I debated at Blue Valley North (2020-2024) and I'm currently a freshman debating at KU.

email: claireelizabethain@gmail.com -- prep does not stop until you hit send on the email.

I understand this topic to be more intricate and complex than many in the past, so err on the side of over-explanation earlier in the debate. It is your burden to explain topic-specific concepts that would be difficult for the average person to understand.

I care more about your ability to speak clearly and refute arguments in a quality manner than the type of arguments you choose to read. I will vote on any argument on my flow as long as it's articulated at a high technical level. That being said, I am a better judge for topic-specific, evidence based arguments that rely on the ability to prove an undesirable effect of the affirmative.There is an increasing trend in negative teams trying to find more convoluted ways to avoid disproving the desirability of a plan, but obviously that's a debate to be had.

I am not a fan of scouring my flow to piece together arguments and think that it is a form of judge intervention. If you read evidence with a purpose, speak clearly, and use your flow (if you are not flowing, I don't understand why I should flow you) to refute arguments, you will receive high speaks from me. Judge instruction is an important part of final rebuttals and you should clearly explain what earns you the ballot.

It feels as though less debates I've watched or been apart of have actually talked about the affirmative. I don't think most negative teams utilize case enough. The best 2NR in front of me is typically the core topic disad and robust case debating.

There is no difference between being incoherent and clipping. If I can't understand the argument you are making do not be surprised when it does not make it onto my flow. I will clear you twice, if you remain unclear I will stop flowing your speech.

On this note, I have hospitalizing migraines that make me somewhat sensitive to sound. All I ask is that you don't literally scream at me while you're speaking.

Evidence you read must make an argument. Highlighting three buzzwords and explaining something in the tag will make me give the opposing team more leeway in their responses. I believe that internal link cards have become especially outrageous and are under utilized when comparing impacts.

In almost every instance of a DA or a K the link matters most. I probably look at link specificity more than most judges. If I have a hard time pinpointing something specifically bad about the affirmative, I will have a hard time voting for you. It's very convincing to me if you explain how the link (or the entire) argument disproves the case or makes the aff advantages irrelevant.

Istealprep@gmail.com

Debated @ Mill Valley High School 2016-20, Johnson County Community College 2020-22, and Wichita State University 2022-24.

Coached @ Westwood High School 2020-22, and Wichita East High School, 2022-24

Currently Coaching @ Newton High School 2024-Current, and Wichita State University 2024-Current.

Top level

Debate is meant to be fun. I demand that you have it. If you can not find enjoyment in this activity do not ruin other peoples love for this activity.

Do not say anything obviously problematic or violent to the other team. I will end the round immediately and assign the lowest possible speaker points the tournament will allow.

Tech over truth. This applies to all arguments. You do not get to handwave arguments away because they are "troll" or "science fiction". If the other teams arguments are not backed by rigorous research then defeating them should be simple and easy. If you cannot defeat them without me intervening and asserting what I "know" to be true than by all definition you have lost the debate.

I will only consider arguments that happenedin the debate about the debate. I am fundamentally uninterested in resolving any interpersonal beef you may have with another team.

If you do not feel safe engaging in a debate for any reason please communicate that to me, tab, and/or your coaching staff, and the necessary actions will be taken.

Planless affirmatives

Generally fine for these debates. I would prefer the 1AC actually defend a method and be related to the topic if possible instead of being a walking impact turn to framework but I digress. As long as you win your arguments and are ahead on the flow I will vote for you.

"vote aff cause it was good" means nothing to me. Explanations of why you resolve the impacts of the aff and why the ballot is key should come early and be contextualized well.

"Why vote aff" followed by "why not" is not compelling for the same reason. 1AC's have the burden of proof. I will struggle to burden the negative with rejoinder if I don't think the 1AC has met the burden of proof after 1AC CX.

Framework/T-USFG

Framework 2NR's tend to be too defense oriented to win most debates. Negatives should be impact turning or link turning aff DA's to framework more often. If not that then there needs to be a large explanation of why clash accesses aff offense and/or why they don't get an aff because of fairness.

Everything is and is not an impact. Fun, Clash, Fairness, Burnout, etc... You should explain why those things matter and why I should care.

