Please add me to the email chain: Brenda.aurora13@gmail.com

I debated for Washburn Rural for four years between 2014 and 2018. I debated for the University of Kansas last year, but am not debating this year so I can focus on my nursing degree. Generally speaking, I am not picky about arguments and speed. Do what you want and I’ll do my best to keep up.

T: I believe that topicality is a question of competing interpretations. I like to see good explanations of each team’s offense on the flow, how their offense interacts with the other team, and why their interpretation creates a better model for debate.

Disads: I’m a big fan, especially when you have a specific link. I think impact calculus and turns case arguments are important. I always enjoy listening to a good agenda or election disad.

CPs: Delay counterplans are cheating. I’m willing to judge kick a counterplan unless the affirmative gives me a reason not to. I prefer specific solvency advocates.

Ks: I didn’t read a lot of Ks in high school. I am most familiar with neolib and cap, but I am willing to listen to pretty much anything as long at it is explained well. I will NOT listen to death/extinction good kritiks. These arguments can be triggering for me and for other people that may be competing in or watching your round. When it comes to links, I like when they are specific to the affirmative and describe how the aff increasing/makes worse whatever it is that the neg is critiquing. If you’re going for your alt, you need to prove that it solves, as well as clearly explain to me what a world of the alternative looks like. The framing debate should be more than a block reading competition, especially if the neg isn’t going to go for the alt. The neg’s interpretation should be meaningful and not just “whoever best challenges (whatever the K is critiquing)”

Theory: I believe theory is usually only a reason to reject an argument, not a team, especially considering most theory debates are block reading contests where no one really explains or understands the argument. That being said, I might be willing to vote on condo if you really explain your interpretation and impact the argument out.

Some other things to note: I enjoy a good case debate. Please be kind and respectful to one another. If you are horribly rude and disrespectful I’ll probably vote against you

I have judged dozens of rounds so I would not consider myself a total novice, however I have no formal training in debate / forensics. In my opinion the most important part of debating is to win the argument. I am unimpressed with teams that speed read to me so fast that I can hardly keep up with what they are even saying. I do appreciate a cogent argument. I am even more impressed with teams who are nimble, with the ability to think on the fly, and counter the arguments their opponents put forward. The ability to assess, process, think critically, and then put forward an intelligent position in short order is the most impressive aspect to debate in my opinion. I do not need to agree with your position for you to win. If you can make an intelligent argument, and counter your opponents' points, I can recognize the art of debate and separate my personal beliefs from the judgement of who "wins".

I'd like to be on the email chain or speech drop, my email is hunterfinerty@gmail.com

My pronouns are they/them. Please respect everyone's pronouns. Don't make a big deal out of it, just fix it if you're corrected.

I graduated from De Soto High School (KS). I debated policy and did forensics (PFD, impromptu, extemp, oration, etc) all four years of high school. I'm currently a student at Baker University (not debating) majoring in sociology with an emphasis in welfare and social wellbeing with minors in psych and conflict management.

TL;DR: I will listen to anything but you've got to do the work for me. I want to see strong communication and respect, as well. Do: disclose, give roadmaps, tell me where to flow your args. Don't: clip cards, cheat, be a bad person.

Respect and Conduct

My number one priority is to be a good person. I WILL vote you down in speaks/ranks and you will most likely lose the round if you are racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, etc. If you do these things, it will be clearly reflected on your ballot, I will most likely have a conversation with you after the round, and I am not afraid to contact your coach if it goes too far. Be respectful. Some aggression in round can be necessary, but unnecessary rudeness is a no-go. Content warnings for sexual assault, domestic violence, suicide, etc are greatly appreciated not only for myself but for everyone else in the room. Don't clip cards. Keep track of where you end and make it clear where cards are being cut.

Policy

Speed

Any speed is fine but please make sure I can understand you. I can handle speed, but if I can't understand the words coming out of your mouth, it won't go well for you. I don't want to follow along on your speech doc 100% of the time. Debate is ultimately a speech activity.

Roadmaps/Signposts/Flowing

I want to hear a roadmap at the beginning of every speech. The 2NC should make a point to acknowledge what their partner is taking in the 1NR. Roadmaps should be BRIEF. This is not a time for arguments, this is a time for me to put my sheets in order.

