I 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 that same bullshit.

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 HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO VOTE FOR YOU IF YOU DON'T TELL ME HOW!!!!

Hello, my name is Tamara Townsend Faucette. I am an energy and environmental attorney. I really enjoy judging and am so impressed with the intelligence and professionalism of the competitors. Things I look for:

1) Energy- whatever side you are arguing, step fully into that role and persuade me that it is your preferred position. Often the passion and energy of a competitor shows their preparation and enthusiasm for the topic. Persuade me that you should win.
2) Responsive- Show your flexibility and depth of knowledge by specifically attacking your opponents case with logic and evidence.
3) Respect- A vigorous debate is encouraged but please maintain the highest level of professionalism and respect.

If you plan to spread put me on the email chain.

If you run high theory and don't explain it well, I will judge you on your outfits.

Your debate experience will serve you well and build resilience. I hope you enjoy the process! Thank you, Tamara Townsend Faucette

Hello Debaters!

If you're reading this then you must have me as your judge. Depending on the event will depend on how I judge you. So please read carefully below. I'm the Head Coach at Viewmont HS and have been coaching for 16 years. Debate has changed a lot over the amount of time I've been coaching and debating, and maybe not so much.

1) ADAPT TO YOUR JUDGE

Policy

I'm a Policy coach. I've been coaching Policy debaters to TOC/Nationals for over a decade. I've judged in TOC bid out rounds. I have a lot to say that about what I like to see in my Policy rounds. (Every event really but particularly Policy):

      a) Speed - doubt that many of you can go too fast. Don't worry about it you can go as fast as you want. 

      b) Conditionality - really don't like conditionality from the Neg. If the Aff. isn't allowed to kick out of the Aff case then why should you be allowed to kick out of your positions. If you have some good theory with voters about why I should allow Condo, that could work. Otherwise, don't try please.

      c) Topicality - Earlier in the year, this could be an argument I listen to because plans may be less than topical. By the time we get around to February I have my doubts that the plan is not topical. If you're going to run this time suck of an argument it'd better be well reasoned out. If you kick this argument I'm likely not going to be happy.

     d) Kritiks - Totally awesome arguments. I really love them. But if you run more than one of them I'm not going to be happy. I can only rethink one thing at a time.

     e) Disad/Counterplans - Also great arguments that should be used in case you don't want to run Kritiks. Disad's could be run with Kritiks. Counterplans should NOT be run with Kritiks. 

     f) On Case - So, many people discount the power of on case arguments. Both sides. The Aff will get up and read a ton of great cards and then... nothing. The neg will get up and read a ton off case but do nothing to attack the case directly. So, most debates happen off case. Try solvency attacks. Those can be incredibly useful. When you're running K's, on case goes incredibly well with those.

     g) Finally, Theory - Framework/theory... this is a very interesting and potentially abusive game played by both sides. It seems to be trying to force the opposite side into debating in a way that is only advantageous to one side. I will NEVER vote solely on theory but if it's legitimately NOT abusive and tied to the winning argument then it CAN work in your favor. Tread lightly.

Lincoln Douglas

LD is not single player Policy. You are not trying to come up with a plan to "solve" the resolution. You are also not trying to overspread your opponent. Your goal is not to destroy with theoretical nuclear war. Your resolutions are written in such a way as to give me something much different.

     a) Cases - You case construction is important. You should have a value, criteria and 2 or 3 contentions. You may also have a few definitions before you start your contentions. This is more stylistic and for you than it is for me but keep it in mind.

     b) Value is where I actually weigh the round. Many judges now may not do it that way but I do. 

Updated 10/1/20 for UK

nicholasjlassen@gmail.com please include me on the email chain- you're also welcome to email me for any other questions as well

I debated in high school and college and I am the current head coach at Bingham HS in South Jordan, UT.

College Topic: I am well versed in debate but relatively new to this topic. Please explain important acronyms the first time you use them.

High School Topic: I have several tournaments on this topic already and I am pretty familiar with the literature base.

Theory - I really enjoy a good topicality debate. However, my expectation for the negative to win is that they can clearly define the impacts of the argument i.e. how has the aff been unfair to you directly, what grounds have been lost, why is your model for education better? I dislike time suck theory that you are never going to go for-i.e. things like incredibly thin pics such as capitalize the L in the word lands and disclosure theory. The important thing to keep in mind is that if you want me to vote on theory, you have to be good at articulating the impacts.

CP's - I believe that counter plans really need to be mutually exclusive either through actor or avoidance of a DA or something or else, otherwise it's really easy to buy the affirmatives claims of the perm. The permutation should be a test of competition towards the counterplan. In the plan v counterplan debate it is important to prove why your side is net beneficial either through some DA story or winning some solvency mitigation towards the aff or the CP.

DA's - My expectation on the DA debate is really articulate the link story. I think a lot of generic da's are easy to non/unique out of. As far as the link story goes, I need a good internal link chain. Please make sure that I can see how we get from the aff to point b and then point c.

