I prefer an email chain over speechdrop, but I've accepted that's a losing battle at this point. Just add me to whatever you end up doing.

She/her.

My background: I debated for Lawrence Free State for three years, but did not debate in college. I'm currently an assistant coach at Free State.

General preferences

Read whatever arguments you're comfortable with, I care more that you know what you're talking about than that you're reading an argument I personally like. There are only two exceptions to this rule:

1. I don't particularly want to listen to arguments about death or suffering being good. If you read those arguments I'll attempt to judge them--but I'll also be pretty stressed and annoyed at you, so don't be surprised if I'm not able to evaluate the debate very well.
2. Bigotry of any kind--racism, transphobia, ableism, etc.--isn't OK, for reasons that I hope are obvious.

Speed is fine, but make sure to enunciate on tags. Most of my debate experience was in fast rounds, but it's been a while since I've had to flow those rounds, so maybe consider starting out at like 90% speed.

I don't have a preference for policy vs. the K/reject the res affs/whatever other "controversial" arguments people talk about. Other than the two exceptions listed above, I don't really care that much what you read.

The 2NR/2AR should tell me the reason/reasons that I should vote for you. Line-by-line is important, but you need to be able to explain which arguments matter and why. The winner of the debate is the team that convinces me their advocacy is better, not the one who showed off more raw technical skill.

A corollary to that is that comparative impact calculus isn't only for disad/case debates. It's just as important to tell me why your impacts to T outweigh theirs, or why the solvency deficit to the counterplan outweighs the net benefit, for example.

An argument is a claim, a warrant, and an impact. That means you tell me what is true, why it's true,and why that matters.

tl;dr read whatever you want, however you want. Convince me your advocacy is better than your opponents' and I'll vote for you. Winning an argument isn't enough, you need to explain why that argument matters more than the ones you're losing.

These things aren't as important, but could end up affecting how I evaluate the round:

T

Topicality is underrated. Don't just read blocks, take the time to explain your internal links and tell me why your vision of debate is preferable to theirs. I think fairness is probably an internal link and I tend to lean towards competing interps as a framing question, but I can be convinced otherwise on either of those questions.

Disads

Take the time to contextualize the link evidence to the aff. Even if you're reading generic evidence, you should still do the work to explain why it's relevant in this specific situation.

Comparative impact calculus is a huge help to me at the end of the round. The team who does more of it will probably have an easier time winning my ballot.

Counterplans

This is the argument I went for the least when I debated. I'm pretty much 50-50 on the question of whether PICs and sketchy process counterplans are cheating. I'll vote on theory args, but I'm not predisposed to do so.

Competition debates where each side reads a million definitions of the word "it" and doesn't impact them out are annoying and I never really got the point to them. Impact out severance and intrinsicness (?) args, and tell me what the world of the perm looks like. It's a test of competition, not an advocacy.

The K

I went for Cap a lot in high school, I read a fair bit of theory/K lit stuff in college. I'll probably understand the claims of your K at a top level, but I won't know the details. I'll know if you're just using buzzwords without understanding what they mean.

Other stuff:

The debate isn't over until I sign the ballot, and until that happens there's time to make a comeback. Don't underestimate the value of being creative and flexible.

I really don't want to tell you to clear. Please don't make me do that.

Signposting, both before a speech and during the line-by-line, is invaluable and will make my job flowing the debate dramatically easier. I'll be annoyed if you don't do it.

If you tell me "it's sent" and I open your email and it contains a PDF attachment, I might cry.

I'll try to follow whatever the norm is for speaker points at a given tournament. In general, expect between 28 and 29 points, with 28.5 being average for the division that you're in. Above a 29 mean I think you have a good chance of doing well in elims.

I have high school, collegiate, coaching, and judging experience in policy, LD and BP debate. I'm open to most arguments as long as they are well-vouched for, with specific links and clear strings of logic. I value the educational value of debate, so I ask that you use your evidence responsibly and communicate clearly and effectively. These factors, along with the content of the round and the overall persuasiveness of your arguments, will determine my decision on your ballot.

