Email Chain:tjbdebate@gmail.com

Assistant Coach at College Prep. Debated at Damien High School (2016-2020).

There are very view things content-wise that I actually have major predispositions about in debate. I do have some biases about some arguments but those are mitigated by clear judge instruction and impact comparison. I mostly desire to judge rounds with explicit ballot writing, line-by-line argument comparison, and impact calculus at the top of each part of the round. I know this sounds obvious, but I believe that the current state of debate is too centered around cloud clash and proliferating warrantless claims and hoping that the judge can resolve it themselves without explicit instruction.

My philosophy is simply that I will flow and listen to every part of the debate and evaluate it given the instructions of the 2NR and 2AR. Absent those instructions, I will try to reconstruct the debate as I saw it and make a decision based on how I view arguments which in many ways can frustrate and upset teams who fail to meet that minimum standard of argumentation. I do not mean this to be a warning but rather a reminder that debate is a communicative activity and that just because it sounds good in your head doesn't mean that is how it was conveyed to me.

Good line-by-line debating means extending not only a central claim and its supporting warrants but also giving some type of comparison between arguments that extends beyond publishing date and author qualifications. There must always be a focus on isolating good warrants and extrapolating how those should be impacted out compared to the opposing arguments. Without this very fundamental concept, debate turns into a comparison of monologues without genuine and effective clash, thus removing value from the activity. If in doubt, the "they say, we say" model is the best and most effective way to attack the line-by-line.

I reward teams that flow, signpost, and clearly segment the debate into identifiable arguments. Speeding through blocks all the way through the 2AR does nothing to influence my ballot and makes me rather upset since it just seems like a reading contest instead of contextual and reactive debating. I try to flow on paper without looking at my computer so the burden of communication is on the debaters. If you are not clear or are spreading to blocks at unchecked speed, you may be upset at my decision since I can only evaluate what I have on my flow. I am human and will make mistakes but I usually do not miss anything of great consequence on my flow but that still requires you to be clear and concise.

Below are some argument choices that I have specific thoughts about:

K-Affs vs. Framework -

I have voted for both sides in these debates. I really couldn't care less about what the 1AC is about. I prefer there to be some link to the topic but if you can a reason why there shouldn't be one then my feelings are irrelevant. Fairness is not a terminal impact to me. In most rounds, the negative just says that is an intrinsic good and that is about it. I think there procedural fairness is good because it can lead to discussions of the topic or solution based dialogue, but on its own there have been no compelling reasons why it is independently good. I am much more persuaded by framework arguments like topic education good, state engagement good, consequence-based clash good, clash and agonism good, and skills good since those have the capacity to effect real world decision making more. I have voted for fairness but I think that it more just seems like whining instead of a genuine call for resolution of cheating, given that there has probably never been a perfectly fair debate ever. I've voted on it because the aff has been technically behind but in closely contested rounds, I think I have a more aff leaning record against fairness. Honestly, if you want to go for this argument I don't mind because if you can win it on the flow then none of my thoughts matter, but if the aff is doing their job well, I won't just check out on it.

Microaggressions -

I would prefer that this argument be reserved for when there have been in-round incidents of interpersonal violence on the basis of identity instead of calling an argument serves as offense against you this. I have plenty of reasons why but the main two are this: 1. If a microaggression has occurred I will probably know that it has and my role has shifted to being the only adult in the room with young students and I will prioritize everyone's safety over the result of the round. I do not think that real instances of violence or aggression can or should be litigated with the power of the ballot. If this happens in a round, I will not hesitate to tell tab and the coaches of both teams what has happened since you all are students first and foremost and competitors second. I think the tab solves argument should resolve any other questions. 2. I think that calling procedural arguments microagressions trivializes true forms of violence in an attempt to win a ballot. This should not be the A strategy because it utilizes real forms of violence and creates what I believe to be a false equivalence with arguments that set a limit to discussion. I think that framework can be criticized for bracketing out content but those arguments are distinct from microaggressions.

Please put brand@responsible.com and lowelldebatedocs@gmail.com on the email chain

Long, long, long ago; back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth, I was a regional finalist in High School impromptu and parli.

Now I am merely a parent judge and no longer have a dinosaur to ride, so instead I judge IE and Parli (and now Policy).

