As a Lincoln Douglas Judge I am a very traditional judge from a very traditional area of the country. With that, comes all of the typical impacts.

I am not able to flow spreading very effectively at all.

I, very rarely, judge policy, but those would be in slower rounds as well. Because of that, though, I am at least somewhat familiar with K debate, K AFF, theory, CP's, etc.

For me to vote on progressive argumentation in LD, it has to be very clearly ARTICULATED to me why and how you win those arguments. Crystal clear argumentation and articulation of a clear path to giving you the ballot is needed.

Hello, I’m Kristen Fanning and I’ve judged Speech, Congress, and Parliamentary Debate since 2022. Before I go into detail, you can reach me at krisvf14@gmail.com if you have any questions.

I graduated from Upper St. Clair in 2015 and attended Pennsylvania State University (2 years in Erie + 2 years at University Park) to study Toxicology. I graduated with 6 other Toxicology students in May of 2019 with undergraduate research experience in a cancer research/nanomedicine lab ran by the Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Afterwards, I worked at the University of Pittsburgh for 4 years. I spent over 3.5 years in an Acute Lung Injury lab studying sepsis, cigarette smoking, and COVID-19 and certain molecular pathways of interest, such as protein degradation, epigenetics, and cell death in cellular and mouse models. I coauthored 5 publications from that lab (listed below).

Publications:

Li T, Long C, Fanning KV, Zou C. Studying Effects of Cigarette Smoke on Pseudomonas Infection in Lung Epithelial Cells. J Vis Exp. 2020 May 11;(159):10.3791/61163. doi: 10.3791/61163. PMID: 32449738; PMCID: PMC7946338.

Li T, Fanning KVF, Nyunoya T, Chen Y, Zou C. Cigarette smoke extract induces airway epithelial cell death via repressing PRMT6/AKT signaling. Aging (Albany NY). 2020 Dec 1;12(23):24301-24317. doi: 10.18632/aging.202210. Epub 2020 Dec 1. PMID: 33260152; PMCID: PMC7762507.

Li T, Fanning KV, Chen Y, Zou C. PRMT6 Deficiency Aggravates Cigarette Smoke- Induced Airway Epithelial Cell Death Through Repressing PI3K-Akt Cascade. American Thoracic Society International Conference. 2020 April. (abstract)

Li W, Kitsios GD, Bain W, Wang C, Li T, Fanning KV, Deshpande R, Qin X, Morris A, Lee JS, Zou C. Stability of SARS-CoV-2-Encoded Proteins and Their Antibody Levels Correlate with Interleukin 6 in COVID-19 Patients. mSystems. 2022 Jun 28;7(3):e0005822. doi: 10.1128/msystems.00058-22. Epub 2022 May 18. PMID: 35582921; PMCID: PMC9238396.

Deshpande, R.; Li, W.; Li, T.; Fanning, K.V.; Clemens, Z.; Nyunoya, T.; Zhang, L.; Deslouches, B.; Barchowsky, A.; Wenzel, S.; et al. SARS-CoV-2 Accessory Protein Orf7b Induces Lung Injury via c-Myc Mediated Apoptosis and Ferroptosis. Int.J.Mol.Sci.2024,25,1157. https:// doi.org/10.3390/ijms25021157

After losing funding, I briefly worked at Pitt’s Aging Institute, studying ER stress and protein degradation in age-related diseases. I left that lab in 3 months (by my 4th year at Pitt) after realising that management wasn’t fit for me. The ordeal also inspired me to write a book about it to let others know that they’re not alone. In between jobs, I served as a minority clerk poll worker during Election Day of 2023. I finally joined a biotech startup, Imagine Pharma, in late November 2023 and aside from drug discovery research, I participate in Autologous Islet Transplants for patients with Type 1 Diabetes and pancreatitis, and islet isolations for research from deceased donors (who were healthy controls and who had T1D, T2D, pancreatitis, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and even Cystic Fibrosis), under the direction of Dr. Rita Bottino, the Islet Program Director. Dr. Bottino was mentored by Dr. Camillo Ricordi (currently a professor and Diabetes Research Expert at the University of Miami), who invented a chamber and method for researchers to follow during Islet cell preparations for the transplants. Dr. Ricordi used to be a Director of Cellular Transplantation at the University of Pittsburgh and worked with Dr. Thomas Earl Starzl, Father of Modern Transplant Surgery, on optimising Islet transplants back in the 1990s. Not only that, the founder of Imagine Pharma, Dr. Ngoc Thai (also a Transplant Surgeon), used to be a Clinical Fellow of Dr. Starzl. Dr. Bottino’s other mentor, Dr. Massimo Trucco, was also part of Dr. Starzl’s team, and both Dr. Bottino and Dr. Trucco developed the first gene engineered pigs with organs and tissues that avoid immune rejection for xenotransplantation (simply transplanting pig organs/tissue/islets to humans). In fact, that was the basis of the first pig kidney transplant done at Massachusetts General Hospital on the 16th of March, 2024, and certainly my boss, my Islet team, and I were notified by her colleagues there about the procedure prior to the story being released on the news. Dr. Bottino also travelled to Turkey for the 30th International Congress of The Transplantation Society to moderate a seminar relating to xenotransplantations. For isolating Islets whether for transplants or research, I rotate between cleaning (that is separating the duodenum and spleen from the pancreas and cleaning off the fat… yes, part of your gut is still connected to the pancreas at the duodenal papilla… I have to clamp it shut to separate it from the pancreas to prevent any leaks that may lead to contamination) and dissecting the pancreas (occasionally harvesting lymph nodes and pieces of the pancreas for histology prior to cannulating the ducts to inject an enzyme mixture that will begin breaking the organ down), operate the Ricordi Chamber to manually break down the pancreas to separate Islets from the junk cells, and perform islet purification (if needed). Lastly, I’m an Associate Member of the Society of Toxicology and I’m pursuing a Master of Biomedical Science through the University of New England.

