Cal Invitational UC Berkeley
2019 — Berkeley, CA/US
Varsity Public Forum Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show Hide"Back in my day, we only had two minutes to give our summaries!"
Hi I'm Allen and I'm an old third-year out who competed in PF all four years of high school (fun fact: I also competed in DI for three years). In my hey day, Ahana (my former partner) and I cleared at the TOC and a number of other cool nat circuit tournaments. Two years ago, I coached Dalton CY (best team on the circuit don't @ me) and Capitol Debate's travel team. I founded PF Videos and used to be a mod of /r/Debate. I'm no longer involved in debate, sans for judging occasionally.
Outside of debate, I'm a third-year at UChicago studying international political economy with a focus in East Asia, Southeast Europe, and U.S. foreign policy. I judged the NFU topic at Tradition in early November, but I'm not familiar with the "latest arguments" on this topic. I do have a strong academic and professional background in IR and U.S.-China relations. If you're citing international relations theory (anything like MAD or nuclear revolution theory or even realism), I'll probably be familiar with what you're talking about. Biggest issue I've seen on this topic is the lack of warranting, especially on deterrence arguments from the con.
For those of you who had me as a judge previously: I probably haven't changed much. I've probably become a better judge than I was last year because I'm not in deep with the community (i.e. I don't know the top teams on the circuit this year, I don't have hard opinions on how debaters should debate, and I don't personally know the topic arguments or lit, so I will have very few implicit biases walking into the round).
For those of you who haven't had me before, or want a refresher:
1. Tech > Truth. Most debate arguments are BS (we all know it) and I don't have a problem with smart high schoolers coming up with creative or original arguments. I've completely suspended my belief for this tournament.
2. I love argument comparison! This can take the form of (but does not exclude other methods of comparison) doing impact framing/meta weighing. Please don't forget about reading/extending internal links and terminal impacts.
3. My default beliefs for the round are:
a) second rebuttal should frontline
b) first summary should interact with defense to the extent that the second rebuttal frontlined (so, if the second rebuttal frontlines, the first summary should interact with that frontlining if they plan to go for anything from rebuttal in final focus); if second rebuttal doesn't frontline, the first speaking team can extend defense from rebuttal to final focus
c) no new arguments in final focus (unless the first final focus is answering something new in second summary)
d) the judge only calls for cards if their is a dispute over them or a debater tells me to call for them
e) the judge presumes for the first speaking team
But, debaters are always free to read theoretical justifications in the round to tell me otherwise!
4. If there is anything I can do to make the round more accessible, please let me know beforehand.
5. I love fast debate, but have Auditory Processing Disorder, which means I sometimes don't immediately comprehend everything I hear during speech. Thus, I may ask for clarifying questions after your speech about a tag or warrant I didn't catch in your speech (I'm not intervening, I'm trying to do the best that I can to give you a fair round). Please give me (and your opponents) a speech doc if you go above 300 words per minute.
6. I start at a 29 for speaker points. Points go up for good strategic decision on the flow. Points go down for miscut cards, ghost/no extensions, and bad behavior in round.
If you haven't gathered, I'm a funny (I tell myself this) and sarcastic (other people tell me this) individual. The following is a joke:
I will give you +0.1 speaker points for every TableTote height setting used in round above the first. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check this out. (this is a joke)
Automatic 30 for a Coke Zero (not a Coke Zero Sugar) or freshly made risotto (recipe below).
Allen's Signature Parmesan Risotto
Ingredients
-3.5 cups chicken broth
-3 cups water
-4 tablespoons unsalted butter
-1 medium onion, finely diced or minced
-2 cups dry white wine
-2 cups Arborio rice
-1.5 cup Parmesan cheese
-Ground black pepper (white pepper, if you're feeling spunky)
-Penzy's Italian Herb Mix (which consists of oregano, basil, parsley, marjoram, thyme, and rosemary)
Instructions
1. Bring the broth and water to a simmer in a large saucepan (I use a Dutch Oven) over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting after the broth reaches its boiling point. Keep on the backburner.
2. Melt the butter in a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat. Once the foaming subsides (DON'T BURN THE BUTTER), add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is very soft and translucent, about 9 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring frequently, until the edges of the grains are transparent, about 4 minutes. Add 1 cup of the wine and cook, stirring frequently, until the wine is completely absorbed by the rice, about 2 minutes. Add 3 cups of the warm broth and, stirring frequently, simmer until the liquid is absorbed and the bottom of the pan is dry.
3. Add more of the broth, 1/2 cup at a time, as needed, to keep the pan bottom from becoming dry; cook, stirring frequently (every 1 or 2 minutes), until the grains of the rice are cooked through but still somewhat firm in the center, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in 1 cup of the cheese and the remaining wine. Season with the herbs, salt, pepper, and additional cheese, to taste (DON'T OVER-PEPPER! WHITE PEPPER IS ESPECIALLY STRONG).
Honestly, debaters focus too much on persuasion through auditory perception. I'd like for there to be a debate event where we use olfaction and gustation as tools for persuasion. However, PF isn't that event, and you probably weren't going to get the kitchen/utensils/wine necessary to make the risotto during a tournament. So, we're back to just debating. But you should try making this risotto! It's very good, and everyone in my residential house in college loves it (except when I over pepper/burn the butter).
I debated 4 years in policy and pf at Saratoga High School
*I won't vote for an argument that doesn't have a warrant
*If it's important it should be in every speech (including key defense)
*Speed is fine, but slow down for taglines and citations. Don't use it exclude other debaters.
Theory
Threshold for theory is high, I'll vote on it if the abuse is egregious. Default to competing interps, no RVI, drop the arg (unless justified otherwise)
K
I like arguments that lean into K's and are debated like a K. I think these types of arguments are better than traditional Kritiks for PF, but I will still evaluate a K if you read it in round and know exactly what you are doing.
Evidence
I prefer debaters read cards in the constructive. Paraphrasing often leads to misconstruing - I will call for cards at the end if no warrants are given
Very stock parent judge. Believe that speaking is as important as debating, thus strong speaking skills will be rewarded with good speaker points. I try my best to take notes but I’m no expert at flowing. My son does debate and I try to listen in on the arguments he talks about. Truth > Tech.
Cross Ex is a really easy way to win my ballot. If you can poke holes in your opponents arguments whilst clearly and strategically explaining your own arguments I will appreciate it and it makes my job easier. I pay attention to all of the cross exes.
Please don’t spread or even speak too fast. It is important that you know how to speak in a organized but also realistic manner. Spreading means I can’t understand and thus I can’t take note of your arguments.
Impact calculus probably makes judging easier. Even if you’re losing an argument but you can prove why the ones you are winning are more important I will vote for you. These usually sound like “Even if you buy their arguments on economic policy, our climate change argument is more important because.......”
I am a lay parent judge! Please speak clearly, explain your arguments, and be kind.
Any type of racism, sexism, or other discriminatory behavior will not be tolerated.
I’m a lay judge, so treat me as such. However, I will take notes and try to follow along with the debate to the best of my abilities. If I have clarifying questions at the end of the round, I may ask them after the debate is over.
I did 4 years of PF in high school at Cypress Bay (class of 2018)
I think debate is supposed to be a fun extracurricular activity so keep the round lighthearted. I am open to all styles of debate, just be respectful of your opponents and the rules of the game. In other words, "SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT"
If you have any other questions feel free to email me andrewbriceno2000@gmail.com or ask me before the round!
Hi, I'm Hema! Here are my judging preferences.
- Please speak slowly and enunciate clearly.
- Keep your own time.
- Don't bring up new evidence in the final focus.
- If you want me to check a piece of evidence for validity, let me know and I will take a look at it after the round.
- I don't want to weigh arguments for you. Make sure to tell me why they matter more than your opponent's arguments.
- Be respectful during the debate, don't shout or interrupt each other or roll your eyes or anything like that.
- If I think it's a tie or there aren't any clear offensive arguments, I will vote based on strength of cross fire
- I won't give you visual cues like nodding whether or not I like your points.
- If it comes down to empirics vs theories, I will vote on empirics.
Cornell '22.
In High School I did PF, extemp, LD, and some congress.
Speaking:
- Go as fast as you want, but keep in mind that saying an argument faster does not make it a better argument. Clarity is more important than speed. If an accent, speech impediment, etc. hinders your ability to speak clearly when talking fast, you WILL NOT be penalized for this. If I can't understand what you're saying, I'll raise my hand. Within reason, I won't penalize you for this.
Argumentation:
- Content: I'm willing to entertain just about any argument as long as you support it. The one exception to this is ad hominem attacks: they are destructive to the debate space and will most likely get you voted down. I love complex/intricate arguments when they are explain well. Of course, use evidence. Unsubstantiated claims are bad. However, make sure you understand your evidence. Logical attacks on the rationale for a piece of evidence cannot be countered simply by saying "qualified author john doe says it's true so it is." I'm going to be very attentive to your impacts, so make sure to weigh them.
- K's: Personally not a fan, so if possible try to avoid them. Furthermore, PF speeches are short, so it would be pretty difficult to properly execute one. But I will obviously still listen and judge the round fairly.
- Theory: Obviously, debating the topic is preferred. That being said, if you believe there has been a legitimate violation by the opponent that precludes a fair round, I would encourage you to address it.
- Counter plans: As far as I'm aware, you're not supposed to run these in PF. That being said, in my experience people often abuse this rule to classify any potential alternative world the neg proposes as a counter plan. Therefore, I'm going to hold a very strict definition of what qualifies as a counter plan. In almost all cases, unless there is an explicit plan text, it probably not a CP. Please do not throw the "this is a counter plan" accusation lightly.
https://www.tabroom.com/index/paradigm.mhtml?search_first=evan+&search_last=steinberg
I give lower speaks when I'm hungry.
**tl;dr read the bold. I like starting on time/early if possible.
For background, I debated PF 4 years at Newton South and it's my 4th year coaching at Nueva. I feel like it's best if you probably treat me like a flay leaning tech judge? If you have issues with any parts of my paradigm I'm happy to discuss and/or potentially change some preferences for the round. The later in the day it gets, the more tired I get, so if I'm grumpy it's not you, it's me.
---Most normal tech things apply: here are more unique thoughts
Tech~Truth: I will buy anything that at least kinda makes sense as your arguments get more extreme/factually incorrect. I will need more work from you to win it and less work from opponents to lose it.
You need cards, but more importantly warrants; I will buy a strong analytic over a unwarranted card. Extend internal links (logical warranting) in addition to overall links/impacts otherwise I won't want to vote on it (99% of the time this is the reason I squirrel in out rounds). This isn’t Pokémon, I don’t want to hear why your card beats their card.
Please do not signpost by cards (ideally, number voters and use contention tags)
---Other stuff
- Speaking: Speed is fine short of spreading. Speaks are based on speaking and content, I will bump if you pull off a cool strategy in round well. Don't be a bully, don't let yourself be bullied. I might not be looking/flowing during cross but I'm listening, make jokes and stuff, have fun :)
- Theory/Progressive args: Run at your own risk, I'm not an expert but know the basics. I tend to think theory disadvantages new debaters so I'll probably only vote on it if: y'all all are down for it pre-round (and my level of judging lol) and/or there's actual discrimination happening and/or it's drop the arg not the debater
- Weighing: "Strength of link," "urgency," and "clarity of impact" mean nothing unless you warrant and implicate them. I think you should consider thinking of weighing less with buzzwords and more by literally thinking about why one is more important than explaining it (truth is convincing).
- Evidence: Don't lie. Even if it’s an accidental miscut, drop it. Find cards within a couple minutes or I'll ask you to drop them. I'll call cards if you tell me to, but won't do it on my own unless a card is both important and sketchy - if it is bad, I won't consider it regardless of whether your opponents called it or not.
- Be sensitive and respectful: Co-opting issues for a strat is not ok - care about the issue, have a productive debate. Consider if you need a content/trigger warning + spare contention. These issues are real and affect the people around you, possibly including me and those in your round and I will not hesitate to vote you down and drop speaks if something is up. That being said, let me determine that: please don't make "they don't care enough" args.
Last thoughts: I generally don’t presume and instead just lower my link/round standards til someone meets them. Let your parents watch your rounds! They've earned it. And remember to eat!
Email: kaylaxchang@berkeley.edu. Please feel free to reach out for any concern, round/not round related.
I did four years of PF and two years LD in high school. I am currently a freshman at Cal. Speed is fine, but PF is not designed for spreading. The integrity of debate lies in good organization, solid impacts, and weighing. A few things:
- Things I extend across the flow have to be extended through each speech. No random extensions of arguments brought up in case and forgotten until FF
- Don't try to cover the entire round in FF! Prioritize, weigh, tell me what is most important
- I listen to cross, but extend anything important through each speech
- Evidence debate can get messy--when you do use it, use it right
- Please be courteous to each other and enjoy yourselves!
Feel free to ask if you have any other questions before round.
I am a parent judge. Please speak slowly and clearly. Good luck!
email chain: jackcrawford1825@gmail.com
I debated in HS for 4 years under La Salle NC with 2 quals for the TOC/other nat circ experience.
Holistically I have 8 years of debate experience & there arent many debate args/styled that I haven't had personal experience debating for/against. Currently a mostly K/theory debater in college in VLD.
"Progressive debater"
Speed's cool, don't spread through your tags.
I'm tab.
Post-round me one on one after the round if you really would like to challenge my decision, I won't have an argument with you in front of a room full of people.
Everything here is for LD and below this ( I marked where) I'm slowly making a PF paradigm again because I'll start judging it later in the year.
K
To avoid an awkward conversation at the end of a round, the perm doesn't work as offence.
NEG:
I think you have the burden of providing specific links and framing your impacts at the end of the debate.
I won't do work on the Baudrillard shell for you for example, it's very important you explicitly say why you're winning what and its implications on the round. Some auths. can stretch farther and in different ways than others but you need to do it explicitly for me to give you credit for that.
TLDR: I won't vote what Baudrillard elaborates, but what you elaborate in the context of Baudrillard for example.
AFF:
I'm fine with whatever, you don't need to defend USFG action but you should show how you are in some way tangentially related to the topic to avoid the FW wall. Or dont, there's still a world where I'd vote for it.
I should probably add at the bottom of this I primarily read more contemporary french theorists than anything else, with the exception of other auths. like hegelians, kantians, marxists, those crowds.
Theory/FW
Theory: So while I'm all for your TOTALLY RADICAL hijinx on the T page, it would behoove you to win more than just that the debate was difficult for you to win. In my mind debate ought to be very difficult, to reach the threshold for me to evaluate a T shell the way it ought to be evaluated (apriori) then you should hit a higher bar than "x made the AR difficult".
That said, I'm all for extremely technical theory debate, just keep in mind what I am comfortable voting on.
I don't vote on disclosure.
I don't vote on speed theory in the event there's a speech doc. (I'll still clear you in round)
FW: I default competing interpretations if for some nightmarish event happens where nobody discusses this.
Otherwise, its a debate like any other.
Case/DA/CP?
I'm tab, do whatever you like.
I evaluate on the line-by-line and appreciate your ability to group & get into substantive arguments rather than blippy sentences that touch each line.
I generally advise that you don't assume you have a 100% chance in terms of the strength of link to your impact scenario, you should explain how it gets to that point with 100% certainty.
It's not that I don't vote on your 3 word 100% certainty impact analysis, but that doing this leaves you open to a compelling argument (for me).
Speaks/CX
30's for everyone
If something in CX isn't made in a speech I didn't hear it and its not on the flow.
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^^speaks/cx^^
PF
I'm flowing. You win my ballot by winning in a technical way the flow.
Come to the round preflowed, you don't have to wait on me before you flip for sides.
Speed is fine, I debate fast in LD, you need to send out & be capable of making speech docs for the opponent if you're going to start spreading. This needs to be done in a reasonable amount of time and I won't wait around/accomodate to make this a more viable option for you. You spread, you should be able to take on the higher expectations that go along with it.
jackcrawford1825@gmail.com -- for the email chain
Cards
I like cards and you should read them.
If you take 5-10 min. on every card call I'll get angry and start tanking speaks, you should be able to access your cards quickly.
Front half (AC/NC & AR/NR)
Constructives can be anything, I'm tab and I don't ever take my own opinons of policy into a debate round.
I will evaluate and abide by the conceded/won framework very strictly and also as an apriori issue unless told otherwise.
Rebuttals can do whatever, I don't evaluate offensive overviews coming from 2nd rebuttal. I expect 2nd rebuttal to handle offense.
Back half (2AC/2NC & 2AR/2NR)
The 3 min. summary in my eyes is something that just puts more onus on the 1st speaker to do more weighing/analysis than blippy line-by-line work.
Summaries that go first need to extend offense on the other teams case (like extend your turns), you don't need to re-extend your defense unless you're making cool tricky pivots.
Summaries that go second should do the same thing & handle defense on your case.
FF
Please frame/weigh your impacts, if you don't go for your f/w or try to win under the f/w in ff it's prob. a really bad thing for you in my eyes.
Offense that you don't get into ff I don't evaluate, and framed offense beats a larger quantity of offense 9/10 times.
Theory
I don't vote on disclosure or formal clothes. I look down on these args being read in round, espec. in this event.
If you can't win a reason why the theory vio. made the debate impossible for you to win, it's not apriori, and I cannot imagine a scenario I'll vote on the shell. (I say why in the LD section)
It's an apriori issue that works as an RVI because the event's too short by a massive margin to prevent this from being over-strategic.
Therefore, you ought not spitball blippy poorly constructed theory args. (please) at non-tech teams because it's a coinflip if you can hit the high threshold & avoid the RVI. I can and will enforce the RVI.
I have judged PF and LD a few times over the years for my elder son and now for my daughter. I have no problem with fast pace, I am comfortable and informed about the current topic. While the entire debate and each part is important, I pay additional attention for the final summary as I feel that synthesizing all information and concluding plays a big role.
FEB 2020 NOTES:
1. When you read evidence about UBI being successful and the evidence is from experiments where recipients also received means-tested welfare, you should probably be aware of this when asked by an opponent.
2. Please don't yell at me. I shut down and struggle to listen to what you are trying to communicate when you scream at me in a round.
3. If you need a speech doc to advance your arguments in the round because you are communicating at a speed that alienates people who walk into the room then you should post that case publicly (not an email chain sent in round) prior to the round so the *public* forum can be prepared to debate you without spending their prep time reading a speech doc. Otherwise communicate at a speed accessible to the *public* forum.
Public Forum (Not PoFo - there is no O in Public) Paradigm
1. Framework is not a voter. It's a way to frame voters. Frame them.
2. Both sides will suprisingly win something. It's how those things interact that make the debate. Don't make me figure it out. Weigh. Clash. Give me something to prefer.
3. This may be a shock but I actually expect a debater to respond to the speech right before them. In other words, the second rebuttal ignoring the first means they are AVOIDING ACTUAL DEBATE. The first summary can feel free to then extend and explain why all those drops are important. It is probable that the second team will lose at that point if they forgot to address the first rebuttal's speech.
4. I WILL DROP A TEAM THAT IS UNCIVIL OR PLAYS EVIDENCE GAMES BEFORE EVALUATING THE ROUND. LET'S PLAY NICE IN THIS *PUBLIC* FORUM AND KEEP THE ACADEMIC INTEGRITY OF THE ACTIVITY IN TACT!
Have fun. Because if you aren't having fun you are losing. Even if I vote for you.
PREFLOW BEFORE THE ROUND PLEASE
I did pf for 4 years completed on the national circuit.
Warrant every argument you make, and don’t expect your opponents/judge to take it at face value.
Weigh the round so I don’t have to, by the end of the second final focus it should be pretty clear who I am voting for because the debaters evaluated the round and condensed it for me. You don’t want to be in the position where I am left at the end of the round weighing arguments for you and putting the decision in my hands.
If you’re gonna spend 30+ seconds of your speech on framework, you need to tie it into your arguments and explain to me what u gain/opponents lose. Speeches in public forum are too short for you to waste your time debating framework if winning it makes no difference on the overall decision.
Debate style: I am open to anything. If you’re going to talk fast you need to be clear and sign post properly or it will work against you. Be respectful to one another, you can be assertive and make points without being rude.
- truth > tech
- Realpolitik.
-prefer clear communication over speed
-No abusive framework or definitions
-no Ks
-no plans
-no theory debate
-while evidence is important, the flow of the debate and communication is more important;excessive card checks takes away from the flow.
email- michaeleusterman@gmail.com
put me on the chain
Eagle High '18, UC Berkeley '22
Overview-
I will evaluate anything. Don’t switch your style. However, I have a higher threshold for certain arguments. Here is a little of what I think about debate, but I can be convinced otherwise if you debate well.
- Tech over truth.
- Flashing/Emailing isn’t prep unless it’s unreasonable/I can see you prepping.
- Don’t steal prep.
- Don’t clip.
- Condense in the block and last speeches
Impacts-
Extinction outweighs, and I am persuaded by turns case with big disads. I think it is less useful dumping fifteen framing cards against disads about structural violence coming first, and more useful to answer the impacts to the disad to make it look silly.
Cards-
read them, read more ev please, and read more warrants from that ev
I find that not enough teams read evidence to warrant claims, and evidence will usually be weighed over analytics. This being said, if there is a major logical hole in a disad, a good analytic can be very persuasive (cards help with that too).
CP/ Theory-
Solid way to beat the case, I think they are underutilized by teams.
Generally- Condo good, pics good, 2NC CPs good, states good (find a fed key warrant). CPs that rely on certainty or immediacy like consult etc. generally are unfair. I believe judge kick is legitimate and think most 2nrs should say judge kick (if the 2AR doesn’t say “THEY DIDN’T SAY JUDGE KICK SO VOTE AFF ON PRESUMPTION” or something like that, then I will judge kick). CP theory is reject the arg.
Da
Solid, win them, wins turns case, do impact work, read more cards. Paired with a CP, explain why CP doesn’t link.
K
I have a higher threshold for teams that go for the K. I think a lot of Ks need to be explained in context of the affirmative, and they aren’t (i.e. why turns case? Not just root cause hopefully unless you explain why the alt resolves their impacts). I generally think fiat is good and debate is a competitive activity, so don’t just assert that its not real and expect me to not evaluate the aff anymore. I don’t understand most high theory stuff and it needs to be explained to me as an argument. Floating PIKs are bad and the 1ar pointing that out will basically make it impossible for the 2nr to win.
K/planless affs and framework
Fairness is an impact, and debate is a competitive activity. I have a very high threshold for these types of affs. 1. Must have some sort of reason why doing your aff on the aff in debate is critical, 2. Please do some explanation of why the interpretation that you give on framework is good instead of just reading a list of disads to their interp that are all the same. Neg- Switch side and TVAs are very persuasive to beat aff offense. It’s important that both the 2NR and 2AR collapse heavily to a few solid arguments.
T
Have impact comparisons, read better cards. Read solid, precise T cards. I generally default to competing interps but don’t think it’s an all or nothing approach. If the aff wins a good defense of reasonability, I may view good defense as offense for the aff.
Last updated: 2/7/20 for Berkeley 2020
Affiliation: Harker (2016 - present)
I debated for four years for Foothill (Pleasanton, Calif.) and competed pretty heavily on the national circuit, but never left California except for NDF (two summers) and the ToC (4-3, 2015). To that end, if you’re looking for a short paradigm read, you can assume I’m pretty similar to other first-year outs who make decisions largely based on the flow. Go as fast as you want (I'm good with anything below spreading level!), but look out for cues if I can’t understand what you’re saying (tl;dr: please enunciate clearly). I’ll also disclose and give oral feedback after the round as long as all debaters are okay with that. Additionally, please do not flip for sides/position until I'm in the room.