KvK

Method v method debates in my mind lack the pre prescribed norms of competition that usually appear in policy v policy debates. You should use this to your advantage and explain how competition ought to work in a world where the affirmative is not held to a plan text.

Figuring out what the aff will defend and pinning them to that seems important, especially when the opportunities to disagree with the 1AC are already limited.

K's on the neg

If the aff is going for a framework that says "No K's" and the neg is going for a framework that says "No aff" then I will pick one at the end of the debate. I will not intervene and concoct a "perm" where the aff gets the aff and the neg gets their links. Of course you are free to advocate the perm/middle ground.

Explanation is usually much better when contextualized to links, alt, f/w, etc... and not a chunk of text for a minute at the top of a speech.

Topicality

I will evaluate topicality as offense/defense just like every other argument in debate. Affirmative reasonability arguments are much better framed as reasons why limits are bad/an impact to overlimiting or precision.

Aff's should be more offensive when answering neg limits and grounds arguments. Most of the time the actual weight of these arguments seems stringent as best and made up completely at worst.

Evidence that describes topic mechanisms and lit direction are important. The same is equally if not more true for the interpretation debate.

Counterplans

Everything is legit until somebody says it isn't in which case then it becomes a debate. I think most affirmative theory arguments are much better deployed as competition arguments. I am unlikely to ever be persuaded by "solvency advocate theory", "process CPs bad", or the like, unless the neg completely whiffs. This doesn't apply when the neg CP doesn't pass the sniff test. I.e. international fiat, private actor fiat, etc...

I generally lean towards infinite condo being good. Obviously this is a debate that can take place and I will evaluate as offense/defense like normal, I just think the negative arguments in regards to this are much more compelling.

I default to judge kick but just please say it in the block.

0 Idea how anyone evaluates CP's besides sufficiency framing and I have yet to hear a alternative way to evaluate them. Grandstanding about sufficiency framing in the 2nr is about as useful as saying that they have conceded the neg gets fiat.

2NC CP's out of add-ons are fine. 2NC CP's out of straight turns are not fine. If it goes in the 1NC be prepared to hold the line.

Disadvantages

Fine for every politics DA you want to throw from your box. What fiat means can be debated like any other argument.

Link and Internal link turns case arguments are extremely important. Our nuclear war impact turns your nuclear war impact arguments are extremely not important.

Case

Try or die is important to me. If the negs only answer to case is solvency pushes but concedes the squo causes extinction and doesn't have a CP to remedy that then even a small risk the aff solves will almost certainly win them the debate. The opposite is true if aff drops an internal net benefit to a process CP, as the neg now controls try or die.

0% risk is definitely possible on both sides.

Misc

I will not read or consider rehighlightings you did not read yourself. Text must be actually read for it to matter, debate is a communicative activity and you must communicate. If you read it in cross-x and then insert it that is fine.

Cross-x can only make modifications to speeches if both sides consent. If the other team asks you about a card you do not get to scratch it in the middle of cross-x unless they agree. The same is also true for reading evidence obviously.

Cross-x is binding and I will be flowing it.

Speaker points are my decision and I will not listen to arguments about them. You can ask for a 30 if you want, but you will be wasting speech time.

washburn rural 24

ku 28

assistant at blue valley north

he/him

carson.bath6 @ gmail.com, name the chain "Tournament---Round---Aff Team v Neg Team," i prefer to not open a speech drop or file share

carson, not judge

please don't try to give me a fist bump or hand shake...why is that necessary?

debate is a game, and i enjoy this game. i have engaged in both policy and critical styles of debate and am willing to vote on whatever, assuming that it is not racist, homophobic, ableist, sexist, etc. though i view debate as a game, this does not mean that i will not vote on arguments to the contrary so long as you win debate should be a form of activism or that the education we garner matters more than procedural fairness or clash. rather, everything in debate is motivated by competitive incentives, and my decision will reflect who i believe did the better debating. i think the best debates occur when you do what you do best.

tech > truth. to me, this means that i will attempt to minimize intervention and that all arguments are viable as long as you win them (excluding those outlined above). minimizing intervention also means minimizing how my predispositions to specific arguments influence the round. i do not enjoy it when a round becomes about what the judge wants to hear rather than what you want to debate about. many judges contend that arguments such as “death good” are harmful or a bad argument that you shouldn’t go for. i don’t care, and i think people should just answer it. if you believe that these arguments are bad, just win that death is bad and we should avoid it, which should not be difficult to do…

inserting re-highlightings is fine if you explain what it says and how that interacts with their arguments in the tag of the re-highlighted evidence. if you don’t care to tell me what it says, why would i care to read it for you?

