University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign '19

Debated at Oakton High School

TL;DR
- I vote on the flow so you better not drop something significant
- Run your best arguments but don't assume I have prior knowledge of them
- Case debate is probably important, whether it is straight-up or performance aff
- I'm not very good at hiding my facial expression, so you'll know what I'm thinking most of the time

General

In high school, I ran policy affirmatives for all 3 years. My view on "right" affirmatives have been softened heavily over the years, going from big stick heg affs to environment or even soft left affirmatives. I ran one off K in the neg, which occasional FW or T based on the affirmative. I have voted on "Heg solves K impacts" to "sacrifice the aff to the Turkish Gods". I will be less inclined to vote for dumb arguments but I will if the other team handles these dumb arguments poorly.

I default to utilitarianism unless you tell me otherwise. Impact framing should be a bulk of your speech in the 2AR or 2NR if you decide to defend a K impact vs policy framework. If you are defending a policy impact vs a Kritik, then you have to also defend the probability of your impacts. Just saying "policy impacts good, Kritiks are bad" will not make me pull the trigger on your impact.

Without a clear reason, I will try not to vote solely on defense or presumption, as 1% chance of impacts happening is probably enough for me to vote. I default to an offense/defense paradigm.

I'm an CS major, and I love it when science is discussed in debate. I love warming and biodiversity impacts, so it would be a little advantageous for you to run them in front of me. I also like cybersecurity discussions. I don't usually have strong bias in arguments when coming into a round, but I will probably not buy that warming isn't real or evolution fake etc etc etc. Also you probably don't want to BS things in that area, because I will know about it and I will dock speaks.

I am very flow-centric, and I will generally not pick up dropped arguments or allow new args in the rebuttals (unless the neg block did something abusive that justifies new args in the 1AR). I discourage new offcases in the 2NC, unless the 2AC shifted their plan/advocacy heavily that a 2NC T is justified.

Don't argue with me on the flow afterwards. If I didn't flow your argument it was probably because 1) You did not say it or 2) Your organization was so shitty that I missed your arg while shuffling between flows, or 3) You were super unclear despite me yelling "CLEAR" a couple of times. Otherwise, I flow everything. If you really wanted me to flow a crucial argument that is key to the ballot, you would have emphasized it and there would be no reason for me to miss it. Speed is not a concern as much as clarity, but slow down on taglines and especially STANDARDS on theory.

DA
You can never go wrong with a solid case + DA debate. I have a special place for Politics in my heart, and I would love to see more of these in rounds. Make sure you don't run DAs with Ks that contradict each other (Security/Neolib) because I will be happy to vote on Perf Con if executed properly. Oh, and by the 2NR I expect a more solid link story rather specific to the aff, because that's really the heart of any offcase arguments that many teams often overlook. If I hear "they link bc they're surveillance" in the 2NR you're probably not doing a good enough job.

CP
Multiple CPs are okay unless they contradict. Make sure you flush out the net benefit and answer all perm arguments. It's often a good strategy to kick the alternative and just go for the NB as a DA. 
When answering a CP, try to always run at least one theory argument. Also make sure you ask whether the CP acts as a PIK or not. PIKs are probably a bad thing unless you drop em.

T/Theory
I really love T debates, and it used to be my go-to neg strat when facing a completely unfamiliar aff. I default Reasonability, but don't let that preventing you from running T if necessary. I will gladly vote on FX or Extra-T if your spin on it is flushed out really well. I also flow every standards you make, so make sure to slow down on those or I might not catch them. I won many rounds on obnoxious theory like Vague Alts or Utopian Fiat, so I will be very pleased if you manage to explain them well.

If you drop Theory or T, you will probably lose. If they manage to just extend one piece of offense that has a terminal impact, then you will lose. (Unless they dropped a theory too and its a complete shit-show) Please Please PLEASE don't make me vote on stupid shit like A-spec...

Kritiks
During my senior year my neg strat was 1 off K or T+K. So I know the fundamentals of Kritiks and I know what you need to do in order to win. I'm familiar with the generics like Cap, Security, along with other Ks that I've ran. I'll vote on any K as long as you can explain (1) what the alternative actually does (2) defend your framework and impact framing. I will know when you are not debating and just reading blocks. Please explain your Kritik even if you think I know it. Slow down on overviews. 
If you are answering Ks, make sure you go hard on framework and answer all K tricks. If you are running a big stick aff, impact turns along with alt fails are going to be very effective as well. 

Speaks
I usually give high speaks unless you really pissed me off by saying something offensive. I think aggressive speeches/Cross-exes are good and strategic, but you know where the line stands between that and just plain rude.

My Previous Debate History: 2014 VA Division State Champion, NCFL Nationals Qualifier, Cleared at most local/national varsity tournaments

Debated: Norman High School (2005- 2009), University of Oklahoma (2009-2014)
Coached: University of Texas at San Antonio (2014-2015), Caddo Magnet High School (2014-2015), Baylor University (2015-2017), University of Iowa (2017-2022), Assistant Director of James Madison University 2022-2023

Currently: Assistant Director of Debate at Baylor University, Assistant coach at Greenhill High School

email: kristiana.baez@gmail.com

Updates- Feb 2023

Think of my paradigm as a set of suggestions for packaging or a request for extra explanation on certain arguments.

Despite the trend of judges unabashedly declaring themselves bad for certain arguments or predetermining the absolute win condition for arguments, I depart from this and will evaluate the debate in front of me.

*Judge instruction, judge instruction, judge instruction!*

Sometimes when we are deep in a literature base, we auto apply a certain lens to view the debate, but that lens is not automatic for the judge. Don’t assume that I will fill things in for you or presume that I automatically default to a certain impact framing, do that work!

*Argument framing is your friend.*

“If I win this, then this.”

"Even if we lose ontology, here is why we can still win.” This is important for both debating the K and going for the K.

Zoom debate things:

Don’t start until you see my face, I will always have my camera on when you’re speaking!

Clarity over speed, please- listening to debates over zoom is difficult, start out more slowly and then pick up pace, but don’t sacrifice clarify for speed.

Ethics violations-Calling an ethics violation is a flag on the play and the debate stops. Please, please do not call an ethics violation unless you want to stop the debate.

---

Top level thoughts: This is your debate, so above all-- do what you do, but do it well!
My debate career was a whileee ago. I primarily read Ks, but I have also done strictly policy debate in my career, so I have been exposed to a wide variety of arguments. I like to think that I am a favorable judge for Ks or FW. I have coached all types of arguments and am happy to judge them.

I judge the debate in front of me and avoid judge intervention as much as possible. In this sense, I am more guided by tech because I don't think you can determine the truth of any debate within the time constraints. HOWEVER, I think you can use the truth to make more persuasive arguments- for example, you can have one really good argument supported by evidence that you're making compelling bc of its truthiness that could be more convincing or compelling than 3 cards that are meh.

FW/T

I judge a good number of T v. K aff debates and am comfortable doing so.

Sometimes these debates are overly scripted and people just blow through their blocks at top speed, so I think it's important to take moments to provide moments of emphasis and major framing arguments. Do not go for everything in the 2NR, there is not enough time to fully develop your argument and answer theirs. Clearly identify what impact you are going for.

Internal link turns by the negative help to mitigate the impact turn arguments. Example- debating about AI is key to create AI that does not re-create racial bias. TVA can help here as well!

The definitions components of these debates are underutilized- for example, if the aff has a counter interp of nuclear forces or disarm, have that debate. Why is their interp bad and exacerbate the limits or ground issues? I feel like this this gives you stronger inroads to your impact arguments and provides defense to the aff's impact turns.

K aff's- It is way less compelling to go for impact turns without going for the aff and how they resolve the impact turns. You cannot just win that framework is bad. It is more strategic for the aff to defend a particular model of debate, not just a K of current debate.

Kritiks:

Updated- It’s important to find balance between theoretical explanations, debate-ification of arguments, and judge instruction. More specifically- if you have a complex theory that you need to win to win the debate, you HAVE to spend time here. Err towards more simple explanation as opposed to overly convoluted.

Think about word efficiency and judge instruction for those theoretical arguments.

Although, I am familiar with some kritiks, I do not pretend to be an expert on all. That being said, I think that case specific links are the best. Generic links are not as compelling especially if you are flagging certain cards for me to call for at the end of the round. It seems that many times debaters don't take the time to really explain what the alternative is like, whether it solves part of the aff, is purely rejection, etc. If for some reason the alternative isn't extended or explained in the 2nr, I won't just apply it as a case turn for you. An impact level debate is also still important even if the K excludes the evaluation of specific impacts. It is really helpful to articulate how the K turns the case as well. On a framing level, do not just assume that I will believe that the truth claims of the affirmative are false, there needs to be in-depth analysis for why I should dismiss parts of the aff preferably with evidence to back it up.
The 2NR should CLEARLY identify if they are going for the alternative. If you are not, you need to be explicit about why you don't need the alt to win the debate. This means clear framework and impact framing arguments + turns case arguments. You need to explain why the links are sufficient turns case arguments for me to vote negative on presumption.