SQUALS 2023: I am a lay judge and have been judging debate for four years (two years for policy). Please, please, please don’t spread. I’m not going to vote on anything completely absurd like squirrels not having proper scuba gear leads to extinction. I will try to be as tech > truth as I can be, but my biases in terms of truth will probably influence decisions even if I don’t intend that to be the case. I have expertise in 5 areas of science and engineering.

Please read an actual plan in 1ac. We are not here to debate about the value of debate or try to attach metaphysics to real and important earthly problems.

Topicality: I will understand topicality and vote on topicality if you can prove that their plan has made the debate significantly unfair.

Kritik: Don’t run these with me, they’ll confuse me and I’ll mark against you for them if I’m confused.

CP: Love counterplans, bonus points if they are unique and well explained.

DA: Please don’t read some generic link, make the link specific to the aff, and make sure to explain impact link chain clearly.

Case: Love case debate, if you can prove you know the aff better than the affirmative does and then prove its a bad idea I will be very impressed and give you good speaks.

Cross-X: I flow cross-x, don’t be overly aggressive or rude, it will reduce speaks. Strong cross-x which will increase speaks include: any question that highlights a missing link in the argument or an inconsistency in the argument.

+0.1 if you tell me what your favorite dinosaur is before you speech

In IE, I particularly look for

* good transitions

* cohesion (does it sound like a single talk instead of unrelated series of short monologs)

I strongly dislike when the enthusiasm to show emotion interferes with diction and severely treble shift voices.

In Parli,

* I have difficulties when people speak too fast. (Especially if it is faster than my pet dinosaurs used to run.)

* I am generally not persuaded by "theory" in Parli.

Email: anusat02@yahoo.com

I'm a parent judge and I am new to policy debate. Please, no spreading. Speak at a conversational speed.

I am tech > truth.

I do pay attention to cross-ex.

Explain your arguments clearly. In the rebuttals, you should tell me why exactly you win. You should essentially be writing my ballot for me.

Please have a fair debate. Debate is an educational activity and it should be enjoyable.

Please include this in the email chain: lowelldebatedocs@gmail.com

This is my first tournament ever so please, please, please go slow. I will not understand anything if you start spreading and run 10 off :/ I don't know anything about the topic so please explain clearly what your arguments are.

4 years of debate at James Logan High School, 1 Semester of debate at Binghamton University

At James Logan, I was a straight up policy debater, and at Binghamton, I was a straight up performance debater

I have judged high school debate on the 2014-2015 topic, the 2018-2019 topic, and the 2022-2023 topic

Top level: Frame the round. First, what am I? Am I a policymaker, am I an educator or am I a critic, what IS the role of the judge? Second off, what is the role of the ballot? What does my ballot do? Third off, why should I prefer your arguments over theirs? Framing arguments WIN rounds.

Performance affirmatives and negatives: I LOVE THESE! Dance! Blast music! Rap! As long as you have offense against your opponent and can win and can defend your arguments, do as you please!

Framework against K/performance affs: I would like reasons why pretending to be a policymaker or policymaking in terms of this topic is specifically good and has benefits over their model of education/model of debate

Counterplans: These are ok, I would love to see a straight turned counterplan though on the aff

Disadvantages: These are ok, I would love to see a straight turned Disadvantage though. on the aff

Kritiks: These are ok, I would like to see a straight turned Kritik though on the aff

For performance affirmatives: If you aren't defending a type of binary, I would highly suggest you watch out for this binary good, and this paradigm of analysis is better for analyzing our world type of arguments.

I like when performance affirmatives are engaged with other Ks, instead of just topicality/framework. I debated for Binghamton so I saw lots of performance vs performance rounds.

I also like BINARY VS BINARY rounds, so like black/white binary vs radical feminism male/female binary

I also haven't debated a while, so try to go slower or not spread at all. If you do spread, be slow on your tags, or just include me on the speech doc.

I am a parent judge with no formal judging experience. Please do not spread. I have limited topic knowledge so please explain all terminology. My email is juliedeford123@gmail.com. Good luck to everyone!

Hi

I’ve never judged policy debate I’ve judged speech in the past please dont Spread my email is anakellerw@gmail.com

be respectful and kind and don’t forget to have fun

I judge based on the arguments presented, not on my own convictions. Apart from listening to first affirmative and negative constructs carefully, I pay close attention to cross examination, rebuttals, and timings before voting.

