Creekview Winter Extravaganza
2022 — Carrollton, TX/US
Congressional Debate Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideLD Paradigm- I compete in nfald currently so I like to encourage kids to have fun and do what you like in round all that I ask is that you're nice and please extend~~~
PF Paradigm- I currently coach Public Forum at the middle school level, and I'm the most familiar with this event because I competed in it the longest in High school and have consistently been in public forum judge pools since 2017. I don't really care what you go for in round especially at the varsity level, I just don't want progressive arguments being ran strategically so that your opponent doesn't understand what you're doing and making the debate a wash especially whenever they're done poorly, so please be willing to be flexible and make rounds as simple or complicated as they need to be. That being said I try and keep my voting reserved to whatever the is established in the round regardless of my own opinions. Don't make me do any work in terms of judging the competitors should be telling me how I need to vote.
Congress paradigm- I want chambers to be run by the debators as much as possible I don't care about much as long as you dont go over alotted time I'm very flexible on augmenting nit picky things for the sake of convenience just dont spend 20 minutes going over things. Typically I recommend just defaulting to the rules but settling things quickly via majority vote is also okay as long as the ruling is fair.
I'm a doctoral student, policy analyst, and freelance journalist. My focus is on education policy, but I have worked professionally in a number of fields, including history, political economy, IR, and sociology.
PF:
Vote mainly off of framework and understanding of concepts. I keep track of the round, but I'm not a flow-heavy judge. It's your responsibility to tell me what was dropped, the impact of what was dropped, and why it's a voting issue. I'm fine with speed, but please don't spread. Not a fan of theory, ks, or plans/counterplans. Shouting cards at me won't guarantee you a win.
LD:
I am as traditional of an LD judge as traditional gets. My interest is in seeing debate in which alternative viewpoints are presented on a philosophical basis. I'm fine with speed, but spreading will guarantee you minimum or close-to-minimum speaker points. I vote mainly off of the value-criteria debate. Not a fan at all of theory, Ks, or plans/counterplans. I'd rather you not use them, but if they're well-constructed, I'll at least listen. Also, since this has come up lately, I couldn't care less that your opponent didn't share their case with you before the round.
Congress:
Be nice to others please. I'm very much a traditionalist. I'm less interested in empty words and fluency than I am in real policy proposals. Tell me your ideas and why they're good. If you craft a well-constructed argument that makes sense, I don't really evaluate how many fluency breaks you had. "Gotcha" questions get old after a while (that's what clash in your speeches is for), further the debate with your questioning. I'm a fan of friendly questions.
INFO/OO:
While your speaking style is important, I'm much more interested in what you have to say. As such, I'm not going to give you the 6 just because you had more than two fluency breaks. Commonly-used topics and gimmicks become less interesting after a while. I like to hear topics that are unique, interesting, and thoughtfully-presented. Try to avoid subject matter that is too political, as you don't want to alienate me as your judge.
Extemp:
I used to be a journalist, so keep in mind that I'm generally aware of current events. If you say something that's factually incorrect, I will point it out and it will affect your overall score. I'm much more worried about your content than your speaking style. Focus on creating well-constructed arguments — as long as I can understand you, it's not important how many fluency breaks you have.
Other IEs:
Focus on telling a good story first and foremost. As long as the narrative, the characterization, and your blocking are crisp, you have little to worry about from me. If you're doing PO, PR, or POI, don't just read from your book — make sure you're keeping eye contact with me as your judge and the audience in general.
I am primarily an interp coach. If I am judging you in debate, please do not assume I know anything about the resolution or any of your cases. I will judge based on who makes the best argument, with warrants and supporting evidence. Be clear about what you are arguing and why you are winning the debate. Speak clearly and confidently, do not be rude or condescending.
Good Luck!
I debated at Princeton, TX and I'm a CXer by trade, though I've been judging often for the last five years since I've graduated so I know my way around all the other formats. I am a "games" judge so I accept anything and everything so long as I've been given proper reasoning. If nothing fancy goes on I default to a policymaker position. "Conservative" and "Progressive" styles are equally valid in my book.
My three top level principles:
- Framework is King: I cannot evaluate something like American Hegemony vs Human Rights without being given a philosophical underpinning on what's a higher concern. Framework is not an end unto itself, but to be used as a tool for establishing priority of impacts. I highly recommend both sides run something on this.
- Competition over Truth: As a judge, I want to intervene with my own knowledge and logic as minimally as possible because that's your job as the debater. As long as you get the technical performance down 80% I can be flexible on the remaining part.
- Evidence Quality over Quantity: I'm less interested in the number of cards read and more in the reasoning of how they come up with the conclusion in the tagline. I'll only intervene here when there is disagreement on what's written. I understand there are cases when a good argument for the situation cannot be prepared in a card so I accept analytics within reasonability. On areas of significant clash I give it to the side that delves deeper into the warrants. When the competing claims slide over each other, I may end up evaluating it as a wash.
One more request: when you invoke innovation, please elaborate what you mean by that. It's the biggest, most annoying buzzword in all of speech and debate.
Onto the line by line:
Speed - I can accept it as long as it's intelligible. If you get to the point where you're wheezing substantially I'll tell you to clear up. Slow down on taglines and authors. If you spread on analysis and they aren't written down on the file, then I can't guarantee I'll have them down on the flow.
Topicality - I take a layman interpretation on what ought to be topical so my threshold is rather high. That said, the affirmative must still have a good technical performance in their answer.
