PF: I did PF for the last year and a half in high school. I am okay with any argument as long as you warrant it. I won't do any work for you so be clean with your extensions and weigh for me. 

 

LD: I did LD for the first 2 and a half years in high school. I am okay with any argument as long as you sufficiently warrant it. I won't down you for running any argument, I try to be as Tab as I can. If it comes down to it I evaluate framework over contention level debate. That being said just because you win framework doesn't mean you automatically win the round. 

 

Speed: Don't spread. 

 

 

 

Currently attend the University of California-Los Angeles. I debated through all high school on both local and national circuits, two years in policy (freshman/sophomore) and two years in Public Forum (junior/senior). I attended both nationals and the TOC in public forum. Overview: Having debated in public forum for the last two years I will be more familiar with ‘traditional’ arguments (ie: c/p’s, d/a’s, and case), but don’t let this limit what you run in front of me.

• Kritiks: I would like to see a very clear link story, and I probably will have a higher threshold when voting on a kritik.
• Theory: If there really is in round abuse go for it. Otherwise it’s probably a waste of time.
• Topicality: Clearly explain the violation along with standards and voters.
• Speed: I’ve debated public forum for the last two years; it wouldn’t hurt to slow things down a little bit.
• Tag Team C/X: Don’t dominate your partner’s cross ex.
• Final Words: At the end of the day all I want is an interesting round. I am open to anything, but it’s on you to make me understand your arguments. Be clear, be smart, and respect your opponents.
• Feel free to ask me anything.

     

Quick: explain everything including why you've won; don't assume knowledge; run whatever is productive for you, but also know that my technical acumen isn't likely to exceed that of your opponents', who also stopped flowing at the thirty-second mark of your meticulously timed 2:45m overview on T, or even if it's 15s tbh

Update for 2019-20

Full disclosure/honesty: I am probably not the ideal judge for you, if your style of debating is extremely fast and technical, though I will certainly put in the effort to try. It is your debate

It's been a while since I've done much debate-related things - my hands have become slow slow and my ears are even slower. Debate is for the debaters, so you can postround me if you'd like. That can be valuable, even if it's just cathartic, which is also valuable in itself. Your own decision is just as valid as mine, but that also means that mine is just as valid as yours, even if I missed that really obvious round-deciding arg that's been there since the 2ac. I'm mainly putting this out there so you have some sense of my limits as a judge, but I'm also trying to make it known that limits aren't necessarily aren't the end of what makes one decision more or less "correct," although inevitably my decision will have more weight than yours - sorry! just hf:)

2017

DEBATE EXPERIENCE
High School--Bravo Medical Magnet HS (2013-15)
College--CSU Fullerton/UCI (2016-17)

While there's no such thing as a blank slate, I will try my best as a judge to leave debate for the debaters. That also means that I'm unwilling to do much work for you, if any all (of course this will be adjusted with skill level, which means I'll also be holding a higher standard for explanation at the open level of debate). Explain everything. Don't assume I know what you mean when you repeat some jargon, because there's no stasis or dictionary for anything in debate, so even if I'm familiar with your lit or argument, every debater means something slightly different when they say "ontology" or "perm." So tell me what you mean.

T - awesome. slow down. if the other team can't catch your tech I probably won't. have impacts.

FW - go for it. everything I said about T applies here. with that said, I have two more notes here: (1) Framework determines what I should view as important in the round, meaning everything in debate is about framework, even if it's not on a separate flow. Because I won't be doing much work for you, framework is thus the only measure I have for evaluating the round, making it a prior question. (2) If we're talking about the framework that goes on a separate flow, don't call it T. T is about having mutual ground to debate on for x, y, or z (even if it's not about the resolution). Framework concerns our orientation towards x (could be the resolution, a pedagogy, etc.)

DAs - cool. have internal links. don't out-tech the judge.

CP - great. as a 2a I probably have a slight bias against PICs. sorry. don't let that discourage you from running one.

Ks - The best advice I can give you here is assume I don't know your lit. Like I said above, even something as 'generic' as a cap K will be ran drastically different from round to round. The debaters are different, and so is the debate. Even if the lit is the same, your interpretation is probably different. This also means that if you do happen to 'botch up' the lit per my own interpretation, I'll try to evaluate the round based on the debaters' own arguments and readings of their lit, because no reading or argument is ever the same. My reading is not more valid or correct than yours. (Short of being blatantly racist, antiblack, or transphobic, you have to really mess up for me to think "yeah you're doing this wrong." But if it's clear that you're respecting the lit, I will try to abide by your interpretation.) With that said, this means I will have a high threshold for how you explain your lit to me based on YOUR own reading. Be specific. Case engagement will always grab my attention. Try to be explicit with your angle on the K - i.e. are you solving the aff? should we even care about the aff? etc.

