Imogene Adams

· Debated for Bravo M.M. High School for about 2 years.

· LAMDL Alumni

Email chain: imogeneadams00@gmail.com

· I enjoy CP and DA debates.

· I don’t mind K debates, but I prefer case debates.

· Spreading is okay as long as your clear and you sign post. Clarity above all else

· SIGN POSTING and ROADMAPS are always important! Tell me where you want me to flow specific arguments, so I can evaluate your arguments as best as possible.

· I do keep track of time, but I prefer ya’ll keep track of it too.

· If at any point in the debate, you are uncomfortable PLEASE let me know, so we can resolve it. Debate rounds should be a safe space, where individuals can freely debate their ideas, without being judged.

· It is also important for there to be RESPECT throughout the debate, and if you are rude I will deduct speaker points. There are respectable ways to get your point across, without creating an uncomfortable debate environment.

Cross-Ex- Tag team is fine as long as no one is dominating cross-ex, because it shows a weak partnership and isn't strategic. If your partner is having trouble answering a question, there is nothing wrong with helping them out. I like when cross-ex is strategically used in the following constructive/rebuttals, this will help distinguish you from your opponent and get you higher speaks. Attack the argument not your opponent.

Prep- I keep track of prep, but you should keep track of it too. Don't steal prep from your opponent, it makes you look unprepared and petty.

Flashing- Flashing shouldn't take very long if your prepared, and if your having an issue let me know so we can figure it out and move on with the round.

Evidence Preferences-

· Evidence is an important part of the debate, so please extend it. If an argument is brought up once and never extended or brought up again, it is a waste of time on your part and I most likely won’t evaluate it at the end.

· If at any point the Aff case is dropped, or no solvency is presented, I will vote Neg.

· When presenting the Aff, use examples to extend impacts and solvency; because it tells me you understand what your reading, and actually want to want to make a positive change. The clearer you make your arguments on either side, the more it works in your favor.

· I have no specific preferences on T, but usually lean towards the Affirmative if no clear violations and explanations are presented.

· As far as THEORY, I will usually lean Negative, if a Framework is presented.

Overall- If the round is respectful and clear everything should fall into place. I love a good debate! If I see the passion and care you put into your arguments, I will know you prepped and took this seriously. Though there may be a lot of pressure, remember your doing this because you like it and it should be an enjoyable experience, so don’t panic! I always give feedback, whether you win or lose there is always something both sides can work on. Good luck!

P.S. You will especially lose speaks or the round, depending on the severity, if racist, ableist, sexist, classist, xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic or otherwise offensive remark is made. Again Debate should be a safe environment where individuals may feel safe in expressing their ideas, without any judgement or discrimination.

Experience: I've been debating in one form or another since 1999. First in HS, than as a CEDA/NDT debater for 5 years. I've been coaching debate since 2005, mostly policy, though not exclusively. I have ran, coached, and judged every type of argument in that time.

Style: It is possible for you to be correct about the wrongness of your opponents arguments, but still be polite towards them. Don't be a jerk. Nice people get better speaker points than rude people. If you are reading a theory argument slow down a touch to make sure everyone gets all the args.

Arguments: I really do not care what arguments you go for. Read what you are comfortable with and impact your arguments. I will typically revert to an offense/defense/disad/advantage to evaluate arguments (especially with theory args). If you want me to evaluate particular arguments different, just tell me. I much prefer for the debaters to control the parameters by which they would like me to judge them and then fiddle with the knobs and levers at their disposal to get the result they want.

Note: Don't assume that I know everything about the topic. Succinct explanations about content I may need to know to make an informed decision will also be rewarded with good speaks.

Notre Dame '21

University of Southern California (USC) '25

I have ran plenty of different things from reading the Horse-trading PTX DA and the Courts CP to a Moten K aff throughout my competitive career. (Notre Dame AK, Notre Dame AY). That being said the way I develop arguments has been heavily influenced by my coaches/judges that I have received feedback from, which includes Christina Phillips (Tallungan), Joshua Michael, Aron Berger, Raam Tambe, Nate Graziano, Maddie Pieropan, and many more.

I was a 2A

I prefer the pronouns: he/him/his

My email is: luka.debate@gmail.com

Online stuff

My internet is not the best so my camera may be off. That means it is your responsibility to ask for verbal confirmation that I can hear you and that I am ready to flow before you start speaking. This is good practice anyways.

Speak slower online. You already know this.

I will clear you twice, and if you still are mumbling at 67230864 words/min, I probably will not flow anything substantive and give a lot of leeway to the other teams answer.

T

I don't know the topic! At all.

Never my strong suit,

This is a huge topic that makes me very sympathetic to innovative T violations. This doesn't mean you can get away with reading bad definitions.

