Competition/Coaching History:

Competed in the Coast Forensics League for 4 years— mostly in league competition. I'm now at Stanford. I have the most experience with public forum and policy.

Judging Philosophy:

- I'm very unfamiliar with this year's topic.

- I personally don't like spreading, discourage it, & think it's bad for debate/the accessibility of the activity, but I can follow spreading decently well as long as tag lines are being properly emphasized and it is relatively clear.

- Tabula Rasa, so always give me a way to judge the round. That being said, I think impact calc (like actual math e.g. multiplying the magnitude by the probability of the impact) is utterly nonsensical. If I'm not given a framework on how to vote, I'll default to policy maker.

- I'm not super familiar with policy theory (condo, in-depth topicality, etc.), but am willing to vote on theory args if they're explained well. Same with K's

- I won't call for evidence unless the particular card has become a point of contention in round.

Parent Judge - 2nd year of experience

Important Information

1. Professional Behavior (Eye contact, don’t smoke or chew gum)

2. Clear and Slow speaking

3. Evidence Quality and Comparison

4. Stick to policy/Larp. I probably won’t understand extremely obscure arguments.

I will judge by the stock issues, as well as speaking skill and communication.

Affirmative team should state the stock issues in terms of topicality, harms, significance, inherency, and solvency, in detail.

Negative team, do not drop the ball. State the uniqueness, link, impact, and disadvantages.

Please do not overly rely on evidence.

Be analytic! Be creative! State your policy and respect your opponents!

Newbie Coach for ADL

I flow.

I give pretty high speaks if you're nice.

Email Chain: Brandonchen.135@gmail.com

Ask in round if you want to know more about me

I am a parent judge though I have judged Parli numerous times at other tournaments in Oregon and at NPDI last year.

Please speak slowly and clearly and only run technical arguments (like theory) when absolutely necessary and explain them when you're using them since I'm not very familiar with them.

I will do my best to judge you on the merits of your arguments rather than your speaking style. I will vote for the team that is most convincing.

Please be respectful to your opponents and have fun.

Include me on your email chain: gurrola.victoria@gmail.com

Background:

I competed in policy debate for Claremont High School from 2006-2010. I enjoyed running K's. I was a volunteer mentor coach and judge for the Bay Area Urban Debate League from 2011-2015. I have a masters in Public Policy from Mills College. I taught first grade for the last three years in Oakland Unified. I've only judged at a few tournaments over the last few years as teaching took up most of my time.

I am fine with speed. However, my ear is not as trained as it used to be. Please slow down for taglines and theory arguments. If I miss something because you were going to fast on a bullet point, it can hurt you. Argument quality over quantity is always better.

I am open to hearing all kinds of debate. Just as happy hearing a k debate as I am a cp/da debate. I do believe that the aff has an obligation to affirm the resolution. I don't think that K affs need to have a plan, but you need to have some connection to the topic. Tell me how the debate should be framed. If you're going to run a K I need to have a clear understanding of how it specifically links to the aff. I am less likely to vote for a generic K with a broad link.

PLEASE do not assume that I have read/am an expert on any of your K arguments. YOU have the obligation of explaining your arguments. If I don't understand your argument then I can't vote for it. I have no issue with voting you down on something that you didn't clearly explain to me. For K debates I've found myself much more compelled in debates where I am told the roll of the ballot/judge. I don't believe that debate exists in a vacuum.

Don't be rude or condescending to your partner, opponents, or me.

i use they/them pronouns!

Add me to the email chain! tonyhackett (at) alumni.stanford.edu

Chances are if you're reading this, you're up late deciding where you should pref me or you already have me in the back and you're frantically trying to prep and look and see if I'll be down for what you want to read. To save you the time -- I'm probably fine with it, and the tldr; of my philosophy is that you should feel comfortable doing whatever you're best at.

If you want to read the more long-winded version of my debate background / personal style / my methodology for adjudicating debate rounds, read below.

I debated for C. K. McClatchy High School in Sacramento, CA, and Stanford University ('20). I did the whole TOC thing my senior year and qualified to the NDT my freshman year. I'm currently affiliated with C. K. McClatchy/Nevada Union and St. Francis High School (Mountain View, CA).

I'll try to keep this brief --

Ultimately, my goals are to try my hardest and vote for the team who won the debate, no matter who they are.