Communication is the most important thing to me. If that is compromised by your argument presentation, you should rethink your strategy. Otherwise, all arguments are free game to me, given their appropriateness and sound rhetoric!

I think of myself as an ordinary voter of general intelligence. I won't apply any speciality knowledge I might have in the round itself, but I will think through things. If you can make that thinking easier on me with good link chains and strong warrants and impacts, you will likely win the round.

Thank you and good luck to all!

I debated 4 years at BVHS. I am much more familiar with KDC style of debate. if you want me to make a good decision within your best interest there is a couple of big things that would be useful to keep in mind.

Relevant background

I have a Bachelors in Information Systems and a Masters in Information Technology. If you make arguments surrounding the tech space please do not twist the authorial intent of the work to better fit your argument. I understand that this can happen when approaching any topic to bolster your argument but I will be acutely aware of how tech arguments will actually function around the case. While I will not let my own biases overrule how the argument is evaluated in round, it will likely change how much weight I give to the opposing team if they were to question the validity of your arguments. That being said, I don’t expect you to have a comprehensive understanding of everything, I just want you to understand how my background might impact my decision making process.

Speed

Speed is okay, if you consider yourself to be pretty fast I’d say I could handle you at an 8/10 on speed. I am more familiar with slower rounds. Definitely don’t go too crazy wit it tho. I will be flowing, I wanna be in the speech drop and/or email chain. If i mishear anything I’ll be sure to ask. nwclark3000@gmail.com.

Topicality

I have to say this policy topic has shown me that I have a high threshold for the negative when evaluating the validity of topicality arguments. Don’t get me wrong I like topicality debates and I really enjoy a solid line or argumentation in this regard but I’ve noticed I seem to be flowing those args more in favor of the aff teams this year so be weary of this.

K’s

Suffice to say I was not graced with the ability to evaluate K debates very well. That being said, I have enjoyed learning and watching these rounds play out whenever they magically appear before me. I think it’s interesting and fun to watch how teams approach it. If I’m in a round where a K is being whipped out I’m probably the odd one out in a panel or smthn and honestly more power to you if that is the case get the bag frfr.

Misc.

Try to be nice in cross. Theory args are aight, counterplans are gas, generic disads are fine as long as link is good. If the round is a total mess then impact calc can get you the W. Run something crazy that I have never seen before. Please extend the warrants of your cards not just the tags or I will cry and have a panic attack and then I will explode and then die and then nobody will win the round and you will live the rest of your life with my blood on your hands.

This is me when you decide to not kick out of a weak argument that everyone knows isn’t going anywhere and spend 2 minutes in your rebuttal inventing new reasons that I should vote for you on it: Link

Email: ahinecker1@gmail.com

There is no magic way to win a debate, nor a "correct," way of debating. Be persuasive and make arguments that you see as strategic and communicate them effectively. Debate in the end is a communication and research activity - show those elements in the debate and use them to frame and forecast how I will make my decision. Defend what you will defend, just make sure that it is articulated in a manner that can justify a ballot. I enjoy debates that show a lot of ingenuity and predictions in your arguments relative to your opponents. That being said, I love impact turn throw-downs and risky strategies. In the end, you should default to a strategy that you are comfortable with. The only specific I care about is counterplans - I have become increasing persuaded by theory arguments because I think counterplans are getting absolutely out of hand with what they can do. That's all, just remember, this activity is only what you make of it, and it is about more than just winning. 

Email: Harunage@gmail.com

good for...

good debate is nuanced (good anything is nuanced). I do not like nebulous discussions (e.g. if you pass a UBI please have some general dollar amount).

fine with speed better with clarity.

I like teams who run toward the battle. I will reward those who have courage and valor with speaker points and those who slink to the shadows of 9 off with low 28s.

debate should be about who has the more wealthy school district and who paid for a better debate camp -- Jean Baudrillard

don't read process counterplans -- unless it is a good process counterplan --

if i am frowning i think you are not explaining well

if i am nodding a lot i think you can move on (i do not agree with anything you all say because I only know things about computers, math, and physics and that is where my knowledge of the world begins and ends)

If i am doing nothing this is because I have completed the eight-fold path and am sitting in a state of nirvana.