Caselists are important.

CP

Yes.

I like specifc/adv CPs.

If you know Brian Snitman you know how process CPs have been an essential part of my learning of debate. With that being said process counterplans are most likely cheating, you just have to do the work. 90% of teams don't do line by line on the theory debate which is frustrating for me to sort out, most of the time resulting in a negative ballot.

I will not judge kick unless instructed to do so.

DA

Also yes.

Specific links > Generic links -- sometimes that's not possible when politics sucks, but I will be more happy when your link is specific to algorithmic assessments of race or how Joe Manchin perceives native policy.

K

Lots of my neg rounds sophomore, junior, and the last half of senior year were critical arguments. A few that I have gone for are Settler Colonialism, Security, Marx, Agamben, Conquest (Tiffany King). That being said, don't presume I know what your specific theory of power means and how you articulate your specific kritik.

Explain your alt. If it changes too much I will be unhappy.

A dropped floating pik is game over, but I lean towards f-piks are bad.

I will not judge kick the alt unless instructed to.

K-Affs

I read one for a little bit. I feel they can be very strategic as long as you have robust defense to topicality. Again, don't assume I am versed in your lit-base.

FW vs K-Affs

Not my cup of tea. That being said read FW if you wanna read FW

Debate is a competitive activity in which teams strategically research and strategize in order to perform well in a competitive sense.

I presume fairness is an internal link unless and until you explain it as an impact -- what that means is it should be impacted out in a thorough enough way to where I feel comfortable feeling that the affirmative reading a non-topical aff is bad.

Do line by line always, but especially on FW -- If you lose me because you are jumping all over the place I most likely will not catch everything you say.

Theory/Procedurals

Condo is a debate to be had. Don't make your interp arbitrary, but I'm open to anything.

If ASPEC/whatever SPEC arg is an incomprehensible blur in the 1NC and/or you didn't ask for the actor in cross-x this is not a voter. If you have a shell with impacts and warrants, then I will be more sympathetic.

Most other theory arguments are reasons to reject the arg, not the team, but you can convince me of cross applications and what these theoretical violations justify for other aspects of the debate.

If you make an RVI (IDC what activity) I will be extremely unhappy.

Misc.

Be respectful of people's preferences in terms of gender/sexuality/identity/etc. If not your speaks will suffer.

Don't clip. Cheating is bad and makes debate worse for everyone. If you have evidence of clipping/if I catch it, I will take appropriate action.

Make fun/reference my friends if you know them. I will be disappointed if you try and fail. If you do a good job I will be happy.

2AR/2NR judge instruction is paramount. It makes the decision faster and I have to do way less work finding ways out for both teams, and will noticeably improve your speaks.

Events other than Policy:

*Clearly not my cup of tea, so do not expect me to know all of the niche protocol of your event. That being said, I feel a lot of my experience from Policy can transfer towards a fair adjudication of LD, PF, etc. My request is focus on the big picture and good debating, and not the technical nitty gritty stuff.

*To clarify, for Policy, do whatever you literally want

Freshman at lmu

did debate for Damien hs

email for chain -> josephblmu@gmail.com

you can read whatever you want just be clear

make me laugh and ur speaks will be nice

I am a junior at Damien High School.

Here are some good quotes for your enjoyment:

"Your punishment is indian food"- Chris Paredes & Donny Peters

"My prediction for you, Noah, is 1-4"- Chris Paredes

"Where is my red bull"- Brendan Tremblay

"Ayyyyyyy, wassuuuup hooommmmmmieeeee!!!!!"- Nolan de Jesus

"Get out of my chair"- Brendan Tremblay

"Jermaine get out"- Tristan Bato

"That's a dollar"- donny Peters

"My dad crashed our self-driving Tesla"- Nolan De Jesus

*presses the no button*- Chris Paredes

"That 2ar in doubles was pretty fire, am I right guys?"- Brendan Tremblay

"Give me all of your candy"- Timothey Lewis

"is ending arm sales to Lybia topical?"- Tristan Bato's girlfriend (Kelly)

"Can you sign my permission slip?"- Leon asking his parents, because he is not an adult yet

"Noah is their advantage called frontline?"- Joseph barragan

"My uncle's name is Shaquille O'neil"- Omar Darwish

"The Ukraine"- Noah Bartholio & Joseph Barragan

"I am functionally a senior"- Tristan Bato, when he was only a junior

"This politics file is the same as last year's, but you took out all of the cards regarding immigration"- Chris Paredes

"The Counterplans solves, that's Tremblay 19"-Brendan Tremblay

Damien High School, 1989

It's been a long time since I debated. Surprisingly, with the exception of the computers, this sport has largely remained the same for the past decades.

