North Broward Prep 2020

Vanderbilt 2024

deardt12@gmail.com – add me to the email chain before the round starts

It’s my belief that first-year-outs aren’t particularly good judges. I will do my best to be a good judge, but remember I have far more experience as a debater than as a judge. Explaining why you won is extra important – tell me they dropped an argument that ends the debate and explain why, tell me they haven’t dealt with a framing issue that implicates every other argument.

My high school experience was relatively balanced with “policy-style” and “K-style” arguments, but I excelled far more with the “K-style.” You should be comfortable running both styles in front of me in that I will be accepting of them, but that doesn’t mean I will immediately understand them. I’m not too picky.

Remember I don’t know very much about the CJR topic. Talk to me like I know debate, not like I know CJR.

Tech, flowing, line-by-line >

Online Debate Specifics – I chose not to participate in the eTOC because of qualms with online debate. You will probably need to be slower and clearer than usual. I probably need more pen time than usual. Debates already take longer than they should – if we can keep the debate moving smoothly, I will be happy.

If you have specific questions, email me or ask me before the round.

Random things:

- I’m not debating. You keep track of prep. There is nothing more embarrassing than when a team asks the judge or the other team how much prep they have left.

- I don’t like it when the tag of a card is longer than 100 words.

- If this a practice round at debate camp, you don’t need to go more than 6 off.

- Please use verbatim. I get annoyed if you use a google doc or a word doc without verbatim.

sohan.bellam@emory.edu

I won't adjudicate issues that happened outside of the debate. I do not like planless affirmatives. Do what you like.

Run whatever types of arguments you want, but if there's no clash I will get bored and I suspect neither team will gain much from the experience. If you want me to prefer your evidence you have to give me reasons why.

If you're making extensions, don't just restate the tagline - tell me how it relates to the round.

I have experience in LD and policy.

Email: sydneycohen99@gmail.com

gbn '22 - msu '26 - 1n/2a for all 5 years - she/her

last updated: 4.21.2024

please put me on the chain:

gusisfiles@gmail.com

most importantly (in order):

1. be nice to each other, flow, have fun

2. don't be rude, sexist, racist, homophobic, etc.. i have no problem contacting tabroom or your coaches when if i feel my role as a judge needs to become subordinate to my role as an educator

3. i will not evaluate things that occurred outside of the debate. if something was truly problematic, the debate should be stopped and tab should be contacted. in a similar vein, i strongly believe you should reach out to an opponent if you find an ethics issue with their evidence. substituting a caseneg with an ethics violation that you found pre-round probably makes debate worse than the ethics issue itself.

4. tech > truth (but truth makes it easier to win tech)

5. these are my predispositions -- they can all be changed with good debating (see the line right above this)

6. arguments need a claim, warrant, and impact -- if you do not have all 3, i don't care if it's dropped. if it takes you less time to read your aspec 1nc shell than it takes me to type out "aspec = vi," it isn't an argument and i don't really care if the 2ac doesn't have an answer.

7. impact calc and framing really matter -- top of your 2nr/2ar should tell me what i'm voting on and why. my life is easier and happier if you write my ballot for me

8. tag team cx is fine but don't speak over your partner

9. you don't need a card to make an argument (see #6), but card probably beats no card

10. prep time ends whenyou say it does. if you prep after the timer ends, prep time ends when I say it has.
---things that can happen after prep ends: sending a speech, standing up, giving an order, setting a timer.
---things that cannot happen after prep ends: editing a doc (includes copy-pasting things), saving a doc, talking to your partner

11. marked doc is not removing the cards you skipped (this is flowing), its only adding "mark" for cards that you did not finish. if a team asks for a new card doc with the cards the other team skipped, you should take prep for them to put that together.