i will not evaluate things that happen outside the round. that is not my job and should be resolved with your coaches, their coaches, or if it is that serious, resolve it with tab. these arguments are not falsifiable and even if you have receipts i am not going to make decisions based on whether or not i think debaters are good or bad people because i probably have no clue who you are.

flow the debate and i will flow your speeches. if you spend time answering an argument that was not made, but was in the doc, your speaks will be lower. if you drop an argument that wasn’t in the doc because you weren’t flowing, your speaks will be lower. flowing makes for better debates. i will also abide by my flow when making my decision and will not stop flowing because you told me to. i may not catch everything if you are reading as fast as you can directly into your laptop screen. this is not because i am bad at flowing or that i don't care to pay attention, but it is nearly impossible for me to understand you and write down what you are saying without pen time. because of this, i would prefer if you slowed down slightly in rebuttals. not answering arguments where they are made and forcing me to look through my flows for you is a form of judge intervention. answer arguments where they are made. this also implicates some of my thoughts about the necessity of long overviews which is below.

i have no issue with speed so long as you are clear. i will clear you twice before i stop flowing your speech. if debate is online, i would emphasize clarity more than you usually would and go slightly slower. i don't need your analytics, nor will I ask for them; however, if your opponent asks for them to make debate accessible and you refuse i will not flow that part of the speech.

if you are going to go for an argument about their author(s) being problematic or ev ethics, you should have notified the other team of that issue prior to the round. if you cannot demonstrate that you made an attempt to resolve the issue before the debate, i will not vote on it.

for this topic in particular, you should likely over explain the aff, disad, counterplan, etc. early in the debate because i am not researching the intricacies of ipr and have little background knowledge.

if you fail to read a complete disad, or argument in general, your opponent should not be expected to answer it as one. i don't have super unique thoughts about disads. specific evidence comparison for internal link chains and impact evidence will go a long way and make my life easier.

i won’t judge kick unless it’s in the 2nc and 2nr. that being said, i don’t really like to judge kick anyway and think you should just pick a winning 2nr. if you are reading a very technical process counterplan you should explain what it does and how it competes because i will not vote for an argument that i cannot explain back to the other team.

you should do vastly more judge instruction if going for topicality and do more robust standards debating than you think is necessary. flag your offense and defense as well as your opponents and how yours interacts with theirs. reasonability, i believe, is confusing to adjudicate. i do not understand what it means for an interpretation to be “reasonable” and it seems arbitrary. i need a bright line established for why your interpretation is reasonable and what it means to be reasonable to vote for it.

i went for colonialism a lot my senior year and i think that the best strategy for k teams is one that moots the aff. a fiated alternative with links to the plan loses to the perm too much for it to be preferable. my background in critical literature is almost exclusive to cap, colonialism, and security so if you are reading psycho, pomo, or most other kritiks, you should be able to simplify the lit because i don't have the knowledge to easily make connections or understand the critique. something i have noticed while reading critical arguments is that aff teams should try to justify their scholarship more. you can win that cap is good, heg is good, extinction is bad, or that consequences determine ethics and free up some time from the framework debating.

organized debate is best, and generally, i feel the longer the k overview is, the further the debate strays from being organized. please answer arguments on the line by line and do not assume the prewritten overview that you read in every debate will answer all of their arguments about your theory of power, etc. answer arguments where your opponent has made them and i’m fine. you should also spend more time on the link debate in front of me, i think that link specificity is very important. reading a single card about ipr broadly being bad for x reason or the usfg being bad for x reason means so much less to me than a detailed analysis about why the rhetoric they are using or the specific form of ipr they are increasing is uniquely bad. even explaining rhetorical moments in round or garnering links off of perms, alt fails arguments, etc. are better than generic links because they are links to the aff performance which under many neg framework interpretations is not able to be separated from the 1ac.

planless affirmatives are good so long as the affirmative departs from the status quo and you win the framework debate. for method debates, i think teams need to be clearer about how the methods interact with one another. what i mean is, how should i adjudicate a method about changing debate v a method about changing global systems of oppression? you should be doing enough work to get there, and if you don’t it will be significantly harder for me to vote neg. best method v k aff is probably cap but i'm down to hear whatever. going for framework, i don't really have super strong opinions on fairness versus clash. i think limits and fairness is fire and perhaps slightly better but answers to clash are usually worse.neg on presumption is definitely plausible.

if you have questions, email me or ask pre-round.