For policy debates, I generally judge based on the stock issues:

* Is there a significant and harmful problem?

* Is the problem inherent?

* Does the affirmative plan solve the problem?

* Is the affirmative plan advantageous?

* Is the affirmative plan topical?

The negative wins if they could show that the affirmative failed in adequately demonstrating one the stock issues.

Given that, I will also take into account whether or not good sportsmanship was exercised during the round. By that, I mean I expect participants to debate fairly and will dismiss anything that I believe is a tactic that takes away from debate of the resolution or simply unfair. Some examples include:

* Ridiculous arguments that are only intended to make the opposition waste time responding

* Rattling off a series of 2-word attacks and expecting the opposition to properly respond to each attack. If you demand a proper response, give a proper well-thought-out argument to begin with.

* Counter plans that claim all the benefits of the affirmative plan and create rounds that argue about something other than the resolution

* Intentional vagueness that requires the opposition to unnecessarily spend a speech seeking clarification

* If you run a disadvantage that is applicable no matter what the affirmative's plan is, I still expect your link to be better than "because the affirmative is defending the resolution". On the flip side, I expect the affirmative to have a better response than "this disadvantage is too generic".

All that is my way of saying that I expect to see participants debate the resolution, which has implications for your counter plans, disadvantages, and kritiks. If the negative chooses to bring the round to a debate that is not about the resolution, presumption will go affirmative. Given that, I expect the affirmative to do their best in answering the arguments that are not about the resolution. Presumption going affirmative doesn't mean I will automatically vote affirmative.

And given all that, I am open to hearing arguments during the round for why I should adopt a different paradigm.

Closing: I do not allow my mind to lean one way or another during the round. Because of that, the 2AR and 2NR have an overweighted importance with me. I would love to carefully review my flowsheet for an hour to make my decision. Unfortunately, the reality is that when the round is over, the tournament wants my decision right away. That means I do not have time to review my flowsheet as carefully as I would like to. Given that constraint, your final speeches should tell me what I should focus on as the voting issues for this round so I could better target the parts of my flow to analyze for my decision. The close is the time for quality over quantity as you risk burying your true winning argument if you continue to try to rattle off as many points as possible. Whoever has the better close undoubted has the advantage.

email - nolanrenedejesus@berkeley.edu

Damien '21

UC Berkeley Haas '25

TOC '20 '21

he/him/his

I haven't been active in debate for a min, so I'm not too familiar with the topic

Affs: read a plan

Negs: fine with anything, but be cognizant of my limited understanding of the topic and various literature bases

people whose views on debate are most like mine:

Chris Paredes, Donny Peters, Tim Lewis, Brendan Tremblay, Noah Bartholio, Joe Barragan

2023 Update:

TLDR: Speak clear, if I can't understand you I won't flow. I'll vote on anything as long as you impact why it matters. Have fun!!

Email: chrise505@gmail.com

Paradigm

Affs - For policy, please have a good internal link chain. For critical, explain to me why the ballot is necessary, if not I'll probably vote neg on presumption.

Topicality - Love topicality. That being said, if you're going for it in the 2NR, I need to hear a good explanation to the internal links [i.e. ground, limits, predictability] and your impacts [fairness and education]. I default to competing interpretations, but I find reasonability compelling when the aff explains how they increase the research burden just slightly and that the education is valuable. Effects/Extra T - I treat these as independent voters.

Kritiks - Just have solid links and I'll vote on it. Links of omission or to the state are not going to win my ballot unless the aff just completely drops the K. I like K's with interesting alts but that being said, I've voted just on the Framework debate.

DA - Have good links. I'm fine voting on generic links as long as you contextualize the aff to the warrants of your links.

CP - All counterplans are legitimate as long as you prove it's competitive to the aff. Less likely to vote on a CP with no solvency advocate.

Theory - I'll vote on any theory argument as long as you impact it out and prove the in-round abuse. For general positions on theory arguments:

1. Conditionality - 3 condo cp's are good, 4-5 pushing it, 6 or more I'll vote on theory.
2. Dispo - I never hear this one anymore so honestly it's up to who impacts it the best.
3. Vague Alt - I buy the argument when the alternative doesn't have an advocate
4. Process, Agent, PIKs, - all legitimate, but I can vote either way.

Speaker points - Super subjective but I base it off of how organized, structured and passionate you are about the arguments. If I feel like your making the right arguments you need to be winning I'm definitely upping your speaks. That being said, if you have a speech impediment that's fine as long as you are just clear. Generally I prefer people speaking slower than faster, ESPECIALLY in rebuttals.

Judge Intervention - I'll do my best to not involve at all, but if a team calls you out/ vice versa - I'll end the round and evaluate the call out and decide who wins and loses at that moment. Just be respectful to your opponents.

email (yes, include both): lpgarcia19@damien-hs.edu; damiendebate47@gmail.com

LD: policy pls (below should still be applicable)

If you have any questions feel free to ask me before the round starts.

