Basically, I'm a flow/tech judge.

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I debated for a long time and coached for a long time. I'm a lawyer now, but not in a detached "PF is a public speaking event" kind of way; I vote for the arguments that win.

(If you're looking for the other Bilal: https://www.tabroom.com/index/paradigm.mhtml?judge_person_id=21177)

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~~~MY PARADIGM~~~

My philosophy is that you all put a lot of effort into this activity, and it's my onus to adjudicate every round thoroughly. If you feel like I'm failing to do this in any way, pls call me out.

TL;DR: If I'm being real, I overwhelmingly and shamelessly vote off of the warrant debate. If you're winning the reasons that something will/won't happen (which means you're extending them specifically, and are being responsive to your opponents' answers) then you're almost certainly winning my ballot. All things equal, I will vote for a team with a clear warrant over a team with a warrantless impact card. Please do not hesitate to go straight for the warrant-level and spend your time there; I will gladly track internal links.

Additionally, please read your citations as clearly as possible.

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General Stuff worth noting:

1) I haven't done prep on this topic, so don't assume I'm already familiar with your evidence/arguments.

2) I'm fine with jargon, but don't exclude your opponents. I'm fine with swearing, but don't insult your opponents.

3) Be comfortable. I don't care about your attire/formality.

4) Speed: I don't mind, but please slow down for taglines. Slow down if your opponents tell you to. If you simply cannot resist going into x-games mode, give your opponents a copy of your speech beforehand.

5) I pay attention to crossfire, but I don't flow it; if something important happened, mention it in your speech if you want me to vote on it.

6) Framework is always the first thing I evaluate on my ballot. I vote for the team that wins under the winning framework. If only one team discusses/extends framework, that's what I default to. If there's no framework in the round, I default to generic cost/benefit.

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Theory:

I debated in college, and am fine with theory. There are issues with PF that I wouldn't mind seeing addressed. If you're reading theory in front of me, it needs some structure, but mostly I just need a Role of the Ballot so I have an understanding of what you want me to do. YOU HAVE TO EXPLAIN IT TO YOUR OPPONENTS, TOO. I'm significantly less likely to vote on potential/theoretical abuse than on in-round/demonstrated abuse. I also retain the right to intervene, somewhat, on questions of theory - especially ones that involve me as a judge - in a way that I don't for post-fiat args.

If you have questions about this, please ask me before the round.

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My email is bilalsaskari@gmail.com for questions, etc. I keep all of my flows on my computer.

Info general:

Sofía María Bosch

Mexicana-catalana-española-estadounidense

Coach (entrenadora) de debate bilingüe o en español en John D. Wells, MS. 50 (PF y política)

Jueza de PF bilingüe

Profesora de humanidades de educación especial bilingüe, grados 6-8

Expectativas:

Tus discursos deben tener un fuerte inicio y final, debe ser muy claro tu argumento relacionada con la resolución o tema del debate. Tu evidencia o los nombres de tus fuentes también deben ser explícitas.

Prefiero discursos con narrativas convincentes (pathos, logos) y palabras de transición (por ejemplo, "nuestro primer argumento", "nuestro segundo argumento", etc.).

No debería tener que decirles que sean respetuosos o que no usen lenguaje odioso, racista, capacitista, sexista u homofóbico. Si lo escucho, automáticamente le daré la boleta al otro equipo.

Though I've been a PF middle school coach for four years, I consider myself a novice/lay-type judge. I do flow so I appreciate clear signposts, warrants and unique and impactful evidence. I am very much interested to see speakers attempt or execute innovation in form and style using humor, pathos and engaging impacts. I believe speakers who believe what they're arguing. I frown upon speaker dispositions that are communicated in a seemingly unfriendly, impatient or unkind manner.

Hi - I've judged several tournaments over the last year and I love hearing different points of view.

