Traditional LD. Contentions are secondary to the framework debate.

How I analyze the rounds:

First, debate quality as the first consideration (which is typically a wash in upper level open, unless there is a solid framework debate to consider).

Second, framework analysis for internal consistency using my own knowledge and experience as a philosophy professor. If the framework is internally flawed, you will lose. A consistent framework that I find detestable will not be penalized.

Third, anything else, nitpicky things, clear falsities (particularly ones that are foundational to the arguments).

WI have debated 4 years of HS and on my third in college at Gonzaga. I love the 'sport,' and what it does to the community. I give praise to everyone who debates, because it takes a lot of strength to get up there and speak your opinions. I’m a 2n/1a

Updated -- Summer ‘23

Chain? Yes. dawsonnick02 AT gmail DOT com

Please refrain from suicide reps, thanks. If you have questions, ask.

Top level notes is that I was generally a k debater in HS, that being said I am more versed in some areas than others. In college I’ve been a flex team reading both K and policy affs. I think that both some of my favorite arguments and debates are one off k's or one off strats that give args the most amount of clash, shifting the debate in the most fair way(being a small school sucks sometimes). That being said, I try to be a mainly tabu la rasa judge.

The 10 analytics you spread in 2 seconds on theory or otherwise shotgun out is super hard to flow, disperse analytics or actually communicate your argument and we'll be all good. In every other instance speed is not that much of a conern. Please signpost and either say 'and' or 'next' between cards. Strictly flowing off the doc leads to worse debates.

What you probably shouldn't run:

Double win/loss / other rule breaking

Defending suicide alternatives/advocacies(ligotti, schope, others like these are ok) at least give trigger warnings

If you have concerns just don't read the arg.

Theory

T and condo are always voters, and almost never reverse voters. If you drop it you'll lose. Almost every other interpretation is solved by rejecting the argument.

K's

I have a pretty good knowledge on most k lit. That being said, if you have specific questions, you can ask me before round. I'm down to hear whatever you got. Creative K's are epic.

For the Aff specifically. I will judge the aff how to tell me to judge it, and will vote on anything(unless earlier referenced).

We went for a sick werewolves k aff at the NDT in 2023.

Etc.

Rehighlighting need to be read unless it's a single word or similar.

Anything other than policy debate

I'm a blank slate judge that tries to leave all prior knowledge of the topic outside of the room.

I prefer it if debaters spentway more time on comparing the (framework/resolutional analysis/etc) to the other teams. This is, in my opinion the most important part of debate that can shield in or out different teams' offense.

Impact calculus in the later speeches isnecessary to define the most important parts of the round, and if you win it, it should mostly define what my ballot should be solving for.

any other questions feel free to ask me before the round.

Reasoning and evidence

Listening and response

Organization

Expression, delivery and poise

I consider myself a traditionalist. Lincoln-Douglas debate was created for a reason. The intent of debate is to facilitate communication, therefore use of speed should not be the emphasis in this activity. A good litmus test is the following...would Abraham Lincoln have used spread during his debate with Stephen Douglas? No? Then you probably shouldn't either. Exchange of ideas, discussion of which value is superior, respect and civility should be of paramount importance. Analysis and organization is extremely important. The debater in front of me should explain why their analysis is superior and why their value defeats the opposition.

As I noted above, the intent of debate is to facilitate communication. Speakers need to remember, and this is extremely important, that communication is not only about speaking, but it is also about listening. I have seen it happen more times than I can count, that your opponent will give you information to flip against them in the round, and that flip is not utilized. The tough part is identifying that information. Do not be constrained by what is obvious, meaning do not be afraid to ask "what if". Lateral thinking therefore, is incredibly important to consider.

Further, I consider myself a pragmatist. Originally, Lincoln-Douglas debate was designed as a values-oriented platform. This has evolved into a policy-values hybrid so while I will look at a round from a purely values perspective, the values and values criteria have become more of a means/end assertion. The use of real world links and impacts should support your decision. If you are able to demonstrate why your real world analysis/evidence supports your values/values criteria and you set that parameter up front, I will strongly consider that as a voter. I would however note the following:: the links to your impacts are absolutely critical to establish in the round. Off time roadmaps are also important. Organization is absolutely critical. It is your responsibility to tell me where you are on the flow.