If i have the pleasure of sitting in the back of the room and watching you debate, here are some pieces of advice --

Do what you do best. I'd rather see a well-debated counterplan and disad debate (if that's what you want to do!) than a poorly executed attempt to appease me based on my argumentative preferences in high school. If you're asking yourself at this moment whether or not I'm fine with the arguments you're planning on reading, the answer is almost assuredly yes.

Critics that I most respect are: Sarah Lim, Mimi Sergent-Leventhal, Kevin Hirn, Jarod Atchison, John Spurlock, and Sam Haley-Hill, Taylor Brough, Brian Manuel, Shanara Reid-Brinkley, Syndey Pasquinelli, and Brian McBride.

When I go about deciding debates, I try answer a series of questions. Primarily, if both teams win all of their arguments, who wins the debate? Is there a major execution error? Is there a team lacking offense on any given position? Has either team won an impact framing argument by virtue of execution or evidence? Is there significant argument interaction? Once I have found answers to these questions, I've likely decided who won the debate.

That being said, here are some specific thoughts.

K affs -- I think Kevin Hirn said it best when he said " Despite some of the arguments I've read and coached, I'm still sympathetic to the framework argument (especially in high school). I don't presumptively think that topicality arguments are violent, and I think it's generally rather reasonable (and often strategic) to question the aff's relationship to the resolution. For what it's worth, I would generally prefer to see a substantive strategy if one's available, but I understand that often framework is the best option (especially in certain circumstances, like when the aff is new or you're from a school with a small research base).

I typically think winning unique offense, in the rare scenario where a team invests substantial time in poking defensive holes in the other team's standards, is difficult for both sides in a framework debate. I think affs should think more about their answers to "switch side solves your offense" and "sufficient neg engagement key to meaningfully test the aff", while neg's should brainstorm better responses to "other policy debates solve your offense" and "wiki/disclosure/contestable advocacy in the 1ac provides some degree of predictability/debateability."

I'm interested (and invested) in both sides of the framework debate, and have about a 50/50 record voting both ways. Being inventive, smart, daring, and responsive will win you major points, as it seems like I judge mostly clash debates, and the prospect of listening to a decaf state good/reform bad debate seems unfair.

Disads/CP's -- I love nuanced counterplan/disad debates. Explain the mechanism for your counterplan and slow down on the text. I'm persuaded by presumption arguments insofaras you win a turns case argument or are winning some hard core terminal defense to the aff. I love intrinsic offense and well-prepared stategies over generics with poor evidence quality. Disads with plan specific links are for real.

Topicality -- I used to think that Topicality was incredibly trivial, but after having debated in college and seeing some of the downright wild things that policy aff's can try to get away with sometimes, I think it's an essential argument for the negative arsenal. You should explain your internal links in the context of the aff and have external impacts. Ask Jordan Foley.

I think evidence comparison is a job of the debaters, but I'll call for it if there is a technical question that comes down to how the ev reads or if there is a concern about the validity of args made in the evidence by the debaters where a large portion of the debate rests.

If you've made it this far and you're still not sure if you should strike me, maybe seeing what args I currently read in college can provide some insight:

https://opencaselist.paperlessdebate.com/Stanford/Prabhu-Hackett+Aff

https://opencaselist.paperlessdebate.com/Stanford/Prabhu-Hackett+Neg

Have fun!

Hello Everyone!

As stated above my name is Maria Jose, you can also call me MJ. I am originally from Bogota, Colombia and moved to the U.S at the beginning of high school. I debated for St. Vincent De Paul and have been judging at high school debate tournaments over the last couple of years. I am currently the assistant coach for Lowell High School.

Please include me on the email chain mjlozano96@gmail.com

(Avoid flashing, it takes too much time)

I am open to any arguments but please do not be offensive or disrespectful. I am familiar with both policy and K styles, however, I am not very familiar with high theory or obscure K’s.

I expect you to be well versed on whatever arguments you choose to run. It is your role to write the ballot for me. You should tell me how to evaluate the debate. I think framing is really important in any debate.

Preferences:

1. Do not heavily rely on your evidence. Reading cards is important but there is way more to a debate than that. Whenever you extend a card, remind me why it is important for the purpose of the debate.

2. I love good overviews and analytics.

3. Discourse is important.

4. I will not vote on T, unless you substantially explain to me why it is a voting issue. Similarly, if you run a CP you must convince me that it is competitive and has a net benefit.

5. Line by line debate is a must along with good sign posting.

6. K aff’s: I like them. You do not have to read a plan text, however, I do prefer if the AFF is related in some way to the resolution.