CPs- I really like counterplans especially if they are specific to the aff, which shows that you have done your research. Although PIKs are annoying to deal with if you are aff, I enjoy a witty PIK. However, make it clear that it is a PIK and explain why it solves the aff better or sufficiently. Explain sufficiency framing in the context of the debate you're having, don't just blurt out "view the cp through the lens of sufficiency"--that's not a complete argument.

Generic cps with generic solvency cards aren't really going to do it for me. However, if the evidence is good then I am more likely to believe you when you claim aff solvency. There needs to be a good articulation for why the aff links to the net benefit and good answers to cp solvency deficits, assuming there are any. Permutation debate needs to be hashed out on both sides, with Da/net benefits to the permutations made clear.

DAs- I find it pretty easy to follow DAs. However, if you go for it I am most likely going to be reading ev after the round, so it better be good. If your link cards are generic and outdated and the aff is better in that department, then you need to have a good reason why your evidence is more qualified, etc.

Make the story of the DA AND your scenario clear, DAs are great but some teams tend to go for a terminal impact without explanation of the scenario or the internal link args. Comparative analysis is important so I know how to evaluate the evidence that I am reading. Tell me why the link o/w the link turn etc. Impact analysis is very important, timeframe, probability, magnitude, etc., so I can know why the Da impacts are more important than the affs impacts. A good articulation of why the Da turns each advantage is extremely helpful because the 2ar will most likely be going for those impacts in the 2ar.

Theory- I generally err neg on theory unless there is a really good debate over it. Your generic blocks aren't going to be very compelling. If you articulate why condo causes a double turn, etc. specific to the round is a better way to go with it. I think that arguments such as vague alternatives especially when an alternative morphs during the round are good. However, minor theory concerns such as multiple perms bad aren't as legitimate in my opinion.

Other notes: If you are unclear, I can't flow you and I don't get the evidence as you read it, so clarity over speed is always preferable.
Don't be rude, your points will suffer. There is a difference between being aggressive and being a jerk.
Impact calc please, don't make me call for everyones impacts and force me to evaluate it myself. I don't want to do the work for you.
The last two rebuttals should be writing my ballot, tell me how I vote and why. Don't get too bogged down to give a big picture evaluation.

Accomplish something in your cross-x time and use the answers you get in cx and incorporate them into your speeches. Cx is wasted if you pick apart the DA but don't talk about it in your speech.

Background:

• I debated for Niles West in high school and West Georgia in college.
• BA in Philosophy.
• Currently coaching at Niles West.

Email:

• gershom000@gmail.com

Top level things:

• If you engage in offensive acts (think racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.), you will lose automatically and will be awarded whatever the minimum speaker points offered at that particular tournament is.
• If you make it so that the tags in your document maps are not navigable by taking the "tag" format off of them, I will actively dock your speaker points.
• Quality of argument means a lot to me. I am willing to hold my nose and vote for bad arguments if they're better debated but my threshold for answering those bad arguments is pretty low.
• I’m extremely hesitant to vote on arguments about things that have happened outside of a debate or in previous debates. I can only be sure of what has happened in this particular debate and anything else is non-falsifiable.
• Absolutely no ties and the first team that asks for one will lose my ballot.
• Soliciting any outside assistance during a round will lose my ballot.

Pet peeves:

• Lack of clarity. Clarity > speed 100% of the time.
• The 1AC not being sent out by the time the debate is supposed to start.
• Email-sending related failures.
• Dead time.
• Stealing prep.
• Answering arguments in an order other than the one presented by the other team.
• Asserting things are dropped when they aren't.
• Asking the other team to send you a marked doc when they marked 1-3 cards.
• Marking almost every card in the doc.
• Disappearing after the round.
• Quoting my paradigm in your speeches.
• Sending PDFs instead of Word Docs.

Ethics:

• If you are caught clipping you will receive a loss and the lowest possible points.
• If you make an ethics challenge in a debate in front of me, you must stake the debate on it. If you make that challenge and are incorrect or cannot prove your claim, you will lose and be granted the lowest possible points. If you are proven to have committed an ethics violation, you will lose and be granted the lowest possible points.
• If you use sexually explicit language or engage in sexually explicit performances in high school debates, you should strike me.

Cross-x:

• Yes, I’m fine with tag-team cx. But dominating your partner’s cx will result in lower points for both of you.
• Questions like "what cards did you read?" are cross-x questions, and I will run the timer accordingly.
• If you fail to ask the status of the off, I will be less inclined to vote for condo.
• If the 1NC responds that "every DA is a NB to every CP" when asked about net benefits in the 1NC even if it makes no sense, I think the 1AR gets a lot of leeway to explain a 2AC "links to the net benefit argument" on any CP as it relates to the DAs.

Inserting evidence or rehighlightings into the debate:

• I won't evaluate it unless you actually read the parts that you are inserting into the debate. If it's like a chart or a map or something like that, that's fine, I don't expect you to literally read that, but if you're rehighlighting some of the other team's evidence, you need to actually read the rehighlighting.

Affirmatives:

• I’m fine with plan or planless affirmatives. However, I believe all affirmatives should advocate for/defend something. What that something entails is up for debate, but I’m hesitant to vote for affirmatives that defend absolutely nothing.

Topicality:

• I default to competing interpretations unless told otherwise.
• The most important thing for me in T debates is an in-depth explanation of the types of affs your interp would include/exclude and the impact that the inclusion/exclusion would have on debate.
• 5 second ASPEC shells/the like have become nonstarters for me. If I reasonably think the other team could have missed the argument because I didn't think it was a clear argument, I think they probably get new answers. If you drop it twice, that's on you.

Counterplans:

• For me counterplans are more about competition than theory. While I tend to lean more neg on questions of CP theory, I lean aff on a lot of questions of competition, especially in the cases of CPs that compete on the certainty of the plan, normal means cps, and agent cps.

Disads:

• If you're reading a DA that isn't just a case turn, it should go on its own sheet. Failure to do so is super annoying because people end up extending/answering arguments on flows in different orders.

Kritiks:

• The more specific the link the better. Even if your cards aren’t that specific, applying your evidence to the specifics of the affirmative through nuanced analysis is always preferable to a generic link extension.
• ‘You link you lose’ strategies are not my favorite. I’m willing to vote on them if the other team fails to respond properly, but I’m very sympathetic to aff arguments about it being a bad model for debate.
• I find many framework debates end up being two ships passing in the night. Line by line answers to the other team's framework standards goes a long way in helping win framework in front of me.

Theory:

• Almost all theory arguments are reasons to reject the argument, condo is usually the only exception.
• Conditionality is often good. It can be not. I have found myself to be increasingly aff leaning on extreme conditionality (think many plank cps where all of the planks are conditional + 4-5 more conditional options).
• Tell me what my role is on the theory debate - am I determining in-round abuse or am I setting a precedent for the community?

Framework/T-USfg:

• I find impacts about debatability, clash, and iterative testing to be very persuasive.
• I am not really persuaded by fairness impacts, but will vote on it if mishandled.
• I am not really persuaded by impacts about skills/the ability for debate to change the world if we read plans - I think these are not very strategic and easily impact turned by the aff.
• I am pretty sympathetic to negative presumption arguments because I often think the aff has not forwarded an explanation for what the aff does to resolve the impacts they've described.
• I don't think debate is role-playing.

• If the aff drops SSD or the TVA and the 2NR extends it, I will most likely vote neg.

COVID UPDATE:

IF PREP IS NOT RUNNING YOU SHOULD NOT BE MUTED. IF PREP IS NOT RUNNING YOUR CAMERA SHOULD BE ON. IF THE SPEECH HAS NOT STARTED YOU SHOULD NOT BE SCROLLING THROUGH THE DOCUMENT.

YOU CAN OBVIOUSLY MUTE YOURSELF TO PREP, THAT IS A-OKAY! MUTE YOUR CAMERA FOR ALL I CARE, WHAT I CARE ABOUT IS TIMES WHEN THERE IS DOWNTIME AND NO TIMER IS RUNNING.

THIS IS FOR PEOPLE WHO STOP PREP AND THEN TAKE A MINUTE TO SEND THE EMAIL, STOP PREP AND THEN MUTE THEIR CAMERA AND MIC, AND THOSE WHO BLANTANTLY STEAL PREP TIME. IF PREP TIME IS NOT RUNNING AND YOU ARE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND I WILL ASSUME YOU ARE STEALING PREP.