Case - explain the aff. have overviews. I hate debates where I don't know what the 1ac does by the 2ar. even if you get my ballot, your speaks will probably suffer.

In general, don't be rude. Some people can handle it, some can't, so my thoughts on this will change from round to round. If the debate is really heated and everyone knows what they're doing, that's fine. Go all out. Have sass or whatever. But pls try to keep this activity enjoyable.

Debated PF and LD for 5+ years in local and circuit.

TL;DR: Run anything and everything, but don't waste my time or your opponents' time. I'm okay with speed, but if you can't spread properly don't do it. Extend impacts. If you introduce FW, stick with it. Also okay with CP, Ks, DAs. I openly react to arguments and what you say--if I look confused, I probably am, and if I nod, I probably like what you're saying.

Do NOT be rude. If you accuse the opponent of being abusive/unfair, tell me why in a polite but assertive way. Chances are I'll be on your side if the opponent is being abusive.

CASE DEBATE- Case debates should end with two conflicting blocks of impact calculous that explain how each side is acquiring the ballot through their win conditions. I find these to be most compelling through the lenses of Time Frame, Probability and Magnitude. The teams that better access these forms of impact weighing will typically win my ballot.

THEORY - Some hurdles (biases) for debaters to overcome when having theory rounds in front of me: (1) I tend to defend against theory than it is to read theory, (2) I find conditionality to be good and healthy for the types of debates that I want to see, (3) disclosure theory does more harm for debate (by dropping teams that didn't know about disclosing) than any good it does, (4) I weigh theory on the interpretation not its tagline (this means debaters should wait to hear the interpretation before they start writing answers that miss a poorly written OR nuanced interpretation), (5) there isn't a number or threshold for too many theory positions in a round aside from speed and clarity, (6) RVIs are not worth the breadth just sit down, (7) you're either going for theory or you aren't, I am heavily bothered by debaters that say the sentence, "and if you aren't buying the theory here's this disad."

Read your interpretation slower and repeat it twice. I will not vote on theory that I do not have one clear and stable interpretation for. Also just read it slowly because I don't want to miss out on the substance of the rounds I really want to hear.

SPEED - Speed is a tool just like written notes and a timer in debate that allow us to more efficiently discuss topics whether that be on a scale of breadth or depth. Efficiency requires a bunch of elements such as: both teams being able to respond to all or group most of the arguments in a meaningful way and being able to hear and write the arguments effectively.

CRITICISMS - My interest in criticisms has waned over the years. It could just be a difference in debate meta between when I competed and now but I find many of the critical arguments run in front of me to be either constructed or read in a way that I have difficulty understanding. I don't vote on criticisms with alternatives that are incomprehensible, poorly explained or use words that mean nothing and aren't explained (the first point of your alt solvency should probably clear up these points if your alt is a mess).

I have a very difficult time weighing identity politics impacts in rounds.

Collapse - Please collapse.

The best way to win a debate in front of me is to go straight for case. I think neg teams have ample opportunity to win on DAs and CPs. I also think it's entirely possible to win on straight case turns and a DA.

I'm fine with lower level theory args, I think T is necessary in some instances for the neg but not necessary for every round. When it comes to kritiks, I'm familiar with some of the literature and/or the arguments that are commonly run but I'm not the best judge to run these arguments in front of. That being said, I have voted them up but if you're going to run one you'll have to meet me halfway and make sure you're explaining your arguments fully rather than assuming I'll fill in the blanks for you.

The easiest way to tank your speaker points fast is to be rude to your opponents, please maintain a level of respect for one another in the round.

I also have a soft spot in my heart for rebuttals with overviews and clear direction as to where you want me to vote, this is the easiest to reduce intervention when it comes to my vote and raise speaks at the same time.

Background: Lay judge with 3 years experience judging high school Parli and PF (and a couple LD rounds).

General comments: I flow the constructive speeches, but usually just take notes on the rebuttals. I understand basic debate terminology (contentions, framework, impact, cards, value, criterion, weighing, etc.), but if you're going to debate theory, topicality, kritiks, or any philosophy more complicated than utilitarianism, you have to explain them to me. I will try to vote based on content only, but your clarity and presentation as a speaker affect how well I understand the content, so don't write them off as unimportant.

Plans/CPs: I understand what they are, but explain any issues with competitiveness, inherency, solvency, fiat, etc. very clearly because I am not familiar with those terms.

Speed: Okay with speed, but not spreading.

*Varsity Speaks: Boost in speaker points when you compliment your partner in-speech - the more fun or earnest, the higher the speaks boost :) I've found this gives some much needed levity in tense rounds.

*Online: Please go slower online. I'll let you know if you cut out. I'll try on my end to be as fair as possible within the limits of keeping the round reasonably on time. If the tournament has a forfeit policy, I'll go by those.

Background: 3 years of college super trad policy (stock issues/T & CPs) & some parli. I coach PF, primarily middle school/novice and a few open. She/her. Docshare >

PF:

Firm on paraphrasing bad. I used to reward teams for the bare minimum of reading cut cards but then debaters would bold-faced lie and I would become the clown emoji in real time. I'm open to hearing arguments that penalize paraphrasing, whether it's treating them as analytics that I shouldn't prefer over your read cards or I should drop the team that paraphrases entirely.

Disclosure is good because evidence ethics in PF are bad, but I probably won't vote for disclosure theory. I'm more likely to reward you in speaks for doing it (ex. sharing speech docs) than punish a team for not.

“Defense is sticky.” No it isn’t.

Ex. Fully frontline whatever you want to go for in second summary in second rebuttal. Same logic as if it's in your final focus, it better be in your partner's summary. I like consistency.

If you take longer than a minute to exchange a card you just read, it starts coming out of your prep. Speech docs make sure this is never an issue, so that's another plug.

Collapsing, grouping, and implicating = good, underrated, easy path to my ballot! Doc botting, blippy responses, no warrants or ev comparison = I'm sad, and you'll be sad at your speaks.

Cleaner debates collapse earlier rather than later.

I'm super into strategic concessions. "It's okay that they win this, because we win here instead and that matters more bc..."

I have a soft spot for framing. I'm most interested when the opposing team links in (ex. team A runs "prioritize extinction," team B replies, "yes, and that's us,"), but I'll definitely listen to "prioritize x instead" args, too. Just warrant, compare, etc.

Other "progressive pf" - I have minimal experience judging it. I'm not saying you can't run these debates or I'm unwilling to listen to them, but I'm saying be aware and slow down if I'm the one evaluating. Update: So far this season, I've voted down trigger warning theory and voted for paraphrasing theory.

I'll accept new weighing in final focus but I don't think it's strategic - you should probably start in summary to increase my chances of voting off of it.

All else fails, I will 1) look at the weighing, then 2), evaluate the line-by-line to see if I give you reasonable access to those impacts to begin with. Your opponents would have to really slip up somewhere to win the weighing but lose the round, but it's not impossible. I get really sad if the line-by-line is so convoluted that I only vote on the weighing - give me a clean place to vote. I'll be happy if you do the extra work to tell me why your weighing mechanism is better than theirs (I should prefer scope over mag because x, etc).

LD:

I’m a better judge for you if you're more trad/LARP. The more "progressive," the more you should either A) strike me if possible, or B) explain it to me slowly and simply - I’m open to hearing it if you’re willing to adjust how you argue it. Send a speech doc and assume I'm not as well-read as you on the topic literature.

All:

If it's before 9am, assume I learned what debate was 10 minutes ago. If it's the last round of the night, assume the same.

Open/varsity - time yourselves. Keep each other honest, but don't be the prep police.

On speed generally - I can do "fast" PF mostly fine, but I prefer slower debates and no spreading.

Content warnings should be read for graphic content. Have an anonymous opt-out.

Have warrants. Compare warrants. Tell me why your args matter/what to do with them.

Don't post-round. Debaters should especially think about who you choose to post-round on a panel when decisions echo one another.

Having a sense of humor and being friendly/accommodating toward your opponents is the easiest way to get good speaks from me. Be kind, have fun, laugh a little (but not at anyone's expense!!), and I'll have no problem giving you top speaks.

If I smile, you did something right. If I nod, I'm following what you say. I will absolutely tilt my head and make a face if you lost me or you're treading on thin ice on believability of whatever you're saying. If I just look generally unhappy - that's just my default face. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In high school I debated for two years at Stern Math and Science School. In college I debated for three years at California State University, Fullerton. 

 

My Evaluation

I find debate is an educational activity. What that looks like is up to the competitors, I will try and insert myself as best I can. My role as a judge is to be an educator and mediate between competing interests.

 

Judging 

I may have not heard of your Kritik/Affirmative/Disadvantage/Counterplan/ etc. Don’t be offended. Don’t assume. In general it is best to err on the safe side and explain the plan function, the thesis of the disadvantage, and how counterplans avoid net benefits. 

Framing debates- An easy way to ensure higher speaks and tell me how and what to evaluate in 2nr/2ar is to have an ethos moment. An ethos moment tells me how to filter/view the debate.  

Explanations over cards. I usually award my ballot to debaters who create a story and have good analysis of their arguments. Like a lot of judges, smart arguments can beat carded evidence. 

I perhaps am considered a "K hack". This by no means suggests I do not/prefer not to judge policy rounds. I find that there are good things from the policy side as well as the critical side. 

 

Things I like to see in a round

Courtesy. Be nice to your partner and opponents.

Be prepared to defend everything you say, do, or justify.

Time your own prep and your opponents.

Prep ends when flash is handed to opponents, otherwise I will deduct speaker points at my discretion.

 

Ethics

Cheaters! You will lose. No clipping. No power tagging. No plagiarizing. No exceptions.

*The opposing team must prove without a doubt that such instances occurred. Video recordings resolve this for me. Punishment for stopping a debate and failing to prove dishonesty will result in an automatic loss or some consequence at the discretion of tournament officials. 

 

Argument prefs

Counterplans- Read the plan text slowly, also extending the plan mechanism in later speeches is not a bad idea. Explain how the counterplan solves the net benefit.

Kritiks- Good plan and advantage links are very appreciated, as is alternative explanations. Avoid lengthy overviews as much as possible. Because of the complexity of Kritik debates, I suggest you read the Miscellaenous section and the Framing section of my philosophy. 

Disadvantages- Explain the story. I want to know very specifically what the affirmative does to uniquely trigger the link. The neg fares better chance at winning a disadvantage in front of me if I am clear on what the aff is or does.

Topicality- Slow down. I want to hear the interpretation and standards. Explicit extension of the interpretation(s) is most crucial here. 

*On issues of Kritik affirmatives, I do evaluate impact turns to arguments such as Topicality.

Theory- Mostly a nonstarter. I do not like this trend of two second voting issue theories. I consider theory to be a legitimate argument to ensure fairness, and when applied in situations that merit theory I can vote on it. Ridiculous or excessive theories will result in lower speaker points. That being said, I will vote for conceded theory arguments.

Permutation- Make it clear in 2ac when they are made. Also please explicitly extend the perm you go for in later speeches. I don't like guessing which perm you go for.

Independent Voters- I do not like the idea of evaluating issues independent of arguments that you go for. If you really want me to vote on one specific argument, I expect the whole 2nr/2ar to be just that. 

 

Miscellaneous

I've noticed that when evaluating kritik debates, a clear articulation of links/link turns has been lacking:

1) I am not usually persuaded by links of ommission/deliberate exclusions of ....

2) Links that indict knowledge/logic and/or representations must show exactly how those representations manifest into something bad. (Historical analysis helps do this). 

 

Ask me any questions before the round starts. 

add me to the email chain: jzhen13@ilstu.edu

pronouns: she/her/hers/judge/you

Background:

I'm currently a graduate student at Illinois State University where I am pursuing a masters in communication studies. I debated public forum in high school and competed in policy debate at California State University, Fullerton. I earned my bachelors degree in political science and human communications with an emphasis in argumentation and persuasion.

I have not judged or competitively debated in a while. Therefore, I would prefer if everyone could speak at a reasonable pace. Clarity and being able to articulate your arguments clearly is important to me.

PF Paradigm

-Explaining the link chain of your arguments and terminalizing impacts

-Your speech should be building off each other. If you want to bring something up in the final focus, make sure it's in the summary

-I am fine with speed but make sure to speak with clarity. I need to be able to hear the cards and warrants

-I dont flow cx

LD/Policy Paradigm

AFFs: I like traditional and nontraditional AFFs. However, I do prefer traditional style of debate. These are my favorite to judge.

I don't like phil. I'm not the best in evaluating them. However, if you do read them in front of me, I will do my best in evaluating it.

Even though I prefer traditional debate, I still like any type of argument you run! It doesn't matter if it's straight up policy, K, CP, FW, etc. I am familiar with these arguments and have read these before. However, I would rather you err on the side of over-explanation. Make sure there are links between your arguments and you clearly explain them to me. Do not just read cards and expect that to be sufficient, I want you to go further than that. I will vote for whatever you tell me to vote on. I've voted on extinction good before, just give me a good reason to do so.

-Impact calculus is important to me. I want you to weigh the impacts and not just read them. If you do not articulate your impacts to me, then why does your argument even matter? This is what I usually judge off of.

-Spreading is okay as long as you articulate and are clear. However, since it is now online, I would rather you speak a bit slower. I have judged a couple tournaments online and there are times when the speech is unclear due to technological problems. I need to be able to hear the words coming out of your mouth!

-I don't permit clipping cards. That is unfair and you will lose and get a 0 for your speaker points.

-Don't expect me to do the work for you because I won't. Tell me why you deserve the ballot.

Tech > Truth

Please dont be racist, sexist, homophobic!! Dont be mean in the round. If you do any of these things, your speaker points will be really low.

-If you have any questions or comments about my RFD you can email at jzhen13@ilstu.edu