Impact calculus is one of the major concepts I will weigh in your round. That is an incredibly huge point to remember where I am concerned as a judge. However, it is important to consider the nature of the impact. This is where the aforementioned links come into play. Of further note, since LD has become a hybrid, I buy off on solvency being an issue as a means to justify the resolution. Those of you who have had me before as a judge know why that statement alone can determine an entire round. In short, back to the point on the "what if" issue I broached earlier, that would be a very good place to start.

I also look at framework. If you are going to run something out of the norm...i.e. counterplan, Rights Malthus, general breakdown of society, etc., you need to make sure your links are airtight, otherwise I will not consider your impact. The two would operate separate of each other if there is no link.

I started my involvement in LD in 1982, I also debated policy from 1980 to 1982, competed in speech from 1980 to 1984, and competed at the college level in the CEDA format in 1985 and from 1988 to 1990, and have been judging since 2014 in the Spokane, WA area. I also judged policy in the Chicago, IL area in the early 1990"s.

In terms of the January/February 2024 LD topic on reducing military presence in the West Asia/North Africa region, I have very unique experience and perspective. I am retired military, retiring in 2014 and having served 4 years active duty in the Navy and 16 years in the Washington Army National Guard including a one year deployment to Iraq from 2005 to 2006 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I saw first hand the effect of what many of you may try to argue. I also attended many briefings from subject matter experts prior to going in country, including geopolitical/economic briefings, etc. I do consider myself a bit more well versed than many judges in this field based on my personal experience. In short, examine your argumentation and analysis carefully. The bigger picture is a major area of focus and as the semester progresses, you will begin to see adjustments based on the feedback you are getting.

A couple of administrative notes. Eye contact is really important if for no other reason, to see how much time you have left. One of my biggest pet peeves is cutting off your opponent during CX. I have no problem annotating that you did so on your ballot so your coach can discuss the matter with you after the tournament. Civility and decorum are important, and I can surmise several of you have had this happen to you. I also do not have a problem with you timing yourself or sharing evidence, provided it does not detract from the overall use of time in the round.

Finally, it is extremely important to remember....this activity can be fun and it will help you in ways you can't even imagine later down the road. Everyone at this tournament, whether they are coaches, judges, your peers, etc...started as a novice. Bad rounds happen. They are a part of the landscape that is debate. This teaches an important life lesson. How do you bounce back from adversity? How do you apply what you have learned to make things better next time?

Remember that the case/argumentation you start off with at the beginning of the semester, will not be what you end up with at the end, provided you do a self assessment at the end of each round. Ask yourself what was supposed to happen. What did happen? What three things went well for you. What three things happened to you that are opportunities for improvement. If you are consistently applying these criteria, and using your coaches/opponents/peers as resources, by default your weaknesses will get shored up. Incidentally, this is a really good life skill as well and can be applied in the real world. Good luck to you going forward!

I did LD for 4 years, there isn’t much that you could throw at me that I couldn’t understand.

If you spread, be clear and tag well or I won’t be able to follow along as well and that might cost you the round if I didn’t hear an argument.

Framework is as important as you make it, if both fall though I will judge based on contentions left standing and how they counter each other. Be civil and have fun. And please impact

If you spread please give me a heads up and if its of the nat quality speed I would prefer you flash me a copy before beginning so I can make sure to follow along properly :)

(I do prefer progressive debate, but debate the way you do best)