TL;DR: DON'T STEAL PREP, DON'T BE SUS.

YOU HAVE AN EQUAL PREP TIME TO SOLVE TECH ISSUES. IF YOU DO NOT FIX TECH ISSUES IN THE ALLOTTED TIME, I WILL START YOUR ACTUAL PREP TIMER, IF YOU USE UP ALL YOUR PREP TIME I WILL START YOUR SPEECH TIME.

CLARITY IS NOW MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER. SPEAK CLEARLY. SPEAK AT A RATE OF SPEED THAT ALLOWS YOU TO MAINTAIN CLARITY.

Basics:

Give an order, speak clearly, do not exceed the speed at which you can speak, do not whisper, do not interrupt your partner excessively, give warrants, talk about evidence, time yourself, use all your speech time, go in order, only go for one thing in the 2NR, make a tonal distinction between cards and tags, tell me when you go from one sheet of paper to another sheet of paper, go for dropped arguments and extend dropped arguments don't just say "they dropped ______."

Argument preference:

You do you. I'm okay with any style of debate.

I will vote for any argument that is explained, warranted, and impacted.

If you are reading policy arguments explain them a bit more, I did critical debate for 6 years.

Clarity is important.

No ties.

Clipping will result in a loss & lowest possible points.

College:

If policy team vs policy team the one who does more explanation and judge instruction wins.

If clash, do what you do. Don't shy away from Cap K/FW; if it works run it. More than willing to vote on FW if it is won. Same goes for Aff vs K, if you win it I will vote for it.

If K team vs K team the one who does more explanation and judge instruction wins.

EMAIL CHAIN: nickcharles888@gmail.com

Hamilton High School '15

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign '19

I HATE DEBATE. ANARCHY IS KEY. POLITICAL STRUCTURES ARE BAD. TOPICALITY AND FRAMEWORK IS A MYTH. FIAT IS ILLUSORY.

....now that I got your attention, please read the rest of this paradigm carefully. For, lack of doing so will be heavily reflected in those precious speaker points of yours.

 Pls Debate, don't just read off your computer.

Background: 4 years of High School debate, Arizona D1 State Champion, 2-time qualifier to the NSDA tournament. Coached at the SWDIT Debate Camp summer of 2015, so I have exposure to the Surveillance topic. During my career I debated policy arguments, policy affs with critical impacts, and full out kritikal arguments--finishing my senior year reading a Neolib aff. Oh yeah, I was a 2A/1N.

General Paradigm: Debate is yours, performance, policy, etc, it is what you make it. If you read anything offensive or promotes discourses that are negative for the debate activity and/or environment I will be very upset and it will reflect in your speaker points. Just run the arguments you want to run genuinely, debate well, and everything will be okay. Impact your arguments well and be a persuasive speaker. I hate tagline extentions and will also frown upon them. 

Specifics:

- Aff: I'm okay with any kritikal affirmative, or if you want be as policy as you want to. I will not favor one type of affirmative debating over another granted that I have done both. For the framework debates, prove to me why I should prefer your interpretation over the negatives and if a framework flow lacks well-impacted arguments and many impact turns to the neg, you're in a bad position. While this may sound pessimistic, if you are able to do well both on the line-by-line as well as the "big picture" explanations of your kritikal argument against the framework the neg reads you will be very well rewarded. For policy affirmatives, please be topical. Be clear if judge kick is a thing for your advantages...but on the same note kick out of advantages properly please. Impact well, and you will be rewarded. Don't fall behind on the line-by-line.

- Neg: 

--Case: THIS DEBATE IS A MUST. I LOVE A GOOD CASE DEBATE I THINK IT TEACHES THE MOST IN THE ACTIVITY. Even if you don't have specific cards for an affirmative, please try to engage with the affirmative don't do your own thing. Good case debate will be rewarded.

--Topicality: While I have not judged many debates under this topic, I will vote for Topicality if the negative provides sufficient reason why the affirmative is violating the resolution. Well impacted topicality and good caselists will help in this process.

--Counterplans: Explain the net benefit well please. I will vote on counterplans. Also, if the affirmative calls you out on a cheapshot counterplan, best be prepared for the theory debate.

--Disads: Links are important, please give them the explanations they need. Impacts are also important, please do well-done impact comparisons. Also, please don't read 10 second DAs that waste my time.

--Kritiks: Links are important. Impacts are important. Alternatives need explanation, though if you're going for the K as a case turn make that clear please. I've ran Neolib, Marx, and the Fiat K. I know the general thesis for many other K's but don't expect me to understand your Baudrillard. Just explain it well, impact it well, relate it to the aff, and we'll all be happy campers. Aside from that ask any specific questions in round. Oh yeah, floatings PIKs are abusive.

--Theory: I pull the trigger on condo when there are contradicting worlds, also 2 worlds is enough, 3 pushes it, 4+ is abusive. Perf con is a great argument, if you drop it on either side, I will search for the easy ballot (ON THE CONDITION THAT THE OTHER TEAM EXPLAINS AND IMPACTS THE ARGUMENT WELL)--aside from that, it'll probably end up as a tiebreaker argument if not well addressed on either side. Vague alts theory-- be prepared to answer why your aff isn't vague as well. General rule, if you drop a big theory argument that is well extended with a terminal impact by the opposing side, you will lose.

Speed is okay, be slower on tags and analytics.

If you know Malhar Patel, my debate partner, jokes are nice. Jokes about Rohit, Nisarg, Joe, and Manav are also fair game--entertain me pls.

Jokes are fine, just don't be offensive.

Debate well, be chill.

I'm a sophomore at Cornell University this year, and I debated for The Westminster Schools in high school. 

tl;dr: 

1. Speed is fine, but clarity is a must- I’ll say clear but I might give up after a while. I won't dock your speaks as much as other judges because I think if you're smart and work hard you deserve to be rewarded for that, but if I don't flow an argument because I can't understand you I can't vote on it.
2. Disclosure is good- unless it’s a new aff you should always disclose the 1ac or previous 2nrs, and don't lurk outside the round until one minute before the debate starts--that annoys me. 
3. Don't steal prep. 

Case: 

Try to actually engage the case debate--I've watched so many debates where the only case defense was a couple old impact defense cards. Even if you don't have any aff-specific cards, a couple good analytics are easy to throw together and can actually make a difference.

Internal links are usually the weakest part of the aff- exploit that rather than 10 generic impact defense cards 

DAs:
Live it love it. I'm a big fan of the politics and elections disads.

Impact turns:
Love them as well! Most of my 1nr’s are disads or impact turns. 


CPs:
Explain how the CP solves the aff specifically and answer all solvency deficits no matter how small they sound- a good 2A can (and should) expand on one the 2nr blows off.

I will not kick the 2nr's advocacy for them-- they are stuck with their choice for the final rebuttal. 

International fiat: probably ok, because aff should have a USFG key warrant.

50 state fiat: eh, depends on how much the neg cheats by adding different planks to fiat through solvency deficits and if those planks are grounded in evidence.

Consult, conditions, recommend, things that do the entirety of the aff/compete on certainty and/or immediacy and normal means: bad

PICs out of the mandate of the plan: ok if they are based in lit

Word PICs: bad. I think word pics are bad and will not hesitate to vote on it. 

Condo: 2 conditional options is probably legit, any less than that is fine, more than 3 makes me want to vote aff. Perfcon also makes me want to vote aff. 
Multiplank CPs: must have the same mechanism 

If they don’t go for the cheating CP/perm, theory is a reason to reject the argument, not the team.

T
I haven't judged many T debates on this topic so keep that in mind. A good T violation is one that’s explained, supported by good definitions and impacted well. Don’t just read your generic limits disads and what not-contextualize it to the aff! The aff needs to win that the neg excludes some essential group of arguments and explain why that’s bad and they should lose the round. Specificity goes a long way. Talk about what you think are the key topic controversies and explain why the neg excludes those. Reasonability is important to me--I probably think most affs are reasonably t. 

K—
I'm not the best person to go for a k in front of. You should actually understand what you’re saying and be able to explain it beyond buzzwords. Affs should just defend their aff! Heg is good, empiricism is good, falsifiability is good etc. Don’t neglect framework! Weighing the aff is probably a god-given right. (It’ll be *VERY* hard to convince me otherwise) Role of the ballot arguments are excuses for lazy debating; instead of making the role of the ballot "vote neg to challenge X" win that challenging X actually outweighs. Util is probably also my default. Floating piks are bad.