I am the debate coach at Blue Valley North HS. I was an NDT/CEDA debater at Wichita State University (2012) and a graduate assistant at the University of Kansas. I have taught camp at Michigan or Kansas every year since I graduated. I typically judge 50-80 policy rounds per year, plus some pf/ld/speech.

email: brianbox4@gmail.com

As of November 2024, I am actively working to increase my speaker points to match inflation. I will reward better points to well-researched teams who demonstrate command of topic literature in CX and their speeches. If a tournament gives 10 minutes of prep, I will increase your points for taking less prep.

I really, really enjoy judging good debates. I really, really dislike judging debates that take two hours, lack clash and mostly involve unclearly reading a document into the screen. I care far more about your ability to speak clearly and refute arguments than the type of arguments you read. Good debate good, bad debate bad. I have found that most high school debates are such clear technical victories that my argument specific thoughts aren't terribly relevant. I will vote for any argument you win.

Ultimately, the debate is not about me, and I will do my best to evaluate whichever strategy you pursue, but I am bored by negative strategies that do not demonstrate an undesirable effect of the affirmative. There is a time and a place for most strategies, and I firmly believe there is no one right way to debate, but I wish more of the debates I judged were about core topic arguments and less about non-competitive counterplans (obviously debatable), generic critiques of fiat, poorly supported politics disads, ridiculous impact turns, etc.

At some level, this is just another old guy "be clear and flow!" paradigm, but I really mean it! Here are a few important things to consider when debating in front of me.

Use your flow to answer the other team's arguments. Don't read into your computer screen from start to finish.

Evidence matters a lot. I read lots of evidence and it heavily factors into my decision. Cross-ex is important and the best ones focus on the evidence. Highlighting is important. Definitely willing to lower the prioritization of an argument or ignore it entirely if it's highlighted nonsensically. Author qualifications, histories, intentions, purpose, funding, etc. matter. The application of meaningful indicits evidence mean more to me than many judges. I find myself more than willing to ignore poorly supported arguments.

I cannot emphasize enough how important clarity is. I can't believe how often I see judges transcribing the speech document. If I can't understand the argument, it doesn't count.

Go for theory? I will never be the judge who views all sides of any theory debate to be equal, but am far more likely than I once was to vote for an argument about the scope of negative fiat. Affirmatives should be extending theory arguments that say a type of counterplan or category of fiat is bad more often. Establishing a clear interpretation is important. "Process bad" doesn't mean much to me.

The link comes first.The first thing I look at is the link. When in conflict, it is more important to contest the link than the impact.

CX is huge. This is where you separate debaters who have researched their argument and can intentionally execute a strategy from debaters who have practiced reading unclearly as fast as possible. I don't flow CX, but I am very attentive and you should treat me like a lay judge because these moments will be impactful.

I debated for four years at Lawrence Free State High School ('24)

I debate at the University of Kansas ('28)

Please add me to the email chain: connorvbrown@gmail.com

Top Level

I know very little about this topic and IPR in general---acronyms, etc should be explained.

Agree with pretty much everyone that tech>truth, in depth debate is better than shallow, and people need to do more impact calc.

I really think you need to slow down and be extra clear on certain parts of the debate---it's actually impossible to flow things like FW, theory, perms, or really blocks of any kind when you are going at the same pace/clarity of the body of a 1AC card.

I won't clear you, but if I'm not typing/writing when you want me to be flowing you need to slow down a little and be more clear.

You should read re-highlightings, don't just insert them.

Decision-making

I like to make simple decisions---I'll flow the debate and pay attention to technical concessions, but teams that win and explain a controlling argument that filters out the other team's offense will win more often in front of me than teams that shotgun a billion arguments and don't impact them out. This means I think that final rebuttal overviews should not just reread 1AR/2NC overviews, they should explain what arguments they are winning, why that matters, and why it doesn't matter if the other team wins some arguments.