I am based out of East Bay, California.

I have been judging for past 8 years (in fact earlier than that).

I am the father of a debater in policy from Dougherty Valley High School. I judge in policy and LD with 2 tournaments of experience. I award speaker points based on how clear and understandable you speak, so please make sure I am able to understand what you are saying. I make my decision based on the reasoning of your arguments, and I also pay more attention to your rebuttal speeches, but this does not mean the constructive is disregarded. When I take notes on the debate, I write down the general argumentation, but not too much detail. For cross-examination, I pay more attention to how you speak than what questions are asked and answered, but this does not mean that you can say whatever you want.

Debate coach. 3 year state qualifier with a focus in congress/extemp/public forum. I tend to focus on logic and argumentation first and foremost. While I appreciate good delivery, it won't overshadow analysis. I will be flowing the debate, so framework debate and dropped arguments will be noted. Try not to speak too fast, I can't give you what I can't flow.

Please give special attention to your closing speeches. Crystallize/summarize the discussion so that I can make sense of what is on my flow. I will not penalize you for every little dropped argument if they are ultimately extraneous to the debate, so please try to prioritize what is most important in the round.

I prefer moderate speed while speaking. I vote for speaking clearly and convincing arguments.

Hi my name is Daniel Nguyen and I'm a parent judge for James Logan High School. Some key things to know before going into the round:

I prefer everyone to speak with clarity rather than forced speed.

I look for clear and straightforward arguments with strong evidence.

Make sure to always be respectful in cross.

I am a parent judge with some topic knowledge, but limited Policy Debate experience.

jokmin@gmail.com

First, I do not believe in spreading.  Please do not spread in a round with me.  If  you want to have better contentions, please choose better evidence, not pack more evidence in.  

I am fine with topicality/theory, but do slow down for the interpretation and standards for me to have sufficient time to write it down. 

I understand basic kritiks, but please nothing with too high theory.  Keep it simple though and make sure to slow down for role of the ballot args and the alt.  

The best arguments are the regular plan/CP args.  I would prefer these, but feel free to use whatever you want.

If I do not understand the argument or if it is not extended, I will not vote for it.  Explain everything thoroughly and focus on content, not amount.

I debated for 4 years in policy at Head-Royce as a 1A/2N and went for the K on both the aff and the neg for my last 3 years. I now debate at UC Berkeley and only go for policy args.

Put me on the email chain:

rileyreichel@gmail.com

please name the chain something reasonable.

for online debates, please try to have your camera on. speaking into the void feels weird

Do what you do best. This paradigm is short because I will vote for almost any argument so long as it is won in debate. I know everyone says this but I will try my hardest to stick to the flow and judge as objectively as I can. I have also realized I tend to make faces when I like or do not like something.

That being said, it's inevitable I get something wrong. If you think that's the case, feel free to post-round and argue with me. I find it not only fun, but also a good learning tool.

I default to judge kick, conditionality, and generally think inserting rehighlightings is good. Each of these go out the window when someone makes an argument against them in the debate.

Tell me if you want to stake the round on an ethics violation, otherwise debate it out.

Some paradigms to look at to better understand the way I view debate: Larry Dang, Nathan Fleming, Nick Fleming, Katie Wimsatt, Emilio Menotti, Archan Sen, Taylor Tsan, Molly Urfalian, Buck Arney. Their paradigms are better than mine and they taught me everything I know (except Buck who I taught and take zero responsibility for when he inevitably makes the wrong decision).

extra .1 speaks for references to old/current Cal debaters

I am an engineer by profession and non-native English speaker. I would prefer arguments that are clear and logical. I want to see quality over quantity. Your body language and speech delivery speed and style will make a difference. Good Luck!

My name is Oliver Suarez and I am a parent of a student in a speech and debate team.  I started judging debates last year when my son entered the debate competitions.  I have judged oral interpretation and policy debates.  

As a judge, I prefer to judge debates without spreading so I can listen more accurately to the information.  But if spreading is preferred by the competitors it is fine with me as my preference is more to the benefit of the competitors.

I have judged public forum for two years (parent judge). Please send your speech docs/cases to me at mail2piri@gmail.com so I can follow your speeches easier.

