Iowa City Middle School Tournament
2024 — Iowa City, IA/US
Novice CX Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideI've done policy since 2022, I'm currently a varsity debater at Iowa City Liberty High School.
TLDR:I'll vote on anything you can make me understand.
Put your analytics in the doc if possible
Tech> Truth
Explain your arguments, if you just say something without giving evidence i'm not flowing it. Explain WHAT and HOW.
Speed Reading: I'm fairly good at understanding spreading, do not spread your analytics.
Policy stuff: I'm good with most things if you can intelligently and coherently explain them to me.
Bonus:
Neg: I won't be the best at judging Kritiks, so explain them well.
Please ask any questions you want
I've been involved in policy debate since 2012 and a coach since 2018, currently Head Coach at Iowa City Liberty High School. By day, I'm employed as a sentient Politics DA. (Journalist with a major in political science.)
TLDR: I'll vote on anything you can make me understand. I love DA/CP/Case debates, I'm not a bad judge for the Kritik, but I've been told I'm not a great judge for it either. Speed reading is fine in the abstract, but I do hold debaters to a higher standard of clarity than I think many other judges to. Speed-reading through your analytics will guarantee I miss something.
Detailed Paradigm: everything below this line is background on my opinions, NOT a hard and fast rule about how you should debate in front of me. I do everything in my power to be cool about it, check bias at the door, etc.
Speed Reading: is fine. But don't spread analytics, please. 250 WPM on analytical arguments is really pushing it. I know that some judges can flow that fast, but I am not one of them: my handwriting sucks and is capped at like, normal tagline pace. Otherwise, you're free to go as fast as I can comprehend. I'll yell "CLEAR!" if I can't.
Policy stuff: Yeah of course I'll vote on disads and counterplans and case arguments and topicality. Are there people who don't?
CP theory: Listen, I'll vote on it, but I won't like it. I strongly advise that theory-loving 2As give warranted voters in the speech, and that 1ARs do actual line-by-line rather than pre-written monologues.
Kritiks: are pretty rad, whether they're read as part of a 12-off 1NC or a 1-off, no case strat. I want to be clear, though: I REALLY NEED to understand what you're saying to vote for you with confidence. I find a lot of very talented K debaters just assume that I know what "biopolitical assemblages of ontological Being" or whatever means. I do not.
K affs: are fine. I myself usually stuck to policy stuff when I debated, but I'll hear it out. You should probably have a good reason not to be topical, though. Some people have told me I'm a bad judge for K affs, others have told me I was the most insightful judge at the tournament. (More have told me I was a bad judge for it though, for what it's worth.)
Other debate formats:
PF: PF is traditionally about being persuasive, whereas policy is about being right. If you can do both I'll be impressed and probably give you a 30. Otherwise, I feel like I have a more or less firm grasp on your activity, but I certainly don't have all of its norms memorized.
LD: I have no idea how your activity works and at this point I'm too afraid to ask. Whoever successfully teaches me LD debate will get an automatic 30. Please dumb your Ks down for me, I'm a policy hack.
Congress: Listen, I did one congress round in high school and left it with 0 understanding of how it's supposed to work. If I'm in the back of your room, it means tabroom made a mistake. Because of my background in policy debate, I imagine I'll be biased in favor of better arguments rather than better decorum.
Sophomore and Policy debater on the Iowa City Liberty High School team. Email chains can be sent to zamoh26@icstudents.org, but speechdrop.net is preferred for sharing documents.
ADD ME TO THE CHAIN: adamsalem07@gmail.com
I am Adam Salem a freshman at West High School. I have 2 years of Policy experience with some PF and LD arguments.
My rules for judging are the following
• Tech over truth
• I expect you to time your own speeches and cross (I will be timing but will not comment)
• I will always disclose so please don't rush out after a round
• If I catch either team stealing prep after 1 warning I take away speaker points.
• Your prep ends when your hands are off the keyboard not when you are done adding cards
My Preferences:
• Sign-Post (I forget this sometimes too but please try)
• Road Maps (Off time of course)
• Dont stall CX just ask new questions
Instant Speaker Point loss:
• Direct and offensive racism
• Adding arguments in Final Speeches (also will not weigh them in the round)
Instant Speak Addition
• Greet the other team and shake their hand
• Be polite after every speech
+0.3 if you roast any of the following LD, Jerry Li, Gwen Smith, Max Schebel, Quincy Tate, Taha Salem, Or your partner (PG-13)
Speechdrop.net is strictly superior to email chains for in-round file sharing
I've been involved in policy debate since 2022, I'm currently a varsity student at Iowa City Liberty High School.
TLDR: I'll vote on anything you can make me understand.
Put your analytics in the doc.
Quality > Quantity of Arguments.
Make sure your claims are defensible and back up your claims with evidence. If you don't I won't flow them. Also, make sure to explain WHAT your argument changes and HOW it does that.
Speed Reading: is fine. But don't spread analytics. Please emphasize your tags. Otherwise, you're free to go as fast as I can comprehend. I'll say "CLEAR!" if I can't understand what you're saying. If you do not fix the clarity, your speaks will take a hit.
Policy stuff: Yeah of course I'll vote on disads and counterplans and case arguments and topicality. I'm not picky.
Bonus:
Neg: I'm not going to be the best K judge, but I am willing to vote on it. Explain the link, why it's specific to the aff, and why it outweighs.
Remember, Arguments always sound much better when they're delivered confidently.
Have Fun and I'm happy to answer any questions.