Logistics…

1) Let's use Speechdrop.net for evidence sharing. If you are the first person to the room, please set it up and put the code on the board so we can all get the evidence.

2) If, for some reason, we can't use speechdrop, let's use email. I want to be on the email chain. mrjared@gmail.com

3) If there is no email chain, I’m going to want to get the docs on a flash drive ahead of the speech.

4) Prep stops when you have a) uploaded the doc to speechdrop b) hit send on the email, or c) pulled the flash drive out. Putting your doc together, saving your doc, etc... are all prep. Also, when prep ends, STOP PREPPING. Don't tell me to stop prep and then tell me all you have to do is save the doc and then upload it. This may impact your speaker points.

5) Get your docs in order!! If I need to, I WILL call for a corrected speech doc at the end of your speech. I would prefer a doc that only includes the cards you read, in the order you read them. If you need to skip a couple of cards and you clearly indicate which ones, we should be fine. If you find yourself marking a lot of cards (cut the card there!), you definitely should be prepared to provide a doc that indicates where you marked the cards. I don’t want your overly ambitious version of the doc; that is no use to me.

** Evidence sharing should NOT be complicated. Figure it out before the round starts. Use Speechdrop.net, a flash drive, email, viewing computer, or paper, but figure it out ahead of time and don’t argue about it. **

I have been coaching and judging debate for many years now. I started competing in 1995. I've been coaching LD debate for the last 10 years, prior to that I was a CEDA/NDT coach and that is the event I competed in. My basic philosophy is that it is the burden of the debaters to compare their arguments and explain why they are winning. I will evaluate the debate based on your criteria as best I can. I can be persuaded to evaluate the debate in any number of ways, provided you support your arguments clearly. You can win my ballot with whatever. I don’t have to agree with your argument, I don’t have to be moved by your argument, I don’t even have to be interested in your argument, I can still vote for you if you win. I DO need to understand you. Certain arguments are very easy for me to understand, I’m familiar with them, I enjoy them, I will be able to provide you with nuanced and expert advice on how to improve those arguments…other arguments will confuse and frustrate me and require you to do more work if you want me to vote on them. It’s up to you. I’ll tell you more about the particulars below, but it is very important that you understand – I believe that debate is about making COMPARATIVE ARGUMENTS! It is YOUR job to do comparisons, not mine. You can make a bunch of arguments, all the arguments you want, if YOU do not apply them and make the comparisons to the other team, I will almost certainly not do this for you. If neither team does this work and you leave me to figure it out, that’s on you.

The rules have changed for LD, however, that does not change my paradigm. The important change to the rules says this - "judges are also encouraged to develop a decision-making paradigm for adjudicatingcompetitive debate and provide that paradigm to students prior to the debate."

The paradigm I'm providing here should not be understood to contradict "the official decision making
paradigm of NFA-LD" provided in the rules.

Topicality is a voting issue. If the negative wins that the affirmative is not topical, I will vote neg. My preference is to use the least punitive measure allowed by the rules to resolve any procedural/theory violations...in other words, my default is to reject the argument, not the team. In some instances that won't make sense, so I'll end up voting on it. Topicality is a voting issue. This is VERY clear. If the negative wins that the affirmative is not topical, I vote neg. I don’t need “abuse” proven or otherwise. Not all of the rules are this clearly spelled out, so you'll need to make arguments. Speed is subjective. I prefer a faster rate (I can flow all of you, for the most part, pretty easily) of delivery but will adjudicate debates about this.

Attempts to embarrass, humiliate, intimidate, shame, or otherwise treat your opponents or judges poorly will not be a winning strategy in front of me. If you can’t find it within yourself to listen while I explain my decision and deal with it like an adult (win or lose), then neither of us will benefit from having me in the room. I’m pretty comfortable with most critical arguments, but the literature base is not always in my wheelhouse, so you’ll need to explain. Particularly if you are reading anything to do with psychoanalysis (D&G is possibly my least favorite, but Agamben is up there too). Cheap shot RVI’s are not particularly persuasive either, but you shouldn't ignore them.

