My name is Val and I would say I have a lot of debate experience. I did policy debate for 1 year in middle school and 4 years in high school. I was a part of the Bay Area Urban Debate League (BAUDL) and went to most national tournaments. I also went to debate camp all four years I was in high school . I was a flex debater so I ran both policy and kritik/performance arguments. I do not have a preference for arguments. I will vote on who did the better debating regardless of what arguments are presented. I try to leave my personal preferences outside of the round.

However, below I've left my preferences/opinions on certain arguments just in case any team is interested in seeing what my thoughts are.

Topicality/Framework:

I ran topicality/framework a lot in high school, it was one of my favorite arguments to run on the negative against K/performance affs. I think that if a team chooses to run this argument or go for it in a debate round it's important to really stress the significance of topicality/framework. If you can convince me that your voters are important in regards to the round and in general debate, I'll vote neg. However, personally I don't believe that T/framework is a voter, it's hard for me to be convinced it is.

K Affs/Performance Affs:

My favorite. I love judging rounds that have K affs or performance affs. The only thing is that you'd have to really break down what solvency looks like in regards to the aff. You'll win me easily on the impacts of the K but you'll have to do the work on proving what solvency looks like for the aff and what spill over looks like.

K's on Neg:

This is also one of my favorite arguments on the neg. I'll usually vote on the K if and only when links are strong and there's a good alternative to the K. As in, you can explain what the world of the alternative looks like and how the permutation fails on the aff's end. I'd also appreciate a good impact calculus as well.

Disads/CP's:

I'm familiar with disads/counterplans but I did not run them as much in high school. Just make sure that you're clear on what the links are and how the counterplan is mutually exclusive in regards to the aff. Not a huge fan of the politics disad, however, if you explain it well and there's clash I could vote for it.

I consider participating in the Urban Debate League an honor and see it as important and meaningful work.

I was born, raised, and educated in Soviet Russia. Despite common belief, critical thinking was part of the fabric of society at the time. I am a starting judge with The Bay Area Urban Debate League (BAUDL), and last Saturday (February 3rd, 2024) was my first time participating in a tournament where I judged four rounds for Middle School debates. I am not new to debating and wrestling with tough societal issues, though. In addition to my upbringing and love for education, I have dedicated the last 18 years to public service and leadership within political, policy, and nonprofit spheres, most recently as the Chief of Staff to an Oakland City Council member and the Chair of the SF Bay Chapter of the Sierra Club. I led and helped pass many pieces of legislation and provided opinion pieces with pros and cons arguments for various ballot measures and board rulings.

My main objectives during the debates are to support students and provide detailed constructive feedback to empower and inspire positive transformation.

Here are the things I pay attention to:

• Present yourself clearly and confidently, and treat your partner and your opponents with respect and camaraderie. If your facial expressions, gestures, words, or other behaviors show contempt or disapproval in public, it is a negative in my scoring system. You can always debrief in private after the debate and discuss what you want to say and do differently going forward. As they say - reprimand in private, praise in public!
• Prepare for your debates! Organize your notes to be able to quickly access them. One of the teams I judged used color to highlight different aspects (thesis, references, answers to potential questions, etc.) of their notes, and I thought it was very clever, allowing them to quickly access information during Crossfire sections.
• Lay out your arguments in a clear and concise manner - using the "contention #1; contention #2; contention #3, etc..." format is helpful to remember and refer back to your arguments.
• Use reputable, current, credible references. If you are expressing your opinion, have a clear and logical explanation, and better yet, use examples to demonstrate and support your viewpoint.
• Please concentrate on talking your position up and less on putting your opponent's position down. Positive campaigning will definitely win me over more!
• How you deliver your arguments is almost as important as what you deliver. Use inflections (a fancy way of saying - the modulation of intonation or pitch in the voice), pauses, rhetorical questions, exclamations, gestures, and other speaking tools to show you care and are not just reading the script.
• While I think emotions are critically important and you should use them as great tools of human communication, please also ground your arguments in facts.
• Most importantly, have fun! You are here because, hopefully, you chose to be. Use every event as an opportunity to learn something about yourself and the people around you. There are no failures; there are learning experiences that you could apply in the future.

Hi, my name is Allen Nesbitt. You may add me to your chain at ahnesbitt@gmail.com. My pronouns are he/him.

I enjoy debate strategy. I am probably on the more traditional side in that I like cases with plans on the aff. That said, I will consider an argument so long as it is coherent and well reasoned. I will weigh a kritik that makes solid strategic sense in the round. I believe that K affs or affs that do not have plans have a high bar to cross on T.

I enjoy the clash inherent in competitive policy debate.

I value creative and new arguments.

I am fine with speed and tag team cx. Speak only as quickly as you can speak clearly. Go slower and OUTLINE your analytics!

I debated HS in Kansas for four years and today I own a progressive political consulting firm based in SF and DC and specialized in opposition research (oppo research = writing 1ac and 1nc blocks about political candidates and issues).

https://www.nesbittresearch.com/about/allen-nesbitt/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/allennesbitt

For all debators:

1. Please stay professional and respectful when talking to your opponents in cross examinations as well as referring to their arguments in rebuttal speeches.
2. Use up all your time.
3. Stay organized.
4. Make room for a productive debate where both debaters can speak.