I'll send you a SpeechDrop link.

Experience

Rounds judged on this topic: 0
Disregard any topic specific info throughout my paradigm, it refers to a past topic.

Rounds judged on 2020-21 topic: 1
- Washburn Rural

Debated at Lansing High School in KS for 4 years
Debated 1 year at KU
Senior at University of Kansas
Assistant Coach for Lansing High School for ~3 years

General—

I’m a few years removed from debating now, so I'm not as fast at flowing as I used to be. You can read fast on cards, but I’d recommend you go at a moderate pace for tags/cites and theory arguments. Moreover, it would be advisable for you to explain your framing for the round a bit more than you normally would; odds are, you don’t want me trying to unravel the round for you, especially since I’m not particularly familiar with the literature on this topic.

If I feel that a team is intentionally personally attacking the other team (e.g. sexism, racism, repeatedly shouting at the other team, generally making the space feel unwelcome or unsafe for anyone else, etc.), I will drastically dock your speaker points on the first offense. If such behavior continues, I will vote you down. If you choose to continue to the point where the other team is visibly uncomfortable and/or upset, you will lose the round, get 0 speaker points, and I will find your coach. I would hope that no one reading this would act in such a fashion, but I want to be upfront about how seriously I take this issue.

If you’re going too fast or you’re unclear, I’ll say “clear” raise my hand on the zoom call.

Don’t be too rude, I’m not afraid to dock speaker points. I get that sometimes it’s unavoidable.

Generally tech over truth.

Read what you’re good at and explain why you should win. If you do that better than the other team, you’ll win the round.

Specifics—

Case

Extend your entire internal link story, not just your impacts. Explain the specifics of your solvency mechanism -- there are so many different ones on this topic, and I don't want to misinterpret your aff.

DAs

Are pretty dang terrible on this topic. Give me lots of impact calc and turns case. Since most of the DAs on this topic have the same or similar impacts as the aff, explain why I should prefer one internal link chain over the other. I don’t just only want to hear about the impacts in the 2NR - that leads to messy debates that are very difficult to adjudicate.

CPs

Read whatever CPs you want. I don’t care if they are completely cheating, if the aff doesn’t make a theory arg, I’m not gonna intervene. That being said, I have a pretty low threshold to reject the arg on “that CP is cheating”. Especially on this topic, I tend to err against process counter plans.

If you're gonna make a judge kick arg, make it in the block or in CX if the aff asks. Aff teams - ask this in CX of the 1NC.

Ks

You need to prove a link to the aff or their reps/epistemology. Explain what your alt does and give a clear framing as to how I should evaluate the K vs the aff. I'll vote on floating PICs, but make it clear that you're running one. I am most comfortable with neolib/cap, security, and some subset of anti-blackness Ks, but generally assume that you need to explain your warrants more than you normally would.

K Affs

Justify why you don’t have to defend the topic or a plan text. I probably err toward framework. I’m not your ideal judge if you don’t read a plan. I'm a little unsure as to why, perhaps neg teams being poor at framework debates, but I disproportionately vote for affs that don't read a plan. I'm a lot more likely to vote for affs with arguments about exclusion to weigh against framework than things like Baudrillard.

T

I’ll vote on in round and/or potential abuse. I'm pretty persuaded by predictable limits args on this topic since it seems like there are no real limits on the topic. Give TVAs and caselists. Go slower on T - my flowing is a little rusty and the internet will eat some of your words.

Theory

I’m probably not gonna vote on theory unless you're weighing it against T. In that case, explain how your theory args interact with the impacts of T, otherwise I'll end up having to make potentially arbitrary decisions when writing a ballot. I will reject an alt/CP/perm etc. based on theory if you're winning it and evaluate the round as such.

Ask specific questions pre-round or email me at zachatkins21@gmail.com

Caroline Erickson

cm.erickson2521@gmail.com

I'm somewhere in between a lay and a flow judge these days: I did policy debate, but it's been quite a while. I cannot emphasize this enough—don’t spread. I will not be able to keep track of the round if you do.

Kritiks: Your arguments must be understandable to someone unfamiliar with your literature--I will say, my grounding in fem/gender/queer theory is decent, but still, you want to be going really slow and careful in front of me, no matter what the K.

K Affs: I'm willing to hear a K Aff, but you do risk losing me in the framework debate. See the above about unfamiliar literature.

Disads/Case: Pretty much all the usual fare for DAs and case arguments are fine by me, including generic links (within reason).

Evidence: It should be good, it should support your arguments, and if the other team’s ev does not support their arguments, call them out on it.

Counterplans: I'm EXTREMELY rusty on CP theory, so make sure you make your theory arguments are VERY clear if this is what you're going to try and win on.

Theory: I value theory in the debate, and will listen closely to it. In-round abuse needs to be reasonably proven, and potential abuse will probably be hard to win in front of me, unless you can explain really, really well why this team’s actions don’t hurt your ability to debate, necessarily, but do still hurt the debate space in possible rounds that aren’t actually happening right now.

Topicality/FW: I’ll be entirely honest, I love a good T debate and, while I’m less familiar with FW, I will still listen carefully and enjoy it. These both will play a big role in my decision making process. Again, potential abuse as a voter will still be difficult to win.

DO:

• Create clash. Make my job easy!

• Frame in terms of offense and defense. Whichever team has the most offense by the end of the round is the team I will vote for.

DON’T:

• Be rude.

• Steal prep.

LD Paradigm

I did LD a couple years in high school, but 1) I’ve been out of high school for two years now, and 2) the LD circuit in Kansas is pretty small and not the most competitive. With those things in mind, your best approach in front of me is SLOW, above all else, and more in the vein of traditional LD, if you can. LD is about deciding an ethical question, not passing a plan, and I will approach it as such.

I judge on an offense/defense paradigm, so make sure you’re articulating why your offense trumps your opponent’s and why your defense holds up against your opponent’s offense. Basic stuff, I know, but I want to make it clear.

For any theory arguments, assume I have no prior knowledge, because I don’t for LD. See the theory section under my Policy paradigm for further information.

Emory ‘24

Washburn Rural ‘20

Email chain: gkessler222@gmail.com

Tech > truth, but arguments need warrants.

Being rude/condescending will earn you very low speaks.

I won't adjudicate issues that occurred outside of the debate.

T USFG: I'm very good for T against K Affs. Fairness is the best impact. I also like clash style impacts.

Ks: I'm also very good for Affs with plans and extinction impacts against Ks. I generally believe Affs should get to weigh the plan.

T: I don’t have extensive topic knowledge so will need more explanation. I enjoy these debates more so when they include substantive engagement, and less so when they include a contrived, unpredictable interp.

CPs: Not a huge fan of generic process CPs.

Theory: Conditionality is generally good, but I can be persuaded otherwise.