If you don't signpost, you will not succeed in debate. As the judge, it is not my job to do the work for you. Tell me when you move from the case flow to the DA to T, etc. Also tell me WHERE ON THE FLOW you're responding. Tell me which specific card or argument your argument is in response to (don't just tell me you're responding to the K, tell me you're specifically responding to their alt card, etc). Numbering responses is good.

You should be flowing. I was admittedly terrible about flowing when I was in debate and that put me in a lot of tricky situations. Be careful about flowing off the speech doc. You're wasting time and showing that you're not paying attention if you respond to a card the other team didn't end up reading.

I will be flowing the round on a spreadsheet.

Time

Time yourself during speeches. Sometimes I might be timing you and sometimes I won't be. This is for my own knowledge and feedback. Don't rely on me to keep you in check for speech times.

Prep time is crucial in debate. I will try to keep track of prep to hold you accountable. Use it wisely. Don't steal prep. I do not think that flashing or technology errors should use prep time (unless tournament rules specify). That being said, once the prep timer is paused, all hands should be off laptops and no pens should be moving. I will call you out and drop your speaks if this becomes excessive. This time should only be used by the person getting the file on the flash drive/in an email/on the speech drop.

Disclosure

If the other team asks you to disclose, please do. I encourage disclosure in pretty much every scenario, it makes debate fairer and more accessible. If you refuse to disclose, I assume there's something you're trying to be sneaky about. I won't give you a hassle about disclosing if you're breaking new, but honestly disclosure is probably still good. "My coach won't let us disclose" is bad debate and makes me think your coach is shady. You won't auto-lose over not disclosing, but play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Case

I think case debate is very important. I will vote for you if you do not run any case but still make the most compelling argument with good ev, but I'd prefer to see a mix of off-case and specific solvency/advantage indicts. If you have a ton of case stuff, UTILIZE IT but don't take T to the 2NR if you're running a bunch of specific case stuff and specific DA links (it just feels silly).

DA

DAs have always been my go-to neg strat. I'll vote on any well-run DA but I want to see clash. I prefer specific links but generic is fine if you argue them well. The link chain HAS to make sense. If you're only reading one card, it isn't a DA!

T

Topicality is kind of a necessary evil. I've run it and I'm fine if you do, but there needs to be a reason. If you whip out a bunch of specific advantage answers and DA links, I don't really have a reason to believe that their case is abusive or that the neg is disadvantaged. Make sure to have a definition, violation, standards, and voters. Aff, respond to all parts.

CP

I love a good CP but it should be competitive. The aff should always perm the CP (and you can read multiple perms). I want to see solvency and a clear net benefit. Internal and/or external net benefits are cool. Just explain it well and make sure I know why the CP is better than the aff.

K

I'm not the most experienced K judge you'll ever meet, but I consistently ran abolition on the CJR topic during my senior year. I can follow along and I wish I had gotten into K debate sooner. If you run it, you HAVE to understand it. Don't assume I'm familiar with your lit and make sure to explain it well. I also need to see clarity in CX on the K, if both partners can't adequately answer simple questions then we've got an issue. Don't read more than one K in the round (they usually contradict) unless its like Language (or anything conduct related) + Set Col (or any "regular" K).

Theory

Theory is fine. I could go either way, but don't waste your time unless it really matters in the whole context of the round. Condo usually isn't bad (and neg positions probably should be condo unless you're running one off K). Dispo is really stupid.

PFD

I debated PFD during my senior year and competed at NSDA Nats, but I am certainly not as familiar here as I am with policy. I don't have extensive knowledge about the topic area, but I know my way throughout the round. Same conduct rules for me in PFD as in policy- be a good person and make an effort to learn.

LD

I have very minimal experience with LD. That being said, don't hold back. I will listen to and evaluate anything as long as you're a respectful person during the round.

Most importantly, have fun! Try new things, make mistakes. We are all always learning. Feel free to ask my any questions about my paradigm before the round and feel free to email me (nicely) with any questions after you get your ballot.