Politics - I have a strong tendency to default to more recent evidence on politics disads. This can definitely create a research burden but if you want to run politics then you should know that this means that a lot of the time, it boils down to a recency/card quality debate.

K's

Aff - I want to know that your K aff means something. I am much more likely to buy into your criticism if there is some sort of personal connection. Make sure you are ready for the framework debate. I need to know why your framework is better for education than the negative or why I should choose to recognize your role of the ballot versus theirs.

Neg - I am open to most K's on the neg. I know it practically impossible to have hyper specific link cards for every aff. But with that in mind, please articulate how the aff links through a thorough analysis. Please make sure that you articulate the alternative well if you want to go for it -I want to know what the world of the alternative looks like and what happens when I sign my ballot neg. If I am left confused about what the world of the alt looks like, it will be hard for you to win the debate.

Method v Method

The one point I want to make here is that I have a higher threshold for voting on the permutation then i do in a plan v cp debate. I hold the aff to a similar burden as the negative, I would not let them just stand up and coopt your advocacy so I most likely wont let you stand up and just say perm do both and gain 100% access to their advocacy. I want the competing ideologies weighed against each other and to know why your world is "better" then the opposing teams.

Please don't be rude, disrespectful, racist, sexist, transphobic, etc. I will doc your speaks and most likely drop you. It's not welcome in debate or in society overall.

· Delivery: Clear and measured delivery that is not raced through. I like to be able to follow each point with time to flow the debate.

· Evidence: Should be from credible sources that are diverse in their spectrum.

· Argument style: Attack the issue, not the person or their style. A debater should be able to persuade a judge through strength of argument, never Ad Hominem attacks.

I will base my decisions on performance quality for each event.

Did policy debate throughout high school, and am pretty well versed in most literature out there. I'll just go over some general preferences I have, with the caveat that no matter what I like/dislike I will vote on anything if it's argued well enough.

Administrative stuff: Tag-teaming in cross is fine, yes I want to be on the email chain (camdenmead5562@gmail.com) I'm generally a believer that disclosure is good for debate, please time yourselves, and yes spreading is fine.

My judging style is truth>tech, but "truth" is rather ambiguous. Just don't try to convince me the sky is green or that Mexico is a part of the United States (yes, this did happen) and I shouldn't have a problem voting for the args you put in front of me

T/Theory: I do believe that there is a place for topicality and theory in debate and can make a round interesting, but make sure you do more analysis outside of repeating the 1NC shell over and over again.

K/K affs: I really enjoy a good K, but framing and link work here is crucial to me. Don't be lazy and run a one-off K with a super general link, because I'll be really bored. If you're running a K aff, just make sure you explain really well why the resolution is bad for debate, and I shouldn't have a problem following you.

Framework: I love framework debates, and am all for whatever you have here.

Impacts: make sure you do a good analysis throughout each speech you give. Don't wait until the rebuttals to remind me of why I'm voting for you.

feel free to ask me questions before/after the round! I have a significant research background on NATO and would love to help you in any way I can.

Jeff City 16-20

UWyo 20-24

rebound23sp@gmail.con

T/L

*Tech over truth with the exception that I will never vote on arguments that say the suffering of a group of people or animals is a good thing. If i believe that an argument is inappropriate for high schoolers i will stop the round and let tab/coaches know.

I enjoy all forms of debate that rely upon substance and are executed properly. I’m neutral about the form and content* presented in debate, my paradigm revolves around what I personally like about debate.

I like teams that condense early and cut the chaf and center the debate on issues quickly.All of your 1nc offensive positions should be able to be a 2NR.

My decision will be whatever is the easiest path to the ballot - nothing more, nothing less.

I will not fill in any gaps of explanation left at the end of the round. I don’t plan on constructing an argument for you make if it did not make sense to me.

I do not care if you post round me. Many times post rounds could’ve been solved by saying the argument you think I missed in the actual debate!

Please re/highlight in green/yellow - i cannot read blue.

I will clap after the round ends - debate is hard and u deserve recognition!

Topic 23-24

Ks

I like k debate. i get the gist of most Ks, but i am more deep in lit that is about: capitalism, security , critical debility studies, orientalism, animal studies, and Hawaiian sovereignty movements. My favorite authors are Jasbir Puar, Edward Said, and Haunani-Kay Trask.

I prefer fw as an alt as opposed to going for the alt. I think if a k team has won fw it becomes far easier for them win more parts of the flow.

I’ve become less opposed to a straight up alt debate. This might be more of an uphill battle with me but if it works it works.

I enjoy specific, well contextualized links to the AFF. Broad, overarching links are fairly hard to win, these links become more powerful when they are specifically applied to the AFF and teams show HOW the AFF makes the world worse.