I am a flow judge who will judge a round based on how what you tell me to put down on the flow (i.e. what you say in the round). If the flow shows that the debate was about even I will go on to judge the round based off of the arguments made and how well they were refuted by both sides. I am open to all kinds of style when it comes to LD, whether it be progressive or conservative; while I would prefer conservative I won't count going progressive against you as long as it isn't too crazy. I am okay with spreading but it can't be full-on policy spreading and it has to be clear and concise. Also, in terms of judging based off of what was on the flow and the arguments themselves, first among equals in terms of what is being talked about should be the value and criterion, otherwise the debate turns into a version of policy or public forum depending on your style. I will reiterate this in round, but make sure to talk about your value and criterion, I...CAN...NOT...STRESS...THIS...ENOUGH! If I look at the flow and I see that your opponent has talked about his value and criterion and how they are better than yours and so on and so forth, and I see that you didn't do that, you probably aren't gonna win the debate. By that I mean you have a 99% chance of not winning the debate. Best of luck to all tomorrow, can't wait to see ya there!

Spencer Gilbert

P.S. I have done all forms of debate and I did debate for 4 years in high school, so i know what I am doing and I do have experience.

I am a 4 year debater with LD being my primary focus. I am comfortable with any argument you wish to run, but be prepared to defend it. When I look at the round I like to look at the round through the lenses of the value and value criterion and then look at the voters that may be present. Please signpost where you are in the flow, it makes it easier to follow you and if I can’t get it down or get it down in the wrong spot it doesn’t end well for you. I don’t flow crossx but if there is something in there you wish to bring up I will flow it.

im not super big on speed, but I can sorta deal with it. If something is dropped don’t just say oh it’s dropped, impact it and show me the significance of that drop.

Winning my ballot comes down to a few things.

First and foremost this is a game. While I understand doing everything possible to try and win rounds, insensitive/hateful comments or actions towards your opponents or anyone for that matter are not tolerated. They don't contribute to the case and if necessary I have no problem getting tab involved.

To get more into the specifics for LD...

I prefer traditional LD debate. Progressive is fine but I believe that Value/Value Criterion are key pillars in the LD format and that additional level of moral debate is what makes LD different from the other forms. Ultimately, the more work you put into debate the more you can expect to get out of it. Most of the time, the debater that has done more research on the topic will come out on top.

For debate in general...

If a framework is brought up and defended that will be used as the weighing mechanism for the round. Flow is important and typical NSDA rules as far as dropping and new arguments apply to my flow/judging. Anything that has evidence can be ran, I will flow any argument as long as it is well supported (no matter how crazy the idea may sound). At the end of the day my vote should match any reasonable person in the same position. Winning should never come down to a coin toss or a personal preference, simply argumentation. That win should be apparent even if it is not the outcome wanted. Remember debating has nothing to do with convincing your opponent that they are wrong and everything to do with convincing the judge that you are right.

** Please try your best to avoid suicide related topics. If you have anything you need to run to win the round at least give me a trigger warning **

Andrea Moreno - She/her

Gonzaga '25 - 2A/1N

Juan Diego Catholic High School '21- 2A/1N

Add me to the email chain: andream060403@gmail.com

TLDR: Happy to flow and listen to all arguments, but I have more research and skills toward critical topics/debates. With that being said, I rely heavily on the flow and vote on arguments that are warranted and clear at the end of the round. Please tell me why you won at the end of the round. Make it clear to me what you want me to vote for in both the 2NR and 2AR *JUDGE INSTRUCTION*. A lot of my decisions will come from that.

Substance:

Affs- I’m good with anything. My experience is running big stick policy affs, soft left affs, or a K aff.

K affs are fun. Personally, I would like it if they had an advocacy statement or plan but anything is cool with me. This doesn't mean I won't vote for framework on the negative.

Read more on case. If you're not winning solvency on the affirmative, I can definitely be persuaded to vote negative on presumption.

Topicality-

Explain the world of your interpretation and how they violate vs. the world of their interpretation and how that impacts debate both in the round, tell me the specific reason you can't read your DA.

Ks-

K teams that do good line-by-line refutation will be rewarded with speaker points more than teams that have 4-minute overviews. Don't assume I know all the big words that you are going to throw at me.

Tell me what the world of the alt looks like.