TL;DR Go for what you're most prepared for and can execute the best because that's what really makes debate fun and productive. I'm not very familiar with the topic.

My Beliefs:

Debate is good

Tech > Truth

Clarity above all else

Clipping is bad

My leanings:

Util good

I, as the judge, am a policymaker

Fiat is a good thing

A couple Great cards + explanation always beats 10 pieces of mediocre ev

There's not an excuse to avoid line by line

Topicality

I don't think fairness isn't an intrinsic impact, same as education. It can be an internal link to other things but simply ending your impact calculus with "They KILLED FAIRNESS" won't do it for me. Just treat your extensions and impact work like you would any DA. (I WON'T EVALUATE T AS A DA. TOPICALITY IS A YES OR NO QUESTION. RISK ANALYSIS FOR T IS ABSURD). I also lean heavily towards competing interpretations; the quality of your ev does matter.

Kritiks

If your entire strategy solely centers around the K, I'm not a great judge for you. I can certainly understand your generic Cap and Security K but any high theory requires a whole lot of explanation for me. Just because I might understand what you're saying doesn't mean you can weasel your way around with generic links if it's even somewhat contested. If you're aff I'd down to see an impact turn (obvious exceptions, of course, are: racism good, sexism good, homophobia good, etc.) I really do not want to hear Death Good, please do not do that in front of me.

K-Affs (Includes Framework)

I have written my disdain for K-Affs before. I am not going to just dismiss it; even as I maintain a reluctance to vote on them, I am not one you should just breeze through your blocks and force me to do work for you. I will be the first to admit that I need a lot of explanation as noted above in "Kritiks". Given all this said, framework is an uphill battle for the aff. I am not very sympathetic to generic "fairness bad/your education bad" impact turns; I think policy education is generally a good thing.

Theory

The only theory I feel even remotely comfortable voting aff (TO REJECT THE ARGUMENT) on are utopian fiat bad, object fiat bad, riders DA bad, delay cps bad, and floating piks bad. Condo is generally a good thing and I personally think you're better off not reading that 30 second shell if the neg is running just a single conditional advocacy but I understand time skew. Also, in principle, I judge-kick. I think that as I default to Condo being a good thing, and the status quo always being a logical option, it would be illogical for me to choose a plan of action when doing nothing would be better.

Also, I doubt I'll ever vote for Word Piks. This certainly doesn't excuse excessively disrespectful behavior.

Disads

I like politics a lot and I like engagement and clash at the link level even more so. Turns case analysis (vice versa for the aff) is always a good thing and should be a must have. Straight turns are fun.

Impacts

I love impact turns and my personal favorites are: Heg Good, Warming Good, Cap Good, Dedev, and CWG. It will take a lot for me to evaluate 0 risk of an impact. It can happen but your cards need to be far better.

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.

Last Updated

11/10/2021

Background

Former coach at Washington HS and New Roads School. Circuit Parli debater at Prospect (2013-17). Former BP debater at USC.

General Ballot

I will vote for mostly anything as long as you explain it well. Please give content warnings pre-roadmap so that strat changes can be made accordingly. Deliberately misgendering a competitor in the round will result in an auto-loss and a not so pleasant conversation with me and a member of tournament staff. As a judge, I’ll vote for the single team that has the clearest path to the ballot. While warranted extensions can be helpful in terms of voting, I very much dislike when teams rely on "extend ___ uniqueness/argument". Chances are, there aren't as many "conceded" arguments as you think there are - don't be lazy on the line-by-line. My default on dropped arguments is that they are true and I will evaluate them as such. If you have questions on presumption, message me. I want it to be easy to vote, so do that for me. Debate is a game (unfortunately?) and as such, everyone is reading arguments in order to either increase and/or secure their chances of a W. Therefore, I find it hard to be convinced that any particular argument ought be banned or norm ought be forgone (e.g., banning the use of back files, shaming speed, disallowing Ks). That DOES NOT mean that I believe that we should abandon common human decency and practices of kindness.

Speed

I will call clear if I have to, but speed generally isn’t a problem. That being said, if your opponents are not able to compete with your speed, I expect that you will adjust accordingly. Please do not read Speed Theory if you are not going to give your opponents the opportunity to slow down (by calling 'slow' or 'clear') in previous speeches. I find it difficult to identify a bright line between conversational, fast and very fast speaking and unless you tell me where the bright line is, therefore it is incredibly difficult for me to evaluate Speed Theory. Keep tag-lines slow just for the sake of me keeping a clean flow. The more signposting you do, the faster I can flow.