I think for AFF teams debating the K, they should invest in a perm and link turn strategy. I have found greater success reading AFFs that attempted to resolve some facet of an oppressive system while also being able to solve a defensible extinction impact. I think that this strategy is

A. more fun to watch/judge

B. far less ethically bankrupt than defending heg or capitalism

C. shields you from offense that would sugget plan focused debate is bad.

Despite what i said above I am not opposed to AFFs that will defend the worst excesses of American capitalism or military power. However I will be very very unlikely to vote on some level of permutation or no link. I think in this scenario the 2AR should collapse to a defense of their model of debate (FW) and impact o/w the K.

CPs

I enjoy perm competition debates, cheating CPs, and internal net benefits.

Counterplan out of everything. This includes 2NC CPs out of thumpers and straight turns.

DAs
I enjoy politics debates which display a wealth of knowledge of both governmental function and debate technique.

Turns case is my tiebreaker and an easy way to raise your speaks. I think it can be one of the most creative aspects of debate.

T

The NEG team needs to provide me reasons as to why the AFF plan creates the worst model of debate. This looks like what AFFs are excluded vs included, what core negative ground is lost, and why I should default to competing interpretations.

The AFF needs to prove why the AFF is good for debate or why the NEG makes a worse model of debate. This looks like offensive reasons to why the NEG's interp is bad or offensive reasons as to why the AFF model is good.

FW

FW is not violent nor analagous to mass atrocities.

fairness is an impact but i think it is an uphill battle for the negative team. Impacts like clash or skills are far more persuasive to me.

I think that the AFF team should present a counter interp/model of what debate looks like with an offensive reason as to why that model is good. I also think the AFF should provide an offensive reason as to why the NEG's model of debate is bad.

I think the NEG should provide reasons as to why their model of debate is good such as clash and skills. The NEG should also provide defense like TVAs or SSD to absorb the AFF's offense. I am very interested in carded specific TVAs to the AFF.

Case

Get to case with 3:30 minutes or GET OUT.

2NRs on case will be rewarded with speaker boosts.

I 100 percent believe you can zero out a case, this is because solvency has become shambolic for affirmatives and negatives very rarely capitalize on this.

Circumvention is a powerful weapon that people often forget about.

I will vote on turns like spark, dedev, climate change good and the like.

Theory

Every argument except condo is a reason to reject the arg. i tend to not judge many theory debates. if a team goes for condo i will determine it very similar to how i view t debates. I will decide which team creates a better model of debate and vote for that team.

I will not judge kick unless instructed to do so, arguments regarding no judge kick should be set up in the 1AR at the latest.

Clipping requires a team to call out. i do not flow off the doc so i have no clue if clipping has occurred. A team will need to present some form of evidence to substantiate the clipping accusation. If i verify that clipping has occured the round will end and the team that has lost the challenge will receive an L + 25 speaks.

If there is a challenge regarding evidence ethics i will stop the round and evaluate the challenge, the round will not continue if an ethics violation challenge has been made. I will independently verify if a team has violated some level of evidence ethics (miscitations of authors, dates, removal/addition of evidentiary text). The team that loses the challenge will receive an L + 25 speaks.

CX

It is a speech!

With the state of case debating in 2023 i think that the NEG could disprove the AFF in 3 minutes of 1AC CX.

I will flow it and i believe it is binding.

Clarification questions signal to me that you do not flow.

Stop asking questions during prep.

Speaks

It is an arbitrary metric.

Ethos, ethos, ethos.

Online debate has encouraged prep stealing at another level, i will ask you if you are taking prep and if i continue to see you steal prep it will reflect in your speaks.

I will not yell clear - i think it is judge intervention.

LD

I did not do LD in high school nor was LD in my district similar to the national circuit, i will evaluate LD how i evaluate policy unless told otherwise by debaters.

I will make ratings towards my familiarity but i am open to all styles of LD that utilize substance over tricks.

I am more sympathetic to AFF claims that condo is bad in LD more than other debates..

K - 1

Policy - 1

Phil - 4

Trad - 2

unimportant theory arguments or “skep” - do not run.

PF

I will evaluate this as if it was a policy round.

Misc.

Pls call me e.c. (it's my intitials if that helps with pronouciation) my real name and judge are just too formal for me.

I care a lot abt animals, arguments that say animals suffering does not matter will not fly with me.

I dont care if your camera is off.

Locally record your speeches. if you get booted from whatever online medium we are using i will not allow you to redo a speech.

Not a fan of inserting rehighlights - you should read them.

References about the immortal and legendary Arsenal Football Club will be rewarded with speaker point boosts (tottenham fans be warned).

I’m a dad judge and have been judging for 3 years. I have judged a lot of Policy, LD and a little bit of PF.

I look for good clash, warrants and extensions. If you are going to spread please do it at 75% speed and make sure to slow down at cards or points you think are important. Even better if you can stop and explain those to me in your own words. Please sign post and provide off time road maps.

I tend to lean on the side of truth over tech. For policy judge instructions in the 2NR/2AR is very helpful.