First -- make sure I can understand you. If you go fast and mumble, I won't hear your points and will have a hard time following your arguments. Ideally, enumerate your points so I can follow them and keep track of them throughout the argument. If you go fast, make sure I can get your points! Otherwise, focus on what's most important and share that with me.

Second -- use your time! If you have 4 minutes, make the most of it.

Third -- Cite your sources. It is important that you do this so I can compare evidence. Then tell me why those points are important.

Fourth -- (but probably most important) Be respectful. Good sportsmanship and being kind is important to me. If you insult or talk down to the other team, I will not be impressed.

Lastly, listen to the other team.

Good luck!

Hi my name is Edalene. I am a student judge. I did MS Public Forum for 2.

Some Other Notes:

I will be keeping time, but feel free to do so too.

Don’t bring up new information in the summary/ final focus

Weigh your argument. Why is what you said important? Why should I vote for you?

I will not judge based of crossfire, so if any important points were brought up mention them in your speech.

I appreciate signposting

Be respectful to one another

Bring through your argument to your final focus, otherwise I will consider it dropped and will not consider it towards your overall argument, even if th opponent never addresses it.

I am not going to judge based of speaking but please speak clearly and not too quickly so that I can understand.

Good luck and have fun!!

I have done debate for four years, one in parliamentary and three in public forum. Here's how I decide on a ballot.

Weighing

- show me what you think you won on and/or how your opponents failed to get their point across

- if neither side weighs, i'll do it myself but it may not go well on either side

Impacts

- If the weighing does not help me decide on a ballot, the impacts made on both sides

- moral/progressives are fine as long as you can properly build the proper link chains

Hi I'm Roberto,

PF Freshman sophomore year, Congress and world schools jr year

I prefer simple arguments. 1-3 contentions, well explained. Quality>Quantity.

Weighing

I want to see you comparing your arguments (impacts, links, etc...) to those of your opponents. Tell me why your points matter more.

For example, if team A says "According to Forbes Apples are healthier than Oranges", and team B says "According to NYT Oranges are healthier than apples". Try to explain why one study outdoes the other.

Talking Speed

I can handle fast speeds just don't go overkill

Evidence

I like warranting but evidence to accompany that warranting doesn't hurt either.

Fun fact:

Trigger Warnings/Discrimination

Try to include trigger warnings if you are talking about sensitive issues.

I will make sure to judge you purely on what you say and not on your race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc... .

Have fun!

Hey! My name is Anna Rams, she/her, and I am a sophomore in high school. This is also my fifth year participating in Speech & Debate, with categories including Public Forum, Lincoln Douglas, Extemp, and Congress.

Please let me know if you have any questions about any decisions made during a round.

Please signpost and weigh throughout the round. Also, with weighing, please make your weighing more than one sentence. Elaboration is key.

No stress about stuttering; I care more about if your arguments get across. However, if I cannot understand your speech (excessive mumbling, screaming, spreading, etc,) there will be more speaker points taken off.

I won’t count cross as part of the debate, only when points brought up in cross are carried on in a summary/final focus.

I will keep time in the round, both for the formality of the debate, and for my judging. Feel free to keep your own time throughout the round.

Most importantly, just enjoy yourself and have fun!

My name is Sameeha Saleem. I’m a student judge. I’ve been doing debates in many different formats but specifically, I did public forum debates for two years during middle school.

Important things to consider:

• get to the round as soon as you can

• Be respectful and considerate of your fellow debaters (no discriminatory remarks)

• Before starting, please tell me your name, what speaker you are, and your pronouns

• try to be as clear as possible

• Everyone has their own speeds of speaking and understanding so try to speak at a reasonable speed

•  Will always keep time, but just as a recommendation debaters should also keep time.

• Cards might be called if felt that they are necessary. 

• Always state where you got your evidence for.

• Try to weigh in your summaries and definitely in your final focuses.

• I won't count anything that happens during crossfires unless someone brings it up in their speech. 

• No new points should be brought up during the summary or final focus. 