7.K’s: You must be well versed on the lit.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me!

I flow everything straight down on paper.

I actually think framework is a good argument, but in the way that I think it pushes K args to defend some of the fundamental aspects of their arguments - reform, legal solutions, the state, progress, liberalism, traditional forms of politics, etc. I think these are the important aspects of framework. Procedural fairness is an impact and not one that I love, but it's a means to an end. You still have to win some kind of terminal impact to framework, otherwise we're just playing a technical game of checkers. Give me a reason to care.

Affs get perms. You need a link to your K anyway. That should make it so the perm is unable to solve the impacts of your criticism. But they still get to make the perm argument so that that aspect of the debate is tested. I get it, it's a method debate. But I super want you to have a link that says why their method sucks.

Example: direct revolutionary praxis vs strategic, opaque resistance. There are a ton of flavors of these methods, but at their roots they are competitive and produce good debates.

"Performance" - All debate is a performance. This categorical distinction is arbitrary and I don't like it. Of course you can read a story to support your argument. People do that.

Evidence – I'm going to read cards. I like them. I think cards should be good and well warranted, and I hate calling for cards only to find a good argument was backed up with some lackluster ev.

I am a college student that has judged 11 rounds of Policy Debate.

I like well-researched affs, that can show they have some link to the resolution.

I tend to vote against negs that have nothing to do with the aff.

Email: tynews2001@gmail.com

I participated in four years of policy debate in high school and I debated four years at Western Kentucky University.

I am open to anything and I try to be as tab as possible. Just use warrants in your argumentation, even if it is theory. If an argument has absolutely no warrant and is just a claim, there is a chance I still won't vote on it even if it is 100% conceded. That is to say, if you just say conditionality is bad because of fairness and education, that is a series of claims without warrants, and thus is unpersuasive even if the other team doesn't address it. However, if a poorly warranted claim goes conceded, then I will not necessarily adjudicate the strength of the warrant as it is the other team's obligation to defeat this warrant, and as such I will take the warrant as true unless it is unintelligible or utterly absurd. I will default as a policymaker if you don't put me in a competing paradigm.

When adjudicating competing claims, it is my hope that debaters will engage in evidence comparison. However, if two contradictory claims are made, and no one weighs the strength of the internal warrants of the evidence, then I will likely call for the evidence to adjudicate which claim is more strongly warranted (assuming the argument may be part of my reason for decision). Same goes with topicality. I am 50/50 in voting for topicality, and I default competing interpretations.

If you are running critical/performance arguments, please be familiar with the argument and able to intellectually defend it. My personal preference when I debate is usually policy-oriented discussions and my personal bias is that switch-side policy debate is good, but I don't let this inform my decision in the round. At the same time, I think that non-traditional forms of debate are an important component of the community and have an important message to broadcast, and as such, I have voted for performance affs in the past.

The following is a preference and not a requirement. It is common for me to judge teams running non-traditional forms of arguments and personally be unfamiliar with the literature base. Thus, it is probably in your interest to ask if I'm familiar with a non-traditional argument prior to the round unless you plan to explain it extensively in the round. An argument is inherently less persuasive when the messenger also does not fully understand it, and the debate is probably less educational for everyone involved as a result. In general, I think you should be familiar with any argument you read before you deploy it in-round, but I've found this is more frequently an issue when high school debaters deploy the critical literature base. If I don't think you are familiar with your argument, I won't hold it against you in my RFD (although it will inform my speaker points), but it will probably influence whether you are able to effectively deploy the argument on the flow, where I will vote.

Finally, you should tell me explicitly how the RFD should be written if you win so I can understand your vision of the round. If you do not have ballot directing language, I will use my own judgment to write the RFD, so it is in your interest to write the RFD for me.

I'm currently a student at UC Berkeley and an assistant coach at Sonoma Academy. I debated policy two years in high school and cleared at several national tournaments, so I almost know things. That said, I have been out of the game for a while so...

I will not shake your hands bc germs are real, but it's not personal I promise.

If possible, I'd prefer an email chain to flashing. most times, flash drives take forever to use and drag debates out for too long.

I don't have super strong argument preferences, i.e. I won't reject anything immediately (except for blatantly racist/sexist/transphobic nonsense). That said, I probably do have higher and lower thresholds for certain arguments, which I'll try to lay out here.

Meta-Stuff:

Every argument should be a viable 2NR/2AR option, don't read clearly throwaway arguments just to waste time. you might as well just shorten your speech.