I think paradigms are silly -- I think there is so much Entropy in a debate round that no one can give formulaic descriptions of how they evaluate debates or how they think about debate? I think this is mostly a product of debate's nebulous nature and therefore the less nebulous you make the debate the easier it is to guide me to a decision. The more you describe in generic detail about space or financial planning or whatever it is you are describing the more my brain will formulate the rest of the argument FOR you and that is something that you will not want because then I will default to what I know and as I have said above I mostly only know?

If you are reading a "complex argument" it should be communicated to me simply. Much like a good educator, a good debater can take the arguments they read and represent them simply -- why can they do this? because they have a mastery of the subject they are communicating about. If you cannot do this you should read more about the arguments you are using!

Permutation do both, to me, is a claim with no warrant (we can do both -- how?) and will not be written on my paper unless there is a description of how both happen. My caveat? negative has read 9 off you can say perm to both in the 2AC and the 1AR can extrapolate. Technical language to a limit. AND please PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE understand that I CANNOT UNDERSTAND you when you say perm..perm..perm..perm.. at 300 words per second. unintelligible analytics read at top speed while flouride-staring into your computer will result in me NOT flowing. Non-starter, my threshold for speed on analytics is very low. My threshold for clarity in cards is very high -- if the text you are reading sounds like garbage mumbled together i will clear you. every time i clear you, you can be sure that I DID NOT flow anything you said previously because I could not hear you.

debated 4 years at Washburn Rural

NCFL Update: Don't clip. Idk why this tournament is so wild about this. If you have evidence that is highlighted, and you don't read all of the highlighted portion but act like you did (i.e. don't say "Mark the card at _____"), you are cheating and committing and ethics violation. This will result in an autoloss and the lowest possible speaker points I can give you UNLESS the other team clips. In which case both teams will get minimum speaks and I'll be very grumpy trying to determine a winner. Any questions about this? Don't risk it, ask before the round. I'm happy to clarify.

Jan 2024 Update:

Extend your arguments. Extend your arguments. EXTEND YOUR ARGUMENTS! (THIS IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT FOR ME THAN WHAT TYPE OF ARGUMENT YOU READ) Some of the debates I've watched this year have me so frustrated cuz you'll just be absolutely crushing in parts of the debate but just not extend other parts needed to make it relevant. For example, I've seen so many teams going for framework this year where the last rebuttals are 5 minutes of standards and voters and just no extension of an interp that resolves them. Or 2ARs that do so much impact calc and impact-turns-the-DA stuff that they never explain how their aff resolves these impacts so I'm left intervening and extending key warrants for you that OR intervening and voting on a presumption argument that the other team doesn't necessarily make. So err on the side of over extending arguments and take advantage of my high threshold and call out other teams bad argument extension to make me feel less interventionist pulling the trigger on it. What does this mean? Arguments extended should have a claim and a warrant that supports that claim. If your argument extension is just name dropping a lot of authors sited in previous speeches, you're gonna have a bad time during my RFD. The key parts of the "story" of the argument need to be explicitly extended in each speech. For example, if you're going for T in the 2NR then the interp, violation, the standard you're going for, and why it's a voter should be present in every neg speech. Whatever advantage the 2AR is going for should include each part of of the 'story' of aff advantage (uniqueness, solvency, internal link, impact) and I should be able to follow that back on my flow from the 1AR and 2AC. If the 2AR is only impact outweighs and doesn't say anything about how the aff solves it, I'm partial to voting neg on a presumption ballot

Ways to get good speaks in front of me:
-Extend your arguments adequately lol - and callout other teams for insufficient extensions
-Framing the round correctly (identifying the most relevant nexus point of the debate, explain why you're winning it, explain why it wins you the round)
-Doc is sent by the time prep ends
-One partner doesn't dominate every CX
-Send pre-written analytics in your doc
-At least pretend to be having fun lol
-Clash! Your blocks are fine but debates are SOOO much more enjoyable to watch when you get off your blocks and contextualize links/args to the round
-Flow. If you respond to args that were in a doc but weren't actually read, it will hurt your speaks
-Utilize powerful CX moments later in the debate
-If you have a performative component to your kritital argument, explain it's function and utilize it as offense. So many times I see some really cool poetry or something in 1ACs but never get told why poetry is cool and it feels like the aff forgets about it after the 2AC. If it's just in the 1AC to look cool, you were probably better off reading ev or making arguments. If it's there for more than that, USE IT!