Voting:

I require judge instruction, so please include things like voter issues in your speeches. Act as if you're writing the ballot for me.

Do a good job responding to arguments. I look at arguments that are dropped, and how much of your opponent's arguments you could properly respond to.

I take cross into account. Please take into account the quality of your questions and answers.

Delivery is very important, act confident.

Speed: My preferred rate of delivery is conversational speed.

Things that I like in rounds:

1) Signposting: please signpost throughout your speech. If I can follow your arguments, it will be easier for me to vote for you. Also, please give me a brief order before your speech (ie my case, their case, weighing) and please stick to that order.

2) Numbering your arguments: another thing that makes it easier for me to follow your speech.

Lowell '22

Cal '26

Email Chain

Policy: lowelldebatedocs [at] gmail [dot] com

LD: tsantaylor [at] gmail [dot] com

Policy

Lay Debate: I'll evaluate the debate as a slow round unless both teams agree to go fast. Adapt to the rest of the panel before me.

Topicality: It's the negative's burden to prove a violation. I will vote for either, obviously depending on technical debating, but I am more persuaded by precision/predictability than debatability offense.

Counterplans: Tell me whether or not I should judge kick. Advantage CP planks should have rehighlightings or solvency advocates to be legitimate. Deficits should be clearly impacted out from the 2AC to the 2AR for me to vote on them.

Disads: Turns case arguments, aff-specific link explanations, and ev comparison matter most for me. Logical, smart analytics do just as much damage as ev.

Ks: Most familiar with cap/setcol/security/IR Ks. I evaluate framework first to frame the rest of my flow. Contextualization to the aff, turns case analysis, and pulling lines from the 1AC are really important for the link debate.

K-Affs/KvK: I have the least experience judging these debates. "As the negative, recognize if this is an impact turn debate or one of competing models early on (as in, during the 2AC). When the negative sees where the 2AR will go and adjusts accordingly, I have found that I am very good for the negative. But when they fail to understand the debate's strategic direction, I almost always vote aff." - Debnil Sur

Theory: Condo is good.

LD

I primarily judge LD but I've never competed in the activity and don't coach the specific tricks/phil arguments, so I am not a good judge for them. I am really unlikely to vote on the activity-specific theory arguments, like RVIs.

Explicit judge instruction and good impact calc/comparison go a long way for determining how I vote. This is especially true when you're aff, given the speech times.

Your speaks will be lowered for stopping prep and THEN putting together your speech/card doc, or for egregiously asking what was or wasn't read after your opponent's speech.

Misc.

I usually don't read evidence at the end of the debate unless debaters explicitly tell me to and send a compiled card doc.

Read whatever you want - if an argument is truly so bad that it shouldn't be debated, you should be able to beat it with zero cards and three sentences. However, if you read an argument that your opponent specifically told you not to/said not to on their wiki or become actively violent in the round, auto-L.

+0.1 speaks if you make fun of a Cal debater, Cal coach, Debnil Sur, or Jessie Satovsky and I laugh

I am a parent affiliated with sonoma academy.

Do not assume I know anything about the topic so explain any terminology that isnt inherently clear

I have a long background in business administration

State qualifier 2023 is my first tournament judging

Here as an open book to listen and judge

Lowell '20 || UC Berkeley '24 || Assistant Coach @ College Prep || she/her/hers

Please add both kelly@college-prep.org and cpsspeechdocs@gmail.com to the chain.

Something along these lines for the subject line would be great: Tournament Name - Round # - Aff Team Code [Aff] vs Neg Team Code. Please make sure the chain is set up before the start time.

Background

I debated for four years at Lowell High School. I’ve been a 2A for most of my years (2Ned as a side gig my junior year). Qualified to the TOC & placed 7th at NSDA reading arguments on both sides of the spectrum. My comfort for judging rounds is Policy vs. Policy ~ Policy vs. K ~ Clash Rounds >>> K vs. K.

I learned everything I know about debate from Debnil Sur, and I talk about debate the most with Tristan Bato and Ian Beier.

Most Important Things!

Tech >>>> truth and I'll vote on anything as long as it is debated well. I do not hold any firm thoughts about any argument, I will vote for anything as long as there is a claim, warrant, and impact.