I am fairly new to debate so I am still learning some of the fundamentals of debate. I prefer debates that are reasonably slower pace with a bent towards flow policymaking.

maize '21, ku '25 (not debating)

assistant coach at de soto

jeanninealopez@gmail.com

i competed in policy for 4 years and almost solely ran policy arguments

i don't have many predispositions about particular arguments -- my preference for policy arguments over k's is not out of distaste but out of ignorance so if you want to run them, i will listen, but don't assume i'll know what you're talking about -- i primarily ran counterplan/disad strategies, so i know those best, but run what you know best

speed is fine only if you are clear

your speech is over once your timer goes off -- you can take a few words to finish a sentence, but anything else that you say isn't going to be on my flow

please ask questions if you have any

Tech informs truth.

Hi everyone, I'm Owen. I did speech and debate for four years. My main debate events were Policy and LD. In Policy I was usually a 2A/1N. I went to Nats in LD three times. Please don't shake my hand. Dab me up instead. That's how I'll know you read my paradigm lol. Numbering your arguments is good. I also really like super-organized speech docs.

Policy Paradigm

DAs- Generics are fine. Depth over Breadth but that doesn't mean you need to go all in on just one DA. Circ DAs are valid and Fiat probably doesn't let you spike out of them but that's kind of situational I think.

CPs- Most CPs are good with me. Consult and Delay CPs are probably the exceptions but other than that I'm cool with most things. For Condo I'll vote for whoever wins the theory debate. Dispositional CPs aren't abusive to me as long as there aren't too many conditions to kick it attached. But again it mostly comes down to the theory debate on dispositionality to me. If you do run multiple CPs I'll lean towards "Condo/Dispo Bad" in the round.

Ks- Most Alts are bad I think. Most impacts are probably true but I think most Alts do a really bad job of addressing them. Like, really really bad. I'm kind of picky with Ks. If you wanna know if I'll vote on something feel free to ask. I've read minimal theory in some areas and a decent amount in some. If I read a K in debate it was probably Cap or Neoliberalism but personally, I don't always buy those. I don't like K Affs.

Stock Issues- I don't care about Inherency or Harms much unless you prove that the Aff was already passed or something huge like that. Getting Solvency as the Neg puts you way ahead on the ballot for me. But I need the Neg to prove without a shadow of a doubt that they win their arguments. If there's any in-between area on the debate then I'll vote for whoever I think has more ground, and I'll try to keep how much that impacts my ballot proportional to how much one team won or lost the debate by and also by its importance as an argument.

Framing- I don't think I have a whole lot of preferences or anything when it comes to framing, so I'll just roll with whoever is winning the framing debate.

Topicality- If you win T it's probably an autowin. I think that I'm pretty liberal when it comes to what I consider topical though. No preference on reasonability or competing interpretations. (I'm usually more persuaded by competing interps I think though.) You should probably be running counter standards and voters as the Aff if you go for competing interps (not required I think, but important), and either side dropping voters, counter voters, standards, or counter standards is a really big deal in my book. Also, I think that counter-voters/standards and regular voters/standards need to actually clash with one another. Don't just read them, but have them interact with each other.

Disclosure- If everyone wants to disclose, then I'm 1000% okay with that. (It makes my life way easier.) But if one team isn't comfortable disclosing then I'm not going to force them to. If you disclose please make sure Neg gets case and Aff gets past 2NRs. If you're going to run disclosure theory I want a really really concrete reason. Disclosure theory/abuse can totally be valid but I don't think many teams use it as anything other than a way to the ballot instead of trying to fix actual abuse.

Speed- Speed is fine as long as everyone can get the doc. I'm willing to vote for speed bad theory though. If you're spreading analytics please have them on the doc you send to me and the other team. I think not sending analytics you spread is insanely abusive.

Other Things-

I came from a small school that was really disadvantaged in more competitive circuits, so I'm always willing to vote on Classism voters if they apply.

I don't think novices should spread or run Ks.

I'll bump you .1 speaker points if you reference a piece of media that Jason Segel has appeared in like; How I Met Your Mother, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Muppets, etc.

LD Paradigm

I debated Trad and Progressive.

For Trad- The Value and Criterion are one-half of the round. The other half is Case. I think in order to win the debate by a large margin you need to win more than 50% of both sides of the debate. If one debater wins case and the other wins the V/C debate that makes things a lot more complicated. My vote then will probably be situational.