*topicality*

-i read questionably topical affs all 4 years of high school and 1 in college - do your worst but do it well

-precision > predictability > limits > ground

---specifically: grammatical precision > legal precision > contextual precision > overlimiting > neg ground > under-limiting > aff ground > topic education

-loooooove plan text in a vacuum, but affs tend to not debate it thoroughly enough

*framework / t-usfg*

-i love a good fairness debate but am not a die-hard fairness hack. probably think clash / testing and fairness are more convincing than something like movement lawyering, but it's debatable

-i think tvas and switch-side debate are pretty good ways to cut down the aff's offense

-i mostly tend to think affs should have a counter-interp because i need models of debate to compare. if your strategy is to impact-turn framework, i will assume that means your c/i is 'affs get to do what they want, how they want'

*disads*

-specific links are important, but not as important as a good story

-a thumper isn't a thumper until you tie it back to the link. for example, saying 'there are other bills on the agenda' is not a thumper until you win that those other bills will cost pc

-0 risk is a thing (maybe not aaaactually a thing, but probability can get so low that i should treat it as zero risk)

*counterplans & theory*

-anything is fair game as long as you can defend it BUT if the counterplan is cheating, the aff should be able to beat it on theory or a perm more easily

-i wont judge kick unless you tell me to (saying "the status quo is always an option" does count as telling me to)

-just saying "sufficiency framing" <<<<<<<<< explain why the counterplan solves / how i should evaluate it

-condo is probably bad (i know, hot take) but that won't matter if both sides just spread blocks at each other. you should NOT read this as 'she wants to only hear condo speeches'

-condo is probably the only theory violation worthy of rejecting the team unless there is an argument otherwise starting in the 2ac (but its a pretty high threshold)

-theory is (almost) always a question of models and (almost) never a question of in-round abuse

*kritiks*

-i've been around the block with the literature but that doesn't mean i want to hear baudrillard blocks spread directly into your computer at 400 wpm (nobody does)

-i tend to think ks need an alternative that solves the links and impacts, but high-quality framework debating can arguably substitute for this (i really do prefer k's that are more than 'you link, you lose')

-it's pretty hard to convince me that we should never do anything to meliorate a problem a team has isolated

-in a perfect world, links are causal, specific, and unique. this world is far from perfect

-i'm better for the k than you think (filter this through the fact that it came from me...obviously there's some bias there)

---

if you have any specific questions about my preferences, feel free to ask before and after the round :) im happy to help

good luck, have fun !!

Montgomery Bell Academy --> University of Michigan; email: tkoli@umich.edu

Thoughts:

- Fairness is an impact in FW debates. Impact turns to T need to be about why the process of debate is bad, not just why the topic is bad.

- A dropped argument isn't true if it is just a one line blip in the constructive. Incomplete thoughts warrant new answers. Make sure everything has an impact.

- Less than three condo is usually good, but more than three can be justifiable.

- Probability/ethics framing alone isn't enough. Contest the DA.

- Process CPs can be good if they are grounded in the core topic literature, but be prepared to defend your theory.

- Ks are always fun, but teams often get away with a lot. Contextualize links to the 1ac. Quantify impacts in the context of relative alt solvency. Please do line by line. I really don't want to flow an essay.

glhf

Tony Miklovis

Call me Tony, not judge. Add me to the chain: tonymikl11[at]gmail.com

Please make email subjects for rounds something like "Tournament Round x - (Aff team) Aff v (Neg team) Neg"

About me:

Glenbrook North '21

Michigan State '25 (Go Green!)

Feel free to talk to me in person or email me if you are interested in debating for MSU!

-I debated for 4 years in high school and am debating in college. 2N/1A. Very involved in college debate, not so much for high school (so explain acronyms!). People tell me that I am very expressive (use that to your advantage) and that I look grumpy. I'm probably just tired, you shouldn't take it personally.

-Minimize unnecessary tech time and don't steal prep (it's really obvious, esp. in person)

-Tech over truth except for death good (this is not the same as war good). Willing to vote on it if literally dropped but the bar is on the floor for a response to this argument. I find this argument morally abhorrent. Frankly, I don't care if this makes me "not tech over truth." People arbitrarily intervene and insert their predispositions all of the time when evaluating arguments - at least I'm transparent about it. Surely, you have something else you could read and if you don't, you should re-evaluate where your preparation priorities lie.

-Besides death good, I'll try to minimize my own biases and adjudicate the round at hand impartially and thoroughly. Willing to vote on ASPEC, floating PIKs, plan flaws, whatever. Execution trumps pre-dispositions. Make complete arguments and answer them in the order presented.