K affs:
I strongly believe the aff should defend a topical action by the USFG and topicality is a very persuasive argument, so proving to me your aff is good for debate is a battle you have to win. I obviously won't auto vote neg in a fw debate because I try to be as tabula rasa as possible, but I'm not the best judge for you if you don't read a plan. 


Random Theory Things:
ASPEC: not a fan, it MUST be set up in 1AC cx if its to be considered at all 
OSPEC etc: please no
I mostly lean aff on theory, but if you clearly explain why something is (or isn't) a voter you should be fine 


Random—
If you have any questions feel free to email me at colescotter@gmail.com

Noah Cramer

Background:
Dartmouth '16 (Debated for 12-13 and 13-14 seasons.)
OPRF '12

General Thoughts:

--I have not yet judged on the criminal justice reform topic. I like to think of myself as decently knowledgeable about current events, the government, and classic debate arguments, but I don't have a strong sense of how the topic has developed.

-- I'm also new to Zoom debate, so bear with me if I have technical difficulties.

--Debate the way that makes you love the activity! The round is about you, not me!
--I ran more kritiks in high school and more policy in college. I am happy to judge either.

--Clarity is good, even at the cost of some speed. I imagine this rule will be especially true in Zoom debates.
--Impact framing is especially important in almost every debate.
--I love smart concessions and cross-apps.
--I won't kick a counterplan/alt for you unless you tell me why I should.
--No one's objective, but I'll strive to not intervene.
--All of my predispositions are flexible. I'm happy to go against nearly any of my predispositions if you can convince me that I should.

Disads
--An aff that points out flaws in the disad well will be very persuasive. That might be especially true for politics. That said, if an aff doesn't do that, I won't do it for them.
--I think the value of "turns case" arguments often hinge on how well you win the parts of your DA that lead up to those turns case arguments. "Econ turns heg" isn't a kill shot if the neg doesn't win a decent risk that the plan collapses the economy.

CP's
--Good perm work/theory against process-type counterplans is awesome.
--I like well-explained CP links to DA arguments a lot.
--Debaters sometimes forget how important it is to explain what the CP does and how it is different from the aff. Investing the time to do that definitely pays off.
--Smart and competitive uniqueness CP's are awesome.

The K
--Both aff and neg teams should remember that the aff exists.
--There is little in debate as entertaining as good link debate, and good link debating makes the other parts of the k easy.
--Both teams: Know what the k is saying. It's just another argument. I won't be mad if you spend cross-x sorting out what your opponent's k is saying if you are not sure.
--I'll like well-explained appeals to empirics by both sides. Stats are cool.

K Tricks
--I tend to see "role of the ballot" as just a glorified way of saying "our impacts outweigh." But by all means, if you can make a role of the ballot argument and explain it well as something else, more power to you.
--I wish most debates would go a level deeper in explaining their k "tricks." Asserting "they dropped root cause" in the 2nr does not get you as far as a nuanced explanation of how the k's impacts are the root cause of the affirmative's impacts.
--Similarly, you should explain what your K trick means for how I evaluate the debate. Saying "they dropped epistemology first" is about a million times more useful if you explain how that framework determines how I should view the aff, the alternative, and the perm.
--I guess the tl;dr of this is that K tricks are fine, but you still need to explain what they mean and why they matter!

Topicality
--Limits is usually a better argument than ground.
--I think reasonability makes a lot of sense, but absent any discussion of how to evaluate T debates, I'll evaluate the debate through competing interpretations.
--If the aff wins reasonability, it's not an auto-win. It's up to both teams to convince me whether or not the aff's interpretation is "reasonable."

No-Plan Text Affirmatives
--I am open to the idea that positions in these debates should have different standards of competition/mutual exclusivity than they would in a more traditional style of debate. Often times, the affirmative's own claims on framework can help you win this argument.
--I can be persuaded either way on framework/T debates. I do not think framework is an inherently better or worse strategy than anything else and won't be disappointed if you decide it is the way you want to respond to an aff. Similarly, I won't be disappointed if your choice is to not read a plan.
--In these debates, ground arguments can be more persuasive than they are in a more conventional T debate.
--I think, for the aff, it's often a good call to present a coherent vision of what the negative's role should be and what the judge is endorsing by voting affirmative. For the negative, point out that if they've failed to do those things.

K-Aff's With a Plan
--I ran these in high school. They seem to have gone the way of the dinosaur, for the most part, but they will always hold a special place in my heart.
--If you are reading one and reading it well, I'll like it a lot!

Theory
--Theory is a great strategy against a lot of counterplans. Don't be afraid to go all in on it if you think you can win it.
--I enjoy condo debates. Your speaks will not suffer at all if you choose to make theory your 2ar strategy.

Former policy debater at Alpharetta High School from 2013-2017

2N for 4 years

Big picture:

• I have been out of debate for several years now, so please keep that in mind!
• Read what you're comfortable with. I have pre-dispositions and preferences, of course, but I would like to see you debate what you are well-versed in!
• Be clear in both your argumentation and your speaking. Don't assume I know minute details of what you're saying. Clarity over speed (always).
• Love evidence comparison and cogent analytical arguments.
• Tech over truth with some minor caveats.
• Have fun!

Updated 2/7/24

Add me to the chain: christopherjpjackson at gmail

Background:

Ames High School (’14)-qualified to the TOC and then-NFL Nationals

University of Iowa (’17)-Dr. Dave once called my extension of topicality “lucid and succinct”

Wake Forest University ('20)-M.A. in Communication

Genealogy:

I've spent over a decade (yikes) in this activity as either a debater, judge, or coach. Just some of the people who have influenced how I think about debate include: David Hingstman, Brian Rubaie, Kyle Vint, Brooke Kimbrough, Jason Regnier.

Overview:

Existence precedes essence. Or, to use the phrase I see littered across numerous paradigms, you do you. My default setting as a judge is nonprescriptivist, and this is reflected in my voting record. Partially from years of playing baseball, I conceptualize the role of the judge as akin to that of an umpire calling balls and strikes, though that itself can be contested by the participants.

Specifics:

K: I am primarily versed in the cap and so-called high theory set of arguments. I likely have a passing understanding/have previously judged whatever K you are thinking about reading. I am not sufficiently predisposed for or against any position to the extent that it becomes expedient to read something other than what you're best at. While in my day "job" I work mostly as a quantitative social scientist, I still enjoy reading philosophy pieces, including those more critical in nature. I prefer, in a strictly relative sense, more systematic criticisms to individual/subject-centered ones. So, for example, I tend to be a better judge for Afropessimism compared to those focused on embodied performance.

CP: I'm probably about one standard deviation more willing than the average judge to err aff on counterplan theory PROVIDED the affirmative does the work throughout the rebuttals beyond just reading extensions. The theoretical validity of some of the jankier counterplans (cc: Lopez) strikes me as seriously questionable, but again, the aff needs to do the work. Incidentally….

Theory: I don't presume to reject the argument and not the team unless prompted.

T: Yes, please. I am very drawn to arguments about grammar and syntax. Like all judges I do think demonstrating actual impacts to debatability are good and well but am quite fine with the point that words mean things.

DA: <3. While I do broadly accept the standard model of debate (and offense/defense more specifically), I can be convinced that there is functionally zero risk of a link or impact. That the chance of something happening is so low as to be the equivalent of statistical white noise=terminal defense.

A pet peeve: "fiat is an illusion". Absent specific contextualization to the round or an on-the-nose card, please, no. I have yet to hear a round where this argument was deployed in a manner that made me think “I’m really glad we had a discussion of how nothing happens when the judge votes aff” at the end of the day. Note: in the years since I first put this in my paradigm I have continued to hear and vote off of this line of argument. So it certainly is viable in front of me-though I don't like it.

Lincoln-Douglas:

I have judged plenty of both national-circuit and old-school LD rounds and am comfortable with either. Value/criterion is useful but not necessary.

Public Forum:

You will find I have high expectations for evidence quality and am quite flow-oriented. Doing well in front of me in PF involves:

-directly answering your opponent's arguments. Directly refute what they said. I'm not going to spot you a link

-explicit impact calculus

-being attuned to the flow

Westminster Schools 2016

UChicago 2020

Put me on the email chain: alexkong7@gmail.com

I don't understand why people sit down for cross-ex. Stand up

The only thing people care about: If you read a planless aff, I will try my absolute best to be objective. Rest assured that a good T-USFG throwdown is my favorite type of debate to watch and think about, and that I will put as much effort into fairly evaluating the debate as you do debating it. I spent / still spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about aff impact turns and answers to T, because I find them very interesting (if only because I find thinking about how to defeat them even more interesting). I find that negative teams often let affirmative teams get away with way more than they should, by failing to question the basic logic (and I do mean basic) of their impact turns with sufficient rigor -- smart affirmative teams will exploit this to the fullest extent.