Any Value and Criterion work for me as long as they add up and work together. I don't have a preference for case structure but I like LD cases that are organized.

For Progressive- Pretty much default to what you see on my Policy Paradigm! V/C isn't necessary in my eyes for Progressive, but I could vote either way on "V/C required" theory. I also won't hold it against you whatsoever if you have a V/C for a more progressive style case.

T in response to untopical Contentions is strategic and underutilized. Framing Evidence to back up a V/C if you're still using that in Progressive is also something you should 100% be doing.

PF Paradigm

I never did PF. Make the round your own and convince me. For specific questions and answers feel free to check my other paradigms if it helps!

General Overview

My political views trend liberal with a smattering of libertarian thrown in. But do I try hard to be aware of my own biases, and counter them when evaluating policies and arguments.

I will intervene on the ballot if I think you are being rude, sexist, racist, or deplorable to your opponents or partner. I've sat with too many kids in tears because of how they were treated in a round. I will not accept it, nor will I enable it. Play nice.

I am not a particularly fast flow; if you go too fast you will lose me - especially your analytics. If I don't write it down, you didn't say it. My suggestion is that you start at 3/4 speed and watch my non-verbals. (Yes, I still believe a speaker should at least occasionally make eye contact with the audience.) I will not tell you to slow down, but if you think I should be writing and I am not, you have probably lost me.

In Policy Debate, I default policy maker. I default to probability over magnitude in most impact debates. (e.g. Russia invaded Ukraine, and no nukes have been used. But the trauma and destruction are still real and awful, and are a compelling reason to make policy.)

I will vote on topicality if the Aff is not at least reasonably topical, and the Neg wins the argument.

I have a rather high threshold for voting on kritiks that are not intuitively linked to the topic. (e.g. on the 2023-2024 topic, Cap K seems intuitively linked, Spinoza and Confucius do not) Very few policy decisions based solely on the views of dead philosophers have been successful. Having said that, I'm willing to listen to a kritik, and have voted for a number of them. Just keep in mind, my policy maker lens is difficult for me to put down here, so you better be able to tell me how your advocacy can actually solve something. In a K v K debate, this still applies - you need to prove you actually solve something.

When deciding a round, I begin with the arguments in the 2NR and 2AR. Those will be my primary concerns, as those should be the the salient points for each team if they made good choices. Make sure in those speeches to explain clearly how the positions interact, and why you believe I should vote for you.

Extend your key arguments through the debate - it is a good habit to form. Failing that, evidence read in the first constructive that is not contradicted by the opponent does still exist in my understanding of the round, even if not explicitly extended. I will presume if there is no argument against, the opponent is willing to stipulate its truth, at least temporarily. Making reference to it in rebuttals is still legit, but only if the other side has not argued it. If you don't want the argument/evidence to carry through, make an argument.

In Lincoln Douglas, I will focus primarily on the Value and Criterion debates. I believe this is where LD should differ from policy and PF debate. Policy implications are only important to me if the topic specifically calls for it. But keep in mind, I will be looking closely at how those implications interact with the value and criterion you establish.

Well, tabroom literally deleted my paradigm and I hate repeating myself so here's the condensed version. #FREELUKE

239 rounds judged (yes I update this every round) (going for a record or something) and I'm a 4th year coach.

Debate : I literally don't care what you run. As long as you know what you're reading. If you're rude to other people in the round, I'll think it's cringe and vote you down. Impact calc is always nice. I actually read your evidence so don't self-sabotage. Mean what you say, because a captain goes down with their ship.

Forensics : ALL OF THIS IS CONDITIONAL AND VARIES BY EVENT - Well-developed blocking is always appreciated. A good intro and conclusion are important. Voice impressions or differentiation is nice as well. If applicable, your speaker's triangle is crucial. Confidence is key. Getting in your own head only messes you up.

Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.***

If you read nothing else in this paradigm statement, read this: I reserve the right to vote down rude debaters and performers, based on principle alone. The world has enough anger; I won't participate in meanness. Not everything has to be sunshine and butterflies (I can be prickly, myself), but unkindness is a deal-breaker.