-Feel free to post-round or ask lots of questions (be mindful of the other team!)

-I am literally horrible at responding to messages. Feel free to bump an email if I don't. If I don't respond to an email, that is my own fault and has nothing to do with you.

-For online debate: don't start unless my camera is on

Non-negotiables:

-Ballot goes to the team who did the better debating. The ballot is yours to earn, speaker points are mine to give.

-I'll only adjudicate claims about things that occurred in-round.

-Follow speech times. I'm going to stop flowing after the timer goes off and let my timer beep until you stop because of decision times. (I can't believe I'm saying this)

-Clipping is an auto-loss---accusations should have evidence and stake the debate on it.

-Don't make offensive arguments (racism good, sexism good, etc.)

-You can insert re-highlightings. You have to explain the arg and the implication for me to evaluate it. e.g. "Alt causes - their ev - inserting" is not a complete arg, but "Alt causes - x, y, z, proves the scenario is inevitable - inserting" is a complete argument.

Specifics:

-Not everything requires a card, however, I love the research component of debate and very much appreciate well-formatted and high-quality evidence. I also appreciate evidence comparison, re-highlightings, and the likes.

Counterplans:

-Love them. Big fan of advantage CPs or topic-specific CPs. Don't really care for your uncooperative federalism backfile but you can read it, I guess.

-Competition is generally a good determinant of theoretical legitimacy. If you're defining words in the rez to generate competition and it's not something that obviously competes (e.g. advantage CPs), consider starting the standards debate in the block. I tend to think substance is your best path to victory when answering them.

-Bad for theory (except conditionality) unless particularly egregious (e.g. fiating the fed + states, or fed + international actors). If you have a topic-specific advocate, I’m heavily persuaded by predictability arguments.

Topicality:

-I'm down for pedantic T interpretations if supported by quality evidence---make sure to do lots of evidence comparison if that is the case.

-Don't assume that I know topic dynamics (explain things like side-bias, functional limits, the core Neg strategies, etc.)

-Predictable limits > limits, though I can be persuaded that predictability should be viewed as a floor and not necessarily a ceiling. Much more in the debatability > precision camp than I was in high school, unless the interp ev is completely unqualified / out of context.

Ks:

-Explain, give examples, contextualize links. I don't read critiques often as a strategy, but I'll vote on it if you win the flow and I am moderately familiar with most K args.

-Try not to performatively contradict yourself

-Good-ish for framework K's and K's as DAs. If you fiat the alt and don't win framework, I'm likely inclined to find the perm threatening.

Planless:

-Novices should read plans.

-Fairness or clash are both fine. I don't really like "external" impacts to clash like movement lawyering. I think they are too susceptible to impact turns and requires conceding the premise that debate spills out. Frame it as an even if, if you do decide to make those type of args.

-Neg impact turns (heg good, cap good, etc.) are oftentimes more strategic than framework if you win the link.

-Impact turns are more persuasive as AFF offense than most defensive counter-interpretation strategies.

DAs:

The more case specific (esp w turns case), the better.

Love them. Who doesn't? Topic DA + extensive case defense is one of my favorite 2NRs to give/hear

Make and answer turns case argument

I love when teams make mini-T arguments on the link

Meadows '17

UCLA '20

UVA Law '24

email: abdusnajmi7@gmail.com

Specific arguments:

Kritiks -- This is where most people go first when they look at paradigms so I'll just put it at the top. The best debates I've seen are the ones where the neg has a super specific link story against an aff. The reason I get so frustrated with aff teams is because the aff never really utilizes any of their aff against the K, they just read stuff like "realism inev" or "neolib good" or "who the hell is baudrillard (Balsas 2006)." There is nothing wrong with these arguments in a vacuum -- they are necessary to win debates (you need indicts, impact turns, etc.) -- but my point is that you have to make a story about how your aff RELATES to those arguments and why that means your aff is NOT what the K describes. And what that means is READ the link evidence. A lot of the time the neg's link cards aren't about the aff at all, they are about random reasons why hegemony might be bad.