K

I'll start my decision and RFD with framework---it's very important for me.

Judge instruction is super important---who turns what, which standard outweighs the other, etc. I won't create a "middle ground" framework if I think it's a tie.

If I can't explain to the other team what the link/impact was in the RFD, I will have a hard time voting for you.

Similar to the above point, your 2NC/2NR link explanation should be tailored to the specific affirmative---use lines from their ev, moments in CX, don't just reread the same "USfg/IPR bad" block over and over.

K Aff

Judge instruction is even more important for this.

Neg teams should answer case in 2NR.

Theory

I think theory is underutilized, but Aff teams should create better interps than just something like "PICs bad".

I'm unlikely to reject a team based on a theoretical objection to a CP/Alt.

I'm unlikely to view new 2NC counterplans as legitimate.

My email is carolynsearscook@gmail.com carolyncook@smsd.org and I think it would be awesome for you all to start the email chain before I get to the debate so that we don't have to waste time doing it once I arrive:)

I debated in high school in Kansas from 1999-2003 (SME). I coached high school debate throughout college but did not debate in college. I was the director of debate at Lansing High School where I coached and taught from 2009-2018. This (23-24) is my 6th year directing and teaching speech & debate at Shawnee Mission South.

I dislike when debaters are mean. This activity is awesome--I believe that it pushes us and makes us better thinkers and people--and debaters cheapen that opportunity when we choose not to respect one another. Please just be kind humans.

I learned to debate and evaluate debates as a policy maker but also find that I much prefer seeing you do what you do best in rounds. That being said, you know your lit and arguments better than I do (at least you should). So:

1. If you don't think the aff should get to weigh their 1AC against the criticism, you have to tell me why--same if you think that we should abandon the topic as the aff.
2. If you want me to evaluate an argument and your 'warrant' is described as a specific term: that one word is not a warrant. . . you should include a description of WHY your claim is true/accurate/means you win. Debates that are heavily reliant on jargon that I am unfamiliar with will result in me being confused.
3. If you do little work on literature (especially lit I am not familiar with), please don't then expect me to do a bunch of work for you in the decision.

You should clearly articulate the arguments you want to forward in the debate--I value persuasion as an important part of this activity.

Please be organized--doing so allows me to focus on the quality of argumentation in the round. Debates are so much more fun to watch when you have a strategic approach that you execute with care. Talk about your evidence. Warranted and strategic analysis that demonstrates your understanding of your own arguments, and their interactions with your opponent's, make debates better.

I default competing interpretations on Topicality and think T debates should include case lists and topical version of the aff. I think that weighing impacts is important. I also just enjoy good case debate. I tend to find consult and and condition CPs to be cheating...but you still have to answer them. You should always answer conditionality.

I really prefer that you are as explicit about HOW you would like for me to evaluate the debate and WHY this approach is best.

Please speak clearly... if you are incomprehensible my flow will not be great and the quality of my evaluation of the round will likely decrease.

Lansing '22

KU '26

please add me on the email chain: ryan.f.corrigan@gmail.com

pronouns: he/him

TL;DR:

good judge for = policy v. policy, policy v. k

ok judge for = k-aff v. t-usfg, k-aff v. k

(I’ll do what I can to follow along but I just have the least experience with k-aff rounds so my comments and understanding of the round will not be as good as other judges. I am becoming more comfortable as I judge more rounds, but I may need a little more explanation than some judges.)

Intellectual Property specific:

A lot of this topic can be pretty jargony, so try to keep it understandable and accessible for everyone in the round. Great that you understand it, but if you are not able to explain it to the other team or the judge that is not ideal. It is not very great for education/competition if you are winning simply because the other team does not know what you are talking about.

General Thoughts:

tech > truth, but truth influences the burden of proving an argument as false

depth > breadth

in depth off case > more silly off case arguments

specific links > vague links

impact calc >>>

judge instruction/signposting >>>

be a good person and keep the space inclusive for everyone

Argument Preferences:

Debate the arguments that you want to debate. The best rounds come from both sides understanding their content and doing what they enjoy/have spent the most time prepping out. When I debated I did DCI and primarily ran policy affs, politics DAs, and more traditional Ks (cap, set col, anthro) if you care, but don't let that dissuade you from running what you want. As a coach/judge I am learning more about different types of arguments than what I typically ran, so I will do what I can to follow along. If you have any specific questions about my argument preferences, though, feel free to clarify before the round. I will likely tell you to read what you are comfortable with.