Theory - It's okay with me, though I think it's of a lower priority than material issues and mostly evaluate it as a tiebreaker.
Turns - Link turns, impact turns, and case turns are all very powerful, but please substantiate what's going on materially. There's nothing more confusing than when both sides claim they subsume the other.
Counterplans - The viability of a CP lies in the net benefit that's established. Mutually exclusive plans are the clearest for clash and competition. I accept PICs but there better be a good reason that the aff can't perm. Unless otherwise specified or kicked, I view CPs as part of the negative's world advocacy that can be held against them. Running multiple CPs or CP and K may obfuscate the neg's advocacy, but it's up to the aff to point that out.
Case - If offense is lacking or well defended I often let the affirmative access the try or die argument. I'm not strict on case architecture on either side, but stock issues will always be fundamental and we can't forget that.
Disadvantages - On economic related impacts, the way to break beyond surface level claims is to actually tangle with competing economic theories. Is the Keynesian, Neoclassical, or the Marxist school most accurate on the scenario regarding recessions? I don't know, you tell me. On politics, I think you're obligated to read political capital theory or else it's easy to defuse with thumpers, but I don't accept that you can fiat out of it. Generally I value strong and specific links when it comes to the impact calc.
Kritiks - I can follow along with the theory, though if you start using buzzwords and jargon you'd better be able to elaborate on that. If you run a K you should understand it well on a conceptual level. Like disads, specific links and contextualization to the aff are very important. On the aff side, I'm willing to follow along with K's bad theory, counter-kritiks, and really all bets are off here.
Send the email chain to yashkhaleque2@gmail.com, I'm also available for questions and case advice.
Experience: I am a parent judge, and have judged Congress and PF debates.
Please send your cases to saumilpandey1@gmail.com so I could follow your speech better and assign speakers points accordingly.
My expectations as a judge:
- Speak clearly (speed is okay, but you must be understandable)
- Layout your links and impacts clearly.
- My vote would be based on well laid out links and their impacts.
- Dropped arguments will be considered conceded.
- A few well-developed arguments prove more persuasive than a larger quantity of arguments.
I value the structure, data, and analysis. Use examples or qualified opinions and then give me your analysis of the evidence...why does your evidence matter...how does it fit.
I am a high school science teacher and speech and debate coach. I've coached speech and debate for 9 years. I competed in speech and congressional debate in high school, then some speech in college. I am very passionate about the power of communication. Above all, it is extremely important to me that you articulate and enunciate well. This can still be accomplished with reasonable speed. Take care to explain your arguments well. I strongly prefer constructive speeches with resolutional analysis, framework, key definitions, and a standard that I can use to weigh arguments. I should have a solid understanding of what you think are the most important issues in the round. Please use voters! If you want me to vote on it, please make sure it is in your final speech and explain it thoroughly so I can understand it.
Arguments
Argue on logic, not emotions. Construct well-impacted, well-supported arguments. Quotations have no meaning without explanations. Therefore, always explain the significance of your evidence. The debater that most clearly presents a logical argument AND effectively refutes the opponent will be the victor.
Evidence
I may ask you to post your case or cards, if a virtual tournament. I may call for cards if your opponents ask me to, if the card is widely disputed during the round, or if it sounds exceptionally sketchy. According to NSDA rules, you can also access the Internet during round if you need to show your opponent the full citation.
Speed and Flowing
Anything below spread speed is fine. If you go fast, you should: SLOW DOWN when using tag lines and signposting. Give clear citations. Make sure you tell me where you are on the flow (off time roadmaps). Please look out for physical cues if you are speed-talking. If I look visibly confused or if my hand isn’t moving, that’s probably because I can’t understand you. While I don’t flow crossfire/cross-ex, I’ll remember anything exceptionally witty or smart you say. Make sure you repeat anything significant from crossfire/cross-ex in your next speeches. Rebuttal speeches should be well organized. Please go straight down the flow.
Behavior
Don’t be mean. If you’re mean, my brain will naturally find a way to vote against you. Being assertive is valued. Being aggressive is unnecessary. There is a difference between a passionate debater and an abrasive or condescending debater. Crossfires/cross-ex needs to be conducted with civility. You can be civil and still have clash in the round. I enjoy good clash.
Specific to LD
My judging paradigm for Lincoln Douglas (LD) Debate is a clash of values. The value represents a means to an idealistic, just world. The criterion is the standard by which to measure the opposing value and to ultimately define the value that should be upheld. The contentions are used to uphold the value. Impact all your contentions back to your value. Value, criterion, and contentions must be clearly stated by both sides. Therefore, the debater that upholds their value and criteria with the strongest contentions and strongest cross examination will receive the higher points, thus (generally) the win.
Speaker Points
30: Excellent job, you demonstrate stand-out organizational skills and speaking abilities. Ability to use creative analytical skills and humor to simplify and clarify the round.
29: Very strong ability. Good eloquence, analysis, and organization. A couple minor stumbles or drops.
28: Above average. Good speaking ability. May have made a larger drop or flaw in argumentation but speaking skills compensate. Or, very strong analysis but weaker speaking skills.
27: About average. Ability to function well in the round, however analysis may be lacking. Some errors made.
26: Is struggling to function efficiently within the round. Either lacking speaking skills or analytical skills. May have made a more important error.
25: Having difficulties following the round. May have a hard time filling the time for speeches. Large error.
Below: Extreme difficulty functioning. Very large difficulty filling time or offensive or rude behavior.