I think debate is a communicative research game that can impact student subjectivity. I have found that rounds that are the most frustrating to judge and have to rely on intervention are those in which debaters fail to write a ballot and impact arguments out in the 2NR/2AR. If your strategy is to proliferate as many arguments as possible in the 2NR/2AR without framing how I resolve core controversies of the debate, you'll find yourself unhappy with my decision because my biases may come into play. My biases for certain arguments can, and certainly has, been beaten by good debating. The answer to the question of "how did you evaluate [x argument]" should be "the way that you had instructed me to do so in the final rebuttal". If I don't have an answer you like, you likely did not impact it out or do enough judge instruction for me, and I am unwilling to piece together for you what you wanted the implication of the argument to be.

I am unwilling to use my ballot to take a stance on anything that happened outside of the round (I guess the only exception would be disclosure). Things like call outs that require me to "punish" a team for behavior that I did not witness are a non-starter -- happy to allow you to end the round and take it to tab if you feel like your safety is at risk.

Microaggressions:I fear I have lost the plot with teams proliferating accusations of microaggressions. I interpret microaggressions as a form of interpersonal violence that occurred between debaters within the round, and it should be distinct from questions of whether forms of scholarship or procedural norms can cause psychic violence writ large. I have felt very uncomfortable having to evaluate a few debates now in which both teams have accused each other of committing microaggressions, and will continue to feel uncomfortable having my ballot serve as a referendum on accusations of interpersonal violence within the round. If you strongly believe a microaggression has occurred that requires me to stop the round, I am willing to do so and help mediate accordingly with adults from your school who are responsible for your well-being.

2024-2025 Round Stats:

Policy vs. Policy (14-19): 42% aff over 33 rounds, 40% aff in a theory/T debate over 5 rounds

Policy vs. K (2-7): 22% aff over 9 rounds

Clash (1-2): 66% neg over 3 rounds

K vs. K (3-0): 100% aff over 3 rounds

Sat once out of 13 elim rounds

2023-2024 Round Stats:

Policy vs. Policy (11-20): 35.93% aff over 31 rounds, 22.22% aff in a theory debate over 9 rounds

Policy vs. K (5-2): 71.43% aff over 7 rounds

Clash (2-3): 40% aff over 5 rounds

K v K (1-0): 100% aff over 1 round

Sat once out of 13 elim rounds

Disads

Not much to say here - think these debates are pretty straight forward. I start evaluation at the impact level to determine link threshold & risk of the disad. My preference for evaluation is if there is explicit ballot writing + evidence indicts + resolution done by yourself in the 2NR/2AR, I would love not to open the card document and make a more interventionist judgement.

CPs

Default to judge kick. If the affirmative team has a problem with me doing this, that words "condo bad" should have been in the 2AC and explanation for no judge kick warranted out in the 1AR/2AR.

The proliferation of 1NCs with like 10 process counterplans has been kind of wild, and probably explains my disproportionately neg leaning ballot record. Process/agent/consult CPs are kind of cheating but in the words of the wise Tristan Bato, "most violations are reasons to justify a permutation or call solvency into question and not as a voter."

I think I tend to err neg on questions of conditionality & perf con but probably aff on counterplans that garner competition off of the word “should”. Obviously this is a debate to be had but also I’m also sympathetic to a well constructed net benefit with solid evidence.

Ks

Nuanced link walls based on the plan/reps + pulling evidence from their ev >>>> links based on FIATed state action and generic cards about your theory.

Very bad for post-modernism, simply because I've never read them + rarely debated them in high school. If you have me in the back you need to do a LOT of explanation.

Better for impacts like clash rather than fairness on framework. Generally, I think the internal link to clash > the internal link to fairness because I'm not sure Ks of reps skew the 1AC so much that are at a significant disadvantage. I am more persuaded by the argument that mooting most of the offense in the 1AC decks clash, which is usually a good internal link turn to the neg's offense.

Planless Affs/Framework

For the aff: Tying your criticism to the topic >>>>>>>> saying anything in the 1AC. I’ll probably be a lot more sympathetic to the neg if I just have no clue what the method/praxis of the 1AC is in relation to the topic. I think the value of planless affs come from having a defensible method that can be contested, which is why I’m not a huge fan of advocacies not tied to the topic.

