I greatly enjoy policy debate, even though I did not participate in it during my high school or college career. I’ve coached it for 5 years, attended coaching camps and trained coaches and judges. 

Background: My background is in public policy and I hold a masters’ in public policy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I enjoy hearing debates about the pros and cons of a specific policy, and I will admit that I have a bias towards case that engage on the field of policy. However, if you argue effectively for why you should receive my ballot, you stand a fair shot at winning my vote.

Structure: As far as debate structures and rules, I believe that constructives are 8 minutes, rebuttals 5, and that CX ends at 3 minutes and should be open where one person asks and the team being cross examined can both answer.

Speaking: I’m ok with debaters being aggressive, as long as it doesn’t go overboard into the realm of disrespect. I’m not accustomed to swearing in round as our league has strict rules about etiquette, so if you choose to use profanity I suggest doing so only if you are prepared to defend why it helps your case should the other team attack you for it. Fast speaking is fine as long as you are clearly articulating your words to the point where someone accustomed to listening to speed reading can understand them. I also will want any files you are reading flashed over to me before you start.

Argument Style: If you choose to answer an affirmative with off case positions, I’m looking for argument structure in your answer.

With DA’s, I need strong links and impacts. Impact calc helps. If you are going against a DA, make it clear what you are attacking, don’t make me guess.

CP’s need to be net-ben better than the AFF when all is said and done. If you’re going to go into the conditional/unconditional theory on either side, make sure to explain in round why that helps you win.  

K’s need to have some sort of plausible link, impact and a clear alternative. If it’s a more philosophical K, clarifying role of the ballot and my role as a judge helps your case immensely. As I said before, I have an admitted bias towards traditional policy, but if you do a good job with your K and explain why it outweighs or turns the aff team’s arguments, I’ll vote for you.

T is absolutely a voter, but needs to be well presented. It needs to include not only the definition and the violation, but to persuade me I also want you to give me standards and tell me why it is a voter.

I’m not a fan of theory debates and I generally find them boring UNLESS you have a good reason for doing so in round. I typically won’t vote for a generic theory argument unless the team arguing it can be made clear why it is relevant to that particular round and that particular set of arguments.

Argument Types

I am more accustomed to judging traditional affirmatives, but am willing to consider kritikal affirmatives IF they are well presented.

I have zero experience judging performance affirmatives, so run them at your own risk and make sure to read my comments below before you make the choice to do so.

I love all debate, but I love debate in particular because students have the opportunity each and every round to persuade the judge about how they should vote, and even by what rules the judge should vote. If you want me to vote for your K aff or your performance aff, make it clear what you feel my role as a judge is and what the ballot will do if I vote for you. And if the other team does this and you’d rather run traditional policy, you need to explain why a traditional policy framework is better.  I’ll always do my best to vote based off of the structures and ballot roles presented in round.

In sum, don’t pander to me, persuade me that you are right and that you deserve my vote. If you do a good job, you have a fair shot at getting my vote, regardless of what arguments you choose to run. 

Noah Baker – Pine Crest ’15 – Emory ‘19
Email: nbakerdebate@gmail.com
@Yes, I want to be on the evidence chain.

*Note I update my paradigm frequently; whenever I change my mind or feel the need to elaborate/emphasize something, I will make that change on here.*

I will format some of this the way debaters can understand by using a similar "tag and card" structure. This way you can get the main ideas, but still have clarification if necessary. Not all tags have cards. I use the @ symbol to mark any "MUST READ" notes, so be sure to look at those.

_______Short Version_______

I have become increasingly nihilistic about debate. I will reward hard work and the will to win. Read what you want, and I will evaluate it based on the arguments made in the round. Wanna read a plan? Wonderful. You don't? That's cool too. If you make this enjoyable for me and do the better debating, you'll win and get good speaks. Further questions? See below or feel free to ask before the round.

_______Long Version_______

--- Prologue ---

Judging's hard but I'll do my best
As a judge, it is difficult to make the best decision (notice I said "best" and not "right" decision), but I promise I will try my hardest to evaluate the debate in the best and most fair way that I can. Please understand, though, that judges make mistakes. I apologize in advance if you feel I made the wrong decision, however, once I have made my decision, I will not change it.

Always open to respectful discussion and feedback
I am always more than happy to elaborate/answer questions, but only if everyone is being respectful. If you feel that I or another team is being disrespectful, I'd love to know so that I can do right by you and fix it. If you don't feel comfortable speaking up in the moment, please feel free to have your coach contact me.

I've debated, coached, and judged
I debated in high school for four years at Pine Crest under the coaching of Jeremy Hammond. I debated in college for two and a half years at Emory, where I am currently a senior studying business. I have broadly similar thoughts about debate as my past coaches and teammates, as those are the people who I spent the most time discussing this strange activity with. Those people are Jeremy Hammond, James Herndon, Stephen Weil, Jason Sigalos, Saul Forman, and Tanner Lewis. A tip for you would be to look at my old college wiki because that might give you an indication of what I like to hear if that is what I read.

Biases exist but persuasion is more important
There’s no such thing as “Read anything in front of me because I have no biases.” Everyone has biases. However, that does not mean I cannot be persuaded. The more persuasive you are, the less likely my bias may influence my decision.

--- I. General Debate ---

Debate is a game
At its core, policy debate is a game. Yes, there are other valuable aspects that are (arguably) more/less important than winning a game. However, I am making a descriptive, not normative, statement that debate is fundamentally a game. It’s supposed to be fun. @Don’t ruin that by being a jerk. I have and will continue to call people out for this, and I am not afraid to make your speaker points reflect it.

Arguments need warrants - no tech/truth preference
I don’t have a preference on tech over truth. A dropped argument is a true argument if and only if it is warranted/explained (A dropped tag is not an argument.) You don’t always need cards; sometimes analytics get the job done. Of course I prefer warranted cards to warranted analytics.

Clarity over speed
Clarity is more important than speed. Speed is measured by number of arguments a judge can understand, not how many words per minute you can speak.

The 2AR isn't the time to make new args
I have been both a 2A and a 2N so I know how annoying new 2AR arguments can be. I don’t give you much leeway on new arguments. If the argument was in the 2AC, not in the 1AR, and then in the 2AR then I will not evaluate it.

@Don't steal/abuse prep
Use your prep time wisely, but don't steal it. I'm pretty lenient on most things (i.e. technology issues or bathroom breaks), but you and I both know when you're stealing prep. Doing something to get a competitive advantage while not taking prep is cheating. I promise that it’ll be reflected in your speaker points. If it's getting egregious, I will say something.

Presumption toward less change
Presumption goes to less change, not necessarily the neg. I will vote on it, and I will vote on absolute defense. In almost all instances, I don't think presumption can be a net bet benefit to a counterplan because less change isn't a quantifiable benefit between the two.

@Don't cheat - you'll lose
A team caught cheating will be given 0 speaker points and a loss. There are some times where I will follow along with the docs, so I'm definitely willing to vote against you even if the other team doesn't bring up an ethics challenge. If you make a clipping accusation, you need a recording.

@Communication is key
Debate is a communicative activity, and speeches have time limits for a reason. If I don't understand something, it's your fault for not explaining it well. Don't assume I understand something just because you do. If you're pointing things out post-round, it's not going to convince me any differently; you should've said it in the round or explained it better.

Bad evidence makes me grumpy - lying about bad evidence makes me really grumpy
I hate bad evidence a lot. I don't care if you're making it sound pretty and your extrapolation of one word sounds good. If your evidence is garbage then you're going to be in a bad spot. I hate evidence that has random portions across that card painted together to make a sentence so you can read the card a little bit faster. I hate choppy/unnatural highlighting. I hate evidence that only highlights claims. I hate evidence that is cut out of context. I hate evidence that cuts the first and last paragraphs of an entire article. And I really hate when people lie about what their evidence says. I promise you that reading one A/B+ card is just far better than five C cards that make no arguments and just repeat each other.

--- II. Topicality ---

Smart topicality is great - last resort topicality is not
I’m not very familiar with the high school topic, so keep that in mind. I enjoy debates over the meanings of words, so feel free to employ it to your advantage when possible. I don't love last resort topicality arguments because they're usually too generic, artificial, and/or don't make sense. But, I get why you have to go for T when you do.

Offense over defense
You need to have good reasons for why they are not topical and why that’s bad. I’m not going to vote on blippy impacts that you don’t explain. I need to know why they make debate worse or why you make debate better. I think you’re reasonable if you explain why including your aff isn’t enough to trigger the impacts.

Some T args are not winners
I strongly suggest that you don't read/go for any impact about debaters dropping out (and similar variations), A-Spec, or O-Spec. Vagueness arguments are plan/topic dependent, so I'm staying neutral there.

--- III. T-USFG and Framework ---

T-USFG and framework are different
The two are distinct. Framework is an exclusion of their argument type. T-USFG is saying that they can still talk about those arguments, but they need to be topical under the resolution. These things are not interchangeable, so don't try to have any sort of ethos moment where you call one of them by the other name for emphasis.