I also think that many judges are too lenient with "high theory" teams in terms of explanation. If I can't explain to the other team what it means to "transparently prove that transparency is bad," then I'm not voting for you. And even if I knew what that meant in the abstract, absent sufficient explanation in the round, i.e. enough to provide a basic understanding to someone with no familiarity with the concept before the round, I'm still not voting for you. I think this is a reasonable standard given the inherent complexity of many of the theoretical concepts that planless affs rely on, and also one which is consistent with the standard I apply to "policy" debates. The bar for explanation is contingent on the complexity of the concept which is being explained, and that's true no matter if the subject at hand is Baudrillard's theory of information overload, or the technical details of North Korea's nuclear program.

The beautiful thing about debate is that the only thing I cast a judgement on at the end of the round is the strength of the arguments that the debaters have presented. What this means is that any argument that's presented, no matter how incredulous of a reaction it provokes in any reasonable person, has the same opportunity to be considered true as any other argument within the confines of the round, provided you argue for it well. Accordingly, I will do my absolute best to evaluate the round objectively, meaning solely on the basis of how well you argue; but I'd obviously be lying if I said I didn't have any biases whatsoever. Any ideological preferences that I have, however, shouldn't deter you from reading any particular type of argument, but it might change the way you want to explain it so that it's communicated to me in the clearest and most effective way -- that was just a long way of saying tech over truth.
That's not an excuse, however, to run bad arguments. Arguments should be considered "bad" when the threshold for defeating them or proving them wrong is so low, due to their internal inconsistencies or logical incoherence, that they can be quickly and easily dismissed by competent argumentation. The key part of that sentence is "competent argumentation." It shouldn't be difficult to beat time cube, but if you fail to make the necessary arguments, then you'll lose. Tech over truth means that if a team fails to point out why a stupid argument is stupid, then the stupid argument wins -- the corollary to this is that it should be exceptionally easy to point out why the stupid argument is stupid, and thus beat it.

Most 1AC advantages and offcase positions are absolute trash, and can be taken apart with a few smart analytical arguments. I have a special hatred for terrible affs, and am very conducive to analytical presses that point out logical holes and inconsistencies in the internal link chain. I feel like I probably value these analytical arguments more than other people, so use that to your advantage. This also means that I'm probably more willing to vote neg on presumption if you effectively demolish the case.

All of the generic maxims that apply to every judge also apply to me: Arguments must contain warrants. Explain things. Being slow and clear is infinitely better than being fast and unclear (but being fast and clear is the best). Comparative arguments win debates. Cheating means you lose. Be aggressive, but don't be mean. If you steal prep I'll hate you.

Cards are important, so you should have good cards. But in round spin and comparison of evidence are vastly more important, and I'll give way more weight to those arguments. I'll only call for cards if both teams are in disagreement over what the card says or how good it is. Evidence comparison wins debates, and will boost your speaker points.

Cross-ex is a speech, and very important. Done well, it's my favorite part of debate to watch, and I really appreciate a good one.



Everything that follows this sentence is far less important than everything that's above it.

Ks --

I like them a lot, as long as they're contextualized to the aff and explained well. There's nothing I hate more than a K speech that sounds like it could be given the exact same way in every debate. There are few things I like more than a well done Security K with specific links and smart turns case arguments.
When I find myself voting aff in K debates, it's usually because the negative has either failed to provide enough impact calculus, and/or failed to implicate the aff's offense. Why does structural violence matter more than the risk of extinction? The reason doesn't have to be an ethics first or value to life type argument; in fact, I think a straight up probability comes first argument is far more persuasive. Along the same lines, you're going to want a substantial amount of case defense and root cause or turns case arguments in order to mitigate the aff's offense.

DAs --
Yes, please.

CPs --
Multiplank advantage CPs that solve the entirety of the aff are sweet, and I don't think they need a solvency advocate that advocates for the whole counterplan in one card. If your aff is really so bad that a cobbled-together advantage CP can solve it to the point that you're reduced to complaining about how unfair it is, you need to cut a better aff.
I don't have this strange hatred that some people seem to nurture for CPs like consult that result in the possibility of doing the whole aff. The aff should absolutely make and extend theory and competition arguments, but I'll evaluate them the same way that I evaluate every other part of the flow -- I don't have any strong feelings about it either way.

T --
I default to competing interpretations. Impact calculus is super important. Explain why fairness / education / whatever should be prioritized. Should we care about protecting the competitive integrity of the game, or should we care about the education we gain, and why? Caselists are also very important.

Theory --
I default to rejecting the argument not the team if it's a stupid blip like "severance perms are voting issue." For example, if the neg kicks the CP with the severance perm and forgets to say "reject the argument not the team" and the aff gets up and is like "THEY DROPPED SEVERANCE PERMS ARE A VOTING ISSUE," I will laugh at you and trash your speaks.
Slow down when reading theory blocks.

Reuben Lack
Alpharetta High School '12
Emory University '16

I debated four years at Alpharetta and qualified to the TOC in my senior year before debating for Emory University. Currently, I'm a dubbing producer & director for Disney, with a specific focus on anime & animation content.

My top-line advice if you have me in the back of the room is do what you do best. These are general predispositions, not immutable laws of judging, and you're always best off advancing a strategy you know well.

Please add me to the email chain: reubenlack1@gmail.com.

We only have 5 minutes before the round, what should we know about you?
I consider myself a 'middle of the road' judge on most meta debate issues. When I was in the activity, I did everything from Politics DA 2NR's to more obscure 1-Off Kritik strategies. I'm comfortable with pretty much anything. I'm neither a "K judge" nor a "policy judge," and will do my best to examine the debate from the arguments you give me. Tactically, judge instruction and comparative evidence analysis are appreciated. My thresholds for theory arguments are probably lower than most judges.

To the extent I have certain leans on close calls, or musings about debate issues, I've done my best to illustrate those below.

Are you OK with K's/Critical Affs/Planless Affs/Performance/Non-Traditional Affs?
I've run everything from super 'policy' affs with giant heg and econ advantages to 1ACs that consisted largely of a poem and leftist arguments. In high school and college, I went for stuff like Security, Badiou, Derrida, and had a good share of 1NCs that were 1-Off Kritik. That said, it's been years since I've delved into these arguments, so explanation is a must for any high-theory strategies.

When it comes to framework and framework-related arguments against these types of Affs/K's, your 2NR/2AR 'story' should focus on the educational implications of each side's approaches. I'm interested in the question of how to make debate an educational and useful activity for students. How does your position interact with those considerations?

As for how to align your strategy, I'm more likely to be persuaded by a direct challenge to the efficacy of the non-traditional team's method/model for debate than a procedural fairness claim, which often falls short. It's always better to go on offense. There are serious & legitimate objections to K Aff's/performance Aff's that Neg teams should feel comfortable to make as part of their FW arguments. I have a particular soft spot for turns of the "cede the political" variety (e.g., withdrawing from the state/policy-making leads to state apparatuses controlled by conservatives).

Thoughts on the Politics DA & DA Strategy?
Love them. My senior year was almost entirely me taking that week's Politics DA in the 1NR. My favorite 1NR's dig deep into the aff evidence, tear it apart, and make solid comparative analysis. For the aff, don't be shy about putting all your firepower against 1 or 2 serious logical holes in the DA (this goes for any, not just Politics/Elections). The internal linkage between a particular bill passing to a terminal impact is typically pretty flimsy, and Aff's that push that point will do well in front of me. Zero risk of the disad is an RFD I've given.

Should I ever make Theory arguments an option in your rounds?
I'm probably more willing to vote on theory arguments than your average judge. That said, if you want to make "Conditionality Bad," "50 State Fiat Bad," or other theory arguments an option, you need to focus on what debate looks like under the other side's interpretation. What happens to prep, strategy, research, and why is it bad? Do the impact work, talk about what your vision of optimal debate looks like. These debates tend to be especially messy, so minimizing theory jargon is recommended.

Anything else you really like?
Impact turns, advantage counterplans, highly-specific case debates.

Any strong opinions about Topicality?
I enjoy a good T debate and was something of a "T Hack" for the first few years of my high school career. Reasonability is hard to win in front of me, but strong counter-interpretations are underrated. Like Theory debates, jargon is overused in T 2NR's/2AR's; I recommend focusing on the impact level, i.e., what happens to the topic if X is/isn't considered topical.