Outside of work, I write stories and poetry; learn about history, art, and other fields of science (like Quantum and Astrophysics) for the sake of learning; sew, knit, and crochet; and do long distance running (I did the 2023 Pittsburgh half marathon and 2024 full marathon, and I’m training for the Full marathon to complete in May 2025). For how much of a nerd that I am, I’m particular about facts. If you state something as a fact, you must provide sources and/or evidence to prove it. If you’re using emotion, anecdotes, or personal beliefs to back up a fact, it will be dismissed and not taken seriously. If you were presenting something open for personal interpretation, then I’m open to listening to all sides considering that everyone has different backgrounds. For giving a speech in general, speak clearly at a moderate pace, and enunciate… I’m losing hearing in both ears and currently can’t hear at the pitch of women and children. Make sure you choose your topics wisely because I can catch you if you state misinformation (it happened before). Lastly, relax, do your best, and have fun!

Hi, I'm Casey! I did both speech + debate events as a youngin'. I work in developmental / physical disability care and education.

I'm a big believer that debate is a place where anybody from anywhere can come, view the debate, and understand a decent chunk of what is being said. I try to be as tabula rasa as possible, but have outlined circumstances in this paradigm where that goes to the wayside.

♥ A TL;DR of this Paradigm ♥

Don't spread. Quality of arguments over quantity. Be topical (on the resolution)- I'm fine with K's and the like as long as you link it somehow to the resolution (I'm liberal with this). I'm not the best judge by any stretch of the word- SO, please don't use super dense lingo and expect me to understand it. Explaining dense concepts to me, ESPECIALLY THEORY AND KRITIKS (please and thanks) is necessary if you want me to understand and flow your case.

I don't do email chains.

Tricks debate bad. Unique points good. Being a jerk bad. Positive vibes good. Being condescending big bad. Weighing points good. Extending points good. Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo. Have fun + drink water.

ღ IF I'M JUDING YOU IN PUBLIC FORUM ღ (kinda rare), I vastly prefer on-case, topical arguments that have thorough link chains. The chance I will vote for your K or outright 'progressive' way of argumentation in PF is drastically lower than if I'm judging Policy, Parli, or LD. If you bait a 'heavy-tech' round with a K Aff in PF I will almost definitely tank your speaks unless the other team is entirely fine with this before the round. Arguments in PF need to be easy-ish to digest or it totally kills the 'Public' aspect of it. If you spread in PF, your speaker points will suffer and you'll probably take the L. Sorry not sorry.

♥ ALL BELOW POINTS MOSTLY CONCERN LD/POLICY ♥

Don't spread- it's straight up unnecessary + cheapens debate to quantity > quality. (Woohoo, strike me!) That being said, I'm fine with people speaking faster than 'normal'.

I'm a judge, not a coach. No offense to my team but I don't even know what arguments they're running half the time. Asking what school I'm from and assuming something from that will get you literally nowhere.

Nihilistic/depressing (read; 'pess' arguments) arguments make me fall asleep and fall into the ever expanding void of Lovecraftian horrors that no doubt live in the Hudson Bay (or so I've been told). I can (and have in the past) overcome this bias but, seriously, probably not good to run these with me.

For LD, I don't care how you access your criterion, I just care that you actually access your criterion and that you've linked to the resolution and your framework (dead serious- that's it!). It is not my burden as a judge to flow a point in that doesn't link back to your criterion/value/philosophy if I'm judging you in LD. I value framework debate in LD.

Disclosure theory by itself is boring and I almost will never vote solely for it... unless you're up against a very over the top K Aff, super super constricting topical aff, or super "progressive" argument. I genuinely don't care if you do or don't disclose pre-round unless it's required for the tournament. Linking to T/standards violations/ something else otherwise than just disclosure is necessary for me to flow any kind of Theory like this.

If you can't explain your K, theory, or other tech-y argument without obscure jargon and obscure links to weird one-off heavily tech arguments, you probably shouldn't run it with me. Friv theory isn't funny and makes you seem like a jerk.

Weigh and extend your points (signpost your voters) especially in your final speech.

♥ In Closing ♥

Have fun. Learn. Win, lose, grow. Bring some water. Water is good. Always.

Have a fantastic day, and keep blossoming and thriving in your Speech and Debate adventure!

Regardless of speech or debate, all competitors should emulate good sportsmanship and be respectful during the competition. Examples of what this means:

> Paying attention while your opponent/competitor is presenting. (NOT goofing off on your phone or talking with a friend in the room).

> Being respectful and courteous, whether after a presentation or during debate cross-fires.

Debate Event Specific: Clear articulated and respectful debates. The pace of speaking should not be so rapid that the judge cannot clearly discern arguments being made. Additionally, while debate clashing is key, debate is still an exercise of public speaking, so be mindful of presentation skills.

I’m a traditional judge; framework matters to me because it is the metric by which I judge the round. I can handle spreading.