WaRu Update 2023: I think debaters think I can flow better than I can. Slowing down on pivotal moments of the debate to really crystalize will make you more consistently happy with my RFDs. If you're going top speed for all of the final rebuttals and don't frame my ballot well, things get messy and my RFDs get worse than I'd like.

Krousekevin1@gmail.com

Background:

I participated in debate for 4 years in High School (policy and LD for Olathe East) and 3 years in College Parli (NPDA/NPTE circuit). This is my 6th year assisting Olathe East debate. I've done very little research on this topic (emerging tech) so please don't assume I know your acronyms or the inner workings of core topic args.

I have no preference on email chain or speechdrop, but it does irritate me when debaters wait until the round is supposed to be started before trying to figure this stuff out.

Speed:

I can keep up for the most part. Some teams in the national circuit are too fast for me but doesn't happen often. If you think you're one of those teams, go like an 8/10. Slow down for interps and nuanced theory blocks. 10 off rounds are not fun to watch but you do you.

Argument preferences:

In high school, I preferred traditional policy debate. In college I read mostly Ks. I studied philosophy but don't assume I know everything about your author or their argument. Something that annoys me in these debates is when teams so caught up in buzzwords that they forget to extend warrants. EXTEND YOUR ARGUMENTS. Not just author names, but extend the actual argument. Often teams get so caught up in line by line or responding to the other team that they don't extend their aff or interp or something else necessary for you to win. This will make me sad and you disappointed in the RFD.

I'd rather you debate arguments you enjoy and are comfortable with as opposed to adapting to my preferences. A good debate on my least favorite argument is far more preferable than a bad debate on my favorite argument. I'm open to however you'd like to debate, but you must tell me how to evaluate the round and justify it. Justify your methodology and isolate your offense.

I don't judge kick CPs or Alts, the 2NR should either kick it or go for it. I'm probably not understanding something, but I don't know what "judge kick is the logical extension of condo" means. Condo means you can either go for the advocacy in the 2nr or not. Condo does not mean that the judge will make argumentative selection on your behalf, like judge kicking entails.

K affs- I don't think an affirmative needs to defend the resolution if they can justify their advocacy/methodology appropriately. However I think being in the direction of the resolution makes the debate considerably easier for you. I wish more negs would engage with the substance of the aff or innovated beyond the basic cap/fw/presumption 1nc but I've vote for this plenty too. I have recently been convinced that fairness can be impacted out well, but most time this isn't done so it usually functions as an internal link to education.

I'm of the opinion that one good card can be more effective if utilized and analyzed well than 10 bad/mediocre cards that are just read. At the same time, I think a mediocre card utilized strategically can be more useful than a good card under-analyzed.

Any other questions, feel free to ask before the round.

LD Paradigm:

I've coached progressive and traditional LD teams and am happy to judge either. You do you. I don't think these debates need a value/criterion, but the debates I watch that do have them usually don't utilize them well. I'm of the opinion that High School LD time structure is busted. The 1AR is simply not enough time. The NFA-LD circuit in college fixed this with an extra 2 minutes in the 1AR but I haven't judged a ton on this circuit so how that implicates when arguments get deployed or interacts with nuanced theory arguments isn't something I've spent much time thinking about. To make up for this bad time structure in High School LD, smart affs should have prempts in their 1AC to try and avoid reading new cards in the 1AR. Smart negs will diversify neg offense to be able to collapse and exploit 1AR mistakes. Pretty much everything applies from my policy paradigm but Imma say it in bold again because most people ignore it anyways: EXTEND YOUR ARGUMENTS. Not just author names, but extend the actual claim and warrant. Often teams get so caught up in line by line or responding to the other team that they don't extend their aff or interp or something else necessary for you to win. This will make me sad and you disappointed in the RFD.