Make sure the link story actually makes sense.

Disads/CP's

I love a good DA/CP debate. If the CP solves the aff and avoids the net benefit it's pretty easy to vote on it. For the aff give me specific scenarios of the aff that the CP can't solve. I love multiple solvency deficits in the 2ac. If the DA outweighs the aff TELL ME WHY!! Be clear on the impact calc, and why the aff will clearly trigger the impact of the da scenario.

Additional comments-

be nice and have fun!

this is your debate round, not mine, don't let anything on here influence what you read in front of me

if you have any questions before the round just lmk or email me.

I am a Lincoln-Douglas Debate alumni, having done it all four years throughout high school, and I've been judging since 2018. I want to see clean, well reasoned rounds; this is VALUES debate, and your values should be your highest priority. I care more about how you work within your framework, your opponent's framework, or both, than minor statistical evidence crammed into your contentions. Those matter, of course - evidence matters, it gives your argument teeth - but if you're fixating on that to the exclusion of your framework and the broader scope of your argument, then you are missing the point of the debate form.

So, prove your framework deserves a spot at the table. Show how your opponent fails to uphold it. Prove that either your opponent's framework doesn't deserve consideration or show how you function under it and even uphold it better than them, or demonstrate that your opponent's case/argument doesn't function under their framework.

Other important things:

-I don't like spreading (i.e. excessively fast speaking, to the extent that pauses and emphases are sacrificed in the name of speed). In my opinion, if you're spreading in an LD round, you're in the wrong debate type. LD is about reasoned arguments, not who can cram more into six minutes than their opponent. In addition to the actual argumentation, I am judging you based on your speaking ability, and you abandon all pretense of effective oratory when you spread.

Speaking fast is fine - I can deal with speed, but spreading is a no. I will not flow it. Hustle, don't hurry.

-On a similar note, I am a traditional LD debater/judge. I can keep up with progressive LD to an extent, but if you start spraying jargon you're running the risk that I don't know what you're talking about. I did not do policy debate, where much of it originated from, and so do not assume I am going to know what your jargon means. Explain to me what you are doing, or trying to do, and you'll be fine.

I don't find extinction arguments convincing, both because I find the links tend to be weak at best outside of very specific topics, and because they are overdone and uninteresting. It's the big hammer in impact calculus, and tend to have very little to do with value debate.

Aside from that, speak well, speak with reason, and be polite and kind to one another. Your tournament placing is not worth the enmity of your peers or judges if you are not. Debate is a sport, not a blood sport.

Price: $2.50 adjusted for inflation

Thanks for debating and reading my paradigm. Here it is in no particular order.

4 years LD experience in HS, not real versed in progressive theory. Flow judge.

-As a judge, I want to hear everything you have to say. To weigh your arguments to the fullest, I need a good warrant/justification for them and then access to some kind of harm or impact. What I mean is, I'm not a tabs judge in that I don't like to take an arg you present as fact without a reasoning behind it.

-Respect and good faith debating are important for me. It's totally cool to play to win, be direct and assertive, but no need to be impolite in the way that we go about it. All friends here ideally.

-If you have faith in your argument or angle, even if it's a little cheesy, then imo the debate becomes much more layered as we go because you know the reasoning behind a big picture you're going for. Love to see it!

-Please stay humble in cx and utilize it to the best of your ability. Pointed questions are good, but please don't force a yes or no answer to get ammo for your argument. I never liked being told to only answer yes or no and you probably don't either. I think the main function of CX needs to be clarifying your opponent's position so you can respond accordingly. In that vein, when your opponent sufficiently answers your question feel free to move on to the next. Also, CX questions and answers should be directed at the judge instead of directly at/facing each other.

-Signposting, roadmaps, down the flow speeches, anything to keep the debate flow organized is much appreciated. I flow on paper, typing skills just not on point. So, I know time runs short, and if you can summarize an arg I'll have an easier time getting all the points on the flow. At the end of most debates I look at my flow, prioritize the framework arguments, and then apply those frameworks to the contention level debate. If impact calc wasn't already provided, I'll look to see which points I felt went to each side and weigh them up on the whole.