Kritiks

I’m down for them as long as they have a link and they aren't being read purely to deny your opponents equitable access to the debate space. Parli generally has larger K frameworks than policy, so I’m down with that default. Please avoid making generalizations about society. In the same vein, I'm inclined to vote against root cause claims without warrants. I think the aff has the ability to leverage the 1AC/plan as offense versus the alt. I find that the debates that are most engaging/convincing, are ones where kritikal teams engage with case and where case teams engage with the criticism.

K affs are all good in policy, but are sketch in parli unless they have a policy alt. If you feel so inclined to read a kritikal affirmative, I expect that you will disclose within 10 minutes of prep. I never read performance Ks, but am down to listen to them. I’ll flow as well as I can, but be ready to explain how you give the neg ground. Very low threshold on offense against truth testing framework. The lit-bases that I am reasonably well-read on include cap, whiteness, neolib, fem and setcol.

Framework debates are my jam.

I am a firm believer that good case/theory debates are more valuable than bad K debates so don't be cheaty just because you have a backfile.

DAs/CP

Make sure to explain how the CP functions in the 1NC. I am not a stickler on CPs being ME so have fun with that. If you choose to read a perm (in most cases, you should), I'd prefer you read a perm text and an explanation for how the permutation has solvency/functions. "Perm, do both" is not a perm text. I am very unlikely to vote on a Delay CP because I have yet to hear a good justification for why delay resolves the harms in squo better than the plan and doesn't bite the DA(s).

Theory

Default to competing interps and no RVIs, and theory coming first. I don’t need articulated abuse to vote on theory, but if it is there, point it out and your speaks will go up. If you are going for theory, you better actually go for it. I probably won’t vote on it if it is 30 seconds in the 2NR/AR. That being said, I really don't expect you to go for every theory arg you read. High threshold for PICs bad and Condo bad. I will not vote for Ks Bad if it is used as an out from actually engaging with critical positions. I also find that generalizing that all Ks are bad does very little to improve the quality of the debate space. If you choose to read a generalized Ks Bar argument, I will need warranting for why the argument you are attempting to mitigate is specifically exclusionary to your team in the round.

Tricks

I'm going to be completely honest and say that tricks go completely over my head. That's not to say they are bad arguments or ineffective but rather that they are often inadequately explained and I fail to find a way to evaluate how they interact with other args on the flow. Riley Shahar is a much better judge for such args.

Weighing

Generally default to probability over magnitude unless you give me a reason otherwise. Weighing is your job, not mine. I need clear impact scenarios to vote for an argument.

Speaker Points -- I will vote on 30 speaks theory

25 - Please take a moment to rethink what you are about to say (P.S stop being racist, sexist, homophobic etc etc)

...

28~28.4 - Some strategic errors but they weren't devastating

28.5~28.9 - Meh, average

29~29.3 - Definitely know what you're doing

29.4~29.9 - Your round vision and strategy was on point

30 - WOOO I SPY A WINNER

General School-Wide Conflicts

New Roads, Prospect, Washington

Miscellaneous

Off-time road maps PLEASE.

Tag-teaming is all good, but don’t be 'that kid' who tag teams the whole time. I'll be rather disgruntled and take it out on your speaks.

Speaks are more based on strategy than anything else. I think that speaker points are pretty bogus considering that style preferences are quite subjective.

Shadow extensions are awful.

I will more than likely be okay with my RFD being recorded for learning purposes. It's generally a more efficient alternative to repeating portions that you didn't manage to write down on your flow. Please ask before you record, I don't want being "on record" to deter other debaters from asking questions.

**Feel free to email with any questions - keskar@usc.edu

or FB message me

Email/chain contact: brianna1lozano1@gmail.com

Experience: I am a past policy debater from Alliance Marc and Eva Stern Math and Science School HS. I have been coaching the novice policy division for my old high school for two years and counting; and I have been judging for LAMDL since the beginning of 2018. I have been judging invitationals since the 2019 (Policy: 2019-present, LD: 2019-present).

Format: I am an easy going judge, I judge based on how the argument is given and which side gives me more of a reason to vote for them and how many arguments are not being dropped, also I judge based on the realism/logical side. I'm good with spreading just as long as you give me a roadmap, signpost, and still understandable. I do keep the official time in the debate, but y'all are allowed to keep your own time. Always face me, y'all are trying to convince me, not your opponents. Assume I don't know much about your topics, that's how y'all should be debating. I flow based on the main points I hear during the round, now, it's the debater's job to tell the main points in their arguments, be clear.

Notes: Other than what I mentioned above, the speeches are yours, just as long as it's not offensive to anybody. I do want y'all to have a fun time debating so include whatever makes you happy in your speech, whether it's jokes, etc. just as long as y'all don't stray from the actual debate. Always be respectful, no matter what.