Email: mjmcmahon3739@gmail.com

Assistant coach for Blue Valley North

Debated 4 years at Blue Valley North, currently in 4th year at Kansas

One thing that may be instructive for having me as a judge is my speaker points are equally likely to reflect how much I enjoyed judging a debate as the skill of each debater. Debate is a fun activity. The most fun debates are ones where debaters are engaged, impassioned, and noticeably enjoying what they’re doing. I love seeing debaters smile and give speeches like they have a personal investment in what they’re saying. I know debate is hard and tiring and takes a lot of work and detracts from school. But you’re here for a reason, and if I can infer that reason during the debate, I’ll reward you for it and everyone will have a better time!

Here are some opinions I have about arguments and the state of debate. None of these opinions are fixed obviously, I just think it’s important you all know.

Conditionality is getting a bit out of hand these days… the 1NC with a 20 plank advantage counterplan and uniqueness counterplans atop every DA will frustrate even the most poised 2A. I am probably a better judge for condo bad than others. I think debate might actually be better if the 2AC could punish the NEG for a sloppy 1NC. It’d be interesting to see how dispositionality would actually play out

I don’t think 2NC counterplans out of 2AC straight turns are legitimate if they disagree with a core premise of the 1NC. For example, if the 1NC says “X bill rides the plan, that’s bad”, and the 2AC impact turns the bill, I can be easily persuaded the 2NC doesn’t get to counterplan “pass X bill”, because they already said that bill was bad and the 2AC made a strategic choice to develop offense there instead of elsewhere

Small(er) 1NC’s that disagree with the core premises of the AFF will always be better than giant 1NC’s whose only goal is make the 2A suffer and extend what’s undercovered. I get it, I know why it’s strategic, but well-developed offense intrinsic to the AFF is so much more fun to judge and educational for the debaters. If you have the goods to spend an entire 1NR link turning an advantage, that would be infinitely better than a process counterplan that needs 4 minutes of AT: Perm do the counterplan just to appear competitive

Evidence quality and highlighting matters so much. I cannot stand evidence with highlighting being scattered and not forming coherent sentences. I swear some cards these days don’t make a comprehensible argument, and I will not fill in the holes in your highlighting for you

Probably better for reasonability than most. I find the argument “precise evidence shapes the predictability of a limited topic” persuasive.

K’s can be incredibly potent, and I love them when deployed correctly, but too often I judge debates where the K is just one big solvency push. “Reform bad because it makes the state look good” and “AFF fails because nebulous theory of power true, vote NEG” are too defensive. Get specific, tell me why the AFF is bad, not imperfect

Not good at all for any genre of K that says death is good or we should accept unnecessary suffering

The less jargon you need to explain your K’s theory the better for me personally. I need to understand your argument before I can decide if you won it

Really really love impact turns

I think there are only a handful of debaters and coaches in the country who actually understand counterplan competition. I’m in my 8th year and Bricker is still coddling me through this aspect of debate. It’s very fun and interesting, but confusing, so if you can debate that theory well, I will have the utmost respect for you

Regarding framework, fairness can be an impact. It can also be an internal link to a host of other impacts. I think non-topical AFFs should choose whether they want to impact turn framework or read counterinterps to play some defense. I've found attempting both rarely helps the AFF.

Some of the things I wrote above might lead some to conclude I only ever vote AFF lol (you can tell I’m a 2A), that’s false. You can make the block only an impossibly limiting T arg, psychoanalysis, and con con with an internal net benefit and I’ll vote on any and all of them if you debate them well. The opinions above are only there to say it might not be my favorite debate.

Email chain if there is one: logan.michael1101@gmail.com speech drop is kool too.

Debated policy for 4 years at Washburn Rural High School and I'm currently in my 4th year of debating NFA-LD (one person policy) at Washburn University. Second year assistant coaching at WaRu

Generics

Speed: I'm fine with speed if the rest of the room is too. Just slow down for analytics

Judge instruction is real important. Write my ballot for me.

