Westlake Thunderdome Online Invitational
2022 — NSDA Campus, UT/US
Policy Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideI am a debater for Weber State University and I have done debate for Four years and counting.
Historically I have voted tech over truth, and good T and Politics DA's are my guilty pleasure. However, that was only because either the Framework team was really good or the K team was really bad. I have always been under the presumption of judge instruction over strict morals, so if you tell me how and why I should vote a certain way in a round I'll buy that more that education claims to the academia.
I'm OK with tag team cross-ex and I don't care about heated debates. it's a moot point to try and police those who have historically struggled in obtaining and securing their voices in this space because: A. they will always say want they are gonna say, and B. doing so creates more harm then good. it's a debate, not a dialogue, I don't care that their interrupting you just like I won't care when you call them out for their own agreeegisnes.
I don't consider sending files as part of prep, just don't be egregious. I doubt that will be a problem sense most tournaments including this one is online. but, I digress.
I dictate points on speaker presentation, argumentation, and not everything has a third point. so IF you loose the round but get a thirty. reevaluate your strategy.
Fiat/Presumption: All my understanding of debate comes from the core concept that the AFF has the burden of proof and the NEG has the burden of rejoinder. I believe that presumption comes from the burden of rejoinder and is not an inherent fact of the negatives tool belt. thats why AFF teams can win on a "try or die" claims or turns to T or Framework. this also extends to Fiat, as if the NEG team goes for a CP or an Alternative, switch side arguments dictate that presumption flips AFF, because the negative team has encroached of the burden of proof (Specifically solvency). but negative teams don't get fiat, that just doesn't make sense. so instead they get alt benefit claims like education, structural fairness, and so on. So to counteract this, AFF teams should in theory get both Fiat and Presumption. This Checks and abuse claims to perms from the negative team because AFF teams don't need to go for it to win, it's merely to test the legitimacy of the CP or alterative to just as if the NEG team would run T or Case turns to test the legitimacy of the AFF. thats why you hear the phrase, the perm is a test of mutual exclusivity. it's this understanding that I believe AFF teams inherently start the round with Fiat, as an extension of the burden of proof. the same as I view presumption as an extension of the burden of rejoinder. However, sense I understand this framing to be just that, a theory. I highly prefer that in round you tell me exactly what I just said, the opposite, or something entirely different depending on your strategy. remember, judge instruction above all else.
AFF: Don't drop case, it's literally your only weapon in this debate that you have, it should be at the top of your speech dock before anything else and you should use in to frame the rest of your arguments on any other flow.
K AFF: Same as above, don't forget to extend your ROB in the 1AC on Framework, pro tip.
T: the interpretation is (at least as I feel) one of the strongest arguments on the T flow, it's essentially the uniqueness to any other argument. it's the inherent truth to the round. if you don't have a counter interp or maintain the one you already placed by dumb shadow extension, it's going to be nigh impossible to win the round.
K: if your going to run a K of any kind, make sure it has an alternative, if not, it's just a case turn and a reason to not vote AFF over a reason to vote NEG.
CP: Look above, only this time, if you don't have a DA or case turn attached to it, I might as well vote AFF because "solving Better" doesn't make sense to me because the AFF is the one with the burden of proof, not the negative.
DA: Link, Impact, Implication. The core to any argument, focus on fundamentals over high theory that half of all debaters, including those at the NDT or CEDA couldn't even articulate well.
REMEMBER - JUDGE INSTRUCTION ABOVE ALL ELSE, HOW THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO VOTE FOR YOU IF YOU DON'T TELL ME HOW!!!!
My email is lorileiml@gmail.com please add me to the email chain! Don't be a terrible person!! Thank you
Winner of the 2023 Harvard College Tournament Costume Contest
Debater at University of Wyoming
Meadows Assistant Coach
K affs - should have a tie to the topic in some way, well explained affs are important - how do you solve x issue?
K - I think block dependency is high in these debates too - i want nuance arguments tell me why the aff is bad, on the aff side i want reasons the aff is good idea, other than that these debates are enjoyable to watch!!
Fw- Could go either way, i find myself in a bit of these debates where both sides just read their blocks at each other and don’t engage with the other person - i’ll reward someone who engages with the nuance of the arguments being made -- you can win a counter interp or an impact turn -- justify why you get to read FW - i’d rather vote for clash than fairness
Case- I love a good case debate. I think this part of debate is under utilized and can get good wins if you have a good case neg.
Da- Disad’s can take out an aff and I love turns case stuff. If you don’t know who switches their votes on a politics da that’s a little sad. you should explain the story of the da.
Cp- Counterplans are cool! Adv cp’s are not being used enough - a lot of people write affs that can be beat by a simple counter plan. Explain the process of the counter plan please :)
T- Im not a big fan of broad t definitions but I know they have to be used sometimes. T debates are also super messy so keep it clean. Tell me why them being untopical is bad. I haven’t judged a lot of T debates on this topic so explain it well.
Tech over truth :)
Clipping - I want video or recording otherwise this can be hard to verify unless i already know it’s happening
Other events- I enjoy judging other events besides policy! Please don’t worry about me being your judge I love all events of speech and debate and would love to learn more about them.