BE INCLUSIVE. if your opponents ask for pronouns, content warnings etc. you should provide them.

I default to offense/defense paradigm to start with, but I can be persuaded otherwise, just make the argument

I believe that my role as a judge is to evaluate the desirability of the affirmative. Take that as you will.

DO THE STUFF YOU'RE GOOD AT!!! Please don't read arguments you don't know just b/c you think they'll make me happy. they won't, and I want to watch you do you, not you do me (weird phrasing but its late and you get it).

Style - you do you. I'm a big fan of jokes, and the will make me pay attention to you more. If you aren't funny though, don't try too hard :)

Signpost/be clear when you transition between cards, I don't want to look at the doc unless I need to read evidence.

I like nature, so make some tree jokes and teach me something new about this planet and I'll be stoked.

I'm fine with speed, but please be clear and limit spitting bc GERMS and it is distraction.

Specific Args:

Counterplans - They pretty cool. I love CP texts that are specified to specific parts of the aff and thing that original CPs (not the states CP) are severely underutilized.

Disads - no reason I wouldn't like them. they go well with counterplans. I don't think zero risk is a thing, but I do think it's easy to win a much larger risk of the aff.

Kritiks - I'm down. I'm well versed in most literature, but that means I also expect you to be well versed in it. And I will notice and evaluate sloppy explanations. That said, I have preferences: Baudrillard and his cohorts are frustrating and offensive, and I'd rather not listen to these debates. If you are going to read high theory, I'll have a similar threshold for explanation. The higher the theory, the higher the threshold. you also should answer questions in CX. MAKE THE DEBATE ACCESSIBLE. Winning debates by being an asshole is not cool and will be reflected in your speaker points.

!!!I do not think that performance in JV debate is a good thing. When executed properly, performance debates are some of the most interesting and important arguments that take place in this community, that being said, in JV debate that execution is not there, and it almost always devolves into some form of name calling or other disaster. I do not care if you are an amazing performance debater, in a JV pool, the chances are low that your opponents are similarly qualified, and I really really don't want to judge a debate that devolves into calling an antiblackness team white supremacist (it's happened and negatively affects the community).

T - default to competing interpretations, but will go either way. Don't read throwaway T arguments. Impact it out. Why does fairness matter?!!

Policy Affs- I'm down. I think that you should be ready to beat the advantage counterplan, and be reasonably topical. solvency advocates are a must - you should have a person that says we should do the plan and have NUANCED WARRANTS.

Non-Traditional Affs - I went to the UTNIF, so I'm familiar with the lit. That said, I have preferences: Baudrillard and his cohorts are frustrating and I'd rather not listen to these debates. Other than that, updating K-aff uniqueness (trump makes state x) is a really persuasive argument, and something I'd love to judge. That being said, I have a very high threshold for pomo nonsense because I tend to think that stuff exists, and really do think that you should have a concrete advocacy statement.

a few arguments I think require more nuance-

I don't understand why debate as a home, or a survival strategy requires you to win ballots. Losing is probably the most valuable thing debate can do for you, because it's loss that educates you and hones your skills. I never felt like I was no longer part of the debate community after going 2-3 at Fullerton.

you must be able to beat the Topical Version- I think that a TVA, even just being able to access your literature takes out almost all of your offense against framework. you should try to provide reasons that topical action (under the neg interpretation) specifically excludes your lit base.

NEG TEAMS - I'll appreciate you a whole lot if you just go for case turns. A lot of times, these affs don't make sense, and you can probably think of a cool way to turn them. obviously don't do it if it isn't a winning strategy though.

Framework - It's always good to know when theoretical or substantive strategies are strategic. Other than that, you should have a TVA, and offense against the counter interpretation.

Pet peeves:

please please please don't ask the other team "what cards did you read". Flow the speech, not the speech doc :)

explain. your. solvency. If I don't know how your aff solves the impacts at the end of the debate, I'll be comfortable voting neg on presumption, and uncomfortable weighing aff offense against framework or literally any other argument, because I don't know if the aff solves. on the flipside, if I do know how and what your aff solves, I will be impressed and very happy with you/very willing to leverage the aff as a reason framework is bad.

speaks -

>29.5 you should win this tournament, I'll probably tell my friends about you

29-29.4 - deep elims, you should do well at this tournament

28.5-28.9 - good, needing some improvement but should probably break

28-28.4 - average

27.5-27.9 - decent, but with some big rhetorical or strategic mistakes

27-27.4 - needing serious improvement

<26.9 you made me sad or said something evil

0 you clipped cards (this comes with an emphatic L)

If you show me that you've posted the relevant documents (1NC opensource, new offense) on the wiki after the debate, I'll give you a .2 speaker point boost because opensourcing is good and should be encouraged. If you don't know how, ask me and I'll help you set up a wiki.