The topic exists for a reason
There is a topic--that's non-negotiable. Everything else is up for discussion. But we're not going to pretend that there isn't a topic that was chosen. If you're blatantly not related to the topic, it's going to be an uphill battle.

Clash is good - it stems from preparation/the ability to prepare

Switching sides is good

Definitions should match the correct words/phrases/terms of art
"United States federal government" is a phrase. "United States" is not you the people. “Resolved:” is different than “Resolve”. “Resolved:” means to introduce a policy into legal forum. It is definitely not to reduce by mental analysis.

Procedure comes before content
The neg should always make an argument that procedure comes before content and that you can't weigh the case. I am very sympathetic to this. I'll default to this if it is not brought up.

--- IV. Theory: ---

I love theory - don't make them late breaking debates
I find myself becoming more entertained with very technical and interesting theory debates. I do have predispositions on certain things, but if you're willing to go in on something like "No Neg Fiat" then great! I've been waiting for this, especially because nobody is really ready for a great theoretical discussion. That being said, view all of this through the lens that debate is a game. Theory is usually late breaking, so don't pretend to extrapolate on things that you never said.

Conditionality - I lean neg
Having been both a 2A and 2N, I have thought a lot about conditionality. When it comes to all of the random debate-ish arguments people have made about it being good or bad (i.e. info-processing, ideological flexibility, etc.), honestly at the end of the day, conditionality really exists becuase the aff has it so easy and it's the only way to make the 2AC hard enough to get the neg back to a fair shot. I think it's really hard to quanitfy this in context of what the threshold is for how many conditional options allows the neg to make it fair without it becoming too unfair for the 2AC. How I see it is that 2 options is fair for the neg and aff, 3 is probably still fair unless there are other theoretical reasons the things they read were bad (i.e. they contradicted, they didn't have solvency advocates, one of them was a 2NC CP, etc.), and 4 is probably too many for the neg. Note - I will not vote on conditionality if it is a new aff.

Counterplans and alts must be competitive
You must be both textually and functionally competitive. I am definitely willing to vote on a perm that proves that disproves either textual or functional competition. I've been waiting a long time for the 2AR to go for "you must be both textually and functionally competitive, but you're only functionally competitive." Process, International, PICs, and Agent CPs aren’t bad, but they must be competitive. Conditions, Threaten, Consult, Delay are usually dumb, so I tend to lean aff on perm do the counterplan for these.

Object fiat is bad and counterplans should not result in the aff

Judge kick is meh
I default to not judge kicking something, but feel free to convince me otherwise.

2NC counterplans are only for answering add-ons

1NR impacts are never discussed
I'm one of the very few people who is willing to not allow new 1NR impacts to a DA, but you have to tell me why. I think they're definitely legit though if its not external but rather acting as turns case. I'll default to allowing them if nobody says anything.

--- V. Disads and Counterplans ---

Impact Calc is key

I am neutral on the politics DA
I read politics/elections/midterms a lot when I debated. However, the current political climate is strange, so be sure to explain scenarios well. I am definitely willing to vote on smart intrinsicness arguments, but I haven't thought about it in a while. Since judging, nobody has gone for it, but you should.

Link turns need uniqueness

I like counterplans - the more specific, the better
Counterplans can get tricky, of course. I really like when teams read aff/advantage specific counterplans, but make sure to do a good job on solvency/solvency deficit explanation. You always need a net benefit, however, even the tiniest of net benefits can win if the counterplan solves the entirety of the aff.

--- VI. Case Debating ---

Please debate the case
Debating the case is one of the most underutilized things in debate. Do it well and you will get an increase in speaker points. Affs are really dumb most, if not all, of the time. Finding logical holes in the aff is quite easy these days. I am really willing to vote neg on presumption. More and more I find myself wishing I could give the 2NR on why the aff is so dumb and why I should prefer the status quo. I'm still waiting for someone to go for 5 minutes of neg on presumption.

--- VII. Kritiks ---

I have an interesting relationship with Ks
I read Kritiks. I don’t hate them, but I don't love them. The simpler, the better because often times teams don't explain anything about their K and just insert random buzzwords. You'll be in a bad spot if you're being vague and/or don't explain how the aff links and how the alt solves. Seriously, teams just never explain alts or alt solvency, and I can't stand that. If I don't know what the alt is and/or what it does, I'm not going to vote for you.

Util good, extinction outweighs, and death is bad
The death part isn't really negotiable. You can try to persuade me otherwise, but you're most likely not going to.

I lean aff on kritik framework and hate PIKs

--- VIII. Other ---

Auto-Losses include, but are not limited to...
- Arguments about judge prefs
- "Roasts"
- "Rape Good" arguments

Being rude will hurt your speaker points
Shaking your head, scoffing, rolling your eyes, etc. in response to the other team is something that will really hurt your speaker points. These things aren't cheating, but they're going to make find ways to not vote for your. Snarky comments about the other team/school is unacceptable. I've been in debates where personal attacks were made, and I can tell you that if I see this, there will be a significant deduction in speaker points. I don't care if you're doing it to have ethos or pathos. I don't care if it's part of your appeal for me to vote for you just to make them look silly. I will not let it happen. If you make fun of the other team or the other team's school, you will be getting a low-point win if you win, but you probably won't because I really won't want to vote for you.

Don't play music before a round
DO NOT play music before a round. I'm not going to say anything to you, I'm just going to reduce your speaker points. Up to you what you want to do with this information.

Other ways to hurt your speaker points include...
--Offensive Language
--Offensive Arguments
--Taking too long
--Hurting your partner over in cross-x
--Being a jerk

You can increase your speaker points with...
--Smart Arguments
--@Jokes (Debate gets boring. Make them. I won’t deduct speaker points for poorly executed jokes. Don’t make jokes at the other teams expense.)
--Good Cross-X

Yes, go ahead and put me on the email chain: brooksniki9@gmail.com

A lil bit about me:

I was a policy debater at Alpharetta High School for 2 years. I currently am in my second year of Policy debate at Samford University.

General Overview:

I will vote on pretty much anything I am open to all types of arguments from afro-pess to the ptx DA. I don't like to do extra work for you, actually i won't do extra work, if you want it on the flow make sure I know that. I think minimal judge intervention is good. I love a strong crossesx, and a solid speaking style, it will deff have some influence your cred with me. I like to see the use of solid analytics applied and incorperated into the debate and ANALYSIS of the cards not just a tag line. Overviews, are fantastic,i don't want a novel... but by the rebuttals I want a lot of clash and impact comparisons so I can see your arg of how all of the arguments interact with each other. The more your off case interact with aff and the more comparison you do is what turns an aight debater into a bomb asfk debater.

Topicality-- love - If your expecting to win a round on T, your entire 2NR better be Topicality... debate is about making choices, and you should constantly be evaluating the round and deciding the args you can win the round with and args you can loose the round because of and make A CHOICE!!

Kritiks: love them. You need to really be explaining. I feel as though I am pretty well versed in various types of literature. But make sure you are explaining your specific K and contextualing it to your opponents args.

FW: not hella sympathetic to FW, but you know do what you gotta do homie. If you can, I would run your aff on the neg instead of FW.

Novice Notes: (TBH so many novices don't do this... dont be one of them)

- Extend your aff, if you don't come out of the round winning some part of your case your doing something wrong

- KNOW YOUR EV= better crossex and better round (boosts speaks)

-flow, it's important to get that skill down now

-CX is a speech, have a purpose

-clarity over speed PLS

- time your shit

Young Niki

College Prep ‘14
Emory ‘18

Woodward 2018 Note: Really excited to judge the budding minds of debate's future! Please make sure that you speak clearly (even if you sacrifice some speed). You really need evidence about your counterplan in relation to the aff. Its super boring listening to a generic CP/DA with no nuance or specific link/solvency analysis.

I do want to be on the email chains: mollie.fiero@gmail.com

Very few rounds on the Education topic - watch your acronyms/assumed topic knowledge, this is ESPECIALLY TRUE in T debates when its difficult to assess what is "core ground"

Re: Trump -- Durable fiat does not include things your solvency cards say but aren't in your plan text. Understand the executive branch and its power. CX should lay out what is within the scope of the plan and what is up for Trump/his cabinet to decide. I do NOT want to vote on a Trump good politics DA. Don't make me.

1. Be smart, engaging, and nice. Debate in a way that makes you and your coaches proud. Respect your opponents and your partner. Be aware of the gendered and racial implications of the way you speak to/interact with your opponents and partner. Trust that I know what I'm doing, and I'll give you the same courtesy.


2. Flex is good
No insurmountable policy or K bias. I went for T and read a no plan aff at my last tournament. Its good to be a games player, but if one side has an affective argument, or reasons why their argument implicates debate itself those are usually things the other side must at least acknowledge. That being said I am highly literate in 'conservative' policy debate (7+ years of big DA and case debates under my belt) and think those debates are super fun.