At the end of the round, how do you usually go about making your decision?
When the round ends, I take a note of all the key questions to resolve, then work through them one-by-one. This means framing arguments and judge instruction ("prioritize X," "view the [X] through the lens of [Y]," "here are the 2 ways to vote [X]") are great ways to win my ballot. My default state, unless guided by arguments in-round, is to assess the debate through an offense-defense paradigm, weighing how one area of risk interacts and/or outweighs another. I also rarely call for cards unless a nexus question of evidence quality decides the round. To borrow from Ed Lee's paradigm, "while I am a huge fan of quality evidence, my decisions will privilege a debater’s assessment of an argument over my reading of a piece of evidence."

What can I do to get high speaks if you're my judge?
Have fun! Be nice! Utilize cross-x effectively. My favorite debaters were all fairly slow at spreading, yet extremely strong speakers. And hey, I work in the anime industry, so pandering with references never hurts.

Any pet peeves we should know about?
Two pet peeves. First, please, please, please email/flash speeches in a timely fashion. Second, there is no "flow clarification" segment in policy debate, i.e., if you're asking what cards a team read, that's part of CX. You should always be flowing, with the speech doc as a reference, but not as the source of truth. There's been an unfortunate trend away from strong flowing skills, please don't let needless mistakes happen to you.

"Don't forget. Believe in yourself. Not in the you who believes in me. Not the me who believes in you. Believe in the YOU who believes in yourself."
- Kamina, Gurren Lagann
I wish you the best of luck and hope my feedback will help for future rounds. I love the activity and the fantastically cool people in it. I’ll do whatever I can to support you and help you grow as a debater.

Experience: Currently debating at the University of Pittsburgh, debated for four years at New Trier High School.

Decision Making Procedure:

- I do not want to call for evidence. 

-I spend time after the debate lining up arguments (usually from 1AR – 2NR – 2AR) to begin making the decision - I tend think of debate in terms of modules/smaller debates within an arguement that have relative importance and intersections with other smaller debates. If you think I should not use this method of evaluation you should provide detailed judging instructions to assist me in my decision making process that better suits your interests.

Me:

- I will try to make my proclivities as little a part of the debate as I can. I have an okay flow and I will attempt to decide primarily from that resource. I will rely more on the way that I interpreted your description and application of evidence during speeches and cx than reading evidence.

-I will be flowing on a laptop. Moving to laptop will result in a more transcript like flow and allow for me to focus on the language you used to forward your argument when evaluating the argument post-round.

-I strongly prefer email chain over flashing. Please include me in the chain mattpiekos95@gmail.com. I will be flowing (as should you), not reading your doc as you speak. I will open docs for CX questions that pertain to an interpretation of a specific piece of evidence and I will use the docs as necessary to evaluate evidence after the round.

- Don’t expect me to have a background in what you are discussing. This applies to any argument you read.

- Arguments should have at least a warrant for their claims.

- I’m a fairly expressive judge. If I’m confused, not impressed, or digging it you will likely be able to tell.

-I think debate should be a communication activity.

- I notice that I give more speaker points early in the tournament rather than later.

Cross-x

- I think this is the best part of debate.

- I will flow cross-x. Arguments clarified in cross-x should be consistently held throughout debate.

- Moments of cross-x often can makes an impact on the frame of an argument and are usually the first thing I recall when assessing speaker points.

Topicality

-Not an RVI. Not genocide. ASPEC et al are likely a stretch and expect that I will find flippant 2AC arguments compelling in these instances.

Counterplans

-I am a good judge for consultation or condition counterplans. Conditionality bad isn't an uphill battle.

Kritiks

-A competitive alternative likely will not include the passage of plan.

-Affs that don't read a defense of USFG action or defend liberal policy making are probably predictable, questionably topical. I would like to hear affirmatives that show interest in the topic.

Speaker Point Distribution

-My points are decided based on the round in front of me and decided in the context of the division and my arbitrary perception of the field at the particular tournament.

-Don't expect a 29.2 or above no matter how good you were- there is usually a fair amount of improving to be done.

-Don't expect below a 27.5 from me unless you *acted* in a way that I found repugnant. You will not recieve lower than 27.5 points because I found an *argument*an that you made repugnant.

Cheating

-Fabricating evidence is inexcusable.

-Clipping cards is unquestionably inexcusable. Challenges of card clipping will result in stopping the debate and if material evidence is provided that proves beyond a reasonable doubt in my mind that card clipping (NOT slurring of words or moments of lack of clarity) the offending team will recieve a loss and the offending speaker will recieve 0 speaker points. However, if I conclude that the speaker is not guilty of clipping cards the challenging team will recieve a loss and both challenging speakers will recieve 0 speaker points.

Niles West '14

UIUC '18

I coach for Niles West debate and have for the past 6 years. I have coached and judged in every level from novice to elimination rounds in varsity divisions. I have also coached and judged on local, regional, and national circuits.

Yes, I would like to be sent speech docs but I will not be flowing off of them --- elipre@d219.org

I debated for three years for Niles West and one year at Michigan State University on the legalization topic. My experience in debate is 50/50 policy and K.

I would like to emphasize that I am totally down for the K as much as I am totally down for a policy debate.

First and foremost: I do not allow my preconceived notions about certain types of arguments affect my decision-making. I view debate as an activity that develops critical thinking and advocacy skills, so do that in whatever way you think is best suited for your situation (granted that it is respectful and not offensive).

Certain arguments:

FYI: dropped arguments are not true arguments --- whoever makes the argument has the burden of proof.

T – love a good T debate. compare interpretations and evidence adequately. the impact level is the most important to me in T debates, and you should be comparing standards/impacts. don't forget the internal link debate. fairness is an impact in and of itself.

DAs – are essential to a good debate I think. impact calc and overviews are important. think we can all agree on that.

Ks and Framework – I love the K, I went for it a lot in high school. they are good for debate *if they answer the affirmative*. Please engage the affirmative. This entails making specific link arguments as well as thorough turns case analysis. I am probably familiar with your literature, however, I will not weigh your buzzwords more than logical aff arguments against your K. If you want my ballot, you need to first and foremost TALK ABOUT THE AFF. Read specific links to the aff’s representations and impacts, not just to the topic in general.

The link debate is crucial – and the aff should recognize if the neg is not doing an adequately specific job explaining their link story. Additionally, you need to make turns case arguments. I will not be compelled by a mere floating pik in the 2NR – that’s cheating. Give me analysis about why the aff reifies its own impacts. Absent this, I usually default to weighing the 1AC heavily against the K.

Relating to framework, I have a high threshold for interpretations that limit out critiques entirely. I would rather see debaters interact with the substance of the criticism than talk shallowly about fairness and predictability (especially if it is a common argument). A lot of the times, framework debates are lazy.

Planless affs: Totally down for them, especially on the criminal justice system reform topic. Perhaps they could be read on the neg, but that does not mean that they should not be read on the aff. This is good news if you are negative going for framework because switch side debate probably solves a lot of aff offense if there is a topical version of the aff. This is also good news for the aff because I can just as likely be persuaded that the reading of your aff in the debate space creates something unique (i.e., whatever you are solving for). A policy action, whether or not it's done by the federal government, should be a priority for the aff to defend. Please just do something that gives the negative a role in the debate. SLOW DOWN on taglines if they are paragraphs.

***

Meta things:

1. Clarity (important for online debate) - I've changed my stance on this since online debate became a thing. Still definitely say words. Sending analytics in speech doc and/or slowing down on analytics 1) helps me which is, in turn, good for you and 2) (at worst) facilitates clash because your opponents can also hear and know what you are saying, which is also good for everyone educationally!

Ideally I would not have to work too hard to hear what you are saying. I am bad at multitasking, so if I’m working too hard I’ll probably miss an argument or two. Please enunciate tag lines especially. If I can’t decipher your answer to an argument, I will consider it dropped.

2. Be respectful – yes, debate is a competitive activity, but it is also an academic thought exercise. I encourage assertiveness and confidence in round, but if you are rude, I will reduce your speaker points. Rudeness includes excessively cutting your opponent off or talking over them in cross-ex, excessively interrupting your partner's speech to prompt them, being unnecessarily snarky towards your opponents, etc. Please just be nice :)

3. Logic - a lot of times, debaters get wrapped up in the technicality of their debates. While tech is important, it shouldn’t come at the expense of doing things like explaining your arguments, pointing out logical flaws in your opponents’ arguments, and telling me how I should evaluate a particular flow in the context of the whole debate. I tend to reward teams that provide consistent, clear, and smart meta-level framing issues – it makes my job 100 times easier, and it minimizes the extent to which I have to intervene to decide the debate. I will not do work for you on an argument even if I am familiar with it – I judge off of my flow exclusively.