For the neg: Procedural fairness is harder to win for me as compared to other standards - I think to win this standard you would have to win pretty substantial defense to the aff’s standards & disprove the possibility of debate affecting subjectivity. The way that most debaters extend it just sound whiney and don't give me a reason to prefer it over everything else. Impacts like agonism, legal skills, deliberation, etc are infinitely more convincing to me. Absent a procedural question of framework, I am just evaluating whether or not I think the advocacy is a good idea, not that I think the reading of it in one round has to change the state of debate/the world.

Topicality / Theory

Impact framing & explicit judge instruction is the most important thing in these debates!

Ethics Violations/Procedurals

I don't flow off speech docs, but I try to follow along when you're reading evidence to ensure you're not clipping. If I catch you clipping, I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you don't know what you're doing. I will give you a warning, but drop you if it happens again. If the other team catches you, they can stake the round on an ethics challenge.

Questions of norms ≠ ethics violations. If you believe the ballot should resolve a question of norms (disclosure, open sourcing, etc), then I will evaluate it like a regular procedural. If you believe it's an ethics violation (intentionally modifying evidence, clipping, etc), then the round stops immediately. Loser of the ethics challenge receives an auto loss and 20s.

Evidence ethics can be really iffy to resolve. If you want to stake the round on an evidence distortion, you must prove: that the piece of evidence was cut by the other team (or someone affiliated with their school) AND there was clear and malicious intent to alter its meaning. If your problem isn't surrounding distortion but rather mistagging/misinterpreting the evidence, it can be solved via a rehighlighting.

Online Debate

Please don't start until you see my camera on!

If you're not wearing headphones with a microphone attached, it is REALLY hard to hear you when you turn away from your laptop. Please refrain from doing this.

I would also love if you slowed down a tiny tiny tiny tiny bit on your analytics. I will clear you at most 3 times, but I can't help it if I miss what you're saying on my flow ;(.

Lay Debate / GGSA
I actually really appreciate these rounds. I think at the higher levels, debaters tend to forget that debate is a communicative activity at its core, and rely on the judge's technical knowledge to get out of impacting out arguments themselves. If we are in a lay setting and you'd rather not have a fast round when I'm in the back, I'll be all for that. There is such a benefit in adapting to slower audiences and over-explaining implications of all parts of the debate -- it builds better technical understanding of the activity! I'll probably still evaluate the round similar to how I would a regular round, but I think the experience of you forcing yourself to over-explain each part of the flow to me is greatly beneficial.

Public Forum

I've never debated in PF, I will evaluate very similarly to how I evaluate policy rounds.

I despise the practice of sending snippets of evidence one at a time. I think it's a humongous waste of time and honestly would prefer (1) the email chain be started BEFORE the round and (2) all of the evidence you read in your speech sent at once. Someone was confused about this portion of my paradigm -- basically, instead of asking for "Can I get [A] card on [X] argument, [B] card on [Y] arg, etc...", I think it would be faster if the team that just spoke sent all of their evidence in one doc. This is especially true if the tournament is double-flighted.

If you want me to read evidence after the round, please make sure you flag is very clearly.

I've been in theory/k rounds and I try to evaluate very close to policy. I'm not really a huge fan of k's in public forum -- I don't think there is enough speech time for you to develop such complex arguments out well. I also don't think it makes a lot of sense given the public forum structure (i.e. going for an advocacy when it's not a resolution that is set up to handle advocacies). I think there's so much value in engaging with critical literature, please consider doing another event that is set up better for it if you're really interested in the material. However, I'm still willing to vote on anything, as long as you establish a role of the ballot + frame why I'm voting.

If you delay the round to pre-flow when it's double-flighted, I will be very upset. You should know your case well enough for it to not be necessary, or do it on your own time.

Be nice & have fun.

email chain/contact :youngmammabear@gmail.com

im not new to policy debate, but i havn't judged since 2014. please don't spread. i will do my best to judge you, tech>truth for the most part. please be patient with me! do your best and have fun, debate should be educational so treat it as such!

I am a parent.

Please speak slowly and clearly, English is not my first language but I will try my best.

I am very interested in debate. If you are able to clearly explain your argument to me, I will vote for you.

If I cannot understand you, then you are most likely not gonna win.

One argument I can understand is probably more important than 10 arguments you think you are winning on.