I look forward to watching y'all debate!

Notre Dame '21, NYU '25

Chain/questions: debate.nikhilnavare@gmail.com

1A/2N

Scroll to the bottom for LD specific things.

Very short version

- Ok for Ks

- Better for planless affs now that I don't have to debate them

- Impact turns make me happy

- Organization is good, line-by-line is better, both is best

- Condo good, yes judgekick are defaults

General biases

Truth is tech, and vice versa, given that a true argument is much easier to win technically, and technically debating meta-level framing issues is important to convince me of the truth of the arguments you are going for.

Debate is not about the arguments themselves, but rather the execution of those arguments. This does not mean arguments don’t matter; arguments have different burden of proofs, but every argument is valid until proven otherwise.

Presumption goes to the team that advocates less change. If teams don't debate what that means, and if the 2NR includes a competitive alternative, presumption flips aff.

Clipping and other ethics violations/accusations will result in an automatic zero and loss for the team that does it or falsely accuses the other team. These need an audio recording or I need to hear it. I won't intervene if it's not egregious or there isn't a significant difference in the quality of debaters.

I will not vote on things that occur before the 1AC starts.

The following is a list of predispositions I have — they go out the window if you make an argument otherwise (or at least I try).

Planless Affs

For the aff:

Have a connection to the resolution. Convince me your advocacy is good, better than the (competitive) alternative, and actually resolves your impacts. On that note, actually have an advocacy. If the voting for the advocacy is only an in-round affirmation, I am a lot more sympathetic to negative “burden of rejoinder” T arguments. 

I think debate is a game, but it might be more. Explain why the "more" part outweighs the "game" part. I don’t think debate is not a game.

Please do actual line-by-line, counter-define words in the resolution, don't go for counterinterps like "direction of the resolution," don't just read [Spanos, Lundberg, Antonio, other silly authors] but have aff specific impact turns to fairness, pedagogy, etc.

The perm is a convincing argument especially if your aff doesn’t defend anything.

For the aff and neg:

Disads can link! Planless affs must be ready to defend against all possible disadvantages to their advocacy, physical or metaphysical. The argument “no link - aff is not fiated” is nonresponsive because all affirmatives, by the nature of the thought experiment of debate, are “fiated”. If neg teams can out debate aff teams on the DA then I will vote for it.

For the neg:

T-USfg is a possible 2NR. Defend only what you have to. Impacts that are more persuasive to me: procedural fairness, clash. Less persuasive: advocacy skills, fun, movements. Fairness is probably an impact but you need to do work telling me why that is the case.

The argument that K affs don’t get a perm doesn’t make sense. Be sure you have a very, very good link to their theory of power or the way they actualize their advocacy.

Word PICs are ROFL.

Solvency takeouts/presumption are very convincing and underutilized.

Topicality

Precision frames debatability: big but precise limits probably outweighs good but imprecise limits. That being said, more precision comes with diminishing marginal returns.

Competing interps > Reasonability. You have to invest some time explaining how to determine what is reasonable.

”T - Embodiment” is absurd. Broadly, any neg nonresolutional theory argument has a higher burden of rejoinder. 

Kritiks

A prerequisite to voting for you is if I can explain the link and alt mechanism to the other team by the end of the debate.

Links to the plan are probably good, and most of the time the aff gets to weigh their aff, and the neg gets their links. Neg teams need to invest heavily to convince me to disregard the aff entirely, and aff teams similarly need to invest heavily to convince me to disregard the K entirely.

You can probably read whatever you want to in front of me, granted you understand and can explain it well.

Advantages/Disads

Zero risk exists when you prove the chance of the impact scenario is indistinguishable from statistical noise. For you, this means yes, there is always a risk, and yes, sometimes it is worth rounding the risk down to zero.

Make good arguments, even when you don’t have evidence to support your claims. Smart analytics are convincing.

Turns case is important but matters insofar as you win a relatively higher risk of the DA. 2NR/2AR impact calc is not a new argument.

The politics disad, done well, is a fun debate to watch. Most of the time the neg wins, it's because they sheer out-evidenced the aff. Keep in mind how insanely unlikely the disad is, and use that to your advantage.

Case-specific disads are best, but are never read.

I’ve grown more tired with teams that have framing pages with “probability first” type arguments that use them to completely dismiss the DA. You still need to answer it. I’m more fond of offensive framing arguments, i.e. critiques of DAs. If you’ve mostly ceded the evidence debate to the neg and you’re really in a tough spot cardwise, analytics are still convincing arguments! Use that to your advantage.

Counterplans

Evidence which says the counterplan solves the aff is best and can be used to justify its theoretical legitimacy.