4. DO NOT assume that I am following along on the speech doc as you are giving a speech, because I am probably not.

5. Trolly arguments will probably get you low speaks and some eyerolls. Debate is an educational activity. By my standards, "trolly" includes timecube, xenos paradox, turing tests, etc. Y'all are smart people. I think you catch my drift here.

Whitney Young ‘15

University of Kentucky ‘19

Cornell Law '23

Former WY and UK coach; Officially not coaching anymore. This means that I have less topic knowledge than normal and you should not assume I know what your aff is or will know what those acronyms you just threw out stand for. When in doubt, invest more time in explaining your argument.

Top Level

Add me to the email chain- Jacindarivas@gmail.com

My name is Jacinda (Juh-sin-duh) so call me that instead of judge.

I will reward smart teams that can effectively and efficiently communicate their arguments to me. Engaging with your opponent, having a well-thought out strategy, and demonstrating that you’re doing consistent, hard work is what this activity is about.

Please be nice. I am not very responsive to raising voices/yelling.

Clash debates

No one ENJOYS clash debates but I end up judging quite a few. I really do believe that affs should have a tie to the topic and should be in the direction of the topic. I am not the judge for an aff that has a couple cards that say a theory and then pretend to say something about the topic. I also believe that debate is an inherently good activity so indicting the entirety of the activity we participate in is not great for me. I think this matters a lot for the way some teams answer framework so be cognizant of this. The only thing that my ballot decides is the winner.

Ks

Links should be causal, specific and about the plan. They NEED to be contextualized to what the aff actually did. I have too often judged debates where a team presents a theory of the world but have not explained what the aff has done to implicate that. Explanation is key. That applies to all Ks cause if you are just spitting jargon at me and the other team, you aren’t gonna have a good time. I am not persuaded by arguments that the aff just doesn’t get fiat.

CPs/DAs

Love them. Obviously better the more specific to the aff they are. I default to judge kick unless expressly informed not to.

There can be zero risk of a DA

Theory

Conditionality is good.

Random Things

You can insert a re-highlighting of a card- you shouldn’t have to waste time re-reading a card if they suck at research

Ethics violations (ex. Clipping, a card being cut in the middle of the paragraph, etc.) should just have the debate staked on it. It is a bad form of education and should be rejected. No point in drawing it out.

Further questions- email me at jacindarivas@gmail.com

I debated at New Trier and Michigan State. Now, I help out at Niles North.

How to win my ballot

Control the frame and explain why your arguments beat their arguments under that framing. The framing could be anything. Really, the framing could be anything. Frames that have won my ballot: magnitude comes first, only epistemology matters, the judge is a critical intellectual, reasonability dictates T debates. Other ones have won, too!

I strive to be as non-interventionist as possible. Make sure your winning arguments make it onto my flow. Answer the arguments your opponent can win on.

Read the arguments you are best at. I doubt you will be better at debating something totally new that you think I will like than reading something you are familiar with that you think I do not like.

Preferences

Top-level: these are either defaults that your arguments can render meaningless or opinions that probably only matter for speaker points, if they matter at all.

Topical plans>topical advocacies>topical planless speech-acts>not-quite-topical 1ACs of any variety>>>>>affs that ignore the topic

The most entertaining negative strategies are case-specific.

I will evaluate theory and/or T before I evaluate anything else.

Education, fairness, jurisdiction, limits, ground, and their friends are internal links, not impacts. What do I do with the offending arguments? Please tell me. If you do not tell me, I will vote against the team that you win read an untopical aff or ran their neg advocacies conditionally. If a permutation or negative advocacy is shown to be theoretically illegitimate, then I won’t consider it in my decision, unless, of course, you win that I should do something else.

I love DAs.

I view counterplans as opportunity cost DAs. As a default, I will kick them for the neg if they link to the net benefit. Just a default, though.

I tend to view counterplans that compete on the certainty and/or immediacy of the plan or the process of its implementation as uncompetitive but are probably theoretically legitimate.

Critiques tend to win when the other team drops a checklist argument. Sufficiently answer arguments such as X comes first, value to life, X is the root cause of violence, then you will probably beat the critique.

If you have questions or something needs to be clarified, feel free to email me at randy.rossman@gmail.com.

Have fun, make jokes, love debate.

Ricardo Saenz
Debated at Georgia Tech (Parli & Policy) for ~2 years
Debated at Alpharetta High School - 4 years

STEM background (studied Engineering in College)

Currently configure Leak Detection software for a Pipeline Company for a living.

risaenz(at)gmail

last updated 1/2/2020

TLDR: Debate what you're good at and debate well. I'll do my best to vote for the team that did the better debating.

General notes for everyone:

1. I vote for the team that did the better debating. What the "better debating" means is up to the debaters. If no one defines what it means to win the round, I usually default to weighing offense and defense. I also tend to be quick to decide rounds. It's not you... it's me!

2. Debate what you're comfortable with and debate it well. I don't really have many biases anymore and will hear you out on practically anything. There are a few arguments that will make me unhappy and affect your speaker points, but if you win the sheet of paper, you win the debate.

3. Add me to the email chain and please add your coaches, too. I will reply all with my comments and flow to the thread so y'all can have my record for redos.

4. I will try to keep with community norms in terms of speaker points. Just make sure I can understand you. You've seen me flow on the live stream so that should give you a good idea of my capabilities and limitations in that department.

4. It's very important that I can understand everything in your speech as I don't tend to read cards as much as most judges. I also try to write down key warrants on my flows and decide the round based on that.

5. I have been out of the activity for a while now and don't know much about the topic. Please keep that in mind and adjust accordingly.

6. Get the little stuff right - if it's clear that you have the paperless stuff down (no delays emailing, using flash drives etc...) you're likely to get on my good side and earn higher speaker points.

6. Let's all try to be friends here.

Argument Specific:

Performative Method - I am less persuaded by arguments that the ballot means something. That being said, I think arguments that focus on the scholarship of afro-pessimism and black feminism can be very persuasive. I am not very well read in the literature but did pick up a bunch from watching Kansas BR a bajillion times last year. Just be clear about what my role as a judge is and what the ballot means.

Kritiks - I don't really get Baudrillard but I think that's the point. If you want me to vote on one of your tricks, debate it well and impact it. Don't assume your job is done after the 1AR forgets the floating PIK. I debated many topic Ks back in the day, but make you explain stuff and... debate well...

Disads - Love DA/Case debates. This was one of my favorite strategies. Not much to say here.

Politics/Elections - sure

CPs - Make sure it competes. If it doesn't make sure you're good at theory.

Conditionality - I'm closer to 50/50 on this than most. Counterinterpetations are silly and self serving in these debates. The debate should be about conditionality being good or bad if it comes down to this.

Questions? Just ask!

Background

Debated for duPont Manual HS in Louisville, KY 2005-08, and for University of Kentucky 2008-10. Graduated from UK in December 2014, BA Political Science.

Philosophy

I love debate very dearly and take it seriously as an activity. Things that happen in round matter, and above all I care about the experience being fun, educational, and respectful for everyone involved. 

I am very open to all kinds of arguments--wild politics scenarios, kritiks, theory of debate, outlandish disads, word PICs, I can get into anything if it's well developed and clearly explained. The more substantive and specific, the better. Creativity is awesome. The only thing I would caution you against pulling in front of me are strategies that rely mostly on cheap tricks and lame technicalities; I'd rather hear real clash & exchange of ideas. 

Please read slowly and clearly!!!

Tip: If you are going to develop a technical argument, say T, FW, etc., please don't rely too much on jargon as shorthand. Debate isn't my full time job! I don't want to muddle adjudication, so make sure your args and impacts on these flows are well explained. 

I debated for Chattahoochee one year, Johns Creek for three and Vanderbilt for one. I currently coach at USN 

I do not have a preference for either traditional or kritkal debate.  Given that I do not have a preference, choose to debate in whichever manner that you debate the best. I will not hold you to a specific standard based on differentiation in argumentative style. 

That being said, I do not want to have to do work for you. I expect arguments to be answered in debate rounds (duh), and to be extended correctly in debate rounds. I enjoy debates in which the team that I am voting for is the team that has the ability to spell out the round for me- those tend to be the debates in which real clash and good argumentation has occurred. 

I expect all debates to run as efficiently as possible. That means that I want the round to start on time and if you are paperless I expect very little delays because you're paperless. 

**Updated 2019**

I debated at Johns Creek High School for 4 years. I was mostly a 2A. Any style of argumentation is fine with me and I will evaluate it in an objective matter as a debate judge. If you persuade me your argument is correct, I'm happy to vote for you. Overall, my goal is to do as little judge intervention as possible.

I'm not that familiar with the high school topic, so make sure to explain acronyms.

You will automatically lose if you are caught clipping cards or engage in acts of racism, sexism, etc.