First and foremost, be kind to one another: to your opponents in CX, to your partner during prep time (don't yell at them! We're all out here trying our best), to any spectators, to the equipment in the room we're using, and to me. If I don't think you're being respectful, it will be reflected both in your speaks and my post-round comments to you.
My most important caveat is I will not evaluate an argument if you don't warrant it. For example, you cannot tell me “Vote Pro because we save ten thousand lives” if you do not actually spend enough time explaining to me *why* that’s the case. This means a handful of things:
- Every argument / voter in the round should follow claim-warrant-impact. Given that I value warranting the most, I will not give you access to your impact unless you give me a warrant.
- If the debate is a wash on the impact level, I will vote for the team that has superior warranting. This can be accomplished either through quantity (two warrants vs one), or quality (a particular warrant seems much more intuitive, and is backed by empirics). It all depends on how you weigh for me!
- While I’d like to say I’m tab / a believer in tech over truth, I am much more likely to vote for intuitive arguments. That said, I ran some pretty sketchy stuff as a debater myself though, so if you have good, carded warrants for WW3 or human extinction, hit me with your best shot — but be cognizant that I will evaluate these arguments with a degree of skepticism.
- If you run theory, I’ll make my best attempt to listen, but there’s a 99% chance I’m going to have significant difficulty understanding your advocacy. That means you should probably only run theory in the case of serious and obvious abuse.
- It is impossible to warrant a bigoted argument. That means any racism, homophobia, sexism, elitism, etc. will not be tolerated if I'm sitting in the back of the room -- that stuff has no place in a community as wonderful as ours.
- It is difficult to give five well-warranted responses to an argument your opponent runs. Quality > quantity.
- I am much more likely to give you higher speaks if you and your partner do a superior job warranting.
Other random stuff:
No need for an off time roadmap before starting your rebuttal. Please just tell me which side of the flow you're starting on (i.e. whose side of the flow you want me to put the framework debate on).
I’m a big fan of creative frameworks that go beyond “lives are #1” or “net benefits,” such as trend arguments or weighing ST v. LT (or anything that helps to mitigates your opponents’ offense from the get-go).
I hate voting off of buzz words like “economic benefits” and “increased security” — give me good, quantified impacts and empirics to weigh. If you do not weigh for me, then I cannot guarantee I will weigh the way you want me to.
I strongly prefer that the second rebuttal address the 1st rebuttal -- especially if your opponents are reading turns -- but at the end of the day, make the strategic choice you think is best for you and your partner.
I flow old school, with a piece of paper paper and two Pilot G2 pens. I like to think I'm decent at getting everything you say down on the flow, but if something is super important, you might want to slightly slow down (for both the aforementioned reason and rhetorical effect).
I will call for cards if either you/your opponents explicitly tell me to do so in a speech, or if anything sounds exceptionally sketchy. If I think you're misrepresenting your evidence, I reserve the right to drop that card when making my decision.
If you're taking free prep time while your opponents are looking for evidence that you asked for, I will ask you to stop. Similarly, you shouldn't take too long finding evidence for your opponents.
The best summaries / final foci require minimal work on the flow. That means you should feel pretty good about your speech if you just see me drawing extensions for the whole two minutes.
TL;DR — I vote for the team with the better, cleaner narrative. The best way to do that is by weighing and giving me strong warrants.
Lastly, I believe that any spectator should be allowed in the room. Debate is an educational event at heart, and I learned so much by watching varsity teams back in the day. In prelims, I'm happy to ask that spectators not flow / take notes while watching (you can learn a lot by just listening), but in Elims, it's all a part of the game. I will be very disappointed in you if you choose to turn any spectator away, including parents! If you also have an issue with a spectator being distracting in the room during one of your speeches, you should tell me ASAP.
Of course, the most important thing is to have fun. High school debate doesn’t last forever, so enjoy it while you can! Feel free to ask me any questions before the round.
Welcome!
Background
I am familiar with high school debate regarding how it functions.
My expertise and experience lies in Individual Events (IE) in both the high school and college realm.
Your assessment will primarily focus on argumentation. I do my best to avoid intervening in decisions, as it should be focused on the argument, as opposed to whatever narrative appeals to me (which unfortunately happens with some judges).
If you are disrespectful to your competitor, your score will reflect this.
Argumentation
Please do not make general assumptions, arguments not substantiated with evidence or logical rationale, or emotionally based arguments. I am keen in identifying weasel words (e.g. "Studies show ...", "The vast majority ...", "It has been shown that ..."). Most importantly, do not make fallacious arguments (e.g. personal attacks (ad-hominem), appeal to authority, appeal to popularity, correlation without causation).
While this may seem very standard, I have seen competitors make the above mistakes.
Please make solid, substantiated, and logical arguments that clearly prove your point, as this is the most important criteria in the assessment.
Delivery
The delivery of your content is somewhat important. You should present your arguments clearly, make proper eye contact, gesticulate in an enhancing manner (as opposed to distracting the judge), vocally deliver well, and have good posture.
However, your focus should be on your argumentation.
Spreading
I understand that the culture of debate may incline you to speak faster to present more points. However, if you speak too fast (i.e. spread), I will most likely not be able to understand you or remember what you said. I highly advise against spreading.
Most Importantly
Most importantly, I hope that you gain knowledge from this experience and (of course) have fun!
Be kind to one another.
I did PF and a little policy in high school.
I flow on a spreadsheet, so if I'm not typing during your summary/final focus I'm likely just copying and pasting your extensions.
You can go fast (I'll call clear if I can't understand you).
Cross isn't for making arguments. Please don't cut each other off.
Ask me any questions you have!
I am a community volunteer and Board member with a basic familiarity of Public Forum debate. I am a fairly new judge and can only base my judgements on what I can understand- so do not spread and if you speak quickly do so with clarity. Well-reasoned, clearly presented, and thoughtfully weighed arguments will trump squirrelly, techy, and/or poorly articulated positions. Use your constructives to set me up for your arguments - build your case, tell me the story. Rebuttals should give me reason to disagree with your opponent. Don't just attack, you need to defend. Summaries should be used to clean up anything vague or muddled. Use your final focus to make me vote for you.
I am a lay judge. I don't judge PuFo often, thus DO NOT SPREAD. I appreciate analysis of the evidence instead of just card dumping. Please make sure to analyze your evidence thoroughly. Thanks!
I signed up for Tabroom for a one time only commitment.
I did circuit CX in high school and now I am a senior at Cal (Cal '19).
Since I will be judging PUFO, I expect debaters to follow a default utilitarian framework, and to speak clearly at a reasonable pace. I expect you to give a brief background on the author of your sources (e.g. XX is a professor/reporter/etc. at YY).
Usually I try to refrain from having bias thus I will consider most of citations as valid unless they are blatant lies or from extremely biased/unfounded sources. However, this is up to the opponents to point out. At the end, I believe PF debate is game of logic, analytical argument is always welcome.
Please be respectful to your opponents and avoid the offensive languages. otherwise you will be dropped immediately.
I debated 4 years of policy in High school for Bellarmine and 1 in college for UT Dallas. I coach Policy and LD currently at Presentation High School. I have been there for 7 years. If quals matter I was in CEDA octas as a frosh in college.
brandon.garrett@gmail.com for the email chain.
General/CP/DA
Despite being mostly a T/K debater in high school, my team in Dallas was a very straight-up oriented team and as a result I am familiar with and accepting of those types of arguments as well. I read plenty of counterplans and disads in college and high school. I have had and judged tons of politics debate and states counterplan debates and soft vs hard power debates. I don't dislike these debates on face, I just dislike when they lack substance in the sense that theres no analysis happening. I am pretty okayish at flowing so prolly can get you at near top speed but will yell clearer from time to time. As with anything, if you cannot clearly articulate your argument or position, I will not vote for it.
That being said, I definitely havent judged these debates much lately bc most people think I am a K hack, but I actually find them easier to adjudicate and enjoy them a lot when they are good. In a policy v policy style round, I think I am generally a pretty good judge for these debates despite preferring to judge the more left debates.
T/K affs/Fwk
I am relatively familiar with most critical literature but thinks like schlag and heidegger and baudrillard need a lot of link work analysis and alt explanation as do other dense kritiks. this type of explanation will help you in the long run anyways.
I have been told I don't get preffed because my paradigm may be a bit strongly worded. I definitely feel very strongly about use of framework as a way to silence teams with a legitimate gripe against institutional and systemic injustice that is relevant both to this activity and students autonomy. I think there are certain schools that are obviously uninterested in engaging with the substance of these types of arguments because it doesn't benefit their hegemonic structure that is self reinforcing or because it puts coaches outside their comfort zone. I think these arguments are intrinsic goods to the future of the activity and I would tend to think the trend of the community voting patterns and explosion of identity and performance arguments corroborate this direction and opinion.
I am highly inclined to believe that T-USFG is very problematic against certain types of Ks or performance affs. Debate isnt just a game, but certainly has gamelike attributes. I think entirely gamelike views on debate ensure hegemony of opinions.
True procedural fairness doesn't really exist because of structural issues, judge bias, and humans being humans and not robots. Education in some form is inevitable - its just a question of how open you are to learning something and what you are contributing.
This activity matters, what we say in it matters, and if you feel like you have no answer to a K or performance argument then go through the following thought process real quick:
1) Am I more concerned with winning than understanding the arguments of my opponent (if you answered yes you prolly wont win my ballot)
2) Do I want to win and engage the substance of my opponents arguments (If you answered yes then you can proceed)
3) Do I have anything to actually engage with the probably true argument that people of color and women and other disadvantaged people are set up to fail and the institutions of the state and debate have failed them? (If the answer is no you can still potentially win this debate: contribute to the discourse or attack thiers/create your own methodology, and tell me why you think that should enable you to win my ballot. That or cut more cards and prep better answers)
Most people who read these arguments do it to discuss real issues that really matter to them and to our community. The norm of the community to try and avoid these conversations with theory spikes or T arguments that are unspecific and poorly developed is depressing and most definitely not a strategy i support.
To clarify: I think its fine to read Policymaking good / framing against a security K or cap K - but when the debate is about an individuals autonomy and recognition in the debate space (for example - a survival strategy for a PoC) that neccesitates an entirely different discussion.
I think T-usfg/fwk (its pretty much the same thing dont lie) is a competing interpretations debate and there is pretty much no convincing me otherwise. If you cant explain what your version of debate looks like then why should you win? I love a good fiat/framing debate and can vote either way on it.
Voting
I tend to favor the team that does more analysis and explanation of warrants. If you are extending your tag and cite but not explaining the warrants of your evidence your opponents will probably win. I also dont typically look for the easiest way out. You all put a lot into this activity and I want to make sure I consider every avenue.
I definitely think that extending a dropped argument is pretty impactful - many judges will tell you just because its dropped doesn't mean its true, but until your opponents make a reasonable refutation, I will evaluate dropped arguments with a high degree of weight. I will NOT, however, give you huge impacts for dropped arguments that are extended in a blippy manner.
I feel like the biggest thing I am lacking in most rounds is impact comparison across layers. I often find myself doing unnecessary intervention because no one tells me how their impacts interact with their opponents. If you want me to vote for you make the path to the ballot really clear, and I will follow your line of thinking. When there are a bunch of open ended questions at the end of the round and doors that are not closed there is always going to be a gap of understanding between my decision and your interpretation of the round. It is definitely your responsibility to minimize that gap as much as possible.
Theory and T
In terms of theory I don't really like to pull the trigger on reject the team unless there is proof of in round abuse. I could vote on a reject the team argument but they would have to be setting a pretty uniquely bad standard for debate. I think things like "must read a trigger warning" or "condo bad" definitely fall within this description. I have a very low tolerance for frivolous theory and am definitely not your judge if you like that style or tricks. There are winnable theory arguments in front of me but stuff like 'new affs bad' or 'plans bad' that dont make realistic sense arent gonna fly. Lookin at you LD community.
Speaks
I will take away speaks if you tell me to judge kick things. Do your job as a debater.
Speaks are about ethos, pathos, and logos. If you are lacking in presence or your arguments dont make logical sense it will be hard to get perfect speaks. The best technical debater in the world is probably only a 29.5 without ethos.
I don't really give 30s and a bunch of 29s and 29.5 is really for an amazing debater. 30 for me is perfect. That being said, I also don't really give 26 or 26.5 unless you are doing really poorly. If you got a 26.9 or lower you were probably very offensive towards me or your opponents. 27 range is you messed up some fundamentals like dropped an important argument, made a contradiction that was obvious, were uneducated on your own positions, etc.
PF specific:
I favor evidence far more heavily than other judges in this event. I am SO TIRED of kids not giving dates or cites to your evidence. There are NSDA evidence rules for a reason. I am gonna start docking a speaker point for each member of each team that doesn't properly cite your evidence. If I wanted to I could not evaluate any cards you dont read author and date for because of these rules.
You force me to intervene when you read 1 liner pieces of evidence. Just stop misrepresenting and paraphrasing cards and we will get along.
Arguments in Final Focus need to be in the summary or second rebuttal. I prefer if you are second rebuttal you respond to the first rebuttal but wont hold it against you. Its just the correct strategic choice.
Extending cards by name will help you win my ballot. Weighing is huge and matters a bunch. I think you should probably use cross ex for clarification and understanding rather than making arguments. Im not flowing cross-ex.
Yes, I would like to be included in the email chain: ghanimian.levon.98@gmail.com
Educational background:
- BA in History from California State University, Northridge. My focus was on the Medieval and Early Modern Middle East.
- MA in Community-Engaged Education and Social Change from Claremont Graduate University. My research mainly focused on Settler Colonialism in education and how to use Critical Pedagogy to develop praxis.
Debating and Coaching background:
High School: Traditional LD with Granada Hills Charter
College: Policy with California State University, Northridge
Coaching: Traditional and Circuit LD at Granada Hills Charter (2016-2021), Public Forum at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy (2017-2020). I mainly coached Traditional LD at Granada Hills Charter.
Debate Style: Since I did traditional LD in high school, almost all of my circuit knowledge comes from policy debate. I mostly read K's in Policy.
It's been a minute that I've judged TOC debate, so you might wanna limit how much jargon you use. Please take time to explain things clearly to me. I appreciate debaters who do this a lot!
General:
- LARP > Plan v. K > K v. K > Phil/Theory > Tricks
- Please slow down for analytics. I can't follow your arguments if I can't understand them.
- Don't be rude.
- Don't be someone who advocates for discriminatory or harmful positions.
- I'm not omniscient. I greatly value quality over quantity. Take time to explain things to me, especially terms or concepts that would generally be considered inaccessible.
- Clarity is one of the most important things for me in a round.
- I used to be completely tech>truth, but tricks and friv theory are pushing me to a more techy truth approach.
- I usually see myself giving 28.5 on average. I tend to give one 30 out per year.
- I'm pessimistic about the future of debate mainly because competitors do not bother to explain anything to the judge and they treat the judge as if they're an idiot for not knowing something. Taking the time to break away from your script to explain something to me is something I look forward to.
FW:
- I'm generally fine with any T/FW arguments you decide to run as long as they're ethical. Warrant your interps and counterinterps well. I like to see good clash with T/FW. In other words, actually interact with your opponent's claims.
- Please articulate your links clearly.
- I'm not the most familiar with RVI args, so reading it in front of me might leave me wondering how to evaluate the argument.
Kritik:
- Theories I'm fairly familiar with: Critical Pedagogy, Settler Colonialism, Cap, Foucault.
- I like performance debate a lot, but sometimes it's hard for me to follow along with the link, so I'd appreciate it if the links are clearly articulated.
- I am really interested in identity K's, but I don't feel comfortable voting for debaters that don't identify with their K and simply use it as a tool to win. Otherwise, I'm all for hearing identity politics and performance.
- Please clearly establish your alt.
- I'm down for PIKs
- I believe TVA is a strong argument against K Aff's.
- If you are going to run something that is high theory: Zizek, Delueze & Guattari, Derrida, Baudrillard, Agamben, etc., please explain it to me like it's not high theory. In other words, explain it to me like I'm five.
DA:
- My only request here is that YOU do all of the link work for me. I will not fill in gaps for you.
- A conceded DA will usually never look good for you.
CP:
- Net Benefit, net benefit, net benefit
- Don't drop the perm. I would like to see actual interaction with the perm.
- I think condo, generally, is good, but I'm willing to evaluate a condo bad arg.
- I don't mind PICs
Theory:
- I'm not a fan of frivolous theory by any means. (Highlighter, Brackets, Shoes, etc.)
- I believe that theory should be used as an actual check against abuse in round.
- I don't mind "X" argument bad arguments.
- Otherwise, explain theory clearly and simply to me.
Tricks:
-No, just no.
Case:
- Both sides, DO NOT drop the case.
- Aff, I think it's super important to hammer down on the fact that the case stands through. Too many debaters spend too much time on off cases and leave their case in a very vulnerable position.
- Responding to the case is a MUST. If you're a K debater, it's not mandatory for me but it will convince me to vote for you even more if you are able to pull direct rhetorical links from the AC.
Postrounding:
- Please feel free to ask me any questions after I give my RFD.
- It's very possible that you do not agree with my, or any other judges', interpretations in a round you lost. This DOES NOT give you the right to yell at your judge or the competitor.
- If you have any other questions after the round, please feel free to email me.
Speed:
- I'm generally okay with spreading, but I'd appreciate if slow down for analytics.
- Slow down for tags and authors.
- DO NOT spread if your opponent is not okay with spreading.
Public Forum:
- I vote off of a general offense/defense paradigm and use cost/benefit framework. However, I am MORE THAN HAPPY to have another FW in round.
-I expect arguments to be extended through summary to final focus if you intend on winning off of them. I don't have specific preferences for PF besides these, so if you have questions, don't hesitate to ask.
Congratulations for qualifying to TOC.
Here is what you need to know about my judging preferences:
1. I am a lay judge. I will take Truth over Tech...I will take logical analysis over unexplained cards .
2. No spreading please. If I do not understand what you said, then I cannot give you credit for those arguments.
3. I will pull strongly contested cards in the debate.
4. I expect that you are courteous to your team mates and opponents.
5. Theory , Ks fine by me .
Good Luck and may the odds be forever in your favor :)
My background: I debated public forum in Colorado from 2005-2009 (also competed in DX). I'm now a PF coach at St Francis HS in CA.
Public Forum
I would consider myself a pretty old-school public forum debater which means I am looking for "the people's debate" not policy. I want to see solid argumentation and rhetoric. If you want to get meta, do policy or LD.
Do not spread if you don't want me to lose half of your arguments. I can follow normal human speech at a higher speed than regular conversation, but again, no spreading.
Be organized and know your own cards. I have little patience for debaters who can't easily find their own cards or don't know which of their cards go with their own contentions. Give correct citations: author last name and year at minimum!
Be civil. I am a big fan of stoic confidence, and I hate aggressive, steamrolling "confidence"/cockiness.
Be honest with your prep time, but don't be a hawk of your opponent. I don't want to see arguing over 2 seconds.
Earn your speaks. 27 is average/passable to me. Non-verbals matter - eye contact, shifting feet/balance, hand movements/toying with objects, etc.
Feel free to ask me questions!
Lincoln-Douglas
I am very new to LD judging and have only judged a handful of local, slower LD rounds.
I want to see good, solid argumentation: strong rhetorical skills, good persuasion. I will likely have a hard time following intricate theory or policy strategies. I'm a PF debater, I can't follow K's very well. 'Nuff said. I am frequently telling my PF debaters to use less debate jargon, so take that as you will for LD. In other words, I do not like unwarranted jargon and will ignore it.
I like to see a defined value and value-criterion and encourage creativity (util is fine, but is often run very cursorily/boringly). I am not great at quickly evaluating dense FW, so If you choose to read a dense FW, give me a decent overview of how offense operates under it; i.e. what do I evaluate, how it affirms or negates, how/if it precludes your opponent's argument and offense.
Do not spread if you don't want me to lose half of your arguments. I can follow normal human speech at a higher speed than regular conversation, but again, no spreading.
Be organized and know your own cards. I have little patience for debaters who can't easily find their own cards or don't know which of their cards go with their own contentions.
Be honest with your prep time, but don't be a hawk of your opponent. I don't want to see arguing over 2 seconds.
Earn your speaks. 27 is average/passable to me. Non-verbals matter - eye contact, shifting feet/balance, hand movements/toying with objects, etc.
Feel free to ask me questions!
coaching (LD/Worlds/Speech) for Harvard-Westlake (2023-present)
coached (PF/LD/Policy/Parli/Speech) at Flintridge Prep and Westridge School from 2018 - 2023
competed in NPDA and Speech at LAVC
competed in Policy at southwestern cc and USC
email chain —-> trojandebateteam@gmail.com,
*ask me about debating at USC*
(I try to change my paradigm up a little bc I coach and judge a lot of things and it can be overwhelming if you think im a worlds person when I do policy or when you think you have an LD judge in the back of your congress rd)
for Worlds TOC (-- 4/20/24)
ask questions, I’m happy to answer things. Above all, I love good spirited debate, strong refutations, collapsing down of arguments, strategic concessions, comparative weighing and framing. Tell me how I should be seeing the round so I don’t have to intervene and frame it myself and your rfd will likely follow suit! I tend to defer to the simplest ballot story to resolve things and tend not to to have the energy to weigh alternative ways in which the round could’ve gone, but I’ll give you recommendations of what might’ve gotten my ballot or where I felt I could’ve been persuaded.
- content — good presentation of information, structure,
- strategy — good debate tech, answering of questions, taking questions, etc
- style — in depth analysis of said content and its implications, your aesthetic representations of this
Quick thoughts for pref sheets (usually for LD/policy)
general debate thoughts
1) I don't tell you how to debate but I do have preferences. That's just because I want everyone to see my ballot as accessible and within reach, not because I'll drop you if you challenge my preferences. I often rewrite my paradigm bc of how talented and exceptional debaters are. As such, I will vote on anything except:
- RVIs on T,
- friv theory (I think you can justify good practices and make them into args on the flow, disclosure is not friv)
- Tricks (these should be impact framing args imo),
- and I will not vote on arguments that implicate something that has happened out of round that I have not witnessed or been a part of. Screenshots are fine but I give a lot of defense bc I personally have no context
2) I think debate is super fun when there is an embodied or critical element to it -- if you read plans and defend us heg, just be passionate about it and tell me why I should care and I'm certain you can snag a 29 or higher otherwise disembodied debates tend to be super stale and you should definitely disconnect from the document and make the debate feel real for me. I am not a drone and I like debates to feel like I'm not an ai robot
3) I have a pretty low evidentiary standard (LD background sorry), but I do have a research background and would like you to do some work with your evidence. I am a strong proponent of doing more with less. I will read along as it happens. That being said, my contemporaries are considerably better card people, I did a lot of performance. (translation: pls dont put me in a 2nr/2ar debate about competition theory about the counterplan)
4) I prefer people tell me how to evaluate their debates, framing included, what matters, what doesn't -- filtering / sequencing etc
5) debates are simplest and imo best executed when people reduce the number of args and clarify their argumentation and spend more time discussing the relation to the other teams args / participation in relation to their args, as well as making the link -> impact story more persuasive.
Lastly, I tend to defer to the simplest ballot story possible. Please collapse and make a choice. I think thats the beauty of debate is winning your argument rather than forcing me to have to do the evaluation of a number of sheets in the 2nr. Basically, if you go into the 2nr with 4 off case and expect me to vote on one of them, I'm going to be really upset.
I'll do my best to explain the world you've laid out for me in the debate and how I came to my decision in my RFD but I will not likely explain the the entire world of the debate in relation to implication of (x) unless it helps me vote differently.
keep reading below for specific preferences or how I think about things
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Stuff for Strikes/Prefs:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
debates about debate / pre-fiat: truth > tech
debates about warrants and information / post-fiat: tech > truth; but if you drop a DA, that usually means you lose if the impact o/ws the aff. if it doesn't, I'm just gonna be like wow you really let case o/w that's tough
t/fw: have voted on it but I've been labelled a K hack because of the args I read. I often feel like people should implicate the world view of the framework page more and tell me what their model of debate creates and impact that out. makes life a lot easier for everyone involved imo
Nebel T: boy, I don't get this and I'm too afraid to ask questions now, so pls explain what an up-ward tailed test is or we will both be lost
Theory threshold: kinda high actually, umm LD debaters need impacts to theory and clash is not an impact, it's a standard or an internal link to something -.- in policy, condo is cool. I will vote on condo but I have a high threshold for why you couldn't read the perm and a da to the alt
Critical Non T Affs: I love these, I've even been inspired to write specific positions by 2 debaters I've judged so I guess there's your spillover warrant -- pls have your fw answers and i'm super down to learn some new stuff!
"debatably" T/NonT Affs: really big fan, win your stuff
Tricks: pls don't thx ~~
Cheater CPs: love a smart counterpane debate, I had some fun reading some cheater CPs but I am not a counterplan competition maximalist -- please treat me like I'm a child in this debate, I will not be patronized
High Phil theory: pls strike me ; I genuinely do not enjoy the process of linking offense to a FW in which two things feel very similar and struggle to eval these debates unless there is a comparative advantage / cp / k format. I will judge them if I have to, but its a debate I don't enjoy.
high Phil Ks: I read a good amount of psychoanalysis (Lacan/freud), D&G and some others for classes as well as for leisure reading. That being said, please dont just assume we have mutual understandings of order words or the real x symbolic x the imaginary.
Args like Warming good / Recession good / death good; if warming is good bc it’s great for that one species of phytoplankton, tell me why that phytoplankton is key in comparison to the climate conditions of others; i.e., incremental warming is what's happening now, incrementalism is good) Same for like death good; it's gotta be like "we need to reorient how we see death" otherwise, you're gonna be in for a rough time
K v K debates: probably my preferred debate, as long as you explain what's going on, I'm here to let you run your round and evaluate it how you want me to. These are really fun debates for me to become engaged in and one I love watching.
Case Debate / Turns: yee these are cool
I did PF for 3 years and Extemp for 2 years on the Florida and national circuit.
TL;DR:
- moderate speed
- warrant your cards and arguments, tell a coherent story
- weigh your impacts for me (either with Cost Benefit Analysis or any other mechanism) & give me clear voters!
- be nice!
**********************************************************
Speed: I can understand moderate speed (150~200 wpm max). Please don't spread or else I could lose you on the flow.
Logic and Warrant:
I prefer logic that makes sense to cards that barely link to or strengthen each other. If you lose your access to your internal links, you lose your impacts.
Crossfire: I don't flow crossfire and I sometimes don't pay full attention. I believe that crossfire is a space for you to find the loopholes in your opponents' case and logic and understand their arguments better so you can better refute them. If something takes place in crossfire that you find important, bring it up in speeches and briefly explain it.
Evidence:
- While one team is looking for card PDFs, the other team should not be writing on their flows or typing. But if you take more than a minute to find your cards (unless there is technical difficulty), this means you are unprepared and I might dock speaks accordingly.
- In the case of disputes on the interpretation of a specific card, I will call for it at the end of the round.
- I prefer quantifiable, tangible impacts over vague ones like "increase the chance of nuclear war by 500%."
Summary and FF:
- Please do COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS and weigh your impacts! Tell me why your impact is more important than your opponents.
- Go for 1 or 2 stronger arguments instead of 3 or 4 args without emphasis.
- Please either signpost or give me an off-time road map!
- When referring to specific cards/evidence, please don't just drop the author's last name, I might not follow on which card you are referring to because I am not as familiar with your case as you are. Please tagline the card with a ~10 word summary :)
P.S.
Be polite and respect your opponents!
Most importantly, don't skip meals!
Go get breakfast and lunch and boba, it'll enhance your performance <3
Ask me about my favorite boba places in Berkeley!
If you see me around after rounds, come up to me and I'll always be happy to provide feedback.
If you have any specific questions email me at yj.guo@berkeley.edu, good luck!
I am a former high school policy/LD debater. I also competed in many individual events. Now, I am a trial lawyer. I seek to reward the speaking that connects most directly with the professional and personal activities that high school debaters will be performing in just a few short years.
For policy debaters: Debate is a game. And, in my opinion, policy is a place where (almost) anything goes. You can spread, you can run K, you can read a poem. If you've signed up for policy, you know the world you have signed up for. But, note the following: If I can't understand you or write/type/think fast enough, I might miss your brilliant argument. The stranger or more counterintuitive your argument is, the more proof I will need for it. Style and persuasion still mean something to me in policy debate, so if you can spread while being persuasive (yelling is not persuasive), you will have an advantage. Those who abandon speed altogether AND who make a good argument for why they should win even if they can't cover everything -- those people might very well win. As I say, debate is a game.
Public forum: If (almost) anything goes in policy debate, then public forum is its more constrained, conversational, and accessible cousin. My understanding is that it was created as an alternative to what policy has become, and therefore I am less receptive to spreading and absurdist styles in PF. As a result, I will not necessarily vote on dropped arguments. Two minutes is simply not enough time to cover everything in a debate, so it is entirely possible to pick an argument to the exclusion of others and win -- just tell me if that is what you're doing, and tell me why that argument is the winner. Please consider whether your tone, your speed, and your use of jargon are at all applicable to: a class presentation, a conversation with a professor, an informal discussion with friends or colleagues, a courtroom, a pitch to a boss, etc. These are the places in which your debate skills will be applicable.
For all debaters: If you are rude in any way (prematurely cutting opponents off in crossfire, ad homs in speeches, gesturing from your chair while others speak), you will lose speaker points, and possibly the round. Aggressiveness is fine, but I can't abide jerks.
TLDR: You do you. I do what you tell me.
Disclaimer
I strive to judge like a "blank slate" while recognizing that I will never actually be one. Keep this in mind as you read the rest of this paradigm.
carterhenman@gmail.com
If there is an email chain I will want to be on it. I would be glad to answer any questions you have.
Accommodations
Disclose as much or as little as you want to me or anyone else in the room. Either way, I am committed to making the debate rounds I judge safe and accessible.
Experience
I competed in LD in high school (2009-2013) in Wyoming and northern Colorado with some national circuit exposure.
I competed in policy at the University of Wyoming (2013-2018) and qualified to the NDT twice. I loved reading complicated courts affirmatives, bold impact turns, and Ks with specific and nuanced justifications for why they are competitive with the aff. I wish I had had the courage to go for theory in the 2AR more often. I studied (mostly analytic) philosophy and some critical disability theory to earn my bachelor's degree.
Style: agnostic.
All debate is performative. I can be persuaded that one performance is contingently more valuable (ethically, aesthetically, educationally, etc.) than another, but it would be arbitrary and unethical on my part to categorically exclude any particular style.
That being said, I am not agnostic when it comes to form. An argument has a claim, a warrant, and an impact. I do not care how you give me those three things, but if you do not, then you have not made an argument and my RFD will probably reflect that. This cuts in many directions: I hate K overviews that make sweeping ontological claims and then describe implications for the case without explaining why the original claim might be true; I equally detest when anyone simply asserts that "uniqueness determines the direction of the link".
Organization matters. However, I do not think organization is synonymous with what a lot of people mean when they say "line by line". It means demonstrating a holistic awareness of the debate and effectively communicating how any given argument you are making interacts with your opponents'. Therefore, when adjudicating whether something is a "dropped argument" I will parse between (a) reasonably predictable and intelligibly executed cross-applications and (b) superficial line-by-line infractions. Giving conceptual labels to your arguments and using your opponents' language when addressing theirs can help you get on the right side of this distinction.
Evidence matters. A lot. Again, I do not mean what a lot of people mean when they talk about evidence in debate. It is about a lot more than cards. It is also about personal experience and preparation, historical consciousness, and even forcing your opponents to make a strategic concession (by the way, I flow cross-examination). I read cards only when I have to and tend to defer to what was said in the debate regarding how to interpret them and determine their quality. Thus, I will hold the 2NR/2AR to relatively high thresholds for explanation.
I flow on paper. This means I need pen time. It also magnifies the importance of organization since I cannot drag and drop cells on a spreadsheet. Because I flow the "internals" of evidence (cards or otherwise), you will benefit enormously from clarity if you are fast and will not necessarily be at a disadvantage against very fast teams if you are slow but efficient with your tag lines.
Substance: mostly agnostic.
Hate and disrespect are never conducive to education and growth. I presume that the need to disincentivize abusive speech and other behaviors overrides my desire to reward skill with a ballot, but it never hurts for debaters to remind me of why this is true if you are up to it. This includes card clipping and other ethics violations. In general, I will stop the round if I notice it on my own. Otherwise, you have two options: (1) stop the round, stake the debate on it (you may lose if you are wrong, but they will certainly lose and receive no speaker points if you are right), and let me be final arbiter or (2) keep the issue alive throughout the debate, but leave open the option to go for substance. I think this is the most fair way for me to address this as an educator, but please do not think option two gives you license to go for "a risk of an ethics violation" in the final rebuttals or to read a generic "clipping bad" shell in every one of your 1NC/2ACs. That's icky.
There is no right way to affirm the topic. There are wrong ways to affirm the topic. I can be sold on the notion that the aff did it the wrong way. I can also be convinced that the wrong way is better than the right way. It may yet be easiest to convince me that your counter-interpretation of the right way to affirm the topic is just as good as, or better than, theirs.
Theory is mis- and underutilized. You get to debate the very rules of your debate! Current conventions regarding negative fiat, for example, will inevitably make me smirk when you read "no neg fiat." Still, if you invest enough thought, before and during and after debates (not merely regurgitating somebody else's blocks at an unintelligible rate), into any theory argument I am going to be eager to vote on it.
I am a lay judge. I would appreciate slow and clear speaking and the explanation of any debate jargon you would like to use. Thouroughly explain your arguments, and repeat any key points. I want to see clear voting issues, good vocal inflection in all speeches.
I believe persuasive communication is important. I don't make my decisions based solely on speaking style, however it is important. Please make a few clear concise points.
Samuel Nelson stated "-make a claim, explain that claim, and back it up with evidence."
I don't mind a heated crossfire, but please be polite.
Since I judge a lot more Public Forum now than the other events, my paradigm now reflects more about that activity than the others. I've left some of the LD/Policy stuff in here because I end up judging that at some big tournaments for a round or two. If you have questions, please ask.
NONTRADITIONAL ARGUMENTS: These arguments are less prevalent in PF than they are in other forms. The comments made here still hold true to that philosophy. I'll get into kritiks below because I have some pretty strong feelings about those in both LD and PF. It's probably dealt with below, but you need to demonstrate why your project, poem, rap, music, etc. links to and is relevant to the topic. Theory for theory's sake is not appealing to me. In short, the resolution is there for a reason. Use it. It's better for education, you learn more, and finding relevancy for your particular project within a resolutional framework is a good thing.
THEORY ARGUMENTS IN PF: I was told that I wasn't clear in this part of the paradigm. I thought I was, but I will cede that maybe things are more subtle than they ought to be. Disclosure theory? Not a fan. First, I am old enough that I remember times when debaters went into rounds not knowing what the other team was running. Knowing what others are running can do more for education and being better prepared. Do I think people should put things on the case wiki? Sure. But, punishing some team who doesn't even know what you are talking about is coming from a position of privilege. How has not disclosing hurt the strategy that you would or could have used, or the strategy that you were "forced" to use? If you can demonstrate that abuse, I might consider the argument. Paraphrasing? See the comments on that below. See comments below specific to K arguments in PF.
THEORY: When one defines theory, it must be put into a context. The comments below are dated and speak more to the use of counterplans. If you are in LD, read this because I do think the way that counterplans are used in LD is not "correct." In PF, most of the topics are such that there are comparisons to be made. Policies should be discussed in general terms and not get into specifics that would require a counterplan.
For LD/Policy Counterplan concepts: I consider myself to be a policy maker. The affirmative is making a proposal for change; the negative must demonstrate why the outcome of that adoption may be detrimental or disadvantageous. Counterplans are best when nontopical and competitive. Nontopical means that they are outside of the realm of the affirmative’s interpretation of the resolution (i.e. courts counterplans in response to congressional action are legitimate interpretations of n/t action). Competitive means there must be a net-benefit to the counterplan. Merely avoiding a disadvantage that the affirmative “gets” could be enough but that assumes of course that you also win the disadvantage. I’m not hip deep sometimes in the theory debate and get frustrated when teams choose to get bogged down in that quagmire. If you’re going to run the counterplan conditionally, then defend why it’s OK with some substance. If the affirmative wishes to claim abuse, prove it. What stopped you from adequately defending the case because the counterplan was “kicked” in the block or the 2NR? Don’t whine; defend the position. That being said, I'm not tied to the policy making framework. As you will see below, I will consider most arguments. Not a real big fan of performance, but if you think it's your best strategy, go for it.
TOPIC SPECIFIC ARGUMENTS: I’m not a big “T” hack. Part of the reason for that is that persons sometimes get hung up on the line by line of the argument rather than keeping the “big picture” in mind. Ripping through a violation in 15 seconds with “T is voting issue” tacked on at the bottom doesn’t seem to have much appeal from the beginning. I’m somewhat persuaded by not only what the plan text says but what the plan actually does. Plan text may be topical but if your evidence indicates harm area, solvency, etc. outside of the realm of the topic, I am sympathetic that the practice may be abusive to the negative.
KRITIKS/CRITIQUES: The comments about kritiks below are linked more to policy debate than LD or PF. However, at the risk of being ostracized by many, here is my take on kritiks in PF and maybe LD. They don't belong. Now, before you start making disparaging remarks about age, and I just don't get it, and other less than complimentary things, consider this. Most kritiks are based on some very complex and abstract concepts that require a great deal of explanation. The longest speech in PF is four minutes long. If you can explain such complex concepts in that time frame at a comprehensible speaking rate, then I do admire you. However, the vast majority of debaters don't even come close to accomplishing that task. There are ways you can do that, but look at the section on evidence below. In short, no objection to kritiks; just not in PF. LD comes pretty close to that as well. Hint: You want to argue this stuff, read and quote the actual author. Don't rely on some debate block file that has been handed down through several generations of debaters and the only way you know what the argument says is what someone has told you.
Here's the original of what was written: True confession time here—I was out of the activity when these arguments first came into vogue. I have, however, coached a number of teams who have run kritiks. I’d like to think that advocating a position actually means something. If the manner in which that position is presented is offensive for some reason, or has some implication that some of us aren’t grasping, then we have to examine the implications of that action. With that in mind, as I examine the kritik, I will most likely do so within the framework of the paradigm mentioned above. As a policymaker, I weigh the implications in and outside of the round, just like other arguments. If I accept the world of the kritik, what then? What happens to the affirmative harm and solvency areas? Why can’t I just “rethink” and still adopt the affirmative? Explain the kritik as well. Again, extending line by line responses does little for me unless you impact and weigh against other argumentation in the round. Why must I reject affirmative rhetoric, thoughts, actions, etc.? What is it going to do for me if I do so? If you are arguing framework, how does adopting the particular paradigm, mindset, value system, etc. affect the actions that we are going to choose to take? Yes, the kritik will have an impact on that and I think the team advocating it ought to be held accountable for those particular actions.
EVIDENCE: I like evidence. I hate paraphrasing. Paraphrasing has now become a way for debaters to put a bunch of barely explained arguments on the flow that then get blown up into voting issues later on. If you paraphrase something, you better have the evidence to back it up. I'm not talking about a huge PDF that the other team needs to search to find what you are quoting. The NSDA evidence rule says specifically that you need to provide the specific place in the source you are quoting for the paraphrasing you have used. Check the rule; that's what I and another board member wrote when we proposed that addition to the evidence rule. Quoting the rule back to me doesn't help your cause; I know what it says since I helped write most or all of it. If you like to paraphrase and then take fifteen minutes to find the actual evidence, you don't want me in the back of the room. I will give you a reasonable amount of time and if you don't produce it, I'll give you a choice. Drop the evidence or use your prep time to find it. If your time expires, and you still haven't found it, take your choice as to which evidence rule you have violated. In short, if you paraphrase, you better have the evidence to back it up.
Original text: I like to understand evidence the first time that it is read. Reading evidence in a blinding montone blur will most likely get me to yell “clear” at you. Reading evidence after the round is a check for me. I have found in the latter stages of my career that I am a visual learner and need to see the words on the page as well as hear them. It helps for me to digest what was said. Of course, if I couldn’t understand the evidence to begin with, it’s fairly disappointing for me. I may not ask for it if that is the case. I also like teams that do evidence comparisons. What does your evidence take into account that the other teams evidence does not? Weigh and make that claim and I will read the evidence to see if you indeed have made a good point. SPEECH DOCUMENTS: Given how those documents are currently being used, I will most likely want to be a part of any email exchange. However, I may not look at those electronic documents until the end of the debate to check my flow against what you claim has been read in the round. Debate is an oral activity; let's get back to that.
STYLE: As stated above, if you are not clear, I will tell you so. If I have to tell you more than once, I will give much less weight to the argument than you wish me to do so. I have also found in recent years that I don't hear nearly as well as in the past. You may still go fast, but crank it down just a little bit so that this grumpy old man can still understand the argument. Tag-team CX is okay as long as one partner does not dominate the discussion. I will let you know when that becomes the case. Profanity and rude behavior will not be tolerated. If you wish me to disclose and discuss the argument, you may challenge respectfully and politely. Attempts at making me look ridiculous (which at times is not difficult) to demonstrate your superior intelligence does little to persuade me that I was wrong. My response may very well be “If I’m so stupid, why did you choose to argue things this way?” I do enjoy humor and will laugh at appropriate attempts at it. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask. Make them specific. Just a question which starts with "Do you have a paradigm?" will most likely be answered with a "yes" with little or no explanation beyond that. You should get the picture from that.
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I will give teams 1 extra speaker point per speaker if they properly use an email chain during the round. This means:
-Case writeup with the cards used in case below should be sent in a word/google document (like this) BEFORE your first constructive speech
-Any cards being planned on read after that should be sent in a word/google document (like this) right BEFORE it is read in speech.
This likely means you'll have to cut your cards BEFORE ROUND (I know, shocker!). Don't be spending 5 minutes cutting cards during the round to earn this point, you'll each lose half a point as a result if you do. Case docs should be ready to send the second you enter the call too
Email is adnan.m.ismail@berkeley.edu.
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I'm a 4th year bioengineering student at UC Berkeley, and I've competed in PF for about 5 years in middle and high school.
Lets start with the obvious: DON'T BE RACIST TRANSPHOBIC HOMOPHOBIC SEXIST ABLEIST ELITIST OR EXCLUSIVE IN ANY WAY OR I WILL DROP YOU, GIVE YOU 0 SPEAKS, AND MAYBE MORE.
-Warrants in everything are especially important to me, and it's really important your warrants are clear. Lack of clarity will make me confused, drop your speaks and most likely drop you the round.
-Additionally, I look for the path of least resistance to the ballot. In other words, if you have an argument that's been clean dropped and you weigh that argument very well, 8/10 times I'm voting on that argument.
-The best way to create a clear-cut path to the ballot and follow the first two bullet points is by collapsing well on good arguments, especially in the second half of the round. Collapsing creates a much more narrowed/focused round that is easier to judge and follow, and it allows you to nuance and explain your arguments more fully. The more in-depth analysis you do when collapsing/as a result of collapsing, the more likely I'll vote for you.
-For the most part, anything that you say in final focus should be in summary. On the note of the second half of the round/frontlining in 2nd rebuttal or whatever,...I don't care. Just be consistent. Specifically:
----If you frontline in 2nd rebuttal, it's gonna be hard for me to accept new frontlines in 2nd summary. I'll give more leeway for defense that's not frontlined in 2nd rebuttal but almost impossible for turns.
----So long as the defense is untouched, first speaking teams can extend defense from first rebuttal to first final focus. But if the first speaking team extends defense in first summary, that defense is the only defense that can be extended into final focus.
-You can start your weighing whenever, even in final focus. But BIG weighing mechanisms (like those overviews that outline a certain argument/impact as the most important in the round for example) should arrive before second rebuttal. On that note, weigh! It's good to get the ballot. Not just buzz words. But like, actual weighing. Answer questions like these in your weighing: "How does your impact outweigh on magnitude?"
-Lastly on the note of the second half of the round, and I cannot stress this enough: YOU HAVE TO EXTEND EVERY PART OF THE ARGUMENT YOU WANT ME TO EVALUATE. THIS INCLUDES THE LINK, THE INTERNAL LINK(S), AND THE TERMINAL IMPACT OF YOUR ARGUMENT WITH THE WARRANTS FOR EACH PART OF THE ARGUMENT. NOTHING BLIPPY!!
-Don't spread please. I'm good with a brisk pace of talking (If you're confused, err on the side of slightly slower instead of slightly faster).
-I'm not extremely familiar with more technical argumentation (K's, theory, etc.). My philosophy is that while they look more "spooky" or "cool", all arguments share the same structure, where they require some sort of link, an explanation for why it matters (an impact) and warrants all throughout and in between. So just make sure to make the warranting for these arguments crystal clear.
-On that note for theory, the bar for whether or not a team is abusive is quite high. So run at your own risk. If you do think that your theory shell is very warranted and the abuse is substantial and you want to win off of it, I should expect it to dominate your speech time in the second half of the round. As in your entire FF should be dedicated to the shell that you read. Also if you read theory, I'm more inclined to listen to a well hashed shell compared to "paragraph theory." It's easier to flow and simply more clear for me. But I won't get angry at you if you read paragraph theory.
-And lastly don't know much, if anything, about the topic, and definitely not familiar with the topic lit at all. So clarity in warrant/impact analysis and extension of arguments and whatnot is esp key to pick up my ballot this tournament.
Good luck and have fun! Any questions email me at adnan.m.ismail@berkeley.edu
I judge based on the arguments that are presented in the round throughout the speeches and how each argument is weighed by each team. I prefer that you speak clearly so I can understand.
PF Paradigm:
The number one priority of Public Forum Debate is that it remains accessible at all times.
Debaters are expected to time themselves and their oppenents. If there is some discrepancy on time, your speaker points will be in jeopardy. Please be responsible.
Go at whatever speed you are comfortable as long as it is not spreading.
I will flow what is said during speech, but not crossfire. I expect you to extend arguments from crossfire if you want to use them.
You must provide your win conditions. I need a framework to interpret how the round will be judged. That also means that weighing needs to be considers as well.
Don't assume definitions especially in the resolutions.
I will look at evidence only in the case that both teams appear to have evidence that contradict each other.
InterPA
Tech
Diction matters more in online competition than in face to face competition. In synchronous rounds, please emphasize your diction more.
You are welcome to ask for feedback regarding your placement within the camera.
I'd recommend you make sure the camera is perpendicular to your eyes/face. The angle coming from below sometimes makes viewing facial involvement unclear.
Preferences
Content Warning before your pieces. If you have any belief that your content could upset someone, you owe it to your audience to prepare us. Plot twists are not worth hurting your audience.
I really evaluate the quality of the cut/writing in close rounds.
A cut needs to have a clear beginning, middle, and end. The beginning means the characters, relationships, and problems are introduced. A perfect teaser has these element. The middle shows the characters attempting and failing to resolve a problem. The end discusses whether characters resolve or fail to resolve the problem and then what happen because of that.
Public address speeches follow some kind of previewed and road mapped structure to the speech.
Event Specific
Info
I don't evaluate lack of VAs as negative. I evaluate overused or nonhelpful VAs as a negative.
I don't really care about how you move in your speech.
OO
I follow PCS and CES structures the best.
I am sucker for empirics. I don't believe something is inherently a problem that affects everyone until you show me with a source that it affects people more than yourself. For example, if your speech is about how "We say no too much," you better prove beyond a doubt that we empirically say "No" a lot.
DI
I'm kind of over traumatizing DIs. DI is my favorite event though.
I value verisimilitude in the characterization and the blocking.
HI
Characterization matters the most. I value clear characters and efficient movement between the characters.
I also really pay attention to the resolution of the problem in HI. If the problem is resolved in a sentence or through an apparent unknown force. I blame the cut.
Duo
I hate how its done digital and really hope no one assigns it to me.
Blocking should highlight the conflict between the characters.
I find speaking towards the camera instead of pretending the two are in the same piece to be more believable.
POI
Characterization should be clear. I shouldn't doubt the differences between the characters.
Binder tech or lack of binder tech is irrelevant to me.
Extemp:
Tech
Time yourself for synchronous rounds. I don't trust internet connections to be consistent to allow me to give you effective time signals.
I can tell if you're reading off of your computer.
Sitting or Standing don't matter to me.
Preferences
I will flow the speech.
I don't look down on speeches past 7:00, but 7:20 is a little risk
Link back to the question always. Tell me why you are answering questions.
Fluency matters insomuch that I can understand you. Short pauses and disruptions will not be marks against, but if I cannot follow what you are saying then I will have trouble evaluating your speech.
I did two years of circuit LD at Miramonte High School and graduated in 2015. I graduated from UC Berkeley in 2019 after doing four years of NPDA parliamentary debate.
I have no desire to impose my own views upon the debate round. In deciding the round, I will strive to be as objective as possible. Some people have noted that objectivity can be difficult, but this has never seemed like a reason that judges shouldn't strive to be objective. I, overwhelmingly, prefer that you debate in the style that you are most comfortable with and believe that you are best at. I would prefer a good K or util debate to a bad theory or framework debate anyday. That's the short version--here are some specifics if you're interested.
May 28th 2020 NFA-LD Update:
I'm new to NFA-LD LD so feel free to ask me questions. Most of the paradigm below applies, but here's some specific thoughts that could apply to NFA-LD.
1. Cards v. Spin: I tend to err that spin and analysis trump evidence quality in the abstract. Intuitively, a card is only as good as its extension. However, I will listen to framing arguments that indicate judges should prioritize debate's value as a research activity and prefer cards to spin.
GGI 2019 Parli-Specific Update:
While I will generally vote for any strategy, I would like to discuss my thoughts on some common debates. These thoughts constitute views about argument interaction that should not make a difference in most debates.
- K affs versus T: Assuming the best arguments are made, I err affirmative 60-40 in these debates (The best arguments are rarely made.) However, I tend to believe that impact turns constitute a suboptimal route to beating topicality. I differ from some judges because I believe that neg impact framing on T (procedural fairness first, debate as a question of process, not product) tends to beat aff impact framing. However, I err aff on the legitimacy of K affs because I'm skeptical of the neg's link to that framing. Does T uniquely ensure procedural fairness? Thus, to win my ballot, teams reading K affs must take care to respond to the neg's specific impact framing. They cannot merely read parallel arguments.
- Conditionality: I lean strongly that the negative gets 1 conditional advocacy. 2 is up for debate and three is pushing it. Objections to conditionality should be framed around the type of negative advocacies and the amount of aff flex. For example, perhaps 2 conditional advantage counterplans is permissible, but not 2 conditional PICs.
Past Paradigm:
Also:
- Absent weighing on any particular layer, I default to weighing based on strength of link.
- I probably won't cover everything so feel free to ask me questions.
- Taken from Ben Koh because this makes sense: "If I sit and you are the winner (that is, the other 2 judges voted for you), and would like to ask me extensive questions, I will ask that you let the other RFDs be given and then let the opponent leave before asking me more questions. I'm fine answering questions, but just to be fair the other people in the room should be allowed to leave."
Delivery and speaks:
- Fine with speed.
- I'm not the greatest at flowing, so try to be clear about where an argument was made.
- High speaks for good strategic choices and innovative arguments. I will say clear as much as necessary and I won't penalize speaks for clarity.
Frameworks:
- I default to being epistemically conservative, but will accept arguments for epistemic modesty if they are advanced and won.
- I am willing to support any framework given that it is won on the flow.
- I'm willing to vote for permissibility or presumption triggers. However, there must be some implicit or explicit defense of a truth-testing paradigm. The argument must also be clear the first time that it is read. If the argument is advanced for the first time in the 1AR and I think that it is new, I will allow new 2NR responses.
- Many framework debates are difficult to adjudicate because debaters fail to weigh between different metastandards on the framework debate. For example, if util meets actor-specificity better, but Kantianism is derived from a superior metaethic, is the actor-specificity argument or the metaethic more important?
Theory and T:
- I default to no RVI, drop the argument on most theory and drop the debater on T, competing interpretations, and fairness and education not being voters. Most of these defaults rarely matter because debaters make arguments.
- I don't think that competing interps means anything besides a risk of offense model for the adjudication of theory. That means, for example, that debaters need to justify why their opponent must have an explicit counter-interpretation in the first speech.
- I, paradigmatically, won't vote on 2AR theory.
- I'm willing to vote on metatheory. I probably err slightly in favor of the metatheory bad arguments such as infinite regress.
- I'm willing to vote on disclosure theory.
- Fine with frivolous theory.
Utilz:
- I default to believing in durable fiat.
- Debaters should work on pointing out missing internal links in most extinction scenarios.
- I default that perms are tests of competition and not advocacies.
- I probably err aff on issues of counter-plan competition.
- Err towards the view that uniqueness controls the direction of the link. However, I'm willing to accept arguments about why the link is more important.
- I will evaluate 1ar add-ons and 2nr counter-plans against these add-ons. This is irrelevant in most debates.
K's:
- There are many different kinds of kritikal argumentation so feel free to ask questions in round.
- I'm unsure whether I should default to role of the ballot arguments coming before ethical frameworks. I personally believe that ethical arguments engage important assumptions made by many ROB arguments. However, community consensus is that ROB's come first so I will usually stick with that assumption if no argument is made either way.
- I default to fairness impacts coming before theory, but I'm willing to evaluate arguments to the contrary.
- I don't have strong objections to non-topical positions. However, I believe debaters should probably engage in practices like disclosure that improve the theoretical legitimacy of their practices.
- Willing to vote on Kritikal RVI's/impact turns to theory.
- I'm willing to listen to arguments that there shouldn't be perms in method debates. However, I find these arguments not very persuasive.
Note for HS Parli:
Everything above applies. Except for the stuff about prep time. The only parli specific issue is that I will listen to theory arguments that it is permissible to split the block. Feel free to ask me any questions
I am an interp coach but a competent PF and LD judge. I prefer traditional rounds and will vote based on who simplifies the main ideas. I enjoy tactical clash.
Background
I have no personal speech and debate competition experience. I began judging in early 2014; I have been involved in the community ever since and have attended/judged/run tournaments at a rate of 30 tournaments per year give or take. The onset of online in early 2020 has only pushed that number higher. I began coaching in 2016 starting in Congressional Debate and currently act as my program's Public Forum Coach.
General Expectations of Me (Things for You to Consider)
Consider me "flay" on average, "flow" on a good day. Here is a list of things NOT to expect from me:
- Don't make assumptions about my knowledge. Do not expect me to know the things you know. Always make the choice to explain things fully.
- Post-round me if you want, I don't care. If you want to post-round me, I'll sit there and take it. Don't think I'll change my mind though. All things that should influence my decision need to occur in the debate and if I didn’t catch it, that’s too bad.
- Regarding Disclosures/Decisions. Do not expect me to disclose in prelims unless the tournament explicitly tells me to. I will disclose all elim rounds unless explicitly told not to.
- Clarity > Speed. I flow on paper, meaning I most likely won't be looking at either competitor/team too often during the round. Please don't take that as a discouraging signal, I'm simply trying to keep up. This also means I flow more slowly than my digital counterparts, so there may be occasions that I miss something if you speak too quickly.
- Defense is not sticky in PF. Coverage is important in debate; it allows for a sensible narrative to be established over the course of the round. Summary, not Rebuttal, is the setup for Final Focus.
Should other things arise, I will add them to this list at that time.
General Debate Philosophy
I am tech > truth by the slimmest of margins. I am here to identify a winner of a debate, not choose one. Will I fail at this? At times yes. But I believe that the participants in the round should be the sole factors in determining who wins and loses a debate. At its most extreme, I will vote (and have voted) for a competitor/team who lies IF AND ONLY IF those lies are not called out/identified by the opposing competitor/team. If I am to practice tabula rasa, then I must adopt this line of reasoning. Will I identify in my ballot that a lie was told? Absolutely.
Why take this hard line? Because debate is a space where we can practice an open exchange of information. This means it is also a space where we can practice calling out nonsense in a respectful manner. The conversations of the world beyond debate will not be limited by time constraints or speaker order nor will there be an authority or ombudsman to determine what is truth. We must do that on our own. If you hear something false, investigate it. Bring it to my attention. Explain the falsehood. Take the time to set the record straight.
Public Forum / Lincoln Douglas Paradigm
Regarding speaker points:
I judge on the standard tabroom scale. 27.5 is average; 30 is the second coming manifested in speech form; and 20 and under is if you stabbed someone in the round. Everyone starts at a 27.5 and depending on how the round goes, that score will fluctuate. I expect clarity, fluidity, confidence and decorum in all speeches. Being able to convey those facets to me in your speech will boost your score; a lack in any will negatively affect speaker points. I judge harshly: 29+ scores are rare and 30 is a unicorn. DO NOT think you can eschew etiquette and good speaking ability simply due to the rationale that "this is debate and W's and L's are what matter."
Do not yell at your opponent(s) in cross. Avoid eye contact with them during cross as much as possible to keep the debate as civil as it can be. If it helps, look at me; at the very least, I won’t be antagonistic. I understand that debate can get heated and emotional; please utilize the appropriate coping mechanisms to ensure that proper decorum is upheld. Do not leave in the middle of round to go to the bathroom or any other reason outside of emergency, at which point alert me to that emergency.
Structure/Organization:
Please signpost. I cannot stress this enough without using caps and larger font. If you do not signpost or provide some way for me to follow along your case/refutations, I will be lost and you will be in trouble. Not actual trouble, but debate trouble. You know what I mean.
Framework (FW):
In Public Forum, I default to Cost-Benefit Analysis unless a different FW is given. Net-Benefit and Risk-Benefit are also common FWs that I do not require explanation for. Broader FWs, like Lives and Econ, also do not require explanation. Anything else, give me some warranting.
In Lincoln Douglas, I need a Value and Value Criterion (or something equivalent to those two) in order to know how to weigh the round. Without them, I am unable to judge effectively because I have not been told what should be valued as most important. Please engage in Value Debates: FWs are the rules under which you win the debate, so make sure your rules and not your opponent's get used in order to swing the debate in your favor. Otherwise, find methods to win under your opponent's FW.
Do not take this to mean that if you win the FW debate, you win the round. That's the beauty of LD: there is no dominant value or value criterion, but there is persuasive interpretation and application of them.
Should other things arise, I will add them to this list at that time.
Regarding the decision (RFD):
I judge tabula rasa, or as close to it as possible. I walk in with no knowledge of the topic, just the basic learning I have gained through my public school education. I have a wide breadth of common knowledge, so I will not be requiring cards/evidence for things such as the strength of the US military or the percentage of volcanos that exist underwater. For matters that are strictly factual, I will rarely ask for evidence unless it is something I don’t know, in which case it may be presented in round regardless. What this means is that I am pledging to judge ONLY on what I hear in round. As difficult as this is, and as horrible as it feels to give W’s to teams whom I know didn’t deserve it based on my actual knowledge, that is the burden I uphold. This is the way I reduce my involvement in the round and is to me the best way for each team to have the greatest impact over their debate.
A few exceptions to this rule:
- Regarding dropped points and extensions across flow: I flow ONLY what I hear; if points don’t get brought up, I don’t write them. A clear example would be a contention read in Constructive, having it dropped in Summary, and being revived in Final Focus. I will personally drop it should that occur; I will not need to be prompted to do so, although notification will give me a clearer picture on how well each team is paying attention. Therefore, it does not hurt to alert me. The reason why I do this is simple: if a point is important, it should be brought up consistently. If it is not discussed, I can only assume that it simply does not matter.
- Regarding extensions through ink: This phrase means that arguments were flowed through refutations without addressing the refutations or the full scope of the refutations. I imagine it being like words slamming into a brick wall, but one side thinks it's a fence with gaping holes and moves on with life. I will notice if this happens, especially if both sides are signposting. I will be more likely to drop the arguments if this is brought to my attention by your opponents. Never pretend an attack/defense didn't happen. It will not go your way.
- Regarding links/internal links: I need things to just make sense. Make sure things are decently connected. If I’m listening to an argument and all I can think is “What is happening?” then you have lost me. I will just not buy arguments at that point and this position will be further reinforced should an opposing team point out the lack of or poor quality of the link.
I do not flow cross-examination. It is your time for clarification and identifying clash. Should something arise from it, it is your job to bring it up in your/team’s next speech.
Regarding Progressive: I'm not an expert on this. I am a content debate traditionalist who has through necessity picked up some things over time when it comes to progressive tech.
A) On Ks: As long as it's well structured and it's clear to me why I need to prioritize it over case, then I'm good. If not, then I'll judge on case.
B) On CPs: Don't run them in PF. Try not to run them in LD.
C) On theory: I have no idea how to judge this. Don't bother running it on me; I will simply ignore it.
Regarding RFD in Public Forum: I vote on well-defined and appropriately linked impacts. All impacts must be extended across the flow to be considered. If your Summary speaker drops an impact, I’m sorry but I will not consider it if brought up in Final Focus. What can influence which impacts I deem more important is Framework and weighing. I don’t vote off Framework, but it can determine key impacts which can force a decision.
Regarding RFD in Lincoln Douglas: FW is essential to help me determine which impacts weigh more heavily in the round. Once the FW is determined, the voters are how well each side fulfills the FW and various impacts extending from that. This is similar to how I vote in PF, but with greater emphasis on competing FWs.
SPEED:
I am a paper flow judge; I do not flow on computer. I’m a dinosaur that way. This means if you go through points too quickly, there is a higher likelihood that I may miss things in my haste to write them down. DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, SPREAD OR SPEED READ. I do not care for it as I see it as a disrespectful form of communication, if even a form of communication at all. Nowhere in life, outside of progressive circuit debate and ad disclaimers, have I had to endure spreading. Regardless of its practical application within meta-debate, I believe it possesses little to no value elsewhere. If you see spreading as a means to an end, that end being recognized as a top debater, then you and I have very different perspectives regarding this activity. Communication is the one facet that will be constantly utilized in your life until the day you die. I would hope that one would train their abilities in a manner that best optimizes that skill for everyday use.
Irrational Paradigm
This section is meant for things that simply anger me beyond rational thought. Do not do them.
- No puns. No pun tagline, no pun arguments, no pun anything. No puns or I drop you.
Should other things arise, I will add them to this list at that time.
PF PARADIGM:
Head Coach at George Washington in Denver
I have watched many rounds on the topic and am very familiar with the literature base.
I will vote off the flow if I can which means you need to sign post and keep the same names and structures for arguments as they were coming out of case. In other words, do not rename arguments later in the round. If I cannot figure out where to flow the argument, I am not listening to what you are saying, but rather trying to figure out where it goes. I am most happy when you guide my pen to the flow and tell me exactly where to write and what to write!
Make sure whatever you carry into Final Focus, is also part of Summary. All of the sudden extending arguments that have not been part of the debate is not a winning strategy.
Weigh the round, explain why your arguments outweigh your opponents'. Be specific; do not just say you "outweigh" leverage certain cards and contentions to explain
Dropped arguments only matter if you tell me why they matter!
Truth over tech; facts and reality matters. I will not vote off improbable, unrealistic or fundamentally flawed arguments. This does not mean opponents can just say they are improbable and move on, work must still be done to explain why the arguments are flawed, but if it is close and the arguments have been discredited with evidence and analysis, I will err on the side of "truth".
Dates matter and NSDA rules say you should at a minimum read the year of the card; please follow these rules or I will not flow your cards.
Views on Theory: Not a fan of it in PF. Run at your own risk.
Kritiks: See theory above
Views on Spreading: Do not spread! Reading quickly is not the same as a full out spread.
Please share all cards you are reading in a speech before the speech. Set up an email chain! This will avoid the annoying wait times associated with "calling for cards." All cards should be appropriately cut, please do not share a PDF or link and ask the other team to look for the relevant passage.
I am not sure I am a fan of "sticky defense."
Pet Peeves
Please do not ask every single person in the room if they are ready before starting to speak. One simple, "everyone ready?" does the trick! Once you ask, give a little bit of wait time before you actually start speaking.
As far as I am concerned, the only road map in a PF round, is "Pro/Con" or "Con/Pro". Please do not use the term "brief off time road map." Or ask if I time them!
Avoid calling me "judge".
I stop listening to Cross-Fire if it is loud and the debaters talk over each other.
POLICY PARADIGM:
Head Coach George Washington High School.
If this paradigm isn't completely clear, please ask questions before the round! I'd rather you be informed than to be inconvenienced by a misunderstanding about anything said here.
Most Importantly: I haven't judged much circuit policy, but that doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing.
If you want to have a good round in front of me, there's a couple things you should do/not do.
1. PLEASE take it easy on speed. Given that I do not judge on the circuit often, I'm a little out of practice flowing. This means that if you want me to understand what you're saying, you need to slow down. Obviously, this means you should far and away strive for clarity over speed.
2. If you are reading positions that are silly/don't make sense, expect to be disappointed with the decision that I make. Overly absurd Kritikal positions, and politics disads that seem to not have any internal links are definitely a no-go in front of me. I'm open to Kritikal positions, and I think they're interesting, but things like Death-Good aren't up my alley. Read a position that you know well in front of me and I'll enjoy it.
3. I'm comfortable evaluating Framework debates. I think affs should be at least tangentially related to the resolution. I'm not fond of just "Anti-USFG" affs. In addition, don't assume that I know all of the arguments that you're trying to make. On either side, the arguments should be explained clearly and concisely.
LD Paradigm
Although I come from a state that does primarily traditional value-criterion debate, I am an experienced policy coach (see the paradigm above). I can evaluate policy style arguments and am very open to them. I am much more persuaded by arguments that are related to the resolution and can be linked back to it as opposed to Kritikal arguments that do not link. I am, however, excited by some the resolution specific Kritiks and would love to hear them! I am familiar with a number of off case positions and theoretical arguments, please do not make assumptions and take time to give brief explanations.
I may not be able to easily follow or be familiar of all theory arguments. Slow down and explain them.
Dropped arguments only matter if you tell me why. You do not automatically win just because an argument is dropped.
As far as speed goes, I can keep up with it if it is clear and well articulated and has the purpose of covering more arguments. But I am not a fan of going fast just to go fast.
My son does debate at Gunn High School. I have had about 45 years of real-world experience. As a judge, my job is to keep an open mind, be an attentive listener, and let each team persuade me which way to vote.
- max wpm 100
- please respect yourself, your partner, and especially your opponents; cross-fire shouldn't be a lot of bickering but productive, even assertive, countering of arguments.
- please be nice
I am a parent judge. I have over a year of experience judging debate, mostly public forum. I can handle speedy or slow, disputatious or genteel, conventional or unorthodox. I am aspiring to be more effective at judging flow so don't feel that you must pander to me as a parent who has no understanding of the inner logics of debate. What I have little tolerance for is (1) condescension or other forms of blatant rudeness toward opponents, (2) insertion of the word "like" into every clause of every sentence, (3) spreading, and (4) fawning behavior toward judges. Have fun, try new tactics, make eye contact with your audience, deliver a cogent case with a tight set of arguments, and, oh yeah, have fun. Did I already say that?
I am a scientist in the field of molecular biology. I am a judge from Dougherty Valley High School. I have judged public forum and parli for 3 years, with a mix of novice, jv, and varsity. Speaker points are awarded based on persuasion and clarity of speech, and my ability to understand arguments. Because of this, the team that receives my ballot is more likely to have higher speaks, but not always. I flow arguments that I can understand, meaning I can not flow arguments that are spread at me or that are blatantly untrue.
Clothing and appearance: 3/10. I took time getting ready coming here and I would hope that you show some semblance of doing the same.
Use of evidence: 6/10. Cards are an important part of any debate, but I do not want to have to write down the same thing in 15 different pieces of evidence or have to deal with card dumps. I prefer cards coupled with logical analyses that flow, and prefer that the logic behind the card is explained rather than the card itself.
Real World Impacts: 9/10 I will vote on any argument with some truth to it if it is explained to me logically. Impact weighing is the deciding factor in most rounds, so tell me why the argument matters and why I should vote off of it and have a coherent link chain.
Crossfire:5/10 I will take notes in crossfire, but if you want me to remember a response, repeat it in a speech.
Truth/Tech: 8/10 Truth>Tech in every round. If the argument is untrue, the opponent not responding to it does not mean I will weigh the argument on your side.
Occupation: Software Engineer
School Affiliation: Dougherty Valley
Years of Judging/Event Types: 2 years (PF, Extemporaneous, Impromptu, Expository)
I award speaker points based on fluency, cohesiveness, and presentation style.
How I will choose the winner:
-Narrow down your points by the end of the round.
-Support your arguments with evidence, but reasoning is important too.
-My decision will mostly come from what is presented in summary and final focus.
-Signpost, don't go fast, and don't use debate terms.
-I mostly understand the concept of offense and defense, but if you decide not to go for an argument with only defensive responses, please tell me so I know.
-Explain your responses and how they refute your opponent’s arguments.
-Make sure if an argument is in final focus, it was in the summary speech.
-Weigh your impacts over your opponent's.
I try to take a lot of notes but I usually can’t entirely keep up with the pace of the debate. If something is important, make it very clear.
How heavily I weigh different aspects of the debate: (1 is not at all, 10 is heavily)
Clothing/Appearance: 1, Use of Evidence: 8, Real world impacts: 7, Cross Examination: 6, Debate skill over truthful arguments: 6
Background Info
I work in Visa in product management, and am a judge from Dougherty Valley High School. I have judged many tournaments over the course of five years. Earlier on I judged Policy, I’ve judged some Parliamentary, but most commonly I judge Public Forum. I care greatly about selecting the right outcome of the debate, so I pay close attention to the debate. I also always take note if there is something someone did exceptionally well or poorly to help me decide on the outcome.
Voting
I give out speaker points based on the persuasion, preparedness, and presentation skills of the debaters. The better you fulfil these characteristics, the higher the speaker points you will be given are. I will give lower speaker points for rude behavior and/or language as well.
Besides case and refutations, there are other points that may make me lean towards a specific side. These points are the debaters’ general understanding of the topic, following the rules of debate, and the confidence level of the debaters.
Other
The number from 1-10 is the impact the point has on how I vote.
Clothing/Appearance - 4: Clothing doesn’t really have an impact on the debating abilities of the debaters, so it doesn’t influence my decision very much
Use of Evidence - 8: Arguments can’t be supported without solid evidence to back it up. It has a major influence on how I weigh the validity of a contention.
Real World Impacts - 7: Impacts are necessary to show what the contention will ultimately lead to. It is necessary to weigh contentions against each other.
Cross Examination - 8: The way the debaters interact during the cross-examination displays the analytical abilities of the debaters and their presence of mind.
Debate Skill vs Truthful Arguments: Although both are very important I ultimately weigh truthful arguments over debate skill. It is more important that the substance of the contentions are factual rather than someone who is well-spoken, but arguing completely made-up contentions. But it is important to know that it is very rare that the two sides will be on the extremes of these two characteristics. This means that it is still critical to have both traits.
Public Forum Paradigm
Defense needs to be in summary. If it's not in summary, I'm less likely to consider it in final focus.
Time allocation is also super important. There needs to be a balance between explaining the link chain of your arguments and terminalizing impacts.
Don't be offensive.
Competition Experience:
Competed in Public Forum for 4 years and Lincoln Douglas in college for 1 year.
Flay Judge
Public Forum
I have not done any prep on the Sept/Oct topic so anything that you read will be new to me.
I am strongly against bringing spreading into the realm of public forum. I am fine with moderate speed. I will misflow tag-lines and citations if they are rushed, and I prefer a more understandable debate. If you want my ballot, you will be better served talking clearly; too much speed will hurt your speaker points.
I do not flow crossfire. Any concessions made during cross need to be brought up in the next speech.
First summary needs to extend defense. Please be sure to extend whatever voters here if you plan on extending them in final focus. Any unextended voters in summery are not guaranteed to be evaluated in final focus. Also, I am not going to do work for you. Please make sure that if you are dropping any arguments or making extensions that you tell here where and when its going to happen.
I usually won't keep track of your speech and prep time. It is your job to keep your opponents accountable.
Truth > Tech. I want quantifiable, weighable, terminal impacts. Please make my life easier and don't read cards without warrants and don't ready hypothetical impact scenarios with no concrete warranting behind the impacts.
Archbishop Mitty '18
UC Berkeley '22
USC Gould Law '25
About me
I did PF in high school pretty competitively. If you have any other questions for me just ask before the round!
*PLEASE MAKE EVIDENCE EXCHANGES QUICK AND ONLY DISPUTE EVIDENCE IN SPEECHES*
PLEASE WEIGH.
preflow before round please.
*Note on prep time: if you are prepping while you are waiting for a card, you need to run prep.
Technicalities
- I will not evaluate arguments without warrants! Extending warrants in summary and final focus is very necessary. It's not enough to say "extend x author or x statistic" without the warrant.
- For me to vote on an argument please 1) Warrant it and 2) Weigh it.
- First Summary: It is not necessary to extend defensive arguments in first summary. The exception is if they frontline said arguments in second rebuttal, in which case you should respond to the frontlines.
- Second Summary: All defensive arguments you extend in final focus must be in second summary or I will not weigh them.
- Everything in final focus should be in summary. Two exceptions. 1) Again, first final focus can extend defense that was not responded to in the second rebuttal. *That does NOT mean first FF can make NEW analysis/weighing about that defense! 2) First final focus can frontline a response that was not brought up until the 2nd summary.
- Second rebuttal should spend some amount of time answering first rebuttal. While you should prioritize answering case, some response toward first rebuttal is ideal.
- Weighing: Start weighing in summary, including first summary. Don't just weigh impacts. Link-level weighing is just as or even more important. Collapsing in summary and final focus is crucial.
- Impacts: Always terminalize your impacts. If possible, I prefer concrete numbers that directly relate to your argument (1000 lives). This makes it easier to weigh as well. If you are extending/weighing scalar impacts (i.e. x increases y by 20%) try to contextualize that percentage.
Evidence
- Evidence ethics in debate and especially in PF are a big problem in my opinion. I strongly prefer quoting sources, but if you are paraphrasing make sure it does not misconstrue the intent of the author.
- Have your evidence readily available. If you cannot locate a card within a few minutes, I will strike it.
- I’ll call for evidence after the round has ended in two scenarios: 1. I was explicitly told to call for a card in a speech or 2. A card was consistently disputed in the round.
- If upon examination, there is legitimate abuse of evidence, I am automatically dropping you and docking speaker points.
Speaking
- My average is ~28.5. I assign speaker points based on strategic decision-making in round.
- I’m fine with speed, but no spreading. That being said, clarity precludes speed; only go as fast as you can while speaking in a comprehensible manner.
- Signpost clearly, especially in summary and final focus.
- You will lose points if you are overly aggressive or rude.
Ks/Theory: I honestly do not have much experience with Ks and theory, so I would really prefer you not run it because I will have no idea how to evaluate it.
TLDR; I debated parli in high school for 3 years and have been coaching PF, LD, and Parli for the last 9 years since then with state and national champions. I try do be as tabula rasa as possible. Refer to specifics below
Follow the NSDA debate rules for properly formatting your evidence for PF and LD.
If paraphrasing is used in a debate, the debater will be held to the same standard of citation and accuracy as if the entire text of the evidence were read for the purpose of distinguishing between which parts of each piece of evidence are and are not read in a particular round. In all debate events, The written text must be marked to clearly indicate the portions read or paraphrased in the debate. If a student paraphrases from a book, study, or any other source, the specific lines or section from which the paraphrase is taken must be highlighted or otherwise formatted for identification in the round
IMPORTANT REMINDER FOR PF: Burden of proof is on the side which proposes a change. I presume the side of the status quo. The minimum threshold needed for me to evaluate an argument is
1) A terminalized and quantifiable impact
2) A measurable or direct cause and effect from the internal link
3) A topical external link
4) Uniqueness
If you do not have all of these things, you have an incomplete and unproven argument. Voting on incomplete or unproven arguments demands judge intervention. If you don't know what these things mean ask.
Philosophy of Debate:
Debate is an activity to show off the intelligence, hard work, and creativity of students with the ultimate goal of promoting education, sportsmanship, and personal advocacy. Each side in the round must demonstrate why they are the better debater, and thus, why they should receive my vote. This entails all aspects of debate including speaking ability, case rhetoric, in-and-out-of round decorum, and most importantly the overall argumentation of each speaker. Also, remember to have fun too.
I am practically a Tabula Rasa judge. “Tab” judges claim to begin the debate with no assumptions on what is proper to vote on. "Tab" judges expect teams to show why arguments should be voted on, instead of assuming a certain paradigm. Although I will default all theory to upholding education unless otherwise told
Judge preferences: When reading a constructive case or rebutting on the flow, debaters should signpost every argument and every response. You should have voter issues in your last speech. Make my job as a judge easier by telling me verbatim, why I should vote for you.
Depending on the burdens implied within the resolution, I will default neg if I have nothing to vote on. (presumption)
Kritiks. I believe a “K” is an important tool that debater’s should have within their power to use when it is deemed necessary. That being said, I would strongly suggest that you not throw a “K” in a round simply because you think it’s the best way to win the round. It should be used with meaning and genuinity to fight actually oppressive, misogynistic, dehumanizing, and explicitly exploitative arguments made by your opponents. When reading a "K" it will be more beneficial for you to slow down and explain its content rather than read faster to get more lines off. It's pretty crucial that I actually understand what I'm voting on if It's something you're telling me "I'm morally obligated to do." I am open to hearing K's but it has been a year since I judged one so I would be a little rusty.
Most Ks I vote on do a really good job of explaining how their solvency actually changes things outside of the debate space. At the point where you can’t or don't explain how voting on the K makes a tangible difference in the world, there really isn't a difference between pre and post fiat impacts. I implore you to take note of this when running or defending against a K.
Theory is fine. It should have a proper shell and is read intelligibly. Even if no shell is present I may still vote on it.
Speed is generally fine. I am not great with spreading though. If your opponents say “slow down” you probably should. If I can’t understand you I will raise my hands and not attempt to flow.
I will only agree to 30 speaker point theory if it’s warranted with a reason for norms of abuse that is applicable to the debaters in the round. I will not extend it automatically to everyone just because you all agree to it.
Parli specifics:
I give almost no credence on whether or not your warrants or arguments are backed by “cited” evidence. Since this is parliamentary debate, I will most certainly will not be fact-checking in or after round. Do not argue that your opponents do not have evidence, or any argument in this nature because it would be impossible for them to prove anything in this debate.
Due to the nature of parli, to me the judge has an implicit role in the engagement of truth testing in the debate round. Because each side’s warrants are not backed by a hard cited piece of evidence, the realism or actual truth in those arguments must be not only weighed and investigated by the debaters but also the judge. The goal, however, is to reduce the amount of truth testing the judge must do on each side's arguments. The more terminalization, explanation, and warranting each side does, the less intervention the judge might need to do. For example if the negative says our argument is true because the moon is made of cheese and the affirmative says no it's made of space dust and it makes our argument right. I obviously will truth test this argument and not accept the warrant that the moon is made of cheese.
Tag teaming is ok but the person speaking must say the words themself if I am going to flow it. It also hurts speaker points.
Public Forum specifics:
I have no requirement for a 2-2 split. Take whatever rebuttal strategy you think will maximize your chance of winning. However note that offense generated from contentions in your case must be extended in second rebuttal or they are considered dropped. Same goes for first summary.
I will not accept any K in Public Forum. Theory may still be run. Critical impacts and meta weighing is fine. No pre-fiat impacts.
Your offense must be extended through each speech in the debate round for me to vote on it in your final focus. If you forget to extend offense in second rebuttal or in summary, then I will also not allow it in final focus. This means you must ALWAYS extend your own impact cards in second rebuttal and first summary if you want to go for them.
Having voter issues in final focus is one of the easiest ways you can win the round. Tell me verbatim why winning the arguments on the flow means you win the round. Relate it back to the standard.
Lincoln Douglass and Policy:
I am an experienced circuit parliamentary debate coach and am very tabula rasa so basically almost any argument you want to go for is fine. Please note the rest of my paradigm for specifics. If you are going to spread you must flash me everything going to be read.
Email is Markmabie20@gmail.com
Parent judge. Fifth year judging; Fourth year judging PuFo. I take judging seriously and try to include detailed notes in my ballots and to issue RFD based on what I'm able to flow. I do not consider anything not raised in the debate. I appreciate a roadmap & solid organization. Typical PuFo speed of speech is fine, but if you talk too fast, then I may be unable to follow your arguments--please no spreading or very fast speech. Thank you!
Please ask specific questions should you have them. Prefer substantive debates. And, fully support teams who take the initiative to stop rounds when concerned re: evidence ethics (the instructions are fully detailed in the NSDA High School Event Manual, pp. 30-33). On Theory and other such arguments in Public Forum Debate:
https://www.vbriefly.com/2021/04/15/equity-in-public-forum-debate-a-critique-of-theory/
Experience:
- University of Wyoming policy debater & coach
- UC Berkeley policy coach
- Judging CARD for 3+ years (critic of the year in 2022)
CARD is not policy debate by design. I want to be moved and persuaded by your arguments, which you can't do if you are reading or speaking fast and using a bunch of technical jargon. Keep this activity accessible.
Read any style of arguments you want (kritical, policy, lived experience), but relate them to the topic. If you want to read an untopical affirmative then get ready to impact-turn and tell me why your arguments are important for this specific activity.
The 2NR and 2AR are for telling me exactly why you won the debate. A dropped argument is a true argument, but you need to tell me why that argument being true is important for your overall case (i.e. compare the quality of your arguments). Debate isn't just about winning individual arguments on the flow, but telling the judge a compelling story. An important part of telling the story is through impact calculus/comparison.
Flowing: I still prefer to flow CARD like a traditional policy round. I flow each argument on a separate page and I want to be able to line up the arguments to quickly compare them when rendering my decision. So, try to stay organized and answer the arguments in the order they were made.
Bottom line: Arguments need evidence and warrants. Keep it cute, don't post-round me.
Happy to answer any questions before the round begins.
Debate doesn’t matter. Human rights atrocities happen no matter how I vote. We can only change what happens in a round, not in US foreign/domestic policy.
Coach for La Salle Pasadena. Coaching for 6 years @ local, circuit, TOC/NSDA Nats level.
Speed is fine (because debate doesn’t matter), but if it's not great, I'll let you know and say 'clear'. Don't spread--it's not a way to pick up my ballot (again, debate doesn’t matter). Threshold: 270 words, give or take.
New Summary/Prep rules: Spend 2 minutes on summary, then that third minute on weighing. Final focus--start with that weighing that your 1st speaker ended on, then do the extensions. Summary=collapse. Spend that newly acquired 3d minute of summary providing a comparative impact calc or link weighing or whatever, but explaining how you outweigh. Don't use summary as a 2nd/additional rebuttal, if you can help it. If you want me to consider your arguments in Final Focus, I need to have heard them extended through the Summary. Final focus should be mostly comparative weighing. I will vote for the team that recognizes their own arg in its relevance to their opponents'.
I have a soft spot for Kritiks (because debate is problematic), so you can try it out, but if your Kritik ends up doing more harm than good (taking advantage of a Kritik to pick up a ballot without truly interacting with the literature of the Kritik or understanding each party's participation in oppressive systems, etc. will annoy me), I'll not consider it and possibly intervene against you.
If I don't get something on the flow, it's because you didn't emphasize it enough. I'll weigh what's on my flow, and that's the best I can do.
Re: postrounding--I don't find it educational. In fact, as a woman in debate who has her decisions and presence questioned at nearly every intersection in this activity, I find that getting postrounded by debaters just makes the space hostile and exhausting. So if you find yourself disguising your anger at losing the round as "just asking questions about the flow/round to get better," or worse, trying to embarrass and discredit your judge or your opponents, I'll tank your speaks after the round is over. If you have questions (rather than a desire to regain some power that you lost in dropping the round), come see me outside the round and we can talk.
When in doubt, ask. Or strike me. Either works.
Jenn (Jennifer) Miller-Melin, Jenn Miller, Jennifer Miller, Jennifer Melin, or some variation thereof. :)
Email for email chains:
If you walk into a round and ask me some vague question like, "Do you have any paradigms?", I will be annoyed. If you have a question about something contained in this document that is unclear to you, please do not hesitate to ask that question.
-Formerly assistant coach for Lincoln-Douglas debate at Hockaday, Marcus, Colleyville, and Grapevine. Currently assisting at Grapevine High School and Colleyville Heritage High School.
I was a four year debater who split time between Grapevine and Colleyville Heritage High Schools. During my career, I was active on the national circuit and qualified for both TOC and NFL Nationals. Since graduating in 2004, I have taught at the Capitol Debate Institute, UNT Mean Green Debate Workshops, TDC, and the University of Texas Debate Institute, the National Symposium for Debate, and Victory Briefs Institute. I have served as Curriculum Director at both UTNIF and VBI.
In terms of debate, I need some sort standard to evaluate the round. I have no preference as to what kind of standard you use (traditional value/criterion, an independent standard, burdens, etc.). The most important thing is that your standard explains why it is the mechanism I use to decide if the resolution is true or false. As a side note on the traditional structure, I don't think that the value is of any great importance and will continue to think this unless you have some well warranted reason as to why I should be particularly concerned with it. My reason is that the value doesn't do the above stated, and thus, generally is of no aid to my decision making process.
That said, debates often happen on multiple levels. It is not uncommon for debaters to introduce a standard and a burden or set of burdens. This is fine with me as long as there is a decision calculus; by which I mean, you should tell me to resolve this issue first (maybe the burden) and that issue next (maybe the standard). Every level of analysis should include a reason as to why I look to it in the order that you ask me to and why this is or is not a sufficient place for me to sign my ballot. Be very specific. There is nothing about calling something a "burden" that suddenly makes it more important than the framework your opponent is proposing. This is especially true in rounds where it is never explained why this is the burden that the resolution or a certain case position prescribes.
Another issue relevant to the standard is the idea of theory and/or off-case/ "pre-standard" arguments. All of the above are fine but the same things still apply. Tell me why these arguments ought to come first in my decision calculus. The theory debate is a place where this is usually done very poorly. Things like "education" or "fairness" are standards and I expect debaters to spend effort developing the framework that transforms into such.
l try to listen to any argument, but making the space unsafe for other bodies is unacceptable. I reserve the right to dock speaks or, if the situation warrants it, refuse to vote on arguments that commit violence against other bodies in the space.
I hold all arguments to the same standard of development regardless of if they are "traditional" or "progressive". An argument has a structure (claim, warrant, and impact) and that should not be forgotten when debaterI ws choose to run something "critical". Warrants should always be well explained. Certain cards, especially philosophical cards, need a context or further information to make sense. You should be very specific in trying to facilitate my understanding. This is true for things you think I have read/should have read (ie. "traditional" LD philosophy like Locke, Nozick, and Rawls) as well as things that I may/may not have read (ie. things like Nietzsche, Foucault, and Zizek). A lot of the arguments that are currently en vogue use extremely specialized rhetoric. Debaters who run these authors should give context to the card which helps to explain what the rhetoric means.
One final note, I can flow speed and have absolutely no problem with it. You should do your best to slow down on author names and tags. Also, making a delineation between when a card is finished and your own analysis begins is appreciated. I will not yell "clear" so you should make sure you know how to speak clearly and quickly before attempting it in round.
I will always disclose unless instructed not to do so by a tournament official. I encourage debaters to ask questions about the round to further their understanding and education. I will not be happy if I feel the debater is being hostile towards me and any debater who does such should expect their speaker points to reflect their behavior.
I am a truth tester at heart but am very open to evaluating the resolution under a different paradigm if it is justified and well explained. That said, I do not understand the offense/defense paradigm and am increasingly annoyed with a standard of "net benefits", "consequentialism", etc. Did we take a step back about 20 years?!? These seem to beg the question of what a standard is supposed to do (clarify what counts as a benefit). About the only part of this paradigm that makes sense to me is weighing based on "risk of offense". It is true that arguments with some risk of offense ought to be preferred over arguments where there is no risk but, lets face it, this is about the worst type of weighing you could be doing. How is that compelling? "I might be winning something". This seems to only be useful in a round that is already giving everyone involved a headache. So, while the offense/defense has effectively opened us up to a different kind of weighing, it should be used with caution given its inherently defensive nature.
Theory seems to be here to stay. I seem to have a reputation as not liking theory, but that is really the sound bite version of my view. I think that theory has a place in debate when it is used to combat abuse. I am annoyed when theory is used as a tactic because a debater feels she is better at theory than her opponent. I really like to talk about the topic more than I like to wax ecstatic about what debate would look like in the world of flowers, rainbows, and neat flows. That said, I will vote on theory even when I am annoyed by it. I tend to look at theory more as an issue of reasonabilty than competing interpretations. As with the paradigm discussion above, I am willing to listen to and adjust my view in round if competing interpretations is justified as how I should look at theory. Over the last few years I have become a lot more willing to pull the trigger on theory than I used to be. That said, with the emergence of theory as a tactic utilized almost every round I have also become more sympathetic to the RVI (especially on the aff). I think the Aff is unlikely to be able to beat back a theory violation, a disad, and a CP and then extend from the AC in 4 minutes. This seems to be even more true in a world where the aff must read a counter-interp and debate on the original interp. All of this makes me MUCH more likely to buy an RVI than I used to be. Also, I will vote on theory violations that justify practices that I generally disagree with if you do not explain why those practices are not good things. It has happened a lot in the last couple of years that a debater has berated me after losing because X theory shell would justify Y practice, and don't I think Y practice would be really bad for debate? I probably do, but if that isn't in the round I don't know how I would be expected to evaluate it.
Finally, I can't stress how much I appreciate a well developed standards debate. Its fine if you choose to disregard that piece of advice, but I hope that you are making up for the loss of a strategic opportunity on the standards debate with some really good decisions elsewhere. You can win without this, but you don't look very impressive if I can't identify the strategy behind not developing and debating the standard.
I cannot stress enough how tired I am of people running away from debates. This is probably the biggest tip I can give you for getting better speaker points in front of me, please engage each other. There is a disturbing trend (especially on Sept/Oct 2015) to forget about the 1AC after it is read. This makes me feel like I wasted 6 minutes of my life, and I happen to value my time. If your strategy is to continuously up-layer the debate in an attempt to avoid engaging your opponent, I am probably not going to enjoy the round. This is not to say that I don't appreciate layering. I just don't appreciate strategies, especially negative ones, that seek to render the 1AC irrelevant to the discussion and/or that do not ever actually respond to the AC.
Debate has major representation issues (gender, race, etc.). I have spent years committed to these issues so you should be aware that I am perhaps hypersensitive to them. We should all be mindful of how we can increase inclusion in the debate space. If you do things that are specifically exclusive to certain voices, that is a voting issue.
Being nice matters. I enjoy humor, but I don't enjoy meanness. At a certain point, the attitude with which you engage in debate is a reason why I should choose to promote you to the next outround, etc.
You should not spread analytics and/or in depth analysis of argument interaction/implications at your top speed. These are probably things that you want me to catch word for word. Help me do that.
Theory is an issue of reasonability. Let's face it, we are in a disgusting place with the theory debate as a community. We have forgotten its proper place as a check on abuse. "Reasonability invites a race to the bottom?" Please, we are already there. I have long felt that theory was an issue of reasonability, but I have said that I would listen to you make arguments for competing interps. I am no longer listening. I am pretty sure that the paradigm of competing interps is largely to blame with for the abysmal state of the theory debate, and the only thing that I have power to do is to take back my power as a judge and stop voting on interps that have only a marginal net advantage. The notion that reasonability invites judge intervention is one of the great debate lies. You've trusted me to make decisions elsewhere, I don't know why I can't be trusted to decide how bad abuse is. Listen, if there is only a marginal impact coming off the DA I am probably going to weigh that against the impact coming off the aff. If there is only a marginal advantage to your interp, I am probably going to weigh that against other things that have happened in the round.
Grammar probably matters to interpretations of topicality. If one reading of the sentence makes sense grammatically, and the other doesn't that is a constraint on "debatability". To say the opposite is to misunderstand language in some pretty fundamental ways.
Truth testing is still true, but it's chill that most of you don't understand what that means anymore. It doesn't mean that I am insane, and won't listen to the kind of debate you were expecting to have. Sorry, that interp is just wrong.
Framework is still totally a thing. Impact justifying it is still silly. That doesn't change just because you call something a "Role of the Ballot" instead of a criterion.
Util allows you to be lazy on the framework level, but it requires that you are very good at weighing. If you are lazy on both levels, you will not make me happy.
Flashing is out of control. You need to decide prior to the round what the expectations for flashing/emailing are. What will/won't be done during prep time, what is expected to be flashed, etc. The amount of time it takes to flash is extending rounds by an unacceptable amount. If you aren't efficient at flashing, that is fine. Paper is still totally a thing. Email also works.
I generally take a tabula rasa approach to judging. However, having experience as a former debater, I will not evaluate arguments that are blatantly incorrect or offensive. I will normally disclose but If you want a good oral critique, then be willing to get roasted.
In the round:
- I need impact calculus with comparative analysis in the final speeches, otherwise I’ll be forced to evaluate your arguments myself which will likely not be as favorable for you.
- Don’t extend through ink.
- I only weigh arguments in the final focus if they were also in your summary.
- Don’t go for everything past the rebuttal. Employ strategic issue selection and tell me what the important voters are and why you are winning them.
Arguments:
- I’m fine with most arguments but if you choose to go progressive (kritiks, theory, etc.) do it right, don’t butcher it, and stick to the procedurals.
- Framework is not an essential part of public forum. That being said if you choose to read a framework, utilize it because I will vote off it.
Delivery:
- I’ll give extra speaks for a tastefully savage remark. This is NOT an invitation to be rude which I have no tolerance for.
- When it comes to your rate of delivery, I’m fine with whatever but be sure not to sacrifice clarity for speed.
- I don’t flow cross so don’t get upset if I’m not writing while you and your opponent compete to talk over each other. This means that if you want me to account for an argument, you need to bring it up in a speech.
**UPDATED FOR TOC**
Assistant Coach for Fairmont Preparatory Academy
Education:
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science & Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communications from the University of La Verne '18
Debate Experience:
University of La Verne 2014 Performance Scholarship Recipient for Speech & Debate
Competitive collegiate British Parliamentary style debater 2014 - 2018
Attended over 25 tournaments nationally & internationally: The Oxford IV 2017, WUDC Mexico 2018, CMUDE Chile 2018, USUDC Anchorage 2015, USUDC Atlanta 2016, USUDC Stanford 2018, Pan-AmericanUDC Atlanta 2018, etc.
Titles: 2017 U.S. National Debate Championship Winner (BP Debate), Spanish World's Debate Championship 2018 Finalist (CMUDE Chile 2018)
Coaching Experience:
Bonita High School, Fairmont Preparatory Academy, University of La Verne (Spanish BP)
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PF Paradigm 2018-2019 Season:
**UPDATED FOR TOC**
"Prep time for the requesting team will not start until evidence has been handed over to the debater requesting said cards. Teams may prep during this evidence request time, this should encourage teams to have their evidence ready and available to present immediately. Judges should discourage teams from attempting to “game the system” if evidence requests become overly burdensome or create excessive delays in the debate." - TOC rules. [KNOW THE RULES KIDDOS]
EXPLAIN UNIQUENESS. If you can't explain/link out to why something actually changes on the AFF, it's going to put you at a huge disadvantage.
CARDS. CARDS. CARDS. I know this topic isn't the crowd favorite, but this is TOC, you *especially* need to have evidence for what you run. Don't make assertions or say "it just logically makes sense" when someone asks where your evidence is in round. Have a card or you don't get access to your impact.
- I'm a flow judge at heart. I do not like spreading, if you spread: it won't win you any favor in the round and it is better for you to slow down and explain your contentions at a normal pace. Don't read theory.
- If you want offense in the final focus then extend it through the summary; everything said in final focus should have at least been mentioned in summary. Please know the difference between a team dropping a point/not engaging with a contention and a team whose response you simply did not like. Disliking a team's response to your case does not equate dropping or not refuting it.
- I don't flow crossfire but I DO listen and it can factor into my decision sometimes. However: anything super important coming out of crossfire that you want me to flow should be in one of your speeches.
- Productive crossfire: if you spend 3 minutes talking over one another/constantly interrupting/being unnecessarily rude, etc: it's a waste of time for you and will make me annoyed. I lower speaker points for this.
- I enjoy off time roadmaps so I know where you are at on the flow.
- What I want to see: flushed out link chains & arguments that have realistic impacts. I vote for teams that are closest to the truth. Truth > Tech in most circumstances. Exaggerations and half-truths will be factored into my decisions; I defer to the teams with the most realistic and honest impact when there is tie.
- Properly complete/extend your links in summary and final focus
- Weighing mechanisms :) Explain why I should defer to your side: cost benefit analysis, scope, magnitude, probability, etc. I am in huge favor of clearly explained impacts. Pre-empt this in summary, be sure to do this in final focus.
- Comparatively weigh the round. Engage with the other side and their impacts and explain why I still should defer to your side.
- What I do not want to see: 1) abuse or misuse your evidence: I will pull cards if I need to. 2) spreading 3) Unproductive crossfire: allow the other side to speak, be respectful, only interrupt if absolutely necessary. Speaker points will reflect how you treat others in round. 4) Theory. In my opinion, this should only be run if the other side is truly being abusive and you HAVE to thoroughly explain it. 5) Disrespectful Post-Rounding: If you have a question, cool. I am happy to explain my thinking calculus. But do not interrupt me while I am giving an RFD or tell me I'm wrong. You're allowed to disagree, but do so respectfully. :)
ALSO: I have a very serious face when I judge, it is not that I hate you or what you are saying: it is just my face :) If y'all have any questions about anything, feel free to ask before the round!
Lastly: I know it's TOC and y'all have a lot on the line, but don't forget to breathe & enjoy the ride. I know it's corny and cliché, but don't forget to have fun.
I think that public forum is, at its core, the melding of sound argumentation and solid speaking. You should present not only well-structured, rational, strongly warranted arguments, but you should also do so in a way that can be relatable to whomever is in the back of the round.
That being said, I don't mind some speed - but be sure you are articulate and clear, especially with tags and authors. Sacrificing quality for quantity is a poor choice if you cannot handle (or your judge cannot handle) the speed. Make wise choices.
In terms of 'atypical' arguments. I think that it is very hard to run a K argument well in PF. I don't believe that it cannot be done, just that it is very rare. If you are running theory, then you better have extremely solid warrants and you should have it explained to the level of access of understanding fitting to this style of debate. DO NOT just read cards that you got from your Policy friends/teammates and call it a day. ALSO...YOUR ADVOCACY SHOULD MATCH YOUR ACTIONS. Do NOT use theory arguments as a cheap tool to surprise unwitting opponents and get the ballot when you have engaged in no actions that match the advocacy of your theory arguments. If you are running disclosure theory, there better be a history of you disclosing at EVERY round and you engaged in multiple forums, workshops, discussion boards where you are ACTIVELY engaged in increasing disclosure in a way that promotes education and fairness. If you get up and read disclosure in front of me and do not have this, it will be an automatic loss. I am not joking.
I think that framework is a solid strategy - if there is a purpose. Frequently teams have f/w just to have it and then don't touch it for the rest of the round. If it is there, then you should extend.
On the issue of extensions, be sure that your arguments are carried through the debate. Do not read at the beginning and then bring back up in the final focus and expect me to grant them to you.
Finally, there should be a clear advocacy in the round - and a clash between teams. I hate debates that are like ships passing in the night - no clash.
Former college policy debater and speech competitor. Been coaching speech and debate for the last 12 years.
A fan of clean, structured, easy to follow debates. I'm big on pre-speech road maps and internal signposting. Staying on track and explaining to me where you're going indicates to me that you are in control of the round and your performance within it. Debates that get muddled aren't fun for anyone, so keep it clear where you are cross applying and clashing.
I won't time anything in round. Keep tabs on each other.
I do prefer you extend thru summary if you have time so I know what you're going for.
Definitions only help us stay on the same page so when they are helpful, they are appreciated. Totally down with an overview.
Also fine with jargon. Competed in policy so speed shouldn't be an issue. I prefer it to be a little slower as this is PF, but if I can't understand you it's almost certainly an issue with articulation, not speed.
Impact weighing should be a primary part of your final focus. If I don't know what you impact out to then what are we even doing here and why does it matter? I do my best to leave my biases at the door, but that also means I will not intervene for you. Don't sprinkle a trail of bread crumbs and lead me down a path without actually ending up somewhere. Don't imply impacts or warrants, state them directly. You shouldn't make me work to follow you, it should be easy.
Speaker points for me are a function of your ability to logically break down and explain your points in a clear and concise manner. In my opinion it's not about how pretty you speak, that's what IE's are for (a stumble here or there means nothing to me in debate). Be clear, articulate, logical, and explain where you are going and you'll get high speaks from me. Be warned though: in 12 years of judging debate I have given out less than 10 perfect 30's. To me, 30 means perfection, as in you could not have done anything better whatsoever.
Framework is cool with me. Makes it easier to weigh the round.
Truth over tech.
Any other questions feel free to ask me before the round starts.
Truth > tech.
I like stock cases argued and explained well. Cross ex totally matters, in fact I have voted on convincing, strategic CX performances in many a bid round. Summaries should weigh. Call it "old tymey" PF.
If you are constantly thinking throughout the round (not just blindly reading cards) I will probably vote for you. Strike me if you have a super long link chain, do not address the topic, or talk super fast. Humor is great.
Judging Paradigm for John Overing
I debated in NDT-CEDA policy for UC Berkeley and in Nat-Circ and Trad Lincoln-Douglas for Loyola High School. I've judged over 250 rounds and competed in just as many.
Email: johnovering@berkeley.edu
Pre-Round Paradigm-Viewing:
Win the case, win the debate. Do impact calculus.
Here's how you win in front of me:
1. Identify the issue that will win you the round
2. Collapse to that issue and win it
3. Explain why it outweighs other considerations or should be evaluated first
Mostly tab, not scared to vote on abnormal or unpopular stuff. Go for whatever you want, even if it's an unorthodox take. I'm here to evaluate what you put before me, not impose my beliefs onto your arguments.
Disclosure
I am willing to vote on disclosure theory. Should you read it? Sure, UNLESS your opponent is new to debate. I'm very opposed to disclosure theory against students new to the activity.
Speaker Points
- Debate well, do something new or interesting, or give me an easy decision in a polite way.
- Open-source disclosure will make me more generous with speaks, let me know if you do this.
- Show me your flow after the round and I'll add 0.1 to 0.3 speaks. If requested, I will give feedback on your flow.
Poor behavior will affect your speaks, though (barring extreme cases) I'll keep such issues out of my decision.
Notes:
I don't enforce prep time for flashing. Be reasonable.
I flow cross-ex and prep. I rarely flow off speech docs.
Debate Voting:
I judge based on flow with weightage in rebuttals and how you protect your arguments against opponent rebuttals. I judge unbiased and according to the debate rules.
Speaker Points:
Presentation of constructive pro and con arguments is prepared speech and it establishes base for speaker points. Good presentation of Rebuttal and summary speeches which are not prepared ahead will push speaker points higher.
Judging History:
SCU Dempsey Cronin Invitational 2019 Varsity Public Forum
Stephen Stewart Middle and High School Invitational at Milpitas 2019 Varsity Public Forum
Georgiana Hays Invitational 2019 Varsity Public Forum
Cal Invitational UC Berkeley 2019 Varsity Public Forum
33rd Annual Stanford Invitational 2019 Varsity Public Forum
SCU Dempsey Cronin Invitational 2018 JV Public Forum
32nd Annual Stanford Invitational 2018 JV Public Forum
Middle School Speech and Debate Fall Classic 2017 Public Forum
Stephen Stewart Middle and High School Invitational at Milpitas 2017 Public Forum
Did debate. Ask me in person for specific stuff
I try to judge coming from 2 main places:
Tabula rasa -- Convince me; I leave my biases and prior knowledge at the door.
Games player -- This debate is a gameboard, attack and defend because both teams start from 0!
Debated circuit pf for 2 years.
Rebuttals:
Second rebuttal doesn't have to frontline defensive responses, but I recommend using second speaking advantage and responding to offense (ie turns/offensive overviews). Ideally, second rebuttal should respond to something from first rebuttal.
Don't read whole new offensive contentions as "overviews" in second rebuttal; it barely gives first speaking team time to respond. Defensive/framing/weighing overviews are OK.
Summary:
Don't need to extend defense in first summary unless there was frontlining in second rebuttal. Extend offense (this includes turns). Don't read new evidence unless it's responsive to new arguments in first summary.
Final Focus:
Everything in final focus should have been in summary. Exception is extending defense from 1st rebuttal to 1st FF if 2nd speaking team didn't address it until 2nd summary. Weigh -- both sides are probably going to be winning something, so tell me why your offense matters more.
General:
warrants>. Tell me the logic behind a statistic or percentage.
probably wont be able to flow over 250 wpm.
not really familiar with T or Ks, so i probably won't vote on them.
I work in the IT department of a pharmaceutical company and am fairly up to date on current events. Nonetheless, you should speak slowly and clearly and explain all your arguments well. If you have complicated link chains make sure you explain them thoroughly and impact them out. At the end of the round, I shouldn't have to do work for any of the teams in order to vote; towards the final speeches I expect you to weigh and tell me why your arguments matter and are winning you the round. Please keep debate jargon out of the round as I likely won't understand.
Updated (06/29/2022)
Currently an IP lawyer. If i am judging, it is because i owe someone a favor.
Overview:
Ill say "what" if i didnt hear/understand what you said
PF:
a decade worth of national circuit experience. former national competitor. former top 10 PF coach. Ill disclosed if you want. time yourselves.
CX/LD:
Love a good theory debate but i love a good debate on the merits (blame the pfer in me) i wont blame you for striking me lmao
I am a coach-adjacent (married to one) judge, and I have been judging policy, PF and LD for 18 years. I was also a policy debater in the last century. That said, I am not necessarily dialed in to the most current strategies and shorthand, especially in policy. My overall approach is basically tabula rasa- I will consider any argument that you can explain in terms of engagement with your opponent, i.e. if you can tell me WHY what you are bringing into the round should win my vote. That could be evidence, impacts, kritiks- whatever- I just need to know that you are listening to your opponent, engaging them directly and weighing their response to you. I’m not really drawn to debates about debate (theory?) in a debate round, but I value thoughtful kritiks about the appropriateness and shortcomings of topics/resolutions in the real world. I will vote on topicality, but it needs to be rigorously adapted to the case in round by specifying exactly why something is non-topical. I’m well aware of the implications for educational purposes.
In terms of mechanics, I can flow fairly speedy rounds, but I have always been a quality-over-quantity judge. Debate is still about communication and persuasion, and presenting a great volume of evidence/sources accomplishes neither goal. Having a some background in technical fields as well as philosophy makes me also appreciate strong analytical arguments.
For Public Forum rounds, much of what I like to see in policy applies, only more so because the time to make arguments is so abbreviated. The winning team will have narrowed their best argument down to one or maybe two by final focus, and will keep it TIGHT, clear and concise.
In LD, I am old school, and I appreciate the idea of a ponderous, reflective and challenging philosophical discourse on a contentious topic. I want to see well developed cases and arguments that explore the moral implications of respective sides of a resolution. A good LD round, in my view, is one in which both participants can speak like orators and use the power of language as well as rigorous analytics to bring the listeners to hear the righteousness of their position.
I did 2 years of circuit debate pretty competitively.
I try to be flow, only two things kinda different about me:
1. Terminal defense exists to infinity. If you never frontline an argument your opponents defensive ink still exists on my flow. Them not extending responses is not an excuse. Extensions of terminal defense are never necessary, just appreciated. You will never win an argument if defense against it is dropped.
2. I care more about warrants than impacts. Weighing an impact is irrelevant at the point that you do not win the links into the impact. If there is clash at the warrant level make sure to weigh links and actually explain to me why your warrant should be preferred to that of your opponents.
I'll evaluate any claim backed up in evidence or logic, run crazy shit, it's fun
My experience is as follows:
I competed in high school for 4 years policy debate, student congress and forensics (speech).
I have judged the last 3 years in PUFO debate and speech events.
My paradigm is as follows:
Speak clearly and articulate your thoughts. If I can’t understand you then I can’t give you credit for providing evidence or making a point. I was a debater so I can flow when someone speaks quickly I just need you to enunciate.
Make sure you have evidence to back up your main arguments and be organized enough to provide the evidence to the other team if they ask for it.
Make sure to not drop an argument.
I debated PF for 4 years on the national circuit. While I am a "flow judge" and can handle speed, I would discourage you from spreading if it sacrifices your clarity.
Couple things to consider when having me as a judge:
1. All arguments that you want me to evaluate in the round should be in summary and final focus, although I'm okay with first speaking teams extending defense from rebuttal to FF.
2. Collapsing is crucial. Pick and choose which arguments you want to go for; PLEASE do not go for everything in your case. The ability to collapse on 1 or 2 arguments will automatically boost your speaks for me.
3. This goes hand in hand with collapsing: please weigh your arguments. If you don't, I'll unfortunately be forced to do it myself which may or may not work out the way you would like.
Overall the key to winning my ballot is making the round as EASY AS POSSIBLE for me to evaluate. As the judge I want to do as little thinking as possible, so if you want to explain your arguments to me like I'm 5 years old, I'm game. The best way you can do this for me is with a clear and consistent narrative presented throughout the round. I will always weigh a long, well warranted, analytical response more heavily than a card dump. More often than not, if you just logically make more sense than your opponents, you will win my ballot.
Other thoughts:
-I hate wasted time in rounds where teams take 10+ minutes outside of their prep time trading evidence.
-If both teams are chill with it we can skip grand crossfire.
-I will never call for cards. If you have an issue with a card, bring it up in your speech.
-I don't vote for anything said in crossfire, if its important, bring it up in your speech.
* Don’t speak too fast. If I can’t understand you effectively, I can’t judge you effectively.
* Be Respectful of each other.
* No new information to be introduced in the Final Focus.
About me:
I am a coach for Quarry Lane, I debated PF for 4 years for Brophy College Prep, and I am a first year out. Will vote if properly warranted, and will disclose at the end of the round.
What I would like to see in round:
Brief off time road map (just tell me where to start or flow an overview).
Clear sign posting. Condense down to your main piece(s) of offense.
Offense in FF must be extended in Summary. (Link and impact) Try to front line in 2nd Rebuttal.
Weigh, weigh, weigh!
Things I am ok with/indifferent to:
If you want me to evaluate a piece of evidence, tell me to call for it and why in your speech. Otherwise I won’t ask to see anything at the end of the round.
Speed, AS LONG AS you ask your opponents before the round and they are ok with it. Allow them to yell 'clear' if they can't keep up and provide us with a speech doc (I will yell clear too / request speech doc).
That being said, if you run the following types of arguments please restrain you speed:
Ks/Theory/ROTB: I was not a very progressive debater so I'm not that familiar with them but I understand the basics. Fair warning, Ks I have the least experience with but I will do my best and will vote on it if it is explained.
Things don't want to see in the round (aka how to lose speaks):
Being rude, sexist, racist, discriminatory, or any other kind of offensive behavior, ESPECIALLY in Cross-X.
Taking too long in evidence exchange. Please pull up cards or PDFs fast.
Hello! I am a Dad of a public form debater and have been judging for 6 years. I mostly judge pufo so my paradigm is for that.
Judging Style:
- I like civility in the room. Please be respectful to everyone in the round.
- Please do not go too fast. If you do, I might miss some arguments.
- I may call for evidence if it is contested in the round or if one of the debaters asks me to.
- Please avoid technical language. If you do use it, please explain it.
- I will take notes during every speech. Please avoid new arguments in the final focus as I will most likely not evaluate it.
- Impacts are very important to me so start weighing as early in the round as possible.
- I will try my best not to intervene in the round, but I will not tolerate problematic arguments (racist, sexist, etc.)
Speaker Points:
- I award speaker points based on your fluency and confidence when speaking as well as your conduct in cross. If you are disrespectful or prevent your opponent from speaking, I will lower your speaker points.
Feel free to ask my clarifications on my paradigm before the round. I look forward to a good debate!
â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜
All Debate
Tech > truth
Please learn2framework (presumption is filter not layer unless specified)
as tab as I can possibly be
cool with: speed, k, t (boring), theory, performance, bribes
not cool with: you wasting my time to pre flow, in round abuse, equity violations, the USA
I don’t care what’s real outside the round, I’ll only vote on things said in round. Something is true until you tell me it isn’t true. Don’t be boring and also don’t be bad thank you
Public Forum
â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜
Do all of your weighing for me. I will not weigh anything on my own.
If its not in summary I wont evaluate it in final focus.
2nd rebuttal does not need to frontline/case defense, definitely still can though
Presumption is neg in any instance that demands intervention, risk of solvency arguments fair game for the aff.
signposting saves lives
Picky about extensions:
An extension is NOT reading an authors last name. An extension is NOT telling me your opponents drop something. Telling my hand what to do on a piece of paper does not equal you winning an argument- much less analyzing, crystallizing, or in any way convincing me to vote for you.
An extension is:
Extend Author 97 who our opponents fail to respond to
->What author 97 tells you is warrant/analysis
->What this means is we access Impact 1, which wins us the round because of X.
â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜â˜
Revolutionary Vanguard
Only god, in her infinite wisdom, can forgive me now.
In memory of those radicalized:
B. SHAHAR
G. TARPERING
J. NAHAS
tech > truth
tech tech tech tech tech tech tech
tech
tech
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tech
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tech
tech
tech
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tech
tech
tech
tech
tech
tech
tech
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tech
tech
tech
tech
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***Updated Berkeley Day 2*****
Y'all have really pushed me to my limits ): and now I'm not even feeling entirely tab as a paradigm because no weighing is being done for me. I WILL GO NEG ON PRESUMPTION IF PRO DOESN'T DO ANY WORK. IM TIRED OF HAVING TO DO YOUR WEIGHING FOR YOU.
An extension is NOT reading an authors last name. An extension is NOT telling me your opponents drop something. Telling my hand what to do on a piece of paper does not equal you winning an argument- much less analyzing, crystallizing, or in any way convincing me to vote for you.
An extension is:
Extend Author 97 who our opponents fail to respond to
->What author 97 tells you is warrant/analysis
->What this means is we access Impact 1, which wins us the round because of X.
If you don't really get this by now you're probably gonna lose the round.
Like many judges I try my best to be tabula rasa, like all of them, however, I fail. I'm comfortable with just about any argument at any speed. I like good K debates and long walks on the beach. Tech comes before truth for me until I'm told otherwise.
Thats like 2 or 3 years old^
In reality nowadays I'll probably beg you to spread or read something kritikal or perform or do anything (fun).
^Thats old too now
Tech > truth
Tech tech tech tech tech tech tech
THANKS TO ALLEN ABBOTT I WONT EVEN CALL FOR CARDS TO AVOID ANY INTERVENTION
I ONLY INTERVENE IN ONE WAY: IF I DONT SEE IT IN MY FLOW FOR THE SUMMARY I WONT VOTE ON THE EXTENSION IN FINAL FOCUS REGARDLESS OF WHO TELLS ME TO DO IT OR WHY I SHOULD DO IT
UNLESS YOU HAVE SOME WILD THEORY ARGUMENT ABOUT WHY I SHOULD ALLOW IT OR NOT INTERVENE ON IT IN WHICH CASE PLEASE HMU WITH THAT ID LOVE TO HEAR IT.
Nats:
If this is an intra-economic impact debate please avoid economic soup. I've judged about 8 rounds so far on this topic and I find by the end of most of these debates if there are 4 to 5 unique uncontested economic impacts without weighing which impacts matter more. If small business closures increase in the EU but FDI increases in the US how do I evaluate or weigh these competing impacts? Terminalize economic impacts to a common denominator more or tell me why certain economic impacts are more important than others. This could be something like which groups are particularly affected by said impacts, how long these economic effects persist, the severity of the economic impact, the immediacy of the impact, the reversibility etc. I think it's obvious that a trade deal will have both positive and negative effects but your job in the round is to do net analysis (which is hard because we are doing formal economics) but if you can't do that give me reasons why certain economic impacts matter more than others.
If we get into contesting the specific economic impacts themselves (BTA increases GDP by 2.5% vs BTA decreases GDP by 1%) you need specify or demarcate the reasons why your a. evidence is better or b. the underlying warranting is better. How do you prove one economic study is better than the other? Tell me about the data set, the controls, which journal it was in, who wrote it, why it is more specific, longitudinal, or takes into consideration variables the other study does not.
If you are running politics be them China, US, or EU related your evidence should take into consideration events in the last six months if not month. Plx evidence from 23 is sus.
Gabe Rusk
☮️
Background
Debate Experience: TOC Champion PF 2010, 4th at British Parli University National Championships 2014, Oxford Debate Union competitive debater 2015-2016 (won best floor speech), LGBTQIA+ Officer at the Oxford Debate Union.
Wanna come hang with me this summer? Sign up for the Summer Speech & Debate Think Tank at Stanford University.
NSDA PF Topic Committee Member: If you have any ideas, topic areas, or resolutions in mind for next season please send them to my email below.
Coaching Experience: Director of Debate at Fairmont Prep 2018-Current, Senior Instructor and PF Curriculum Director at the Institute for Speech and Debate, La Altamont Lane 2018 TOC, GW 2010-2015. British Parli coach and lecturer for universities including DU, Oxford, and others.
Education: Masters from Oxford University '16 - Dissertation on the history of the First Amendment. Religion and Philosophy BA at DU '14. Other research areas include Buddhism, comparative religion, conlaw, First Amendment law, free speech, freedom of expression, art law, media law, & legal history.
2023 Winter Data Update: Importing my Tabroom data I've judged 651 rounds since 2014 with a 53% Pro and 47% Con vote balance. There may be a slight subconscious Aff bias it seems. My guess is that I may subconsciously give more weight to changing the status quo as that's the core motivator of debate but no statistically meaningful issues are present.
Email: gabriel.rusk@gmail.com
Website: I love reading non-fiction, especially features. Check out my free website Rusk Reads for good article recs.
PF Paradigm
Judge Philosophy
I consider myself tech>truth but constantly lament the poor state of evidence ethics, power tagging, clipping, and more. Further, I know stakes can be high in a bubble, bid, or important round but let's still come out of the debate feeling as if it was a positive experience. Life is too short for needless suffering. Please be kind, compassionate, and cordial.
Big Things
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What I want to see: I'm empathetic to major technical errors in my ballots. In a perfect world I vote for the team who does best on tech and secondarily on truth. I tend to resolve clash most easily when you give explicit reasons why either a) your evidence is comparatively better but also when you tell me why b) your warranting is comparatively better. Obviously doing both compounds your chances at winning my ballot. I have recently become more sensitive to poor extensions in the back half. Please have UQ where necessary, links, internal links, and impacts. Weighing introduced earlier the better. Weighing is your means to minimize intervention.
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Weighing Unlike Things: I need to know how to weigh two comparatively unlike things. If you are weighing some economic impact against a non-economic impact like democracy how do I defer to one over the other? Scope, magnitude, probability etc. I strongly prefer impact debates on the probability/reasonability of impacts over their magnitude and scope. Obviously try to frame impacts using all available tools. I am very amicable to non-trad framing of impacts but you need to extend the warrants and evidence.
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Weighing Like Things: Please have warrants and engage comparatively between yourself and your opponent. Obviously methodological and evidentiary comparison is nice too as I mentioned earlier. I love crossfires or speech time where we discuss the warrants behind our cards and why that's another reason to prefer your arg over your opponent.
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Don't be a DocBot: I love that you're prepared and have enumerated overviews, blocks, and frontlines. I love heavy evidence and dense debates with a lot of moving parts. But if it sounds like you're just reading a doc without specific or explicit implications to your opponent's contentions you are not contributing anything meaningful to the round. Tell me why your responses interact. If they are reading an arg about the environment and just read an A2 Environment Non-Unique without explaining why your evidence or warranting is better then this debate will suffer.
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I'm comfortable if you want to take the debate down kritical, theoretical, and/or pre-fiat based roads. I think framework debates be them pre or post fiat are awesome. Voted on many K's before too. Here be dragons. I will say though, over time I've become increasingly tired of opportunistic, poor quality, and unfleshed out theory in PF. But in the coup of the century, I have been converted to the position that disclosure theory and para theory is a viable path to the ballot if you win your interp. I do have questions I am ruminating on after the summer doxxing of judges and debaters whether certain interps of disc are viable and am interested to see how that can be explored in a theory round. I would highly discourage running trigger warning theory in front of me. See thoughts below on that. All variables being equal I would prefer post-fiat stock topic-specific rounds but in principle remain as tabula rasa as I can on disc and paraphrasing theory.
Little Things
- (New Note for 2024: Speech docs have never intended to serve as an alternative to flowing a speech. They are for exchanging evidence faster and to better scrutinize evidence. Otherwise, you could send a 3000 word case and the speech itself could be as unintelligible as you would like without a harm. As a result there is an infinite regress of words you could send. Thus I will not look at a speech doc during your speech to aid with flowing and will clear you if needed. I will look at docs only when there is evidence comparison, flags, indicts etc but prefer to have it on hand. My speed threshold is very high but please be a bit louder than usual the faster you go. I know there is a trade off with loudness and speed but what can we do).
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What needs to be frontlined in second rebuttal? Turns. Not defense unless you have time. If you want offense in the final focus then extend it through the summary.
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Defense is not sticky between rebuttal and final focus. Aka if defense is not in summary you can't extend it in final focus. I've flipped on this recently. I've found the debate is hurt by the removal of the defense debate in summary and second final focus can extend whatever random defense it wants or whatever random frontlines to defense. This gives the second speaking teams a disproportionate advantage and makes the debate needlessly more messy.
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I will pull cards on two conditions. First, if it becomes a key card in the round and the other team questions the validity of the cut, paraphrasing, or explanation of the card in the round. Second, if the other team never discusses the merits of their opponents card the only time I will ever intervene and call for that evidence is if a reasonable person would know it's facially a lie.
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Calling for your opponent's cards. It should not take more than 1 minute to find case cards. Do preflows before the round. Smh y'all.
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If you spread that's fine. Just be prepared to adjust if I need to clear or provide speech docs to your opponents to allow for accessibility and accommodation.
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My favorite question in cx is: Why? For example, "No I get that's what your evidence says but why?"
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Germs are scary. I don't like to shake hands. It's not you! It's me! [Before covid times this was prophetic].
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I don't like to time because it slows my flow in fast rounds but please flag overtime responses in speechs and raise your phone. Don't interrupt or use loud timers.
Ramblings on Trigger Warning Theory
Let me explain why I am writing this. This isn't because I'm right and you're wrong. I'm not trying to convince you. Nor should you cite this formally in round to win said round. Rather, a lot of you care so much about debate and theory in particular gets pretty personal fairly quickly that I want to explain why my hesitancy isn't personal to you either. I am not opposing theory as someone who is opposed to change in Public Forum.
- First, I would highly discourage running trigger warning theory in front of me. My grad school research and longstanding work outside of debate has tracked how queer, civil rights advocates, religious minorities, and political dissidents have been extensively censored over time through structural means. The suppression and elimination of critical race theory and BLM from schools and universities is an extension of this. I have found it very difficult to be tabula rasa on this issue. TW/anonymous opt outs are welcome if you so wish to include them, that is your prerogative, but like I said the lack of one is not a debate I can be fair on. Let me be clear. I do not dismiss that "triggers" are real. I do not deny your lived experience on face nor claim all of you are, or even a a significant number of you, are acting in bad faith. This is always about balancing tests. My entire academic research for over 8 years was about how structural oppressors abuse these frameworks of "sin," "harm," "other," to squash dissidents, silence suffragettes, hose civil rights marchers, and imprison queer people because of the "present danger they presented in their conduct or speech." I also understand that some folks in the literature circles claim there is a double bind. You are opting out of trigger warning debates but you aren't letting me opt out of debates I don't want to have either. First, I will never not listen to or engage in this debate. My discouragement above is rooted in my deep fear that I will let you down because I can't be as fair as I would be on another issue. I tell students all the time tabula rasa is a myth. I still think that. It's a goal we strive for to minimize intervention because we will never eliminate it. Second, I welcome teams to still offer tw and will not penalize you for doing so. Third, discussions on SV, intersectionality, and civil rights are always about trade offs. Maybe times will change but historically more oppression, suppression, and suffering has come from the abuse of the your "speech does me harm" principle than it benefits good faith social justice champions who want to create a safe space and a better place. If you want to discuss this empirical question (because dang there are so many sources and this is an appeal to my authority) I would love to chat about it.
Next, let me explain some specific reasons why I am resistant to TW theory in debate using terms we use in the literature. There is a longstanding historical, philosophical, and queer/critical theory concern on gatekeeper shift. If we begin drawing more and more abstract lines in terms of what content causes enough or certain "harm" that power can and will be co-opted and abused by the equally more powerful. Imagine if you had control over what speech was permitted versus your polar opposite actor in values. Now imagine they, via structural means, could begin to control that power for themselves only. In the last 250 years of the US alone I can prove more instances than not where this gatekeeping power was abused by government and powerful actors alike. I am told since this has changed in the last twenty years with societal movements so should we. I don't think we have changed that significantly. Just this year MAUS, a comic about the Holocaust, was banned in a municipality in Jan 22. Toni Morrison was banned from more than a dozen school districts in 2021 alone. PEN, which is a free press and speech org, tracked more than 125 bills, policies, or resolutions alone this year that banned queer, black, feminist, material be them books, films, or even topics in classrooms, libraries, and universities. Even in some of the bills passed and proposed the language being used is under the guise of causing "discomfort." "Sexuality" and discussions of certain civil rights topics is stricken from lesson plans all together under these frameworks. These trends now and then are alarming.
I also understand this could be minimizing the trauma you relive when a specific topic or graphic description is read in round. I again do not deny your experience on face ever. I just cannot comfortably see that framework co-opted and abused to suppress the mechanisms or values of equality and equity. So are you, Gabe, saying because the other actors steal a tool and abuse that tool it shouldn't be used for our shared common goals? Yes, if the powerful abuse that tool and it does more harm to the arc of history as it bends towards justice than I am going to oppose it. This can be a Heckler's Veto, Assassin's Veto, Poisoning The Well, whatever you want to call it. Even in debate I have seen screenshots of actual men discussing how they would always pick the opt out because they don't want to "debate girls on women issues in front of a girl judge." This is of course likely an incredibly small group but I am tired of seeing queer, feminist, or critical race theory based arguments being punted because of common terms or non-graphic descriptions. Those debates can be so enriching to the community and their absence means we are structurally disadvantaged with real world consequences that I think outweigh the impacts usually levied against this arg. I will defend this line for the powerless and will do so until I die.
All of these above claims are neither syllogisms or encyclopedias of events. I am fallible and so are those arguments. Hence let us debate this but just know my thoughts.
Like in my disclaimer on the other theory shell none of these arguments are truisms just my inner and honest thoughts to help you make strategic decisions in the round.
**ALL TOURNAMENTS: I learned of the topic the morning of the tournament. PLEASE assume I know nothing. Except Sunvite 2024, half my masters degree was section 230 so I know a decent bit.***
Background:
Competed in Public Forum @ Cypress Bay HS (2013-2017)
BA in Political Science @ University of Central Florida (2017-2021)
MA in Bioethics, Tech Ethics and Science Policy @ Duke University (2021-2022)
PF (If you have me for another event go lay) Paradigm
- Look, I know NSU is a tech school and all, but they hire me to coach lay debate i havent cut a card in maybe 6 years (but like ive been around the circuit so i sometimes know what's going on) . if you're spreading or speaking too fast i probably wont catch a lot of it and will probably look confused
- if possible, number your responses so i know if I missed anything
- Set up email chains/preflow during tech check. I am a big believer in sending case docs to make it easier for everyone but I won't force yall to do so. You'll get a bump in speaks if you do. sharansawlani@gmail.com and uschoolpf@gmail.com
- Please don’t shake my hand.
- You can ask to look at ev during your partner or opponent's speech/cross. Idk why or when people started considering this as "stealing prep time".
- Quality of voters> Quantity of voters.
- Weigh, weigh, weigh, weigh, weigh. Which weigh? Dat weigh.
- Keep the round lighthearted. I think debaters are way too angry now and some humor would be appreciated. Jokes and puns are highly encouraged.
- Not a fan of super squirrelly arguments or theory (the next 2 bullets might answer your next questions). Idk too much about K's and im not the best at evaluating them, but if that's what you wanna read just make sure you explain it well. If I'm confused at the end of the debate I promise you won't be happy with my decision.
- READ and SEND cut cards. paraphrasing is whack. i wont penalize you for it but if the other team reads theory or tells me to evaluate paraphrased evidence as analytics and not real evidence, and you dont respond, it's going to be a really uphill battle.
- Disclosure in PF is a good thing. Same thing as paraphrasing; If someone discloses and either a) you do not and they read disclosure theory OR b) you LIE about what you've disclosed, I consider this a TKO. This means if disclosure theory is read in the round (reasonably) and it is conceded then it is basically over.
- Your final focus should be telling me what to write on my ballot. If i don’t have to spend time thinking about how im voting after the round, you and i will both be happy (half of you at least).
- Apparently this needs to be clarified now but regardless of speaking order, in the rare situation where there is no offense on either side at the end of the round I will presume neg.
If you have any other questions feel free to email me sharansawlani@gmail.com or ask me before the round provided your opponents are present as well. Hated my decision? send all complaints to sophialam@uchicago.edu and hold nothing back.
TLDR:
Bold: Collapse, weigh, signpost, don’t make me think, galaxy hoodie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai3UfW-dFi8&ab_channel=HeXyaCe
Fold: being mean, friv theory, no email chain/disclosure, partial quads lmao.
Co-Director: Milpitas High Speech and Debate
PHYSICS TEACHER
History
Myers Park, Charlotte N.C.
(85-88) 3 years Policy, LD and Congress. Double Ruby (back when it was harder to get) and TOC competitor in LD.
2 Diamond Coach (pretentious, I know)
Email Chain so I know when to start prep: mrschletz@gmail.com
Summer 87: American U Institute. 2 weeks LD and congress under Dale Mccall and Harold Keller, and 2 more weeks in a mid level Policy lab.
St. Johns Xavierian, Shrewsbury, Mass
88~93 consultant, judge and chaperone
Summer 89 American U Coaches institute (Debate)
Milpitas High, Milpitas CA
09-present co-coach
Side note/pet peeve: It is pronounced NUUUUUU-CLEEEEEEE-ERRRRRRRRR (sorry this annoys the heck outta me, like nails on the blackboard)
*TLDR FOR NSDA NATS*
35 years of LD competition, coaching and judging
TRADITIONAL LD, WHOLE REZ, If someone proves the aff side true, I vote aff. Follow NSDA RULES.
ALL EVENTS EXCEPT PARLI NEED TO KNOW NSDA RULES OF EVIDENCE (or CHSSA RULES OF EVIDENCE) OR DO NOT EXPECT ME TO COUNT IT(NSDA MINIMUM IS "NAME" AND "DATE" ****READ IN ROUND****) Anything else is just rhetoric/logic and 99% of the time, rhetoric vs card mans card wins. ALSO: SENDING ME A SPEECH DOC does NOT equal "READ IN ROUND". If I yell clear, and you don't adapt, this is your fault.
If you put conditions on your opponent getting access to your evidence I will put conditions on counting it in my RFD. Evidence should be provided any time asked between speeches, or asked for during cx and provided between speeches. Failure to produce the card in context may result in having no access to that card on my flow/decision.
Part of what you should know about any of the events
Events Guide
https://www.nflonline.org/uploads/AboutNFL/Competition_Events_Guide.pdf
13-14 NSDA tournament Operations manual
http://www.speechanddebate.org/aspx/content.aspx?id=1206
http://www.speechanddebate.org/DownloadHandler.ashx?File=/userdocs/documents/PF_2014-15_Competition_Events_At_A_Glance.pdf
All events, It is a mark of the competitors skill to adapt to the judge, not demand that they should adapt to you. Do not get into a definitional fight without being armed with a definition..... TAG TEAM CX? *NOT A FAN* if you want to give me the impression your partner doesn't know what they are talking about, sure, go ahead, Diss your partner. Presentation skills: Stand in SPEECHES AND CX (where applicable) and in all events with only exception in PF grand.
ALL EVENTS EXCEPT PARLI NEED TO KNOW NSDA RULES OF EVIDENCE (or CHSSA RULES OF EVIDENCE) OR DO NOT EXPECT ME TO COUNT IT(NSDA MINIMUM IS "NAME" AND "DATE"****READ IN ROUND****) Anything else is just rhetoric/logic and 99% of the time, rhetoric vs card means card wins.
PUBLIC FORUM:
P.S.: there is no official grace period in PF. If you start a card or an analytic before time, then finish it. No arguments STARTED after time will be on my flow.
While I was not able to compete in public forum (It did not exist yet), the squad I coach does primarily POFO. Its unlikely that any resolution will call for a real plan as POFO tends to be propositions of fact instead of value or policy.
I am UNLIKELY to vote for a K, and I don't even vote for K in policy. Moderate speed is fine, but to my knowledge, this format was meant to be more persuasive. USE EVIDENCE and make sure you have Tags and Cites. I want a neat flow (it will never happen, but I still want it)
I WANT FRAMEWORK or I will adjudicate the round, since you didn't (Framework NOT introduced in the 1st 4 speeches will NOT be entertained, as it is a new argument. I FLOW LIKE POLICY with respect to DROPPED ARGUMENTS (if a speech goes by I will likely consider the arg dropped... this means YES I believe the 4th speaker in the round SHOULD cover both flows..)
Also: If you are framing the round in the 4th speech, I am likely to give more leeway in the response to FW or new topical definitions in 1st Summ as long as they don't drop it.
Remember, Pofo was there to counteract speed in Circuit LD, and LD was created to counter speed, so fast is ok, but tier 3 policy spread is probably not.
ALL EVENTS EXCEPT PARLI NEED TO KNOW NSDA RULES OF EVIDENCE (or CHSSA RULES OF EVIDENCE) OR DO NOT EXPECT ME TO COUNT IT(NSDA MINIMUM IS "NAME" AND "DATE" READ IN ROUND ) Anything else is just rhetoric/logic and 99% of the time, rhetoric vs card mans card wins.
PLANS IN PF
If you have one advocacy, and you claim solvency on one advocacy, and only if it is implemented, then yeah that is a plan. I will NOT weigh offense from the plan, this is a drop the argument issue for me. Keep the resolution as broad as possible. EXCEPTION, if the resolution is (rarely) EXPLICIT, or the definitions in the round imply the affirmative side is a course of action, then that is just the resolution. EXAMPLE
September 2012 - Resolved: Congress should renew the Federal Assault Weapons Ban
the aff is the resolution, not a plan and more latitude is obviously given.
If one describes several different ways for the resolution to be implemented, or to be countered, you are not committing to one advocacy, and are defending/attacking a broad swath of the resolution, and this I do NOT consider a plan.
ALL EVENTS EXCEPT PARLI NEED TO KNOW NSDA RULES OF EVIDENCE (or CHSSA RULES OF EVIDENCE) OR DO NOT EXPECT ME TO COUNT IT(NSDA MINIMUM IS "NAME" AND "DATE" ****READ IN ROUND****) Anything else is just rhetoric/logic and 99% of the time, rhetoric vs card mans card wins.
POLICY:
If your plan is super vague, you MIGHT not get to claim your advantages. Saying you "increase" by merely reading the text of the resolution is NOT A PLAN. Claiming what the plan says in cx is NOT reading a plan. Stop being sloppy.
I *TRY* to be Tabula Rasa (and fail a lot of the time especially on theory, Ks and RVI/fairness whines)
I trained when it was stock issues, mandatory funding plan spikes (My god, the amount of times I abused the grace commission in my funding plank), and who won the most nuclear wars in the round.
Presentation skills: Stand in SPEECHES AND CX (where applicable) and in all events with only exception in PF grand.
Please don't diss my event.
I ran
Glassification of toxic/nuclear wastes, and Chloramines on the H2O topic
Legalize pot on the Ag topic
CTBT on the Latin America topic.
In many years I have never voted neg on K (in CX), mainly because I have never seen an impact (even when it was run in POFO as an Aff).(Ironic given my LD background)
I will freely vote on Topicality if it is run properly (but not always XT), and have no problem buying jurisdiction......
I HAVE finally gotten to judge Hypo-testing round (it was fun and hilarious).
One of my students heard from a friend in Texas that they are now doing skits and non topical/personal experiece affs, feel free, BUT DON'T EXPECT ME TO VOTE FOR IT.
I will vote on good perms both ways (see what I said above about XT)
SPREAD: I was a tier B- speed person in the south. I can flow A level spread *IF* you enunciate. slow down momentarily on CITES and TAGS and blow through the card (BUT I WILL RE TAG YOUR SUBPOINTS if your card does not match the tag!!!!!!)
If you have any slurred speech, have a high pitched voice, a deep southern or NY/Jersey drawl, or just are incapable of enunciating, and still insist on going too fast for your voice, I will quit flowing and make stuff up based on what I think I hear.
I do not ask for ev unless there is an evidentiary challenge, so if you claim the card said something and I tagged it differently because YOU slurred too much on the card or mis-tagged it, that's your fault, not mine.
LD
I WILL JUDGE NSDA RULES!!!! I am NOT tabula rasa on some theory, or on plans. Plans are against the rules of the event as I learned it and I tend to be an iconoclast on this point. LD was supposed to be a check on policy spread, and I backlash, if you have to gasp or your voice went up two octaves then see below... Topicality FX-T and XT are cool on both sides but most other theory boils down to WHAAAAAAHHHH I don't want to debate their AFF so I will try to bs some arguments.
-CIRCUIT LD REFER to policy prefs above in relation to non topical and performance affs, I will TRY to sometimes eval a plan, but I wish they would create a new event for circuit LD as it is rarely values debate.
- I LOVE PHILOSOPHY so if you want to confuse your opponent who doesn't know the difference between Kant, Maslow and Rawls, dazzle away :-).
Clear VP and VC (or if you call it framework fine, but it is stupid to tell someone with a framework they don't have a VC and vice versa, its all semantics) are important but MORE IMPORTANT is WHY IS YOURS BETTER *OR* WHY DO YOU MEET THEIRS TOO and better (Permute)
IF YOU TRY TO Tier A policy spread, or solo policy debate, you have probably already lost UNLESS your opponent is a novice. Not because I can't follow you, but because THIS EVENT IS NOT THE PLACE FOR IT!!! However there are several people who can talk CLEARLY and FAST that can easily dominate LD, If you cannot be CLEAR and FAST play it safe and be CLEAR and SLOW. Speaker points are awarded on speaking, not who wins the argument....
Sub-pointing is still a good idea, do not just do broad overviews. plans and counter-plans need not apply as LD is usually revolving around the word OUGHT!!!! Good luck claiming Implementation FIAT on a moral obligation. I might interrupt if you need to be louder, but its YOUR job to occasionally look at the judge to see signals to whether or not they are flowing, so I will be signalling that, by looking at you funny or closing my eyes, or in worst case leaning back in my chair and visibly ignoring you until you stop ignoring the judge and fix the problem. I will just be making up new tags for the cards I missed tags for by actually listening to the cards, and as the average debater mis-tags cards to say what they want them to, this is not advisable.
PLANS IN LD
PLANS
If you have one advocacy, and you claim solvency on one advocacy, and only if it is implemented, then yeah that is a plan. I will NOT weigh offense from the plan, this is a drop the argument issue for me. Keep the resolution as broad as possible.
EXCEPTION, if the resolution is (rarely) EXPLICIT, or the definitions in the round imply the affirmative side is a course of action, then that is just the resolution. EXAMPLE
September 2012 - Resolved: Congress should renew the Federal Assault Weapons Ban
the aff is the resolution, not a plan and more latitude is obviously given.
If one describes several different ways for the resolution to be implemented, or to be countered, you are not committing to one advocacy, and are defending/attacking a broad swath of the resolution, and this I do NOT consider a plan.
I repeat, Speed = Bad in LD, and I will not entertain a counter-plan in LD If you want to argue Counterplans and Plans, get a partner and go to a policy tournament.
GOOD LUCK and dangit, MAKE *ME* HAVE FUN hahahahahah
Focus on clear articulation and strong final focus. Discussions during cross is important for me to understand the contentions better.
I am an ex debater and coach.
Send a speech doc if you plan to spread.
I don't require front lining in second rebuttal or extensions of terminal defense in first summary. However, if second rebuttal frontlines and first summary does not interact with said frontlines, than the argument is conceded in summary.
Ask me anything else
I am a lay judge but I am not dumb. Speak slowly and clearly and please do not introduce new arguments or evidence in Final Focus.
I debated PF and Policy for four years and coached PF for one year. Treat me as an experienced PF tech judge.
I vote off the flow.
Things I like
-Impact calculus and weighing. Don't yell buzzwords at me; show me direct argument comparison.
-Voters. Choose what to go for and what to drop.
-Roadmap and signpost. Side note: every time someone says "brief off-time roadmap," a small part of me dies.
-Frontlining in second rebuttal. If you want to split your time as 2 min. offense and 2 min. defense, that's your choice. On the other hand, if you want to spend all 4 min. on offense, that's fine too. Strategize.
-Please time yourself. If I have to time you, it will distract me from flowing and listening to your arguments.
Things I don't like
-Shadow extensions. If you want to extend a contention or warrant, explain the significance of that in the round.
-Giving me a generic framework and doing little to no weighing and expecting me to vote for you on the framework
-Post-rounding me. I shouldn't need to say this, but don't argue with me on my decision after the round. I'll talk to you about it and answer any questions you have, but trying to change my decision will just tank your speaks.
-Rudeness. You can be aggressive, but be civil.
Misc.
-First summary doesn't have to extend defense, but should extend turns/offense.
-Evidence-reading is not on prep time, but don't abuse that.
-I'm good with speed as long as it's clear. I will give one warning if I can't understand, and then I will let you know that I've stopped flowing.
-I try to be visibly responsive during the round. If you see me nodding, you are on the right track. If I'm making faces, I am confused. If I have stopped flowing, you're probably repeating what you've already said and should move on to your next point.
-If you want me to look at evidence, or if I'm just curious about it, I will ask to see it after the round.
Speaker Points
(copied from tournament guidelines)
30: Sheer perfection
29: Surpassing excellence
28: Quite solid and good
27: Okay
26: Needs a bit of work
25: Needs a lot of work
If you want me to provide feedback right after the round (time permitting and based on tournament rules), I’d be happy to. If not, feel free to email me.
Speed:
Just speak clearly and don't mumble. if you can't do that while spreading then don't spread.
Speaker Points:
It's simple, whoever speaks the clearest will get the most speaker points.
Case Arguments:
I go off of what I have on the flow, and I judge based on net benifits. I would like to see a good, clean debate. I don't want debaters to talk past each other, I want y'all to bring up points the opponent made and tear it apart. If the opponent dropped an argument, explain why that matters. DO NOT assume I will do the work for you.
Procedurals:
If you run this make sure to explain in detail, line by line. if you are responding to this, reply line by line. This is a one shot kill so it needs to be near perfect.
Cross-X:
Make it entertaining.
Advantages / Disadvantages:
Sign post for me or you run the risk of me not flowing something important.
Kritiks:
I won't vote for them unless you give me a very clear story of what the world of the alternative looks like with clear examples. I would rather hear a debate about the topic at hand.
I am a real estate agent. I am a judge from Dougherty Valley High School. I have judged public forum debate for 2 years, mostly in the novice and JV divisions.
I will award speaker points based on clarity, persuasive ability, and how easy your arguments are to understand. I’d prefer if you speak at a normal speed, or only slightly fast. Be polite and respectful to me, your opponents, and your partner.
I will only vote on arguments that are extended throughout the debate, and that make sense to me. When making any point you would like me to vote on, clearly explain what it is and why it matters.
I will not be taking many notes during the round, so please point out any concessions, drops, etc. that the opponents make. Keep the debate jargon to a minimum.
How much I weigh the following (1 - not at all, 10 - heavily):
Clothing/Appearance: 2/10 I do not judge based on appearance but put some effort into looking professional.
Use of Evidence: 9/10 I will not be calling for cards but make sure your evidence states what you are claiming. When extending cards, explain the warrants instead of just giving the tags.
Real world Impacts: 10/10 Clearly explain why your impact matters more than your opponents, and do the weighing for me.
Cross Examination: 4/10 I will not pay much attention during cross, so if there are any important concessions made, point them out in your next speech.
Tech over truth: 6/10 I will care more about the manner in which the argument is presented, but I will not vote on anything that is blatantly untrue. It is your job to convince me why your opponents’ arguments are invalid.
Additionally, don’t run theory, as I do not have experience with it, and cannot evaluate what I don’t understand.
I am a lay judge and have barely judged. Don't spread.
Please do not just hand me 80 cards and say look we have evidence. Make sure you explain your evidence. Also I prefer logic over some cards.
Anything in summary must be in final focus.
It's fine if you are passionate in crossfire but yelling will result in lower speaker points. Also do not laugh at your opponents or I will lower your speaker points. Doing well in crossfire is important to me as well.
Also Theory and K cases are not appreciated.
I do not disclose (in prelims).
First, me.
This is my third year at Chabot College. I competed on Chabot's Forensics team directed by Stephanie Eisenberg Todd for 2 years. I tutored for Chabot's COMM Department where I saw speech outlines, delivery, and debates on a daily basis.
I also, in recent years, have developed some hearing issues and will let all rounds know what that means for them on a case by case basis that is depending on the event and room that we are in.
Now, my paradigm. (I try to update this by March Madness yearly)
Debate:
Make everything easy to follow with clear signposting. If you are going to "carry over arguments," then you should sum them up quickly so that it is clear what arguments I must carry over. I will do my best to make a logical decision.
Prepped Debate- Speed; I do not mind being slightly faster than conversational but if I cannot sum up what you're saying, in shorthand, as you're saying it I will just stop flowing.
TOPICALITY- Give me serious legitimate reasons to vote on the topicality.
KRITIK- I will gladly vote on a K if you give me clear reasonable links and impacts and an alt that solves.
Congressional Debate- This is only here because apparently, it is a thing in high school. To keep this simple here are things that put people in my top 10 in a round. Clash; in Congress, clash is a hard thing to make, but it can be done so directly refute the other side and affirm people on yours. Evidence Expansion; don't just read a card off of your tablet, expand on it in your own words extemporaneously (not reading a prewritten expansion on evidence). Passion mixed with fundamentals; give me lots of passion, a bomb speaker's triangle, actual meaningful gestures (not on every word or sentence), phenomenal facial expressions, and body language. Any two of these elements will get you in my top 10, and if you do all three, definitely top 5.
Individual Events
These are general dos and don'ts. These are things that I notice that people think I don't that do in fact change dynamics of a speech.
DO make eye contact with your entire audience. DON'T stay fixated on your judges.
DO adjust your speaker's triangle and performance to the room. DON'T end up in the corner or hitting furniture.
For limited prep, DON'T abuse the grace period. It is there to fall back on in just in case; Impromptu in a 5-minute speech (not 5:15) and extemp is a 7-minute speech (not 7:30). (P.S. College doesn't have a grace period. Don't rely on it.)
DO have fun.
**Anything not listed you can ask me before the round begins and I will attempt to add to my paradigm**
i did PF in high school (2014-18) and coached for ~2 years after.
i have not thought about debate in the past 4 years, i don't have topic knowledge, and am not comfy with technical/theory-ish things in PF. please treat me like a flay judge! i like seeing lots of impact calc, meta/weighing throughout the round along w/ a clean narrative — doing all of these well will mean i give u high speaks (29+). i will lower speaker points for teams that are mean :(
you can wear whatever is comfortable for you in rounds. i don't believe in having to wear a suit for tournaments.
more importantly, i hope you are having a good day :)
sanjim@berkeley.edu
I have never competed in Speech or debate. I have judged public forum for three years and Lincoln - Douglas for one. But according to my child, I am still a lay judge. I do take notes in the debate however. I need you all to evaluate the impacts for me. Please make the round clear for me. I want you to signpost everything, so I know where to take notes. Furthermore, don't be mean and rude in the round.
Hello!
I am a parent judge, and prefer traditional debates. I can handle speed to a certain extent, but please do not spread. I would prefer no theory and kritiks. Make strong and clear arguments and make good refutations!
Good luck!
Stanford '21
Almost everything I know about debate I learned from David Weston and Liam Hancock. Ask before round if you have specific questions, but in short, you do you and I will follow :)
I'm a lay judge. Please speak slow and be clear.
30 speaks for a snack
don't extend through ink
i did pf in high school
10th in Duo State but trust, I'm flow
Name: Mike Wascher
School Affiliation: Lake Highland Prep
Number of Years Judging Public Forum: 10
Number of Years Competing in Public Forum: 0
Number of Years Judging Other Forensic Activities: 15
Number of Years Competing in Other Forensic Activities: 8
If you are a coach, what events do you coach? Public Forum, extemp
What is your current occupation? Debate coach
Please share your opinions or beliefs about how the following play into a debate round:
Speed of Delivery As long as it is clear, speed is not important
Format of Summary Speeches (line by line? big picture?) Turning point in the debate where the debater should take from the line by line the arguments they envision as being the decision points. Whether it is organized by the same order as the line by line or re-cast in voting issues makes no difference.
Role of the Final Focus Tell me what arguments you win, explain why those arguments, when compared to your opponents arguments, means you win the debate. The comparative work is crucial. If the debaters don’t do it the judge has to do it and that is a door debaters should never leave open.
Extension of Arguments into later speeches While I have no autocratic rule, I would imagine that something you plan to go for would be something that is extended throughout the debate. If argument X is a winner it just seems reasonable to me that it should be included in all speeches.
Topicality Sadly, this argument isn’t advanced much because the time it takes to present it is generally critical time lost on case arguments and the trade off is seldom worth. Having said that, I would vote on a T argument.
Plans Specific plans are, by rule, not allowed. Generic ideas about solving problems necessarily discusses policy options. The general idea of those options is the resolution when were have policy topics.
Kritiks If Public Forum is supposed to be debate about how current events are debated in the real world I find little room for theoretical ideas that are not considered by real world policy makers. If, however, the critical argument has specific links to the topic, (and history suggests that few I’ve heard do) it should not be rejected because it is critical.
Flowing/note-taking I flow the key parts of the argument and sometimes flow authors. I find myself noting dates when they seem to be old (and possible dated). I listen to cross fire and sometimes make notes when I heard something worthwhile.
Do you value argument over style? Style over argument? Argument and style equally? I value argument and I especially value warrants (which aren’t tag lines) that explain why your claims are persuasive.
If a team plans to win the debate on an argument, in your opinion does that argument have to be extended in the rebuttal or summary speeches? Not a hard and fast rule with me but I can’t imagine why a winner would be left out.
If a team is second speaking, do you require that the team cover the opponents’ case as well as answers to its opponents’ rebuttal in the rebuttal speech? Also not a hard and fast rule with me but strategically it is probably important you get back to some of your case, unless you plan to win offense on turns on your opponents case.
Do you vote for arguments that are first raised in the grand crossfire or final focus? Never!
If you have anything else you'd like to add to better inform students of your expectations and/or experience, please do so here. The three things I would like to hear more often in Public Forum debates are:
1) Comparative work. Explain why you win the debate not just win some arguments. You can win every argument you discuss but still not have a better story than your opponent. Take the time to explain why the arguments you win form a better story than your opponent’s offering.
2) Warrants. Claims are not persuasive. Why your claim is true, significant, harmful, etc., make for a persuasive argument. The best claim from the most qualified author is generally useless and it is sad when those “Best” authors write warrants and debaters fail to cut that evidence and read it.
3) Paraphrasing. I recognize that the PF world is at this point. I don’t like it. I believe there are ethical issues when one cites three different authors, for example, and none of the three are working on the same argument but rather writing one line that fits in and is found in a google search. I also find it problematic that some think they can summarize a master’s level work in six words. Paraphrasing opens the world to a lot of potential evil. I read a lot on our topics and do not be the person that is misrepresenting an author by a poor paraphrase. It’s as bad as clipping. Given the power to change the world I would mandate we go back to reading evidence but then again I can’t find enough people, maybe even one other person, willing to give me that power. So we will paraphrase but we will properly represent the evidence.
Background
Director of Speech & Debate at Taipei American School in Taipei, Taiwan. Founder and Director of the Institute for Speech and Debate (ISD). Formerly worked/coached at Hawken School, Charlotte Latin School, Delbarton School, The Harker School, Lake Highland Prep, Desert Vista High School, and a few others.
Updated for Online Debate
I coach in Taipei, Taiwan. Online tournaments are most often on US timezones - but we are still competing/judging. That means that when I'm judging you, it is the middle of the night here. I am doing the best I can to adjust my sleep schedule (and that of my students) - but I'm likely still going to be tired. Clarity is going to be vital. Complicated link stories, etc. are likely a quick way to lose my ballot. Be clear. Tell a compelling story. Don't overcomplicate the debate. That's the best way to win my ballot at 3am - and always really. But especially at 3am.
williamsc@tas.tw is the best email for the evidence email chain.
Paradigm
You can ask me specific questions if you have them...but my paradigm is pretty simple - answer these three questions in the round - and answer them better than your opponent, and you're going to win my ballot:
1. Where am I voting?
2. How can I vote for you there?
3. Why am I voting there and not somewhere else?
I'm not going to do work for you. Don't try to go for everything. Make sure you weigh. Both sides are going to be winning some sort of argument - you're going to need to tell me why what you're winning is more important and enough to win my ballot.
If you are racist, homophobic, nativist, sexist, transphobic, or pretty much any version of "ist" in the round - I will drop you. There's no place for any of that in debate. Debate should be as safe of a space as possible. Competition inherently prevents debate from being a 100% safe space, but if you intentionally make debate unsafe for others, I will drop you. Period.
One suggestion I have for folks is to embrace the use of y'all. All too often, words like "guys" are used to refer to large groups of people that are quite diverse. Pay attention to pronouns (and enter yours on Tabroom!), and be mindful of the language you use, even in casual references.
I am very very very very unlikely to vote for theory. I don't think PF is the best place for it and unfortunately, I don't think it has been used in the best ways in PF so far. Also, I am skeptical of critical arguments. If they link to the resolution, fantastic - but I don't think pre-fiat is something that belongs in PF. If you plan on running arguments like that, it might be worth asking me more about my preferences first - or striking me.
I Debated in high school for 3 years
Ld debater in Chabot college
parli adapter
1 and half of public form
I am on the national team for wrestling
Graduated in 2018
I prefer a policy debater
if you do a performance I am fine with it
I am fine with the role of the ballot
I am okay K debates but if you run a K AFF it has better connect with you in some way. Like if you run neoliberalism you better have a passion for why it's bad and if you run ain't-black you better be black or have a valid reason for running it. If you somehow fail to do this then you lose 2 sp and mostly your opponent will pick up on this and turn it against you and you will lose the debate
If you are going to run T iT has to be real and what I mean is if you run there stealing your ground and there no emotion you lose sp and also if you say their aff is not topical or over topical please explain and finally if you run T and it is on topic and you just decided just to waste time you lose 1 point
I LIKE NUCLEAR WAR ARGUMENT
AND GLOBAL WARMING
add me to chain mail contact.walterwilliams@gmail.com
add me to the email chain pls!!! adelinecorinnewilson@gmail.com
i am very short and am often confused for a high school child. yes I am your judge.
Who I am:
Denver East/Denver Independent '17
UC Berkeley '21 (go bears)
I debated policy in high school, TOC qualified, almost entirely as an independent entry. currently coach for Harker.
tldr: if you're wondering if you can read *x* argument in front of me, the answer is yes. I am familiar with and have read K literature, the politics DA, performance, framework, counterplans, high theory, heg good affs, etc. don't tailor your argument to fit what you think I want to hear. do what you're good at and explain your arguments well and there won't be any problems.
in terms of speaking—despite spreading, I believe debate is still an exercise in persuasion and public speaking. look at me! make jokes! be charismatic! make fun of the other team's arguments/yourself/people I know!
Things I think are rules of debate:
tech > truth
you cannot clip cards
you must flash/show your evidence to your opponents
speech times
you cannot text or communicate otherwise with anyone who is not your partner during the round
you cannot steal prep
debater-directed sexist/racist/prejudiced speech or behavior is never acceptable
Things I do not think are rules of debate:
whether or not you are topical
using the internet to look up what the hell that weird K word means (this is ok)
being nice to your opponents (tho you will lose speaker points if you are not)
being nice to me (tho I'll like you more if you are)
what you choose to do with your speech/prep time
LD DEBATE:
This is somewhat new to me! I have been coaching/judging LD for about 3 years now, but I never debated LD in high school. so, for whatever this means to you, I will approach the round from a somewhat policy perspective. sorry. some stuff just gets ingrained. that being said, I like judging LD! feel free to ask any clarifying questions, but these are my main thoughts:
Theory:
If you're thinking of going for the most convoluted, tricky, weird (no offense), LD jargon-y theory argument, I'm probably not your gal. too often I have found myself frantically trying to keep up with someone as they spread through some theory block their coach wrote for them years ago or some absolutely ridiculous violation of a made up rule with little to no contextualization to the round. this will not be particularly persuasive to me.
don't get me wrong, I'm good with speed and I like a good theory debate. that being said—call me crazy, but ripping through your theory block SO QUICKLY that i practically break my keyboard trying to taking down maybe 70% of what you say is a BAD theory debate. if I can't flow it comfortably, I won't.
Other stuff:
no RVIs on T. just no.
pretty much everything else applies from my policy paradigm (see below). I vibe with both Ks/fun, critical affs and heg good affs/tricky econ DAs. do ur thing.
POLICY DEBATE: see everything below
K affs:
do what u want! this is what I did. I will hold you to a very high threshold when it comes to answering framework because this is an argument that you ABSOLUTELY need to have good answers to if you are choosing to read a K aff. if you chose to advocate something (which you probably should), tell me what it is and why it matters. tell me what my ballot means. use your 1AC. too often the actual aff gets lost in clash of civ debates and I hate when the 2AR is nothing but "framework bad". framework is not bad or evil. it is an argument to test the compatibility of your argument with the activity of debate.
FW:
as a judge, my perspective on FW debates has evolved considerably from when i was a debater. you are on the side of truth—use it. read specific interpretations and topical versions of the aff. tell me specifically what about the aff is unfair/abusive. HOW DOES THE AFFIRMATIVE ACCOUNT FOR THE FACT THAT DEBATE IS A COMPETITIVE ACTIVITY WITH A WINNER AND A LOSER. please don't make it hard for me to vote for you—if the aff reads a bunch of "disads" against your framework, ANSWER THEM.
Ks:
yes!!!! I like Ks. read them well. this includes going very in-depth with the link debate in the block, articulating your alternative well, explaining the relationship between the squo/the world of the aff/the world of the alt, and most importantly: clear, developed framework that tells me how I should evaluate the round and what my ballot means in terms of the K. *side note* if you're reading a K your coach just threw at you moments before the round because you think I'm a K hack and I'll like it better than a policy arg, don't. I will be sad.
Language/Rhetoric Ks:
I decided to add this here after some thought, and my goal is not to offend anyone with this section. please be careful when reading language/rhetoric Ks in front of me (ex. "you guys"/ableist rhetoric). unless the K is either connected to the argument you are reading or genuinely comes from a place of passion and desire to improve debate, please don't read it. a simple call out during CX should suffice and is often a more effective way of changing this kind of speech. obviously I will deal with any egregiously offensive language. but if the team you are debating unintentionally lets slip a word that carries offensive connotations to a certain group—this should not be treated as an instant ballot for you. it is an opportunity to educate and should be handled as such. if you have questions feel free to ask me :)
Affs v. Ks:
pretty much the inverse of my stance on Ks. attack each and every link, point out flaws in the alternative, tell me why the aff is better than both the squo and the alt, and make good framing args. for critical affs against the K- articulate and execute the permutation if you have one, but please explain what the perm looks like.
T:
yep. compare and explain your definitions/interpretations and tell me why they're better. attach your interpretation specifically to the topic and the necessity to exclude THIS aff in particular. fairness can be an impact, but explain why it is at stake in this round.
CPs/DAs:
I love them!!! the CP should be both textually and functionally competitive. I will listen to it and vote for it even if its not, but it should be.
disads are great by themselves but are best when paired with a more offensive argument in the 2NR. specific links will get you far.
Theory:
I don't air a certain way on any theory arguments, however I believe they are almost never reasons to reject the team. the only thing important to me is that you contextualize all of the arguments you are making to what is happening in the round.
I feel like I'm pretty normal in terms of baseline views—the neg should be allowed to read counterplans, etc etc.
PF DEBATE:
I also sometimes judge this lol. in that case, ignore all of that ^ because it won't affect how I judge PF. the only way that my policy/LD background sneaks into my PF judging is that I think almost every final focus goes for too much. I know this isn't as common of a practice as it is in policy, but pick an argument you are winning and go for it. frame my ballot around it. I will not punish you if you don't extend every aspect of your case‚ unless you needed to because the other team did something funky/put offense on it.
also, I am probably the most informal judge you will ever have. you don't have to ask me if you can stand or sit during crossfire or if you're allowed to use the bathroom, take your jacket off, etc. I do not care.
I am a parent judge. I have judged policy debate for a few times. Please speak slowly and clearly.
PF being what it is, I'd strongly prefer it if you treated me in rounds as a generally informed person off the street whom you're trying to persuade. Here is an excellent paradigm that you can treat as my own.
Two small additions: 1) I prefer that you summarize in summaries; group arguments, recap the debate, start weighing, focus on and resolve your clash, etc., rather than just running straight down the flow after rebuttal. 2) Theory or metadebate isn't appealing to me, nor do I think it gels well with the point of PF. I'd strongly prefer the debate to be about the substance of the topic.
I occasionally judge LD, in which case the anti-theory preference is softened but the rest should still apply.
I am a lay judge who has been judging public forum debate for 6 years now. Speak clearly and at a slower pace. Be respectful during cross ex.
Due to the coronavirus.... please don't shake my hand.
I'm a junior student at Cal studying engineering and don't really do much debate in college - was very active in high school though. This doesn't mean I'm a lay judge (I'm not) or anything like that just that I'm a bit rusty so don't assume I know everything. The winner of the debate will be judged solely on the arguments made that got on my flow. The speaker points are awarded according to the speech and presentation in addition to the arguments made. I believe tha good cross examination leads to good speaker points in general.
- Past competitor in debate for 4 years, debated all types (PF, Policy, Parli, LD) but focused on PF.
- A little bit of spreading is okay. I will let you know if it is too much. My ideal pace is slightly faster than the average debater, but not nearly spreading level.
- Good debaters are often good speakers. Getting high speaks from me isn't only about presentation but (more importantly) good refutation. 27.5 is average, 28 is good, 29 is wow, 30 is you made me laugh. 27 is slightly below average, 26 is bad, 25 will be for people who are rude. Though I tend to give around 28 I feel, even though I tell myself 27.5 is average.
- Big on framework, links, and impact calc. I also really really really really really really like turns - that are actually relevant and good of course.
- Questioning cards is definately important, but do not get stuck in a card war. Cards must have tag, author, and year.
- If requested for a card, you must provide it quickly.
- SIGNPOST! SIGNPOST! SIGNPOST! WEIGH WEIGH WEIGH! please
- When it comes to the final focus, please do not go for everything. It really only takes 1 good argument to win.
- I will listen to crossfires but will not flow them. Please bring up all important arguements again in regular speeches.
- Let me know if you have any questions before the round starts. =)
PF: Broad knowledge of the topic. Strong application of topical, recent evidence. Don't mind aggression, do mind rudeness. I'm also strongly opposed to typical national circuit debate style which seems intent on making the event into Policy Jr. Analyze your cards, give me explicit reasons why I should vote, avoid logical fallacies, don't try to "earn points" just by flowing better or shouting cards at me and overloading my already stressed mind with empirics (unless you can objectively prove why your evidence is better). Provide clash, get to the heart of why your arguments are superior to your opponents' where they do conflict. Utilize wit and creativity where you can, and make sure your rhetorical skills are up to snuff. I'm a believe in the aesthetics of debate
LD: Same as PF for the most part. Looking for strong Value/Value Criterion debate in content. Style should be focused on wit, logical reasoning, and proven broad knowledge of the topic and relevant criticism/theory/philosophy. Ks welcome, so long as they're good. Don't spread.
Policy: Treat me like a lay judge if you get me in a policy round. Explain things thoroughly, thoughtfully, display your expertise on the topic. Ks welcome, so long as they're good and make sense.