AFFS WITHOUT PLANS: You need to have a good explanation (in cx) of - why is this being presented in debate? what is the role of the judge? the negative?

3. Explanation wins debates
Whether it’s the link turn to politics, the K alt, or counterplan solvency, the team with better depth and argument analysis usually wins.

4. Evidence isn’t the end-all be-all
Indicts are great and so is comparison, what I really mean is that true analytics are slayer.

5. I take my task very seriously and will work hard to make the right decision. Even after 4 years of judging high school I'm still learning about myself as a judge, but I am determined to continue to work hard because I respect your time and effort in debates. You and your coaches should be conscious of the way you interact with all judges, but especially (younger) women, queer, and POC judges in post-round interactions.

Finally -- have fun and talk to me if you're interested in Emory debate!

Judge Philosophy

Conflicts: UGA, Emory University, and North Broward

Email: Brianklarmandebate@gmail.com - Yes, put me on the thread. No, I won't open all of the docs during the round and will likely ask for a doc of cards I find relevant at the end.

2024 Updates:

I am not a fully time debate coach. I am working with the UGA & North Broward debate teams part time.

I am someone who believes tech > truth. However, I do not look at cards during debates, so if your arguments are not clear by explanation/flowable tags/very clearly read card text, they are not "tech" that is on my flow. My favorite debates involve strategy (think: creative "cross applications," argument that are "good because the other teams can't read their best answers," etc). I enjoy a good theory debate (conditionality, solvency advocate, perms, politics theory arguments, etc.) and I would prefer that debates have some depth by the end of the negative block.

College - Assume I know things about the topic, but have not cut cards on it in the past year. I have had conversations with debaters/coaches and am very familiar with nuclear strategy. My knowledge of the college topic extends to knowing: assurance, deterrence, IR Ks, military process CPs*, and anything that would have been read on the past college exec power/military presence/alliance topics. I have written many iterations of both ICBMs and NFU affs & negs.

*If you are going for a T argument or process CP, keep in mind that I could not tell you the wording of the resolution off of the top of my head, so any arguments related to grammatical construction of the resolution might require you explaining with another sentence or going a bit slower. I am under the impression that the topic is pretty small and the negative ground is pretty good, so make sure to impact your limits (or "functional limits")/ground arguments

High School - I have had very little interaction with the current topic. I cut a number of cards on UBI in the past, but I know very little about the other parts of the topic. I did not teach at a debate camp. I have judged a handful of rounds and they were almost all on capitalism or race Ks. I am under the impression that the "core" negative arguments are some combination of States, Politics, "Redistribution" PICs, and Ks about the economy; I assume that the "core" affirmative arguments are all related to the economy and inequality.

2021 Post-NDT Updates:

(1) "X Outweighs Y" - If the 2NR/2AR does not start with some version of this (or include this elsewhere), I will almost certainly vote the other way. I don't super care how you say it, but if you are unwilling to say that the impact you will win is more important than the impact the other team will win, things aren't going well.

(2) T & Theory - I seem to like them more than everyone else I judge with. Go for conditionality bad! I don't necessarily think it is true but never seem to hear 2NC or 2NR blocks that have great offense or impact calc. After judging on a slew of panels, I realize that I am more likely to be into technical theory & T arguments then others. I also tend to expect complete arguments in the 1NC/2AC/2NC (theory needs warrants, T needs the necessary defense and offense).

(3) Tech > Truth - I feel like I have said this a number of times, but I realized that I think this more than others (or at least more than people that I judge with). A "bad" disad has high risk until/unless answers are made. This also has made me amenable to voting on some not great disads vs. planless affs just on the basis of 2ACs lacking necessary defense.

(4) T vs. Planless affs - I have found that I tend to vote affirmative when something is conceded or answered completely incorrectly. I tend to vote negative when the negative goes for a limits/fairness impact and responds to every argument on the line by line. I tend to find myself confused about the relevance of all arguments that the content of the resolution is either good or bad. I feel like I find my voting record to be like 50/50, but I haven't done the math.

(5) Decision making process - I tend to read less cards then others who I judge with. Not because I am against reading cards, but because I only read evidence to resolve questions in a debate. If you want me to read cards (which you likely do), make them relevant.

(6) Points - At the NDT, my points were about .1-.2 below everyone else on every panel. I plan on upping my points by .1-.2. That said, I don't give great points.

2020-2021 Updates - Online Judging: Judging online is difficult - a few implications:

(1) Ask if I am in the room / paying attention before you start speaking. Non-negotiable. "Brian, are you ready?" or "Klarman, are you here?" or anything that requires me to respond. I will give you a thumbs up or say yes (or I am not in the room and you shouldn't start).

(2) Clarity matters more - I don't usually follow along in the doc and I am unlikely to read cards from both teams if one team is significantly clearer. On a related note, organization and numbering can help a lot with clarity because it tells me what arguments to expect.

(3) Technology skills matter - Emails should be sent out on time. If you are taking "no prep" for the 2AC, 1NR, etc. I assume that means the doc is sent and we are ready to go. I get that tech issues happen, but unnecessary tech time hurts decision time and makes concentration harder.

(4) Interesting arguments help keep attention and boosts points - I am really trying to flow and get everything down. I flow CX. I line up arguments. I am more aggressive than most about the flow. That being said, staring at the computer for the 3rd or 4th round of the day is very difficult. I will do my best. I find flowing very important because it lets the debaters do the debating instead of me deciding what I like. That said, online it is taking me a little more energy to focus. I've found when I hear arguments that I either haven't judged before, things I haven't blocked out, or even a new explanation, I tend to think the debate is more interesting which helps points & engagement. I really do love debate, so if you are excited, I will be too. On the other side, if this is the 9th time i am hearing the same school read the same block (and this could be Politics, T, Fairness bad, Deterrence or a K) with no emphasis at the same tournament, its hard to focus.

(5) Internet issues - they happen, I get it. They might happen to you, they might happen to me. I've heard best practice is to have some backup of yourself speaking in case this occurs. If the tournament has rules, follow those. Otherwise I will likely just ask tab what to do if this happens. I'm open to other ideas of how to deal with it. Please please please have one (or all) debaters look to make sure the judge hasn't gotten booted from the room.

2020-2021 Updates - Other:

(1) Points - I think my points average around 28.5. I usually don't go under 28 unless something has gone wrong. If you get a 29.3 or 29.4 that is very good. I'm willing to go above that, but mostly when I hear something and am like "wow, that was memorable. I am going to try to tell people who I coach/teach in lab/judge to do things like this in the future."

(2) I often decide debates by (1) determining what I need to decide (2) looking through my flow for if it is resolved and then (3) reading cards if necessary. I'm unlikely to read a card (for the decision) to figure out something that the debaters never made clear. That said, I am happy to talk about some card or look through your evidence to give advice after the debate if you want - I tend to think debate is collaborative and we should all make each other better.

(3) I miss theory debates - this is the thing I have thought the most about, this is how I debated, and I just think its fun. I don't like "pointless" theory, but if you can convince me that something is the debate in the literature and predictable - from process CPs to T arguments to even spec arguments - I'm happy to hear it. That said, if you make your theory argument intentionally blippy ("ASPEC, they didnt, its a voter") I won't care.

I also left my old paradigm up here, but I think it mostly says: I did more "DA/CP/T" stuff than "K" stuff, I am familiar with "K" literature about race/gender/biopower/cultural studies, I like specific strategies, good case debating always impresses me, and I am very particular about the flow.

Old Stuff:

Preferences: I don't really care about what argument you make. I tend to think bad arguments will lose. The debate things I think about the most are counterplans and topicality arguments. That being said, I cut everything and coach everything. I feel like I mostly judge K debates where no one agrees about anything at this point. In those, I generally am familiar with that set of arguments (I am completing my MA in cultural studies, focusing on questions of race & gender) but not how to fit them into a debate. I tend to be very comfortable with how DAs, CPs, T arguments, and case fit into debate, but I tend to do weird research so I might not know what all the technical stuff of the CP is. That also means that the purpose of a K argument (or answer to the purpose) might require more explanation than the purpose of another argument. The things I think you actually need to know about me are below. I tried to lay out what I do in most debates while they are happening and afterwords and be as honest as possible.