DOF - Cal State Northridge 

 

Competed: 8 years. Critic: 14 years 

Last updated: 9-2-16 (Most recent update: General topic discussion)

 

I had originally said that my judging philosophy is “tabula rasa.” However, judging over the years has caused me to rethink that position somewhat.  I don't think anyone can actually be a blank slate.  So, instead, I have included some ways that I approach debate/debating that may be helpful for your style. 

 

I have noticed I have a hard time hearing debaters in rounds the last couple years, so you may want to go slightly slower than top speed or speak louder if possible during analytic arguments/long K tags if you want to make sure I get all of them. 

 

I tried to be thorough in this judging philosophy (so it is kinda long), but while I competed on the national circuit in college, I am mostly regional these days, so if I missed a question of current significance, please feel free to ask. I haven't judged a ton the last two years (2014-2016), and almost exclusively on the regional circuit, so I am probably less-versed than usual on trends in the activity. What this means for you is that if there is general agreement on the meaning/use/significance of a piece of evidence or a particular theory argument, I may not be familiar. This doesn't mean you shouldn't make/use it, but that you should probably warrant all of your claims and not rely on general community agreement as that warrant. 

 

Role of the Judge/My Preferences

I am an educator outside of debates and view myself as such within debates. I will do my best to comment on how to use our experiences together in debate as a learning experience. As such, don't work to change your style because you are debating in front of me.  I will still listen to any type of argument. I am as comfortable with politics/CP/case disadvantages as I am with philosophical discussions in critical and performance literature.

 

I will do my best to decide the debate how the debaters ask that I decide the debate. What I list below are my default positions, so absent any argumentation on the question, this is where I lean.  This does NOT mean you will automatically pick up my ballot if your argument is in line with my default.  If contested, you still need to win that your argument is true/relevant in the debate you are in, regardless of what I say here.  I often vote against my own preferences.  

 

While I will vote against my own preferences, I have found that I have the most difficulty removing myself from the debate with arguments that say people should be excluded from debates versus debating about the utility/agency/ability of perspectives that people speak from, within, or toward.

I agree that race, class, gender, ability, sexual identity, nation of origin, faith, and a host of other markers of identity have profound effects on our capacity to deliberate, discuss, engage in activism, or recognize, challenge, or otherwise engage our privilege. I see that as a starting point for discussion, not as a warrant to exclude someone from the debate. We participate in a communicative activity. I am happy (or at least willing) to listen to arguments about perspectives that should or should not be included. I will not tolerate arguments that suggest people themselves should be removed from the activity. 

 

Framework/Performance/The Res:  

 

I think that critical, philosophical, and performance based arguments are a valuable component to forensics - which means that I think that both the affirmative and the negative should be able to use critical arguments to generate offense.

 

Does that mean that I value critical arguments OVER more policy-oriented arguments? No. But what it does mean is that I  default to believing that affs should get to use critical advantages to weigh against disads, and that negatives should get to run criticisms against the affirmative.  

 

That being said, you can still have your realism good/PoMo bad debates versus the K. I have voted for “realism is inevitable – your K is idealistic and ineffective” about as often as I have voted for “your war impact claims are inevitable unless we criticize.”  

 

I think a primary problem in a lot of these debates is that there is either no in-depth discussion of method (despite using the words "our/their method"), which leads to (a) no clear articulation by the aff as to what an aff vote accomplishes if we aren't passing a policy - just because you say the words "role of the ballot" doesn't mean you have explained what that role is and/or (b) how the neg arguments turn the aff if they aren't tied to political action outside of the debate as an end goal.  Often, this results in a lack of clash where the aff says they don't need fiat, but don't say what they do need, and the neg says the activism the aff never really advocated will be bad activism.  Some clear discussion of method and function of the advocacy in the round will not only generate clash, but make the resolution of the debate far easier. 

 

It seems to be relevant to let folks know whether or not I read/have read critical theory for fun and/or profit.  I have done both.  My doctorate is in rhetoric, cultural studies, and gender studies, so I have read a fair amount of that literature.  That does not mean that I default towards this lit, or that I am any more likely to value it over other forms of argumentation, just that I am fairly well versed in it.  I actually don't hear as many disads as I would like.