I don't think "framework - you don't get a K" is a good argument at all, but framework is important for both teams to explain why the judge should view a debate in a certain way.

Please do not make a million permutations without any explanation/warrant -- saying "perm do both, perm do the aff and non-mutually exclusive parts of the alt, perm do the aff and then the alt" doesn't really get you anywhere -- the neg could stand up and say "perm do both fails" and i'd be totally fine. You didn't explain what perm do both means or why it would work, so why should the negative explain why it fails? I just don't really think it's fair for the 2AC to say "perm do both" and then the neg has to read a 4 minute perm block just to answer 3 words. So neg -- take advantage of this. Obviously explain why the perm fails, but know that I will cut you some slack if there is legit 0 explanation of any of the perms. This also avoids those debates where no one knows what perm was extended in the 2AR and which perm the 2NR was answering.

The reason this section's explanation is so long is because K debates can either be the worst debates or the best debates. If both sides are knowledgeable about their authors and arguments, it's extremely fun to watch and both sides will get great speaker points -- but if both sides are just going through the motions and reading generic stuff, it's kind of terrible and boring.

Topicality -- literally was like 60% of my 1NRs, I think it's really effective when the negative paints a scary version of the topic under the aff's interpretation. Impact comparison is really important for both sides; limits is an impact in my opinion, but obviously it can also be an internal link to ground. Explanation o/w evidence -- but having the best/qualified definition will probably make the debate easier for you to win. I think reasonability is a question of ground -- i.e. is there enough stuff the negative could read against the aff based on topic generics released at camps? It doesn't make sense for reasonability to be like "gut check am i reasonable" because that's arbitrary and based on someone's thoughts -- it's not debatable. That being said, you can obviously argue a different interpretation of what reasonability is and i'd be happy to hear it/vote for it!

No Plan Affs/Framework -- Enjoy them, and am totally open to listening to them. The closer the aff is to the topic, the less of a threat framework should be. Just saying I mainly read policy affs in high school, except once at the TOC and that aff still had a plan. I think fairness is an impact for framework, but most people think it's an internal link to limits (which i also think is an impact, it's just a separate one). I don't really think it's smart to go for education on framework -- kritik teams will always have more game on education-type arguments.

Disads -- topic specific DA's > generic ones. don't really think politics DA is that cool/hipster, but aff teams don't know how to point out how stupid it is so neg teams end up winning a lot of these debates for some reason. Pls pls pls pls do impact turn debates. these are SO FUN to watch and if u just drop a million, quality arguments and do awesome case defense it's like sooo hard for the 1ar to come back. but this means u have to have a decent sized 1nc shell! reading 1 card on case that impact turns econ decline does not cut it. the 2ac has to be able to slightly predict it, i'll give them leeway if you only read 1 impact turn card in the 1nc. that being said!!! Aff teams -- it's really cool and i will reward u with speaker points if u kick out of the aff in the 1ar and go for straight impact turns -- i LOVED doing that and we won a ton of debates bc of it (@ jaden lessnick). but that doesn't mean always do it front of me -- u should always protect your aff and don't kick out of it if you don't need to.

CP's -- they are great, i like case specific pics, i think theory needs to be a bigger deal though. so many cp's are illegit and i went for "reject the team" a lot -- (especially on things like agent cp's) -- only if the 2nr goes for it. but you have to say WHY i should reject the team. but obviously keep in mind (neg) i will still vote for these arguments if you debate it well -- that's the point of debate. it's just my personal preference. if you debate it really well i'll higher your speaks and stuff, don't just not read an argument cuz i'm not the biggest fan of it. i don't think "rejecting the argument" solves anything and is kind of unfair to the aff. states cp is probs cheating so just have a fed key warrant or just go for theory lmao

Theory -- I don't have a specific threshold for how many condo advocacies are allowed/not allowed -- having 2 that are inconsistent is probs worse than having 3 that totally are. Plz do impact comparsion, this is what wins theory debates. no one really does it which is why theory debates get a bad rep. every theory argument is a reason to reject the team unless told otherwise, but if the 2nr doesn't go for it, it's an uphill battle for "rejecting the team."