In general you do you. I default to evaluating the round how you tell me to. I would prefer to see you do what you want to do well than do what I like bad. But, just in case

specific arguments:

T/Theory

I can evaluate T so if you feel like the aff is untopical or that you can justify why it's untopical then don't be afraid to go for T in front of me. Also means that you can read untopical affs in front of me if you think you can out tech your opponent

Probably default to condo being good

Ks

I will listen to any K. That being said, i haven’t engaged in the lit base of a lot of them so, if I don't understand the K and it's clear you don't understand the K it will be extremely hard for me to vote on it so make you explain everything (especially your links) well.

CPs

Read 'em

DAs

Read 'em

Things I like: Bow-ties, kool socks. Things I don't like: People being rude (don't do this). I also reward interesting/innovative arguments, don’t be afraid to break norms.

If anything is unclear or you want further clarification just ask before the round or email me. Good luck!

macp@usd383.org

I debated for 4 years in Spring Hill High School in Spring Hill, KS. Now a coach for Manhattan HS (2017-Present)

Top Level: I am definitely a policymaker and will vote for the side/scenario that does the most good while causing the least amount of harm. My view of Policy maker does leave room for in-round impacts. Impact calc in the rebuttals will go a long way with me. An overview is always appreciated. I, like many judges, can get lost in high-speed rounds. Don't just assume I know things or will do any work for you. I default to tech over truth but don't push it. If your evidence is bad, I can't vote on it. I can't pretend like Russia didn't invade The Ukraine.

Speed: I'll keep up alright in higher speed rounds, but always run the risk of getting lost. I'll flow off of the speech doc, but I need slow and clear analytics. Doing your job breaking down the round in the 2NR/AR benefits me.

Kritiks: I am relatively comfortable with the basics of the K, but my lit knowledge base is quite low. I am not receptive to Kritiks of Rhetoric if you can't give me a clear link to the AFF. Don't just say "their security rhetoric is problematic" if you can't highlight that rhetoric for me.

K-AFFs: I'll vote for a K-AFF, but you'll have to do enough work to prove that the ballot of a random Debate judge matters to your aff. A strong understanding of how the debate ecosystem functions will help you here. There are opportunities for a Perf Con debate that I haven't been seeing with enough teams.

Identity-centric Kritiks: Don't use black and brown narratives as just a route to the ballot. Cheapening these narratives because you know you can beat a policy team causes real-world harm. Seeing that you are carrying your advocacy in and out of the round that I am watching matters to me.

Topicality: Topicality violations have to be generally pretty blatant for me. There are fairly standard responses an Aff can make that will generally sway me on Topicality. If the Aff doesn't do some simple work, then I am forced to vote Neg. I default to competing interpretations and will evaluate the standards in a way to determine which interpretation best upholds an equitable debate experience. I have a hard time voting for a potential for abuse. In round abuse (like the aff linking out of everything) will weigh more heavily on my ballot.

Counter plans: I'll listen to a good counter-plan debate, but I have a hard time voting for a Consult CP. They are messy debates.

Politics DA's: I'll evaluate a politics DA, but I always want some great uniqueness evidence and a strong link. Many politics DA's I have been seeing lack the latter. Generic Politics DA answers will often win me over. I don't love the Politics DA

Don't be an awful person. I'll vote you down. Keeping this activity healthy for all students is important to me.