 

My default position is that affirmatives have to defend the resolution. I do believe that topic specific education is good and finding creative ways to be topical stimulates critical thinking. I think it is entirely possible for affirmatives to be critical/perform and defend the resolution.  This year, we should be talking about whether it would be a good idea for the USFG to establish a climate policy to reduce emissions to some degree in the debate. Again, I have voted for aff teams that don't defend the resolution - this is just my default. 

 

Thus, framework arguments on both sides of the debate need to be well articulated and warranted with specific impacts for how I situate myself as a judge/critic/spectator/educator/policymaker. 

 

Topicality:  Interpretations must be well articulated, and voters well explained. Potential for abuse is potentially a voter – debate it out.  I enjoy well articulated T debates, but am often frustrated with the lack of comparison of impacts, or how standards/internal links relate to one another (i.e.: predictability v education).  If you would like to win my ballot on T, explain these types of things. 

 

Theory: I don’t lean one way or the other on theory (Dispo/PICS/etc). I do have a pretty low threshold for conceded theory arguments that are well articulated, and will vote on them if they are there. I will not vote on them JUST because they are there – that is the “well articulated” part. If you are going for theory, you should not be going top speed.  For contested theory I would say I have a medium threshold - not particularly high or low.

 

Disads: I don't tend to think there is 100% defense, but I also can be persuaded to substantially mitigate that risk through both evidence and analytics.  I often lament that there is no discussion of how the disad impacts relate to the case advantages. Generic links and turns can be made specific by analytics/discussion if well articulated - they can also be made irrelevant the same way.  Which is really just my way of saying you should actually debate the link instead of competing over who can read more 2 line cards that are plan-adjacent.  

 

Counterplans: See disads and theory.  I think artificial competition is an argument that has more utility than is currently being used.  I also think that permutations should be accompanied with a text and more nuanced than "do both", but if the neg let's the aff get away with it, so be it.

 

General in-round/deciding issues:

 

Paperless/Prep: While a great idea, paperless debate tends to annoy me. Consider this the "get off my lawn" section of my philosophy.

I think debaters rely too much on the document jumped to them, and not enough on the debate as it is occurring.  I won't be following along on the viewing computer or e-mail chain - I still think it is the debaters' responsibility to speak to me as a critic.  

 

I also run your prep time until the document is prepared, and we are only waiting for the other team to be able to access your speech - so if that is e-mail/Dropbox link sent, or jump drive is out of your computer, your prep time is running until you have finished preparing and are able to speak.

 

As a general rule, I don’t read very much evidence. I tend to read more evidence in out rounds, though not by much  I flow parts of the evidence, and listen for warrants. I think it is the debaters’ job to explain what their evidence says. Merely extending a cite will be ineffective. If you demand that I read all of your evidence after the debate, I almost certainly won’t. I usually call for cards when (a) there is a dispute about what the evidence says (b) I don’t believe the debaters are explaining the evidence/interpretation/plan text correctly (c) there is evidence on both sides of a question that is explained by both teams and I need to resolve it or (d) I want cites. 

 

Similarly, evidence is good, but so are well articulated analytics.  I think we rely too much on having cards for arguments instead of making smart, well reasoned arguments for why something is or is not true. 

 

Interactions between debaters, and between debaters and their arguments:

I can’t stand people being rude or overly obnoxious in debates. If you are too rude or combative, dismissive of the other team, their argument, or their attempts to engage your argument, or generally discriminatory in approach or intent (racist, sexist, transphobic, homophobic, ablist, etc) I will adjust your speaker points accordingly.

 

Tech v truth:I am not totally flow centric - if an argument is answered in the debate, but not necessarily on the particular line that the original argument was made, I will tend to give it to you.  However, that presumes that you have articulated such a response.  While I don't keep a strict hi-tech flow, I will also not connect the dots for you.  If your evidence/analytic answers an argument elsewhere on the flow, or responds to a class of argument (e.g.: Perception links), say so. 

  

Speaker Points:

UPDATED: 12/30/14: After reading other people's philosophies doing prefs for the swing, it appears I have a view of speaker points that is quite out of step with the average. I have adjusted the following section accordingly.