Flowing: I will try to flow every argument in the debate. I expect that debaters will be doing the same thing. I could not possibly care less what the speech doc says or if you are "skipping a card" in the doc (that being said, I would like to be on the chain because I like glancing at cards after debates & trying to learn more about the topic/have informed discussions after the debates; also if you are doing some super annoying thing in the doc just to mess with the other team, I will likely be upset at you when I realize that in the post round/give points). When I flow speeches that set up argument structure (1nc on case, 2ac on off case), I will attempt to number the speech and will give higher speaker points to 1ns and 2as who set up that structure themselves (as well as be able to better understand their arguments; the 1nc that makes 4 analytics in a row without numbering is basically unflowable which means when the 2ac drops something I won't care). In subsequent speeches, I will go by the order of those numbers and will attempt to find what you are answering before I flow what you say. This means that if the 2nc starts on 2ac 4, I will mostly likely miss the first few arguments trying to figure out where to flow it (unless they say "2ac 4 - X - here's our answer" which would just be easily flowable but I might be confused about why the 2nc started on 2ac 4). If the 2nc starts on 2ac 1, I will not have an issue flowing. If the negative block (or 1ar) decides that the order is irrelevant, I am likely to be very grumpy; it is hard to vote on technical concessions or other things if the flow gets ruined and it makes it hard to tell a 1ar "you dropped X" when the block does not answer 2ac arguments. In addition to initial numbering, I will be able to better understand later speeches if you give me some idea (probably by number or argument) where the thing you are extending is on my flow. If you would like to only extend an impact turn or thumper or some no internal link argument in the 1ar that is 2ac 9 on my flow but don't tell me that you are starting at 2ac 9, it is going to take me a minute to find it on my flow. If, however, the 1ar goes to a flow and says "2ac 9 - they dropped X - here's what it is and why it matters" I will be able to immediately find it on my flow (it is easier to find numbers than exact arguments on a flow).

CX: I love CX. It is maybe my favorite "speech." I often try to flow it or take some notes at the least. That means you should pick words carefully in CX. I will especially try to write down anything about the advocacy and frameworks for evaluating debates (meaning metrics for thinking about things, which is not always how debate uses the word). CX can be fun even when teams get heated, but when CX is just people yelling at people and it is clear that people are more upset than enjoying things, I tend to lose interest. I like when people answering questions are honest, explain things, etc. I sometimes have the docs open and if we are having a fight about some card, I will look at it. I am not yet entirely comfortable with this, but if I miss the answer to a question, I may re-ask for the answer after the timer (I will do this with things like status or clarification, I don't think I will with other things yet but I might). I am also not comfortable interrupting CX to say things, but if someone is intentionally saying something that isn't true to answer clarification questions or refusing to answer clarification questions I may do so. If I make any definitive judgement about these things, I will try to update my philosophy again.

Look at me: I do not have a good poker face. I'd recommend looking for expression or other gestures. When I cannot flow people, I tend to look very confused. Same when an argument is bad. When I think an argument has already been explained and/or you are saying things that aren't arguments, I tend to sit there with my pen on my paper waiting for you to say something that needs to be flowed.

How I make a decision: At the end of the debate, I try to figure out what arguments are going to decide the debate (there tend to be 1-3), parse those out, and figure out what happens from there. It is generally better if debaters tell me what those things will be either on the line by line or in an overview (this is the only reason I could really imagine having an overview unless it is to explain some super complicated thing). I tend to think the best speeches are the ones that both identify these key points, explain why they win and then what happens if they win those key things. If there is no discussion of key points (either implicit or explicit), it is highly possible that I will try to find a few points that are key and then explain my decision from there (I determined this argument was probably the most important, here's how I evaluated it, here's why it deals with lots of other stuff). Any decision like that just makes me grumpy, especially because it always ends with the judge CX forever about why I decided this way and my answer tends to be "I didn't know how else to decide"

Speaker points: I'm going to be honest, I don't know if I understand this entire speaker point thing. I think my points might be a bit low. I don't plan on just raising them; if you need higher points I get that I might not be the judge for you. At the moment, I don't think that raising points just to raise them is a great idea because it eliminates a lot of range and variation in points that I think signal improvement for debaters and help communicate about the debate. I might revisit this later on if people want. I don't really know what an "average" speech looks like. If I had to try and articulate some made-up scale, it would probably look something like this: if the speech you gave was the best it could have been and/or basically won you the debate, its in the 29.3+ space. If the speech kept things going and helped a bit but not as much as it could, its in the 28.7+ range. If the speech was fine but didn't have much value value, I tend to think its in the 28.2+ range. If the speech wasn't good and didn't help much, it in the 27.5+ area. If the speech is bad, we are in the like 27 or even 26.8+ range. I don't think I've given many points lower than 27 and if I did, something must have gone very wrong. I tend to find most speeches between that 28-29 range. I think I average in the low 28s but I don't really know or care. Only a few speeches have just crushed the debate for me. I tend to have a lot of issue judging debates when I feel that all the speeches were about 28.2s or something and I have to give people different points. I think my default is to make the thing I think the top end or top middle (so if it was 28.2, maybe i'd give 28.3-28 to everyone). That being said, I think I am more willing to use high range in points based on speeches. I am also happy to add points for well used CX, good numbering, clarity of cards and highlighting (like if I can understand all the warrants in the evidence while you are reading), partners who work well together and make each other look good (I think basically every bold move in debate could be characterized by the 2nr/2ar as a big mistake or a big efficiency gain; if you can convince me that the 1ar under-covering the DA was to trick them to go for it, I will likely think the 1ar choice was smart and hence deserves better points, same with other speeches), etc. If people have a better way of doing speaker points, I am happy to talk about it.

Do not: Clip cards, lie, use something out of context, or do anything else unethical. These will result in loss of speaker points or loss of rounds.

Topicality- I will vote for any Topicality argument that is well explained and impacted. Education needs to be impacted beyond that the discussion is uneducational. 

DA/CP- Do impact calc.

K- I like K's and what they are meant to do; run any K as long as you explain it fully. Don't assume I know about your specific K or your authors.

Theory- Condo is fine (3 advocacies is probably too many though).

In general, try to be clear and signpost/roadmap. I like organized debates; just try to present the best case. 

TOC 2015--

Chattahoochee '13

Emory '17 

I'm going to keep this short since I agree with a lot of what is said on the wiki.  Where I'm from probably tells you a bit about some of my leanings, but as I grow older in debate I really, really don't care what is said as long as it is debated well. 

What is debating well? To me, a good debater should be able to persuade anyone.  For example, if you feel like your style of debate is one that relies on slang you picked up from reading the back of the book of whatever you're going for, I probably am not the best for you.  The reason why I have leanings (i.e. framework is important, the politics DA can be useful, creatively cheating CPs are cool) is mostly because that is what I am familiar with. 

Flowing, line-by-line, even if statements, overviews, writing the ballot are all good things to do.  

PICs are good, condo is bad, intrinsicness is debateable. 

If you can beat a team going conversation speed (remember we do policy debate so that's still at least 1.5x normal), extra speaker points are definitly in the cards. 

Pine Crest (’14)

Emory University (’18)

ericmarcus24@gmail.com – Include me on email chains, and feel free to ask me questions about decisions or Emory Debate

General Things:

I think of debate strictly as a highly technical game. Part of my job as a judge is to reward teams that play the game well. Technical concessions, even small ones, may have more impact with me than most judges. I also am likely to disregard arguments, even truisms, that are first presented in the 1AR/2NR/2AR, unless an explicit response to an argument made by the other team that could not have been answered in an earlier speech.

The 1NR is not a constructive. New DA impacts are fine, but new CP planks or case arguments are not.

Cards that use robust statistical or expert analysis > cards from staff writers with strong rhetoric.

Topicality:

Debate operates on a sliding scale, and my job is to keep the scale in the middle. I am likely to vote for neither the most limiting interpretation of the topic nor the one that makes debate easiest for the aff. Limits/Grounds/Aff Innovation impacts couched in terms of a list of arguments available to the other side and why that preserves an equitable division of topic literature are more likely to win.

Reasonability makes more sense to me than competing interpretations. Minor modifications always exist that can create an incrementally better model of debate, but if I am unconvinced the aff interpretation creates a substantive strategic imbalance for the neg, I likely will vote aff.

DA’s:

“Always a risk” logic does not make much sense to me. Even past a conceded argument, well contested arguments that are either a yes/no question or that I decide conclusively in one team’s direction can reduce the risk of a DA to statistical noise.

I will reward aff teams that strategically undercover bad DAs in the 2AC. This means one or two well-reasoned analytic arguments, as well as maybe an impact defense card to cover your bases.

CP’s/CP Theory:

Conditionality is either good or bad. Interpretations/Counter-interpretations as “compromises” aren’t particularly compelling to me.

All debating equal, I probably lean neg on all theory issues with the exception of counterplans that compete based on immediacy/certainty.

Intuitive counterplans don’t need solvency advocates to be theoretically legitimate.

I think judge kick is bad. If it is an explicitly stated 2NR option not answered by the 2AR, I will judge kick, but with equal debating by the affirmative, I likely will not judge kick.

K’s:

I am unlikely to vote neg if I do not believe that there are material bad consequences that happen as a result of the plan. If links are descriptive of the status quo, and I do not feel the alternative resolves those link arguments, I will almost assuredly vote aff at the end of the debate.

Given this, I am most likely to vote neg if I believe there is a problem with the plan/status quo larger than the impacts solved by the aff, the alternative resolves that problem, and the plan is mutually exclusive with a successful alternative.

If I believe the methodology used to defend the 1AC internal links and impacts are true, I will likely determine utilitarianism is the best moral framework.

Value to life does and always will exist.

Root causes and proximate solutions are not the same thing.

Links of omission are not links.

I do not believe someone’s personal identity and experience is independently sufficient to either prove or disprove any arguments made in the debate.

T-USFG:

Yes, it’s a topicality argument. No, it’s not “Framework”.

Affirmatives should defend a topical plan. While whether the political efficacy of that plan determines who wins and loses is up for debate, the presence of a topical plan is a minimum necessity for debate to occur.

Debate is a game. You chose to play this game. Games should be fair.

Topical versions of the aff are compelling to me. TVAs don’t need to solve the aff, they simply need to be able to access the same type of discussion that the counter-interpretation allows.

If you are affirmative and not planning to read a topical plan, you are unlikely to win on arguments about debate impacting subjectivity. The most compelling aff ballots include a well-defined and limited counter-interpretation with a reason topical debate trades off with essential skills or education.

I debated at GBN for four years, debated at the TOC my senior year. I am open to any arguments as long as they are explained well. Flowing and going line-by-line is really important.

saharmerchant2021@nlaw.northwestern.edu

A few things about me (TLDR version):

I'm a senior debater at the University of Georgia. I debated for Johns Creek High School and Mount Vernon Presbyterian School.

Plans are good

Impact calculus is important. Framing the debate round is very important.

Clarity > Speed

Cross-ex is binding

Have fun and don't be rude.

Long version:

Framework - I'm a good judge for framework. Debate is a game and framework is procedural question. I’m persuaded by negative appeals to limits and I think fairness is an impact in and of itself. I don’t think the topical version of the aff needs to “solve” in the same way the aff does. If there are DA's to the topical version of the aff, that seems to prove neg ground under the negative’s vision of debate.

Kritiks - I think it's really hard for the neg to win that the aff shouldn't get to weigh the plan provided the aff answers framework well. I've got a decent grasp on the literature surrounding critical security studies, critiques of capitalism, and feminist critiques of IR. The aff should focus on attacking the alternative both at a substance and theoretical level. It's critical that the 2AR defines the solvency deficits to the alternative and weigh that against the case. Negative debaters should spend more time talking about the case in the context of the kritik. A good warranted link and turns the case debates are the best way for negative teams to get my ballot. Tell me how the links to the aff uniquely lead to the impacts.

Counterplans - My initial impression of whether your counterplan is legitimate will be whether or not you have a specific solvency advocate. There's nothing better than a well-researched mechanism counterplan and there's nothing worse than a hyper-generic process counterplan that you recycle for every negative debate on the topic. I generally think that 2 conditional options are good, but I can be persuaded by 3 condo is okay. PICs are probably good. Consult/Conditioning/delay counterplans, international fiat, and 50 state fiat are bad.

Disads- I love a good DA and case debate. I've gone for the politics DA a lot in my college career. Normally uniqueness controls the link, but I can persuaded otherwise. Impact calc and good turns cases analysis is the best!

Paperless: If you are doing an e-mail chain please put me on it. My email is miriam.mokhemar@gmail.com. If you are flashing, prep time ends when the flash drive leaves your computer. If your computer crashes, stop the timer until you can get your doc back up.

Last edited on 5/27/23 to rewrite the sections on experience, Statement on Racism, and K Affirmatives.

Pronouns: she/they

Experience: I have spent my entire life in the debate community one way or another. That said, I spent five years debating middle school/high school, took a break from debating in undergrad, then came back to judge and coach for a variety of schools.

Statement on Racism (& other Prejudices) in Debate

Debate should encourage students to see themselves as agents capable of acting to create a better world. We will not achieve this vision for our activity so long as we pretend it is in a realm separate from reality. Judges have an ethical obligation to oppose prejudice in round including but by no means limited to: racism, queerphobia, antisemitism, sexism, Islamophobia, ableism, and classism, among others. Debate, as an activity, has its fair share of structural inequities. We, as coaches and judges, need to address these and be congnizant of them in our decisions.

General Philosophy

I see the role of the judge as that of an educator concerned primarily with what teams learn from the experience. Therefore, the most important aspect of being a judge, to me, is to provide good constructive criticism to teams about their arguments and performance, and to promote the educational qualities of debate. When teams are using prep time, I am usually writing speech by speech feedback for my ballots––which I very much hope teams and their judges will read. As a judge, I want you to come out of the round, win or lose, feeling like you learned something worthwhile.

As an educator concerned with what can be learned from the round, I think the quality of arguments are much more important than their quantity, and whenever possible prefer to reward well researched and articulated arguments more than arguments will few warrants that might be read in the hopes of their being dropped. I prefer to decide rounds based upon the meaning of the arguments presented and their clash rather than by concession.

I flow the round based on what I hear, preferring not to use speech documents. For this reason, clarity is more important than speed. For an argument to exist in the round, it needs to be spoken intelligibly. Rounds that are slower typically offer better quality arguments and fewer mistakes.

Argument Specific preferences:

Plan-less critical affirmatives: I am happy to judge and vote on them. K affs are a useful tool for contesting the norms of debate, including those which are the most problematic in the activity. Over time, I have changed my threshold on their topicality. These days, my position is that so long as they are clearly related to the topic, I am happy to consider them topical. When aff teams argue critical affirmatives, I strongly prefer there be a specific solvency mechanism for their interpretation of the role of the ballot. For negative teams arguing against K affs, I have a strong preference for specific case answers. Given that K affs are a fixture of debate and are generally available to find on open evidence and the caselist wiki, prepping to specifically answer them should be possible. While I am unlikely to vote in favor of arguments that would outright eliminate K affs in debate, counter kritiks are a strategy I am amenable to.

Kritiks: At its most fundamental level, a kritik is a critical argument that examines the consequences of the assumptions made in another argument. I love well run kritiks, but for me to decide in favor of a kritik it needs a specific link to the assumptions in the 1AC and a clearly articulated alternative that involves a specific action (as opposed to a vague alt). Experience informs me that K's with generic links and vague alternatives make for bad debate.

Framework: Lately this term seems to have become a synonym for a kind of impact calculus that instead of focusing on magnitude, risk, and time-frame attempts to convince me to discard all impacts but those of the team running this argument. Framework, as I understand it, is a synonym to theory and is about what the rules of debate should be. Why should it be a rule of debate that we should only consider one type of impact? It seems all impacts in debate have already boiled themselves down to extinction.

Topicality: Please slow down so that I can hear all your arguments and flow all their warrants. The quality of your T arguments is much more important to me––especially if you argue about the precedent the round sets––than how many stock voters you can read. I may prefer teams that offer a clear argument on topicality to those that rely on spreading, however tactically advantages the quickly read arguments may be.

Counter plans: The burden of demonstrating solvency is on the negative, especially with PICs. PICs are probably bad for debate. Most of the time they are just a proposal to do the plan but in a more ridiculous way that would likely never happen. So if you are going to run a PIC, make sure to argue that changing whatever aspect of the plan your PIC hinges on is realistically feasible and reasonably advantageous. Otherwise, I will do everything I can to avoid deciding the round on them.

Conditionality: I have no problem with the negative making a couple conditional arguments. That said, I think relying on a large number of conditional arguments to skew the aff typically backfires with the neg being unable to devote enough time to create a strong argument. So, I typically decide conditionality debates with a large number of conditional arguments in favor of the aff, not because they make debate too hard for the aff, but because they make debating well hard for everyone in the round.

For rookie/novice debaters:

If you're reading this, then you're already a step ahead and thinking about the skills you will need to be building for JV and varsity debate. What I want to see most in rookie/novice debates is that teams are flowing and clearly responding to each other.

About How I Debate:

K, K, Vitamin K, K is love, K is life, I am everything K. That is how I used to debate on aff and neg and I can probably understand any argument as long as you explain it. I go to UGA now but don't debate anymore. For a quick read: Aff - Policy needs to be very good technically, K needs to be explained carefully. Neg - Policy: I love the security K, needs to be better technically than aff, against K's anything more than Framework/T would be looked very favorably on I like neg strats that engage with the ideas of the affirmative. 

About How I Judge Debate:

This is how I will most likely weigh your arguments, but I also believe debate is a game with no rules so if you tell me to weigh something some way I will weigh it that way unless the other team counters and then I will weigh it how whoever debated better on the subject told me how to weigh it. I know that was a mouthful but its important in certain debates.

The K (Aff)

I have run a lot of kritikal affirmatives and debated against a lot so I can probably handle whatever you throw at me as long as you are legible and your arguments are comprehensible. I will be fairly sympathetic to you against Framework/T or whatever you want to call it in the debate your in because I feel your pain when it comes to getting wrecked by framework. That being said, if you are negative and run framework against a K aff that does not mean I will vote you down, in fact I will most likely vote you up since most "K" teams don't debate framework how they should and I WILL weigh your argument fairly. 

The K (Neg)

The same goes for what I said above about K affs but there is a little bit I would like to add. If you are the affirmative just reading out blocks that your coach wrote for you with no real analysis won't get you much in the way of sympathy from me if the negative goes in depth on arguments and why they are applicable. That being said, if you are neg the same goes for you in analysis, if you don't give me non blocked out analysis it will be hard for me to find your argument believable something that I think is critical for K teams and I will probably err aff. Also don't run Cap if your alt is communism, personally I don't think that works. 

Conditionality

Please don't run this, I will only vote you up if you either 

a) Don't get a response to the other team (Grudgingly, it won't go well for your speaks though)

b) The other team actually has enough arguments to warrant conditionality (This probably means 5+ conditional offcase. In this case I will show you some love)

DA

If you win the DA IT DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY MEAN YOU WIN THE DEBATE, it means you will have to prove to me that it is BETTER than the affirmative position. Make sure to not tagline extend and please go off the flow and talk to me about arguments. Talking to me without blocks or flow (if you do it well) is a great way to improve your speaker points.

T

Make sure that your T argument is applicable, I understand if its just a filler but at least try and link it to the aff. I will vote for T if I believe that there is a reasonable probability that they are not topical (a pretty risky move seeing as your asking a K debater whether something is within the resolution or not) but if they drop it or I feel that they really came out of left field with an argument than I will definitely vote for you.

Affirmatives (Policy)

Please respond to solvency. When you are giving your speeches it will give you major cred with me (aka speaker points) if you stop reading blocks for a second and explain something to me if it looks like I don't understand it, (chances are I probably do and am just looking stupid but any analysis is key to speaks!). Make sure to not read too many arguments and then be pissed off when the neg reads 5 offcase (this really won't help you with condo) because its sort of like Karma to me. Dropping negative arguments is also a really fast way to a loss, don't count on me to help you out. Most of all though when it comes to the affirmative make sure you explain why I should vote for you. 

Negative (Policy)

Make sure your arguments apply to the affirmative. Other than that just don't drop stuff and tell me why you won. If you don't have anything against a certain affirmative (trust me I've been there) don't panic or do something silly (aka Death Good) just use what you can have and try to have a productive debate, rembering education is the main purpose of debate and I will take pity on you (speaker points wise) if you actually try in a round you think you can't win.

CP

Treat it like you would and aff, see above for how I like to see aff's run. 

In general

Be nice, I hate asshole debaters, especially ones that are pretentious. If you are nice while the other team is rather mean then your arguments may just be more convincing if the debate is close. Look at me while you speak, don't go too fast, start slow, don't interrupt your partner, tag team CX is acceptable as long as one debater doesn't take over his partners CX (it will seriously hurt your speaks if you do this), don't interrupt your partner during a speech unless it would cost you a debate if you didn't (aka they're about to drop an offcase), don't force feed your partner what to say because thats just a dick move. Explain arguments well. That is the most important thing with me, I will vote for any argument if its run well enough. Have fun, don't look miserable. No prep for flashing unless it gets too long. Anything that I haven't mentioned above come talk to me before the round and I will tell you what I think. My email is spokowitz@gmail.com if you ever need to ask me about a round. I usually keep my flow but if I can't find it than just remind me about how the debate went and I can give you pointers. General questions are fine too I'm glad to help!

About Me:

If you made it this far, good for you, you're better than most people who read this. I used to debate at Wheeler High School. I like Game of Thrones, House of Cards, LOTR, Supernatural, History, Scooby Doo, Walking Dead, Skyrim, Uncharted, The New England Patrtiots, Horatio Nelson, The X-Files, Georgia Bulldawgs Football, Battlefield 1, and jokes about the Jets and Bills. If you make references to these in your speeches I will give you bonus points because you obviously took the time to read this paradigm thoroughly which I highly suggest you do every time. 

List of Favorite Movie Quotes (Even More Bonus Points for slipping these into your speech)

"When you play the Game of Thrones, you win or you die"

"You feeling lucky punk?"

"There are two types of people in this world, those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig."

Robbie Quinn, coach at Montgomery Bell Academy, mucho judging on this topic, which is the one with ASPEC, Consult NATO, and the Death K.

I have no prejudices toward any argument type. I do have prejudices to people who don't have fun. You have to have fun. I'm a librarian, so at the very least you can have fun making fun of that.

I determine which way to evaluate any argument based on who most convinces me of the superiority of a certain way to evaluate it.

I like humor, stories, and creative uses of historical examples. Cross-ex is very important to me and I watch it closely. I think it sways my thinking on key issues. What judge won't admit to actively monitoring who seems to be winning? Cross-ex, to me, is a powerful barometer of that.

Things I've been telling debaters lately that make me feel like I am incredibly awesome but are really just things that everybody knows that I rephrased into something snappy and I'm taking credit for:

1. Don't unnecessarily cut people off in CX. The best CX questions are the ones they can't answer well even if they had all 3 minutes to speak.

2. Be a guardian of good debate. Yes, debate's a changing network of ideas and people, and winning a debate on bad arguments isn't a crime punishable by death. But I reward debaters who seek to win on good arguments. I love good debates. I don't like making "easy" decisions to vote on bad arguments, even though I often do.

3. The most sensible kritik alternatives to me are the ones that defend the idea of a critical-political resistance to the assumptions of the plan and how that idea works in real-world situations. Even if an alternative isn't as cleanly recognizable or linear as the passage and enforcement of a piece of legislation, that doesn't mean that it can't be something concrete. I watch so many bad kritik debates that are bad because both sides never give the alternative any sensible role in the debate. I will reward debaters that give up on gimmicky and irrelevant defenses and attacks of kritik alternatives.

Reasons why my judging might mimic the real world:

1. I might be consciously and unconsciously swayed against your arguments if you're a mean person. Humans are good judges of sincerity.

2. I appreciate style. Rhetorical style and the style of your presence. There's a big difference between going-through-the-motions and having presence in a debate.

3. I like endorsing and praising passionate debaters. Lots of people who articulate that "this debate and the discourse in it matter" don't really energize their discourse to make me feel that. On the other hand, lots of people who don't think that "this debate round matters" often sway my thinking because they speak with urgency. I love listening to debates. If you want to speak, I want to hear you.

Me and cards: I'm very particular about which cards I call for after the debate. If there's been evidence comparison/indicts by one side but not the other, that's usually reason for me not to ask for either side's evidence on that question since one team did not engage the evidence clash.

Rowland Hall ’15

Emory University ’19

**updated January 2019** I'm largely unfamiliar with this topic which means I need more of an explanation for terms and acronyms.

Quick version- I debated for four years in high school and I debate in college at Emory. I have a large background in different positions. In high school I was very policy, in college I have killjoy/fem rage on the neg and on the aff sometimes. I have a large background in K literature. I'll try really hard to put aside and pre-concieved notions and just judge the debate. I put T/K stuff on top since I think that's where most people go first. Also, I like clash debates and really can go either way depending on the arguments made so if you envision yourself in some of those, I'd be a good judge.

I like an aggressive debater, but don't speak over people. Don't be rude. I take issues of sexual assault, gender, and racism in debate very seriously. I am someone that you can speak to about it, in and out of round, and who will punish people in a round for making light of or perpetuating any of those things.

Framework (T usfg)- I think sometimes it's strategic, and we definitely read it against Aff's we think are particularly hard to get a link to. I actually love a good framework debate on both sides. Be techy, innovative and thoughtful. I think that fairness is an impact if properly explained, and I think limits are good and it is possible for the usfg to do good things. It will be hard to convince me that every single action the usfg takes is bad, but I am very sympathetic, especially now, to descriptions of why non traditional policy movements are better equipped than the president for making social change. I think that the arguments about why it might be unethical to defend the resolution because of Trump are compelling but should be explained thoroughly. You need to answer things like social death on the framework page to win the general premise that usfg form of debate is good, so watch out for that. The best sort of arguments for the affirmative are about why the form of debate is exclusionary, why traditional rules are exclusive to certain populations.

K aff’s- I think it's probably best to be "somehow" related to the topic. I think that it's easiest to win the framework debate when you explain why your non-traditional affirmative provides an important understanding of the topic that policies can't access. I have read an aff sometimes with very little relationship to the topic and understand why it's compelling and important to sometimes do. Explain to me what I am voting for, why it is important, and especially explain to me why the traditional model of debate doesn't leave space for your theory/performance. I am open to debates about the debate space in general, about problems with people and attitudes in debate, and kritiks of the mode and type of debate we do.

K’s- I like the K. Like I said above, I've done a lot of identity/performance stuff this year. That being said, that doesn't mean that I automatically vote for it. You have to contextualize the k to the aff. If you are going to read a usfg link or "link of omission" I think that it's important to show why the absence of what you are talking about in the 1AC implicates their policy. I don’t need a massive impact overview to know why imperialism is bad, most everything in your 4 min overview can be applied to the flow. Be organized. The worst part about a 1 off debate is that it is so messy and frustrating for everyone involved. If you need to split the k up in the block that's cool, just be clear about it. You need to talk about case if you want to win. For the aff, utilize your impacts. It’s going to be pretty hard to convince me that the aff can’t weigh their impacts at all, so weigh them. Extinction is still a pretty big deal to me, so the neg needs to describe why I should assign something like extinction less weight in comparison to structural violence claims. Permutations are important but explain them. When you know you are hitting a K team, tailor your 1AC to them. You aren’t going to need your heg impact. Focus on systemic ones that might solve the impacts of the k. Defend your method.

DA’s- Impact calc is obviously important. There is zero risk of a link or impact. I've done a lot of work on the politics DA in the past but I'm really not going to appreciate a Trump good DA-- please don't read that in front of me. On the aff, I’m a fan of a robust 2AC with link turns or impact turns. Think about it strategically. I will reward a well thought out politics 2ac with good speaker points.

CP’s- I think most of them are legitimate. Read what you like. As a 2a I liked reading a few add ons and a lot of theory in the 2ac.

Topicality- I'm not a great judge for topicality. I don't like arbitrarily limiting the topic. I understand that sometimes it’s what you’ve got to do. I default to reasonability usually.

Theory- it's fine. Slow down please if you want me to vote for you. condo probably good.
camila.rosa.reed-guevara@emory.edu if you have questions and please put me on the email chain.

Damien High School Class of 2014
Emory University Class of 2018

I am a college policy debater for Emory. I care most about clarity, clash and argument comparison.

Debate is about competing ballots and that's how i will make my decision. I know you all have put in a lot of work, and I will put a lot of work into judging. 

Debating - it matters more than the cards (obviously cards still matter -- if you read terrible uniqueness cards and go for politics the chances you win is very very low, if your cards don't make an argument that i can repeat back to the other team and tell them why i voted against them i'll vote against you). I'm generally a flow centric judge, unless you're making an argument that is patently false, then it's going to be hard to get me to vote for you.

Meta - There can be 0 risk of a DA from absolute defense, and existential risk doesn't necessarily mean i ignore how much you solve existential risk.

Topicality - Always a voting issue, I generally default to competing interpretations, but I can be persuaded otherwise. T is an underutilized tool. Unfortunately most T debates get really muddled as debates go on. This makes evaluating it extremely difficult and results in a lot of intervention on my part to try to understand what is going on. So make sure your argument is constructed extremely well.

Framework - T v. framework distinction is very persuasive to me. The Framework debate should be about limits, procedural fairness, argument testing. The 1AC shouldn't get lost in the debate by either team; using framework args to implicate aff solvency is sweet. I have debated both sides of framework. I can be persuaded by either side. 

Disads - Impact comparison + smart link / uniqueness args about the aff. Use your generic evidence but apply it specifically. Disad turns case arguments are more persuasive with explanations than just with a bunch of cards. 

Counter Plans - I'm all for techy process CPs with well thought out competition blocks, I generally think process CPs are competitive, but I don't think they're legitimate. I can be persuaded in either direction.

Critique - I can dig. Explanation of why the alternative solves the links and impacts is important. Pulling links from the 1AC, or giving example of how the critique is the cause of the harms, or explaining how it would turn the aff in real world terms also helps. 

LD - I am extremely familiar with most arguments made in LD. But I have yet to become accustomed to all of LD norms.
Critiques - I have probably come across most critiques while I have been in debate, so I probably have some understanding of the argument you would like to go for. That does not mean that your argument does not have to be explained well. I like critiques that interact with the content and performance of the affirmative and you should feel encouraged to read them in front of me as long as the argument is not too far out there.

Theory/T - I usually default to competing interpretation, but I can be convinced that reasonability is a good way to evaluate debates. These types of arguments are my favorite when I debate, so feel free to do so when I am judging. This does not mean that I will automatically vote for you if you go for these types of arguments. It just means I can understand the debate being held.

I mainly debated LD through high school though I have had a year of experience respectively in CX and PF. Spreading in LD and CX is fine as long as you are clear; in PF, it's fine to talk quickly, but please avoid policy-style spreading. 

I like the traditional style of debate, but am definitely receptive to other arguments as well! K affs, etc are fine with me in policy and LD-if you have questions about a particular argument type please ask! However, please don't run theory unless you believe there is a legitimate argument that abuse is occurring. I'll still listen to it otherwise, but I will not be happy about it!

Arguments I find most persuasive are impact calc and weighing against opponent's specific claims. Don't just tell me what your cards say when you extend-explain why they are important in answering the resolution and why they influence my ballot. 

*I find off-time roadmaps and signposting really helpful! Please, please, please do this. 

I am pretty much "tabula rasa" and will listen to any types of arguments and frameworks as long as they are impacted and the standards/benefits are explained and defended in the round. However I do value clarity in speaking and will dock speaker points heavily for teams or debaters that attempt to "spread" by slurring/mumbling through important parts of their speeches. I also sometimes dock speaker points for rudeness during cross examination, though not without a warning.

I tell both teams this at the beginning of every round and always emphasize the importance of "sign-posting", i.e. making it clear when a new argument or a different flow is being introduced, and I definitely emphasize that debaters should make it clear when they are reading a tag and citation for an argument or piece of evidence so I know how to organize my flow. My only personal bias is that I value the accessibility and openess of the debate activity to all types of students.

I tend to not count "flashing" time as prep but if it starts to cause ridiculous delays (more than a minute or so between "ending prep" and beginning the next speech) I will sometimes have to put my foot down.

Email: xanderyoaks@gmail.com

Experience: I have taught at NSD, VBI, TDC. I've been coaching since I graduated in 2015 and I am the former director of debate at the Woodlands High School. My main experience is in LD, but I competed in/coached in NSDA nationals WSD (lonestar district), judge policy and PF somewhat irregularly at locals and TFA State. Across events, the way I understand how things work in LD applies. (WSD Paradigm at end)

Update for series online:

1. I have not judged any circuit-y debate since Grapevine, go slightly slower especially since it is over zoom. I do not like relying on speech docs to catch your arguments, but this is somewhat inevitable in zoom land. If you do go off doc or skip around you need to tell me.

2. Do whatever your heart desires. The paradigm below is merely an explanation of how I resolve debates, not a judgment on what kind of debate you like/have fun with. You can read pretty much whatever you want in front of me (with caveats mentioned below).

LD Paradigm (sorry this is long)

TL;DR: Use TWs, do not be rude, I am truly agnostic about what kind of debate happens in front of me. If you do not want to read through my whole paradigm check pref shortcuts and "things that will get your speaks tanked/I won't vote on."

Pref Shortcuts:

Phil: 1

K: 1-2 (more comfortable with identity Ks like queer theory, critical race theory, etc. I know some post-structuralist like Derrida, some Deleuze, Butler, Foucault, Anthro). Give me a 3 if you read Baudrillard unless you're good at explaining it

A bunch of theory: 2. I have been judging a lot of this lately, so do what you will. More specific theory stuff below.

Tricks: 2-3 I like good tricks but please have the spikes clearly delineated. There have been a couple rounds recently where I started to believe negating was in fact harder due to the affs that were being read. This kind of debate makes my head explode sometimes so collapsing in this form of debate is essential to me.

Policy/LARP: 3 (I guess?) I understand all of the technical stuff when it comes to this style, but I am not the judge for you if you're hoping that I would give you the leg up against things like phil or Ks. I vote on extinction outweighs a lot though (just bc I think LD has made a larger ideological shift towards policy args)

The trick to win my ballot regardless of the style/content: Crystallize!!!! Weigh!!!! Your 2nr/2ar should practically write my ballot.

I know that all of these have me in the 1-3 range, just consider me 'debate style agnostic'

Kritiks:
I am familiar with most kinds of K lit, but do not use that as a crutch in close rounds. Underdeveloped K extensions suck equally as much as blippy theory extensions. Here are some other things I care about:
1. Make sure the K links back to some framing mechanism, whether it is a normative framework or a role of the ballot. You can't win me over on the K debate if you don't clearly impact it back to a framing mechanism. The text of the role of the ballot/role of the judge must be clearly delineated.
2. Point out specific areas on the flow where your opponent links. I'm not going to do the work for you. Contextualize those links!
3. If the round devolves into a huge K debate, you must weigh. Sifting through confusing K debates where there isn't any weighing is almost as bad as a terrible theory debate.

Overview extensions are fine, people forget to interact them with the line by line which makes me sad. If there are unclear implications to specific line by line arguments I tend to err against you

Non-black people should not read afro pess in front of me. You will not get higher than a 27.5 from me if you read it, I am very convinced by arguments saying that you should lose the round for it.

"Non-T" Affs

I vote on these relatively consistently, the only issue that I have seen is an explanation of why the aff needs the ballot -- I rarely vote on presumption arguments (e.g. "the aff does nothing so negate!") but that is usually because the negative makes the worst possible version of these arguments

I am just as likely to vote on Framework as I am a K aff -- to win this debate, I need a decent counter-interp, some weighing, and/or impact turns. Recently, I have seen K Affs forget to defend a robust counter-interp and weigh it which ends up losing them the round. Maybe I have just become too "tech-y" on T/Theory debates

Also, generally, a lot of ppl against Ks have just straight up not responded to their thesis claims -- that is a very quick way to lose in front of me -- I sort of evaluate these thesis claims similar to normative frameworks (e.g. if they win them, it tends to exclude a lot of your offense)

Phil
This is the type of debate I did way back when, so I am probably most comfortable evaluating these kinds of debates (but I only get to rarely). I studied philosophy so I probably know whats happening

Make all FW arguments comparative

Unless otherwise articulated, I probs default truth testing over comparative worlds when it comes to substantive debates

Phil debaters: stop conceding extinction outweighs. It is my least favorite framework argument and it makes me sad every time I vote on it

Theory

If you are reading theory against a K aff/K's then you need to weigh why procedurals come first and vice versa. If the K does not indict models of debate/form then I presume that procedurals come first (e.g. if the neg just reads a cap k about how the plan perpetuates capitalism, then I presume that theory arguments come first if there is no weighing at all)

You should justify paradigm issues, but I default competing interps and no RVIs. Reasonability arguments need a specific/justified brightline or at least a good enough reason to 'gut check' the shell. I think people go for reasonability too little against shells with marginal abuse

I tend not to vote on silly semantic I meets unless you impact them well (e.g. text>spirit) my implicit assumption is that an I meet needs to at least resolve some of the offense of the shell. So, if the I meet does not seem to resolve the abuse, then I likely will not vote on it absent weighing

aff/neg flex standards: need to be specific e.g. you cant just say "negating is harder for xyz therefore let me do this thing" rather, you should explain how aff/neg is harder and then granting you access to that practice helps check back against a structural disadvantage in some specific way

If there are multiple shells, I NEED weighing when you collapse in the 2nr/2ar otherwise the round will be irresolvable and I will be sad

Really, just weighing generally.

Shells I consider frivolous and won't vote on: meme shells, shoe theory, etc

Shells I consider frivolous and will vote on: spec status (and various other spec shells beyond specifying a plan text/implementation), counter solvency advocate, role of the ballot spec (please do not call it 'colt peacemaker')

Combo shells are good but please be sure that your standards support all planks of the interp

Tricky Hobbits
Alright, so you roll up into the room and you got this really tricked out case with 100 different a prioris, so many theory spikes that they are literally jumping off the page to fight for fairness, and the classic incontestable descriptive offense, and you are ready to win. I just have a couple of requests:
1. I want the spikes clearly delineated. None of that hidden theory spikes between substantive offense bs. I won't catch it, your opponent won't catch it, so it probably doesn't exist (like absolute moral truths).
2. Slow down a little for theory spikes. I was and continue to be terrible at flowing, so help me out a little by starting out slower in the underview section.

Sometimes these debates make my brain explode a little bit, so crystallization is key -- obvi it is hard to be super pathosy on 'evaluate the debate after the 1ac' but overviews and ballot instruction is key here

Also, I likely will never vote on evaluate the debate after "x" speech that is not the 2ar. So if that is a core part of your strategy I suggest trying to win a different spike. I probably voted on this once at the NSD camp tournament, which was funny, but not an argument I like voting on. Similarly, I will evaluate the theory debate after the 2ar; you can argue for no 1ar theory or no 2nr paradigm issues however.

Against Ks, I will likely not vote on tricks that justify something abhorrent. I think 'induction fails takes out the K' is also a silly argument (again, I voted on it like once but I just think its a terrible argument)

Policy style

Unsure why I have to say this but DAs are not an advocacy and if I hear the phrase "perm the disad" you immediately drop down to a 28. If you extend "perm the disad" then you will drop to a 27. I'm not kidding.

Perms need a text, explanation of how the advocacies are combined, and how it is net beneficial (or just not mutually exclusive)

I do not really have any theoretical assumptions for policy style arguments, I can be convinced either way re:condo and specific CP theory (PICs, consult, etc)

Extinction outweighs: least favorite argument, usually the most strategic argument to collapse to against phil and K debaters

Unsure what else to say here, do what you want

Speaks
Speaker points are relatively arbitrary anyways, but I tend to give higher speaks to people who make good strategic decisions, who I think should make it to out rounds, who keep me engaged (good humor is a plus) and who aren't mean to other debaters (esp novices/less experienced debaters). Nowadays, I tend to start you off at a 28 and move you up or down based on your performance. The thing I value most highly when giving speaks is overall strategy and arg gen. If I think you win in a clever way or you debate in a way that makes it seem that you read my paradigm before round, then the higher speaks you will get. I think I have only given out perfect 30s a handful of times. At local tournaments, my standards for speaks are a lot lower given that the technical skill involved is usually lower.

Things I like (generally) that ensure better speaks: overviews that clear up messy debates and/or outline the strat in the 1ar/2nr/2ar, effective collapsing, making the debate easy to evaluate (about 7 times out of 10, if I take a long time to make a decision it is due to a really messy round which means you should fear for your speaks; the other 3/10 times it is because it is a close round).

If you are hitting a novice, please don't read like 5 off and make the round less of a learning experience and more of a public beat down. It just is not necessary. I will give you higher speaks if you make the round somewhat more accessible (ie going slower, reading positions that they can attempt to engage in, etc).

Things that will get your speaks tanked and that I will not vote on:

1. Shoe theory, or anything of the like. I won't vote on it, instant 25.

2. Being rude to novices, trying to outspread them and making it a public beatdown. Probs a 27 or under depending on the strength of the violation. What this means is that you should make the round accessible to novices; do not read some really really dense K (unless you are good at explaining it to a novice so that they can at least make some responses), nor should you read several theory shells and sketchy/abusive arguments to win the ballot. Not making the round accessible is a rip, and I think it is important for tournaments to be used as a learning experience, especially if it is one of their first tournaments in VLD.

3. If you are making people physically uncomfortable in the space, and depending on the strength of the violation, you can expect your speaks to be 26 or lower. If you are saying explicitly racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, etc things then probs an auto-loss 25.

4. Consistently misgendering people. L 25

5. I will not vote on the generic Nietzsche "suffering good" K anymore, I just think that it is a terrible argument and people need to stop going to bad policy back files, listen to some Kelly Clarkson if you want that type of education. L 25

WSD Paradigm

Style: To score high in this category, I not only consider how one speaks but the way arguments are presented and characterized. To some extent, I do think WS is a bit more 'performative' than other debate events and is much more conversational. As such, I think being a bit creative in the way you present arguments wins you some extra points here. This is not to say that your speech should be all flowery and substanceless; style is a supplement to content and not a replacement. Good organization of speeches also helps you score higher (e.g clash points, the speech has a certain flow to it, etc).

Content: The way I evaluate other forms of debate sort of applies here. The main thing I care about is 1. Have you provided an adequate explanation of causes/incentives/links etc? 2. Have you clearly linked this analysis to some kind of impact and explained why I care comparatively more about your impacts relative to your opponents? Most of the time, teams that lose lack one of these characteristics of arguments. The best second speeches add a new sub that puts a somewhat unique spin on the topic - get creative.

Models v. Counter-Models: The prop has the right to specify a reasonable interpretation of a motion to both narrow the debate and make more concrete what the prop defends on more practical/policy oriented motions. To some extent, I think it is almost necessary on these kinds of motions because while focusing on 'big ideas' is good, talking about them in a vacuum is not. Likewise, the opp can specify a reasonable counter-model in response/independent of the prop. I try my best not to view these debates in an LD/Policy way, but if it is unclear to me what the unique net benefit of your model is (and how the counter-model is mutually exclusive), then you are likely behind. On value based motions, I think models are relatively silly in the sense that these motions are not about practical actions, but principles. On regrets/narrative motions, I need a clear illustration of the world of the prop and opp (a counter-factual should be presented e.g. in a world without this narrative/idea, what would society have looked like instead?).

Strategy: Most important thing to me in terms of strategy is collapsing/crystallizing and argument coverage. Like other formats of debate, the side that gives me the most clear and concise ballot story is the one that will win. The less I have to think, the better. Obviously, line by lining every single argument is not practical nor necessary; however, if you are going to concede something, I need to know why it should not factor in my decision as soon as possible. Do not pretend an argument just doesn't exist. I also do not evaluate new arguments in the 3rd speeches and reply. For the 3rd speech, you can offer new examples to build on the analysis of the earlier speech, which I will not consider new.

Also, creative burden structures that help narrow the debate in your favor is something I would categorize as strategic. The best burdens lower your win conditions and subsequently increase the burden on the opposing side. Obviously, needs to be somewhat within reason or a common interp of the motion but I think this area of framing debates is under-utilized.

(sorry if the above is somewhat lengthy, I figured that I should write a more comprehensive paradigm given that I am judging WS more often now)