Email me if you have questions and please put me on the chain: dylan.willett8 at gmail dot com as well as taiwanheg@gmail.com. I coach for the Asian Debate League. I debated for UMKC. In college, I mostly went for framework, topic DAs, and an assortment of topic critiques. As a coach I mostly have spent the last year working on random policy stuff, but have spent a lot of time working with critical approaches to the topic as well.

Be bold, read something new, it will be rewarded if you do it well. Analysis of evidence is important. I have found that over the past few years I have grown my appreciation for more of the policy side of research not in an ideological lean, but rather I am not starting from negative with process counterplans, I appreciate clever disadvantages, etc. If you have good cards, I am more willing to reward that research and if you do something new, I will definitely be happy.

I begin my decisions by attempting to identify what the most important arguments are, who won them, and how they implicate the rest of the debate. The more judge instruction, including dictating where I should begin my decision by showing me what is most important will help determine the lens of how I read the rest of the arguments

I find that I am really annoyed by how frequently teams are asking major flow clarifications like sending a new file that removes the evidence that was skipped. Please just flow, if there is an actual issue that warrants a question its obviously ok, but in most situations it comes across as not paying attention to the speeches which is a bit frustrating.

I like good, strategic cross-ex. If you pay attention and prepare for your cx, it pays dividens in points and ballots. Have a plan. Separate yourself and your arguments here!

I am a big fan of case debates that consist of a lot of offense – impact turns or link turns are always better than just pulling from an impact d file.

I think that I mostly lean negative on theory arguments – I would be really sad if I had to parse through a huge theory debate like condo, but am willing. I think I start from a predisposition that condo, PICs, etc are okay, and change based off the theory debate as it develops. I think theory is an important part of an affirmative strategy versus good, and especially cheaty, counterplans. I don't think education is a super persuasive argument in theory debates I have found. Way easier to go for some type of fairness argument and compare internal links versus going for some abstract notion about how conditionality benefits or hurts "advocacy skills".

In framework debates, the best teams spend a lot of their speeches on these flows answering the nuanced developments of their opponents. AFF or NEG teams that just say a different wording of their original offense in each speech are setting themselves up to lose. I am interested in hearing what debates would look like under each model. I like education arguments that are contextual to the topic and clever TVAs and impact turns are good ways to get my ballot while making the debate less stale. I find the framework teams that lose my ballot most are those that refuse to turn (on the link level or impact level, in appropriate manner) AFF offense. I find the K AFF teams that lose my ballot most are those that don't double down on their offense and explain how the NEGs impacts fit in your depiction of how debate operates.

Ks, DAs, CPs, T, FW, etc are all fine to read and impact turn – as long as I am judging a round where there is some attention to strategy and arguments are being developed, I will be happy. Definitely willing to vote on zero risk of a link.

If you keep up with news you will probably receive a winning ballot from me. Please don’t run a case without knowing the most current info on your topic.

Competition/Coaching History:

Competed in the Coast Forensics League for 4 years— mostly in league competition. I'm now an economics major at Stanford, interested in public policy and urban governance. I coach extemp part time at Mitty (CA). I've debated every event at some point, but have the most experience with public forum, parli, and policy.

Judging Philosophy:

- I'm very unfamiliar with this years topic, have only watched a handful of practice debates on it

- I personally don't like spreading & think it's bad for debate/the accessibility of the activity, but I am a flow judge and can follow spreading fine as long as tag lines are being properly emphasized.

- Tabula Rasa, so always give me a way to judge the round. That being said, I think impact calc (like actual math e.g. multiplying the magnitude by the probability of the impact) is utterly nonsensical. If I'm not given a framework on how to vote, I'll default to policy maker.

- I'm really enjoy K debate as long as the debater understands the theory behind the argument and why that theoretical framework is important. Don't run a Queer Theory K without understanding why Queer Theory is so important in the real world. Don't run K's just to win a debate— theory has relevant and personal meaning to real people. I respect debaters who respect that.

- I'm not super familiar with policy theory (condo, in-depth topicality, etc.), but am willing to vote on theory args if they're explained well

- I won't call for evidence unless the particular card has become a point of contention in round.