I view speaker points similar to how I view grading. Doing what you are supposed to do on an assignment is a B/B- depending on quality. Doing what you are supposed to in order to win a debate is in the 28 range. Doing work above and beyond what is needed to win is in the 28.5 range, and truly superior work is in the 29 range. Arguments that win, but do so as a result of the other team's failings, or ignoring a reasonable request for accommodation or inclusion may not result in "reject the team", but may result in a 27 or lower. 

 

General - I think that debate is a game and you should be able to use the arguments you want to win the round. With that said I believe that the Aff should defend the political ramifications of their plan and that plan should probably involve the USFG. Critical affs should not discount (ignore) the DA, if your plan, advocacy, goal, whatever would be bad for the world if implemented I don’t want to support it with my ballot.
K stuff – The k is part of a stagey to win debate rounds and even one I used as a debater. I really like good K debate BUT I often don’t think links are specific enough and I often find that teams just assume I know what they are talking about…both of those things are bad and will likely mean that you will lose the debate round. If I have to hear another debate between two "K" teams that both avoid doing anything so they do not link to the K I might have to scream. With that said always assume I have not read the same critical literature that you are reading. Explain it to me.
Speed - I don't care if you go fast or slow but I will tell you to slow down if you are going to fast. Theory: if you want me to vote on it you might want to slow down so I can get it all down.
Evidence - I like to call for evidence but did not that much last year...lets see if energy will be a better topic. I will not call for cards unless they are clearly extended in the last speeches and not as just a block (extend the link, extend the 5th fleet advantage) I will also evaluate source qualifications and would like it if your card said anything close to what you have tagged it.
Theory - It’s just like any other argument, make smart arguments. To be honest I am not a big fan of potential abuse and I think T is about competing interpretations. You should have some kind of offence against theory arguments, not impact turns like T is genocide, but counter interpretations, counter standards and so on. I love when teams put theory on the rest of the pages in the debate round ie. Perm theory, C/P theory, and so on but I often find the reject the argument not the team compelling. RVIs are dumb arguments that novices and new JVers like to make.
Rebuttals – If you have deployed a good strategy and have executed it the debate should come down to the last two speeches. Make sure you are really explaining your arguments in these speeches; tell me why you won and the other team lost. If you are going to go for theory I think that you should either be going for something you can win in under a minute or you should be spending all six minutes on it. Too often in D1 debaters fail to have a rebuttal strategy…don’t be that debater…its all about big picture debate, making smart choices, seeing the connections between different flows and explaining your arguments.
Last thing - Don't be mean to the other team, there is a big difference between making someone look dumb and making someone feel dumb. If you have a habit of doing this you will lose speaker points. D1 specific: it’s a reality in our district that JV and open will often be collapsed and too often open debaters just run over the new JV teams. I get it you want to win and you have the next round on your mind but that is not excuse for beating up on those who are new to JV. Win, I am not saying that you should not try or have a good debate round just try to remember what it was like when you made the jump…lets encourage new debaters to stay in the activity and not push them away by bring rude in and out of debates.

 

2007 – 2008 add-on: I have taken the following from Sue Peterson’s judging philosophy
“Explicit material in debate - Although I am for free speech, I am also a strong advocate for creating non-hostile environments in educational settings. I believe debate is an academic activity that uses the classroom as a laboratory, but it is still a classroom and I am still an educator. Therefore, I am inclined to disallow material in debate that I would disallow in my classroom experiences. I believe that you can discuss certain things without using explicit sexual descriptors and/or explicit language. Although this has not been widespread in debate, I feel its important to let people know that I will consider a request from the opposing team (or from me) to stop the use of explicit material/language to be a signal of discomfort on their (or my) part, and deserving of respect. In the end, if you are going to make such arguments, it is probably a good idea not to prefer me. And if you have me as a judge, I consider this a statement of my discomfort with this material and hope that you would respect that and change your approach.”

 

Just make smart arguments!