If the status quo is a logical option, then a 2NR which goes for a counterplan is not forever bound to the counterplan. I will compare the aff to both the status quo and the counterplan. I can be convinced otherwise.

Textual and functional > Functional only > Textual only.

Theory

Condo is most likely good, is definitely good when there's a new aff, and is questionable if there are performative contradictions and those are used to the negative's advantage in round. Qualitative > quantitative interps, but I can be convinced of a number if there’s a good reason behind it.

Probably good — PICs, 50 state fiat, agent CPs, politics DAs, counterplans without a specific solvency advocate. Arguments about the presence of a solvency argument are more convincing as a solvency push than a theory push.

Might be good — International fiat, counterplans which compete off immediacy and certainty, 2NC CPs in response to new 2AC offense (impact turns, straight turns, add-ons)

Probably bad — Counterplans which are not policies (against policy affs), floating PIKs, affs/alternatives which fiat entire structures out of existence

I default to reject the argument and not the team for most theory except condo, but can be convinced otherwise.

I can see myself voting on procedural arguments such as spec/vagueness, given it's not like 2 seconds and there's substantial time invested in the debate, or it's dropped. New affs bad is :/

Miscellaneous

Stolen from Aron Berger’s paradigm — "Ethically repugnant arguments will not make me want to vote for you. At the same time, however, if you cannot defeat ostensibly “bad” arguments, then you are a bad advocate and you should lose."

If you have impact turns, run them. In the words of KHirn, “Impact turns have a special place in my heart. There are few venues in academia or life here you will be as encouraged to challenge conventional wisdom as you are in policy debate, so please take this rare opportunity to persuasively defend the most counter-intuitive positions conceivable.”

Speaks

Speaks have been, are, and always will be arbitrary. I will inflate or deflate speaks according to the tournament and division of that tournament that I am at. This means a varsity debater’s 27.8 could be a novices’ 29.2.

Make me laugh for better speaks.

No, you may not have a 30. The ballot is yours to take, but speaks are mine to give.

27.5 or more --- U probably get this

26 or less --- You clipped, were violent in some way, etc.

LD Version for UNLV

- If you exclusively go for skep and tricks or whatever you call them nowadays, strike me. I want to see good, quality, substantive debate that somehow resolves around the resolution.

- Conditionality is very much a voting issue in LD. Debate your interps; I can't tell you the amount of times teams just justify their own interp but never do comparative or framing work. Everything else is default reject the argument not the team, but I can be convinced otherwise. Theory is a voting issue and never a reverse voting issue. Don't even try to convince me otherwise. Neg theory is farce, and I'll give the aff a lot of leeway on dropped ASPEC spikes.

- Phil arguments are interesting, but never used in policy. I'd require more explanation than other judges to vote on these arguments, but please don't discount them just for that reason. Go for what you go for best.

Claire Park (she/they)

Email: claireparkdebate@gmail.com

Short Version

- Read whatever you want

- tech = truth

- I like good evidence, I like spins more

- "status quo is always an option" means judge kick

- Judge direction is always good

I prefer to evaluate the debate on what is said in the debate, and I can vote for any argument. I think slight judge intervention is inevitable, but l do my very best to limit it as much as I can.

Online debating

- If I can't hear you or if my wifi is bad, I'll verbally let you know

- My camera will be on, if it is off I am not ready

Background Info

- Georgetown '25: not debating

- Major: Science, Technology, and International Affairs concentrating in Security, especially with AI.

- Notre Dame ‘21: 2N/1A

Case

Please use your 1AC

Disadvantages

Turns case is good

Impact calculus is close to essential

Topicality

Case lists and TVAs are really persuasive to me

Usually, competing interpretations > reasonability

Counterplans

As a 2N, I love a good cheaty and tricky counterplan, so I'll consider it more than the average judge.

Kritiks

Honestly, you can read any K in front of me

Specific links can only help you

K affs

The aff

- I'm fine with them - the closer you are to the topic the better

- I'm more inclined to say that you get a perm

the neg [overview]

Framework [neg]

- Same thing as topicality portion

- I've voted for framework and I've voted against framework - as long as you debate it well I'm all for it

K v K

- My favorite debates to judge when done well, and my least favorite when done messily

Theory

- Similar to the topicality paradigm

- I don't really have a strong opinion on condo

- I'm inclined to think that perf con isn't a voting issue

Miscellaneous

*I'm fine with tag-team cross-x, as long as you give the person who's supposed to question and/or answer the chance to do so

*Also if an argument is dropped, I won't give it weight unless you extend the argument. Don't just point out it's dropped

- I don't really have that many strong opinions on debate that'll affect the decision. I prefer to be convinced of your argument despite my opinion.