Aaron Vinson

Debate Coach, New Trier High School, Illinois

Formerly, Head Coach, Princeton High School, Ohio

Glenbrook North Alum, Miami University of Ohio Alum

email = vinsona@newtrier.k12.il.us

==Updated 8/1/23==

Overarching philosophy of debate/judging (scroll down for thoughts on arguments)

I used to judge a good amount. That has not been the case. I taught at Michigan this summer and probably judged about 15 debates there .

Debate is about having fun - you should read arguments that you enjoy regardless of my past debate background or what arguments my students may or may not read.

Debate is about communication, response, and oral argumentation - if it wasn't in the debate or if it was not clear to me in a debate, it's not a thing. All arguments should have some level of engagement with what the opposing team is saying or they are just floating statements. I try to judge all debates through a lens of, how will I explain to the losing team why they did not win and how can I explain how they could have won.

Debate should be a safe space - be respectful to your partner and opponents; if your "thought experiment" includes trivializing genocide, suicide, x identity, you should consider the impact that that argument might have on your opponents and anyone watching the debate. I understand that discomfort in engaging new areas of literature can be beneficial but there is a line between that and making people feel uncomfortable talking about their own identity (literally referring to CX exchanges with this example). If this is egregious I will feel compelled to intervene.

Thoughts on specific arguments

Topicality - it's fine. Probably hard to win in front of me. What I would call a "low probability victory" because I think most debates fall down into infinitely regressive limits debates that are easily resolved - for me - with reasonable interpretations (that means the aff would have to extend a reasonable interpretation!). To be successful in front of me I think that debating topicality more like a DA (link explanation + impact) and then debating interpretations like a CP (what the debates under each interpretation would be like and why they are good).

Counterplans - they're good. Consult CP's are fine. Condition CP's are fine. Process CP's are mostly fine. Delay CP's are mostly fine. Advantage CP's are good. Agent CP's are good. International Actor CP's are fine. States CP's are good. 2NC CP's are questionable. Offsets CP's can be fine. Affs can be most successful in front of me by explaining what is different between the plan and counterplan and then explaining why that difference is impacted by a specific aff advantage / internal link scenario). Final thought is that the aff often forgets to point out that the billion plank advantage cp prolly links to politics.

Counterplan theory - conditionality is probably good because the alternatives create worse debates. I evaluate these debates technically, which often gives a slight advantage to the neg, and look for impact calculus that never materializes (which is also good for the neg). Also, most things just don't make sense as voting issues except conditionality. If you want to be successful with counterplan theory in front of me, see my notes about topicality. And be very clear about what you want me to do and why (reject the argument, stick them with it, they lose, etc).

Disadvantages - they're good. Politics DA's are good. Elections DA's are okay. Rider DA's are so-so. Tradeoff DA's are good. Economy DA's are good. Spending DA's are so-so. I think intrinsicness is interesting, turns case is a big deal, contextualizing size of DA vs size of case is helpful for all. Negs who make their DA's bigger in the block (impact wise) are often successful in front of me.

Kritiks - they're good. I believe my voting record skews neg because of most aff teams' inability to generate offense. Aff perm strategies are okay but should be contextualized with offense, solvency deficits, etc. I default to fiat meaning "imagine" so sure we arent going to start a world revolution but I could certainly imagine that or we could talk about if that's a good thought experience. I would give myself a "B" for K literacy fluency.

T USFG/Framework - it's good. But ... I believe my voting record skews the other way. I've had the pleasure of many coaches angrily asking me about arguments that weren't in the debate. I view debate as a communication activity and I only consider the arguments presented in the debate. Coaches get upset when this emphasis on technical execution seems to "hurt" their framework team. I think the data bears out that I am winnable for either side. I will say that affs that don't read a plan AND are not in the same direction as the resolution OR don't read a plan AND are not related to the resolution have a low win rate in front of me. See notes about debating topicality in front of me.

Ethics - clipping is bad. Miscutting evidence is bad. Misrepresenting evidence is bad. Misdisclosing is bad. Are any of these things auto-losses in-front of me? Probably not. Context matters. If one piece of evidence is miscut or misrepresented, it seems reasonable to just imagine that card wasn't read. If someone does want to stake the debate on one of these things that can be verified, I can be persuaded. If team A asserts that team B has clipped or miscut evidence, and stakes the debate on it, and is wrong, team A would lose. That's what it means to stake the debate on something.

Speaker points - I know I look 16 but I'm much older. So are my points. I'm trying to be better to represent changing norms but that's a thing. If you lose you're probably getting a 28 something if you were reasonable. If you weren't reasonable you're probably getting a high 27. If you win I try to think about if I would expect the team to break at the tournament. If so they're probably getting a 29. Then relative comparisons to other people in the debate kick in. Things that bump your points up: clarity, cx, respecting your opponent, judge instruction, evaluation and assessment based arguments at the end. Things that can bump your points down: being hard to understand/follow, being mean, not kicking arguments correctly, not attempting line by line, only reading cards, not answering / not letting your partner answer in cx, not disclosing to your opponent before I get there, tech incompetence, prep shenaningans.

Email: sarah.wingo@gmail.com Please include me on the email chain.

TL;DR: Choose your battles for the second rebuttals, don't just tell that you're winning everything. Tell me why the impacts that you're winning are more important than the impacts that they're winning. If going for theory args, you should spend at least 4 minutes on it. I flow by ear, not by speech doc so it behooves you to be clear.

General: I expect every debater to flow and to be nice to both opponents and partner. Cross-examinations should be civil and at a conversational volume.

I value clarity over speed and have a tendency not to evaluate arguments that are not sign posted. The clearest speaker will receive the highest speaker points, and I will let you know if you’re not being clear. If I can’t understand you, I can’t flow your arguments, and they probably won’t factor highly in my decision. I don’t care if you sent me the whole speech doc and said it word for word. Debate is a competition of communication and reasoning, you need to be clear. That is usually at the expense of speed, which means you also need to manage your speech time effectively.

I will be more impressed by students that demonstrate topic knowledge, line-by-line organization skills (supported by careful flowing), and intelligent cross-examinations than by those that rely on superfast speaking, obfuscation, jargon, backfile recycling, and/or tricks. This means that instead of reading yet another card, you should take the time to explain why the context of the evidence means that your position is better than that of the other team. This is particularly true in close uniqueness and case debates.

Time and CX: You should keep track of your own prep, speech, and CX times, as well as your opponents', if you deem it necessary. CX is not a shouting match. It’s not a game of interruption

a. Conduct your own CX as much as possible. CX is an important time for judge impression formation, and if one partner does all asking and answering for the team, it is very difficult to evaluate both debaters. Certainly the partner not involved in CX can get involved in an emergency, but that should be brief and rare if both debaters want high speaker points.

b. Aim to ask the question that the debater couldn't answer if that person had the whole 3 minutes.

c. I absolutely loathe when questions are basically “you said this but what about our card that says the opposite?” That’s setting up the debater to then spend 3 minutes telling me why I should prefer their evidence.

d. As the questioner, do NOT let them run away with your time. Ideally they won't because you're not asking questions like the one above. The way to shut them up is saying, “ok that’s fine. Moving on, [separate question]?”

DA/CP: No preferences/opinions

K Aff: I think affirmative teams should have a plan text. On the aff you must win a reason why FW is violent/bad and a reason why this round in particular is key. The reason why either side tends to lose is because they don't interact with the other sides' arguments: that means that k teams should adapt their blocks to answer the specific way the neg team is going for framework and neg teams should engage with the substance of the aff.

Ks on the Neg: Links should be specific to the aff. Even if your evidence is generic, good analysis and spin can still win you the round. If your links are just state bad or based on fiat, I will probably vote aff. SLOW DOWN ON THE K. Assume your judge hasn’t ever heard the K before and is trying to understand the reasoning that it indicts. I am especially inclined to vote for an identified and impacted performative contradiction.

Topicality: I don’t particularly enjoy T debates, but I will vote on them. I generally think that if the neg has specific blocks to answer the case, it’s probably topical. I’d prefer a debate on limits and grounds rather than “abuse” and “fairness.” I’d like to hear a debate on the literature and competing interpretations.

Other Theory (condo, alt vagueness, etc.): I generally dislike theory arguments. Either go for them (whole 2NR/2AR) or just don’t read them. That being said, I will hear them and vote them up if explained and impacted. If you can explain why something such an issue, I will vote on it. However, I am more likely to reject the argument not the team. You must tell me how I should evaluate the debate, meaning in which order I should evaluate theory and policy. I am not inclined to judge kick an argument unless the 2R tells me to (and poor answers).

******Updated 11/14/2020