UTNIF Skills 2 2019
2019 — Austin, TX/US
Policy Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideHello fellow debate enthusiasts, you probably don't have a lot of time to read this, so I'll get straight to the point. I debated four years of CX debate at Caddo Magnet High in Shreveport, Louisiana (which really means I debated in Texas). I participated in the Harvard Round Robin and got a bid by getting to quarters of Harvard my senior year (2014-2015). I work at the UTNIF Debate camp held at UT Austin during the summer. I am currently in my senior year of college at Louisiana Tech University, where I am majoring in chemistry. As for gender, I am non-binary, specifically agender. Any pronouns are fine with me and you may take your pick of Cole or Juliet.
If you came here to see if you could run your weird and unique argument, the answer is yes, specifically I am fine with any word PIC ("the" PIC included) conditionality theory (my favorite), and many many other weird/sketchy K (and policy) arguments.
Short Version
I have debated everything from politics to the craziest K. I was a 2N for 3 years. Freshman year and sophomore year politics was my jam. Junior year anthro was my jam. Senior year as a 2A, Nietzsche Chaos aff I cut was my jam. Long story short, you do you, and I will do me. I am a tabula rasa- blank slate- I will do my best to only vote on things said in the round. All arguments are still arguments so at least answer them. I WILL VOTE ON ANYTHING.
Long Version
Top Level:
Tabula rasa- anything goes (within reason), debate is a game so play it, tech over truth (in most cases- you wont win that the sky is red or the ocean is orange, but you may win a link if the other team allows you to frame/explain their arguments in such a way that you get the link, even if it is just not true). Clarity over speed. Differentiate between tags and the body of the card. Signpost effectively because a happy judge means more speaker points. NEVER be rude to your opponents or your speaker points will get nuked (especially if you attempt to argue offensive arguments such as sexism or racism good). Keep everything professional and be sportsmanlike. Open C-X is cool as long as one partner doesn't dominate. For paperless, I don't count flashing as prep, but be reasonable and don't steal prep. Stick to the line-by-line instead of huge overviews for better clash. I'll try to keep my biases to a minimum and will basically evaluate the round as I am told (policymaker, academic, etc.). ALSO, bonus speaker points if you make funny references (or references to some of my favorite shows- i.e. Steven Universe, South Park, Adventure Time, Rick and Morty). A little humor never hurt anyone, but don't be disrespectful.
Case:
I love a good case debate with lots of clash. I think case is undervalued a lot these days and usually is underdeveloped. A hugely mitigated case can win you the round. I'm okay with generic impact defense and internal-link take-outs, but never forget analytics. Always point out logical fallacies or exaggerations made by the opponent. Not just for case either; this can apply to other off-case arguments, too.
Disads:
I love disads, but the internal link is where most disads fall apart. True links and true impacts are better than probable (or really, improbable) impacts, but the truth of anything is up for debate, as it should be. Always answer turns the case argument, because they can be damning. Bonus points for case-specific disads.
Counterplans:
Counterplans are awesome, but I'm willing to give the aff some leeway on theory for abusive counterplans like word PICs and process counterplans. On severance and intrinsic perms, I default to rejecting the argument and not the team (if theory is brought up). Again, case-specificity is amazing and will impress me.
Kritiks:
I can follow most critiques pretty well. That being said, don't expect me to do alt work for you. Alt work is the most important thing. Do all your tricky tricky K tricks but explain and impact them. K affs are fine too, but get ready for them framework debates. Please do not mispronounce your author the K is based around (Nietzsche for one).
Theory/Topicality:
Don't be blippy on theory. Slow down. If you don't, I can't flow and that means I may miss a crucial argument. You will get an extra speaker point for actually understanding theory and not reading blocks, but engaging in the warrants of education, fairness, predictability args, etc. RVI's are probably a waste of time. Potential abuse is a voter because its about competing visions of debate, but in-round abuse is also pretty persuasive. Don't just say reasonability - I don't know what it means to be reasonable.
Performance:
I haven't seen much performative debate, but as long as you follow relatively the same guidelines as for everything else (well-warranted explanations and lots of clash) there won't be any problems.
Obviously, I probably forgot something, so if this doesn't answer your questions, you can always ask me during the round :)
Director of Debate at the University of Texas
brendonbankey@gmail.com - please add me to your email chain
The 24-25 season will be my 21st season involved in cross-examination debate and my 18th in an NDTCEDA program. I believe that NDTCEDA debate participation is one of the most valuable experiences that a college student can have and continue to be impressed by the intellectual output of the students and coaches in the activity. Having spent the majority of my lifetime in debate programs and in the field of communication studies, I have developed a set of beliefs/presumptions/biases about how to assign a winner in debates. These beliefs are subject to change based on the content and argument coverage in individual debates.
Most broadly stated, I think that debate is a game and that, at a minimum, the resolution should be the focus of debates. I think that all affirmative teams should offer a stable plan/advocacy text, be ready to define what the resolution means, and explain why their 1AC is a prima facie endorsement of the resolution. I think that the negative should refute the 1AC and/or utilize definitional argument to say that the affirmative team should lose because the 1AC is not an example of the resolution.
I will evaluate debates based on arguments presented in the debates. I do not consider myself an expert in the fields of energy policy, climate policy, or economics. I do however think I am capable of recording the arguments in the debate and evaluating how well students utilized experts in the controversy area to develop their claims.
I will generally assume a claim to be true absent counter-arguing. I think that debate is a game where students present logically constructed arguments to outwit their opponents. A complete argument includes a claim (e.g., X causes Y), supporting data (e.g., example, statistics, testimonial), and a warrant (i.e, a logical reason that connects the data to the claim). I believe that it is the obligation of the opponent to indict the opponents claims by attacking the logical reasoning, supporting data, and/or the warrants.
I think debate is a game of execution. I often find myself voting in favor of arguments I do not agree with because they were consistently forwarded in constructives/rebuttals and voting against the team who advocated what I consider to be the correct position because they did not execute the best arguments. I will vote for an argument that doesn’t align with my presumptive ways of thinking about debate if it is properly executed and/or the opponent fails to respond properly to it.
I believe that the most important takeaways from the activity are the ability to engage in definitional argument and the practice of applying ethical systems to make decisions between two imperfect options. As such, I will generally reward teams who define the resolution to favorably support their strategy and/or establish clear win conditions for how to evaluate a close debate between two well-prepared opponents.
I think evidence matters when evaluating topicality and counterplan/alternative competition. In addition to reading evidence for interps/violations/textual competition, debaters should explain why their definitions should be preferred. I will defer to the negative on T or counterplan competition until the aff counter-defines the words. If the aff covers the definitions, the neg must also explain why its definitions are better for a year's worth of debates. I think "does this definition produce better debates?" is a more important question than "is this the most precise interpretation?".
Policy Affs
-I will assume that fiat is durable. Plans can be circumvented but not rolled back.
-I think that plans identify a desired outcome, and that plans could potentially be achieved in a variety of ways. The aff should strategically deploy arguments about normal means to insulate itself from negative characterizations about how the aff would occur. I do not think that normal means is relevant for evaluating the legitimacy of a permutation and/or counterplan competition.
-Affs should identify harms that the action of the plan is sufficient to solve. Affs would be well served to offer an impact that assumes the plan is not adopted by other actors.
-Affs are not strategic if their harms can be solved through Command and Control mechanisms and/or a clever combination of coordinated State Government actions.
-Whether or not the States Counterplan is theoretically legitimate does not absolve the aff from answering that the USFG models state action. The aff would do well to respond/preempt this claim in every 2AC and is living dangerously if it does not have evidence on this question.
-Take prep before the 2AC to make sure you’re answering the correct version of the disad/counterplan/kritik/violation.
Critical Affs
-I accept that affirmatives that critique fiat are a significant genre of affirmative in NDTCEDA debate and believe that many innovations in this genre have made the game more intellectually rigorous. I also recognize that there are many subgenres of critical affirmative and have judged and coached many varieties of these arguments.
-I think that competing interpretation debates are fun and will reward teams who invest in the interpretation debating. I don't think the aff's interps have to be the most predictable as long as they can describe what limits the counter-interps impose on the topic and why they provide a desirable division of ground.
-I would prefer that 2ACs engage the substantive arguments of the 1NC instead of trying to finesse their way out of links.
-Given that we live in a context, it is hard to accept that there are zero strategic choices made in a competitive activity if the affirmative team chooses not to say "USFG should" in the 1AC. It is definitionally self-serving. Self-serving does not mean the aff should automatically lose, just that they should be more realistic about the function of their 1AC in a competitive activity. If the aff does not say "USFG Should," they are deliberately shifting the point of stasis to other issues that they believe should take priority. It is reciprocal, therefore, for the negative to use any portion of the 1AC as its jumping off point and assert that a different point of stasis should take priority.
-The types of critical affirmative teams that I find interesting generally exhibit the following qualities:
—-They offer a stable, contestable advocacy statement.
—-They interpret what it means to meet the burden of proof and argue for a change to the status quo.
—-They maintain theoretical consistency.
—-They think through their counter-interpretation to the negative’s topicality arguments and are prepared to explain the limits/ground provided by the aff’s interpretation and how debates would occur within their interpretation of what it means to meet the burden of proof.
-The types of critical affirmative teams that I do not enjoy very much generally exhibit the following qualities:
—-They lack a clear explanation of what the affirmative and negative burdens are in the given debate contest.
—-They lack theoretical consistency and rely on contradictory warrants. An example of this is when a 1AC begins with an ontological critique, a 1NC criticizes the validity of the ontological claims made in the 1NC, and the 2AC does not validate its original ontological claims but instead responds to 1NC’s position by stating the counter-critique is epistemologically invalid because of the subject position of the evidence author or the negative debaters.
-If the aff ever says in CX or a speech that the advocacy/plan is hypothetically enacted and would materially change the status quo, they do not get to retract this argument to avoid disads. This is true even if the neg does not read framework.
Permutations
-I think about permutations in a very precise way. I do not think it's the only way to think about them but I am unlikely to be persuaded to think otherwise. I think that a plan specifies a desired outcome. There are an unspecified set number of means to achieve the desired outcome. I also think that a counterplan or alternative specifies a desired outcome with a set number of means to achieve that outcome. A permutation asserts that it is theoretically possible for there to be a means of action that satisfies both the outcome of the plan and the counterplan or alternative. A permutation could be expressed as where the set numbers of the aff's and the neg's strategies overlap.
-Keeping the math analogy going, I read a given plan as [plan!] and assume that the aff could be achieved by any of the various processes that produce the outcome the aff desires.
-Permutations are defense. Rarely do they "solve all their offense." It would behoove affs to know what offense they are "no linking" with the perm and what offense the perm does not resolve. This discussion should ideally begin in the 2AC and it must take place in the 1AR.
-A plan is not required to have every word in the resolution in it as long as the plan as written is an example of the resolution. Perms test competition, and are not required to be topical as long as they don’t sever. Affs are entitled to make arguments for why severance and/or intrinsic perms are justified, but these arguments require execution and face an uphill battle.
-Aff teams would do well to think through precise permutation characterizations before the 2AC. I am pro perm texts in the speech doc but it isn’t necessary–”perm do non-competitive parts of the counterplan. The following parts of the counterplan don’t compete and if done would sufficiently resolve the net benefit. [Insert list of the non-competitive parts]” is fine.
-Although I am happy to vote for these arguments when properly explained, "perm do the counterplan" and "perm do the alt" are claims that are often unaccompanied by warrants. I will not vote for these statements unless the aff explains why they are theoretically legitimate BEFORE the 2AR. I am most likely to vote for these arguments when the aff has 1) a clear model of counterplan/alternative competition that justifies such a perm AND 2) an explanation for where the aff and the cp/alt overlap.
Disads
-”Turns the case” and “outweighs the case” are different arguments and should not be lumped together.
-The 1NC impact should not be a 1AC impact.
-The block should utilize its time to indict the quality/specificity of 2AC evidence.
-The block should utilize the disad and the possibility of intervening actors to undermine the 2AR’s narrative that it is “try or die for mitigating extreme environment related impacts.”
-Politics/elections are important generics in the negative arsenal. These positions require storytelling and airtight block execution to fill-in for imperfect evidence and leaps in logic. Politics/elections is exciting when done well but fall apart quickly if the block doesn’t have discipline.
Counterplans
-If the neg goes for a counterplan, they assume the burden of proof.
-Should be functionally AND textually competitive. I am an old 2A and am unlikely to be persuaded of a different interpretation. I think that the requirement of textual competition rewards affs who engage in strategic permutation writing as a buttress against the wide variety of negative counterplans. The requirement of textual competition also mitigates against the most contrived variety of counterplan texts that are strategically written with negative conditional statements that require the aff to make intrinsic permutations.
-The negative is not entitled to counterplans that result in the plan based on the internal federal government process in which it is enacted. Skilled 2NRs can win these positions by using evidence to establish counterplan competition and identifying consistent mistakes in aff execution.
-Conditional worlds forwarded by the negative should not contradict each other. It is fine if positions link equally to the counterplan and the plan but I will be maximum annoyed if the 1NC includes a Consumption/MBI K and the Oil DA.
-I believe that the States Counterplan is a necessary evil to set a functional limit on the topic. Innovative counterplan texts will be at a premium. Be warned: the Lopez path is fraught and full of danger.
-Judge kick is a privilege not a right. Negs have to say the words and out execute the aff. Affs would be well served to anticipate these arguments and begin disputing the legitimacy of judge kick as soon as it gets said.
-Ban the plan can establish uniqueness for a disad that links to the permutation but it does not establish competition/an internal net benefit for a counterplan. Durable fiat is not a reason why ban the plan competes. The burden of proof flips neg when the counterplan is introduced and the negative is required to explain why the permutation is insufficient to resolve the net benefit.
-To answer “Perm Do the Counterplan,” the negative requires at least one of these things:
—-an external net benefit that makes the permutation undesirable
—-a clear argument that the combination of ways to do the could never coincide with any singular combination of ways to the . Perm do the counterplan is legit if any of the possible ways to achieve the desired outcome specified by the plan coincide with any of the possible ways to achieve thee desired outcome specified by the counterplan..
—-Caveat: the negative still gets to out-execute their opponent utilizing their skills in definitional argument.
Kritiks
-If the neg goes for an alternative, they assume the burden of proof.
-I think it is logical for the negative to indict whether it is valuable to endorse market-based instruments as the ideal solution to structural/ecological harms.
-I don’t really understand alternatives that claim to fiat non-governmental action. Fiat is reciprocal is a counterplan justification and not a critique justification because the negative should get the reciprocal ability to change the status quo. That does not necessarily justify the neg’s ability to fiat any array of micropolitical actors/actions.
-Despite my concern with alternative fiat, it does make sense for the neg to endorse certain changes to the status quo (i.e., Command and Control) that are compatible with the K and incompatible with Market-Based Instrument.
-Because debate is a game of establishing win conditions (“If I win X, then I win the debate”) and challenging opponents to answer them, I often find myself voting for framework arguments and PIKs when the 1AR/2AR poorly address these positions.
-I encourage the 2AC/1AR to identify examples of the alternative in negative evidence that would be compatible with the plan and explain that intrinsic perms are justified because of the vague nature of the alternative text/shifting explanation of the alt in the block.
-I will be concerned if the aff doesn’t say ”markets good and/or inevitable” in response to the MBIs K.
-An alternative that takes an extreme action that would overwhelm the action of the plan is susceptible to the permutation.
Topicality
-Is a requirement for the affirmative to meet the burden of proof. If the 1AC plan/advocacy must go outside the parameters of the resolution to resolve its harms, then it disproves the desirability of the resolution.
-Is a voting issue because the negative should not be required to rejoin an affirmative team that has not met its burden of proof.
-Competing interpretations debates are about identifying an interpretation of the resolution that properly limits the resolution while producing a good division of ground. The affirmative can win that its interpretation is good enough for a year’s worth of debates, even if it is not the most limiting.
-The limits standard describes the set number of topical affirmatives within the parameters established by the resolution wording. The ground standard describes what are predictable affirmative and negative strategies within an interpretation (i.e., US v States, MBI v C&C, etc.). The limits standard is generally more important for the neg. The ground standard is generally more important for the aff.
-Affirmative and negative teams should think through what types of affs fall within their interpretation and what types of affs are excluded.
-I am more likely to vote for an arbitrary interpretation that sets a desirable limit on the set number of topical affs than I am to vote for an unlimited interpretation. Arbitrary interpretations must be definitionally supported or dropped in multiple speeches to be a winner (looking at you, “only our case is topical”).
-The aff does or does not meet a given interpretation. It is never “reasonably topical.”
Framework v Critical Affs
-I consider framework debates a known quantity. Although I have spent much of my career encouraging students to engage critical affs on their substantive claims, I accept that some students prefer framework because of concerns that critical advocacies can utilize permutations and/or shift to avoid disad links.
-Please don’t be boring. Your pre-written blocks are boring.
-The neg should be prepared to explain why limits/ground turns the case.
-The aff cannot win by simply flipping the burden of proof and indicting the neg’s interpretation of the resolution. The aff must at all times defend a contestable proposition and establish what it means to meet the burden of proof. If the aff does explain its interpretation/how it meets its own interpretation, then it has not met the burden of proof.
-The neg does not require a TVA or Switch Side solves to win topicality. The neg can win that the aff’s failure to meet the resolution is a sufficient reason to vote negative. That said, TVA/SS are helpful to address Ks of limits/ground centered on the USFG.
-Affs should vet their authors to make sure their claims are incompatible with the TVA. I think "your author says government MBIs” could be good requires 1AR pen time. I don't think that the TVA is a counterplan but I do think that the TVA indicts whether the judge must accept that a shift in the point of stasis away from the resolution is required to solve the Ks of T. I think if the neg wins a TVA is compatible with the 1AC author's claims it substantially deflates the aff's "topic design bad" offense versus T/framework.
Arguments About Community Norms
-I think that teams are entitled to make non-resolutional procedural arguments related to argument style or the content that a ballot should endorse. Teams can present an interpretation and argue why that interpretation should be preferred. If I vote for those strategies my ballot just means that a team did the better debating their interpretation in that debate.
-Debaters undermine their own credibility by making ad-homs against their opponents based on conduct that occurred before the debate began and assuming I will use my ballot to render judgment on an individual debater’s character or actions outside of the debate round I have been assigned by the tabroom to judge. As a State of Texas employee, it is wholly outside of my jurisdiction to judge any individual's conduct outside of the words they say in a debate after the 1AC has started and before the 2AR has ended.
Lampasas HS '18 (1A/2N)
She/Her
Top Level:
I consider myself tab really only because of framework. I consider framing very critical if it is presented in the round. However, if you don't normally read framing, don't feel pressured to do it now. Along with that, I believe reading framing off the 1AC or 1NC, but then never touching on it again, or until rebuttals, is nothing but a waste of time for your team. If you use it, use it offensively not just because you think I want to hear it. Aside from framing, I'm more of an offense/defense judge, and will evaluate the round based off of who holds the most offense in the room. Because of this, impact calculus done well and consistently throughout the round will be beneficial. Tell me how to vote and why.
Overall, I want you to run what you are most comfortable with, and at the speed you are most comfortable at. On the note of speed, spreading is not an issue with me and I will be able to flow it. However, if for some reason clarity becomes difficult, I will let you know by saying, "clear".
*** If there is an email chain, I prefer to be a part of it. brooke.branum@gmail.com ***
If you have questions, or need any clarification, please don’t hesitate to ask in round.
T/Theory:
I default to competing interp. This is probably my favorite argument, and I will not hesitate to vote neg on T. I highly prioritize the standard debate. In order to convince me that your standards outweigh, you need to do the work on it. So simply carrying a T into the 2NR just to spend 30 seconds on it, is far from good enough. You don't necessarily have to go 5 in on T, but if you decide not to kick out of it, it needs to be prioritized in the 2NR.
I really enjoy theory arguments as whole, as long as it's ran well. So if you have some crazy theory that you're wondering if you can run, I will absolutely evaluate it.