SPEECH PARADIGM

wsd & extemp

I've judged only some wsd & speech, BUT I have done some debates in wsd and know a bit about speech and understand the structure. Honestly, just debate, argue, and convince well and I will judge to the best of my abilities.

Personal Summary:

Assistant debate coach @ Damien HS in La Verne, California. Debated policy at UNLV. Had some accomplishments.

General Overview -

*Tech > Truth* Its the only way for bad 2AC add-ons to survive. I give 1ARs leeway, but not too much. If an argument is obviously asinine, then you should be able to refute it even without cards. Favorite debates are Impact Turn debates and Soft Left Affs v Disad/CP debates. However, when extending a dropped argument don't just say "they dropped XYZ argument" and move on. This is terrible :( You need to explain why that matters in the debate, otherwise, it'll be hard for me to evaluate that argument properly.

*I like a good policy v policy debate* where each side goes in-depth on certain arguments, however I dislike when teams throw a thousand cards around but don't explain any of them. I also like K v policy debates, they are some of the most interesting debates. K v K debates are a toss up, sometimes they are cool, other times they're not. I don't like it when teams say buzzwords and don't explain them. I have knowledge about the Set Col/Security/Marx lit, but other than that, I am aware that the lit exists but never read it myself (i.e. DnG)

*Have fun* Be adventurous! Go for arguments that are interesting (but that you are prepared to go for). Debate gets boring after reading the same thing a millionth time. Experiment! Read that barely topical aff! Read that hot-off-the-press CP (without or a without a solvency advocate). Make jokes if you can/want.

*Speed* I am fine with speed, but when you are reading analytics, SLOW DOWN! I can understand what you are saying, but my hand can only write so fast! This is a big issue on T when 2A's read multiple distinct analytical arguments but read them as if they were cards.

Detailed (more or less) View of Debate:

DA: Enjoy them. A well thought out story is awesome! Generics are fine, but please contextualize or I will be more likely to discount your evidence. Impact calc is important, especially turns case that make sense. I am a HUGE fan of politics DA's. Especially ones that are unique (i.e. specific senator like UNLV's Rubio DA).

CP: Enjoy them too. Interesting CP's are awesome! CPs with a billion planks are cool too (but honestly might lean Aff on theory for some atrocious CP's i.e. Consult CP's/Delay CP's.). Its okay if you CP doesn't have a solvency advocate.

T: Ok. Not the best judge honestly, but understand it enough to adjudicate fairly. T is about a vision of the topic, so even if your interp is limiting, could it be universally assumed by other teams i.e. if I saw the topic, is this a definition that would produce fruitful debates?

FW: Solid. These debates get boring, but I have been in tons of them so I understand what you need to win and how you are going to lose. Choose either fairness or education/advocacy/whatever flavor in the 2NR. I am solid either way. The cold debaters who say debate is a game and nothing matters will win just as much as the debaters who say debate is a training ground and policy education is good. HOWEVER, even though I understand FW, it DOES NOT mean I will auto vote for you.

Make sure to impact out your T arguments. Tell me why fairness/education etc. matters! Don't just say that being topical causes movements or reduces dogmatism, you need the next step as to why movements are good or why dogmatism is bad. Otherwise it would be very hard for me to vote on framework. Having a TVA that actually solves some portion of the aff is very effective in neutralizing aff offense, but it needs to have a line or two as to why it actually solves/accesses their lit base. Don't be afraid to go all in on fairness.

K: Enjoy them, either side of the debate. They can sometimes be the most cool arguments in debate, but also can be the worst arguments. You do you. Links need to not be generic. You have to clearly articulate the story and why the K matters. I will vote on extinction outweighs, but I also know what the policy teams needs to win to beat the k and if they don't I'll easily vote on the K. K aff's are cool too. Seriously, I hate speeches on K's that end up being super generic. I am a fan of security and set col, but if your speech sounds like it could have been delivered in any other debate regardless of the aff, you will have a hard time getting my ballot regardless of what happens.

C-X: You can be aggressive but don't be mean. Answer questions, I will give you low speaks if you are dodgy; However, not every question has a yes or no answer, and your opponent is perfectly within their rights to say they need to give an explanation. C-X gets you high speaker points, use it to defeat your opponent.

Theory: Boo! Not the best judge for this, lean Aff on a lot of things such as Consult CP's bad, Delay CP's bad, Floating PIK's bad. Yes I will vote on Condo. BUT PLEASE DON'T MAKE THE DEBATE ABOUT THEORY. I understand if its your only way out, but for the love of god, don't please. If you do have to go for theory, please make it into a coherent story i.e. tell me why Consult CP's would be net worse for debate than if we were to allow them.

Any questions, send me an email briandebateunlv@gmail.com Please include me on the email chain.