Please feel free to ask me questions. You all knowing my preferences benefit me just as much as it benefits you all. Don't be afraid to ask for additional feedback. If I have time, I'll chat with you :)

Hi,

I’m Alina. My pronouns are she/her. I was mostly a block boy when I debated but I do prefer judging lay style debate rounds. I’m fine with Ks and like open cross x and all that stuff whatever you want to do I just think the most important thing is to have fun.

im a first-year out, ex-DCI debater from Lawrence.

i will listen to and believe any argument assuming you can sell it. that being said, i think that actual discussion and debates about the aff are better than running like twenty da's and wacky t args.

i don't believe in tabula rasa. stock issues don't matter to me as much as a coherent argument. i won't vote you down if you don't "prove" harms or inherency.

if you tell me that you don't understand what USFG or some other acronym stands for, you've lost my ballot.

truth = tech, its more about the framework, in my opinion. you could honestly convince me either way, but i tend to lean towards truth > tech. i think there is an inherent value to the debate space but that's a different tangent.

i am most read on kritikal arguments and enjoy watching them but do what you do!

if you say anything sus i will vote you down.

if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Emma Schroeder

Washburn Rural High School ’20

KU ’24 (not debating)

Put me on the email chain - ekathschroeder@gmail.com

TLDR - I am most comfortable in a policy-orientated debate. If you want to go for anything different, be ready to over-explain. Be nice, be smart, be clear and we should have a good time

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Top Level

Don't expect me to have a lot of insight on very technical, topic-specific arguments if you don't provide context and explanation for me. I haven't researched a debate topic since high school. If I look confused you need to warrant things out more. Please don't make me google

Please. Do. Judge Instruction. If your rebuttal doesn't make some sort of claim like "if we win x argument we win the debate" then you have not done your rebuttal correctly

Tech v truth - Evidence quality and credibility is very important, and I will reward you for good research and for being ahead on the flow. But! Every argument needs a claim, warrant, and impact. Your “card” doesn’t count as tech if it’s unintelligibly highlighted. I think people need to stop assuming that terrible arguments necessitate a response. I have a lot of respect for 2ACs that *correctly* identify a nonsense arg, make a handful of smart analytics, and move on

Speed - Stop screaming into your laptops. Dear god. I flow on paper. I promise you I can flow, but if you don't explain your argument out long enough for me to physically move my pen then it probably isn't a real argument anyway. Topicality, framework, and other theory blocks need to be slowed down. I often have very physical signs of agreement or confusion with arguments. If you cannot slow down enough to look for these signs while speaking then why are you in a communication activity? My flow is the only one that matters when I write the ballot. Stop sacrificing line by line for reading blocks. It's bad debate practice and hella boring to judge

Bigotry in any way will not be tolerated. If it becomes an issue in round, it will result in a loss

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Things I like - 8 min of case in the 2NC, no laptops in the 2NR/2AR, impact calc, ballot framing, baller cross-ex strategies, unabashedly slow yet efficient debaters, persuasion, rehighlighted evidence, debaters who are funny/having a good time

Things I don’t like - general rudeness, 10 off in the 1NC (why do u need to do dis), stealing prep, clipping, death good, bad highlighting (see above rant), saying “X was conceded!!!” when it really wasn’t

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Case - **heart eyes emoji** The more case debate you do, the happier I become. Two good case cards > your extra shitty DA. I have never had the opportunity to vote on presumption but would absolutely love to. If you give me this opportunity I will gladly reward you, either with the ballot or with good speaks.

Counterplans - Will vote for conditions/consult/process/PICs but probably won’t be thrilled about it. Conditionality is probably good, but I get annoyed judging 9 off debates that suck when it could have been a 5 off debate that was good. I usually see judge kick as an extension of condo unless otherwise contested. I would like a solvency advocate unless you’re getting incredibly creative. Will be responsive to theory if every solvency deficit is being fiated through. Delay = cheating.

Topicality - probably my favorite argument although it’s hard to do correctly. Debaters should think of T debates like they’re debating a DA. 1 standard = 1 DA. Pick one for the 2NR, otherwise there's too many moving parts and your impact won't be explained. It is rare to see a terminal impact explained to T, you should have one. It's try or die for *your impact* baby. Arguments should be framed in the context of what the current topic looks like and how it would change. In general: Precision > Limits > Ground > Topic Education. Also, if you put a 15 second ASPEC blip at the bottom of your T shell, there’s a 100% chance I will ignore it. Put it on a separate sheet.