• Verbal feedback will be given if asked, as well as written feedback on tabroom

Hello, my name is Ayrah and I am a sophomore student in high school. I have debated public forum for three and a half years, and this is my second year of judging debates. That being said, here are a few of my preferences/tips for when it comes to a round:

1) I don't take crossfire into consideration unless you bring up what was said in your speeches. So, if you managed to get your opponent to slip up during a crossfire or perhaps you answered/rebutted their questions/points cleverly and really want to showcase that to me, you should include it in your summaries, final focuses or rebuttals. Be weary not to drop any arguments.

2) I don't mind if you talk fast, just don't spread. I will time you but I also recommend you time yourself to be able to know when and how to pace yourself.

3) Weighing is very important to me, because your weighing is pretty much selling your arguments to me. I would like to see weighing in the summary and especially final focus, and I wouldn't mind seeing it in rebuttal speeches as well. But don't make your weighing just one sentence such as "We win on scope because we affect more people because [insert basic response]" etc. I'd like to see you elaborate on your weighing because again, that is a big part of what sells your arguments to me. In addition, when you state your contentions during your first speech, I need to know why your reason for or against an argument matters because again, you want to emphasize that your contentions matter (impact) and aren't just a list of pros or cons. Also, make sure you don't have any defensive arguments or else you have little to no impact.

4) I prefer the use of a framework but make sure it isn't anything like "If we prove to you that the pros outweigh the cons we win" because that's rather obvious and so it ends up being a waste of a few crucial seconds.

5) I recommend you use your prep time wisely and not let it go to waste because it is given to you for a reason. Writing on the spot can be very stressful (trust me, I'd know), but if you learn to maximize your prep time, it will gradually make things easier for you.

I hope this doesn't come off as intimidating! I am no perfect debater and I've definitely had my moments both in the spotlight and in moments I wish I could forget when it comes to debate. Just because I might be older or have debated longer doesn't necessarily mean that I am much better than you. I am just using my debate experience over the course of the past few years to try and provide any insight I can to help you improve, and of course, to try to be a fair judge. With all that said, I wish you good luck!

General Info:

Call me Vega!

SHE/THEY

Proud Boriqua Educator and Artist

Middle-School Debate Coach at John D. Wells, MS. 50

Full time Paraprofessional in Brooklyn, NYC

Debate Career:

ACORN Community High School 2012-16: Policy Debate

Coached Leon M. Goldstien from 2016-17

Judging Policy and Public Forum from 2015- Present

Judging LD from 2018- Present

Judging Congressional and Speech from 2019- Present

For the majority of my debate career I was double 2s, and later became 2N, 1A.

Overall Rules and Expectations:

I do not count sharing evidence as prep unless you take a century.

I believe that judges are NOT supposed to intervene in round under any circumstances, unless in the case of an extreme emergency.

I shouldn't have to tell you be respectful or to not use hateful, racist, ableist, sexist, or homophobic language. If I hear it, I will automatically give the ballot to the other team. ABSOLUTELY NOT TOLERATED.

Some may think petty debaters or debaters with attitudes are amusing or cute, I don't. Treat your competitors with respect or it will affect your speaker points.

Judge Philosophy:

I believe that it is my responsibility as the judge of the round to remove any pre-existing notions or biases from my mind on whatever topic you chose to debate over, and act as an objective observer who decides whether or not the AFF is a good idea. Unless told otherwise in the round, this is the perspective I default to.

Minimal expectations are the following: If the NEG does not provide any DAs to voting AFF then I will vote AFF. If the AFF does not prove that the AFF is better than the status quo and has an actual solvency method, then I will vote NEG.

It is in your best interest (speaker points) to go far beyond these basic debate expectations. I'm generous with speaker points if you keep me engaged and make sure I understand you, they usually range from 27-29.5

I don't have any specific preference when it comes to argumentation and I will vote on virtually anything you want me to if explained well, but DO NOT assume I know anything.