I also typically like to flow theory on a separate page, so if you are running any please let me know in the roadmap.
DA/CP:
I'm not a huge fan of CP's, however, if they are your thing please run it, I will vote on them. My issue usually stems from the neg not understanding their counterplan text. So, if you are able to contextualize it well and understand how you access the net benefit, I'm fine with them.
Generic links in DAs aren't a deal breaker with me unless the debate becomes centered there, and the aff convinces me otherwise. Aside from that, my primary focus on DA's are on the offense that you garner from them. Don't let the weight of the impacts get muddled throughout the round.
K:
The alt/impact of a K is where I usually vote. That is not to say I won't vote on a link argument made by the aff, but this usually only happens if it is an offensive argument, i.e. link turn. Don't get me wrong, making a no link argument is still very important, but I rarely vote solely on a no link.
Once you get out of the basic realm of Cap., Fem., Neo. Lib., etc., I probably don't have a lot of knowledge on the literature. I ask that in this situation, please slow down on the tags so I can get a full understanding of the story.
If you are running a K, I am making the assumption that you know it well. This means that you should show immense knowledge of what the world of the alt looks like, and be able to show that through how you impact it out. Basically, don't just choose a random K off of open evidence that you've never looked at before.
Associate Director of Debate @ Greenhill
Still helping KU in my free time
Please add me to the email chain: a.rae.chase@gmail.com
I love debate and I will do my absolute best to make a decision that makes sense and give a helpful RFD.
Topicality
Competing interpretations are easier to evaluate than reasonability. You need to explain to me how we determine what is reasonable if you are going for reasonability.
Having said that if your intep is so obscure that there isn't a logical CI to it, perhaps it is not a good interpretation.
T debates this year (water topic) have gotten too impact heavy for their own good. I've judged a number of rounds with long overviews about how hard it is to be negative that never get to explaining what affirmatives would be topical under their interp or why the aff interp links to a limits DA and that's hard for me because I think much more about the latter when I think about topicality.
T-USFG/FW
Affirmatives should be about the topic. I will be fairly sympathetic to topicality arguments if I do not know what the aff means re: the topic after the 1AC.
I think teams are meming a bit on both sides of this debate. Phrases like "third and fourth level testing" and "rev v rev debates are better" are kind of meaningless absent robust explanation. Fairness is an impact that I will vote on. Like any other impact, it needs to be explained and compared to the other team's impact. I have also voted on arguments about ethics, education, and pedagogy. I will try my best to decide who wins an impact and which impact matters more based on the debate that happens.
I do not think the neg has to win a TVA to win topicality; it can be helpful if it happens to make a lot of sense but a forced TVA is generally a waste of time.
If the aff is going for an impact turn about debate, it would be helpful to have a CI that solves that impact.
DA’s
I would love to see you go for a disad and case in the 2NR. I do not find it persuasive when an affirmative team's only answer to a DA is impact framing. Impact framing can be important but it is one of a number of arguments that should be made.
I am aware the DA's aren't all great lately. I don't think that's a reason to give up on them. It just means you need a CP or really good case arguments.
K's
I really enjoy an old-fashioned k vs the aff debate. I think there are lots of interesting nuances available for the neg and the aff in this type of debate. Here are some specific thoughts that might be helpful when constructing your strategy:
1. Links of omission are not links. Links of “commission” will take a lot of explaining.
2. Debating the case matters unless there is a compelling framework argument for why I should not evaluate the case.
3. If you are reading a critique that pulls from a variety of literature bases, make sure I understand how they all tie to together. I am persuaded by aff arguments about how it's very difficult to answer the foundation of multiple bodies of critical literature because they often have different ontological, epistemological, psychoanalytic, etc assumptions. Also, how does one alt solve all of that??
4. Aff v. K: I have noticed affirmative teams saying "it's bad to die twice" on k's and I have no idea what that means. Aff framework arguments tend to be a statement that is said in the 2AC and repeated in the 1AR and 2AR - if you want fw to influence how I vote, you need to do more than this. Explain how it implicates how I assess the link and/or alternative solvency.
5. When ontology is relevant - I feel like these debates have devolved into lists of things (both sides do this) and that's tough because what if the things on the list don't resonate?
CP's
Generic counterplans are necessary and good. I think specific counterplans are even better. Counterplans that read evidence from the 1AC or an aff author - excellent! I don't have patience for overly convoluted counterplans supported by barely highlighted ev.
I do not subscribe to (often camp-driven) groupthink about which cp's "definitely solve" which aff's. I strongly disagree with this approach to debate and will think through the arguments on both sides of the debate because that is what debate is about.
Solvency deficits are a thing and will be accounted for and weighed along with the risk of a DA, the size of the DA impact, the size of the solvency deficit, and other relevant factors. If you are fiating through solvency deficits you should come prepared with a theoretical justification for that.
Other notes!
Some people think it is auto-true that politics disads and certain cp's are terrible for debate. I don't agree with that. I think there are benefits/drawbacks to most arguments. This matters for framework debates. A plan-less aff saying "their model results in politics DA's which is obviously the worst" will not persuade absent a warrant for that claim.
Love a good case debate. It's super under-utilized. I think it's really impressive when a 2N knows more about the aff evidence than the aff does.
Please don't be nasty to each other; don't be surprised if I interrupt you if you are.
I don't flow the 1AC and 1NC because I am reading your evidence. I have to do this because if I don't I won't get to read the evidence before decision time in a close debate.
If the debate is happening later than 9PM you might consider slowing down and avoiding especially complicated arguments.
If you make a frivolous or convoluted ethics challenge in a debate that I judge I will ask you to move on and be annoyed for the rest of the round. Legitimate ethics challenges exist and should/will be taken seriously but ethics challenges are not something we should play fast and loose with.
For debating online:
-If you think clarity could even possibly be an issue, slow down a ton. More than ever clarity and quality are more important than quantity.
-If my camera is off, I am not there, I am not flowing your speech, I probably can't even hear you. If you give the 1AR and I'm not there, there is not a whole lot I can do for you.
please put me on the chain! - amcalden@gmail.com
Assistant Coach at Niles West
Argument Coach at Baylor University
5 years at Baylor
4 years at Caddo Magnet
In general i'm fine for you to do whatever you want to do. I've read and coached both policy and K things from variety of literature basis so do what you do best and I'm sure to enjoy it! Please don't be overly aggressive, rude, or dismissive of your opponents or speaker points will reflect it
if a timer isn't running you should not be prepping.
if the aff isn't clearly extended in the 1AR i will not give you the 2AR case rants
Framework v K affs: More of an uphill battle given the arguments i predominately read and coached but fairness is an internal link to the integrity of debate which still requires you to win the value of maintaining debate as it currently exists. Clash is by far the most persuasive standard, TVA's don't need to solve the entire aff if there are framing arguments in place or additional tools such as switch side debate to deal with what it doesn't solve, examples of ground, either lost or enabled is helpful on both sides!
K: Links to the plan are nice but not necessary, Alts don't have to solve the link if they are able to avoid them and solve the aff. I do not think you need an alt to win a debate if you have the appropriate framing tools however I need instruction on what to do with offense related to the alternative in a world you are not extending it.
CPs: Comparison between deficits/net benefits is key, can be persuaded for or against "cheating" counterplans, solvency advocates are preferred but not needed if pulling lines from the aff.
DAs: Nothing incredibly innovative to say here! I enjoy internal link comparison, and speaker points will reflect great impact debateing
Theory: Condo is fine, argumentative tension is okay but can be convinced on contradictions being bad.
he/him delphdebate@gmail.com
year 11 of debate
coach at wake forest
former LRCH and Kansas Debater
TLDR:
When it comes to evaluating debates, two things are the most important for me:
1. Clear judge instructions in the rebuttals of how I should filter offense and arguments made in the round. Impact and Link framing are a must. if I can't explain the argument myself, I probably can't vote on it.
2. Impact comparison and clear reason why I should prioritize impacts in the round between the neg and aff. Each argument should have a claim - warrant - impact for me to evaluate it as such.
Use these to filter the rest of my paradigm and general in round perception.
General
I consider myself to be pretty flexible when it comes to arguments that teams want to read. I debated more critically but you should read whatever arguments that you are comfortable with. Any racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, etc will be met with speaker points that reflect, so don't be an assho|e.
Most of my debate experience was in critical debates on both the aff and neg (I was a 1A/2N), but I’m not unfamiliar with the technical aspects of policy debates.
I’m probably not the best for Topicality debates in general when it comes to plan-based policy debates and less likely to vote on Framework vs plan-less affs if going for impacts such as fairness/competitive equity or predictability. I generally lean more into truth over tech in most debates, but tech is important for impact comparison.
for college: still formulating how I understand and evaluate as a judge, so making sure I clearly understand what I should evaluate without intervention from me comes down to how you go for your arguments. The less judge intervention I feel like I have to do, the happier we are all in the post-round RFD.
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Truth over tech/Tech over truth? - Depends, i view myself evaluating truth before tech concessions but that isn’t always the case. I think technical concession are important for evaluating impact debates, so utilize both these to your advantage.
Framework on the Neg? - I’ll evaluate any negative arguments about the meta of debate. If you win your model of debate is good and the aff in question doesn’t access it then generally I’m pretty neutral on Framework arguments. Same for K’s with framing questions, the way you want me to evaluate a prior question should be framed as such.
10 off? I’d prefer if you didn’t, gish galloping is a fascist tactic.
Theory arguments? I believe theory arguments are heavily underutilized in high school debates. I evaluate conditionality and presumption debates as much as I evaluate K vs Framework. I have a certain threshold for certain arguments that I will vote on in theory debates, I think condo is a definite aff/neg ballot if it gets dropped in the neg block or rebuttals. I tend to vote neg on presumption, in those debates I think a lot of the perm debate and solvency portions of both sides are important to those rounds. CP contextual theory, perm text theory, textual severance, etc im all game for theory. i think theory debates get underutilized a lot
K affirmatives
I read them, I think that you should read whatever you read on the aff. I will vote for them, but I at least think they should be in the direction of the topic and a reason why the topical version doesn't solve.
Performance
If performance is your thing - go ahead go for it.
FW on the neg
I will vote on a neg FW but I think that there are certain arguments that I'm gonna have a harder time pulling the trigger on, i.e. fairness. I don't think fairness is something I would absolutely vote on but of course that all depends on the round. I also think the neg should be doing a lot of work why the state/usfg is worth it, why the aff isnt good for a model of debate, or why the judge should care. Generic args on framework aren't gonna cut it for me tbh, i need a concise way of why i should view the debate through the neg and why the aff doesnt solve etc etc.
K’s
Pretty versed in most of the lit but you shouldn't use a lot of buzzwords in front of me. I think you should say why the aff is uniquely bad and how the alternative can resolve its impacts and the squo. Why perms don't solve, links are disads, etc etc. I find alternative debates to be the most shallow, I think even if you are winning reason the links are disads you still need a reason the alt isn't the squo. Role of the ballot arguments are self-serving but it makes is a lot easier to evaluate them when they are dropped or not contested by the aff. Aff teams: FW on Ks is underutilized, I think you should make arguments about why you should get to weigh your impacts vs the K.
Any other questions just ask before the round, "If you can't dazzle me with excellence, baffle me with bullshit."
Very open minded, but solution oriented. Debated a long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away.
Debate is a flexible format that is in and of itself open to competing interpretations.
Dislikes:
Hiding behind computer screens
Excessive abuse of tech time
Lacking clarity when speaking
Likes:
Clash
Warranted Claims
Check out my Tedx talk here
Hendrickson HS '19 // UT Austin '23
Email: mahnoorfaheem8@gmail.com
she/her
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Top Level:
- Debated for 4 years at Hendrickson HS (2A/1N)
- Tech>Truth
- Fine with speed but clarity>speed
- Explain your arguments and give me a reason to vote for you. This seems obvious but its something that goes missing in many debates.
- PLEASE BE NICE! Debate is a fun, educational activity and everyone should have an opportunity to engage in these discussions. Please respect your opponents and your partner. I promise you will not win debates if you are a jerk.
- I am a younger judge, so my views and thoughts are likely to change as I judge more. These are just some thoughts after debating in high school. Nonetheless, I will work hard to make a thoughtful decision and give constructive feedback.
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Specifics:
Framework:
- I often view these debates through an offense/defense paradigm and tend to default to competing interpretations.
- I think that the aff has to prove why their interpretation or model of debate is better overall and why it creates a better space/allows for better discussions etc. Remember, this is about competing models of debate and interpretations, so impact out your standards and do some good impact calc to paint a clear picture of your model of debate.
- I do lean towards debate being a game but can obviously be persuaded otherwise.
Topicality:
- I usually default to competing interpretations.
- I think impact calc between standards is pretty important, esp when the 2NR and 2AR are equally clashing on these issues. Tell me why your standard matters and why that model of debate is important/better, and have a clear vision of your interpretation.
Kritiks:
- Im familiar with your basic/generic kritiks (cap, set col, security, etc).
- I think that the k must link to the aff, not to the structures that surround society. Links of omission are not persuasive to me. I have a pretty high threshold for the link debate and need a pretty decent explanation as to how the aff links/makes xyz worse, etc.
- I am heavily persuaded by arguments such as pragmatism/state good, etc, but these must be utilized correctly and must be put into context.
- In general, examples are amazing.
- I also think there needs to be a fairly robust explanation of what the alt is/does, otherwise im persuaded by a perm or even just that the aff is a good idea.
- I think that the aff gets to weigh their case.
- Try to have a cohesive story of your kritik. Often times, there are many floating parts that im not sure what to do with so the more you can do on your part, the better.
Disads:
- Go for it. Have a link, have clear explanations and a cohesive story, and be up to date with your ev.
- Impact calc is important.
- The more specific, the better.
Counterplans:
- I enjoy a good cp/da debate so go for it.
- Solvency advocates are important.
- The more specific the cp is, the better.
- I think 2> conditional worlds is fine, and anything more is pushing it.
Theory:
- Slow down, have robust explanations of why your standards create a better model of debate/why it justifies x argument.
- Probably not the best judge for heavy theory debates but go for it if you think you need to.
All: pleaselearntoflow@gmail.com
HSPD: + dulles.policy.db8@gmail.com
HSLD: + loyoladebate47@gmail.com
please have the email sent out before start time. late starts are annoying, which is grounds for penalties to speaker points.
Dulles High School (HSPD), Loyola High School (HSLD), University of Houston (CPD) - if you are currently committed to debating at the University of Houston in the future, please conflict me.
"takes his job seriously, but not himself."
the safety of debaters is my utmost concern at all times. racism, transphobia, misogyny, etc. will not be tolerated, and I am more willing to act on this on my own accord than most judges (i.e: I have submitted a ballot mid-1AR before due to egregious misconduct). you should not attempt to test me on this.
i judge an extremely large volume of debates every year. i've been in debate since 2014, and in my competitive career i won little but learned lots. in high school, i went for politics disads and advantage counterplans while reading niche plans, usually with a process advantage. in college, i read exclusively planless affs starting sophomore year, with most of my 2NRs being the K, topicality, or straight turning an advantage. i have coached every argument imaginable at some point at every level of the game. these days, i am happiest when the 2NR is a card heavy disad/counterplan or K against an aff with a plan (and most of my debates are like this), but debate is for you, not me. I am more concerned with the structure of high-quality, well-warranted arguments and lots of judge instruction than the content of your positions - Kant, planless affs, process counterplans, and topicality can all produce dense, interesting debates, and they can also produce nightmarish slop. offense/defense means no presumption or zero risk, but impact calculus still matters a lot to me and debaters should explain their core offense in comparison to the other side's. i flow diligently and value "technical" execution and refutation above "truth", but bad arguments are still bad. ergo, dropped arguments are true, but only as true as the dropped argument. i am an incredibly die-hard 2N, which probably tells you more useful info about my debate views than anything else in this paradigm. Wheaton's law is axiomatic, so please be kind, and show me you're having fun. i will do my best to give detailed decisions and actionable feedback, as debaters deserve no less than my best effort.
"act like you've been here."
details
- Dallas Perkins: “if you can’t find a single sentence from your author that states the thesis of your argument, you may have difficulty selling it to me.” David Bernstein: “Intuitive and well reasoned analytics are frequently better uses of your time than reading a low quality card. I would prefer to reward debaters that demonstrate full understanding of their positions and think through the logical implications of arguments rather than rewarding the team that happens to have a card on some random issue.” Richard Garner: "I read a lot of cards, but, paradoxically, only in proportion to the quality of evidence comparison. Highlighting needs to make grammatical sense; don’t use debate-abbreviation highlighting"
- inserting cards is fine if it is an indict of the same card they read and its implication is explained – external arguments or different parts of the article should be read aloud. that said, i can be convinced to strike excessive insertions, especially when most amount to crying wolf.
- textual competition has always felt incoherent to me. positional competition is more coherent, but also much more upsetting. just function, please. counterplans that solely compete off of immediacy/certainty or banning the plan seem like they shouldn't compete at all - unsure why things not assumed by any literature ever matter here.
- state of counterplan (and plan) texts is an atrocity. this should matter more than it does in most debates. people get away with murder these days - evidence quality for solvency claims are paramount.
- i would consider myself medium-good for intrinsicness, but also think most "intrinsic" perms are not actually intrinsic.
- will judge kick if told, but only if told. generally think splitting the 2NR is bad though – I’ve never once kicked the counterplan and had it help the negative.
- "perm shields the link" and "links to net benefit" are the most underrated arguments in debate. most permutations seem to be nothingburgers in the 2AC, making debates unacceptably late breaking - the less i understand these arguments before the block, the more spin i give the 2NR and the less spin i give the 2AR. this is solved by reading fewer, better developed permutations - "do both, shields the link" is a tag, not an argument.
- uniqueness controls link and vice versa should be debated out contextually. extremist opinions on either side (i.e: "no offense without uniqueness" and "don't need uniqueness") both seem silly.
- impact turns often have overly totalizing uniqueness and questionable solvency. teams should invest more time in these questions in addition to the impact debate proper.
- i care a lot about turns case in both disad and K debates. these arguments are ideally carded, but should at minimum be thoroughly explained with reference to which specific 1AC internal links/impacts they interact with.
- k teams that are very technical and read lots of detailed evidence should pref me highly. less technical/performance teams can also pref me highly with the understanding that this is not my wheelhouse, but i would consider myself much better for them than this paradigm would suggest.
- framework arguments should answer the question "which parts of the 1AC should be the basis for rejoinder and competition?" – “weigh the aff” and “reps first” are both non-arguments. i will not adopt a “middle ground” interp if nobody advances one – i usually find these models to be both incoherent and unstrategic. anything other than plan focus seems like it gives the negative more than you want (I am unsure why PIKs are bad if the negative gets links to both “reps” and the plan). This also means I am fine with “delete the plan” if won, but usually think the negative can win with a more nuanced framework push that gives them links and the alt without doing so.
- I vote for topicality against planless affirmatives more than I vote against it, but this is less ideological bias and more because in a bad debate it’s easier for the negative to win. when controlling for quality, I probably vote for the best K teams and framework teams equally often. fairness or a specific, carded skills impact appeal to me much more than “clash”. impact turns and counterinterps are equally winnable, but both require detailed explanation about how voting aff solves your offense. i think debate should be valuable beyond competition, but competition is still axiomatic. using the language of impact calculus (“turns case/their offense”, uniqueness, etc) helps a lot. i'd probably enjoy a good K v K debate more than a framework debate.
- critical affirmatives with plans and "soft left" affs should be much more common. teams that take me for this historically do incredibly well, but only when they actually answer neg arguments (i.e: the disad doesn't automatically vanish when you say "conjunctive fallacy")
- I care a lot about evidence quality for topicality - a more predictable and precise limit is better than a more “debatable” one, since literature determines what is debatable. that said, a marginally more precise but massively underlimiting interp is probably not a winner - offense should be weighed comparatively like any other argument. reasonability is good when framed as an offensive argument about substance crowd-out against silly theory, but bad when explained as "good is good enough" against topicality. plan in a vacuum is probably good as a check against extra-topicality violations, but less convinced in other contexts.
- I would consider these arguments theoretical non-starters if near-evenly debated: disads that link based on “riders” to the plan or being "horse-traded" (not how fiat works), counterplans that fiat actors different from the plan (yes, this includes the states). i am unconvinced either are not solved by dropping the arg, and aside from these, you should consider me un-gettable for basically any aff theory argument if well answered. "condo good" is not debate norm, it's a religious belief for me. "RVIs" get a verbal "stop it". neg theory is usually a total non-starter.
- terrible for LD “tricks” – beyond being unwarranted garbage, most of them (skep, a prioris, permissibility) are just fundamentally defensive.
- much better for well warranted, carded phil positions than you'd expect. Kant has a high win-rate in front of me these days.
- judges i generally tend to agree with if the above is insufficiently detailed include Richard Garner, James Allan, J.D. Sanford (my former coaches), Brett Cryan (my former 2A), Holden Bukowsky, Bryce Sheffield (former teammates), Aiden Kim, Sean Wallace, (former students) and Ali Abdulla (my best bud in debate).
procedural notes
- I have hearing damage in my left ear, and I don’t flow off the doc. i consider myself extremely good at flowing, but given these two things, clarity matters a lot to me – you get two free "clears," then I stop typing. debaters tend to go through tags and analytics too quickly – i will take pen time whether you give it to me or not.
- I have a terrible poker face. you are free to treat facial expressions as real-time feedback on your speech and adjust accordingly.
- card doc is good, but I will only read cards extended in the final two speeches – attempting to sway my evaluation of the debate by including extraneous evidence will be harshly penalized with speaks.
- CX is binding and mandatory. i will flow things i think are important. "lying by omission" is just smart CX practice, but direct dishonesty will prompt intervention (i.e: if the 1NC reads elections, 1A asks "was the elections disad read", and you say "no", i am pausing CX and asking if i should throw that flow out).
- prep ends when the speech doc is sent and there is no flow clarification timeslot – “what cards did you read” is a CX question. “can you send a doc with the cut cards marked” is fine question to ask without prep or CX, because the team that cuts evidence should provide marked copies, but “can you take out all the cards you didn’t read” is a question that the other team can say “no” to, because it is your obligation to flow (or you can burn CX time asking if they read elections or not because you didn’t - i don't care). the amount of not-flowing you do negatively correlates with speaks. be reasonable - putting 80 case cards in the doc and reading 5, skipping around randomly, is bad form, but objecting to the general principle is telling on yourself. flow.
- related to the above, if you answer a position in the doc that was skipped, you are getting a 27.5. I am beyond serious about this. the state of flowing is an atrocity. you should know better. flow.
- speaks are solely decided by me, based on my assessment of the quality of your debating + how enjoyable you were to judge (i.e: being respectful, having fun). 28.5 means i think you should go about 3-3. i have been told this is at the low end of the speaker point distribution for HSLD in particular - i don't really care.
- not interested in adjudicating the character of minors I don’t know regarding things I didn’t see.
- any and all grumpiness above should not be read as without consideration for experience, i.e: I am not docking speaks because a novice accidentally answers a skipped disad or sends an extra card in the card doc. generally, how harsh i am (and how harsh you can be) is inversely related to skill level. trolling an opponent of relatively equal skill in finals is different from bullying a post-nov in presets.
- ethics challenges (clipping, evidence issues) will be evaluated based on the principle that only issues that make continuing in good faith impossible are worth stopping a debate. the burden is to reasonably prove criminal negligence or malicious intent. the result will be solely decided by me, with the loser getting an L0 and the winner getting a W28.5. if the debate is ended, it will not restart, and i expect all evidence to be immediately provided to me and then for everyone to shut up - any attempt to sway my evaluation of the issue by debaters or coaches will result in an instant loss. i tend to only care about these things when they have an impact - omitting multiple paragraphs that conclude neg fundamentally changes the argument of a card, but accidentally leaving out an irrelevant last sentence doesnt. i am open to alternative solutions to these issues - i'd much rather we agree to strike a card that was cited incorrectly than not debate. you can ask me if i would consider ending the round or some alternative appropriate for a given issue, and i will answer honestly. clipping requires a recording for me to evaluate the accusation, and is always an instant loss (as there is no other way to resolve it) if it is shown to be persistent enough that it substantially altered functional speech time (again, criminal negligence/malicious intent). inexperience grants some (but minimal) leniency on this issue. all of this goes out the window if the tabroom tells me to do something else.
- disclosure is likely good, but increasingly arbitrary and demanding standards for it seem counterproductive. disinterested in voting on it in the absence of deliberate misdisclosure. unconvinced by arguments demanding disclosure of unbroken prep.
- please don't call me "judge", "Mr.", or "sir" - patrick, pat, fox, or p.fox are fine.
- i like music. feel free to recommend me a song to listen to during prep or decision time. enjoyable music gives everyone in the room +0.1. music i dislike receives no penalty.
good luck, have fun!
pat
I am the head debate coach at Crossings Christian Schools. I graduated from the University of North Texas. I debated for four years at Edmond North High School. I have debated and judged both traditional policy and critique debate. I have also judged LD debate.
Debate what you are good at. I am comfortable judging any argument as long as it is clearly explained. However, I am more of a traditional policy debater.
Email: alexaglendinning@gmail.com This is if you have any questions about my decision, debate in general, or for email chains.
Some argument specifics:
Topicality/FW: I love a good T or FW debate. I think that these arguments are critical because it determines the rules for the debate round. With this said, I do NOT like RVI's and I probably won't vote on those. With T, I need a clear interpretation of what is fair and why the other team violates that.
Theory: I love Theory debates. It sets up the rules for the debate round. I think theory could either favor the neg or be a complete wash in debate rounds depending on how it is debated. With theory debates, I need a clear interpretation of what is fair and why the other team violates that.
Disadvantages: I like them. The more specific your link story, the better. However, if you only have generic links, I will still evaluate them.
Counterplans: I like them. I believe that all counterplans are legitimate unless debated otherwise by the affirmative i.e. CP Theory. You have to win that they are competitive in order for me to vote on them.
Ks: They're fine.
Case debate: I love a good case debate. I think that this has gone out of style in current policy debate. I really want to see this come back.
Other Notes:
Use CX wisely. CX is a great tool that teams under-utilize. It is an important part of the debate round. It is in your best interest.
FLOW!!! Flowing is one of the most important things in a debate round. This is your map for where the debate has been and where the debate is going to go.
Speed is fine, but clarity is more important. If you aren't being clear, then I will not be able to understand or evaluate the arguments that you are making. I would rather you be clear than fast.
What not to do:
Do Not steal prep. Use it wisely. If you use it wisely then you wouldn't have to try and steal it. DON'T STEAL PREP.
Do Not Run T as an RVI. See the T section of my paradigm.
Do Not text with anyone during a debate round. Just Do Not use your phone at all during a debate round. The only exception is if you are using your phone as a timer. You should be focused on debating. Put your phone in airplane mode. This allows for less temptation.
Have Fun Debating!
Liberty University '19
Baylor University '21
Current DoD at Towson University
Small update--specifically for zoom-- please slow down & make less/better arguments. The small glitches result in missing some really great pieces you all have & I don't want to miss anything.
2022:
Honestly, do what makes you happy! I still believe my job is to learn from you all because your research practices are educational opportunities as well! If there is anyway I can help you all grow as intellectuals, that is my main priority. Arguments are going to be made on both sides, but please remember those arguments have real power. Flush out your arguments because any ounce of confusion never plays in anyone's favor well.
The only thing I ask is that you not only keep the debate entertaining and fun, but be respectful of your opponents. Flush out your arguments &
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2019-2020
***I will fill this in or UD this when needed – I’m learning about my judging as the year progresses***
- Let me preface this w/ saying the 2019-2020 year (Space topic) is my first year out from debating, so do as you will with that.
- Yeah add me to the chain…Please don’t use my old email that some of you know—use this one: mikedebate97@gmail.com
- ***I seek to judge the round that occurred in front of me & to not only give feedback, but to also learn from you all [because you’re valid & you work hard on your arguments]. Every judge should come into a round with the openness to listen to the debaters b/c it isn’t their career #iSaidWhatiSaid. But if you saying something racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, ableist or problematic to anyone, then it’s a no-go. Other than that, DO YOU because you can’t let NO haters stop you from doing what you want in your career and that’s on period.***
- I’m a graduate student at Baylor. I debated four years at Liberty starting as a novice until my senior year where I ended my career as a 2x NDT octafinalist, CEDA quarterfinalist, & a first-round recipient. I did policy my novice year & more critical stuff my last three years. 1A/2N.
- Here’s how I would pref me if I was still debating (1: good – 4: eh).
Kritiks (identity politics): 1
Kritiks (high theory tingz): 4
Policy (Soft left): 2/3
Policy (Heg): ¾
- If you’re reading this before the round & you just need the basics: Big picture stories are my jam (i.e.- here’s the main story and how the aff implicates xyz OR how the aff does xyz bad thing). I LOVE ballot framing (i.e.- what we here for?). Condensed debates are always more nuanced (i.e.- sitting on a particular arg). I typically work backwards (i.e.- I evaluate the debate from the 2ar/2nr and circle what’s important/key args…So if it is important in the 1NC/1AC- make sure you have it in the 2NR/2AR). Don’t assume I know your lango on the K or the latest updates on the DA (i.e.- *insert big words* without explaining b/c you assume I know it won’t be the best thing to do). Last thing, have fun & be petty (not rude) – I know debate sometimes forces people to take everything so seriously all the time, but I promise it’s SO much better if you just doing you & having a good time!
Here’s the tea on your particular args:
Disads-
· I actually love a good disad debate! I think that a good link wall in the block is killer & it puts the aff in tougher positions.
· I think empirics that prove the story-line of the DA is SO helpful & slept on. (i.e.- this happened previously when X, which resulted in Y, but the distinction now is Z).
· To make these debates more juicy, I do think that there needs to be more impact distinction and framing than typical (i.e.- if y’all are both going for war scenarios, I need you to tell me more about why your scenario comes first or is more probable).
CPs-
· Ehhhh, if counterplans are you’re thing, I think you need to make sure you’re highlighting a few things for me: why it competes, (if there are) what parts of the aff do you do, & explaining the nuances/planks(if any) of the CP. I think having an overview that is precise & slowing down on that portion would be very beneficial if you’re going for the CP.
· Internal NBs are good, tbh (obvi external ones are as well). Just make sure you explain how the CP avoids said NB.
· If you’re going for/answering theory args, slow down! If you think you’re going to win a theory argument that was 5 seconds of speeding through your block, then lololol no.
Kritik (Identity based args) aff/neg-
· If this is your thing, do you! These debates are best when you isolate an understanding of how power operates in a simplistic way.
· If you’re going for “it’s a question of orientation” or “what we do in the face of X” – I’m good for you, but don’t shy away from explaining why that orientation is important, along with why the aff is necessary.
· I just think making sure you explain your stories interaction with the power you claim puts you in a better position—along with a way to navigate and/or solve said issue.
Kritik (POMO, etc) aff/neg-
· High theory? Make it low. I understand that some of y’all are deep-deep-deep in the archives with whatever lit base you come from, but remember that we aren’t. If you can’t explain to me in translation what you’re saying in the most basic form possible, then I may not be the best for you.
· Make applications, please. The way I can process something that is complex is by making sure I understand it in conjunction to said example.
· Mmm, yeah just explain everything v. simple & you’ll be fine.
Kritik (Security, Cap)-
· These are both viable options that I think are strategic. I think most policy-sided teams get so used to the DA debate that they don’t do well on explaining the theory of cap. I think a little more time on this in relation to the aff will do y’all justice.
· I do think that having/making contextualized links will make it more useful for you in the long run. (i.e.- having an identity ptx link, but then utilizing that in the block to explain how the aff manifest said link *we know they are this b/c the 1ac/2ac said….which means that…)
· **[THIS APPLIES TO ALL THE KRITIKS PORTION THOUGH] Make sure if you’re going for the alternative, you explain how that alt is able to overcome the links you’ve made. (If you can’t articulate why the alt solves the link, then you’re in a rough spot).
FW/T-
· No, they aren’t the same. But it is up to you to explain the difference to me.
· So one of the things that I clearly wait/listen for in the 2NR is a clear interpretation extension. In my career, I found that for critical debaters its always an uphill battle versus FW & they have to explain everything so thoroughly – but somehow fw/t debaters can win on these arguments b/c “we know what they meant” or “its clear what their interp is”…yeah, no! If it ain’t there & the aff points it out, then that’s not good for you. I do think T can be done and done good versus critical debaters (think Michigan GW or Harvard CM/MS), but I think mediocrity shouldn’t be tolerated.
· Fairness is an impact.
· Insofar as T goes, make sure you have definitions that are clearly extrapolating what your interpretation would justify/mean.
· TVA’s are poppin’—so yes, have some.
· I also think you should contextualize everything to the particular aff and CONTEST THE AFF on some level, please.
Theory args-
· Slow down on them, please. I’m not going to get all 17 points in twenty seconds if you blazing through them.
· Can be strategic for final speeches, but time needs to be allocated there earlier if that will be your option in final speeches.
· Read your blocks, but also answer their particular theory arg about why what you did/do is bad.
If something is unclear or you want to ask me a question about a particular argument, email me! I enjoy talking about how we think about debate. Have fun!
Email Chain: put me on it. amyho2016@gmail.com
Background: Kinkaid '19 | Rice '23. I was both the 2A and the 2N. I ran both policy and critical arguments (cap, gender, psychoanalysis) with a lot of soft-left affs.
Top Level/Meta Things:
In almost all cases, tech > truth.
Mark cards (and do it yourself in your own files) – I have no tolerance for clipping.
Clarity > speed – I will say clear once.
Respect your opponents.
Conceded arguments aren't auto-wins for the other team – you still need to explain the impact of the conceded argument and extend it – I'm not going to intervene and do work in connecting implications of arguments for you
Line by line and evidence comparison are important and very much appreciated.
Framing in the rebuttal speeches is key (weighing etc. to set up my ballot, why should I vote for you?)
Paradigm: Run what you are most comfortable with. Even if I am not the most familiar with your literature base, doing what you do best will result in a better debate than watching you struggle to overadapt. That being said, I do have some predispositions outlined below:
Kritiks: I am more familiar with structural Ks than with post-modernism/high theory (I don't really like pomo/high theory). If you run these, please explain your jargon so I know what you are talking about. Additionally, even when running Kritiks I prefer listening to organized speeches, line by line, a shorter overview, etc.
Counterplans: I love counterplans. They're best when you have a solvency advocate or are case-specific. I currently don't lean on either side on counterplan theory.
Disads: Love em. Do impact calculus!
Topicality: The better your definition card is, the better off you will be on T. However, that doesn't mean I'll do work for you – just because you have the better evidence doesn't mean you can lazily debate it.
Framework: I went for both procedural fairness but also clash/topic education so you do you.
K affs: In my opinion, I lean more on the side that K affs should have at least some relation or tie to the topic in addition to an advocacy statement. Thought out articulation of your solvency method will go a long way for me.
Conflicts: Katy Taylor and Hendrickson
LAST UPDATED: Pre-TOC 2018
I debated at Texas on the NHI topic.
Explain your arguments. Warrant out your claims. Impact them out. Give me all the pieces put together because I think judge intervention hampers the ability for students to make debate what they want it to be. I will only vote on an argument if I can explain it to the other team – this might seem arbitrary but it forces debaters to disengage in shallow explanations so I think it’s reasonable. I prefer you to debate what you enjoy reading. Specificity and well thought out strategies are always enjoyable to judge.
Specifics:
- Framework: It's about competing models of debate. Have a defense why the education your model produces is good. I’ll usually default to competing interpretations unless persuaded otherwise by reasonability/competing interps bad. That being said, I think it’s important to have procedural fairness and education claims to hedge back against the 1AC’s offense. Specificity of evidence in relation to the affs politics and the core of the topic (education good) also makes your policy making good argument are more persuasive to me. As I've adjudicated more framework debates, I find clash and limits to be the most persuasive impacts to go for.
- Topicality: It's about competing models of debate. Reasonability usually is just asserted by the aff so unless there’s a robust defense of why the aff really is reasonable, I will default to competing interpretation. Impact out your standards - give me reasons why fairness and limits matter. Flesh out the violation in the 2nr to prevent simple we meet arguments in the 2ar.
- Disadvantages: The more specific the DA, the better. Have good/specific link and turns case analysis, doing so will reflect better in your speaker points. For the aff, I think evidence comparison/call outs coupled with tricky strategies like impact turns or internal link turns helps you win these debates.
- Counterplans: Always go slow on the CP text(s). Having specific solvency advocates tells me that you’ve done good research and when deployed well, your speaker points will definitely be rewarded. Without a solvency advocate, it makes a permutation seem a lot more convincing unless the link to the aff for the net benefit is specific. Strategic PICs are appreciated.
- Kritiks: The biggest pitfall of K debaters is making a bunch of vacuous link/impact and framing arguments without any contextualization to the aff or providing me with a way to weigh your arguments versus the affs impacts – leaving me with a bunch of floating pieces is not a good place to be. That being said, I think that link debate is a place where you can make smart turns case/impact analysis and embed tricks that the aff possibly won’t catch – quoting their evidence or referring to moments in cross-x is also very persuasive and makes it much easier for you to win a link. As I said above, make sure you have good impact comparison and weighing mechanisms and always have an external impact. The alt debate seems to be one of the most overlooked parts of the K and is usually never explained well enough. The 2AR will mostly always control the way that the aff is explained, so always explain the alt thoroughly and how it interacts with the aff – with that, you’ll be in a good position.
- Kritik Affs: Give me a robust explanation of the mechanism of the aff in both the 1ar and the 2ar and how it resolves or accesses their offense – this will put you in a much better position for the permutation/link turn debate or even an impact turn debate depending on your strategy, but it will also help me explain to the negative why I voted aff (in a scenario where I do). Lack of explanations of the aff’s solvency mechanism puts me in a tough spot because I won’t assume to know how the it functions unless you tell me – this also probably makes the negative’s explanation of whatever their strategy is much more persuasive and allows them to dictate what your own aff says which is a position you don’t want to be in.
- Case: Severely underused part of debate. Not engaging the aff makes it difficult to hedge back versus the aff’s offensive claims and makes voting aff much easier. Read impact defense, specific solvency deficits, impact turns, straight turns, etc. That being said, I’m also completely open to voting on no risk of the aff and voting neg on presumption. A good case debate will be rewarded with more speaker points and can make the neg’s life infinitely easier.
- Theory: It's fine - if its your 2ar strategy make sure there is sufficient 1ar time allocation to it.
For any other questions, feel free to ask me before round or email me at subbu.iyer98@gmail.com
23-24 update: It's your job to persuade me. Keep that in mind. I vote for what wins but what wins is what persuades me to vote. If I am not making a decision based on persuasion - both team messed up.
2022-23 update: you can easily out tech me if you're going a mile a minute speaking. Adjust or you'll lose trying to out tech the other team. The gamesmanship is cool but persuasion and actual communication with the judge you want to vote for you is in fact necessary. Being technically right isn't gonna sway a ballot for me.
2019-2020 update: I want debate to go back to being persuasive... I think that top level speed reading is not persuasive. One of the points of the "game" of debate is to be persuasive... to persuade the judge to vote for you. I am not persuaded by a swarm of gnats sound. I'm not saying you can't talk fast or even speed read - but if there's no inflection in your voice - if you drone on and on and on - if you haven't tried to persuade me but just talked at me - you will not get good speaks from me. You may win the debate because you are strategically ahead and better - but your speaks will suffer. I'm not saying conversational pace - I talk fast in general - I argue fast - I don't sound like a gnat.
I am a Black woman who is also disabled. I debated 4 years for KState mostly running different forms of Black feminism. I enjoy listening to the ways people interpret debates and deploy their arguments strategically. If you're not bored I won't be either.
*******If you are not Black (white and non black poc) do not read anti-blackness/Afrofuturism/pessimism/optimism arguments in front of me (aff/neg) if the other team calls you out at ALL you will lose the debate.... same for other PoC arguments that the authors say are for PoC. If it is not your position you don't get to use other peoples bodies to get a ballot. ***note to PoC your existence is not negated because you have a white partner - I won't vote on "the white person spoke/is here"
DA/CP: I will vote for them. I have a high threshold for internal links. You have to be able to explain how the aff gets to the DA impact. I'm unwilling to give you the benefit of doubt, prove it.
Kritiks: I’ll vote for it. In order for you to get the ballot, the K, like any other argument has to be well explained for me to vote for it. I also believe that in any good K debate their needs to be an obvious link to the case and the alternative of the K must be well explained. The biggest thing I was complimented on from judges was the "big picture" debate. Tell me the story of your K you will not get away with big holes in explanation.
Theory: I’ll vote for it. HOWEVER, I don’t like theory debates that are just blocks or are just spew downs. I like the line by line debate on theory and for the debaters to slow down. I WILL vote on dropped theory arguments- so you better answer them (even if the perm is a test you still need to answer severance). The biggest critique I got from judges was I miss the little details. I am an auditory learner I will be listening but if you speed through theory there is a good chance I won't catch it. Be Clear!
Topicality: I believe that topicality is about competing interpretations. However, I can be persuaded that topicality is not a voting issue and that normative reasons to vote do outweigh. But in order to win these issues there has to be considerable time spent on these arguments not just blips. I do not necessarily believe all affirmatives have to have a plan text, however, I do believe that you should be able to defend the lack thereof. Again, it is not what you do or do not say, it is what you justify. Affirmatives, if you don’t have a plan or don’t defend the consequences you should have reasons why you shouldn’t have to defend those issues.
1) Slow down. My ears are not calibrated to the rapid delivery of policy debaters.
2) Read less cards. I will not read cards at the end of the round unless "what it says" is questioned (as in your calling them a liar). I prefer to watch and evaluate based off of what you have clearly articulated in the debate. Debate is about more than empty words, gestures, and actions. It is not only what you say/do. It is also what you justify. That matters more to me than a bunch of random cards you read to fill time.
3) Don’t rely on being tricky or attempting to “out-tech” the other team. In doing so, you will likely out-tech me and your tricks will go unnoticed. I take notes, on every speech but I don’t flow in the conventional manner of lining up argument-for-argument in columns. There is obviously a minimum of technical skills one needs to compete in debate. If a team does not address an entire position or an important nuance emphasized by their opponents then it is unlikely that they will win.
If you make a Steven Universe reference I will bump .2 speaks
Yes I want to be on the email chain jjackson558@gmail.com
Yes, email chain: sohailjouyaATgmailDOTcom
PUBLIC FORUM JUDGING PHILOSOPHY IS HERE
Update:
- Probably not the best judge for the "Give us a 30!" approach unless it becomes an argument/point of contestation in the round. Chances are I'll just default to whatever I'd typically give. To me, these kind of things aren't arguments, but judge instructions that are external to making a decision regarding the debate occurring.
BIG PICTURE
- I appreciate adaptation to my preferences but don’t do anything that would make you uncomfortable. Never feel obligated to compete in a manner that inhibits your ability to be effective. My promise to you will be that I will keep an open mind and assess whatever you chose. In short: do you.
- Truth > Tech, but RELAX: All this means is that I recognize that debate is not merely a game, but rather a competition that models the world in which we live. This doesn’t mean I believe judges should intervene on the basis of argumentative preference - what it does mean is that embedded clash band the “nexus question” of the round is of more importance than blippy technical oversights between certain sheets of paper - especially in K v K debates.
Don't fret: a dropped argument is still a concession. I likely have a higher threshold for the development of arguments that are more intrinsically dubious and lack warrants.
- As a former coach of a UDL school where many of my debaters make arguments centred on their identity, diversity is a genuine concern. It may play a factor in how I evaluate a round, particularly in debates regarding what’s “best” for the community/activity.
Do you and I’ll do my best to evaluate it but I’m not a tabula rasa and the dogma of debate has me to believe the following. I have put a lot of time and thought into this while attempting to be parsimonious - if you are serious about winning my ballot a careful read would prove to serve you well:
FORM
- All speech acts are performances, consequently, debaters should defend their performances including the advocacy, evidence, arguments/positions, interpretations, and representations of said speech acts.
- One of the most annoying questions a judged can be asked: “Are you cool with speed?”
In short: yes. But smart and slow always beats fast and dumb.
I have absolutely no preference on rate of delivery, though I will say it might be smart to slow down a bit on really long tags, advocacy texts, your totally sweet theory/double-bind argument or on overviews that have really nuanced descriptions of the round. My belief is that speed is typically good for debate but please remember that spreading’s true measure is contingent on the number of arguments that are required to be answered by the other team not your WPM.
- Pathos: I used to never really think this mattered at all. To a large degree, it still doesn’t considering I’m unabashedly very flowcentric but I tend to give high speaker points to debaters who performatively express mastery knowledge of the subjects discussed, ability to exercise round vision, assertiveness, and that swank.
- Holistic Approaches: the 2AR/2NR should be largely concerned with two things:
1) provide framing of the round so I can make an evaluation of impacts and the like
2) descriptively instruct me on how to make my decision
Overviews have the potential for great explanatory power, use that time and tactic wisely.
While I put form first, I am of the maxim that “form follows function” – I contend that the reverse would merely produce an aesthetic, a poor formula for argument testing in an intellectually rigorous and competitive activity. In summation: you need to make an argument and defend it.
FUNCTION
- The Affirmative ought to be responsive to the topic. This is a pinnacle of my paradigm that is quite broad and includes teams who seek to engage in resistance to the proximate structures that frame the topic. Conversely, this also implicates teams that prioritize social justice - debaters utilizing methodological strategies for best resistance ought to consider their relationship to the topic.
Policy-oriented teams may read that last sentence with glee and K folks may think this is strike-worthy…chill. I do not prescribe to the notion that to be topical is synonymous with being resolutional.
- The Negative’s ground is rooted in the performance of the Affirmative as well as anything based in the resolution. It’s that simple; engage the 1AC if at all possible.
- I view rounds in an offense/defense lens. Many colleagues are contesting the utility of this approach in certain kinds of debate and I’m ruminating about this (see: “Thoughts on Competition”) but I don’t believe this to be a “plan focus” theory and I default to the notion that my decisions require a forced choice between competing performances.
- I will vote on Framework. (*This means different things in different debate formats - I don't mean impact framing or LD-centric "value/value criterion" but rather a "You must read a plan" interpretation that's typically in response to K Affs)That means I will vote for the team running the position based on their interpretation, but it also means I’ll vote on offensive responses to the argument. Vindicating an alternative framework is a necessary skill and one that should be possessed by kritikal teams - justifying your form of knowledge production as beneficial in these settings matter.
Framework appeals effectively consist of a normative claim of how debate ought to function. The interpretation should be prescriptive; if you are not comfortable with what the world of debate would look like if your interpretation were universally applied, then you have a bad interpretation. The impact to your argument ought to be derived from your interpretation (yes, I’ve given RFDs where this needed to be said). Furthermore, a Topical Version of the Affirmative must specifically explain how the impacts of the 1AC can be achieved, it might be in your best interest to provide a text or point to a few cases that achieve that end. This is especially true if you want to go for external impacts that the 1AC can’t access – but all of this is contingent on a cogent explanation as to why order precedes/is the internal link to justice.
- I am pretty comfortable judging Clash of Civilization debates.
- Framework is the job of the debaters. Epistemology first? Ontology? Sure, but why? Where does performance come into play – should I prioritize a performative disad above the “substance” of a position? Over all of the sheets of paper in the round? These are questions debaters must grapple with and preferably the earlier in the round the better.
- "Framework is how we frame our work" >>>>> "FrAmEwOrK mAkEs ThE gAmE wOrK"
-Presumption can be an option. In my estimation, the 2NR may go for Counterplan/Kritik while also giving the judge the option of the status quo. Call it “hypo-testing” or whatever but I believe a rational decision-making paradigm doesn’t doom me to make a single decision between two advocacies, especially when the current status of things is preferable to both (the net-benefit for a CP/linear DA and impact for a K). I don't know if I really “judge kick” for you, instead, the 2NR should explain an “even if” route to victory via presumption to allow the 2AR to respond.
“But what about when presumption flips Affirmative?” This is a claim that I wish would be established prior to the 2NR, but I know that's not gonna happen. I've definitely voted in favour of plenty of 2ARs that haven't said that in the 1AR. The only times I can envision this is when the 2NR is going all-in on a CP.
- Role of the Ballots ought to invariably allow the 1AC/1NC to be contestable and provide substantial ground to each team. Many teams will make their ROBs self-serving at best, or at worse, tautological. That's because there's a large contingency of teams that think the ROB is an advocacy statement. They are not. Even more teams conflate a ROB with a Role of the Judge instruction and I'm just now making my peace with dealing with that reality.
If the ROB fails to equally distribute ground, they are merely impact framing. A good ROB can effectively answer a lot of framework gripes regarding the Affirmative’s pronouncement of an unfalsifiable truth claim.
- Analytics that are logically consistent, well warranted, and answer the heart of any argument are weighed in high-esteem. This is especially true if it’s responsive to any combinations of bad argument/evidence.
- My threshold for theory is not particularly high. It’s what you justify, not necessarily what you do. I typically default to competing interpretations, this can be complicated by a team that is able to articulate what reasonability means in the context of the round, otherwise I feel like it's interventionist of me to decode what “reasonable” represents. The same is true to a lesser extent with the impacts as well. Rattling off “fairness and education” as loaded concepts that I should just know has a low threshold if the other team can explain the significance of a different voter or a standard that controls the internal link into your impact (also, if you do this: prepared to get impact turned).
I think theory should be strategic and I very much enjoy a good theory debate. Copious amounts of topicality and specification arguments are not strategic, it is desperate.
- I like conditionality probably more so than other judges. As a young’n I got away with a lot of, probably, abusive Negative strategies that relied on conditionality to the maximum (think “multiple worlds and presumption in the 2NR”) mostly because many teams were never particularly good at explaining why this was a problem. If you’re able to do so, great – just don’t expect me to do much of that work for you. I don’t find it particularly difficult for a 2AR to make an objection about how that is bad for debate, thus be warned 2NRs - it's a downhill effort for a 2AR.
Furthermore, I tend to believe the 1NC has the right to test the 1AC from multiple positions.
Thus, Framework along with Cap K or some other kritik is not a functional double turn. The 1NC doesn’t need to be ideologically consistent. However, I have been persuaded in several method debates that there is a performative disadvantage that can be levied against speech acts that are incongruent and self-defeating.
- Probability is the most crucial component of impact calculus with disadvantages. Tradeoffs ought to have a high risk of happening and that question often controls the direction of uniqueness while also accessing the severity of the impact (magnitude).
- Counterplan debates can often get tricky, particularly if they’re PICs. Maybe I’m too simplistic here, but I don’t understand why Affirmatives don’t sit on their solvency deficit claims more. Compartmentalizing why portions of the Affirmative are key can win rounds against CPs. I think this is especially true because I view the Counterplan’s ability to solve the Affirmative to be an opportunity cost with its competitiveness. Take advantage of this “double bind.”
- Case arguments are incredibly underutilized and the dirty little secret here is that I kind of like them. I’m not particularly sentimental for the “good ol’ days” where case debate was the only real option for Negatives (mostly because I was never alive in that era), but I have to admit that debates centred on case are kind of cute and make my chest feel all fuzzy with a nostalgia that I never experienced– kind of like when a frat boy wears a "Reagan/Bush '84" shirt...
KRITIKAL DEBATE
I know enough to know that kritiks are not monolithic. I am partial to topic-grounded kritiks and in all reality I find them to be part of a typical decision-making calculus. I tend to be more of a constructivist than a rationalist. Few things frustrate me more than teams who utilise a kritik/answer a kritik in a homogenizing fashion. Not every K requires the ballot as a tool, not every K looks to have an external impact either in the debate community or the world writ larger, not every K criticizes in the same fashion. I suggest teams find out what they are and stick to it, I also think teams should listen and be specifically responsive to the argument they hear rather than rely on a base notion of what the genre of argument implies. The best way to conceptualize these arguments is to think of “kritik” as a verb (to criticize) rather than a noun (a static demonstrative position).
It is no secret that I love many kritiks but deep in every K hack’s heart is a revered space that admires teams that cut through the noise and simply wave a big stick and impact turn things, unabashedly defending conventional thought. If you do this well there’s a good chance you can win my ballot. If pure agonism is not your preferred tactic, that’s fine but make sure your post-modern offense onto kritiks can be easily extrapolated into a 1AR in a fashion that makes sense.
In many ways, I believe there’s more tension between Identity and Post-Modernism teams than there are with either of them and Policy debaters. That being said, I think the Eurotrash K positions ought to proceed with caution against arguments centred on Identity – it may not be smart to contend that they ought to embrace their suffering or claim that they are responsible for a polemical construction of identity that replicates the violence they experience (don’t victim blame).
THOUGHTS ON COMPETITION
There’s a lot of talk about what is or isn’t competition and what competition ought to look like in specific types of debate – thus far I am not of the belief that different methods of debate require a different rubric for evaluation. While much discussion has been given to “Competition by Comparison” I very much subscribe to Competing Methodologies. What I’ve learned in having these conversations is that this convention means different things to different people and can change in different settings in front of different arguments. For me, I try to keep it consistent and compatible with an offense/defense heuristic: competing methodologies require an Affirmative focus where the Negative requires an independent reason to reject the Affirmative. In this sense, competition necessitates a link. This keeps artificial competition at bay via permutations, an affirmative right regardless of the presence of a plan text.
Permutations are merely tests of mutual exclusivity. They do not solve and they are not a shadowy third advocacy for me to evaluate. I naturally will view permutations more as a contestation of linkage – and thus, are terminal defense to a counterplan or kritik -- than a question of combining texts/advocacies into a solvency mechanism. If you characterize these as solvency mechanisms rather than a litmus test of exclusivity, you ought to anticipate offense to the permutation (and even theory objections to the permutation) to be weighed against your “net-benefits”. This is your warning to not be shocked if I'm extrapolating a much different theoretical understanding of a permutation if you go 5/6 minutes for it in the 2AR.
Even in method debates where a permutation contends both methods can work in tandem, there is no solvency – in these instances net-benefits function to shield you from links (the only true “net benefit” is the Affirmative). A possible exception to this scenario is “Perm do the Affirmative” where the 1AC subsumes the 1NC’s alternative; here there may be an offensive link turn to the K resulting in independent reasons to vote for the 1AC.
I debated in DFW for 5 years.
I did mostly LD, but I've also done PF, CX, and World Schools.
I was mostly a LARP debater, however I did use plenty of critical lit as well so I understand most critical cases just be aware that I may not understand them as well as I do other types of cases so you may have to do a bit more work but if your willing to do that then feel free to run whatever you want.
After several years of argument with other debaters I have been convinced that speed is bad so do not spread, you can go fast but the goal should be to learn come level of communication skills not be a weird kid who can talk at 350wpm. Feel free to sit while debating as well.
Feel free to run any arg, however I tend to not like frivolously theory. That being said, if you can make a convincing argument for why the abuse took place I'll vote on it. However, if your just using theory in order to win, your probably just a bad debater and I'm not going to vote you up for that. I ALSO ASSUME RVI'S (I'm even putting it in all caps so you have no excuse to not know this.)
Let me know what you want me to vote on so the round is easy for me.
Both sided will either get 29.5 or 30 speaks unless there is something unacceptable said during the round (for example: open or blatant racism, sexism, homophobia towards an opponent)
Please remember that cross examination is not binding
If you have any questions regarding anything on here feel free to ask at the start of the round.
The only things you really need to know:
1. If you berate, threaten, verbally or physically attack your opponents, I will end the debate and you'll receive a loss along with the lowest points Tabroom will allow me to assign.
2. Don't endorse self-harm.
3. Arguments admissible for adjudication include everything said from when the 1AC timer starts until the 2AR timer ends. Anything else is irrelevant.
4. I'm unlikely to vote for hidden dropped one line theory arguments. Hidden ASPEC, new affs bad, severance in a voting issue, X random CP type is bad etc. I accept that my commitment to the idea judges should assess debates as technically as possible and this notion might seem contradictory but big debates coming down to these types of arguments makes the activity worse and detracts from my belief that hard work is what should be rewarded.
Other than that, do what you do best. Technical debating is more likely to result in you winning than anything else.
I am a coach at The Harker School. Other conflicts: Texas, Emory, Liberal Arts and Science Academy, St Vincent de Paul, Bakersfield High School.
Email Chain: yes, cardstealing@gmail.com
You will receive a speaker point bump if you give your final rebuttal without the use of a laptop. I will give higher points to speeches with errors/pauses/inconsistencies etc. where the speaker debates off their flows than speeches that sound crystal clear and perfect but are delivered without the speaker looking up from their computer screen. If you flow off your laptop I will use my best judgement to assess the extent to which you're delivering arguments in such a way that demonstrates you have flowed the debate.
Ultimately, do what you do best. Giving speeches you're comfortable with is almost certainly a better path to victory than attempting to adapt to any of this stuff below. Debate is extremely hard and requires immense amounts of works. I will try to give you the same level of effort that I know you've put in.
Debate is an activity about persuasion and communication. If I can't understand your argument because what you are saying because you are unclear, haven't explained it, or developed it into a full argument-claim, warrant, impact, it likely won't factor in my decision.
The winner will nearly always be the team able to identify the central question of the debate first and most clearly trace how the development of their argument means they're ahead on that central question.
Virtually nothing you can possibly say or do will offend me [with the new above caveat] if you can't beat a terrible argument you probably deserve to lose.
Framework- Fairness is both an internal link and an impact. Debate is a game but its also so much more. Go for T/answer T the way that makes most sense to you, I'll do my best to evaluate the debate technically.
Counter-plans-
-spamming permutations, particular ones that are intrinsic, without a text and with no explanation isn't a complete argument. [insert perm text fine, insert counter plan text is not fine].
-pretty neg on "if it competes, its legitimate." Aff can win these debates by explaining why theory and competition should be separated and then going for just one in the 2ar. the more muddled you make this, the better it usually is for the neg.
-non-resolutional theory is rarely if ever a reason to reject the team. Generally don't think its a reason to reject the argument either.
-I'm becoming increasingly poor for conditionality bad as a reason to reject the team. This doesn't mean you shouldn't say in the 2ac why its bad but I've yet to see a speech where the 2AR convinced me the debate has been made irredeemably unfair or un-educational due to the status of counter plans. I think its possible I'd be more convinced by the argument that winning condo is bad means that the neg is stuck with all their counter plans and therefore responsible for answering any aff offense to those positions. This can be difficult to execute/annoying to do, but do with that what you will.
Kritiks
-affs usually lose these by forgetting about the case, negs usually lose these when they don't contextualize links to the 1ac. If you're reading a policy aff that clearly links, I'll be pretty confused if you don't go impact turns/case outweighs.
-link specificity is important - I don't think this is necessarily an evidence thing, but an explanation thing - lines from 1AC, examples, specific scenarios are all things that will go a long way
-these are almost always just framework debates these days but debaters often forget to explain the implications winning their interpretation has on the scope of competition. framework is an attempt to assign roles for proof/rejoinder and while many of you implicitly make arguments about this, the more clear you can be about those roles, the better.
-i'm less likely to think "extinction outweighs, 1% risk" is as good as you think it is, most of the time the team reading the K gives up on this because they for some reason think this argument is unbeatable, so it ends up mattering in more rfds than it should
LD -
I have been judging LD for a year now. The policy section all applies here.
Tech over truth but, there's a limit - likely quite bad for tricks - arguments need a claim, warrant and impact to be complete. Dropped arguments are important if you explain how they implicate my decision. Dropped arguments are much less important when you fail to explain the impact/relevance of said argument.
RVIs - no, never, literally don't. 27 ceiling. Scenario: 1ar is 4 minutes of an RVI, nr drops the rvi, I will vote negative within seconds of the timer ending.
Policy/K - both great - see above for details.
Phil - haven't judged much of this yet, this seems interesting and fine, but again, arguments need a claim, warrant and impact to be complete arguments.
Arguments communicated and understood by the judge per minute>>>>words mumbled nearly incomprehensibly per minute.
Unlikely you'll convince me the aff doesn't get to read a plan for topicality reasons. K framework is a separate from this and open to debate, see policy section for details.
PF -
If you read cards they must be sent out via email chain with me attached or through file share prior to the speech. If you reference a piece of evidence that you haven't sent out prior to your speech, fine, but I won't count it as being evidence. You should never take time outside of your prep time to exchange evidence - it should already have been done.
"Paraphrasing" as a substitute for quotation or reading evidence is a bad norm. I won't vote on it as an ethics violation, but I will cap your speaker points at a 27.5.
I realize some of you have started going fast now, if everyone is doing that, fine. However, adapting to the norms of your opponents circuit - i.e. if they're debating slowly and traditionally and you do so as well, will be rewarded with much higher points then if you spread somebody out of the room, which will be awarded with very low points even if you win.
*Still in progress. I've been writing bits and pieces and haven't completed this yet* *please ask me questions!*
Email Chain: Please put me on it! danidebate2019@gmail.com
Background: I'm an ex-debater from the Kinkaid School in Houston, Texas. I did policy for a total of five years and was both a 2A and a 2N at different points in my career, but I haven't been competing since 2019. I started out running mostly policy arguments as a 2A -- soft left affs and CP's DA's on the neg -- but when I became a 2N I began to run other stuff, mainly the Gender K, Psychoanalysis, and Cap.
Paradigm: You do you! I do my best to let the debaters decide the debate with as little intervention from me as possible. I want you to run the arguments you love, not only because those are likely the arguments you are better at, but also because those tend to be some of the most fun debates to watch. What is honestly most important to me is giving me a coherent story and a clear path to voting for you at the end of the day. I want to do as little work as possible putting your arguments together after the round and have to intervene as little as possible to tie up loose ends. What is most compelling for me is clearly evidenced arguments with examples, good interaction on the line by line, and adaptation to your opponent's specific arguments. Im a lot less compelled by heavy overviews if they aren't brought into the line by line of the debate and applied appropriately. If you don't tell me what arguments answer what, I'm not as comfortable doing that work on my own. That being said, there are some types of debates I feel more qualified to judge than others and I'll try to break things down more for you:
• T - In more traditional policy debates, I find myself focusing a lot on the definitions -- the more well-sourced/relevant to the topic/better intended to exclude/define etc the better. If you have a good card, emphasize it! This probably means I can be convinced to vote against an interpretation of the topic that is untruthful even if done well in a very technical T debate. The interp would have to be egregiously untruthful for me to write it off, but if that's you, know that I'll have a harder time voting for you. In more frameworky debates, I need clear explanation of why your vision of debate and framework is better. What do we lose under the other side's interp? Don't just read me an overview and blocks, really engage with the other side's vision and show me why yours in better. Give examples and tell the story.
• K - I am not the most comfortable judge in high theory debates or off-the-beaten-path K's. I don't know the literature base well, and if you want me to confidently vote for these arguments you will have to take the extra time in your speeches or CX to explain these arguments. I did run psychoanalysis in high school for a brief stint, but as was the pattern with most of the K's I ran, it was a very practical-leaning version of the K.
Like I said above, I tend to prefer well-organized speeches that engage the line by line rather than debates that rely on a hefty overview and cross applications later. When speeches are structured that way, it becomes easier for my mind to wrap around the arguments and I feel like I am able to evaluate the debate more fairly.
• DA's - Impact calc is huge for me, so be specific and engage with your opponent's impact scenario. Tell me why I should prioritize you.
The more specific your link, the better. If you have generic link cards, tell me why they specifically apply to the aff you're debating against.
• CP's - I prefer case-specific counterplans (are u noticing a trend here?). If you want me to judge kick the CP you have to tell me cause I'm not going to do it on my own. I'm less receptive to CPs with lots of planks that you kick n modify and stuff in the 2NC but I will still vote for them.
Misc. Notes:
1. Please mark your cards. I will give you a warning if I catch you clipping cards, but if you do not fix the issue, I will likely vote you down or at least give you low speaks. Even if I vote you down I will let the debate continue and give all the relevant feedback to the arguments in the round. I want everyone to get the most out of the debate but punish unethical behavior. That being said, if you notice the other team clipping/know of an ethics violation in the cutting of their cards/any other concern and you feel uncomfortable calling it out in round for whatever reason, shoot me an email during the debate and we can discuss as a group.
General:
She/her/hers
Lampasas HS C/O '19 (2A/2N)
UT '23 Neuroscience and Government
I like to think I'm a tab judge, but I tend to vote like a policymaker. I think the most important and hardest aspect of debate is to explain how you winning a certain argument affects the way that I vote in the round - thoroughly impact things out and directly tell me what I'm voting for (ROB), I'm not going to assume it for you.
If there is an email chain, please add me to it: skkarca32@gmail.com
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Topicality:
I usually defer to reasonability, but if the debate becomes centered around T, then I'll move to voting on competing interpretations.
Kritiks:
I didn't run K's in high school, but I do have a good understanding of cap and fem. For any others like biopower, just take the time to impact them out and heavily go through a line by line debate rather than just overviews. I think the best Ks are ones that engage the aff and don't rely solely on the framework debate to win them the argument. I'd vote on the alt, and not necessarily the link.
CPs:
I'll evaluate any CP. For me, CP's often come down to a) is the perm a viable option and b) if not, how much of the aff can the neg offense on the CP flow solve.
Framework:
If there is no substantial clash on framing, then I will default to the best policy option/util. If you're going to go for framing, it has to clearly tie into your mpx calc and your ROB.
Stylistic Choices:
Speed is not an issue for me as long as you can maintain it. The only thing I ask is that you signpost CLEARLY (!!!!!) and give me a second for tags/authors/dates. I think it's important to note here that drops don't matter unless YOU tell me why they matter. Solely re-reading a tag and telling me to extend it is NOT an extension (this is my biggest pet peeve, please don't do it). Explaining your evidence through analytics and extending warrants in later speeches will go further with me opposed to just listing a bunch of cards on the flow. Weighing offense v. defense is also important to me when looking at the round holistically.
Eric Lanning
Assistant Director of Debate at the University of Houston. 20+ years of experience with policy debate. I debated for both MSU and UH.
I would like to be on the email chain (ericlanning @ gmail.com) but will not be reading along with your speech!
I prefer to judge a debate about the topic and will not evaluate interpersonal disputes that occur outside of the round.
If you think an argument is important for resolving the debate - you should say so clearly in the final rebuttals!The key to winning my ballot is identifying the most important issue and making it clear through emphasis, coverage and explanation. I am unlikely to prioritize an argument in my decisionmaking if you did not do so in your speech!
I find myself agreeing more with the negative on theory (plan-focus framework, conditionality, and counterplan competition/legitimacy) than ever before... But I still don't love the idea of voting for a 2NR that includes "our counterplan results in the ENTIRE affirmative..." Counterplans should compete textually and functionally.
I flow every speech and CX on paper. Please flow! Jot that down. Seriously, please flow! If you don't write down or type out the things your opponents say as they say them - I am probably not a great judge for you. I care about persuasion. I do not like "6 minutes of reading into a screen".
Debaters work really hard and deserve judges that respect their time and effort. I try to give each round my undivided attention and minimize distractions by staying off electronic devices. After the debate I give feedback to help you learn and improve, not just commentary on what happened in the debate.
I am very expressive. I frequently react to the speech as its happening. This is usually me shaking my head in confusion or nodding along in agreement.
Been involved with the game in some way since 2008, do as you wish and I shall evaluate it in the way that I feel requires the least interference from myself.
Put me on the chain please: debate.emails@gmail.com, for the most part I do not look at the documents other than some cursory glances during prep time if a card intrigues me. I still may ask for specific cards at the end of the debate so I do not need to sort through each document, I appreciate it in advance.
I believe that debate is a communication activity with an emphasis on persuasion. If you are not clear or have not extended all components of an argument (claim/warrant/implication) it will not factor into my decision.
I flow on paper, it is how I was taught and I think it helps me retain more information and be more present in debates. Given that I would appreciate yall slowing down and giving me pen time on counterplan texts and theory arguments (as well as permutations).
The most important thing in debates for me is to establish a framework for how (and why) I should evaluate impacts. I am often left with two distinct impacts/scenarios at the end of the debate without any instruction on how to assess their validity vis-à-vis one another or which one to prioritize. The team that sets this up early in the debate and filtering the rebuttals through it often gets my ballot. I believe that this is not just true of “clash” debates but is (if not even more) an important component of debates where terminal impacts are the same but their scenarios are not (ie two different pathways to nuclear war/extinction).
While I think that debate is best when the affirmative is interacting with the resolution in some way I have no sentiment about how this interaction need to happen nor a dogmatic stance that 1AC’s have a relation to the resolution. I have voted for procedural fairness and have also voted for the impact turns. Despite finding myself voting more and more for procedural fairness I am much more persuaded by fairness as an internal link rather than terminal impact. Affirmative’s often beat around the bush and have trouble deciding if they want to go for the impact turn or the middle ground, I think picking a strategy and going for it will serve you best. A lot of 2NRs squander very good block arguments by not spending enough time (or any) at the terminal impact level, please don’t be those people. I also feel as if most negative teams spend much time reading definitions in the 1NC and do not utilize them later in the debate even absent aff counter definitions which seems like wasted 1NC time. While it does not impact how I evaluate the flow I do reward teams with better speaker points when they have unique and substantive framework takes beyond the prewritten impact turn or clash good blocks that have proliferated the game (this is also something you should be doing to counter the blocktastic nature of modern framework debates).
It would behove many teams and debaters to extend their evidence by author name in the 2NR/2AR. I tend to not read a large amount of evidence and think the trend of sending out half the 1AC/1NC in the card document is robbing teams of a fair decision, so narrowing in and extending the truly relevant pieces of evidence by author name increases both my willingness to read those cards and my confidence that you have a solid piece of evidence for a claim rather than me being asked to piece together an argument from a multitude of different cards.
Prep time ends when the email has been sent (if for some reason you still use flash drives then when the drive leaves the computer). In the past few years so much time is being spent saving documents, gathering flows, setting up a stand etc. that it has become egregious and ultimately feel limits both decision time and my ability to deliver criticism after the round. Limited prep is a huge part of what makes the activity both enjoyable and competitive. I said in my old philosophy that policing this is difficult and I would not go out of my way to do it, however I will now take the extra time beyond roadmaps/speech time into account when I determine speaker points.
I find myself frustrated in debates where the final rebuttals are only about theory. I do not judge many of these debates and the ones I have feel like there is an inevitable modicum of judge intervention. While I have voted for conditonality bad several times, personally my thought on condo is "don't care get better."
Plan-text writing has become a lost art and should invite negative advocacy attrition and/or substantive topicality debates.
Feel free to email or ask any questions before or after the debate. Above all else enjoy the game you get to play and have fun.
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Experience:
Competitor-- Winston Churchill (2008-2012)
Assistant Coaching--
Past: Jenks (2012-2015) Reagan (2015-2017) Winston Churchill (2018-2023)
Currently: Texas (2017-present)
**2022 LONGHORN CLASSIC UPDATE**
Email please - flashingisprep@gmail.com
I have now lived on a farming commune for the past two years. I have judged maybe 5 debates in that span, and zero debates on this topic. Do not expect me to know things about what is happening
I will not vote on things that happened outside of the debate I am judging.
Since I’ve been out of the activity, I think two main things have happened to my judging philosophy
- I have gotten worse for the neg in framework debates. I increasingly find the negs framework standards silly and am beginning to think more and more that framework is an argumentative crutch that prevents people from actually trying interesting and/or responsive strategies. Yes framework is often an impact turn to the 1AC which like, fine I guess. And yes, sometimes the aff doesn't defend anything at all, or sometimes is just “this is how I make a home in debate” which like, how do you negate that? But a shocking amount of the time, in front of me, you will be better off just debating the aff as it has presented itself in the 1AC. I do not want to watch you go for framework. I will still vote for neg in these debates, just not as easily as I did before.
- I have gotten worse for the aff in K v K debates. Your aff doesn't do anything? I'm excited to vote on presumption. Your aff plays some music and reads poems? I'm excited to vote for any of the thousands of impact turns to poetics, or a fun PIK out of the music. I think that the neg has a lower threshold for me in KvK debates than most people seem to think. I want to watch you go for something that is not framework. I will still vote aff in these debates, just not as easily as I did before.
-------------------------------------------------[2021-2022]-----------------------------------------------------
**IMPORTANT UPDATE**
"No mask, no win. You can only have your mask off when giving a speech. Masks should be on for CX, prep, and all other times we're in the same room. Otherwise, you will take a big L 25. Don't like it? Great, do your prefs." - Yao Yao Chen
I've been out of judging for a year as I have been living on a farming commune, and over that time a couple of things have happened
- I have gotten worse for the neg in framework debates. I increasingly find the negs framework standards silly and am beginning to think more and more that framework is an argumentative crutch that prevents people from actually trying interesting and/or responsive strategies. Yes sometimes framework is an impact turn to the 1AC which like, fine I guess. And yes, sometimes the aff doesn't defend anything at all in which case you need to force them to actually take a stance on something. But a shocking amount of the time, in front of me, you will be better off just debating the aff as it has presented itself in the 1AC. I do not want to watch you go for framework. I will still vote for neg in these debates, just not as easily as I did before.
- I have gotten worse for the aff in K v K debates. Your aff doesn't do anything? I'm excited to vote on presumption. Your aff plays some music and reads poems? I'm excited to vote for any of the thousands of impact turns to poetics, or a fun PIK out of the music. I think that the neg has a lower threshold for me in KvK debates than most people seem to think. I want to watch you go for something that is not framework. I will still vote aff in these debates, just not as easily as I did before. Just answer the aff. Seriously, have y'all heard of this thing called the cap K? Speaking of the cap K....
- There has been this trend to push beyond the whole "I will not vote on racism good" and say things like "I will not vote on climate change not real/good" Which I totally support. Now that we have opened up that gate, I am really tempted to say that "I will not vote on cap/heg good." I thought about this for a long time, and I'm not going to draw that line in the sand outright, but I am willing to say that it is going to be hard for you to win a cap good debate in front of me. I'm done trying to leave my very real political investments at the door for the sake of "the sanctity of the game" or whatever other nonsense.
Also, if you have (NON-DEBATE) questions or curiosities about any of the following feel free to reach out to me. I'd love to hear your thoughts and maybe share a few of my own, or at least help you find people more qualified to answer your questions.
Communism, prison and police abolition, pre-configurative politics, homesteading, private property, reparations, cooperative living, sustainable and regenerative agriculture, labor history, why crypto is bad, etc.
----------------------------------------------------[2020-2021]-----------------------------------------------------
Yes I want to be on the email chain: flashingisprep@gmail.com
**Please make the subject line of your email something that makes sense (ex: TFA State - Round 3 - Texas CM v MSU GS)**
All other things (questions, comments, speech doc requests, etc) should go to masonnmv[at]gmail[dot]com
[ONLINE DEBATE NOTES]
Please for the love of all that is good in this world update your wiki's. The community has paradoxically dramatically reduced it's wiki updating during a time of Zoom debate where it is more necessary than ever before. Seriously, what are you doing. Update your wiki. I will vote on disclosure theory.
Also please leave your camera on if possible. It's so awkward and alienating to stare at a blank screen for two hours by myself.
For other things see paradigm from last year below
----------------------------------------------------[2019-2020]-----------------------------------------------------
[Pre-TFA State UPDATE - 2/25/2020]
Still judging only clash debates so here is a more complete framework rant
- Ideologically I slightly lean aff for reasonability reasons. In the real debate world we actual live in, (some) K affs are predictable, and (most) K affs that are in the direction of the resolution are not hard to engage with. Not only that, but ideally we all have case negs to the best teams at the tournament anyway. That being said, framework is still absolutely negative ground, and K affs are (often) impossible to pin down. Also a lot of K affs require you to spot them solvency before you can win offense which is probably not something we should have to do. Two things you should take away from that
- On the aff, defense goes a long way. The negatives fairness and limits offense is often blown way out of proportion and you should stop letting them get away with that
- On the neg, negative engagement is the easiest standard to convince me of. The 2AR will probably say "our aff is contestable because XYZ" but framework debates are questions of models not just about the aff.
- I vote aff in these debates when:
- The 2AR wins that impositions of limits are bad. I don't often find myself voting that "limits in the abstract are always terrible" but re-framing that same argument as "imposing X limit on debate is bad for Y reason" is something that I find a lot more compelling, especially when the 2NR doesn't do impact comparison and instead just asserts "but I promise limits are super great"
- The 2AR wins that their interpretation solves limits with even a small net benefit of some kind. Mostly this happens when the the aff spends a lot of time on defense (an under-utilized component of framework debates, see above), or when the 2NR rants about impacts for 5 minutes without talking about internal links.
- I vote neg in these debates when:
- The 2NR does great internal link work. I would love for the 2NR to include a section that says "their interp is A which allows for B because C which doesn't solve D because E" Doing so will force you to clearly articulate an internal link differential which is a thing I care about, while also dramatically raising the threshold the aff has to meet to win any of their defense (again, a thing I care about)
- There isn't a role for the negative under the affs interp. I believe clash is great, and the negative often gets away with telling me that they are the only ones that allow for clash to occur. Not only that but the negative often is better at telling me why the types of clash that we have under their interp is good for XYZ reason.
- I think debate is great, I wouldn't devote 100% of my non-schoolwork time to it if I didn't, so you will have a hard time convincing me that "debate is terrible, we shouldn't do it, clash is always bad in every instance" and the negative will have an easy time winning "debate can be good, you don't even have to read a plan just say something at all please"
- I find it really hard to explain why the act of reading framework in and of itself is violent or bad. Specifically, I will have a really hard time voting on "you read framework you should lose" if the 2NR doesn't go for it, and I really don't care about framework linking to X other position that you read. If you don't put framework in the 1NC the aff gets to run wild in the 2AC, and fallback positions are a thing. If you're neg you still need to answer it but don't think you have to go for framework or you're screwed because as long as you answer it I don't care that much at all.
[MID SEASON UPDATE - 12/11/2019]
- I increasingly find myself saying something like this in the RFDs "I have you saying quote: *reads exactly what I have written on my flow* in the 2NR/2AR, to me that is not a complete argument nor does it answer the explanation the other team is doing" - this might be me being picky, but just know that I have a slightly higher threshold than average for what qualifies as extending a complete argument
- I have also done this a couple of times "I have you saying quote: *reads from flow* in the 1AR/block, while the 2NR/2AR explanation is very good you have not made this into an actual argument until then"
- This is not a tech over truth claim. Truth does come before tech, but there is a minimum threshold that your truthful argument has to meet for me to feel comfortable evaluating it
- For framework, some new thoughts
- To quote Bankey: there are two framework 2ARs: 1) limits are bad, or 2) we solve limits. While there are a plethora of winning 2ARs on framework, if you don't do either of those things you are going to be in a rough spot
- If the aff is going for the "we solve limits" 2AR, the 2NR would be greatly served by having a section which says "their interp is A which allows for B because C which doesn't solve D because E" Doing so will force you to clearly articulate an internal link differential between your interp and their interp. If you can't do that in the 2NR then maybe go for a different standard.
- I still continue to only judge clash debates. I've accepted that fate by now, but know that if for some reason I'm in a policy debate I will probably not be as educated as I should be.
- Specifically, I seem to end up judging a lot of *different flavor of anti-blackness* vs *state engagement and fiat are good* debates. I can almost promise that I've heard someone make a much better version of the argument you're making and I can also promise that I'll just wish I was watching that person debate and not you when you're making that mediocre argument.
- I enjoy these debates when:
- There are examples from both sides on the ontology portion of the debate
- Each side answers the specifics of the others examples
- I hear an example I haven't heard before (examples are a trend here if that wasn't clear enough)
- You clearly know what you're talking about/look like you've actually read a book - if you know your stuff, make that clear, it makes me happy that students know things
- I DO NOT enjoy these debate when:
- You assume you're winning ontology true/not true without doing any explanation
- You sound like you're annoyed the other team exists/is making arguments (yes even if their arguments are bad you should still respect them)
- When there are only non-black people in the room and nobody talks about/seems to recognize/cares about that fact
- It's clear you are just reading blocks and don't actually know what your cards say - I will still vote for you, I'll just be upset about it and you're speaks will not be happy
[POST CAMP PARADIGM - SEPTEMBER-ISH 2019]
General Things:
- Tell me how to vote and why, hold my hand as much as possible and you will be rewarded
- Your evidence quality matters a lot to me, but I won't read evidence unless I need to. Use that to your advantage, compelling and in depth evidence comparison goes a loooong way.
- If/when I call for cards I will ask for "whatever you think is important" That is NOT an invitation to send me everything you read, nor is it a promise to read everything you send me. Instead it's an opportunity to do what you should have done in the speech and tell me which cards you think I should read (that does include opponent evidence if you so choose).
- Truth over tech, you should have a warrant to prove why your truth claim is true
- Take risks and have fun. When you're engaged and having fun it makes my job more enjoyable and a happy me = better speaks
- Always happy to answer specific questions you have before the debate. The question "do you have any specific paradigms judge" (or anything along those lines) will be answered with "do whatever you want"
Framework - these are my initial thoughts, all of these (unless otherwise stated) are things I think are true but I can be convinced otherwise if you out debate someone on it:
- State good isn't offense for a framework argument, and state bad isn't offense against it - unlikely you will tell me otherwise
- Your interp isn't just a model that dictates the way debates go down, but also a research model that dictates the way we prepare for debates - you should have reasons why both in and out of round their interp is bad and yours is good
- If the aff says arms sales are bad I do not understand why winning arms sales are good is not a reason to vote neg. On the aff that should help you answer fairness/ground, on the neg that should give you another 2NR option if you so choose.
- I am more than willing to vote for intervention/heg/cap/arms sales are good. Often times I think the aff is too flippant about answering the impact turns that get read on case and the negative fails to capitalize on that.
- Increasingly I am becoming less and less of a fan of arguments that say "framework is policing/the prison/any other actually bad thing" In fact, I think that it is very dangerous to equivocate the violence that happens in a prison to the "violence" that happens when teams read framework.
- Answering the aff is not a microaggression. Neither is reading generic evidence. Debaters make bad/non-responsive arguments all the time, that's not a reason to vote them down, just a reason you don't have to spend as much time answering the argument.
Until I judge more rounds on this topic I won't have as many topic specific things to say. Please consult the previous seasons paradigm for any additional information
----------------------------------------------------[2018-2019]-----------------------------------------------------
Yes I want to be on the email chain: flashingisprep@gmail.com
General things:
- Tell me how to vote and why, not only will this help your chances of winning, it will also help your speaks
- I will read your evidence after the debate, not during, so the more you do the ev comparison for me during the debate the more likely I am to believe you - that being said, your evidence quality matters a lot to me, and I will read the evidence that I think is relevant while making my decision, so make sure to tell me which evidence matters
- Take risks. It makes my job a lot more fun and often pays off big. Your speaks will be rewarded for it.
- Truth over tech, and you should have a warrant to prove why your truth claim is true
- I increasingly keep judge clash debates, I have judged maybe two high level disad/cp debates since the Greenhill tournament, that means two things
- First, in clash debates I find myself leaning aff on the internal link level but neg on the impact level, I think the 2NR impact explanation sounds pretty but the internal link is dramatically under explained, and the 2AR can often be very compelling on a "you don't solve your own impact" level. The topical versions that teams are reading (mostly the generic open borders stuff) is also only really ever compelling to me in a world where the aff goes for "our discussion good" which is increasingly not the way the aff is answering framework. If your aff defends restrictions are bad and provides a mechanism for resolving (whatever that means) that then I am a fan. If your aff is just "debate is bad, fairness and clash are bad" then I am not a fan
- IF you do have me in a policy v policy debate, make sure you explain which part of the debate matters and why, and do a little bit more handle holding me through the debate in the 2NR and 2AR than you would in front of your regular policy judges as I will need to shake the rust off
Policy things - these are my initial thoughts, all of these (unless otherwise stated) are things I think are true but I can be convinced otherwise if you out debate someone on it:
- Uniqueness controls the direction of the link, you will be hard pressed to persuade me otherwise
- Undecided on indefinite parole good/bad - probably lean neg on this question but haven't seen it really debated out enough yet
- The topic is LPR - way more thoughts on this later, but unlikely you convince me your non-LPR aff is T
- If your CP has a solvency advocate (each plank, together) I think it's almost impossible to lose to any theory argument
- Presumption flips aff if the CP is a larger change from the status quo than the aff is (fully explained in the CPs section at the bottom)
- The 1AR is a constructive, you should probably read some cards
Clash of civ things - these are my initial thoughts, all of these (unless otherwise stated) are things I think are true but I can be convinced otherwise if you out debate someone on it:
- Fairness is an internal link, but negative engagement and clash are very compelling impacts
- State good isn't offense for a FW argument, and state bad isn't offense against it - unlikely you will tell me otherwise
- If the aff says and defends that restrictions on immigration are bad I find it harder to win a limits impact but a little easier to win a topical version
- Your interp isn't just a model that dictates the way debates go down, but also a research model that dictates the way we prepare for debates - you should have reasons why both in and out of round their interp is bad and yours is good
- Ericson is descriptive of debate 15 years ago, not prescriptive of what debate should be. I think this makes it a little difficult to win a predictability internal link, you still can just make sure you do slightly more work than you normally would here for me
- Negative engagement/clash is an impact but probably doesn't solve the affs education offense because the neg wants to be able to go for the temporary CP and base, instead it is good as a critical thinking model
K v K things - these are my initial thoughts, all of these (unless otherwise stated) are things I think are true but I can be convinced otherwise if you out debate someone on it:
- I don't judge a lot of these debates, but when these debates are good, I highly enjoy them. The more specific you get with your links/alt explanation/link turns/alt offense the happier I will be
- The aff gets a perm - "this is a method debate" is not a real world thing to do, only way I really change my mind here is if the aff drops this argument
- You are not responsible for other things your author wrote that you haven't read, but you are responsible for other things/theories that the parts you have read rely on for their theorization (your psychoanalysis aff probably has to defend the Lack even if you don't make any of your arguments about it)
- Examples are the key to winning the link v link turn debate for me
- Just because you read a Zizek card doesn't mean you can just make any argument you want - your theory should be consistent and you should tie your arguments back to your evidence, I will read your evidence after the debate while making my decision
Feel free to email me with any questions - masonnmv[at]gmail[dot]com - yes this is different from the email above, please use each for its intended purpose.
After that quick and dirty, here is my rant about the topic as I've seen it so far. Increasingly on this topic I find myself becoming more and more frustrated with the trajectory of affirmatives who have decided to read a plan. Two large complaints that I have:
- Your aff should be LPR
- You should specify which restrictions you reduce
Let me unpack those two things
First, LPR. I feel very strongly that the aff has to be for the purpose of LPR and only for the purpose of LPR. I know that generally the community is moving in this direction but I feel like it’s worthwhile for me to talk about this because I find myself more ideological about this than others I’ve talked to. I think that “legal immigration” most clearly means “admission to the United States for the purpose of long term permanent residence” and anything that isn’t that is fairly clearly negative ground. There are two versions of the refugee/asylum/T/U visas affs that are mainly being read now.
The first type just makes it easier to get those visas. This is the “determine that environmentally-displaced persons constitute ‘refugees’” aff’s. Or the “remove the requirement to cooperate with law enforcement” aff. These affs, for me, and almost impossibly defensible. Those people that enter under those new expanded rules are not permanent residents, nor are they guaranteed to be permanent residents. The most popular counter-interp for these affs, “legal immigration is path to lpr” to me is poor at best. It begs the question of what a “path” is, which I have yet to find a good definition of. For example, H1-B’s might be considered a path to LPR because the majority of people here on H1-Bs apply for transfer of status and become LPR. Without a good definition of what a “path to LPR” means I have no idea how that interp can set a limit on the topic that excludes non-immigrant and temporary visas. With these affs they all have the similar we meet/reasonability story that happens in the 2AR which goes something like “but our visas end up with LPR and aren’t temporary because they eventually become permanent so please don’t vote neg” But this we meet argument is not even close to compelling. In my mind this is the negatives argument, and at best for you is just the same as saying “we are effectually topical so don’t vote neg” The plan doesn’t immediately give people LPR, and I don’t think that our model of debate is defensible.
The second type of that aff changes those visas and makes them LPR. These are the “for the purpose of long term permanent residence” affs. These are think are more defensible than the type above, and end up raising a lot of interesting T questions, but I would prefer it if they weren’t topical. The problem that I have with these affs is that they just make any non-topical group topical. I have no idea why the plan can fiat that they give refugees immediate LPR and why they would not be able to fiat that H1-Bs are LPR (I keep using H1-Bs because I feel like everyone agrees that those are by definition not topical). The problem that I run into when thinking about these types of affs though is that I don’t think that there is a good interp that clearly limits these types of affs out. I think that there are two ways you can try and limit out these affs. The first, is a definition of restrictions that would say that making a new LPR isn’t reducing a restriction. But I think that a compelling answer to that is probably that the restriction that exists on getting LPR is the 1 year requirement which the plan would eliminate. I think that this could go either way, but that’s the point of debate. The second way you can limit this out is to say that a reduction has to be pre-existing. The aff increases the cap from 0 to 200 LPR refugee visas, which is technically a reduction of a cap but it doesn’t increase a currently existing cap. That coupled with a literature argument about there not being any lit to contest reducing restrictions that don’t officially exist to me feels weak but doable. In general this is the debate the aff wants to have in front of me, because despite the fact I don’t want these affs to be topical I don’t know how to safely limit them out without just arbitrarily deciding that they shouldn’t be topical.
Second, specification. This one really gets me going but comes up in debates less. The topic is not immigration good/bad. The topic is restrictions good/bad. The number of affs with plan texts that resemble “Plan: The USfg should substantially reduce its restrictions on legal immigration for artificial intelligence professionals.” is sad but not surprising. Look I get it, you don’t want to debate PICs. But come on, you have to actually defend something. The best debates on this topic are not “should we let in AI professionals to the US?’ but instead centered around how we should do that. And unless you want every debate to be indefinite parole vs LPR then it would benefit everyone if you just specified. If you read a plan, and a solvency advocate that goes with it, that defends a specific restriction(s) then I am very comfortable inflating your speaks AND telling the neg that their generic CP/links don’t assume the specific mechanism of the aff. If you do not do that (read a real plan that is), I am very comfortable voting neg on a circumvention argument. Let’s be real, you are reading your plan like that because you think it has strategic value, and truthfully, it does. And with that in mind I think that there has to be some incentive for the aff to foster clash and read a real plan text so if you are aff in front of me and you don’t read a real plan, make sure you spend more time than you want to answering vagueness arguments/case circumvention arguments. I am also more comfortable with cheating CPs against affs with vague plans, and dramatically less comfortable with cheating CPs against affs that specify.
I understand that the two above statements might make you slightly uncomfortable but I feel like I should put that out there just so that everyone is on the same page.
------------------------------2016-17 Season-----------------------------------------
I am a first year out. I debated for four years at the Liberal Arts and Science academy and currently attend the University of Texas in Austin. I have always been a 2A so that does actively shape the way that I think about/approach debate.
Short and sweet – Yes put me on the email chain - flashingisprep@gmail.com. I lean more truth over tech in the sense that I will not vote on something that can't explain to the other team at the end of the debate, but that doesn’t mean you can just drop things and hope I ignore them. Do what you do best. Seriously. I would rather judge a good debate on something I am less familiar with than a bad debate any day. The more you can write my ballot in the 2NR/2AR, and tell me what I am voting on and why, the more likely you are to win but also the more likely I am to give you better speaks. Make my job easy and you will be rewarded. I will be somewhat/very expressive during the debate, and I will flow cross ex
Any specific questions feel free to email me: masonnmv [at] gmail [dot] com - yes I realize that this is a different email from the one above, please use each email for its intended purpose.
Now what you are probably here for:
K affs and Framework – I read mostly traditional affs throughout my career but I did read a variety of different K affs with moderate levels of success. I would like to think that I will do my very best to evaluate the debate in front of me but there are a couple of thoughts that I have about framework debates in general that will always be a part of my decision calculus no matter how hard I try and be objective.
First, my senior year my partner and I went for framework against every single K aff that we debated except for one, against which we went for the global/local K. I think that K affs tend to not meet their own interp more often than you would think, and get away with it, and in the instances in which they do meet their interp, it is often very easy to win a limits disad. I also think that a lot of the offense that K teams like to go for is often only a question of “our education is unique” which I feel is often resolved by switch side and maybe the topical version. Limits and clash are the negative standards that I find the most persuasive, and I most commonly went for clash as an impact that has intrinsic value. I am least persuaded by the topic education standards people like to go for, but I encourage you to do what you are the best at and if that’s topic education then go for it. I tend to think about switch side debate more than other people do when evaluating framework debates. I lean neg in general on framework that's for sure.
That being said, there is nothing intrinsic to me about debate that requires that you read a plan, nor do I think that not reading a plan means that no productive debate can occur. I think predictability is definitely a question of the lens through which you view the resolution (eg: on the China topic, even “policy” teams knew that people were going to read a Pan aff. Doing research in a particular area helps to guide what you and others are able to predict will be read during the year), which means that K on K debates can be highly productive/clash can occur. I think that the neg often gets away with way too much offense in terms of things like the limits disad etc as the aff often forgets to test the internal links of their impacts and instead just goes for the impact turn. To use the limits disad as an example, I think that the negs interp is not nearly as limiting as they often get to spin it as, and the world of the aff is often not as bad as the neg says it is. Don’t get me wrong, impact turning things is fantastic, but sometimes smart effective defense can be just as useful.
Other thoughts on framework debates
- One carded, smart, topical, topical version of the aff goes A LOT farther than 4 short generic ones. Specificity matters a lot in these topical version debates. Both the aff and the neg can exploit this to great effect
- If your aff has a solvency advocate that links your theory to the topic in the same way you claim to, you are in a MUCH better place. It cuts back against a lot of their offense and makes it substantially harder for them to win anything that isn’t limits
- I tend to think that both interps have some educational value, if you are winning reasons why the education that your interp provides is comparatively better than the education that their interp provides you are 75% of the way to winning these debates
- I think that debate is a game, but that doesn't mean that it can't have other intrinsic value, eg it can definitely be a home, or a place of individual expression, or even an academic space or educational training ground. I get this framing from my years playing soccer, which while being a game, also provides a lot of good to a lot of people. What that really means for y'all is that I am probably not the best judge for "it's a game cause some wins so vote neg because fairness"
- The more specific that each sides offense gets, the better. There is often a lot of offense happening on both sides of these debates so the more you are able to get ahead on the specifics of how your offense interacts with their offense the better.
I think it is very hard to win state good is a net benefit to framework, especially if you’re coupling it with a switch side debate argument.
Now the more specific things
Kritiks vs Plans –
- Buzzwords do NOT equal explanation. Just because I might be familiar with your author/argument doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t explain it.
- Specificity matters. Feel free to read your generic link cards but be prepared to explain them in the specific context of the aff. On the aff, read your generic K answer cards if you have to/want to but again, be prepared to explain them in the specific context of the aff
- I am better for the negative than most for frameworks that do not let the aff leverage its advantages – I generally think that the aff just assumes that obviously they get the aff and don’t spend enough time here. Yes you can go for framework as the alt/without the alt/whatever you want to call it. Especially if you have a link specific to the aff/something the aff did and not just a link to the squo this can be a very effective strategy.
- Link turns and “the aff is a good idea”/”our reps are true” are sufficient offense to vote aff, but mostly only when coupled with a perm, and you have to explain to me why the aforementioned statement is true. You don’t always have to have external offense against the alt but it would greatly increase your chances of winning. If they kick the alt you can sometimes still get the perm, but you have to do the work to tell me why you should
- On the aff, you should defend the aff and you shouldn’t forget about the aff. Often people get caught up in going for “psychoanalysis bad” instead of actually just answering the links and defending the aff. You should still have specific K offense but seriously, if the K is competitive, then the aff is offense in and of itself. Unless you don’t get to weigh it. See above
Kritiks vs No Plans –
- Just because this is a “method debate” does not mean the aff does not get a permutation. I definitely think that it is actually most real world to combine different methods and see how they interact. Just because we are in debate doesn’t mean that that same standard should apply. Now you can win specific reasons why in the context of your theory the perm still fails, but the aff probably gets the perm.
- See K vs plans stuff as well – specificity matters a ton. Especially in the link vs link turn debate. The aff will almost always have some chance at a link turn, so whoever is ahead on the spin and explanation game will probably win that part of the debate. Historical/contextual examples are super useful and super underutilized. Don’t just assume your truth claim is true, say words and explain why.
Disads –
- I have different thoughts about risk than most people do. Start at 0% risk and build up, NOT at 100% and work down. I think that it is the negatives burden to prove that their internal links are true and not necessarily the affs burden to disprove them. That being said, if the aff only reads a non-unique in the 2AC I think that the negative is going to have a very easy time proving that the rest of their disad is true. What this means is that I am a sucker for a 2AC that maybe reads one or two cards but mainly makes smart and true analytic arguments to answer the disad at each level. Especially if your disad is bad (if you have to ask then yes, yes it is), then I think that the 2AC probably doesn’t need to even read a card and can instead get away with talking about the disad in its entirety for about 45 seconds or less. This is the best example of where I am more truth over tech
- Yes disads can go away in cross ex if it is done correctly, but you still have to make those same arguments in your next speech. A well-executed cross ex on a disad in my opinion is more concerned about what the 1NC evidence says than what the 1N has to say about it.
- The 1AR is basically a constructive. Let’s be real, I got through A LOT of my high school career going for cards that were in the 1AR. As long as you have a similar analytic argument in the 2AC, you can often justify the card. I don’t think that it’s the 2A’s burden to start answering a disad before it becomes a real disad (see above about analytics being awesome). This does NOT mean you can just drop it. But I often don’t think that you need to read cards.
- I really enjoy a good impact turn debate. My senior year this was my bread and butter, and this is where I am more tech over truth. I think that sometimes the CP just solves the aff and so impact turning the net benefit is often an effective and useful answer to CPs. So on the negative just be prepared to defend your impact(s). This goes both ways, if you are ready to impact turn the aff then go for it. These debate are awesome and often involve a lot of strangely qualified evidence and if you do this well I can’t say that your speaker points wouldn’t see a small not-so-subconscious boost.
- On that note I should add: You will receive minimum speaker points and lose if you read racism good, sexism good, and a variety of other arguments where your moral compass should understand that thing is un-impact turn-able. If you have to ask, you shouldn’t go for it
Counterplans –
- I have thoughts about presumption that I think are different from others when it comes to counterplans. Presumption flips affirmative when the counterplan is more change from the status quo than the aff
- For example: Plan: USfg should feed Africa and go to the moon, CP: USfg should feed Africa, Presumption stays negative.
- Example two: Plan: USfg should invest in renewables, CP: USfg should sign the Law of the Sea, iron fertilize the ocean, build CCS, and instate a carbon tax, Presumption flips aff.
- Obviously there are instances where this is not a perfect standard which is why I think it is up to the debaters to explain which way presumption flips and why. This doesn’t come up a ton but when it does it matters.
- On CP theory in general – I am a 2A. Always have been. That being said, I think that you are much better off going for perm do the counterplan/the counterplan isn’t competitive, instead of trying to go for “delay CPs are a voting issue”. I have a hard time believing that I should reject the team because they read a [insert process] counterplan, but I can be persuaded if you have to go for it.
- Also while I am on theory: I have a lot of thoughts about conditionality, but I try my best to judge the debate that happened in front of me. I try to view and evaluate the condo debate the same way someone would evaluate a T debate: which interp have the debaters proved to me is best for a model of debate. I do subconsciously lean aff on this question, but if it's a new aff, do whatever you want.
- 2NC CPs/amendments to CP texts: they justify new 1AR arguments (perms, offense, solvency deficits, links to the net benefit, etc), they are very rarely a reason to reject the team, I could be persuaded that it’s a reason to reject the argument
- The solvency deficit just has to outweigh the risk of the net benefit. Both sides should be doing this comparative work for me please.
Case debate –
- Please do it. I view this the same way that I view disads, it’s the affs burden to prove that their internal links are true and not the negs burden to disprove them. So just like with disads, a smart 1NC on case can be devastating and the less generic your case work is the 1NC the higher the threshold will be for 2AC answers. Basically just read the stuff about disads but switch the aff and the neg
- I am not a fan of the fast, blippy, 2AC case answers, nor am I a fan of your 45 second long block of text that you are going to spread through and call an overview. The 2AC should actually answer case args and the block and 2NR will be given a lot of leeway if you don’t. “Yes war – their evidence doesn’t assume miscalc” is not an answer.
Topicality –
- T is and always will be a question of competing models of debate. That might sound to you like "competing interps" but there is a distinction. Competing interps for me is much more a question of how I should evaluate offense in a topicality debate. Reasonability just means that your interpretation is reasonable (not that the aff is reasonable)/your interp is sufficient to resolve a risk of their offense, competing interps just means that it should only be a question of offense/defense. But in both worlds I am still evaluating different, comparable models of debate.
- I am less concerned about your ability to read your five sub-points ground and fairness block and more concerned with your ability to outline what the world of the other teams interp looks like. Why is it bad for debate (both aff and neg ground) etc.
- That being said, I went for T a lot in high school. T QPQ and framework were our two most common 2nrs. So do what you have to do. And yes, T is a topic generic.
- Topicality is about the model of debate that you endorse, so have a defense of that. Case lists, and why the affs on that list are bad or good, are a must.
- For reference from the China topic – on a scale of Yes T-QPQ We Meet/Counter Interp double bind to No T-QPQ We Meet/Counter Interp double bind I’m a firm “no”.
To close I would like to quote Ezra Serrins, my high school debate partner, "I appreciate it when debaters take arguments seriously but you shouldn't take yourself too seriously"
Former University of Texas at Austin Policy Debater
2x NDT Qualifier
Roberto Montero, Bronx Science ’16, Binghamton ’20. I debated 4 years in high school and broke at the ToC if that means anything to you.
There are two types of arguments in debate (and their inverses): smart arguments and good arguments. Some arguments happen to be both but most of the time they are neither (thus either a bad argument or a not-so-intelligent argument). A smart argument is well-researched, nuanced, and interesting. Good arguments are strategic and effective at winning debates. For example, the politics disad is a ‘good argument’ in that it wins a lot of debates and can be executed and deployed to perfection in the correct hands. That doesn’t make it a smart argument because every novice can tell you that it doesn’t reflect real politics outside of a basic uniqueness claim (which half the time is cut out of context because news articles aren’t written as conclusive as cards are purported to be). A smart argument isn’t always good however. If you have a critique that you’ve put a grad thesis amount of work into, it might make some interesting observations about the world/aff but may not be the most strategic.
Understanding the distinction between these two types of arguments is a recipe for combining them and developing the most well rounded arguments and a higher quality of debates. However, it isn’t my job to sit behind my laptop and mock the quality of your arguments, rather it is up to you as debaters to develop and articulate your arguments as such. When judging I do my best to let debaters do the debating so regardless of what my opinions/thoughts on your arguments are, as long as they are warranted, impacted and clearly extended throughout the speeches. This is also important for understanding how I judge debates—framing your rebuttals with important technical concessions on the line by line is valuable in making my decision easier and not make me sift through dropped arguments on both sides.
The biggest problem in most debates starts with that whole line by line thing. Teddy Albiniak taught me that one of the ways that high schoolers develop bad habits is through imitating prominent college debaters. The thing that bothers me the most is the reliance on 7/8 minute overviews. While this may be something that works for some very talented college debaters, generally it shouldn’t be a tactic employed by most. There is a place for an overview, and it serves a valuable and strategic function but there is such a thing as excessive. This is one of the biggest tradeoffs with engaging in the line by line in general which is pretty important.
*This last portion, like most of my paradigm, assumes a basic model of debate. This means that if you present an alternative model of debate and a different metric for evaluating arguments I will accept that. To quote Alain Badiou It’s only a principle, it’s not a programme. Debate isn’t standard and that is one of the things that makes it such an enjoyable and valuable activity, so take this with a grain of salt.
The second biggest problem is case debating. ~~Newsflash~~ most affs are bad. Not even most, definitely all of the affirmatives are bad. One of the best way to satisfy judges (and me) is by exploiting that on the case page. The threshold for smart 1nc case analytics is a little high but by the block some smart engagement with the warrants and internal links of the 1ac, especially at a basic, logical level, can only help you in the long run. This is particularly important for me as a judge because I can easily justify pulling the trigger on a presumption/0 risk of the aff type argument if mishandled by the affirmative and well-articulated/nuanced by the negative. This is not to say it’s impossible to be aff or that even that the standard is higher but that you should be prepared to defend the 1ac against larger level solvency questions.
We also need to talk about presumption. It is important, especially versus critical affirmatives. If your aff cannot answer the question of why the ballot is key or implicate it in any sense, you have abdicated my role as an adjudicator. All I can really do is enter a team that is victorious on a ballot, just saying that this is obvious does not mean the issue goes away. Perhaps this contradiction is too much to overcome in 8 minutes of a 1ac, and maybe is a problem with how we construct affirmatives but something persuasive needs to be said that doesn't amount to "You're right nothing we said or do matters but you should vote for us anyways" in 1ac cross-x.
Tl;dr please debate the case. Just do it. Like cigarettes and overviews it’s not cool just because the big kids do it.
As for specific arguments I don’t have much to say on all the ~nuances~ of agent counter plans or the intricacies of politics disad theory. I think the go through every issue thing is cliché and generally just a waste of time. If you have any specific questions about my thoughts on some random thing I’d be happy to answer it but I won’t bother to write down an arbitrary opinion on the 7th subpoint of some condo block from 2006. The only issue worth addressing (and what I’m almost confident is the only thing people look at) is framework.
Framework
The biggest problem with framework is that a lot of 2nr’s seem to forget to extend an impact. And when they do remember to extend an impact it turns out to just be a really bad impact. Although I’m willing to vote on a dropped fairness argument I’m still skeptical that the age old phrase ‘Debate is a game so fairness you broke the rules you lose’ meets the necessary threshold of an argument. If you plan on going for this impact in front of me make sure it is clearly articulated and not the same circular claim without a warrant.
What I think the so called ‘intrinsic’ value of debate is can be loosely understood as clash. The ability for two teams to debate the merits of competing positions seems valuable not only for education but is just plain fun. Not to say that clash is an impact in it of itself because at some level it’s fundamentally inevitable, but it’s a question of what that clash looks like. This should structure how you articulate a framework impact (or answer one for that matter) most likely to get my ballot. If framework is a question of competing models or visions of debate then you just have to prove comparatively that your model produces better debates, skills or education.
The second biggest problem with framework debates is that negative teams let affs get away with too much. If the 2ar gets to stand up and weigh the entirety of the 1ac versus framework it puts you way behind. The easiest way for an affirmative to defeat framework is to complicate and problematize the way they have constructed the world. This means if you win some truth claims about your aff and the way the world operates through your theory or interpretation then it nullifies a lot of their arguments. For example if you read an affirmative that says the global system of capitalism is bad and the 2nr doesn’t answer the case debate, then what do their skills matter if they can only reproduce a system of capital you have critiqued. This, like any good framework rebuttal, requires a lot of framing and contextualizing the line by line through these bigger picture questions.
The best way for negative teams to check back against this is to just reduce the risk of the aff. You can look back up to that whole portion about case debating, it applies to K affs as well. The other necessary piece is a topical version of the aff. Obviously not helpful against an anti-topical aff but in a majority of framework debates a persuasive and nuanced topical version of the aff goes a long way in resolving a lot of their offense. It still requires a larger impact in conjunction because at the end of the day it is still a defensive argument.
Tl;dr don’t waste time, make good arguments, do line by line, debate the case, extend a framework impact, don’t say talks about how.
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About Me:
NLHS Policy 2013-2017
UT 2017-2021 (just judging, no debate)
A&M Law 2021-
Top Level
Email for chain: steelemusgrove17@gmail.com
Email for contact: steelemusgrove@yahoo.com
The easiest thing I can tell you about my paradigm is that I am tab. I'll vote on anything, and I essentially ran anything while I was in high school, so you're not going to lose me in running any of your favorite arguments.
Further in-depth stuff (this is primarily for policy, but can be cross-applied to LD (or PF I guess)):
When I say I'm tab that means that I will vote in any framework you give me, don't mistake that for if you win the framework you win the round (this is especially true in traditional LD). I have voted for teams that lose the framework debate, but still had better offense under the opposing framing. Therefore, you need to both win your framework and meet that framework better than the opponent to win the round. However, if you don't run a framework I default to an offense-defense paradigm where I vote on whichever team has managed to generate the most offense.
If you're baffled by a decision it is because you did not warrant. I am a stickler for warranting, especially in extensions, and if you don't extend a warrant, even over a dropped argument, then I'm not doing that work.
Kritiks
Like I said, I'm tab, so naturally I'm fine with/a fan of Ks. I am NOT a fan of 2NC/2NR overviews of kritikal buzzwords that do nothing to advance debate in the round. I'm not 100% read on all K literature, so if you're going to use technical terminology - define them, tell me how they relate to your alt, to the link debate, and to the aff. Line-by-line is generally much easier for me to flow and understand a K debate.
That being said, I would avoid reading one-off K in front of me. I won't vote down one-off K on face, but I find that it's not terribly strategic, and doubly so if you're the type to concede all of case by going for the one K. All of the eggs in one basket just isn't good strategy, and it's super boring to listen to.
People will talk about how you need a specific link - I'm not that type. If the aff has a good reason that you need a specific link then you should be able to provide one, but a good generic link to the topic, state, or debate will suffice without aff contest.
Presentation
Stylistically I don't really care what you do. I can handle your spreading if you can handle your spreading. If you're unclear then don't spread. Furthermore, signposting is an absolute must between flows and cards. That can be as a simple as saying "next off" or "onto the K," and between cards inserting an "and." If I miss a card or argument that you didn't signpost clearly where I should've flowed it will not be evaluated, and that's on you.
Offensiveness in round is always bad, and I'll penalize any aggression appropriately depending on severity of the aggression. There are instances where you might just be ignorant which will only result in a minor speak penalty and a stern reprimanding in RFD. Above all, be polite to your opponents. You can be competitive, but don't be rude, especially in CX.
Redundancy isn't great. That means reading a bunch of repetitive cards, putting an explanation under a card that explains the card you just read, or just saying the same thing over and over. I get tired of this quickly and it does harm speaks. Card dumps seriously aren't persuasive or strategic about half the time. If you're card dumping like five new impacts onto a undercovered disad in the 2NC that's chill, but just reading like 5 uniqueness cards that all say the same thing isn't.
I evaluate speaks through strategy, not presentation. A 30 happens through really good decisions, time allocation, unique argumentation, etc. I can't tell you what exactly gets a 30, nor will I attempt to define it further decisively here, but I know it when I see it.
Theory
I don't err anything on any argument before a debate, so all theoretical objections are up for dispute. That being said, I've seen a lot of debates where people read two shells at each other (such as states bad v. good) and don't have any actual clash. If that is the ONLY sort of argumentation being put down on a theory flow before the 2NR/2AR, do not try to convince me to vote for theory because it'll end up being a wash, and I'll vote on presumption.
Speaking of presumption; I tend to vote it on it a lot because many people end up not winning anything. So in the case that there doesn’t seem to be any offense for any team I default to presumption. Most of the time for me that means neg, but if there’s an alternative advocacy on the flow then it goes aff. If you have a different model of presumption in mind - make it an argument, but otherwise that's how I vote.
Note about disclosure: I have an impressively high threshold for voting on disclosure, and there are a number of ways that debaters articulate disclosure that I find objectionable. Please do not make arguments for disclosure based on the capabilities of small/rural schools (especially if you are from a (sub)urban/large school). Moreover, please do not read interpretations that mandate your opponent post any sort of contact information on the wiki - I will not vote on this interp no matter how hard you're winning the flow.
T
I wouldn't say that I have a high threshold for T, I will vote on T if you win it, but you need to win each part of the T: interp, violation, standards, and voters. (Theoretically you could get me to vote on a T with just an interp, violation, and standards if you win that a stock FW is good)
The "all three branches T" is really popular right now. I'll vote on it, but it's the worst T argument. Nothing uses all three branches because that's not how government works.
Disads/CPs
I don't think you absolutely have to have either of these in the 1NC to win; if you like em, go for em, and if you don't, don't. I'm not a person who's super convinced that things have to be super specific or anything like that - generic links are fine, just try to contextualize to the aff or give a good scenario analysis.
Misc.
Please, god, do not sit at the door weirdly if I'm in the room waiting for my queue to give you agency. Just walk in. I'm the judge; you are ALLOWED to come in if I'm in here.
I don't care where you sit. I don't want to shake your hand before or after the round (especially true as of March 2020).
“My partner will answer that in the next speech” is NOT a cx answer, and if you use it it’s minus 1 speak.
Same thing goes for asking questions that are prefaced with "in your own words."
I am timing, my time is the time. You should still time yourself. I do not give signals during speeches, CX, or prep.
This is specifically for UIL tournaments: there's no such thing as "UIL style" and most "UIL rules" aren't actually rules. Any appeal to the UIL that aren't in any UIL handbook will not be flowed and is again, -1 speak.
PF Debate:
- I don't judge this event nearly at all, but please just select sides in such a way that pro always speaks first. I get confused when it's reversed.
- Also, there's nothing I hate more than the PF convention of sharing evidence. Please just flash entire cases.
Do what you do best. I will listen to any arguments and vote on any argument as long as I understand them and why they matter. Don't be problematic (i.e. racist, sexist, ableist, etc.) My background is in policy but have experience in LD, PF, congress, and extemp (some more than others). Did mostly K/performance debate in college. My email is hannahphel@gmail.com if you have any questions. Don't spread in front of me, if I can't understand an argument it doesn't matter, and I can't understand spreading. Please don't call me judge, Hannah works great.
I've decided to crowdfund my paradigm, if you have other questions to be answered let me know and I will add them here.
Congratulations on qualifying for Nats! It is through hard work and dedication that you have made it.
My criteria for judging is as follows. I use a framework. whether this is the traditional value criterion or just a statement of what is more important, I need some lens to view the round. I am more familiar with the traditional side, but do not feel that a debater has to necessarily uphold that tradition as long as I have a way presented to look at the round. Basically, you both define the realm of the debate. I will put myself in that space and determine within this guideline who wins.
What happens then? I don't have a leaning toward structural violence, util impacting or rights based approaches to the topic. While my debate time was spent in policy, I won't default to that unless there is nothing else for me to do. I enjoy rights v util rounds. This topic may have a few of those. If you are running something you consider not mainstream, I am ok as long as you prove the tie in to the topic. An example would be a specific country vs a US based democracy approach. I do not like voting on topicality but again, if neg is winning it I will vote there. I am not a fan of lots of debate theory, as a preference, let's debate the topic. That said, if you are a theory debater, debate well. I am not a fan of defining what you do and don't do, I just don't really from a selfish perspective want to see a round of tricks and rvi's.
I am antiquated so I write on paper. I can write down what you are saying if you stay organized. Please stay organized. Explain why your position is better than your opponents and things will work out.
If there is an email chain please add me russellphelps@gmail.com. If not, I will not ask for evidence unless it is part of the argument that I consider essential to the ballot. Please have fun and be respectful. If feedback is allowed without revealing the decision, I will share my thoughts. If not, find me after and I will talk to you about what happened in your debate. This is an educational activity. I hope when you walk out of the round something has been learned and you will continue to be a part of this activity in some form. Good luck.
Debated 4 years Wichita East in Wichita, KS graduated 2019
Debating at UT Austin
justin8real@gmail.com
General:
Clipping is cheating- if it's egregious you'll lose with the lowest possible speaks.
I'm down for whatever you want to do (within reason- don’t say/do offensive things), but be ready to defend your actions, justify them, and be able to explain your arguments.
Repeating a tagline isn't an extension.
Calculated and strategic risks WILL pay off with speaks (e.g. kicking the aff properly, impact turns, clever PIC/PIKs). Poorly calculated strategic choices will not.
*Local circuit people*
I'm 99.9% not going to vote on something being a stock issue. This is not to say I won't vote for inherency but that there needs to be a reason keeping affs inherent creates a good model of debate and provides for the best education or fairness in the round, not purely that it's a stock issue.
Also, please don't call me judge. It's just weird.
Case:
I've met very few judges whose feelings are not "case debate is undervalued and underutilized" yet very rarely is this advice heeded. Too often, aff internal link evidence is absolutely horrible yet they're able to get away with essentially anything in rounds. Don't let this happen if you're neg.
K aff's:
Too often I judge rounds where teams have really well written 1AC's with offense built in meant to answer FW or specific K's and then the 2AC stands up and uses absolutely none of what the 1AC set up. Please don't be this team. It doesn't usually factor into the decision but it's frustrating, shows you probably don't know your aff as well as you should, and definitely hurts speaks.
Topicality:
Top level:
CI>Reasonability nearly always (more below). Make sure you explain your internal links- too often it seems like a 2NR will skip from "they hurt limits" to "education is important". In a vacuum, an unlimited topic doesn't affect education- explain how you get there.
Secondary:
1. Reasonability is about whether there is a reasonable debate to be had under the affirmative's model, not about whether the affirmative is reasonably topical (whatever that means). This means the standards debate is still in question when evaluating the round, just with discretion.
2. My threshold for explanation on T debates are pretty high, and you need to win not only the link chain to education or fairness but that education means something more than just "that destroys education". In order for education or fairness to be impacts you need to explain the implications of not preserving them- this is why so many people don't think fairness is an impact because "that destroys fairness- makes it impossible to be aff" isn't a reason to vote negative because there's no implication to hard aff debates.
3. Most T debates revolve around a central framing question (precision, predictability, etc.)- if you're not identifying what you want me to filter the debate through, I will filter it through what I think it should be through, which is probably not what you want. Framing is just as, if not MORE important on T than every other flow.
FW/T vs K affs:
Affs that just act like they're negative when they're aff will probably find it hard to generate offense on FW that isn't solved by switch side. You need to explain switch side though and give actual warrants about why it solves any aff offense.
I feel like reasonability is decent for topic based K affs and find the 'we are a discussion of the topic therefor we are topical' type argument pretty persuasive. This is not to say having a topic link means you win my ballot but rather that when the entire aff is topic based it makes it much easier. This should be a question of advocacy as well- reading the alt from a backfile shell or having a generic advocacy won't really access this, but when the mechanism of the aff is in the direction of the topic you will have a much easier time. That being said, a well thought out TVA could probably solve a majority of the offense you have on FW, so you should probably be making arguments about why form outweighs content and determines the direction of your offense.
If you are not in the direction of the topic, I'm not sure what you're doing if you're trying to do anything other than impact turn on FW. While I admit I am generally a little more neg leaning on questions like predictability good/bad, this is a much more persuasive place to be than "we're predictable enough".
P/ your interp plus our aff makes no sense- it's a debate of models and that model would be a world where every single aff could be about literally anything and say "your interp plus our aff" and win
K's
K debates I judge too often come down to a NL or shoddy link turn and perm which often ends up with me voting neg. Use the aff- it's your main source of offense. There's probably a very low risk of me buying that you have no ability to weigh the aff but it's up to you to frame the debate and help me decide how much to weigh it. No matter what, you should be doing the same level of work to explain your theories whether you think I know it or not. PoMo is fine but don't just copy Michigan KM because you wanna be edgy.
Every K has top level theory that every team needs to answer and should have at least a cursory understanding of. If you don't, it will just generally be hard for you to win the debate.
*kicking the alt*
I would advise against it, but if you must, you better either:
- Be very far ahead on FW to where there is little doubt in my mind that you are winning whatever ethics claims you're going for
- Generate uniqueness for an actual disad- something actually has to meaningfully change with the links/impacts. Linear disads will be an uphill battle
- Have a PIK that was conceded (in the event the 2AC or 1AR makes a PIKs bad arg then it's probably sufficient to answer)
DA's
I really enjoy disad debates and think both teams have a lot of leeway to do what they want here.
Aff: I personally love impact turns on disads in the 2AC and impact turning addons in the 1AR is amazing. Straight turning can be super strategic and will be rewarded if it's the right decision- don't be scared to do it. I find myself pretty doubtful of the possibility that there's 0-risk of a DA except for really bad ptx disads but I guess if you're just going for aff OW it can work.
Neg: I think you need a scenario in the 1NC for your DA- it shouldn't stop at an internal link and affirmatives should punish teams who do this. For instance, the Base DA- Street 16 doesn't provide an impact, it just says trump lashes out somewhere, anywhere, who knows? The problem is, the 2AC isn't going to read impact defense to lashout and war with NoKo, Russia, China, Iran, etc. individually, and the lashout itself is the internal link. You need to have a scenario.
*DA v Case*:
You need to very clearly articulate why the DA outweighs and turns the impacts, and have very clear analysis on the case debate. Your framing of the round needs to be great and you also need to have specificity on every level of the DA. It's not impossible, just a lot easier with a CP.
CP:
If you want me to judge kick the CP, you need to tell me. And if you don't want me to judge kick the CP for them, you need to tell me why doing so is bad. Neg teams should be answering reasons why it's bad when they tell me they want me to do it the first time.
I love cheating CP's ngl. The more you can get away with, the better. That being said, the nature of this love also makes me realize they are in fact cheating CP's which means I am inclined to listen to a well constructed theory argument.
So, theory:
1. Keywords here are well constructed theory args. Reading a generic PICs bad shell won't work against most teams who are reading cheating CP's and answering theory often.
2. Most theory args are reasons to reject the arg not the team
3. Condo is probably good but I can definitely be persuaded otherwise. Again, it's a debate of models.
4. In my opinion, if a CP is deemed theoretically illegitimate it is separate from judge kick. Judge kick is done if the CP doesn't meet their burden of proof of a change to the squo when presumption flips (i.e. if it links to net benefit, doesn't solve anything). Judge kick is NOT when it is theoretically illegitimate. If the neg wins that I reject the CP on condo, it's saying that CP never should have been run in the first place, which still means evaluate da v case. If theory is part of the judge kick equation, there is not point for the distinction between reject the arg/reject the team.
Email chain: dylan.scott@utexas.edu
About me: I debated at Hendrickson HS for 4 years and I'm currently a sophomore at UT Austin (not debating in college).
Short version: tech > truth, clarity > speed, condo is probably good, better judge for policy oriented strategies (this is what I almost exclusively read in high school)
Topicality
• Comparison between affs justified under each interp and aff/neg ground division is crucial.
• I prefer topic-specific T violations that define resolutional words.
• Default to competing interps unless reasonability is thoroughly explained by the aff team.
Framework
• I view clash and topic education as some of the most important aspects of debate. Connecting the internal links of framework to your impacts and drawing connections between interpretations of the topic and your internal links is crucial to win offense.
• Be clear with your interpretation / counter interp and what the topic would look like under your model of debate.
• Topical versions of the aff are very persuasive to me when correctly explained. Cut a card from their solvency advocate and give an explanation of how the TVA connects to the aff, instead of reading the resolution as a TVA.
Kritiks
• The link debate of the K is extremely valuable in creating turns case arguments and external impacts to the main section of a K. Please number/label your link arguments.
• K tricks like root cause explanations and floating PIKs are silly, but I will vote on them if they are dropped.
• Avoid long overviews with irrelevant buzzwords that have zero relationship to the aff.
Counterplans
• Explain how the CP solves each internal link/impact of the aff. Reading a generic card and saying "sufficiency framing" is a quick way to make me ignore your CP.
• CPs that are constructed from aff solvency cards or 1AC evidence is great and will allow you to get away with theory/fiat arguments.
• I lean aff on condition and consult CPs.
Disadvantages
• Explain your impacts clearly and include turns case arguments that interact with both the impacts and internal links of the aff.
• Specificity on the link debate is extremely important for winning the story of the DA.
• If you are debating a politics DA, you should always be reading rehighlighted evidence and going through every card your opponents read (90% of politics cards are trash)
Miscellaneous
• Impact turns are great - everyone should go for them more and punish teams for reading bad add-ons to their aff or DA scenarios.
• Be creative with your theory arguments. Adapt them to specific counterplans/Ks and contextualize theory to the round instead of reading outdated arguments. Ex: Consult CPs without a solvency advocate is far more persuasive than a generic Consult CPs bad block.
• Evidence quality is important and can be the deciding factor in close debates.
Collin Smith -- collin.smith8941@gmail.com
Most of my argumentation has been on the K side of things in debate. My research interests, however, are very broad, and I do not really care what form your arguments take. As a judge, I value specificity, evidence comparison, and in-depth explanation. I generally decide debates by identifying key points of offense and sifting through the evaluative mechanisms set up by either team to discern whose impact matters more, and how I should conceive of solvency.
Framework – I will vote for it, I will vote against it. I think neg teams win these debates when they win clash/debate-ability as an internal link turn to aff and some type of procedural impact, but I see the utility in switch-side or topic education arguments in some contexts. Neg’s also need to win a framework comes first/case doesn’t matter argument. I think the aff is set to win these debates when they win an impact they can solve, an impact turn to the neg’s interp, and apply that disad to the 2nr’s arguments. I do not think a counter-interpretation is necessary, though often it is quite useful.
Case/disads - I really enjoy a detailed, specific case or disad debate. I am willing vote on well-executed defense to mostly minimize the risk of an advantage or disadvantage.
Update for 2024-2025 Policy topic: I did a bit of coaching on the evergreening LD topic a few years ago so I might recognize some buzzwords but I probably don't remember what they mean.
Update for Sep/Oct LD topic: My professional experience is in financial advice. Do with that what you will.
Former debate coach for American School Fez. I competed in Policy debate at W.B. Ray High School from 2015-2018. I competed in Policy debate at UT-Austin in 2019. Currently an Assistant Financial Advisor with Ameriprise.
Put me on the email chain: stearcd247@gmail.com
I do not coach anyone currently so please do not assume I have any knowledge about what's happening in the literature or at camps.
TL:DR
I am down for whatever you want to do. I am probably just as good for PoMo goo vs PoMo goo as I am for stock issues.
Please don't throw things at me or your opponents or light things on fire.
I would like to intervene as little as possible, so please explicitly tell me how to weigh the round.
Arguments that run towards clash are always better in front of me than arguments that try to skirt around your opponent.
Judge instruction is paramount.
I believe that each debate round is a story. The better story at the end of the debate wins. This means I will attempt to view the round holistically instead of looking at just the last two speeches.
Quick Prefs:
PF:
Strike - You don't want me here
LD:
1 - K v K, Policy v Policy, Traditional
2 - Performance, Clash, T
3 - Theory
4 - Phil
Strike - Tricks
CX:
Same as LD w/o the weird stuff
Speaker Points
28.5 is default. 29 is breaking. 29.5 is speaker award. LD tends to go up by about a .2 since speaker points are just higher in the event. I will try to change based on tournament norms and competition level. If you'd like a more in-depth breakdown, read Ali Abdulla's paradigm. I will say clear twice during the whole debate, not just a particular speech. If you do not become clearer after the second time, I will stop flowing and put my head on the desk/table.
Things that will make me your speaker point fairy:
• Executing high level argumentation at a conversational pace
• Bringing cross-ex answers into speeches
• Making me laugh
General Gripes. This section is for things I've found annoying/bad about debate and have chose to impact my speaker points, but not my ballots:
• Ontology debates. If you read ontology and do not have a coherent explanation by the end of the debate, your speaks are capped at a 28.5. If you do have a coherent explanation, speaks are floored at a 29.
• Turns case on DAs. Turns case does not mean that you also read an internal link card to the aff's impacts. Turns case means that the DA turns the solvency mechanism of the aff. A good turns case is floored at a 29. A bad turns case is capped at a 29.
• Debating slow. I personally find speed to be incredibly strategic. I also find it to be incredibly grating. If you debate at a circuit level slowly, speaks are floored at a 29.2 and I will probably give you more leeway on implicit clash. No penalty for debating fast.
• If you go for self harm good, I will vote for the other debater and give you the lowest speaks possible. If the other debate asks me to stop the round, I will stop it. This does not mean you cannot read death good, just no Liggotti.
• If you use Patrick Fox as a reason policy affs are good, I will cap your speaks at a 27.
• Do not call me Chris. I don't like when anyone calls me Chris. Stearns or judge are fine. Christopher is fine if I've judged you a couple times and recognize you.
LD
I like LD theory when it's about content. I'm not especially fond of it when it's about form. That translates to content=default to competing interps and form=default to reasonability. These positions are not set in stone as every argument is winnable. That being said, I still tend to not like them as I did Policy for most of high school. Please slow down on all of these. I'm not familiar enough with judging these debates to catch the intricacies of your arguments at the same speed I can hear your read cards about hegemony and capitalism.
T RVIs probably need to be all 3 minutes of the 2AR and dropped by the neg. Theory RVIs need to be all 3 minutes of the 2AR. The greater the number of theory/T shells, the more likely I am to buy an RVI.
Don't use big analytical philosophy words you never define. I will not understand them. I will most likely understand any big critical philosophy words you never define. This is not true in every instance, so please define them all to me. I'm familiar with philosophy but not the way it's talked about in LD.
Tricks have to be full arguments from the get go. LD is hard enough when there isn't any sandbagging, and down right impossible when there is. However, most of these can still be answered by a thumbs down, fart noise.
I hate disclosure theory and usually only accept it when particularly egregious. I will gladly vote on misdisclosure theory and have a very hard time imagining voting down the shell if the violation is proven. New affs bad is probably a justification for CP comp, not DTD.
If you read DAs/Plans/Ks/Performance/Things read in Policy, read below
POLICY
Affs:
You do you. I did performance, kritikal, and policy affs. I was a 2A for most of high school and and college. Please have fully explained internal link structures. I will vote neg on presumption if I have no clue what the aff does.
The worst part of any aff is always the internal link. Please have a rigorous explanation of what your aff does and how that process changes the status quo to solve your impacts.
Survival strategies are very important but I would prefer if they were tied to a method outside the ballot.
I think inherency is important and will gladly vote on it. Existential inherency is mixing burdens.
Framework/T-USfg:
Most debates that I judge center on this question. I tend to view framework as competing interpretations of what kind of debates we should be having. What does this mean for you? A) I'm probably less interested in hearing your impact turns to framework. B) The neg probably still has to answer case. C) I am very interested in the TVA. D) I am very interested in creative definitions of the words in the resolution.
I'm probably more interested in creative FW interpretations than I am in T-USfg.
I used to coach in Morocco. This means I tend to hold aff teams going for no CI + Impact turns to a higher standard than most judges. I was recently pressed on this, my reasoning is that most K literature is illegal in Morocco. This means my auto-default is that there should be some kind of stasis point for contestation outside of banned literature.
I am fairly persuaded by the argument that "should" denotes action, while "ought" denotes theoretical underpinnings. Feel free to change my mind.
Maybe I'm crazy, but no one has gone for the TVA as a CP in front of me in a while. If these debates still happen in front of other judges, then this fact makes me sad.
I don't understand why the only stasis point debaters go for is USfg is federal government and Resolved: is legislative action. If the aff never even mentions intellectually property rights, maybe try going for that.
Skills/fairness are probably better than some nebulous clash impact.
T:
T debates are awesome when there is clash, but that can sometimes be more dependent on the topic than on the debaters (I'm looking at you, education topic). I went almost exclusively for T my first year in policy debate but didn't the next three years.
I usually judge this in an offense/defense paradigm but I can be persuaded by a highly developed reasonability argument. I have recently learned that my definition of these two framings might be different that other judges. To me, offense/defense = preponderance of evidence (i.e. civil litigation) while reasonability = beyond a reasonable doubt (i.e. criminal litigation). This means that reasonability is not an auto aff ballot, the standards will still be weighed but the negs barrier is at 98% instead of 51%. Feel free to change my mind on this.
Someone has recently begun persuading me that reasonability should mean the reasonable man standard from contract law. This will not change how I'm viewing debates these next couple of weeks as some people may not reread my paradigm before prefs must be input. If my mind does change, I'll update my paradigm after Greenhill.
I am probably good for a debate about the terms of art in the topic. Probably bad for grammar.
DAs:
DAs are fun. Please have a counterplan or highly developed turns case. Turns case does not mean turns the impact, it means turns the solvency mechanism of the plan. Turns the impact is probably impact framing, so see below.
I do not have a stance on uniqueness controls the link or link controls uniqueness. Feel free to make an argument for either.
Politics:
Politics can either be a lot of fun, or an absolute disaster. I am not up to date on what is occurring in the political landscape unless it involves financial institutions in the US. Please take this into consideration.
I am probably more susceptible to an intrinsicness/fiat solves argument than most judges.
Rider DAs are probably a non-starter
CPs:
All CPs are justified until proven otherwise. Some CPs hold up poorly to theory arguments, others hold up well.
Advantage CPs with one aff advantage turned are great debates.
Textual competition seems silly. Functional competition and opportunity costs seem important. Feel free to change my mind.
I generally tend to think CP theory as a justification for a permutation, rather than a reason to drop the arg/debater. I can be persuaded otherwise, especially by arguments such as solvency advocate theory or object fiat bad.
Judge kick on an instinctual level is bad because I think strategic choices are one of the best things students learn in debate. Feel free to change my mind though.
Judge kick is probably an additional world in a condo debate context. Please consider this when writing your interps or have a compelling argument for why it's not.
I haven't heard someone debate CP competition in front of me in a hot minute. These debates are fun and I miss them.
I'm probably better for no neg fiat than most.
Ks:
At TOC-type tournaments, great! At NSDA-type tournaments, probably not the best idea.
This is the second most popular argument in front of me. I can probably count on one hand the number of round judged this year that did not include some form of K debate.
I read Ks back in the day. I used to read kritikal literature for fun. I have not had the time to be up to date on the lit base like I used to. If you're reading cutting edge research, please take your time in explaining it to me.
I am very familiar with Queerness, Agamben, Magical Realism, Settler Colonialism, and Cap. I am very comfortable with Afropessimism, Afrofuturism, Bifo, and Foucault. I am not very comfortable with Baudrillard just because he makes me feel uncomfortable. I can flow a Derrida, DnG, or Psychoanalysis round but please hold my hand when extending.
The link probably isn't as strong as the neg thinks, but also not as weak as the aff thinks, please clash on it.
I'm probably not good for kicking the alt and going for the links as linear DAs. This has always seemed nonstrategic to me. If you're winning your theory of power necessary for the linear DA, you're probably ahead on FW or the alt.
FWs that negate the weighing of plan action are probably more offensive than some middle ground thingy without an explanation of what those rounds look like.
Analytics:
Please for all that is good in this world, slow down. Debaters tend to go far too fast on these and if I don't catch your warrant I'm not very likely to buy your argument.
Case Defense/Turns:
This is the second least utilized part of the debate. Solvency cards are usually bad. Impact cards are always bad. Please capitalize on this. I will give you just as many speaker points if you go for a CP/DA, a K, or Dedev so please don't be worried about the argument that you choose.
CX:
This is the least utilized part of debate. Not because debaters don't try to use it (unlike the case debate) but because debaters don't know how to either A) not be rude or B) don't know how to use it in a speech. If you use CX properly then you can win the debate nearly immediately, if you use it improperly you can lose the debate immediately.
I have yet to see a debate this year where I didn't know which debater was probably going to win after the first cross. If this happens, I'll update.
I will flow cross if I think it has an impact on the round. I will probably flow cross if I think it doesn't have an impact on the round.
Every time you ask a question that shows you aren't flowing, I'm mentally deducting speaker points. Probably about .1 to .2.
Impact Framing:
All positions require it, so be good at it. If neither team does it then I'll do it myself. Trust me, you don't want that happening. I generally default to probability > magnitude > timeframe. This is in no way set in stone so feel free to change my mind. You do not need cards to change my mind on this, just a well developed argument.
Performance:
My favorite aff I ever wrote was a queer ballroom X-Men magical realism aff. Go wild but have a compelling reason why I should sign your name(s), rather than the other team's, on this ballot.
I don't think performance gives you a pass on being shitty (not answers cross, double standards on rules like speech times, forcing the other team not to spread when one of your debaters can). I can be convinced these are all good things, but it'll probably hurt your speaks.
General Thoughts
I was a 2A, if that matters.
The best way to win a round is clear judge instruction. I want to intervene as little as possible and that requires explicit instruction from the debaters. If you do not instruct me how to judge, my own bias will come into play. I don't want that, you don't want that, and your coach doesn't want that. The only person that does is your opponent.
I was a flex debater because I think debate is more fun when there is contestation on the content of an argument. I also was very very bad at framework/T-USfg. Please keep this in mind when you decide to pref me for clash rounds.
Tech over truth generally, but truth can sometimes overcome tech when you are just patently false. If you have a two minute long explanation about how Bifo is a materialist because he has material impacts, and your opponent says you're on crack, I'm probably voting for your opponent. If you spend two minutes explaining how your specific argument takes into account materialism even if Bifo the author does not, and your opponent says your on crack, I'm probably voting for you. In both scenarios you're probably not materialist, but in the second I'm far more likely to give you the ballot.
I do my best to leave my biases outside the room, but that will always be a difficult thing to do.
If you want any other information about how I think feel free to email me or read John Henry Stearns' or Ali Abdulla's paradigms. One is my brother, the other is one of my best friends growing up. Both think very similarly to me and reading their paradigms might help.
Other people who influenced me, in order of impact: Andrew Garcia, Aron Berger, Michael Antonucci, Walker Perkins, Tillman Huett, Preston Stolte, Shaneal Harun, Steven Pipkin
Mr. Stearns is mydad,Mrs. Stearns is my mom. If you call me either, I will assume you would rather be judged by one of them and adjust my judging accordingly.
I only flow warrants. If I am not actively flowing, it's probably because I don't think you have made an argument yet.
I am not a flow bot. I am human and will miss things. If you think something is important, make sure you tell me.
I would actively prefer if debaters spoke at a conversational pace. This does not mean that I can't flow your spreading, but talking normally is just a lot more comfortable.
If you read an ethics challenge and wish to stake the debate on it, I will stop the round and go to tab. If you do not stake the debate on it, I will not adjudicate it.
Subtlety is for cowards.
I voted on presumption in about half of last year's debates.
I think I suck at writing ballots. I think I'm coherent while giving the RFD. Please let me know if I'm not. If you get your ballot back and it is illegible, please email me.
I tend to give RFDs very quickly. This is because I am at all times attempting to evaluate win conditions for each debater. I will try to be as informative and constructive in my RFDs as possible.
Having Fun
I know this is a competition, but please have fun with it. I know that I did and I hope you do too.