If you want an argument cross applied or it addresses multiple parts of a case, a quick how and why.

-If your opponents drops/doesn't sufficiently respond to a significant point, feel free to argue that it's conceded in the round and apply that arg/ impacts to the debate. That said, there are instances where it wouldn't be fair to vote on or heavily weigh some tiny argument that wasn't directly addressed. If a case is structured well imo, there's a few main points to focus on and not a laundry list. No hate on the homies running 15 contentions but it's tough to flow.

-Progressive arguments are cool, but please accommodate both me and your opponent in terms of speed and accessibility. I don't have a solid knowledge of specific progressive structure or lingo. That said, meta cases which aren't built on speed/jargon but rather view the resolution or the debate in a different light are v fun as long as they can interact with the opposing case in a meaningful way.

-I love a nice synergy between the value and criterion. Especially where the value is the goal or moral standard and the crit is the lens for achieving that goal.

-Your time is your time, so please don't feel bad or anything if you want to use it to collect your thoughts, breathe, or consult your flow! I believe it's in your interest to take any down time in your speeches, prep, or cx to think or flow as needed. However you feel comfortable presenting is good, I don't bother too much with needing to stand for speeches or how much eye contact you have (even though at least some is nice :D). You won't get less than 25 speaks unless there are major issues or inappropriate behavior.

-Impacts: do 'em? Unless you're not feeling that ig, but an argument has to be pretty convincing or morally compelling to work without impacts imo. I think a good impact plays on the two worlds: what does the aff world look like, what does the neg world look like, and how is one better or worse than the other (especially viewed through the framework). I also think a good impact is well defined and specific, with a clear throughline from the evidence/argument presented to the outcome.

good luck!

Olathe Northwest '22 and current debater at Gonzaga University.

If you have questions about anything, email me at kaelyn.a.w@gmail.com.

General:

I will NEVER vote for ableism/sexism/racism/homophobia good or anything similar, and will vote you down the second I hear it. Do what you're most comfortable with, I would much rather see you perform at your best than try to adapt to me.

Disadvantages:

I think DAs are one of your best take outs on the aff's case. I'm fine with general DAs but if they aren't specific to the case you should have good evidence that clearly outlines the link. I will vote on pretty much any DA impact as long as you compare it to the affs and explain why yours is better and have the evidence to back it up.

Counterplans:

Counterplans should be competitive with the aff. Have a clear understanding of the perms and be able to defend how they are not viable options. If I believe that the CP can be permed I will not vote on it. (if you are aff pointing out logical flaws in the cp is a good way for me to flow it to you). If you are running DAs and a CP together, PLEASE pick a CP that doesn't link to the DAs. As long as you can convince me that the CP is better than the aff I may vote on it.

Topicality:

I fucking love T. IMO the interpretation is an internal link to accessing the impacts of the standards so I most usually default to competing interpretations. I'm sympathetic to fun ways of arguing t such as it being an RVI, so if you understand those args and can defend them I say go for it.

Kritiks:

God I love Kritiks. I frequently run them myself and am familiar with most of the literature behind common ones (Cap, Biopolitics, Critical Disability Studies, etc). I know the general concepts for others like Baudrillard but am not well versed so as a general rule make sure you have clear explanations. Your K should have a clear link to the aff, and I probably won't vote for it if there isn't one. I prefer functional alts, but have no problem with voting for the K as an independent DA if you choose to kick the alt. I find K debates super fun and interesting, so it may be a good choice if you're on the neg.

Framing:

FRAMING. FRAMING. FRAMING. Explain to me why your impact matters!!! This is key for both sides of the debate. If I believe the entirety of the aff and neg arguments because no real clash has taken place then it comes down to whoever has done the better job of showing why their impact is the most important.

Theory:

Don't run it if it's not warranted. I'm not a huge fan of voting on theory, but if the round comes down to it I will vote on it.