Kritiks - If it tells you anything, when I was a senior I did not read a K in the 1NC a single time. But if you want to, go for it and be prepared to explain! There are so many moments when I judge K debates where I think to myself "I have 0 idea what this means" and its not that I don't understand what you're saying, it's that your speech does not go beyond the use of buzzwords. Using a big word is not and will never be a sufficient warrant. The FW and links 2NRs are most successful because alts are always bad imo. Unless you are very good I will probably weigh the aff. Saying fiat is illusory doesn’t mean anything to me. Long overviews are a sign that you’re not putting in enough effort to engage with the line-by-line.

Framework - I am a bad person to read a planless aff in front of. But if you must, I believe affs need to have some form of topic link. Fairness is the most persuasive impact to me. I don’t think going to the actual case page in the 2NR is always necessary, but the arguments need to be contextualized to the 1AC. Neg teams are generally good at talking about their impacts but need to do more work on the internal link level.

I come from a 3A high school where I debated for three years and participated in forensics for four.

K's - I don't understand them. Please either spoon feed them to me or don't run them at all.

Generic DA's - Link it and convince me of the link.

Impacts - PLEASE no extinction impacts. Make it realistic so it's harder to right them off.

Topicality - Don't be stupid with it.

Speed - As long as everyone (including yourself) can understand what you are saying we are fine while reading cards. Please slow down during analysis.

USE ANALYSIS. The evidence is important so read it but then tell me why it's important.

AFF - GOOD POLICY IS KEY.

NEG - PROVE WHY POLICY DOESN'T WORK or STATUS QUO BETTER.

I am a Tabula Rosa with a default in Policy.

He/him/his. soper@umich.edu

I did NDT/CEDA debate for four years at the University of Kansas. I'm currently coaching for Blue Valley North. I worked with a lab at Michigan for a little while this summer and judged a lot of practice debates.

Grumpy stuff. Do not ask for a marked document. If the number of cards marked in a speech is excessive, I will ask for a marked document. Asking what cards were read is either CX time or prep time. Prompting needs to stop. Past the first time, I will not flow the things your partner prompts you to say. Send the email before you stop prep.

I am a better judge for topic-specific, evidence-based arguments. Positions that could have been read identically on previous topics are less persuasive to me.

Presumption/Vagueness. I am willing to (and have) voted negative on vagueness and that the affirmative has not met its stock issues burdens. Similarly, if the negative is reading a CP with an internal net benefit and doesn't have evidence demonstrating that the inclusion of the plan prevents the net benefit, I am willing to vote on "perm do both" even if the aff doesn't have a deficit to the CP. I am willing to dismiss advantage CP planks which are overly vague or not describing a policy.

Evidence matters a lot. Debaters should strive to connect the claims and warrants they make to pieces of qualified evidence. If one team is reading qualified evidence on an issue and the other team is not, I'll almost certainly conclude the team reading evidence is correct. I care about author qualifications/funding/bias more than most judges and I'm willing to disregard evidence if a team raises valid criticisms of it.

Kritiks. The links are the most important part of the kritik. If I have a hard time explaining back exactly what bad thing the 1AC did or assumed, I will have a hard time voting for you. Here are some things to increase your win percentage in front of me if you're extending a kritik. 1. Make link arguments that are specific to the affirmative. If debaters spent even 5 minutes before the debate reading through the 1AC, identifying themes or premises that are kritik-able, and made those into link arguments, their win percentage in front of me would skyrocket. 2. Rehighlight aff evidence to make these arguments. 3. Tell me how your link arguments disprove the case or make affirmative advantages irrelevant. I cannot remember the last time an "ontology" argument was relevant to my decision.

Planless affs. I basically always vote for the team that slows down and starts comparing their impact to the other team's first. The more a team reads blocks into their computer, the less likely I am to vote for them. I am a poor judge for fairness/clash/debate bad.

Things which will make your speaker points higher: exceptional clarity, numbering your arguments, good cross-x moments which make it into a speech, specific and well-researched strategies, developing and improving arguments over the course of a season, slowing down and making a connection with me to emphasize an important argument, not being a jerk to a team with much less skill/experience than you. I decide speaker points.

You're welcome to post-round or email me if you have questions or concerns about my decision.