ALL DEBATE EVENTS: I don't come down with a hard line on tech vs truth, but in general, I tend to value truth over tech. That's not a popular position, I know. But empty sophistry is a problem in our community, y'all. Still, each round kind of shapes itself differently, and sometimes technical play matters more. This is good analysis of why I'm not tech over truth (https://www.debatedrills.com/blog/tech-and-truth-how-judges-are-ruining-debate), while paying careful attention to separate my opinions from the actual debate. But if an argument is weak, I'm under no obligation to accept it. Is that judge intervention? Then it is judge intervention. I'm your audience. I'm going to vote for somebody. Come win me.

POLICY DEBATE: I'm a current head coach, but I'm behind on some technical play and I may get lost if you get into the weird stuff. Still, I’ll try!

Having learned the game of debate before the ubiquity of the internet, I’m a classic (vintage?) example of a stock issues judge who likes fundamentally strong debate and who tends to dislike Kritikal debate because of the way it pressures the judge into unfair positions between competing social ills. Run them if you want and I'll make my best judgment, but if you put me in an untenable position of destroying the earth or ruining the humanity that's left, I won't like it. But even though I can flow rounds, weigh impacts, and know the difference between my aff and a perm, I firmly believe that speech skills actually matter-- stand up straight and make eye contact. Speak to the judge in the back of the room, not the electrons zipping across your screen.

I pine for the halcyon days of outline-structured arguments, numbered responses, and roadmaps that sounded something like “Disad #1, Topicality, Disad #2, then Case-in-order”.

It is not abusive to run new arguments in either second constructive; constructives are for constructing arguments; that is why they are called "constructive" speeches. "No New in the Two" is for the weak.

Paperless debate should make debate rounds faster and more efficient, not slow them down because we forgot to do the upload or sprawl with "did you get it?" email chain lags. If you're going to drag this round out for electronic reasons, keep your prep time running. It's not a voting issue, of course. But we all have a duty to keep the tournament moving. Make policy ninety-minutes again!

I'm not convinced that "stealing prep" is actually a thing. Get up there and start speaking; they don't steal prep if you're talking.

Counterplans must be non-topical, otherwise both teams are affirming the resolution and both teams want me to vote Aff. "If the world is against non-topical-only Counterplans, then I am against the world!" --St. Athanasius of Alexandria (attributed)

I am impressed when people seem to actually know their pre-prepared blocks, and when it seems like they've thought about this argument at least once before they're standing up to read at me. It's great when people understand the links and how to tell its story. It's less impressive if you grab the Generic DA team block and read it without knowing what you're reading.

L-D: I'm not exactly a lay judge in LD, but I won't be insulted if you treat me that way. I definitely skew trad over prog LD. I'm very interested in how your Value will inform the rest of your case. Is it a recurring value that informs your position, or is it some noble idea that really doesn't translate into the rest of your argumentation? Debaters that claim a value/criterion and then ignore it for the rest of the debate don't tend to do well with me.

PFD: Most of the policy stuff applies here, but adapt for PF. That said, I quite dislike the Policy-ization of PF. This event was created to be different from Policy, not a lesser version of it. Discuss ideas and use evidence well, but please don't try to speed spread me and please don't try to strong arm your opponents. It's not that I don't believe in PF, but it's that I don't believe I want to work that hard as a PF judge.

Congress: Do people read Congress paradigms? Hi, Congressperson! Don't be afraid to break script to talk to your chamber rather than just reading at them; a Congress of competing oratories isn't really debate. Also, walk that fine line between being fun and being serious. Let's both enjoy our time in the Congress room! I promise that I'll take my job as a judge seriously if you take your role as a Congress debater seriously. But if you're not serious about doing a good job, I don't feel like I need to reciprocate with a seriously good score. I love this event. Let's be good for each other in it.

Other hills on which I will die: Jokes don't really work in debate rounds; two slices of mediocre pizza and some water is not worth five dollars; signposting is the difference between an average debater and a good one. In Policy Debate, open Cross-Ex insults your partner. No one wants to shake your hand. Tabula Rasa is a unicorn. Medals should have ribbons. Hospitality rooms should have soda. Every debater should also do forensics.

Be nice to each other. Speak louder. And trust me on the sunscreen.

jwalberg@sjakeepingfaith.org

***This is the sunscreen joke: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI