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Illinois Debate Coaches Association JVNovice State

2017 — New Trier Northfield Campus, IL/US

Novice Policy Paradigm List

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Mawuli Agbefe Lincoln Park High School 4 rounds

Last changed on Mon January 8, 2024 at 3:53 AM CDT

DONT RUN ENACT EXCLUDES courts in front of me. It’s wrong and absurd. What would a topic excluding the Supreme Court look like on criminal justice topic. The resolution says USFG. Supreme Court part of USFG.

put me on the Email chain. Silvermdc1@gmail.com

IN MOST ROunds I’m not reading every card on the doc because it’s a communicative activity. I’ve learned that often some peoples explanation of their evidence doesn’t line up with what the text says. In a situation where I’m on a panel where the other judges are reading the cards I too will as well.

while you’re speaking I prefer you turn your camera on. Understand if you don’t have bandwidth to support it.

I evaluate disease based/ pandemic based impacts much more seriously now due to ongoing effects of COVID 19. I still believe that debate is a game, educational one however I want to fully acknowledge the serious situation of where we are in our country with policing. I’m sure we can have debates while being tactful and understanding for some folks the issue can be personal.

I'll shake your hand if it's like your last round of high school debate and I so happen to judge it. It's weird to me when a kid tries to shake my hand after a round though. I did it when I was debating and didn't realize how odd it was. Oops.

It's likely that I'll laugh some don't take it personally I laugh all the time and I'm not making fun of you. I'm a human being and have lots of beliefs and feelings about debate but I'm persuadable. I don't flow Cross X obviously but sometimes questions and or answers end up impacting my perception of the round.

Arguments that I like hearing

I love the politics disadvantage, I like strategic counterplans. relevant case arguments, specfic d/as to plans.

Non-traditional AFFs or teams.

I'll listen to K affs or teams that don't affirm the resolution. Honestly though it's not my cup of tea. Over the years debate has been changing and I guess I've changed in some ways with it.

Other stuff

NEW Counterplans in the 2NC I'm not cool with unless the 2AC reads an add on.

SPeaker points
I evaluate how well you answered your opponents arguments, ETHOs, persuasiveness, Humor, STRATEGIC DECISIONS. There are times when one team is clearly more dominant or one student is a superior speaker. That's GREAT!! I'm not going to reward you with speaker points for walloping a weaker team. You're not going to be penalized either but it's clear when you have a challenge and when you just get an easy draw in round.

IF I HAVE NEVER MET YOU BEFORE DON'T EMAIL ME ASKING FOR EVIDENCE FROM ROUNDS I JUDGED

ARGUMENTs I'd rather not hear.
SPARK
WIPEOUT

SCHLAG

Schopenhauer

Arguments I find offensive and refuse to flow
RACISM GOOD
PATRIARCHY GOOD

If we're talking about paradigm I view debate as a game. It's an educational game but a game still. I think most rules are debateable. I think speech times are consistent and not a breakable rule, ad-hominem attacks are not acceptable.

Even if your're not friends with your debate partner treat them respect and please no bickering with them.

I'd prefer if people do an e-mail stream instead of flashing or other methods of sharing evidence.

KRITIKS

I'll listen to your criticism. Few things. I think there needs to be a coherent link story with the affirmative, words or scholarship the affirtmative said in cross-x. Your K will not be a viable strategy in front of me without a link story. It's a very tough hill to win a K in front of me without an Alternative. Debaters have done it before but it's been less than 5 times.

Explain and analyze what the alternative does.
Who does it
How does a world compare post alternative to pre-alternative?

NEgative Framework
Should interpt various words in the resolution
Have clear brightline about why your view of debate is best for education
Address proper forums for critical arguments people make
Have voting issues that explain why your vision of debate is desirable.
I prioritize role of the ballot issues.

PERFORMANCE/POEMS/ Interpretive
I'll entertain it I guess, I'm probaly not the most recceptive though. Explain how you want me to fairly evaluate these concerns. Also consider what type of ground you're leaving your opponent without making them go for reprehensible args like: Patriarchy Good or racism good.

Counterplans
Need to have a solvency advocate
A text
Literature
Can be topical in my mind
Net benefit or D/A to prefer CP to aff

Needs to be some breathing room between Counterplan and plan. PICS are fine however I don't think it's legit to jack someone elses aff and making a minute difference there isn't lit for.
Legitimate Competition

A reason the permutation can't work besides theory arguments.

Theory

DON'T JUST READ THEORY BLOCKS AGAINST Each other. Respond in a line by line fashion to opponents theory args. Dropped arguments are conceded arguments obviously. In a close debate don't assume because you have a blippy quick theory argument it's neccessarily going to win you a debate in front of me if you didn't invest much time in it.

Rebuttals
1. Engage with opponents evidence and arguments.
2. Make contextual differences.
3. Humor is fine but don't try to be funny if you're not.
4. Clarity is preferred over speed. Not telling you to go slow but if I can't coherently understand what you're saying we have a problem. Like if you're unclear or slurr a bunch of words while you're spreading.
5. HAVE FUN! Getting trophies and winning tournaments is cool but I'm more concerned what kind of person you're in the process of becoming. Winning isn't everything.

Topicality

Don't trivialize T. Burden is on the affirmative to prove they are topical. I'll listen to reasonablity or competing Interpretations framework. I don't believe in one more than other and can be persuaded either way. Standards by which to evaluate and voting issues are nice things to have in addition to an Interpretation.

Arguments I like on T that I find have been lost to the wayside.

Reasons to prefer source of dictionary, information about changing language norms and meaning, the usage of the word in soceity currently.

Grammar analysis pertaining to the resolution.

Framers Intent/ Resolution planning arguments

Voting issues you think someone who thinks debate is an educational game would like to hear.

Disadvantages

Link Story that is specific to AFFIRMATIVE.

Impacts that would make a worse world than aff.

Author qualifications matter to me, Sources of your evidence matter to me. How well you're able to explain your claims matter to me. Evidentiary comparison to your opponents authors are saying.

General stylistics things

Some kind of labelling for arguments like numbers or letters before the tags is preferrable. If you have questions feel free to e-mail me. silvermdc1@gmail.com

Raja Archie Evanston Twp HS 5 rounds

Last changed on Wed December 18, 2019 at 3:04 AM CDT

Hi! I'm Raja Archie (my preferred pronouns: she/her/hers)

My email is rrarchie98@gmail.com and I’d love to be added to the email chain

Full Disclosure: This judge is black, disabled, and queer (be mindful of what you say around her and in her rounds)

My rounds are a safe places. Which means you are required to respect preferred pronouns. I encourage you to ask before the round starts and if you don’t get the chance to ask before the round avoid the use of gendered language. Homophobia, discrimination, racism, xenophobia, ableism, transphobia, sexism, and all other awful prejudices in any form is not tolerated in my rounds and I won’t hesitate to vote you down and end the round early if an unsafe environment is created. Just be a nice human :)

My Background: Former Policy and Congressional debate coach for ETHS. Former NatCirc + local circuit congress (1yr) and policy debater (5yrs) for 4yrs at ETHS (c/o 2016). Judging since 2015 and have experience in judging Congress, Policy, and LD.

My Philosophy: I don’t believe in telling debaters how they should debate, or what arguments they should read. As a judge I just decide who did the better debating at the end of the round.

A note for Congressional Debaters: Remember it's Congressional Debate, key word 'debate' that's the one really important aspect that separates this type of debate from a speech event so please please please remember to debate, clash really is critical. Also, try not to obsessively rehash which can be avoided by remembering to review your flow and trying to refute line by line. Lastly, the speakers who stick out to me the most aren't just the ones who sound good or present well they're the ones who can structure a speech and debate well on top of those things.

Important FYI! Please refrain from using gendered language in session, especially if everyone hasn't gone around and introduced themselves along with their preferred pronouns. Fortunately in Congress everyone has a title of either 'Rep. [insert last name]' or 'Sen. [insert last name]' which makes avoiding gendered language like 'she'/'he'/'her'/'miss'/etc. even easier :)

For Policy Debaters

Read arguments that YOU think are rad. Just do you. If you have a plan text that’s cool..but like also no plan text no problem because framework makes the game work. I'm not going to evaluate problematic or offensive arguments (i.e. ‘racism good’, ‘heteronormativity good’, ‘patriarchy good’, etc.) because that not only requires my brain power as a judge but also emotional labor that I won't be compensated for so just no. Note that problematic or offensive arguments does not mean problematic or offensive execution of an argument. Everyone is ignorant about some thing at some point and I am willing to educate if you’re willing to take an L, respectfully listen to what I have to say, and learn.

Speaking - When it comes to speaking speed is not an issue I can flow by ear exceptionally well but clarity is a must especially if you want high speaker points from me

Debaters love to ask me before round, ‘What types of arguments do you like judge?’ So to answer that simply, I like good arguments. What I'm not going to do is list which arguments I read as a debater because I don’t want you to read my paradigm then poorly execute an argument in front of me as a desperate attempt to secure a W. I do understand the importance of prefs though so full disclosure I’m probably not the preferred judge for you if your neg strat doesn’t contain a K

No matter what types of arguments you read, if I’ve judged you in the past, if I’m cool with your school or coach, what types of teams I’ve coached, what kind of debater I was or what lit I’ve read..I won’t do any of the work for you. That means don’t debate lazily. That means even if it’s the 6th prelim round give it your all still. That means clear breakdowns of arguments (i.e. solid overviews, answering those direct CX questions about your argument’s content, etc.). That also means crystal clear breakdowns of how your side has won the debate within rebuttal speeches is a necessity.

Remember, education comes first always, be kind to one another, spread positive vibes among your fellow debaters, and good luck!

Josh Baime Glenbrook South High School 5 rounds

Isaac Banes Maine East H.S. 3 rounds None

Saul Barrientos Solorio Academy HS 2 rounds None

Melinda Berman Homewood-Flossmoor High School 5 rounds None

Ben Bernstein Glenbrook South High School 5 rounds None

William Bert Niles North High School 5 rounds

Last changed on Fri February 10, 2017 at 4:35 AM CDT

General Overview

I will vote on anything, granted that it has an impact to it. I don't think I have the right to try to alter how the debaters make arguments or present claims, but it needs to actually have warrants and a reason it should make me vote aff or neg. I try as strictly as possible to evaluate the debate solely based off of what was said in the round, but absent any explanation of certain issues in the round, my unconscious dispositions will probably kick in.

It's great. I default towards competing interpretations, but a well argued reasonability argument as a lens through which I can evaluate your interpretation is powerful. You must explain the impact to limits, ground, precision, etc. for it to be a persuasive reason to reject their interpretation (likewise with overlimiting and other aff arguments). Impact comparison is crucial for these debates, and the team that controls this element of the debate will probably win.

Disads

They're good.

Link probably controls the direction of uniqueness.

Do impact calc and turns case.

Politics-

My junior year consisted of this in every 1nr, so i have some love for politics.

I was also a 2a who loved intrinsicness. Do as you will.

Counterplans

I don't have very strong feelings about competition/legitimacy either way for any type of counterplan, so I don't care what you read as long as you justify it. This does not mean I'm bad for theory, I actually love theory args, but you'll need to win the debate either way.

Debates about solvency deficits should be framed in terms of comparative risks of solvency defecit v net benefit.

Kritiks

I love the k and have read a lot of the relevant literature, but you still need to be explaining yourself in these debates. Don't rattle off a bunch of buzzwords and expect me to fill in the holes.

You need to win some substantive link to the aff, their reps, or some assumption intrinsic to the aff. These don't necessarily need to be carded, but should have some logical or contextual explanation of the link. Using lines of the other team's ev is always a plus.

You must either win a mutually exclusive alternative that resolves the harms of the kritik, or a framework argument that obviates that consideration entirely.

For alts-What does the alt do? How does this resolve the harms you articulate? Is it an indict of the affirmatives action/presumption of action?

For framework-What is the role of debate?-Why should resolutional policy considerations be ignored?

Planless Affs

They're cool.

You need to articulate what the method/performance/analysis of the 1ac does to combat the problems you outline

On framework, you need to prove why you fit into a good interpretation of the topic, or why that understanding of topicality is bad

Framework

You need to prove why their violation of topical advocacy makes a worse model of debate.

I've always tended to prefer arguments based on debate's status as a game and procedural fairness, but arguments about the state being good and skills impacts are cool too.

Theory

I will vote on any well argued theory violation, but it needs an impact and a justification why that impact is sufficient to reject the team

Slow down on these debates, and provide clear impact comparison.

Conditionality-I'm fairly agnostic on this-Read 7 condo for all I care, but your theory block better be pretty incredible to pull that off.

I will not presumptively kick your cp, butif the neg wins the judge kick debate I obviously will.

Other Notes

Be Nice. I've had an aggressive style fo most of my carreer, so I get it, but don't cross the line into being a scumbag.

Clarity matters a lot to me. I will call clear twice. Then I will stop flowing.

Be yourself. If you're funny, be funny. If you're serious, be serious.

No memes. I can't in good conscience vote you down if you read time cube or consult jesus, but I can aggressively dock your points.

Things that will boost your speaker points:

Well thought out, case specific strategies
Meta level framing debate
Blocks that spend at least 4 minutes on case(13 minutes of case probably gets an extra speaker point)
Contextual and well developed K debating

Hayward Blake Lane Tech College Prep H.S. 5 rounds

Last changed on Tue January 15, 2019 at 11:10 AM CDT

Stylistic Comments

* I do not discriminate between policy, kritikal, and performance debating styles. If you have a strategic, well thought-out argument and are able to defend it, I will give it a fair and balanced consideration.

* Please be ready to give your speech when your prep is up. Too much 'grey area' time and I will dock your speaks. Tag team is fine. If you need an accommodation, just ask.

* 2NR and 2AR should summarize the round and why you win; you must give me a framework for how to evaluate the round (and why that framing is good). Much harder for me to vote for you if you don't do that.

* Tell me how to evaluate every argument and every impact. I'm not sure how to compare racial violence to nuclear radiation poisoning, but sometimes that's what I'm left with. I will not assume what you want me to do with your argument.

* I will not make arguments for you or the other team, but I cannot pretend that my opinion is irrelevant. It's important that you balance your tech with persuasion. Part of persuasion is looking at me and speaking to me as a human being at some point in the round. If you are constantly out of breath and stammering, you need to slow down.

Specific Arguments

* Kritiks: I am proficient in race debate (Sexton, Wilderson, Gumms, Afro-pessimism, optimism, futurism), IR theories, feminist theories, intersectional theories/Puar, "high theory" (Baudrillard, Deleuze, Bataille, et cetera). I am most well-versed in Queer theory.

* Theory: Love it, but you must go for it for at least 3 minutes in the 2NR/2AR (preferably all 5) if you want me to seriously consider it. The terms 'education,' 'fairness,' or 'portable skills,' are meaningless unless you tell me what exactly you mean.

* Framework/Topicality: I believe fairness and education are internal links to larger impacts, and are strategically meaningless in and of themselves. It is imperative that you be specific about what exactly is gained or lost as a result of some mechanism of your worldview.

* Concessions: My threshold for voting on conceded arguments is higher than most judges. I must be persuaded by the first time it is introduced in order for me to pull the trigger. "Blowing it up" in later speeches is all new argumentation that the other team is allowed to answer.

* Disads/CPs: Love 'em, but you must explain your advocacy/scenario. As I haven't researched on this topic, I may not know your specific scenario.

* .1% risk: I will not make this argument for you, and you must win it. If you cold concede a legit no-internal link argument, how can you still have 1% risk? Some defense is strong enough to give a scenario 0% risk.

About Me

* I've debated and judged policy for 5 years and parli for 1, mainly in the Chicagoland area.

* While I am relatively versed on most literature you'll want to run, I don't know everything. It's your responsibility to explain your argument and evidence; don't make me look at your cards.

* I flow on my laptop. If you'd like to see them after the round, just let me know!
*Be nice and enjoy the debate! Any questions, I'd be happy to answer! :)

Jack Brown New Trier High School 3 rounds

Last changed on Mon February 19, 2018 at 8:48 PM CDT

READ THIS: I'm a human, I have emotions, I like to laugh and smile, I do it a lot, If you see me doing it, do not be offended or take it personally, and if you don't like me laughing, tell me :)

-TL;DR, Be BOLD, TAKE RISKS, If it's well thought out, you're unlikely to be punished :)

- Ask me questions, do good debate stuff, be polite :)

-No trigger warnings, if you have them, please tell the other team, if you are worried your aff might have some, ask the other team

-If at any point in the round you feel uncomfortable with the content of the debate or someone's action, tell the other team or person to stop, if that would make it worse, then email me and I'll try to make sure we can have a good educational debate where everyone feels comfortable arguing :)

-I need to be able to justify my decision based on what was said in the round. :)

-I will read cards if you ask politely :)

-I'll vote on pretty much anything B)

-I like people who dress nice :)

-Be nice :D

-If you make a Moana reference, I'll make sure it shows in your speaks :D

-I don't like to time people B)

-stand for cross-x, and face me, or I'll ignore it B)

-He, him :)

AFFs- DO WHAT YOU WANT! I have read every kind of aff, hardline, soft left, and poem. I would like to understand your aff, i understand hearthstone analogies very very well. I evaluate solvency before the impacts unless you give me reason to evaluate as try or die. I like having warrants and multiple ways of solving. I think that affs that read a ton of impacts should lose to solvency takeouts. K affs are more than fine.

DAs- not my favorite argument, you probably shouldn't go for this argument alone unless you're sure it outweighs and turns case. If it's this and consequentialism that's fine against a K aff. I like politics, you just need to do a good job winning a unique link, I'm down to vote on a thumper. ._.

CPs- Process CPs are cheating, Consult CPs are cheating, and plan plus are cheating of course it's up to you to prove that, but that's not hard. I like to see competition, and I like to see solvency. I need perms explained to me, something beyond we can do both, but how would they interact. I'm pretty much down for any other kind of CP that does something else. >.<

Theory- It's so much more convincing when you prove in round abuse. I'm still down to vote for potential abuse and what they justify, but less so. I'm also more likely to reject the arg not the team. B)

T- yeah, why not, just make sure you compare your education and fairness ._.

K- heck yeah <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Tim Brzny Maine East H.S. 5 rounds

Last changed on Sat January 13, 2024 at 2:24 PM CDT

Debated Maine East H.S. 2009 -2012, Coach/Judge 2012 -

Debate is an educational game where everything in debate is debatable i.e. should I prefer tech over truth, do I need a plan text. Be nice to each other, try your best and have fun. Prefer debates were debaters are challenged to think in new ways. Do not be deterred from going for any argument because of what you read here. I’m open to listening to and voting for any argument even debates about what debate should be i.e. k of debate. Just because I stated that I will listen to / vote on / prefer something does not mean that it is an automatic win. If I do not understand something I will not vote on it.

Has been said in many different ways by many different individuals: debating / coaching for a school without many resources and understanding the experiences of similar schools competing against schools who are well resourced, I tend to be sympathetic to arguments based on inequities in policy debate. I will default to a policy maker but am open to other ways of deciding the ballot. I will go off the flow and will try not to intervene, however I might default to my opinions below (which are not concrete).

I will vote for the least complex way to sign the ballot. Explaining your arguments / ideas and keeping the debate organized by road mapping, sign posting, and line by line are key and will help your speaker points. Other things that are key and help to explain / frame the debate are: overviews with impact clac, turns case/da arguments, framing of arguments and the debate, impacting out arguments, and in-depth analysis of arguments. Likewise, overall analysis and framing of evidence / arguments / warrants / qualifications / the round, is key. “Even if” statements will help with speaker points and to frame an argument. Do not assume that I know an argument, author, or specific terms. Analytics, defensive arguments (even without your own evidence) are able to reduce any argument/evidence to zero risk or close to it. If I do not understand a part of the argument or it is not explained/major gaps in your logic I will be less likely to vote on it, even if it is dropped. Explain to me why you should win the round and what this means for both you and your opponent’s arguments. Speed is ok but need to clear. Do not sacrifice clarity for speed. Emailing speeches does not count as prep time as long as it is reasonable and send it all in one doc. Have cites available after the round. I will vote down teams/dock speaker points for rudeness, racist, sexism, unethical, offensive and unacceptable arguments / behavior.

Look at / debate / answer the actual warrants (or lack thereof) in the cards not what the card is tagged as. Comparing evidence / qualifications with explanations as to whose is better helps me to evaluate an argument (even just reading evidence and pointing out its inconsistency is great (will help your speaker points)) and is something that I find is missing in a lot of debates. If their evidence is bad point it out. I will read evidence if call for or if I believe there is an issue with it.

Cross x – Tag Team is fine if both teams are ok with it. Overtaking your partner’s cross-x might result in lower speaker points. Be sure to carry cross-x into the rest of the debate. If you indicted a piece of evidence or proved that an argument does not work, say so in your speech.

Theory – Just like any other argument dropping theory is not an auto-win. If a part of the theory is not explained well enough or the other team points out that it is not explained or missing, I will be less inclined to vote for it. Will vote on all types of theory, but need to explain the theory, in-round abuse (why what they did was bad), voters, fairness, education, impacts and why I should either reject the argument or the other team. Do not just re-read your blocks. The more specific the theory is to the argument / abuse / voters / round, the better.

Topicality – Overviews help. Tend to lean affirmative (Neg has the burden) unless there is a clear: violation / definition, bright line between topical and untopical, impacts for allowing the affirmative and others like it to be topical and in-round / potential (prefer in-round) abuse. Will default to competing interpretations. Explanation on all parts of the flow are key i.e. definition, bright line, topical version of the affirmative, case lists, reasons to reject the team (in-round and potential abuse), standards, ground, limits, voters, fairness, education, and impacts. Reasonability, clash / lit checks, race to bottom, etc. are able to reduce the chance of voting on topically. Will vote on aspec / other spec arguments however, need to show abuse in-round.

Speaker points – My range is 27.8- 28.5, this does not mean that I will not go above a 28.5. The road to better speaker points is in this philosophy i.e. know your arguments, be clear, do line by line, point out inconsistency in arguments and evidence, extend / explain / compare warrants and or qualifications (or lack thereof), road map, sign post, impact clac, frame the debate and the other things that are listed in the various sections.

Plan text / Counterplan text – Should be written down. Check how they are written. Will vote on plan flaws and counterplans that change the plan text with a net benefit.

Affirmative – Two things are key: good overviews with impact clac and in-depth case analysis.

Counterplan – Use overviews. Make sure that there is a clear net benefit and/or solvency deficit.

Disads/advantages – Good overviews with turns case /da along with impact analysis/clac where opponent’s impacts/arguments are considered. Disad links should be clear and specific to the case. All types of turns (link, impact and straight) are also a good idea.

K–Explain. Have a general idea on the basic k, not a k hack, but will vote on them (including k of debate arguments / debates about what debate should be). The k needs to be specifically explained not just in terms of what the idea of the k is, but what is the framework, link (the more specific and clearer the better), impact and alterative (not only what the alterative does but how its solves the k and plan’s impact (i.e. root cause) and what does the world of the alterative looks like). A good overview of the k and framework helps a lot. The affirmative should always question the alterative.

K affirmatives and framework - Will vote on k affirmative and k of debate arguments / debates about what debate should be. Needs to be a clear role of the ballot and clear reason why your version of debate is better. Totally fine with looking at images, listening to music, narratives, stories and other things. Debates are more interesting when: the neg does not just read framework / k but engages with the affirmative and the affirmative k the negative positions through the lens of the affirmative. Framework and disads to framework have to be explained, show how your interpretation of debate solve or root causes the other side’s impacts, impacted out fairness and education, have analysis to show which style of debate is the best and show why the affirmative or argument should be or not be in debate.

Celia Buckman New Trier High School 1 rounds

Ivan Cambier-Unruh Whitney M. Young Magnet High School 5 rounds

Conor Cameron Solorio Academy HS 5 rounds

Last changed on Wed January 3, 2024 at 1:09 PM CDT

Conor Cameron
ccameron3@cps.edu
he/him/his
Coach, Solorio, 2012 - present

TLDR: Better for CP / DA / impact turn debates

I'll do my best to evaluate arguments as made. When the way I make sense of a debate differs from the way debaters make sense of a debate, here seem to be some common sources of the disparity:

1) I'm pretty ingrained in the offense defense model. This means that even if the NB is dumb, if the aff cannot generate a solvency deficit against the CP, and the aff has no offense against the DA, I am highly likely to vote negative.

Some notes: a) I do not think a solvency deficit needs to be carded; b) more difficult, but I could envision voting on analytic offense against a DA, c) I'm willing to vote on zero risk of the DA, but we'd both benefit from you taking a moment to explain why the offense-defense model is inapplicable in the debate at hand

2) I still think I have a relatively high bar for voting negative on topicality; however, I've tried to begin evaluating this debate more from an offense-defense perspective. In my mind, this means that if the affirmative does not meet the negative's interpretation, and does not have its own counterinterpretation, it is essentially arguing that any affirmative is topical and is conceding a 100% link to the limits disadvantage. I'm highly likely to vote negative in such a debate.

General argument notes:
3) I'm probably more sympathetic to cheaty process counterplans than most.

4) While I may complain, I do vote on the standard canon of negative kritiks. Things like cap, security, standard topic kritiks, etc. are fine. Extra explanation (examples, stories, analogies, etc.) is always appreciated, all the more so the further from my comfort zone you venture.

5) FW vs K Affs: I lean negative. However, I judge few of these debates. Both teams would benefit from accepting that I know very little here, slowing down, speaking clearly, and over-explaining (depth, not repetition) things you assume most judges know.

Other notes
6) I judge because:
a) I still really enjoy debate.
b) Judging is an opportunity to continue to develop my understanding of debate.
c) I am covering my students' judge commitment so that they too can benefit from this activity.

7) Quick reference
Policy---X------------------------------------------K

Tech-----------------------------X-----------------Truth

Read no cards-------X----------------------------Read all the cards

Conditionality good--X----------------------------Conditionality bad

States CP good----X------------------------------States CP bad

Politics DA is a thing-----X------------------------Politics DA not a thing

UQ matters most----------------------X----------Link matters most

Limits----------------------------------X------------Aff ground

Presumption---------------------------------X-----Never votes on presumption

Longer ev--------X---------------------------------More ev

CX about impacts----------------------------X----CX about links and solvency

Georgeen Carson Beacon Academy Chicago 5 rounds None

Juan Chavez Solorio Academy HS 3 rounds None

Byron Chin Glenbrook North 3 rounds None

Brianna Chou New Trier High School 2 rounds

Raiyan Chowdhury Niles North High School 5 rounds None

Chris Coleman Hire 5 rounds

Last changed on Sat February 2, 2019 at 9:56 AM CDT

(I wrote this years ago when I was coming out of high school - please forgive me)

email: chriscoleman100@gmail.com

Debated at Glenbrook South for 4 years, currently a senior at Northwestern University. Debate is foundationally a dialectical game. There are no fundamental truths and we are always forming new concepts and discarding old ones. This means that everything is up for debate (whether it be the words in the plan text, who gets to define them, whether over-limiting is good or bad, whether hegemony is good or bad, whether death is good or bad, blah blah blah).

That being said, as a debater, it’s an impossible burden to make you justify every single thing you say. However, certain warrants are usually more important in different debates. I try to evaluate debates with a focus on why your warrants matter - there are two parts to this. The first part is “actually having a warrant to support up your claim” part. The second is “impacting” your warrants: why does democrat backlash matter more than the plan appeasing republicans? This is essentially impact calculus and shouldn’t just be limited to the impact debate – you should weigh the importance of your arguments versus theirs. Tell me why your argument is more logical. Tell me why your specific evidence indict matters.

This tends to be important for me in critical debates for both the affirmative and the negative. Why does the plan’s security discourse lead to the complete failure of the aff? Why does the permutation resolve the link arguments? Both sides of K debates have a tendency to drift towards spewing claims without warrants. This is a shame because impacting your claims is crucial here. Alternative solvency should be articulated – if it’s not, why does the alternative not matter?

Of course, there are some fundamental predispositions that all judges have. I try my best to judge from this objective lens but this objectivity is impossible. In high school, I debated both critical and policy arguments. For critiques, I researched and debated everything including but not limited to neoliberalism and capitalism, feminism and security, Chernus, Heidegger and Introna, Deleuze and Guattari, anti-blackness, and Baudrillard. I might have some knowledge of things not on this list, but you should debate acting like I do not. The policy list is probably less important to go into detail over - everything from politics to advantage counterplans to PICs is fine.

I don’t really “err” anything for framework debates/no plan teams. I have gone for framework and I have read a no plan aff. I don’t have any theoretical leanings regarding counterplan theory and conditionality. You can convince me a disad is zero risk but this entails more than just saying that the link is small – you would have to make an argument about why change below a certain degree becomes background noise.

Abraham Corrigan Beacon Academy Chicago 5 rounds

Jorge Cotaquispe Solorio Academy HS 2 rounds

Lily Craelius Lane Tech College Prep H.S. 5 rounds

Ethan Croitoru Lane Tech College Prep H.S. 5 rounds

Jose Cruz Solorio Academy HS 5 rounds

Michelle David Hire 5 rounds

Last changed on Fri March 10, 2017 at 7:40 AM EDT

Background

Chattahoochee High School (GA): 4 years Policy Debate, National Circuit, Class of 2015

Northwestern University (IL): Class of 2019

michelledavid053@gmail.com (yes, put me on the email chain)

I have only judged a few rounds on this topic, so please do not assume I'll automatically know your acronyms or topic specific arguments.

You don't need to conform to my personal opinions - I'll try to judge with as little intervention as possible. I'll be persuaded by your arguments if you articulate them well enough. If you win the flow, you win the debate.

General Comments

Be Nice! Debate is a fun activity that we should all enjoy. Don’t be rude or overly aggressive.
I tend to see dropped arguments as true.
Clarity first: it’s about the number of arguments I can flow and not how many you can make.
Frame your arguments: tell me how to evaluate your args and how they affect my decision.
Evidence vs. Argumentation: I try to call for as few cards as possible [unless highly contested by both teams] and think that it is generally up to the debaters to provide clear analysis and explanation for why I should prefer their specific cards.
Don’t cheat. Don’t steal prep time. Actually mark cards where you stop reading them; don’t just say “mark the card.”
If it’s evident that you’re not flowing, you'll lose speaker points.

Topicality

Impact your standards.
Probably reasonability > competing interpretations.

Counterplans

Competition: Counterplans that have a functional difference from the plan are competitive. PICs, Consult, Condition, Delay CPs are probably not competitive.
I love case specific CP strategies. Excellent solvency advocates go a long way.

Theory

Conditionality: 3+ is pushing it
I have a high threshold for rejecting the team on most other theory violations. It usually seems logical to reject the argument.

Disads

Impact calculus. Impact calculus. Impact calculus. Please do it. Please.
The link probably controls the direction of uniqueness.
Zero risk exists.

Kritiks

Standard neolib/security/etc. K? Go for it. Anything else? I'm probably not the right judge for you. I'll hold you to a high burden of explanation if you're running more complex Ks.
If you can’t defend your K in cross-ex, don't read it.
To Affs: alts always suck, stop dropping K tricks.

Performance

I'm not the right judge for you. I believe that debate should focus on a central stasis point around the topic from which to generate fair competition.
I am easily persuaded by good FW/T violations, but I can be persuaded by performance teams if not well articulated or impacted.

Evan Elkin Northside College Prep 5 rounds

Kiara Ernst Homewood-Flossmoor High School 5 rounds None

Sean Farris Homewood-Flossmoor High School 1 rounds None

Matthew Fishman Glenbrook North 3 rounds None

Jared Flippen Whitney M. Young Magnet High School 2 rounds None

Shanti Flowers Kennedy HS 2 rounds None

Charlie Foster Glenbrook North 1 rounds

Danny Frank-Siegel Evanston Twp HS 5 rounds

Last changed on Thu February 22, 2024 at 10:16 AM CDT

2024 update

I have been out of debate for about 5 years, but this paradigm holds true. End of the day, debate is about you as the debater and I as the judge will do my best to evaluate whatever you choose to do, so long as what you choose to do is not violent. Do you. I may be behind on some jargon so make sure you can explain your buzzwords and if you don't mind work into your top speed so I can acclimate (especially over Zoom!), but speaks will be highest for rounds where I get to see debaters doing what they are most comfortable with and doing that well, whether thats a K, LARP-y policy args, or theory. Strangely, the part of debate I miss most after these years is the ridiculous theory debates. Take that as you will, and Godspeed.

Danny.franksiegel@gmail.com

UPDATE AS OF OCTOBER 2018

I enjoy a good K debate but I don't hack for the K. I don't love tricks as an argument style but a well explained trick can be fun to judge. When its frivolous I have a hard time buying theory, but will evaluate the debate nonetheless. Over the course of one tournament (Valley) I voted for the indexes a priori, Baudrillard, Kant, a LARP aff, and theory. If any of those things sound like arguments you read and you HAVE CONFIDENCE THAT YOU CAN EXPLAIN WELL ENOUGH TO ME TO WARRANT MY BALLOT then pref me. If you do not believe you can have a good and nuanced debate where you explain the intricacies of your position to me, do not pref me highly, because when you don't explain things and your opponent does you will lose me quickly. The only exception to this is explicitly violent language, which I will not take kindly to/intervene against in extreme instances. This is the only scenario in which I will intervene. You can read the rest of my paradigm if you want to (if you are a theory debater trying to make a judgement call on whether to put me at a 1,2, or 3, you may want to read the TJFs/ Sliding Scale section below), because I do go more in depth on some things. But this should be the size of it.

Extra note: if you are debating a novice/debater without a lot of circuit experience, I won't force you to adapt to them, but an attempt to make the debate more accessible (this can look like slowing down, intentionally being forthcoming in cross, reading a position that is engagable, editing your case so that it can be read in an accessible way) I will bump speaks a bit.

YOUR ROUND IS ABOUT TO BEGIN AND YOU NEED TO KNOW WHO THIS GUY IS:

Plant ontology is a true arg. But so is T. Here we go...

tl;dr: do you.

I really don't care what you do. I'm good for all of it. As long as you are not actively offensive in the round. If you are/if someone asks you to stop doing something they perceive as violent and you blow it off/do not make an effort to change your behavior I will take your speaks I would've given, subtract 4, assign your speaks that number, and then wait that many seconds to talk to your coach after the round.

My Preferences/Things you should know about me:

-My pronouns are he/him. I will ask for your pronouns before the round (if I forget please remind me!). That is the most I will ask you to disclose about your personal identity unless you choose to do so later in the round. You do not have to tell me anything about yourself you don't want to.

-I'm kind of a point fairy in LD and more of a stickler in policy. I try to match my speaks to the average I perceive on the circuit.

-I judge a lot of theory debates but I don't love them. I'd much prefer to watch a K vs. K aff round. But since I keep getting preffed by theory kids I guess I'm ok for the theory debate tho. I'm even starting to enjoy watching good debaters go for theory...? But only when its done very well and not frivolous.

-If you read bad theory in front of me (I know this is arbitrary, but I tend to believe that most debaters know what this means and choose to ignore it.) and the other debater tells me to gut check it in any way shape or form, hold this L real quick.

-I will not vote on permissibility skep or any argument akin to "moral decisions are irrelevant," that is explained as "the holocaust/slavery could be good bc everything is true!!1!"

-If you are reading a strategy that doesn't make its arguments until the 1AR (ie you are spamming a speech doc with incoherent cards knowing the only one that matters starts with an R and ends with an odl) you and I will not get along. I'll vote for it if you're winning it, but I'll be unhappy. Caveat: if you're debating a novice/someone without much debate experience and your 1AR is all tricks, yes I'm giving the NR leeway.

-I cuss. A lot. Sorry in advance (and if you are legitimately uncomfortable let me know and I will control my language).

-Albums I'm listening to a lot of right now include but are not limited to: Astral Weeks by Van Morrison, Live in Amsterdam by Phish, Teenage Dreaming by Stranded Civilians (relatively short EP, very worth the listen!!), Close to the Edge by Yes, 10 Day by Chance the Rapper, Blue by Joni Mitchell. If you arrive early to a round and have music recommendations for me I will massively appreciate it :)

LARP

I did policy. I'll listen to your LARP args. Specificity on Politics links is usually where I end up pulling the trigger one direction or the other because most of the time they are either the best card in the DA or the worst card in the DA.

Consult/Process/Delay CPs are cheating, but strategic cheating that you have every right to run. But the more unfair your CP the less likely I am to vote against an equally unfair perm.

Idk how I feel about judge kick. I don't love it in theory, but I also don't know how it would interact with flipping the direction of presumption, so just if you want me to do it make the argument in round.

Framework

Not super familiar with a lot of super dense philosophy. That said, if you tell me what your offense is and why I care clearly in the last speech you've got my ballot. If my lack of philosophical knowledge is a hindrance to you winning, hinder that hindrance by being clear, making sense, impacting, and explaining (see Kant joke I'm doing my best to accommodate you phil hacks). I'm slowly but surely taking more phil classes in college so my knowledge base has broadened somewhat, but still, explain it to me and we'll all be happy.

Policy framework

It makes the game work. That said, I HATE listening to bad framework debates. If I can tell you're reading someone else's prewritten backfiles and you aren't doing it well speaks won't be great. If I can identify the person who wrote your prewritten backfile I will rate how much I like that person on a scale from 1-10 and give you that many speaks. I hate listening to prescripted crappy framework debates.

THAT SAID:

Watching LASA MS go for framework honestly was one of my favorite things to do, even though I usually ran things on the other side of it. Seriously framework can be an art form.

Topicality

T is a procedural and gets evaluated first, but if there is no analysis done beyond your generic blocks I'm gonna be sad and you will too when you see your speaks. Competing interps is my default, but I can be swayed otherwise easily. I try to only evaluate what's in the round. If the aff isn't topical read T. But after the 3rd or so T interp I/We meets become reasonable to me quickly... take that as you will.

Theory

Frivolous theory makes me sad but some theory is a necessary evil. That is about as straightforward as I can say. I will listen to your theory shell. But a counter interp explaining why your interp is absurd and your abuse scenario is contrived is gonna make you sad if you are reading a frivolous shell. That said, watching a good theory debater go to work is a thing of beauty and I guess I'll watch and evaluate as such. Side note: I don't understand the obsession with the counter interp "I defend the converse of the interp." It makes it harder for me as a judge to decide these debates because sometimes I have a tough time figuring out what the world of the counterinterp looks like. It also generally lets the person making the counterinterp shift a lot, which seems pretty unfair. I'll listen to the argument, but if your opponent calls you on it, it seems pretty tough to theoretically defend.

TJFs

I actually find these very convincing when deployed alongside a traditional util framework, and I think that these are a good way for LARP debaters to have a leg to stand on against unfamiliar phil positions full of tricks or Ks that you aren't familiar with. Do I think there's a theory debate to be had over them? Sure. Is it a debate I'm willing to listen to because I think these are a good practice, but there is plenty of theoretical reasons as to why they aren't? Totally. This is also how I approach most theory issues. I will do my best to do due diligence to both positions and hear them out, and legitimately want to hear the theoretical debate about practices that may be a gray area.

Sliding Scale (the shells listed in each section are examples of the stuff I'd put in each category):

Theory I like/would not mind hearing a debate about:

-TJFs Good/Bad

-Disclosure (with MATERIAL evidence proving a violation- I won't vote on something I can't confirm)

-The neg may not read a preclusive theory shell and read multiple counterplans that include the aff (this is an example of how a 1AR theory interp against an abusive neg strategy that would fare well in front of me would look).

Theory I don't like/Will begrudgingly listen to:

-ROB spec (this serves the purpose of policy framework on topics without an agent in my mind)

-AFC

-Ridiculous spec args (Reporter Spec was not quite in this category in my mind, but it was close. That should tell you what you need to know about this)

Theory I will gut check as soon as one side tells me to:

-ACC

-must say "bracketed" when reading bracketed card ie just noting it isn't enough (bracket theory can be in any one of these three categories depending on the context, but this version will almost always be here)

-must spec status in the speech

-all neg theory are counterinterps so they must win an RVI to be offensive

One final theory note: I'll vote on any theory, this is just a scale detailing the level of work you will have to do to make me want to consider pulling the trigger for you. Feel free to facebook message me/ask me at a tournament any questions about this scale.

This is my bread and butter, but if its not yours, DON'T DO IT!!! If you know DnG like the back of your hand I'll listen to whatever you have to say about God being a lobster and Rhizomes (but the mitochondria is still the powerhouse of the cell). Even just a well executed cap K or security K is dope. But if you get up there and say "his paradigm said read Ks Imma do the thing now" and have no idea whats going on all of us will be sad. So I'll reiterate. Do you. Not what you think I want to see. Performance is also really fun to judge, but make sure you're explaining and implicating well.

Arguments I like

- Delay CP

- Ship of Theseus procedural

- RodlRodlRodlRodlRodlRodl

- time cube

- thyme cube

- aspec/ospec double bind

- fiat double bind

- Antonio 95

Arguments I don't like

- true ones

- sarcasm bad

Additionally

Triadica Sebifera.

Keren Gekker Whitney M. Young Magnet High School 5 rounds

Last changed on Wed June 26, 2019 at 6:26 AM CDT

add me to the chain - kggekker@gmail.com

whitney young '18 // fordham '22

I debated for 4 years at Whitney M Young Magnet High School flex for the most part being a 2N most of my career and a 2A for the latter half. I was pretty K for the first three years and policy for my senior year. Been in a couple bid rounds at major tourneys and have judged my fair share

I'm down for whatever you want to read but I am not familiar with the 2019-2020 topic at all.

flashing/emailing isn't prep until it becomes obnoxious. i'll just start your prep for you and take off speaks

TLDR:

- do what you do best. regardless of what I think, I can be persuaded by anything so long as it isn't problematic, based on the round and who did the better debating. just know what you're talking about and we'll have a good time.

- don't make jokes if you aren't funny

- k affs are fun but so is framework - I used to not read plan text (yet saw the light and finished my career defending the USFG) but fw makes the game work but norms are also bad sometimes

- if neg reads only two or less conditional worlds and you read condo in the 2ac and go for it in t- i won't be happy (unless they majorly screw up)

- debate is fun, that means you should have fun

- if i'm not flowing in the 2nr/2ar means the argument is new and I won't evaluate it

down and dirty stuff -

- tech > truth - even if you're pushing for truth, you're gonna need a decent amount of tech on that arg to convince me. However, if they drop an argument, I won't assume it's inherently true. impact it out, give me step by step of how and why it matters to this round instead of a blippy extension. NOT EVERYTHING IS A VOTING ISSUE JUST CAUSE YOU SAY THOSE WORDS. explain these arguments like I am a 5 year old. this goes from reasonability to link turns to whatever just please. use your words. assume I know nothing and I need every instance of convincing.

- evidence explanation/spin > quality - coming from a small program, I get it, finding good ev is sometimes hard. if your ev is just pure trash don't even try and don't make up warrants either. explain to me why your ev is good: outline the warrants, go step by step as to why this matters to the round and how it helps you. if you say "this shit is fuego," I am glad you believe that but I won't do the work to see how spicy it really is. and if you let a team get away with it, that's your problem, don't get mad at me for it.

-When it comes down to it, I hold a high threshold for links to an argument coming from the negative because you need to prove why the aff is bad. Your evidence should match what you are arguing otherwise I will not evaluate it. Links of omission are annoying and I don't like them but if you dedicate a decent amount of time to explaining how the link to your arg I might just grant it to you, even if you don't have the ev.

framework -

I love this shit, but if you're good at it. my favorite fw round I judged was the aff admitted debate is a game and cheating is good and creates better strategic incentives when we are trying to out-cheat eachother. I voted aff but I won't say why, so do what you will with this information.

have a TVA that is specific is important and the 2nr should explain the tva and how it includes the aff's scholarship and discussions topically. I will not cross apply your explanation from the block for you.

k -

The negative has the burden of proof of the k (obvi). For me this means that the impact of the K must link to every advantage of the AFF because if you are going one off and they kick the advantage that gave you direct links and the other advantage was link of omission, I'll feel bad but also that's a you problem. K's are fun. But what isn't fun is "they're bad because they use the USFG" The point of the AFF is reforming USFG actions … otherwise why read a plan? So why are the actions SPECFICIALLY the aff is doing necessarily triggering the impacts of your K?

cp -

I think the perm is probably true if the linkwork for your net benefit isn't specific to the aff. I like internal nb of a CP, my old wiki was filled with that shit (supertrees)

da -

most underrated arg ever

t -

the game is good but so is cheating so do what you will!

k affs -

please be at least in the direction of the resolution. that's all.

basically, don't take everything too seriously yet show you have motivation for the activity. have fun! debate well! good luck!

Maeve Gilbert Lane Tech College Prep H.S. 5 rounds

Brandon Gitles Glenbrook South High School 5 rounds

gerard gueringer Walter Payton College Prep 3 rounds

Last changed on Tue December 15, 2020 at 6:57 PM CDT

Experience: 4yrs of high school, mostly in the UDL. 3 years coaching for Lindblom Math and Science

Run whatever your best at running. No biases that I may have about certain arguments will effect my decision. I will vote for whatever team gives me the best reason to vote for them no matter how absurd the argument may be. The following comments more so to give you an idea of how to make the debate easier for me to evaluate, enjoyable for me and possibly boost your speaks.

I know a lot about debate, but that doesn't mean some things won't go over my head. You will probably be able to tell if I don't understand something through facial expressions, but for safety, If you think I would be confused by something, explain it clearly and thoroughly.

I don't have any major biases towards arguments. I prefer strategic choices in terms of arguments to read, but your are probably best off reading whatever you think you can win on. I won't drop you because I don't like the 1AC or 1NC. Link specificity is really important for me. It isn't essential for it to be carded but some analysis needs to be done there.

I will only evaluate things that are said in the round, so if you say "extend "x" evidence" without saying what claim "x" evidence makes , your argument will mean very little to me. Also, I love warrants. I prefer you answer args with warrants in previously read evidence instead of more evidence. It makes me happy. If there is a ton of evidence read, chances are I'll have to call for something and I hate doing that so just avoid reading new evidence unless it's necessary.

In terms of speed, if by any chance I'm judging you and flowing on a computer, you may wan't to either be clearer, slow down, make a big deal out of things you want me to make a big deal out of, or a combination of all the previous stated. However if I'm flowing on paper, which I usually will be, go as fast as you'd like while maintaining clarity.

I'm tabula rasa when it comes to arguments but for specifics:

Topicality: I was a T hack in highschool. Debating this well makes me happy. I default to competing interps but can be persuaded toward reasonability if debated well. Also education and fairness aren't impacts, you need to explain why I should care about a loss of education or fairness if you go for T.

Dis-Advantages: They're fine. I think timeframe is the most important to win but can be persuaded otherwise. Link specificity is important as well.

Counterplan: CP abuse isn't set in stone, please do not kick out of a CP because they put theory on it. If you provide a reason on why the CP is even 0.01% better than the plan or perm, I'll vote on it. Also perm abuse is not set in stone. I will be angry if you don't go for the perm because there is theory on it.

Kritik: I'm pretty well versed. Went for them all the time I have a lot of thoughts about K's so it's probably best to ask me specific questions before the round. Link analysis needs to be undoubtedly solid so be specific.

Non-Traditional stoof: Same with K's. I need a reason to vote for you, otherwise you're good.

Theory, I love it, but please do not go super fast on theory because I won't get everything. I default to rejecting the team if not told otherwise with warrants except for perm theory (default to rejecting the arg). Please don't try to avoid theory debating by kicking out of things with theory on them.

Some ways to boost your speaks: GOOD DECISIONS, jokes, being interesting, not being an asshole

I don't take prep for flashing but be timely

Jyleesa Hampton Niles North High School 5 rounds

Last changed on Tue January 2, 2024 at 10:43 PM UTC

Assistant Director of Speech and Debate at Presentation High School and Public Admin phd student. I debated policy, traditional ld and pfd in high school (4 years) and in college at KU (5 years). Since 2015 I've been assistant coaching debate at KU. Before and during that time I've also been coaching high school (policy primarily) at local and nationally competitive programs.

Familiar with wide variety of critical literature and philosophy and public policy and political theory. Coached a swath of debaters centering critical argumentation and policy research. Judge a reasonable amount of debates in college/hs and usually worked at some camp/begun research on both topics in the summer. That said please don't assume I know your specific thing. Explain acronyms, nuance and important distinctions for your AFF and NEG arguments.

The flow matters. Tech and Truth matter. I obvi will read cards but your spin is way more important.

I think that affs should be topical. What "TOPICAL" means is determined by the debate. I think it's important for people to innovate and find new and creative ways to interpret the topic. I think that the topic is an important stasis that aff's should engage. I default to competing interpretations - meaning that you are better off reading some kind of counter interpretation (of terms, debate, whatever) than not.

I think Aff's should advocate doing something - like a plan or advocacy text is nice but not necessary - but I am of the mind that affirmative's should depart from the status quo.

Framework is fine. Please impact out your links though and please don't leave me to wade through the offense both teams are winning in that world.

I will vote on theory. I think severance is prolly bad. I typically think conditionality is good for the negative. K's are not cheating (hope noone says that anymore). PICS are good but also maybe not all kinds of PICS so that could be a thing.

I think competition is good. Plan plus debate sucks. I default that comparing two things of which is better depends on an opportunity cost. I am open to teams forwarding an alternative model of competition.

Disads are dope. Link spin can often be more important than the link cards. But
you need a link. I feel like that's agreed upon but you know I'm gone say it anyway.

Just a Kansas girl who loves a good case debate. but seriously, offensive and defensive case args can go a long way with me and generally boosters other parts of the off case strategy.

When extending the K please apply the links to the aff. State links are basic but for some reason really poorly answered a lot of the time so I mean I get it. Links to the mechanism and advantages are spicier. I think that if you're reading a K with an alternative that it should be clear what that alternative does or does not do, solves or turns by the end of the block. I'm sympathetic to predictable 1ar cross applications in a world of a poorly explained alternatives. External offense is nice, please have some.

I acknowledge debate is a public event. I also acknowledge the concerns and material implications of some folks in some spaces as well. I will not be enforcing any recording standards or policing teams to debate "x" way. I want debaters at in all divisions, of all argument proclivities to debate to their best ability, forward their best strategy and answers and do what you do.

Card clipping and cheating is not okay so please don't do it.
NEW YEAR NEW POINT SYSTEM (college) - 28.6-28.9 good, 28.9-29.4 really good, 29.4+ bestest.

This trend of paraphrasing cards in PFD as if you read the whole card = not okay and educationally suspect imo.

Middle/High Schoolers: You smart. You loyal. I appreciate you. And I appreciate you being reasonable to one another in the debate.

I wanna be on the chain: jyleesahampton@gmail.com

Charlie Hansell New Trier High School 5 rounds

Michael Harris Lincoln Park High School 5 rounds

Last changed on Sat January 14, 2023 at 3:21 AM CDT

Email: michaeldavidh5@gmail.com

Current Affiliation: None

Conflicts (Please list any past associations you’ve had with a school/organization in the last 3 years--i.e coaching, debating and/or attending): I’ve judged for several different schools. I coached and debated for Lincoln Park HS.

Debate Experience: Three years high school debate experience, attended summer institutes at Emory, Northwestern and Dartmouth. I have been a debate coach for one year. I currently judge tournaments off and on and won’t know topic intimately.

DISADVANTAGES: I enjoy politics DA. Every DA needs to tell a solid link story (incl. Internal Link), generic links being less convincing.

TOPICALITY and THEORY: More persuaded by arguments of education than fairness. Team usually needs to prove in-round abuse or loss ground for me to vote on fairness. I find reasonability counter-standards to often be convincing. Teams must commit significant time to T or theory arguments in rebuttals for it to become a voting issue.

COUNTER PLANS: If decent theory arguments are made, I inclined to vote down PICs and Consult CPs. I’m not a fan of Conditional/Dispositional debates and rarely vote down a team because of it. I tend to find CPs without a spelled out plan text abusive.

KRITQUES: Links and internal links need to be clear. I prefer the alternatives to be thoroughly discussed. If K lacks an alternative then I need to know the role of the ballot. Framework and “Role of the Ballot” needs to always be competitive (e.g., should not simply be “vote against the plan”).

KRITICAL AFFIRMATIVES: I am open to K Affirmitives, but the more radical they are, the more Affirmitive must define their interpretation of policy debate. Affirmitive must have prepared response for what the Negative can potentially run against the case.

MISCELLENEOUS: I’m a bit old-school in preferring to see debaters standing up, and looking at the judge during cross-x. Tag team is allowed, but partner of debater being questioned should not dominant the responses. Please be nice and respectful in asking/giving evidence, referring to the other team and conducting C-X, otherwise I can deduct speaker points. If I need to read cards/evidence as a judge then the debaters are doing something wrong.

Andres Hernandez Sanchez Northside College Prep 5 rounds None

Abdu Hytrek Lane Tech College Prep H.S. 5 rounds

Chad Infante Evanston Twp HS 3 rounds

Paul Johnson Walter Payton College Prep 2 rounds

Spencer Johnson Glenbrook North 5 rounds None

Daniel Joseph Glenbrook North 5 rounds None

Addison Kane Northside College Prep 5 rounds

Last changed on Wed May 10, 2023 at 2:21 AM EDT

Add me to the email chain: addison.kane00@gmail.com

Pronouns They/Them or She/Her

Northside CP Class of 2018

University of Michigan Class of 2021

Currently Grad School @ University College London, doing a dissertation on queer geopolitics

Assistant Coach at Niles North (2020-2022)
-> Now a Remote Coach (2022-)

------------------------------------------------------------------

If I am judging you it means it is online and I am judging you from the United Kingdom. If it is past 10 P.M. where I am (I'm 5 hours ahead of EST - do the math), I'd prefer it if you debate at a slower speed.

I've judged multiple hundreds of high school debates at this point, in literally every medium, so I don't give any care about what style of debate you prefer. Just make creative, unique, and captivating arguments and defend those arguments well.

On framework:

I vote for framework quite a lot. It would be neat to do something creative with it and/or actually describe to me what your model of debate tangibly looks like outside of 'our model = fairness = inherent good'. Fairness to what end? What kind of scholarship does your model produce? What does it prioritize? What does it exclude? What community effect does it have? What skills do debaters gain that they can't gain elsewhere? Framework teams I've judged have hid behind these questions just to say "rules be rules, stop being unfair", which is only an argument if you win your ruleset has value in the first place.

It is also impossible to make me believe that debate does not shape individual subjectivity. It absolutely does. Anyone who genuinely believes otherwise needs to seriously look inwards on themselves and the rest of the community.

I also think debate is simultaneously a great activity and a very dangerous one as well - debate trains you to be a better reader/writer/researcher, it enables you to critically think about two sides of any argument, it allows students to make extremely valuable friendships, and its community can provide an insulated support system which can be an important safe haven for certain individuals. On the other side of things, I also believe and have witnessed the hypercompetitive nature of debate produce quite toxic and problematic personal characteristics in debaters as well, which has devastating mental health effects across the community. In framework debates, its both teams' job to convince me that your model of debate actively produces better/worse forms of these givens and/or other good/bad things outside of these givens. You can also try and convince me that some of these givens are more or less important than others, but you cannot convince me any of these givens are untrue.

Debate like people...please:

I think that debate is first and foremost a performative activity. I am increasingly frustrated by the ways in which online debate has produced a lot of ethos-less debate drones. Obviously I evaluate technical concessions and line by line, but the way in which I evaluate those speeches is filtered through the quality of your speech performance. What this means in a practical sense is, for example, if you're making an argument and sound like you have no idea if what you're saying is actually correct, or you are unable to hold the warrants up in cross-ex, I'm unlikely to vote for that argument, even if I could possibly justify it as a concession on the flow. Additionally, a convincing well-warranted analytic can beat pretty much any card, good and smart off-the-cuff rebuttals will usually beat out blocked out analytics.

Please read this:

Debate isn't life or death. Take breaks often, breathe, and relax. This activity can and will break you if you don't care for your mental health and wellbeing. If you're reading this doing prefs the night before the tournament or something, go do something nice for yourself that isn't debate.

Old Paradigm (use to determine your prefs at your own risk): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lL8SwemB064RuWAg6HB_aJzitSJaE8U7GDib6NxW2l0/edit?usp=sharing

David Kraemer Lane Tech College Prep H.S. 5 rounds

Max Kruger Glenbrook South High School 5 rounds

Josh Lamet Glenbrook North 3 rounds

Last changed on Tue February 20, 2024 at 1:53 PM CDT

Background/Top-Level:

He/him/his

I am beginning to judge more events other than just policy but I have almost zero experience with other forms of debate.

Please include me on the email chain: joshlamet@gmail.com. Everyone gets plus .1 speaks if I'm not asked to be put on, and I'm just automatically put on the chain. Ask me any questions about my paradigm in person or via email, although I try to update it regularly with the most important stuff.

School conflicts: Minnesota, Glenbrook North, Como Park

I don't care what you read as long as you convince me to vote for you, I will.

Stuff related to online debating:

Don't delete analytics from the speech doc, please. I'll probably dock your speaks if I remember to. Online debate is harder to flow than in-person so it's good practice if you want me to catch everything you're saying.

Please slow down a little (especially on T and theory*) because the number of arguments I flow is rarely equal to the number of arguments the speaker actually makes, and those numbers will be much closer to each other if everyone prioritizes clarity and slowing down a bit. Don't just read this and think you're fine. Slow down, please. I know half of all judges ever have something like this in their paradigm but I'm a slower flow than average because I flow on paper.

Sliders:

Policy------------------x-------------------K

Read a plan-------------------------------x---------Do whatever (probably at least sorta related to the topic)

Tech--------------x----------------------------Truth -- I hate myself for it, but I am kind of a truth-orientated judge in that I really don't want to vote for silly args, and the worse an arg is, the more leeway I give to answering it

Tricks---------------------------x--------------Clash

Theory-------------------------------------x--------- Substance -- condo is really the only theory arg that gets to the level of "reject the team", I simply feel that most other theory args are reasons to reject the arg, not the team. Unless the negative goes for the CP/K to which the theory applies in the 2nr, it's a tough sell for me to vote on, "They read [insert abusive off-case position], they should lose".

Conditionality good--------x---------------------Conditionality bad -- this being said, I would much rather see 4-6 good off, than a 7+ mix of good and bad

States CP good (including uniformity)-----------x----------------------50 state fiat is bad

Always VTL----------------x---------------------Never VTL

Impact turn (*almost) everything-x-----------------------------I like boring debate -- to add to this, I'm a huge sap for impact calc and specifically rebuttals that provide a detailed narrative of the impacts of the debate and how they interact with the other team's. Impact comparison and impact turns are often the deciding factors for me in close debates

*Almost meaning I'll vote on warming good, death good, etc. but not on args like racism good or ableism good. Why don't people read death good anymore? I am an edgy teenager at heart and could be convinced the human race should go extinct.

Limits---------------x-------------------------------Aff Ground

Process CP's are cheating----------------------x---------------Best fall-back 2nr option is a cheating, plan-stealing CP

Lit determines legitimacy-------x-----------------------Exclude all suspect CPs

Yes judge kick the CP--x-------------------------------------------Judge kick is abusive -- as long as the 2nr says to kick the CP, I'm gonna kick it and just analyze the world of the squo vs the aff and I'm pretty sure there's nothing the aff can really do if condo bad isn't a thing in the round. Heck, I judged a debate where the CP was extended for 30 seconds and not kicked but I still voted neg because the neg won a large risk of a case turn. What I'm saying, is that when you are aff and the neg goes for more than just the CP with an internal NB, beating the CP doesn't equate to winning the debate outright

Presumption----------x--------------------------Never votes on presumption

"Insert this rehighlighting"---------------------x--I only read what you read

I flow on my computer ---------------------------------------x I'm gonna need to borrow some paper

I try to give out speaker points that are representative of how well you performed in the round compared to the tournament as a whole. I try to follow the process detailed here, but I often find myself handing out speaks sort of indiscriminately. Getting good speaks from me includes being respectful and making good choices in the rebuttals (smart kickouts, concessions, and flow coverage).

Clash! I like judging debates where the arguments/positions evolve about one another as opposed to simply in vacuums.

Don't be sloppy with sources.

Random things I am not a fan of: Excessive cross-applications, not doing LBL, email/tech issues, making my decision harder than it should be, and 2ACs and 1ARs that don't extend case impacts (even when they're dropped).

T-USFG/FW:

Fairness is an impact----------x-------------------Fairness is only an internal link -- My threshold is usually how close your aff is to the topic in the abstract, i.e. econ inequality and nukes. I do feel like in the end the main goal of doing debate is to win. The activity serves a ton of other purposes but at the end of each debate, one team wins, and one team loses. This doesn't mean that I think reading a planless aff is unfair and can be convinced that a "fair" debate produces something bad, but it's going to be very hard to convince me that debate is not a game.

Topic education is decent for an education impact but policymaking and policy education are meh. Critical thinking skills can also be extracted from debate and critical skills about calling out state action and for revolution planning.

If you don't read a written-out advocacy statement: Impact turn framework---------x---------------------------Procedural

Debate and life aren't synonymous but I understand that many of your lives revolve heavily around debate, so I will respect any arg you go for as long as you make smart arguments to support it.

Kevin Le Maine East H.S. 5 rounds

Last changed on Thu January 11, 2024 at 2:55 AM CDT

Kevin Le -- Lay Judge

OTHER STUFF: TSMDebateKL@gmail.com --> ALWAYS include me on the email chain

Note: I have not debated nor researched the current high-school topic, keep this in mind when you're explaining and contextualizing your arguments. I have not judged since I last debated, please slow down. I will not catch everything and then it's on y'all. I am ESPECIALLY unfamiliar with the virtual debate so please be patient with me.

-- I HATE it when teams don't flash analytics. Debate isn't about outspreading the opponent and hoping that they drop something. You should be able to out-debate them even when they have all your arguments and it also helps me out to flow when you're going 100000000 mph during your speech.

-- Tag team is fine as long as you don’t start taking over cross-ex.

-- If you're referring to me, please call me Kevin.

-- I do not count flashing time (or general tech screw-ups) as prep time and quite frankly I am not a fascist about this kind of thing as some other judges, just don’t abuse my leniency on this.

-- If you are running more than 5 off-case positions, you need to rethink your strategy. Run it at your discretion, but know that I will be more likely to evaluate in-round abuse (on theory debates) as legitimate and a reason as you why your model of debate is bad.

-- You should speak more slowly. You will debate better. I will understand your argument better. Judges who understand your argument with more clarity than your opponent's argument are likely to side with you. If you are going too fast or are unclear, I will let you know. Ignore such warnings at your peril, as with Kritiks, I am singularly unafraid to admit I didn’t get an answer and therefore will not vote on it. I'm average at flowing but may miss tricks/theory if you don't make them especially clear. If I can't understand your argument -- either due to your lack of clarity or your argument's lack of coherence, I will not vote for it. The latter is often the downfall of most negative Kritiks. I'm a 4/10 for speed and maybe even a 5 if I'm fully awake.

-- I will read evidence if it is challenged by a team. Otherwise, if you say a piece of evidence says X and the other team doesn’t say anything, I probably won’t call for it and assume it says X. However, in the unfortunate (but fairly frequent) occurrence where both teams just read cards, I will call for cards and use my arbitrary and capricious analytical skills to piece together what I, in my semi-conscious (and probably apathetic) state, perceive is going on. -- I generally will vote on anything that is set forth on the round.

-- I will not hesitate to vote against teams and award zero points for socially unacceptable behavior i.e. evidence fabrication, threats of violence, racist or sexist slurs, etc.

-- You can't clip cards. This is non-negotiable. If I catch it, I'll happily ring you up and spend the next hour of my life doing anything else. If you're accusing a team of it, you need to be able to present me with a quality recording to review. The burden of proof lies with the accusing team, "beyond a reasonable doubt" is my standard for conviction.

TOPICALITY: Enjoy. I believe it is the NEG's burden to establish the plan is not topical. Case lists and arguments on what various interpretations would allow/not allow are very important. I have found that the limits/predictability/ground debate has been more persuasive to me, although I will consider other standards debates.

DISADVANTAGES AND ADVANTAGES: Mostly fine with most DAs, but not a big fan of politics DAs.

COUNTERPLANS: Okay. Case-specific CP's are preferable that integrate well (i.e. do not flatly contradict) with other NEG positions. The AFF has the burden of telling me how a permutation proves the CP is non-competitive.

KRITIKS: Not a fan, but I have voted on them numerous times. I will never be better than below mediocre (3/10) at evaluating these arguments because I don’t read philosophy for entertainment. To win, the negative must establish a clear story about 1) what the K is; 2) how it links; 3) what the impact is at either the policy level, or: 4) pre-fiat (to the extent it exists) outweighs policy arguments or other AFF impacts. Don’t just assume I will vote to reject their evil discourse, advocacy, lack of ontology, support of biopolitics, etc. Without an explanation, I will assume a K is a very bad non-unique DA. As such it will probably receive very little weight if challenged by the AFF. You must be able to distill long boring philosophical cards read at hyper speed to an explanation that I can comprehend. I have no fear of saying I don’t understand what the hell you are saying and I will not vote for issues I don’t understand. I don’t have to impress anyone with my intelligence or lack of. If you make me read said cards with no explanation, I will guarantee that I will not understand the five-syllable (often foreign) philosophical words in the card and you will go down in flames. I do appreciate, if not require specific analysis on the link and impact to either the AFF. If you can make specific applications (in contrast to vote negative b/c the state is bad), I will be much more likely to vote for you.

PERFORMANCE-BASED ARGUMENTS AND KRITIK AFFIRMATIVES: No topical plan that starts with "The United States federal government should..." No win. This is non-negotiable. If your AFF does not contain a topical plan and the negative raises even a minimal framework objection, I will vote negative. Especially on a topic where the AFF can critique some vestige of US [INSERT TOPIC HERE] policy and then read a plan to increase/ban that thing, it is a LOW requirement that the affirmative finds a topical way to make its desired argument.

Robbie Levin Niles North High School 5 rounds

Walter Lindwall Niles North High School 5 rounds

Ike Makos Homewood-Flossmoor High School 4 rounds

Deepa Mani Maine East H.S. 2 rounds None

Jon Mantis Glenbrook South High School 5 rounds

Emily McFadyen Lane Tech College Prep H.S. 5 rounds

Lindsay McFadyen Lane Tech College Prep H.S. 5 rounds

Val McIntosh Niles West High School 3 rounds

Last changed on Fri February 16, 2024 at 1:47 PM EDT

Debate Coach - University of Michigan

Debate Coach - New Trier High School

Michigan State University '13

Brookfield Central High School '09

I would like to be on the email chain - my email address is valeriemcintosh1@gmail.com.

A few 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. This also includes forwarding the argument that death is good because suffering exists. I will not vote on it.
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 a very expressive judge. Look up at me every once in a while, you will probably be able to tell how I feel about your arguments.
I don't think that arguments about things that have happened outside of a debate or in previous debates are at all relevant to my decision and I will not evaluate them. I can only be sure of what has happened in this particular debate and anything else is non-falsifiable.

Pet peeves

The 1AC not being sent out by the time the debate is supposed to start
Asking if I am ready or saying you'll start if there are no objections, etc. in in-person debates - we're all in the same room, you can tell if we're ready!
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
Disappearing after the round

Online debate: My camera will always be on during the debate unless I have stepped away from my computer during prep or while deciding so you should always assume that if my camera is off, I am not there. I added this note because I've had people start speeches without me there.

Ethics: 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 zero speaker points. If you are proven to have committed an ethics violation, you will lose and be granted zero speaker points.
*NOTE - if you use sexually explicit language or engage in sexually explicit performances in high school debates, you should strike me. If you think that what you're saying in the debate would not be acceptable to an administrator at a school to hear was said by a high school student to an adult, you should strike me.

Organization: I would strongly prefer that if you're reading a DA that isn't just a case turn that it go on its own page - its super annoying because people end up extending/answering arguments on flows in different orders. Ditto to reading advantage CPs on case - put it on its own sheet, please!

Cross-x: Questions like "what cards did you read?" are cross-x questions. If you don't start the timer before you start asking those questions, I will take whatever time I estimate you took to ask questions before the timer was started out of your prep. 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.

Translated evidence: I am extremely skeptical of evidence translated by a debater or coach with a vested interest in that evidence being used in a debate. Lots of words or phrases have multiple meanings or potential translations and debaters/coaches have an incentive to choose the ones that make the most debate-friendly argument even if that's a stretch of what is in the original text. It is also completely impossible to verify if words or text was left out, if it is a strawperson, if it is cut out of context, etc. I won't immediately reject it on my own but I would say that I am very amenable to arguments that I should.

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. This can also be accomplished by reading those lines in cross-x and then referencing them in a speech or just making analytics about their card(s) in your speech and then providing a rehighlighting to explain it.

Topicality: I enjoy judging topicality debates when they are in-depth and nuanced. Limits are an an important question but not the only important question - your limit should be tied to a particular piece of neg ground or a particular type of aff that would be excluded. I often find myself to be more aff leaning than neg leaning in T debates because I am often persuaded by the argument that negative interpretations are arbitrary or not based in predictable literature.

5 second ASPEC shells/the like that are not a complete argument are mostly 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: I would say that I generally 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, but obviously am more than willing to vote for them if they are debated better by the negative.

I think that CPs should have to be policy actions. I think this is most fair and reciprocal with what the affirmative does. I think that fiating indefinite personal decisions or actions/non-actions by policymakers that are not enshrined in policy is an unfair abuse of fiat that I do not think the negative should get access to. The CP that has the US declare it will not go to war with China would be theoretically legitimate but the CP to have the president personally decide not to go to war with China would not be. Similarly CPs that fiat a concept or endgoal rather than a policy would also fall under this.

It is the burden of the neg to prove the CP solves rather than the burden of the aff to prove it doesn't. Unless the neg makes an attempt to explain how/why the CP solves (by reading ev, by referencing 1AC ev, by explaining how the CP solves analytically), my assumption is that it doesn’t and it isn’t the aff’s burden to prove it doesn’t. The burden for the neg isn’t that high but I think neg teams are getting away with egregious lack of CP explanation and judges too often put the burden on the aff to prove the CP doesn’t solve rather than the neg to prove it does.

Disads: Uniqueness is a thing that matters for every level of the DA. I am not very sympathetic to politics theory arguments (except in the case of things like rider disads, which I might ban from debate if I got the choice to ban one argument and think are certainly illegitimate misinterpretations of fiat) and am unlikely to ever vote on them unless they're dropped and even then would be hard pressed. I'm incredibly knowledgeable about politics and enjoy it a lot when debated well but really dislike seeing it debated poorly.

Theory: Conditionality is often good. It can be not. Conditionality is the ONLY argument I think is a reason to reject the team, every other argument I think is a reason to reject the argument alone. 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?

Kritiks: I've gotten simultaneously more versed in critical literature and much worse for the kritik as a judge over the last few years. Take from that what you will.

Your K should ideally be a reason why the aff is bad, not just why the status quo is bad. If not, you're better off with it primarily being a framework argument.

Yes the aff gets a perm, no it doesn't need a net benefit.

Affs without a plan: I generally go into debates believing that the aff should defend a hypothetical policy enacted by the United States federal government. I think debate is a research game and I struggle with the idea that the ballot can do anything to remedy the impacts that many of these affs describe.

I certainly don't consider myself immovable on that question and my decision will be governed by what happens in any given debate; that being said, I don't like when judges pretend to be fully open to any argument in order to hide their true thoughts and feelings about them and so I would prefer to be honest that these are my predispositions about debate, which, while not determinate of how I judge debates, certainly informs and affects it.

I would describe myself as a good judge for T-USFG against affs that do not read a plan. I find impacts about debatability, clash, iterative testing and fairness to be very persuasive. I think fairness is an impact in and of itself. I am not very 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 generally 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 roleplaying.

I am uncomfortable making decisions in debates where people have posited that their survival hinges on my ballot.

Sahra Merchant Glenbrook North 1 rounds None

Jacob Merrill Niles North High School 5 rounds None

Ian Miller Niles West High School 5 rounds

Last changed on Fri November 4, 2022 at 5:16 AM CDT

I debated for Wake Forest in college and SPASH in high school. I coached debate at Niles North/West. I then went to law school.

I prefer and reward the speaker points for:
- clarity
- organized debates
- strategic thinking
- well researched arguments

I dislike the following and dock speaker points for:
- unclear speaking
- prep stealing/wasting
- being belligerent/overly aggressive

I've updated the argument preference section. I think overall judges should try to fairly evaluate everything before them no matter what the argument is. However, all judges have preferences. If you have the flexibility, here are my most favorite to least favorite types of debates:

Tons of fun:
Specific case neg/DA

Aff-specific CP/PIC (not a word pic - a pic out of something substantive in their aff or a CP that comes from the lit about their aff).

Impact turning the aff

K of the specific aff

Totally fine:
Generic DA/Case
Substance CP (not process based) and a DA
Generic middle of the road K (security, neolib, cap, biopower, topic K)
A good T argument (not ASPEC/OSPEC)

OK but a high threshold for good research and practice:
Agent CP's
Wilderson/anti-blackness
Performance arguments

No. Please don’t read or go for these:
Baudrillard/Nietzsche/Lacan/Psychoanalysis/Bataille
Process based arguments: consult CP's, rider da's, veto cheato, con con, etc
ASPEC/OSPEC

Do these things when going for these arguments to maximize speaker points and win

K's: 1. Focus on the link and turns the case arguments - these should be your primary focus. 2. Avoid relying solely on cheap-shots like "you dropped value to life".

T: 1. Be slow and clear. 2. Have a case list of what you include, what the aff includes, and why your caselist is better for debate.

3. Impact your arguments and compare them to your opponents.

DA's: 1. The link is the most important to me. 2. Have specific/reasonable turns the case arguments (not nuke war turns terrorism, but instead trade turns terrorism).

CP's: 1. Be as specific as possible to the aff. 2. Don't compete based on the process. 3. Debate the comparative impact to the solvency deficits to the net benefit.

Trevon Muhammad Lindblom Math and Science Academy 5 rounds

Ritah Nakitende Niles West High School 5 rounds None

Subbi Namakula Niles West High School 5 rounds None

Taran Nelavelli Glenbrook North 5 rounds None

Harshitha Padiyar Maine East H.S. 5 rounds None

Payal Patel Niles West High School 5 rounds

Vinay Patel Hire 5 rounds

Last changed on Sun August 11, 2019 at 7:23 PM CDT

Niles West (Debater 2010-2014, Coach 2014-2018)

Northwestern University (2014-2018)

Columbia Law School (2018-2021)

I'm always working on recognizing my habits as a judge, so take all this with a grain of salt. I think all types of debate are interesting and enjoyable as long as you do it well. I’d rather you do what you do best than what you think I like best. You should assume I don't have much familiarity with the topic. I am not perfect. I am not a machine. Connect with me (on important arguments, not as friends. I don't want to be your friend). Make Arguments. Say Words.

Note for Novices -- Congratulations for reading judge paradigms before debates. You probably don't need to read much more than this. If you've figured out what's going on in a debate round, how to flow, go line by line, and do impact calc & comparison, you will do really well, and I will be impressed. I am more strict about novice tag-team CX because too many novices abuse the privilege. Bring your own timer. Please do not try to shake my hand after debates. I am your judge, not your friend. Don't make things weird.

Procedures

I care deeply about plan texts and counterplan texts being written correctly. More than grammar, this is an issue of clearly defining the scope of your ability to fiat action and making sure your plan/CP does what you say it does. Texts must be entirely written out.

I strongly prefer that you do your own CXs. Your partner is a lifeline, not the focus of the CX. I will let you know if your tag-team gets out of hand.

I do not take prep for emailing or flashing, but it needs to be done efficiently. When you end prep time, I expect you to have your speech ready and have a road map.

Often times, I feel that people aren't speaking loud enough.

Be confident and assertive, not rude and insulting.

Don't cheat. You should clearly state at which word you are marking a card during your speech. If a prep or speech clock is not running, you should not do or look like you are doing any preparatory activity related to the debate. Don't lie.

Tech Over Truth

Truth and evidence quality are important and are usually persuasive, but I feel more comfortable rewarding you for work you have done in the round than punishing you for not answering true arguments that your opponent hasn't meaningfully developed.

Having a card on something doesn't always beat a good analytic press.

I will not assume dropped arguments are true if you haven’t done the work to extend it.

Good analysis needs to make it all the way through to the final speeches.

You will be rewarded for keeping my flow organized.

You can make all of the arguments you need to win the debate, but I cannot find them or understand your strategy, you may be disappointed with the results.

Kritikal Arguments

I think they’re interesting and useful as long as they’re articulated well. If you’re going for Security and can’t explain threat construction or Wilderson when you don’t know what social death is, you will most likely lose unless the other team messes up worse which will make me upset with everyone. With enough work, even the most generic K can be devastating. Make your arguments apply to the aff, or I will be very sympathetic to a perm.

You must advance some coherent normative claim for me to explain why my ballot should go to your team. I didn't realize that this was a controversial issue, but after judging some Bataille and Baudrillard debates, I learned that I was mistaken.

What is the alt? Is there an alt?

I prefer it when K affs are tied to the topic, have a clear advocacy/method, and a clear reason to vote aff in the debate at hand (not reliant on what happens after the debate or outside of it).

I am willing to pull the trigger both for and against framework. Neg teams may struggle in front of me if they choose not to engage the aff at all. Thinking of good T versions of the aff are very useful for the neg and can be very dangerous for the aff. Generic state good/bad debates don't necessarily tell me whether advocating governmental policy with fiat in a debate round is good or bad. Impact analysis and comparison is very important for both sides.

I often question the role of the judge, the ballot, and the debate space on my own time without resolving anything, so deciding these and other issues should be debated out in round. Be sure to explain how I should be making my decision under whichever framework you propose.

Counterplans

Specific Counterplans are cool. Advantage CPs are good; if you have a bunch of planks with totally unrelated solvency advocates, I might find it unreasonable at some point. I would prefer that you read some form of solvency advocate (not necessarily specific to the aff) in the 1NC, but I don't think I should punish you for thinking of a smart CP on the fly.

Aff teams should make sure that their permutations are coherent.

There’s a theory debate to be had about many different categories of CPs.

If you want the aff to defend something that they have not said explicitly, you need some pretty good evidence for me to not be sympathetic to aff clarification arguments.

Generic Conditions, Consult, and other Process CPs are dubious in both competition and theory, but I have read those types of CPs and am willing to vote on them.

Theory

Theory arguments can be used very effectively, but they usually don’t get developed enough before the final rebuttals.

I usually won't reject the team on issues other than conditionality, but sometimes rejecting a certain argument is enough to beat the other team. If no one has articulated what I should do about a theory violation, I will default to whatever I think will resolve the impacts best.

Some of this was covered in the CPs section.

Regarding conditionality, having 1 conditional option is probably fine, having 2 conditional options is probably okay, and having 3 conditional options is probably pushing it. New affs probably justify more leniency. All of this is debatable, but those are my predispositions.

If you're going to read an interpretation, try not to do so arbitrarily. If you extend a theory interpretation, your standards should be explained in the context of that model of debate compared to the other team's model.

I will not kick the CP or alt for you unless you say so in the 2NR.

Does T come before theory? Probably.

Topicality

Put in the effort to describe debate under each interpretation (Case lists, why certain types of affs are good/bad, specific examples of ground gained/lost, why that aff/neg ground is good for debate) to explain why your interpretation is a better version of the topic for debate.

I will default to competing interpretations. However, a reasonability argument is winnable and very useful for the aff. To be clear, reasonability is an argument about how reasonable your interpretation is for debate, not how reasonable or predictable the aff itself is.

Well-researched T debates are interesting to watch.

Disadvantages

Good. The more specific, the better.

Most politics theory arguments are bad.

Mitchell Pearsall Walter Payton College Prep 2 rounds None

Ann Peter Maine East H.S. 5 rounds

Jonass Placitis Glenbrook South High School 4 rounds

Last changed on Sat November 4, 2017 at 8:01 AM EDT

Assistant Debate Coach - Niles North

Former Niles West and MSU debater
Late elims of multiple National Circuit tournaments + TOC - Senior Year

Paradigm Update re: Kritiks - 11/28/16

I feel it necessary to be a bit more specific with regards to kritik debates. I have absolutely no issues with kritiks in general - I think they're an absolute necessity for a comprehensive analysis of any policy/topic. However, I do take issue with how kritiks are deployed these days. In a lot of debates I see a striking lack of specific link analysis, along with an absence of turns case arguments based on those links. You should ask yourself this question before any speech which includes extending a kritik: Could I give this speech against any aff, or is my speech/links/overview specific to the aff at hand (and its particular impacts and advantages)? I'm not sure what happened over the past 2 or 3 years, but people need to get back into tailoring their kriticisms to the specific aff being debated. Ask yourself this as well: why not be more specific? Specificity is the best way to take your kritik debating to the next level.

^ You won't be penalized in any way for not doing this - just a thought. ^

Paradigm Proper

I'm very open-minded when it comes to debate, by which I mean that I will listen to any argument and evaluate it as long as it is explained and impacted throughout the round. Do not take this statement as an indication that I don't know anything about debate - I just don't see the value in specifying how I perceive each component of each type of argument.

That being said, I do have some specific argumentative preferences and thoughts on the current direction of policy debate. I truly believe in the importance of stasis in debate rounds, and while I would never mandate that any team has to read a straight-up USFG policy aff with a plan text I do believe in the importance of being somewhat connected to the topic. When I say connected to the topic I don't mean, to provide a broad and somewhat extreme example, "we said the word 'China' or 'engagement' during our 1AC" but rather a concerted and concise effort at increasing relevant education for the topic with whatever distinct mechanism you choose. Once you decide to go down that road (i.e. advocacy statement etc.) I think the discussion should then revolve around whether or not the mechanism of the aff sheds new light on the typical USFG approach and its impact on the government and whether or not the education that the aff brings to the table is relevant and can be negated based on this relevance. I find the approach of acting as if we can just completely sidestep the government and its bad practices very problematic - the government is here to stay and it unquestionably plays a large role in shaping society and oppression, and thus you can feel free to not advocate a policy action through the USFG but you'd better justify that approach.

*This is not to say that you should feel uncomfortable reading these kinds of arguments in front of me*

On the Framework side of the debate: I don't understand the disdain that now exists for Framework as an argument. The only explanation I have is that people are just bad at running Framework. If run correctly, I think Framework debate creates some of the most fruitful and beneficial debates possible for this activity. Framework is properly argued as a critique of Methodology, not some sort of abstract Topicality argument. Any Framework extension should devote a large amount of time to a Topical version of the Aff, and your impacts and turns case analysis should be based around the aff's deviation from said topical version of the aff.

Lizzie Prete Glenbrook South High School 4 rounds

Last changed on Sat February 12, 2022 at 6:41 AM CDT

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.

Jake Reichl Walter Payton College Prep 2 rounds None

Taylor Roberts Lane Tech College Prep H.S. 5 rounds

Brian Roche Glenbrook South High School 3 rounds

David Rodgers Whitney M. Young Magnet High School 3 rounds None

Jonah Schloss Glenbrook South High School 5 rounds None

Jack Scullion New Trier High School 1 rounds None

Max Shapiro Glenbrook South High School 3 rounds

Last changed on Tue October 18, 2016 at 11:43 AM CDT

Max Shapiro, GBS '17

I'm generally pretty open to things, but I do have a couple of limitations.

DAs - yes, yes, yes. Especially case-specific DAs. Comparing your impacts to the aff is a game-changer, and will win you debates. If you're going to go for something generic like Terror, make sure you do some killer link analysis.

Politics DAs - love the politics DA. However, link analysis is important. If you read a super-generic "China policy unpopular" link in the 1NC, and don't answer a 2AC no link/link turn, chances are I wiill vote you down. However, I am a huge fan of a well-rounded politics DA. If you run it right (actually using a relevant bill), and outweigh the aff, I will probably give you the ballot.

Elections DAs - I do like elections DAs, a LOT. I am willing to vote on this DA if you can prove that the plan really skews the election - but if the aff wins that it's unpredictable, that's a prerequisite that you have to answer, and if you drop it, game over.

CPs - a good 2NR for me is a CP+DA. Especially CP + Politics. Make sure you don't read generic "X has the potential to solve everything" solvency cards, but read, "X will solve terror" or "X will solve climate change".

Ks - this is where I'm not a big fan. If you're going for popular Ks like Neolib, Cap, or Security, I'll have no problem voting you up seeing as the link and impact work is good enough. If you're going for a really obscure K, make sure you do a really good job explaining it in the 2NR.

Kritical Affirmatives - don't.

Case Debate/Stock Issues - I feel like this has been largely ignored with the massive amount of off-case positions we have in debate today. A good case debate for the neg will win. If you can prove the aff does nothing/doesn't solve, you can win the ballot permitting you do a sufficient amount of work.

T - make sure you explain your violation clearly. A lot of teams just pull up their T file and pull out a super generic interpretation that the aff meets.

Theory - 1 condo advocacy is not abusive. 2 maybe, if you can convice me. 3, probably. 4, yes. The only way you can win a condo debate against 1 condo advocacy is if the neg straight up drops it. If you go for other theory make sure you do a good job explaining in-round abuse.

Ways to get extra speaker points:

+.3 - jokes about any political figure (i.e. Trump, Clinton, Ken Bone)

+.2 - jokes about any GBS Senior

+.1 - well thought-out puns

Alex Sherman Walter Payton College Prep 5 rounds

Last changed on Sun February 25, 2024 at 12:42 PM CDT

Shirley Update

The only topic work I’ve done for Personhood is digging up my old plant ontology files, go slow and tell me your stuff.

If my camera is off I am not present - don’t start.

Short

I've read every kind of aff from straight up heg good to baudrillard, I care way less about what arguments you make than how well you defend them.

I went for the K a lot in high school and still do, but I also love a good policy round, and would much rather you debate to your strengths than to what arguments you think I'll like.

Put me on the email chain, alexsherman99@gmail.com I won't be reading along, unless you read a card that I think is so good I want to recut it for my teams, or if there's a dispute about something that was read.

Long version

I flow on paper. This means that you going slightly slower, and having a clear story will be quite helpful. I'm at the tail-end of year 10 competing and year 5 judging, so this doesn't mean you have to talk to me like I'm a parent judge, but it does mean that if you go full speed through 8 minutes of blocks, to not be surprised when I miss an argument or two. The easy fix to this, for all of you speed demons out there, is to label your arguments with a flowable tag. We already do this with cards, why not do it with our analytics too?

When making my decision. I first write up the most important arguments for both sides. This usually comes down to about 2-3 things, though that may just be because I only judge clash rounds. I then look over my flow, and try to write up an explanation of each, and what it means for both sides. I then compare these, and look for responses that the other team has forwarded. What this means for you, is that it is in your interest to identify what you think the 2-3 most important arguments for either side are, tell me why you're winning them, or why you should still win in the event that you don't win these arguments. If you do not do this, I will still do my best to identify these arguments, but, what I think is important and what you do may not line up, and as a result, our perceptions of the winner may not line up either.

When doing this, I often try as hard as I can to not read evidence. This is because I am very committed to my belief that debate is an activity about communication, and that if you did not effectively communicate an argument to me, it does not matter if you read an amazing card. While I obviously still care about research and evidence quality, I feel that the impulse to read all of the evidence to decide the round makes me more interventionist (which I would like to avoid) and also seems to fall outside of the terms of debate. I.e. outside of teams dropping stuff, if i were to just decide the round based on the cards you read, and not what you said about them, why should I even be sitting there for two hours listening to you? Couldn't you just send me your cards and have me decide at the end whose I thought were better?

This applies less and less if both sides are comparing a piece of evidence, or questioning it's qualifications, or implication, but the "this card is fire, please read it judge" has never been something I have been that inclined to do.

I judge a majority clash debates (around 80% when I last checked) and have found that oftentimes the winners in this debates are the ones who engage with the other side's approach to the world, rather than just explaining why their approach is better. While we obviously should still care about drops, and they are often useful in making decisions in these rounds, I've found that it's useful for both teams to invest a substantial amount of time in looking to where the other team clashed, as much as where they didn't.

I've noticed that I may sound kind of grumpy when giving rfds. This very rarely reflects my distaste at having to judge your round, and more so reflects that I am displeased at having to get 5 or 6 hours of sleep.

My favorite judges in high school were always the ones who seemed really excited to be there judging my round, and the ones who emphasized voting on what was in the round. I love debate and I know you care about the activity to be giving up your weekends to compete in it, and it would be rude of me if I didn’t put all my effort into making the best decision I can. If you don’t think I’m paying enough attention, go ahead and call me out. Nothing here is set in stone, but, if you don't tell me to change how I'd evaluate any of these, then they're my defaults.

1 Tech Over truth, but to an extent. True arguments require less technical explanation for me to buy what you're selling. Oftentimes when making decisions, I find that I am looking at dropped words on my flow, but am unsure how to piece them together to make a cohesive rfd. It is in your best interest to not only tell me what was dropped, but then tell me what I should think about the drops.

2 Mediocre strategies may win in front of me, but, speaker points will likely suffer. If the 1ar drops aspec that was at the bottom of your t overview, and that’s your a-strat, I’m probably not the judge for you. I prefer debates with either really tricky and nuanced strategies, or teams that are willing to just bet it all on black and go for impact turns. I've found that teams that do a better job articulating how I should evaluate arguments do better in front of me than teams that just wait for me to reconstruct what an argument means for my decision. I'm not smart so if you tell me how arguments implicate the rest of the debate, you'll be in a better spot.

3 Protecting the 2nr. There's nothing worse than giving what you think is a fire 2nr and then watching the judge nod along with an argument you're certain wasn't in the 1ar. 2ars should have a high standard for drawing arguments from the 1ar unless they were clear in the speech. I.E. new 2ar cross applications should be justified in the speech/flagged in the 1ar. If I don’t think I could have seen it coming, I probably will think it’s new.

4 Counterplans: They should compete with the aff. Theory arguments are usually just reasons to reject the counterplan, but this is primarily because most folks are afraid of going all in. If your solvency deficit is mediocre, theory is probably a good way out. You don't need a solvency advocate, but having one definitely makes your job easier. Exploit generic link chains in affs.

Generic pics are awful, and specific pics are one of the fastest ways to get good speaks, but in both cases, pics bad needs to come back with a vengeance. I won't judge kick unless you tell me to in the 2NR.

5 Disads: 2acs with bold strats, i.e. straight turning a disad would increase my value to life, and your speaker points. I am very much in the camp that a disad that isn't a full argument in the 1nc is a terrible strategic decision hint: 1a's pull out your impact turns. Outside of that though, I really do like them, whether you're a plug and chug politics team, or a team with the amazing topic link card that no one else has found.

6 Kritiks I like them, they’re probably my favorite argument. I’m really into high theory, and probably am a good judge for you if you like to run kritiks. I’ve run all kinds of things, mainstream stuff like cap, and apoc rhet, to stuff like dng, baudrillard, and halberstam. Examples, explanation and re-contextualization will be integral to your success. These rounds are often more about controlling the narrative than many others, which makes sense given that the focus of the debate is on whether the assumptions that the other team has forwarded are valid.

You don’t need to have an alt to win, but you should justify why. Your links should be specific to the aff. Obviously this is a sliding scale, and if you're reading a K of realism against an aff from John Mearsheimer, I won't be rolling my eyes wishing you had a card specific to the aff, but, If I can’t tell what aff your debating in your 2nc on the k, we’re both gonna have a bad time.

I was always pretty frustrated after giving a 2nr on the K when the judge was just like. "I know you both read a bunch of stuff on framework, but I couldn't really decide who won so I kinda just picked a middle option that both teams never said" Not only does this seem to heavily favor the affirmative, but also reflects a combination of arguments that was never advocated for by either team. I think the best strategy for the aff is just to have some arguments that presume that they (gasp) have to defend why their representations and scholarship are good. Given that most k's are some kind of argument about how the affirmative's theory of IR justifies violence, it doesn't seem that hard to identify the strain of IR that you have affirmed, and provide a defense of why you think about the world the way you do. If the neg has said debate is about how we craft our subjectivity, and said that the subjectivity they endorse opposes a particular world view, why wouldn't this equally apply to the aff, and the defensive realist subjectivity of the taiwan aff be a reason why you should get to say your impacts still matter.

Generally though, I think that affs need to be doing a lot better job answering k's. Please talk about your aff more and generic backfile cards less. Most cases outweigh the k, and extinction impacts are often pretty persuasive. I really do not want to die, and presume that most people do not want to die either, and one thing that always confused me was when there were debates where that comparison didnt really start until the last two rebuttals.

I also think more affs should just bite the link and impact turn the K. Obvi dont read racism/sexism/ableism good, thats the quickest way to a 25 and an L short of conceding the round, but, every K makes other claims that you can, and probably should consider reading offense against.

Two side thoughts

1. Most people read utterly incoherent theories of international relations. I.E. Ikenberry and Mearsheimer may both think that leadership is good, but are not as buddy buddy as people would like me to believe. Obviously just being like "lmao these cards are a double turn" does not meet the threshold of an argument, but, "the aff de-prioritizes the role of institutions because ___ this means that you should be skeptical of their ability to solve for the liberal international order, which Ikenberry says is cohered through a strong commitment to international institutions" is. The latter will shock and impress me, and put your baseline speaks at a 29.

2. Most people have turned against the "not our x" Sometimes this is fair, because the team is lying to get out of links. But, I don't particularly understand why a team should be punished because their author had a bad idea that they don't defend or talk about in the 1ac or 1nc. Consider if we applied this same standard to policy rounds, and the neg read a politics card from nate silver about a specific seat in the midterms. The affirmative responded with a card that said "nate silver was way off on this one super unrelated prediction" and read a card indicting the method of that poll specifically. Why would the neg be tied to defending the poll that they have not cited, and is not intrinsic to their argument? This doesn't mean that I'm waiting to vote on not our x, but, that I will be pleased if both teams can defend why their argument is or is not distinct from x, by demonstrating a command of the literature base that they are deploying.

7 Topicality: Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't really understand ground arguments - if you don't have generics ready to go for core topic areas, or arguments that make debating the aff irrelevant (impact turns, process cp's etc) that seems like a you problem. I get some affs are really small and don't do much, but either they have an absurd impact claim that you can turn or outweigh, or they'd need such a contrived interpretation of the topic to be T that you could just go for limits.

Reasonability has never really made sense to me either, because usually those debates just boil down into the same silly buzzwords that everyone uses. I think reasonability can be an incredibly gnarly argument if it's framed more in the form of an explanation of why offense/defense is bad for topicality debates. Scotty P wrote a really good explanation of what that would look like here https://hsimpact.wordpress.com/2016/01/20/what-is-reasonability/

8 Speaks

Things that will get you good speaks

5 minutes of Antonio in the 2nr (not joking)

9 Clipping- Don’t do it. I’ll be sad, and have to give you a 0

10 No argument too strange- I can be convinced to vote on anything if you do well. T is a rvi, double win theory, normativity k, silence k. If you think you can pull it off, and want to risk a ballot on it go ahead. If you execute it poorly, I'll probably be annoyed, but at the same time, no one ever did anything to radically change debate without taking a lot of risks.

11 Non-traditional affs. I think I’m a pretty good judge for these. I think these affirmatives are unfair, but, don't really know why that's bad (fairness is not an impact). I don’t really think framework is deployed effectively very often, which is unfortunate, because I oftentimes think that many of the claims from framework teams make a lot of intuitive sense. I ended up voting against framework about 60% of the time last year, but I'd attribute that a lot more to what happened in the rounds I judged than to a general predisposition.

For the neg. When I vote neg on T, it's because the negative has successfully done one of two things.

1. Proven that their impact turns the aff's offense.

2. Proven that the aff doesn't solve their offense, and have mitigated the application of case to T in a way beyond the sentence blurb "they don't get to weigh the aff because t is a procedural"

I've found that the topical version of the aff has become less persuasive to me the more clash rounds I've judged. This is not due to the argument being not strategic, but rather, me being left confused about how the topical version resolves offense that the affirmative has deployed, (and a secondary problem of most topical versions of the aff not meeting the standard of being a topical aff in a policy v policy round). The solution to this is easy. Instead of repeating any disad to the topical version doesn't prove it isn't an answer, it just proves neg ground, take some time thinking about the offense that the other team is deploying.

A second problem, is that most people seem to forget they're reading a topicality argument. I have judged almost 30 framework debates this year, and in about 5 of them, I've been clear on how the counterinterpretation solved the aff's disads, and included their affirmative. If the aff read a counterinterp they didn't meet on T-Pearson, or that didn't solve the aff's overlimiting offense why wouldn't you point that out? There's a reason why you're reading interpretations, and why we call framework a topicality argument, you should debate your shell as such.

I've also found that the repetitive "but what do you do?" presumption argument, is wholly unpersuasive. Most affs say they do something, and the neg says, but what do you do, the aff says what they do, and the neg says, yeah, but what do you do? I think this can also be fixed pretty easily, instead of carrying over this, but what do you do argument, make the implied follow on argument, which is something to the effect of, if x structure is so totalizing as their theory says it is, their method is insufficient to resolve it. Think about x as a similar example, which failed for y reason.

All this being said, I'm more than willing to vote on T, as it is obviously a strategic position, and I'm very sympathetic to teams (especially without substantial coaching resources) who would rather prepare to get really good at one argument that would answer all no plan affs, as opposed to specific critiques/disads.

For the aff - Have a clear counterinterp, tight impact turn story, and exploit the weakness of most teams at answering arguments that they are mostly unfamiliar with.

You have to answer disads, even if you dont defend hypothetical implementation of usfg action. This doesn't mean I'm waiting to vote on the aff flips the 2020 election, but rather that if you can think of a nuanced way to articulate a link I wont be a super tough sell on the aff has to defend the consequences of their epistemology. I.e. if an aff says that executive power is bad, I feel like John Yoo would have some things to say about that, even if the aff doesn't implement a policy.

I also really enjoy K vs K debates, as this gives me a break from hearing about what Steinberg and Freely need to tell me about decisionmaking, and allows both sides to engage literature bases that are often not brought into connection with each other. One side note is that I tend to find that the theory of power debate is far less compelling than specific applications. Most folks in the 2nr and 2ar tend to just be like, they dropped our theory of power, game over!!

Questions? Email me at alexsherman99@gmail.com. The longer you wait, the less specific my comments may be, but I have noticed that I recall my thoughts about rounds more than I don't.

Vraj Shroff Niles West High School 5 rounds None

Emily Silber Niles West High School 5 rounds

Last changed on Fri October 12, 2018 at 12:41 PM CDT

Niles West 2017

Emory 2021

please put me on your email chain emsilber15@gmail.com

The Reason You're Probably Reading This

The thing you probably care most about is what I think about k affs vs t/framework so I'll start with that. I am a policy debater that consistently goes for t against k affs and therefore default to thinking the aff should read a topical plan. I think that there's a lot of validity to a couple framing arguments that the aff needs to deal with. These most notably include the idea that debate is a game, it's meaningful to try to achieve some level of procedural fairness, and that the aff should be tied to the topic. I'm less persuaded by skills and education arguments and think that framing usually favors the aff. For the neg-- using the arguments I listed will help you, but not guarantee that you win. Make sure you're actually explaining them and not just repeating buzzwords.

T/Theory

I know next to nothing about the topic and therefore have no strong opinions on T. I'm inclined to err aff on T when the violation seems contrived and the aff can convince me they're reasonable and err neg when the aff is tiny and ridiculous even when the neg might not have the perfect violation to encapsulate why the aff shouldn't be T. I lean tentatively aff on most theory and think the neg needs to do a better job actually answering the arguments than more teams do. The exception is no neg fiat. That's dumb and honestly that's all you need to say.

Kritiks on the Neg

I've gone for a few but definitely not my go-to. Things I've read that I'm familiar with: (from most to least) Fem IR, Security/Imperialism, Agamben, Neolib, and Fem Rage. Obviously I've debated against other arguments and have some basic understanding but you'll need to spend more time explaining. I think the aff should be able to weigh the case and the neg should have to prove the plan is worse than the status quo but can be convinced otherwise. Make sure the alt does something to solve the links/potentially the aff or don't make it an integral part of your 2nr strategy. I hate the fiat double bind.

Counterplans/Disads

IMO, the best strategies. Politics and midterms are dumb and can be easily beaten with simple logical arguments, but most aff teams don't take advantage of that. I default to the offense/defense paradigm. Process counterplans are probably bad and 50 state fiat is questionably ok. Advantage counterplans are amazing.

Case Debate

It's underrated. Do more than impact defense and please don't read the same cards from forever ago. Don't be afraid to have smart analytics be your primary case defense. Impact turns and link turns are exciting.

Some Things

- Be sassy, not mean. If you're unsure which category something falls in, just be nice.

- Don't steal prep.

- Death is probably bad.

- Don't ask or be afraid to go to the bathroom and get water. Obviously don't be excessive but live your life.

- Don't say my name, call me "judge," or anything else during the debate. Just feels weird.

Jonathan Silverstein New Trier High School 2 rounds

Last changed on Sat October 27, 2018 at 1:58 AM CDT

General Thoughts/Background

Email: silversteinjonathan00@gmail.com

I debated four years at New Trier in northern Illinois, and now attend the University of Michigan (I don’t debate here). This is my first tournament on this topic, but I have talked with a couple of college debaters about this topic.

In high school I was both a 2N and a 2A, though I was primarily a 2N. In addition I was fairly flexible on the neg, but read only soft-left and policy affs.

In my opinion debate is a strategy game, with a presentation component. By which I mean how persuasive you are is important, and will impact your speaks, and how I think about your arguments, but the more important part is the ability to make smart strategic decisions, which I will reward (or punish) to a much larger degree. That doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t use generic strategies, but you have to implicate them in terms of the aff (or neg), and all of your strategies (off-case, advantages, impact-turns, whatever) should be part of a larger, coherent whole. To do this you don’t need to be fast, or eloquent, but rather think critically about the strengths and weaknesses of the different arguments in the debate, and how those things interact.

I will probably be fine with respect to speed, but slow down a little bit for analytics, especially if you’re going to be doing a lot of sub-points, or dense argumentation in a short time span. If you’re just reading cards, you can probably go as fast as you like (still be clear).

‘Dropped arguments are true arguments’ (but if your opponent dropped a 5 second blip, and you make it 2 minutes in your next speech, then they get answers to the logical extrapolation that you added to make it a real argument. In the actual scenario where an fully fleshed out argument is dropped, or responded to so poorly or incorrectly that it’s functionally dropped, then you don’t get new answers).

Affirmatives

I feel like I’d be doing a disservice to critical teams if I didn’t start by re-iterating that I read mostly policy affs when I was in high school. In addition to that I believe that debate is a game, and that the skills you take away from doing the research and debating at tournaments are valuable. That means I’ll probably be more persuaded by arguments about how the model you advocate impacts those skills, rather than the specific implications of the education of your aff.

That being said, those are my personal beliefs, and I’ll do my best to let the debaters inform my view of the direction of the debate. I will probably re-iterate this through out my paradigm, but I think that those skills are only gained by actually getting down and arguing, so by introducing my personal beliefs into the debate would be doing a disservice to the debaters.

Topicality

T 2NR’s were some of my favorite to give, but the neg has to be thorough when giving them. You have to do a lot of impact calculus, in addition to comparative link vs. reasonability work. If the aff is going to go for a non-reasonability/w-m strategy on the aff, then you should be getting pretty deep into the weeds on the impact analysis, comparing why, for instance, the ground differential means that a larger topic is ok.

If you are going to go for w-m, there should be cards from both teams, unless there is clear logic argument one way or the other.

I tend to agree with the general premise of reasonability – that the neg can always create a marginally more limiting interpretation, giving an inroad to some sort of limits argument. This is probably the only time I believe that you don’t need impact offense (you still need offense on the reasonability debate, but the terminal T impact debate, can be purely defensive). The smaller the difference in the size or the number of categories of affs, the better the arguments for reasonability become, and the more likely I’ll end up voting aff. If you want to control the direction of this debate, a comparative case list (their interp affs – your interp affs) goes a long way. For the aff, go through that list and explain why some of the affs either don’t meet that burden, are terrible and don’t represent a small burden, or the number of affs listed represents a small fraction of the number of affs on the topic.

Kritiks

This is nothing new, but the team that controls the Framework debate, usually controls the debate – if I should be evaluating your representations, or pedagogy, or whatever first, then the permutation has probably been poisoned, footnoted, sidelined, unless the link is actually very weak, or the aff is fairly in line with the K. It also means that the terminal impact of a teams representations are probably important to evaluate. How you do impact calculus is up to you, but I definitely should know why the world of the K is preferable, or vis versa.

For affs, I think by the 2AR you should focus either on a permutation heavy, or an impact heavy strategy, depending on the aff. You know your affs strengths better than I do, so you should probably be set up to take one path or the other.

Counterplans

A good counterplan debate is a good debate, but the quality of the debate is (usually) related to the specificness of the counterplan to the aff. If you are reading consult NATO, then some sort of permutation, with some theory would be fairly persuasive. On the other end of the spectrum if there is a pic that’s clearly specific to your aff, which two net benefits that clearly implicate the permutation, then you better have some good offense against the net benefit, a solvency deficit, or a permutation that is equally specific, because I probably won’t be persuaded that that CP is abusive.

I also tend to think that advantage plank counterplans are under-rated, as long as you have cards on the net-benefit with respect to the planks (or if it’s obviously contextualized to the aff). I don’t really believe that a 8 plank CP that can be individually kicked creates a large number of conditional worlds, but multi-plank CP theory can definitely be argued outside the realm of conditionality. Also I have no qualms about kicking the CP after the round if instructed to do so, and the aff doesn't explain why you should be stuck with it.

Disads

I don’t actually think this needs a section: If you want to go for one, go for it. Interact with the impacts, and internal links of the aff. Impact calculus, and defense on the advantages are your friend. On the flip side, link and impact turns (but not both) are always a fun debate, and you should establish some level of defense against the DA, then get into impact calculus. Neither side is going to win terminal defense, so don’t forget about impact calculus.

Theory

The only reason to reject the team is (probably) conditionality. I think 1 CP and 1 K makes a good 1NC, but I definitely would be willing to vote neg on more than that, or aff on less. Establish the specific, in-round abuse (strategic flexibility, time, etc.), or why it is so important for debate that fewer condo be read, explain how the CI remedies the abuse, and be thorough in the line by line. The neg will always allocate less time to condo then the aff – that means the aff has a somewhat higher thresh hold to reach.

For the neg, have an actually predictable interpretation. I honestly think that “2 CPs and 3 Ks” is the same as “I can read whatever I want”, so you should have to defend that rough model of debate (Obviously you can’t read infinitely many conditional options, and saying you can read whatever you want doesn’t require winning you can read 1000 CPs – but unless you have a real line you can draw, don’t try to). Impact out the debate, and explain why you need your interpretation to resolve your impacts.

If you want to go for something else, you should have strong reasons to reject the team and tell a story in the context of the current debate. If you don’t, even if the neg has a rather paltry response, I’ll probably vote neg.

I think the purpose of Cross-x is to establish arguments, that will be present in future speeches (I don’t think this is revolutionary). Don’t necessarily tip your hand, but do look to establish weak points in your opponents arguments, or set up your own. If you’re going to ask random questions, your speaker points will suffer.

Please be respectful of your opponent, and their arguments. You can be assertive, and even a little forceful towards their arguments, but you should always be civil.

Speaker Points

I think that the range of speaker points being basically 29.85 to 29.99 is silly but I can’t change that. I also, frankly, have no clue what the range should be. I have, however gone through the most recent Wake Forest tournament (-1HL) and collected this information:

Percentage -> Points

0% -> 29.3

10% -> 29.1

20% -> 28.9

30% -> 28.8

40% -> 28.7

50% -> 28.6

60% -> 28.6

70% -> 28.5

80% -> 28.3

90% -> 28.2

100% -> 27.7

If you think this may indicate that speaker points have become absurd I agree with you. If you think there is something wrong, or that the rating system is wrong, feel free to talk to me before the round – I’ll weigh what you have to say (and getting your opponents to agree with you helps), as well as contact other current debaters.

Luther Snagel Northside College Prep 5 rounds

Madison Sullivan Whitney M. Young Magnet High School 5 rounds

Last changed on Fri March 10, 2017 at 1:47 PM EDT

about me:

add me to the email chain mdsnsllvn@gmail.com

I am in my fourth year of debate at Whitney Young. I have been to more than ten tournaments this year, most of which I have engaged in "critical" argumentation. I have judged at five tournaments this year (3 of them middle school).

Some ways to get extra speaks in front of me: make fun of Connor Warshauer's scrubiness, not being a total jerk (within reason, they might deserve it), be smart and know your arguments.

also, if you drop an entire offcase position dont expect anything more than a 27.5 :)

general disposition:

Like I said, you would probably consider me a k debater but I have recently invested in policy research and would genuinely like to judge these debates. I went to camp at Michigan, and therefore probably have a general idea of what your disads or counterplans say. I am really down for either form of debate and suggest you commit to whichever you feel most comfortable with.

topicality:

My partner has probably taken T in the 1NR in almost half our debates this year. I am well versed in the topic lit and interps, but you will need to invest a substantial amount of time guiding my decision, making smart parallels and comparisons, and on the impact debate for me to comfortably vote for you.

kritiks (vs policy affs):

Some kritiks I am most familiar with: spanos, psychoanalysis, cap, security, deleuze

Some kritiks I have negative predispositions against and the aff should make fun of: baudrillard, nietzche

The link debate is probably the most important part of this debate for me, and you should be investing a lot of time developing them. That is probably obvious to you, but I really stress this as it will shape how willing I am to vote on the k.

I havent judged many k debates, but this is probably the debate that peaks my interest the most. If you want me to vote neg, that probably means you won your framework interpretation and the debate that follows that interpretation. You probably dont need an alt if you win framework.

For the aff, I am likely persuaded by the "case o/w" and well developed permutation arguments if you have won the framework debate as well. Something my partner does when we read a policy aff that I think is funny is to make parallels to the neg's framework and the real world. If you are reading a warming aff and the alt is like "wait lets questions things first", tell them thats synonymous with things like climate denial. That in combination with a persuasive and developed permuation debate means it will be a pretty easy win for you.

counterplans:

Love them and you should try to go for them in front of me. I really appreciate advantage counterplans and will probably reward you if you execute them well.

If you are aff, I think that condo is a bad argument only because I lose to it and if condo is your thing, go for it. Theory is an underutilized tool you should probably use against tricky counterplans.

disads:

I love chinese politics! I know a fair amount about the chinese political system, so you should probably too. I really appreciate a good case and da 2nr.

The aff needs to win more than a defensive argument in the 2ar, unless the da is so bad that it a mere defensive argument persuasively makes it go away.

framework vs K aff:

This is a debate I have engaged in for most of the year, so you coould say I know the ins and outs. That being said, I am probably more biased towards the aff. However, the aff needs a few specific lines of offense that directly correlate with the thesis of the affirmative.

If there is probably a t version of the aff, I am likely to be persuaded by it. This may seem obvious, but there are a few affs on this topic where I think this is uniquely true.

John Tao Solorio Academy HS 3 rounds

Last changed on Wed January 13, 2021 at 6:06 AM CDT

BACKGROUND (Policy Debate) ~

Nationally ranked high school debater (2004- 2006)
Former Director of Debate at IUPUI (2009- 2012)
Former Director of Debate at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign (2013-2015)
Volunteer Judge for the CUDL 4+ years
Chicago Debate Summer Institute Instructor (Summer 2015)
Solorio HS Coach (2015- Present)
Milwaukee Debate League Executive Director (2017- 2020)

TL;DR (The "Round Starts in 2 minutes, Who is this judge?!") *

Speed: Fine
Line-by-line: Always
Signpost: Always
Roadmap: Yes, off the clock
Tag Team: Meh
Default paradigm: Policymaker
Theory: Great
T: Lovely
K: Fine
Framework: Meh
CP: Competitive
DA: Awesome
Case: Fantastic
Analysis: Necessary
Debate Formality: Meh

Longer Form (The "Oh, there's time and we should probably see what this judge is all about")*

SPEED

I'm comfortable with speed. But, with that said you need to be clear, you ideally do not do weird distracting things (like GASPS of air), you ideally slow down on tags, you ideally slow down when reading plan text/advocacy statement.

I ultimately flow based on what I hear within a round regardless of what you think you may or may not have said. I will "clear" you if you are egregiously unintelligible but that's probably a bad sign if I need to do that. If after I "clear" you and I still find myself struggling significantly with quality of presentation I will literally stop flowing for as long as I need to. With all of that said though, I do have a fairly high tolerance for speed.

There is one more important caveat I think it's necessary to say here: if you are able to spread and your opponents are clearly not able to handle it (e.g. literally cannot flow) I expect you to adapt to the round (i.e. do not steamroll a team because you are able to overwhelm them with quantity of arguments). Speed is a tool in the world of debate and I fully expect you to use it but not at the point where it becomes abusive for the other team and takes away from the educational value of the round for all parties.

LINE-BY-LINE

Please try your best to stick to the structures of the round. Please do your best to frame your arguments in the "They say but we say" structure. Even if things get messy, please do your best to consolidate, group, or summarize arugments together and respond to them in a clear manner. Try and not jump all over the place.

With all of that said, I think this is a skill that all debaters aspire for. Sometimes rounds get messy and all I really do is ask that you do your best to try and line up your arguments as best as you can. The effort is important at the end of the day. I know all judges like a clean line-by-line, and I know that it can get lost in the moment, so... all I ask is that you try your best (cause, let's be honest, is there going to be a judge that ever says "No line-by-line"?)

SIGNPOST

Part and parcel with the idea of line-by-line format is signposts. I think it's incredibly important for teams to make sure they give proper sign posts. Give me a remider of where you are, let me know where I should be flowing, let me know what's going on. Give me a sign that you're about to move to the next card (usually a "AND NEXT" is a good indicator). Signposts help keep you organized, help your opponent stay organized, and helps the judge stay organized. It's an important skill to have... and all I ask is that you try your best.

ROADMAP

Please. There are four things I've been seeing that drive me absolutely insane - and apparently there's enough for me to even write about it.

1) Roadmapping the 1AC. Don't do it. It's not necessary. It's not a thing.

2) Asking if I want a roadmap. The answer is YES. The answer is always YES (with the exception of the 1AC, because, once again, don't do it).

3) 1NC roadmap - just tell me how many off, and then where you plan on going on. Don't tell me what the Off cases are, that's not necessary.

4) Roadmap by being clear and concise: "DA, K, Case in order of solvency then advantage one." Do not roadmap: "I'm going to go a little bit on solvency, and then maybe the K...and if I have time maybe the DA...."

TAG TEAM

Tag teaming is okay as long as 1) the other team is okay with it and 2) as long as it is not abused. The person being questioned should be responding to a majority of the questions. The partner should be able to help but should absolutely not be dominating the cross-ex. Keep it minimal if you are not "standing up" during cross.

DEFAULT PARADIGM

I like policy rounds. I think debate is a forum for analyzing policy so my default is always to be a policy maker. But, with that said, I've been engaged in this activity enough that I also just see it as a free-form open game space for debaters to discuss whatever issues, in whatever format they want to. If you are making arguments that deviate outside of the traditional policy arguments that's totally cool! I'm down (with caveats I'll explain on each specific argument below) but you need to give me a paradigm to judge in otherwise it probably won't go in your favor (or at least it'll be more of an upward climb).

THEORY

I used to debate theory all the time. I don't think abuse necessarily has to be proven within a round to win this argument. I do think you need to make well articulated, well warranted, well impacted out arguments though. I am more on the side of rejecting the argument and not the team but depending on the flow of the round I can be convinced otherwise. I think a well run theory argument is something a debater can fill a full 8 minutes with, if necessary. That is the level of analysis I love for theory. The quick 10s blips are not particularly compelling.

Okay. I really do like Ks. BUT I need to see that the team running it (whether as a negative argument or aff advocacy statement) has a very good understanding of the Kritikal arguments. I think too many K cards are incredibly power tagged and full of unnecessary jargon. Keep things simple, pretend I've never heard of your literature/author, and explain it to me, do not assume I know your literature or author. For example, if you use the term "war machine" repeatedly but never explain what the "war machine" is, I will not do the mental work for you. You need to at a minimum explain it in the beginning of your speech. I think the K debate ultimately is made or broken at the link level -- generic Ks will not really do that much for me. I want to see that you understand the K you are running, and that you can actually find specific, concrete links, into your opponents' arguments.

Second, I think alternatives should actually be viable alternatives. Tell me what the altnerative is and show me how it can work. I think that should come without saying but often I hear alternatives that don't necessarily connect with the thesis of the K or ultimately just don't make sense. If the argument does not make sense then I will very unlikely vote for it.

FRAMEWORK

Framework arguments are kind of boring these days to be honest. Try and keep it interesting by being specific. Show me how the framework interacts with the rest of your arguments. Explain to me how your framework works. Give me analysis, bring it outside of the world of generic cards and let me know how the framework works within the round we are in.

Ideally CPs are non-topical and competitive. I think they are viable options but there needs to be a clear solvency story presented and particularly good impact analysis to balance the world of the plan against the world of the counter plan.

DAs are great. The more specific the better. Generic DAs happen, of course, but the better the link story the better. If you can give me a good DA to the case then you have a significant chance of being able to win the round but it has to be well articulated, it has to be well warranted, it has to be well impacted out against the world of the plan.

CASE

Let's be real, the more specific case arguments you can make the better. Who doesn't like clash and actually engaging in the arguments?

ANALYSIS

Give me analysis. It's not good enough to give me impact calculus in the form of magnitude, timeframe, and significance. I need to understand how you reach the world of the impacts. I need to understand why the impacts are even a possibility. The magnitude, timeframe, and significance formula is fine and all but I need much more than that.

DEBATE FORMALITY

I strongly prefer both teams time themselves, accountability is a good skill to have, but at the request of Tab I will also be timing rounds as necessary. I don't really care where you're speaking from. I'm not particularly formal about the rounds.

--------------------------------------------------------------

* I generally view the role of the judge as being up to the debaters. If you think I should be voting on a movement, tell me why and how the ballot functions. If you think I should be the President making a decision, tell me why and how the ballot functions. I try my best to go into rounds with as few assumptions and biases as possible (recognizing that it's impossible to remove all bias as a human) and you would never see me make a claim that I am the President of a round before it starts (as an example). In short, as much as humanly possible, I try and be a tabula rasa judge so it is on the debaters to make their case for how I should view the round, how I should weigh my decision, and how my ballot should function.

~ A comment on speaker points if I am judging a Wisconsin, non-national circuit tournament. My default speaker point calibration is set to a 28.1 in accordance with national debate trends. Within the state of Wisconsin I have traditionally held an average of 27.5/28 with the idea that points should not and cannot go lower than a 25 (as a matter of custom and as a matter of rule at many tournaments since at least 2002). However, I have recently seen ballots within the state of Wisconsin where points within the low 20s (e.g. "23") seem to be acceptable and endorsed by the state. With that in mind, I am specifically calibrating my average point distribution to a 26 to ensure consistency with state practices.

david theiss New Trier High School 3 rounds None

Tyler Thur Glenbrook South High School 1 rounds

Last changed on Sat February 3, 2024 at 4:44 AM EDT

*Updated November 2023*

CONTACT INFORMATION

Email: thurt11@gmail.com

LD NOTE

I've been in debate for fifteen years as a competitor, judge, and coach. In that time, I've almost exclusively done policy debate (I think I've judged <10 LD rounds ever). That's to say, judging LD at the Glenbrooks will be a bit different for me.

I don't think you'll need to dramatically adjust how you debate. In fact, I'd prefer to judge you in your best style/approach/form. Relatedly, I don't think I'm particularly ideological, and I'm like not a bus driver or parent who has been dropped into the judge pool. That said, be aware of my still-developing topic knowledge, norms of LD, and theory. I will do my best to resolve the debate before me. That said, folks should know that I'll likely have many idiosyncracies of someone who has basically always been in policy debate.

PF NOTE

Much of what is said about LD is true here too. Some thoughts on evidence that I stole from Greg Achten:

First, I strongly oppose the practice of paraphrasing evidence. If I am your judge I would strongly suggest reading only direct quotations in your speeches. My above stated opposition to the insertion of brackets is also relevant here. Words should never be inserted into or deleted from evidence.

Second, there is far too much untimed evidence exchange happening in debates. I will want all teams to set up an email chain to exchange cases in their entirety to forego the lost time of asking for specific pieces of evidence. You can add me to the email chain as well and that way after the debate I will not need to ask for evidence. This is not negotiable if I'm your judge - you should not fear your opponents having your evidence. Under no circumstances will there be untimed exchange of evidence during the debate. Any exchange of evidence that is not part of the email chain will come out of the prep time of the team asking for the evidence. The only exception to this is if one team chooses not to participate in the email thread and the other team does then all time used for evidence exchanges will be taken from the prep time of the team who does NOT email their cases.

PERSONAL BACKGROUND/INTRODUCTION

I debated for four years at Marquette University High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Go Packers/Brewers/Bucks! In college, I debated for four years at Michigan State University, earning three first-round bids and a semifinals appearance at the NDT.

Currently, I work on the non-debate side of Michigan State, doing education data analysis, program evaluation, and professional development. On the side, I coach for Georgetown University. I still love debate, but it is no longer my day job. Given that, I'm not a content expert on this topic like some of your other judges might be.

More generally, any given debate can get in-depth quickly, so you should be careful with acronyms/intricacies if you think that your strategy is really innovative or requires a deep understanding of your specific mechanism. Teams sometimes get so deep in the weeds researching their business that they forget to provide a basic explanation for the argument's context/history/background. Instead, they jump into the most advanced part of the topic. If something is creative, that's an issue because it's likely the judge's first time hearing it.

Everyone says it and almost no one means it, but I think that you should debate what you care about/what interests you/what you're good at doing. In other words, put me in the "big-tent" camp. All of the stuff below is too long and shouldn't impact your debating (maybe besides the meta issues section). It really is just my thoughts (vs. a standard), and is only included to offer insight into how I see debate.

META ISSUES/ABBREVIATED PHILOSOPHY/STRIKE CARD ESSENTIAL

1. Assuming equal debating (HUGE assumption), I'm *really* bad for the K on the neg/as planless aff. I find myself constantly struggling with questions in decision-time like: Does the neg ACTUALLY have a link to the plan's MECHANISM or even their SPECIFIC representations? What is the alternative? How does that advocacy change the extremely sweeping and entrenched problems identified in the 1NC/2NC impact evidence? If it's so effective, why doesn't it overcome the links to the plan? If the alt is just about scholarship/ethics/some -ology, how does that compare to material suffering outlined by the 1AC? This year, some of these biases are accentuated by the "disarm" and negative state action planks of the topic. On the affirmative, I think there are many creative ways to critically defend the idea of ending nuclear weapons (especially by the "United States" rather than the "United States federal government"). On the negative, I have hitherto been unimpressed with the Ks of "disarm" (like the ACTUAL "We end the nukes and dismantle them because they risk horrific US first use/nukes are bad" disarm) I've seen.

In the end, when I vote negative for Ks or affirmative for planless affs, it's generally because the losing team dropped a techy ballot like ethics first, serial policy failure, or "we're a PIK." Do you, don't overadapt, and feel confident that I approach every debate with the intention of deciding the question of "who did the better debating?" REGARDLESS of the subject of the debate. Relatedly, know that I'm excited to have the chance to evaluate your arguments (even if it's really late and I'd rather not be judging at all in the abstract) basically no matter what you say. Instead, I would take my above biases as things to keep an eye out for from your opponents/come up with novel responses to/overcover/etc.

2. College debate made me more oriented to tech than truth. In my experience as a debater and judge, ignorance of tech resulted in a callous dismissal of arguments as “bad” and increased judge intervention to determine what is “correct” instead of what was debated in the round and executed more effectively. That said, truth is a huge bonus, and being on the right side makes your task of being technically proficient easier because you can let logic/evidence speak a little for you.

3. I care about evidence quality - to an extent. Debate is a communicative activity, and I'm not going to re-read broad swaths of evidence to ensure that your opponents read a card on all their claims. To be clear, I do think that part of my role in judging is comparing evidence *when it's contested and through the lens with which it was challenged.* Put concretely, if your 2NR says "all their evidence is trash and doesn't say anything" or is silent on evidence comparison, I'm not gonna be doing you any favors and looking at the speech doc. I'm certainly not going to be reading un-underlined text in 1AC/1NC cards without explicit direction of what I'm looking for. Instead, if you're like "Their no prolif cards are all before Kishida and only talk about means vs. motive," I'm happy to read a pile of cards, looking to assess their quality on those two grounds. If that sounds time-consuming for your final rebuttals, it is. You should create time by condensing the debate down to the core issues/places of evidentiary disagreement.

4. Every round could use more calculus and comparisons. The most obvious example of this thesis is with impact calc, but I think there is a laundry list of other examples like considering relative risk, quality of evidence, and author qualifications. As a format, any of these comparisons should have a reason why your argument is preferable, a reason why that frame is important, and a reason why your opponent’s argument is poor/viewed through a poor lens. In the context of impact calc, this framework means saying that your impact outweighs on timeframe, that timeframe is important, and that while your opponent’s impact might have a large magnitude, I should ignore that frame of decision-making. Engaging your opponents’ arguments on a deeper level and resolving debates is the easiest way to get good points. Beyond that, making a decision is functionally comparing each team’s stance/evidence quality/technical ability on a few nexus questions, so if you’re doing this work for me you will probably like my decision a lot more.

5. I hold debaters to a high standard for making an argument. Any claim should be supported with a warrant, evidence, and impact on my decision. Use early speeches to get ahead on important questions. For instance, I won’t dismiss something like “Perm do Both,” but I think the argument would be bolstered by a reason why the perm is preferable in the 2AC (i.e. how it interacts with the net benefits) instead of saving those arguments for the 1AR/2AR. By the way, you should consider this point my way out in post-rounds where you're like "but I said X...It was right here!" For me, if something is important enough to win/lose a debate, you should spend a significant amount of time there, connect, and make sure your claim is *completely* and *thoughtfully* warranted.

6. All debates have technical mistakes, but not all technical mistakes are equal or irreversible. Given those assumptions, the best rebuttals recognize flaws and make “even if” statements/explain why losing an argument does not mean they lose the debate. I think debaters fold too often on mistakes. Just because you dropped a theory argument doesn’t mean you cannot cross-apply an argument from another theory argument, politics, or T to win.

7. I'm a bad judge for yes/no arguments like "presumption," "links to the net benefit absolutely," or "zero risk of X." I think the best debaters work in the grey areas.

8. Things people don't do enough:

a) Start with the title for their 1NC off case positions (i.e. first off states)

b) Give links labels (i.e. our "docket crowdout link" or "our bipart link")

c) Explain what their plan actually does - For instance (in college), what nuclear forces do you disarm? Who does it? What is the mechanism? I've decided that if the aff is vague to an egregious extent, I'll be super easy on the negative with DA links and CP competition. Aff vagueness is also a link to circumvention and explains why fiat doesn't solve definitional non-compliance. I will say, I'd rather lacking aff clarity (e.g. when aff's include resolutional language in their plan and say "plan text in a vacuum") be resolved by PICs/topic DAs than by T. I don't think that the negative gets to fully define the plan or have some weird positional competition vision for T even if I think 2As frequently dance around what they do. Punish affs for ambiguity and lazy plan writing for the purposes of T on substance!

d) Call out new arguments - I don't have sympathy if you *wish* you said no impact in the 2AC. There are times that I wish it existed, but there isn't and can't be a 3AC. I will say that for mostly pragmatic reasons, I'm not to the point of reviewing every new 1AR argument. I'll protect the 2NR for the 2AR, but you have to do the work before that.

9. Random (likely to change) topic thoughts:

a) Both sides are likely to get to some risk of Russia and/or China nuke war. The best 2Ns/2As will dehomogenize these impacts based on scenarios for escalation and their internal links.

b) Be careful your UQ CP doesn't overwhelm the link to your DA. Sometimes the neg goes a bit too far. I do love a good UQ CP though!

c) This is a rare topic where I'm less interested in process stuff! Who would've thought?

d) Debated equally, I'm 60/40 that we should include NFU subsets and "disarm" actions that fall short of "elimination/abolition." I get the evidence is good. I'd just abstractly rather have these arguments as affs than PICs/would prefer a bit more than the smallest topic since single payer.

GENERIC DISPOSITIONS

Planless affirmatives – The affirmative would ideally have a plan that defends action by the United States (least important). The affirmative should have a direct tie to the topic. In the context of the college resolution, this means you would have a defense of decreasing nukes/their role (pretty important). The affirmative MUST defend the implementation of said "plan" - whatever it is (MOST important). While I will NOT immediately vote negative on T or “Framework” as a procedural issue, if you don’t defend instrumental implementation of a topical plan *rooted in the resolutional question*, you will be in a tough spot. I’m especially good for T/Framework if the affirmative dodges case turns and debates over the question if nukes are good or bad. In particular, I am persuaded by arguments about why these affirmatives are unpredictable, under-limit the topic, and create a bad heuristic for problem-solving. Short version is that you can do you and there is always a chance I’ll vote for you, but I’m probably not an ordinal one for teams that don’t want to engage the resolutional question.

I do want to say that at tournaments with relaxed prefs, I will do my absolute best to keep an open mind about these assumptions. That shouldn't be read as "Thur says he's open to our planless aff - let's move him up to push down 'policy' people." It should be read as if I come up at one of these tournaments, you might as well do what you're most comfortable with/what you've practiced the most instead of over-adapting.

Critiques—Honestly, just read the first point in the "meta issues" section. I understand neolib/deterrence/security pretty well because they were a big part of my major. If you want to push against my confusion on the K (as a concept), you need to have specific links to the plan’s actions, authors, or representations. Again, trying to be honest, if you're itching to say Baudrillard, Bataille, Deleuze, death good, etc., I'm not your guy. On framework, the affirmative will almost surely be able to weigh their 1AC (unless they totally airball), and I'm pretty hesitant to place reps/scholarship/epistemology before material reality. One other thing - substitute out buzzwords and tags for explanation. Merely saying "libidinal economy" or "structural antagonism" without some evidence and explanation isn't a win condition.

In terms of being affirmative against these arguments, I think that too often teams lose sight of the easy ballots and/or tricks. The 1AR and 2AR need to “un-checklist” those arguments. In terms of disproving the critique, I think I’m pretty good for alternative fails/case outweighs or the permutation with a defense of pragmatism or reformism. Of those 2 - I'm best for "your alt does nothing...we have an aff..."

Case- I’m a huge fan. With that, I think that it’s very helpful for the neg (obviously?). I believe that no matter what argument you plan to go for, (excluding T/theory) case should be in some part of the 2nr. In the context of the critique, you can use case arguments to prove that the threats of the 1AC are flawed or constructed, that there are alternative causes to the affirmative that only the alternative solves, or that the impacts of the affirmative are miniscule and the K outweighs. For CPs, even if you lose a solvency deficit, you can still win because the net benefit outweighs the defended affirmative. Going for case defense to the advantage that you think the CP solves the least forces me to drop you twice as I have to decide the CP doesn’t solve AND that the case impact outweighs your net-benefit. That seems like a pretty good spot to be in.

CP- My favorite ones are specific to the 1AC with case turns as net benefits. Aside from that, I think that I am more inclined than most to vote aff on the perm when there is a trivial/mitigated net benefit vs. a smallish solvency deficit, but in the end I would hope you would tell me what to value first. I had a big section written up on theory, and I decided it's too round-dependent to list out. I still think that more than 2 conditional positions is SUPER risky, functional > textual competition, competition is dictated by mandates and not outcomes (i.e. CPs that are designed to spur follow-on are very strategic), judge kick is good, consult/condition/delay/threaten generally suck, and interpretations matter A LOT.

Topicality- People have started flagging violations based on things not in the plan (solvency lines, advocate considerations, aff tags, 2ac arguments, etc.). This is a bad way to understand T debates. The affirmative defines the plan, positional competition is bad, plan text in a vacuum makes sense, and the way to beat teams that include resolutional language in the plan is on PICs not T.

I default to reasonability, but I can be convinced that Competing Interpretations is a decent model. The negative does not need actual abuse, but they do need to win why their potential abuse is likely as opposed to just theoretical. That is, I'll be less persuaded by a 25-item case list than a really good explanation of a few devastating new affirmatives they allow. If I were to pick only one standard to go for, it would be predictable limits. They shape all pre-round research that guides in-round clash and ensure that debates are dialogues instead of monologues. Finally, as a framing point, I generally think bigger topics = better.

SPEAKER POINTS

They're totally broken...

I'll try to follow the below scale based on where points have been somewhat recently.

29.4 to 29.7 – Speaker Award - 1 to 10

29.2 to 29.3 – Speaker Award - 11 to 25

28.9 to 29.1 – Should break/Have a chance

28.4 to 28.8 – Outside chance at breaking to .500

28 to 28.3 – Not breaking, sub-.500

27 to 27.9 – Keep working

Below 26 – Something said/done warranting a post-round conversation with coaches

Lucia Torres Solorio Academy HS 3 rounds

Kevin Trant Kennedy HS 5 rounds

Last changed on Sat March 9, 2024 at 5:02 AM CDT

When it comes to K versus policy, I prefer K debates. I went to graduate school for philosophy and have coached debate in CPS for 8 years, but was never a debater. As a result I am probably considerably less technical than other judges and just want to see good argumentation. I personally think this happens when we have a clear understanding of our epistemology.

I would much prefer to judge a round where there is a lot of clash on the flow and indicts on the other team's evidence than a round in which a team overwhelms the other team with lots of advantages or CPs. K debates can be equally bad for education when they involve half-understood ideas of So, if you're running a K or K Aff, please avoid relying solely on philosophical jargon. I think the best debaters are the ones who combine their technical of knowledge of debate with common sense and some semblance of rhetorical skill.

Counterplans are fine. If you run them be sure you can clearly articulate how the plan links to the net benefit.

I'm ok with speed, but I prefer debaters who slow down on analytics and theory arguments. Getting your arguments out in the 1AC/1NC should sound different from explaining why the perm fails or explaining why topicality should be a voter.

I think storytelling is important. I want you to be able to explain to me why you are winning the debate. I have two reasons for believing this: 1. I think this is an essential thinking and communication skill, 2. If you throw spaghetti at the wall and ask me to interpret it, I'm afraid that I won't interpret it correctly. Don't leave the round up to my interpretation; write my ballot for me.

I like a nice, tight DA with a carefully explained link story. Sometimes Ptix DAs get a little wild, but as long as you can sell the story, I'm willing to go along with it as a convention of debate, but would probably be sympathetic to an aff team that highlights the probability of the link chain or the quality of the evidence.

At heart I'm just an English teacher, so I will give an extra .1 spear poi if you cite some poetry in your rebuttal speech (in context) .2 if I really like the poem.

Tag team is fine; however, I think the speaker should be the one primarily responsible for answering. I don't want to see one partner dominating.

Kjtrant@cps.edu

Murtaza Ukani Niles North High School 2 rounds None

Trudy Valentino Northside College Prep 5 rounds

Last changed on Fri November 13, 2020 at 12:54 PM CDT

Hi! My name is Trudy and I use she/her pronouns. I debated for 3 years as a 2A at Northside College Prep in Chicago from 2014 to 2017 (the oceans topic, the surveillance topic, and the China topic) and I currently attend Reed College.

I'm pretty open to any argument that you want to run. I'm largely a tech-over-truth judge, and I appreciate specificity and thorough comparison of evidence.

CPs: I'm ok with most counterplans as long as they are competitive and unless they are veeeeery blatantly abusive. Pretty much every 2NR my partner gave last year was on the Consult Japan Counterplan, so I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't give questionably fair counterplans a shot. That being said, I'm willing to vote a counterplan down on theory if you're winning the flow.

DAs: Either you link or you don't; I don't evaluate "risk".

T: I really like judging T debates.

Why you're really here:

Ks: I am open to any type of Ks. I'm pretty broadly familiar with most K lit from both my time in debate as well as my experience in college (both Continental and "identity") but don't assume I'll understand your argument by default. I judge off the flow. The one K I'll always vote against/go truth over tech for is anything to do with Nick Land/accelerationism. I don't think I'll be judging debates where he'll become relevant but I have seen him cited in debates before and I think he's a repugnant fascist. I'm willing to evaluate scholarship that draws from Nietzsche, Heidegger, Zizek, + other "problematic" K's if separation between idea and individual can be sufficiently argued but Nick Land has absolutely no place in humane debate.

K affs: I ran them, I'm open to them. Make sure it's tangentially related to the resolution.

Framework on the neg: When it comes to framework vs K affs, I am very flow-oriented. That being said, I'm skeptical of "fairness" being a stand-alone impact.

Decorum:

I appreciate humor. Crackin' jokes will reflect positively on your speaker points.

Be respectful of your opponents. I'm not a fan of ad hominems or being explicitly spiteful.

Vincent Vinluan Walter Payton College Prep 1 rounds

Last changed on Mon March 25, 2019 at 6:51 AM CDT

Coach at Walter Payton College Prep (2012-present)

While I've been doing this for a few years now, I never debated in HS. I'm a social science teacher before I'm a debate coach/debater. While I've judged a decent amount over the past few years, I've only judged a handful of rounds on this topic. This probably means a few things:

1. My topic knowledge is limited. This is especially important when spewing out topic specific acronyms or going for T. I don't have a very clear idea of what the community consensus is in regards to what affs are topical and which ones are not.

2. Tech > Truth. A caveat about this, however. Since I don't judge a ton of debates, I don't always keep a great flow. This means that your speeches should be organized, that you should speak clearly, and you should slow down a little bit, especially on things that require more pen time (e.g. theory blocks, CP texts with a bunch of planks, etc.).

3. While line by line is obviously important, you need to also think big picture. Your later rebuttals, especially, should put the debate together for me - identify the key nexus question and/or framing issues in the debate and frame evidence and key concessions around these ideas. Impact calc is more than just saying magnitude, timeframe, and probability. You should explain which lens I should be using to frame the debate and why. You should do explicit comparison between impacts and internal link chains.

4. You need to explain things. Saying "They dropped x, it's game over." Isn't an explanation. Extending tag lines isn't an explanation. Extend warrants.

5. If you're going for the K, you need to limit the amount of jargon and utilize real world examples to prove the thesis of the K. I have no problem voting you down if I don't think you've met the burden of explaining what your kritik does. I typically think that you need to go for the alternative as opposed to reading the K as a non-unique DA (unless you're crushing them on FW). I think the links should be specific to the aff as opposed to links to the squo.

6. K Affs...I'll listen, but honestly not sure I'm the best judge for you. I think you should be at the very least related to the topic (and doing this in a way that does more than just swapping out one card from last year's topic and replacing it with an immigration card). Your aff should probably impact turn FW. You should be able to explain why things like do it on the neg or the TVA don't solve. I don't necessarily think that fairness is an impact as much as it is an internal link to education.

Blair Wang New Trier High School 5 rounds

Maggie Wang Glenbrook North 2 rounds None

Micah Weese Walter Payton College Prep 5 rounds

Aidan Williams Walter Payton College Prep 5 rounds

Last changed on Sat May 12, 2018 at 8:53 AM CDT

I'm a 7th year debater at Walter Payton College Prep. I did 3 years of middle school debate, and I have continued that career into my high school life. While I have fallen down the dark path that is kritikal debate, I like to think of myself as fairly flex. I flatter myself in thinking that I can judge most rounds, whether the focus is policy or critical theory, but this is irrelevant, because I am a person who believes that all debaters should do what they do best. I will never vote for an argument that is not sufficiently explained or impacted- even though I have a wealth of topic knowledge, do not assume that I will do any work for you. It is your responsibility as debaters to explain your positions to me in an articulate and reasonable fashion. Here's the breakdown:

Disads:

When it comes down to disads, my first step is to look for all the pieces. I will not vote on a disad that is lacking uniqueness, link, impact, or coherent internal link structure. I often find debaters over-zealous when it comes to impact calculus, but very weak in regards to internal link explanation. Impact calc has its place, but alone it will not win you the round.

Of the numerous disad options every debater has, I tend to favor specific scenarios and links- don't expect me to vote on a disad that is not tailored to the aff read in that round beyond "U.S. education funding tanks the economy." This is the issue I take in regards to most politics disads- I don't buy that all education funding triggers the links to your midterms elections disad.

Kritiks:

A kritik is like music to my ears when done well. Like a disad, I expect every part to be well warranted and explained: link(s), framework, alternative, impact, and internal links. If you're going to kick out of the alternative in the 2nr, you had better be doing an incredible job on the framework and link flows.

In terms of specific content, I tend to be selective in my preferences. While I am capable of adjudicating any kritik, I have preferences. Identity Ks, the Cap K, Security K, topic specific Ks like Pan and Vukovich- I enjoy all of these and am willing to judge them in context. However, with Ks such as Baudrillard, Bataille, D&G, and other postmodernist ideologues, my enjoyment ebbs and you might find me mildly irritated. This doesn't mean you can't read these Ks in front of me, it just means that you have to incorporate a robust explanation that might otherwise not be required.

In terms of links, I feel much the same as with disads- the more specific the link, the more likely I am to vote for the K. Links of omission are not links, and if you go for them in the 2nr, I will vote on the permutation. Same applies to "masking links" and other window dressed links of omission.

Topicality:

In general, my threshold for voting on topicality is fairly high. I think that there are numerous checks to ground loss in any debate- pre-round prep, wikis, core topic affs- if you want me to vote on topicality you have to provide me with an example of actual in-round abuse. Also required is a list of topical affs, specific responses to the counter-interpretation, and a reasonable interpretation. Squirrelly interpretations are just as bad as squirrelly affs.

Counterplans:

I enjoy counterplans- I think that there are numerous political alternatives to most plans that resolve the advantages better than the aff itself. However, I also believe that counterplans should have solvency advocates, which is a necessary check to preventing "cheaty" counterplans such as consult counterplans and word pics. If you want to go for these, go ahead, but you have to be ready for counterplan theory.

Theory:

Most of what I said about T applies to theory. You must prove in round abuse! My threshold for voting on theory is very high unless the abuse in question has caused irreparable damage to the debate. If your reason to reject on counterplan theory is that "x justifies permutation," I am more likely to vote for you than if your reason to reject is to disqualify the opposing team.

K affs:

On the side of the affirmative, much of my kritiks section applies to this, with one main addition- I believe that all k affs need a solvency advocate specific to the resolution. It is not enough to have resolution-grounded uniqueness- this way under limits the topic and makes stasis impossible. Being a slightly k-leaning debater, I give a little bit more weight to "conventionally discouraged" arguments such as the permutation on framework, but you have to do an exceptional explanation job if you want to go for them in the 2ar.

On the side of the negative, I think that there are numerous strategies that you can employ to win rounds. Framework is a given, but I also enjoy less conventional arguments such as the University K and word pics. Because of the cheaty nature of k affs, it is almost impossible for the affirmative to read counterplan theory, which gives the negative a massive (and often under-utilsed) advantage.

Post-rounding is a pet peeve: I love it when people ask me questions, but when it verges on harassment, that's where I draw the line.

Overall, what I look for in debates is for young, intelligent minds to do what they do best and push the envelope through complex and interpretive analysis of political issues- if you do this, you are on the road to success.

Hyun Sik Yang Walter Payton College Prep 5 rounds

Last changed on Sat November 17, 2018 at 7:26 AM CDT

Debated for Walter Payton College Prep, 2014-2018

Add me to the email chain: hsikyang@uchicago.edu

Note: I have not debated nor researched the current high school topic - keep this in mind when you are explaining and contextualizing your arguments.

General Thoughts/Things You Should Probably Know:

1. Clarity>Speed

2. Tech>Truth - In most cases. If you say something that is blatantly untrue or patently offensive, I probably won't vote on it. (However, if you can't defend that death is bad, you probably deserve to lose)

3. I was a policy 2a for the majority of my time in debate - this won't affect my decisions because I have no particular biases against critical arguments, but you should keep in mind that I may not have the background knowledge to understand specific arguments/tricks that are not thoroughly explained.

4. Cross ex is binding unless you tell me otherwise.

5. I honestly don't care what you read, just please do it well.

Policy Affs

1. I think all affs need a solvency advocate that specifically mandates the action of the plan text. I'm not a stock issues hack so I'll still vote for affs that circumstantially solve their advantages, but expect to get crushed by neg teams who competently argue the solvency debate.

2. I have no particular biases toward or against big stick and soft left affirmatives.

3. I'm less likely to vote for affs that have convoluted internal link chains - I think this makes intuitive sense, but the more prerequisites something has to meet, the less likely it is to occur.

K Affs/FW

1. I think all competent affirmatives in this category need a "debate key" warrant - if you do not have one, I am very likely to be persuaded by framework teams that tell you to "go read a book" or "participate in a protest."

2. Performance is offense - if you read a poem or a narrative that's completely legit - just please do it well.

3. Evidence quality matters - I honestly don't understand why more neg teams don't contest this part of the debate - if you read these authors in the 1ac, you should be prepared to defend them.

4. Don't just drop jargon and expect me to understand it - please explain your claims and define important buzzwords - it would be unfortunate if I made the wrong decision because I misinterpreted your arguments.

5. Reading a K aff is probably cheating, but I don't think fairness in itself is a terminal impact unless you give me a reason to evaluate it as one.

6. Debate is obviously a game - however, I do not think that this is mutually exclusive with its potential as an activity which shapes our epistemology and subject formation.

CPs

1. All counterplans need solvency advocates - I might make exceptions against certain K affs, but this will be done on a case-by-case basis.

2. I lean aff on consult theory and textual vs functional competition - consult cps are probably abusive and bad for debate - functional competition is probably a better standard for debate because textual competition is arbitrary and rooted in semantics.

3. I'm fine with abusive process counterplans - I will probably be more sympathetic to the aff on theory in most of these rounds, but in the case of an undecided debate, i.e. when neither side has won their interpretation, I will comfortably default neg.

DAs

1. Good disads need aff-specific links - cards that describe the policy action of the plan are preferred, but I will also vote on generic links that have been contextualized to the affirmative.

2. I will evaluate a link turn without an extension of uniqueness as terminal impact defense for the affirmative - unless you tell me otherwise.

3. Politics fiat - I don't really flip either way on this issue, but neg teams should honestly just pin the timeframe and process of the plan's passage in 1ac cross ex to avoid having this debate.

4. I will not evaluate evidence quality unless I am told to do so - if neither side does explicit evidence comparison, I will default to warrants.

1. T violations are more convincing if the neg team can prove in-round abuse - I will still vote for potential abuse, but be prepared for an uphill battle.

2. I am very willing to pull the trigger on T unless the aff is clearly a core topic generic, or if the violation is artificially overlimiting - random definitions from obscure parts of the literature probably won't convince me.

3. Fairness in a vacuum is not an impact.

1. Ks should link more to the aff than the status quo - I will most likely not vote for a K that is not contextualized to the aff.

2. Epistemology alts are legit - however, you definitely need to win framework in order to garner alt solvency.

3. I don't have any particular biases in terms of the framework debate - if framework is a wash coming out of the 2ar, I will grant the aff the implementation of their case, and allow the neg to garner links based on epistemology/discourse.

4. I think Ks are the most strategic when their links are also case turns - if the links are not framed in this way, neg teams should probably engage with the aff on the case debate.

Theory/Condo

1. I have a high threshold for voting for conditionality - the neg should probably be allowed to have at least two conditional advocacies to garner substantive offense against the aff - however, if the neg reads 3+ conditional offs, I will have a much higher probability of voting aff on strat skew and perf con.

2. I will vote for "spec" violations and other arguments of that nature - I have an extremely high threshold for voting for these arguments, but I will attempt to fairly evaluate them.

3. Disclosure theory is a legit argument - I think open disclosure is key to having educational debates with substantive clash and effective discourse. (on a side note, if you don't disclose, you're probably a scumbag who deserves to lose)

4. RVIs are dumb - but they're so dumb that you probably deserve to lose if you can't properly answer them.

5. Counterplan-specific theory is discussed in the "CPs" section.

Natalie Ye New Trier High School 5 rounds

Rumaisa Yousuf Niles West High School 5 rounds None

Wendy Zhu Glenbrook North 5 rounds None

Justin Ziegelmueller Northside College Prep 5 rounds None

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Illinois Debate Coaches Association JVNovice State

2017 — New Trier Northfield Campus, IL/US

Novice Policy Paradigm List

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