 

whatever you choose to argue, be passionate about it.

my threshold for T is really high.  The last argument I want to vote for is T, but I will for purposes of inround abuse/ground arguments, or a compelling argument about future abuse.  In order for me to be convinced of in round abuse T must clearly be the predominant argument in the 2NR, and it needs to be impacted.  I don't want to vote on T for the sake of T, articulate the impacts to convince me T truly comes first.  

framework there needs to be strong articulation of the impacts of choosing to debate/not debate a certain way.  The debate space is what we make of it, I am not moved by tradition.

I hate myself when forced to vote on a k that is not clearly explained.  Running a k for the sake of confusing an opponent is pretentious and unhelpful to advancing education for everyone in the round (myself included). Understand and articulate the ramifications of the issues discussed by your authors.  Do not take those issues lightly. Do not bastardize the life work of your authors.  If you can't explain to me or to the other team how your alternative functions I'll do my best not to vote on it (as an alternative to the squo no, as a case turn yes) 

basically, impacts are just as important to me on T, framework, and theory as they are on case, disadvantage, k 

keep the debate space meaningful, respectful, and engaging.  I'm a single parent of five children, I hear enough petty bickering at home, I'd prefer not to hear more of it in round

most of all thank you for sharing this incredibly rewarding learning experience with me and for keeping me connected to and inspired by the importance of this activity 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am excited to hear what you're excited about. I think this is a place to test ideas and hence, I think you should run the arguments you feel most passionatley about. 

 

If you don't have time to read anymore of this, just know that honestly you should just do you.

 

My preference is for the debaters to tell me how to decide the debate. 

What is my role and why is this a good framing for debate? 

Simply offering a role of the ballot argument is often too little on its own.

Additionally, what constitutes an impact is also probably another good discussion to have.

I try my best to be fair and vote for who mostly clearly explains why they win, this gets more difficult if the debaters don't establish how to do that.

Otherwise, I generally vote for teams that win impact framing, potential offensive turns, and risk/direction of the link-type arguments. 

 

Organization -this is really only important to me if it is important to you. Yes, the organization of your speech makes a huge impact on what I perceive it is that you are going for/think you are winning, but I am comfortable with top down style if that is your stylistic preference.  Know, when you make this choice to reorganize debates I can be more inclined to vote on my gut and what I perceive as the thesis of the 2NR vs the 2AR

 

Speed really doesn't matter to me, but slow debate can be really effective sometimes. In the rebuttals clarity is key, and if you really want me to get something, you should slow down and say it.

 

As a note-I love watching debaters who have fun in round. I am known to laugh a little or make some expressions when I hear things in rounds that surprise me, please don't be thrown off by this as, it is often a good thing. 

 

I love specific CPs and enjoy creative deployment of these arguments. I suppose I just like to see these used as a way to show how deeply you have prepared for this affirmative case. I am less excited about procedural CPs, but will vote for them if deployed well. 

 

The K

This is the literature I am honestly the most involved in. Please tell me how the K impact relates to the Aff impact to make this easier for you to win your K.

Also, permutation debates here are HUGE, the clearer your competition with the aff the better.   

 

K on the Aff ? Go for It! 

 

If Framework is your neg strategy agaisnt the K aff, I am open to this, but I am always looking for how this provides a substantive turn to the aff.

 

The DISAD- Yes, go for these arguments! 1) I am looking for smart impact comparisons to the affirmative. 2) I would like to see how the DA turns the case if you are going for the DA and the status quo as your neg strat. 

 

T/Theory arguments can be really strategic if done well.

I believe one in depth standard out weighs multiple shallow standards.

I am inclined to reject the arg not the team, but can be persuaded the other way. 

Serverance and intrinsicness are probably bad. 

Applications of how your whole argument/strategy apply to theory are appreciated. 

 

Case- I strongly recommended making arguments here. It might be all you need in the 2nr. Case turns, impact defense, and even mini critiques on case are all a good idea.

 

Other Things 

Speaker Points- I generally give between 27.5-28.5. Anything higher means you should you know you were exceptional and anything lower means you probably did okay, but didn't excel in that particular round.

 

Perception can be really important in debate. If I get the idea that you don't care about your arguments, then I probably won't either. 

I believe your extensions should have some depth in the final speeches. Mentioning an author and then moving on does not count as extending an argument. I will not call for the card. 

Glad to answer any questions you have.