’t go back to the speech doc to double check if it’s there.
Email chain: lily.coaches.debate@gmail.com
About:
- Currently based in Taiwan and coaching debate for the ADL. That means I am staying up all night when I judge at US tournaments. Please pref accordingly
- Debated in college at the University of Kansas, 2017-2022 (Healthcare, Executive Authority, Space, Alliances, Antitrust). I majored in math and minored in Russian if that matters.
- Debated in high school at Shawnee Mission Northwest, 2013-2017 (Latin America, Oceans, Surveillance, China).
Top:
- If I can tell that you are not even trying to flow (eg you never take out a piece of paper the entire debate, you stand up to give your 2NC with just your laptop and no paper), your speaks are capped at 27.
- Please don't call me "judge." It's tacky. My name is Lily. Note that this does not apply to saying "the role of the judge."
- In the words of Allie Chase, "Cross-x isn't 'closed,' nobody ever 'closed' it... BUT each debater should be a primary participant in 2 cross examinations if your goal is to avoid speaker point penalties."
- I would prefer to not judge death/suffering/extinction good arguments or arguments about something that happened outside the debate.
- I might give you a 30 if I think you're the best debater at the tournament.
- High schoolers are too young to swear in debates.
- Don't just say words for no reason - not in cross-x and certainly not in speeches.
- If you are asking questions like "was x card read?" a timer should be running. Flowing is part of getting good speaker points.
- The word "nuclear" is not pronounced "nuke-yoo-ler." If you say this it makes you sound like George Bush.
- Shady disclosure practices are a scourge on the activity.
Framework:
- I judge a lot of clash debates. I'm more likely to vote aff on impact turns than most policy judges, but I do see a lot of value in the preservation of competition. Procedural fairness can be an impact but it takes a lot of work to explain it as such. Sometimes a clash impact is a cleaner kill.
- TVAs don't have to solve the whole aff. I like TVAs with solvency advocates. I think it's beneficial when the 2NC lays out some examples of neg strategies that could be read against the TVA, and why those strategies produce educational debates.
Topicality vs policy affs:
- Speaker point boost if your 2NC has a grammar argument (conditional on the argument making sense of course).
- If you're aff and going for reasonability, "race to the bottom" < debatability.
- Case lists are good.
- The presence of other negative positions is not defense to a ground argument. The aff being disclosed is not defense to a limits argument. This also goes for T-USFG.
Counterplans
- When people refer to counterplans by saying the letters "CP" out loud it makes me wish I were dead.
- As a human I think counterplans that advocate immediate, indefinite, non-plan action by the USFG are legit, but as a judge I'm chaotic neutral on all theory questions.
- Conditionality: I'll give you a speaker point boost if you can tell me how many 2NRs are possible given the number of counterplan planks in the 1NC.
Disads
- Read them
- Politics DAs are fun. Make arguments about polling methodology.
Ks
- I feel like I have a higher threshold for Ks on the neg than some. I'm not a hack and I will vote for your K if you do the better debating, but I also think arguments that rely on the ballot having some inherent meaning are
cornyunpersuasive. - I dislike lazy link debating immensely, primarily because it makes my life harder. Affs hoping to capitalize on this REALLY ought to include a perm/link defense in the 2AR.
- Explain how the alt solves the links and why the perm doesn't.
- Affs should explain why mooting the 1AC means that the neg's framework is anti-educational. Negs should explain why the links justify mooting the aff.
- Case outweighs 2ARs can be very persuasive. The neg can beat this with discrete impacts to specific links+impact framing+framework.
- Speaker point penalty if the 1AR drops fiat is illusory - at the very least your framework extension needs an education impact.
Lincoln-Douglas:
- If there is no net benefit to a counterplan, presumption flips aff automatically.
- I do not think permutations are cheating.
- An argument is a claim and a warrant. If you say something that does not contain a warrant, I will not necessarily vote on it even if it's dropped. In the interest of preventing judge intervention, please say things that have warrants.
- Most neg theory arguments I've watched would go away instantly if affs said "counter interpretation: we have to be topical."
- RVIs are not persuasive to me. Being topical is never an independent reason to vote affirmative. The fact that a counterplan is conditional is never offense for the negative.
Email: lukas.updegraff@sonomaacademy.org
You can call me Lukas in-round.
Personal- Varsity debater at Sonoma Academy. Do what you do best. Trying to adapt to me as a judge is a waste of time. I will vote for (*almost) any argument you run as long as you do it well.
*Obviously no racism/sexism/death good. Also, do not hide theory. Put it in the doc. I will not vote on hidden theory in novice, its abusive.
Tech>Truth
Time your own speeches.
Arguments are claims, warrants, and impacts -- means that "dropped" arguments are true only if you explain why they matter and the reasons they're true. Often debaters forget the impact part of this. I need more explanation than just "they dropped the DA- we win!"
Online debate: I'll have my camera on at all times during speeches and CX. I will turn my camera off after the 2AR while making my decision and turn it back on once I'm in. I'd prefer that you have your camera on while speaking but its your choice.
Novice Debate: Have fun! Ask questions! Your first year should be about education, not competition. This activity relies on tons of jargon and uncharted territory for many, so if any part of my decision does not make sense, please do not hesitate to ask questions. Plan debate is likely more conducive to education in this format. Oftentimes these debates come down to who explains their arguments better in the final rebuttals and gives me more ink to work with during my decision-making. Comparative analysis is key and will win you a lot of debates at this level (see below)
I will always make the least interventionary ballot possible. It is to your benefit that you frame the debate clearly in the final speeches. I want to hear "Even if our opponents are winning this... we can still win.... which o/w because....".
Especially in novice, engagement with the flow is going to help you so much in getting my ballot. All too often teams just read their blocks at me and have little in-round engagement with the opposite team. I understand it can be overwhelming when you first start debate, but don't be afraid to make up your own arguments outside of the pre-written ones.
For good speaks
HUMOUR
Literally be nice and courteous to your opponents
Compare evidence without relying on value judgements ("their evidence is bad/old").
Organized speech docs
Solo cross (partner can help 1 or 2 questions but should be mainly yours)
Keeping the round light and friendly
For bad speaks :(
Rambling in cross or avoiding question (may be strategic for you but will hurt speaks)
Making random snarky comments
Sophie.whiteside@pinecrest.edu
My background: I debate for Pine Crest School, I run policy affs but I will vote for a K aff, I will run pretty much anything on the neg, and I prefer tech over truth.
Do:show me a decent flow at the end of the round for +0.3 speaks, go to Michael Greenberg's paradigm for more details
Don't: read something problematic like death/racism/homophobia/etc good, mumble too much when you spread, or read a K if you cannot explain it.
About Me
she/they
Broken Arrow HS ‘19 (LD 4 years)
Mo State '23 (NDT/CEDA + NFA LD 3 years)
Grad Student @ Wichita State
Assistant Coach @ Lawrence Free State
Conflicts: Pembroke Hill, Maize South, 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.