Speed:

Speed is good, but make sure it is clear. If I did not catch the argument because you spread through your pre-written analytics, then it will probably not be on my flow or on my ballot. If you want to ensure that I catch it make sure to slow down a little or really signpost and draw attention to it.

Also, if you are going to read something that is not on the doc maybe slow down a little to give time to pick up what you are putting down. I think that not sending your pre-written analytics is kind of silly. I get the strategic advantage, but if you are scared of the other team having your analytics on a doc then the arguments are probably not good and you are trying to capitalize off of them dropping it rather than just winning it upfront. I see it similarly to the Wiki in the sense that disclosing what you read is important to make it accessible for good debates.

..and yes, I am Jack Corrigan's older brother

Debated 4 years at Dowling HS in Des Moines, Iowa (09-12, Energy, Poverty, Military, Space)
Debated at KU (13-15, Energy, War Powers, Legalization)
Previously Coached: Ast. Coach Shawnee Mission Northwest, Lansing High School.
Currently Coaching: Ast. Coach Washburn Rural High School

UPDATE 10/1: CX is closed and lasts three minutes after constructive. I won't listen to questions or answers outside of those three minutes or made by people that aren't designated for that CX. I think it's a bummer that a lot of CXs get taken over by one person on each team. It doesn't give me the opportunity to evaluate debaters or for debaters to grow in areas where they might struggle. I'm going to start using my rounds to curb that.

Top Level
Do whatever you need to win rounds. I have arguments that I like / don't like, but I'd rather see you do whatever you do best, than do what I like badly. Have fun. I love this activity, and I hope that everyone in it does as well. Don't be unnecessarily rude, I get that some rudeness happens, but you don't want me to not like you. Last top level note. If you lose my ballot, it's your fault as a debater for not convincing me that you won. Both teams walk into the room with an equal chance to win, and if you disagree with my decision, it's because you didn't do enough to take the debate out of my hands.

Carrot and Stick
Carrot - every correctly identified dropped argument will be rewarded with .1 speaks (max .5 boost)
Stick - every incorrectly identified dropped argument will be punished with -.2 speaks (no max, do not do this)

General
DAs - please. Impact calc/ turns case stuff great, and I've seen plenty of debates (read *bad debates) where that analysis is dropped by the 1ar. Make sure to answer these args if you're aff.

Impact turns - love these debates. I'll even go so far as to reward these debates with an extra .2 speaker points. By impact turns I mean heg bag to answer heg good, not wipeout. Wipeout will not be rewarded. It will make me sad.

CPs - I ran a lot of the CPs that get a bad rep like consult. I see these as strategically beneficial. I also see them as unfair. The aff will not beat a consult/ condition CP without a perm and/or theory. That's not to say that by extending those the aff autowins, but it's likely the only way to win. I lean neg on most questions of CP competition and legitimacy, but that doesn't mean you can't win things like aff doesn't need to be immediate and unconditional, or that something like international actors are illegit.

Theory - Almost always a reason to reject the arg, not the team. Obviously conditionality is the exception to that rule.

T - Default competing interps. Will vote on potential abuse. Topical version of the aff is good and case lists are must haves. "X" o.w. T args are silly to me.

Ks - dropping k tricks will lose you the debate. I'm fine with Ks, do what you want to. Make sure that what you're running is relevant for that round. If you only run security every round, if you hit a structural violence aff, your security K will not compel me. Make sure to challenge the alternative on the aff. Make sure to have a defense of your epistemology/ontology/reps or that these things aren't important, losing this will usually result in you losing the round.

K affs - a fiat'd aff with critical advantages is obviously fine. A plan text you don't defend: less fine, but still viable. Forget the topic affs are a hard sell in front of me. It can happen, but odds are you're going to want someone else higher up on your sheet. I believe debate is good, not perfect, but getting better. I don't think the debate round is the best place to resolve the issues in the community.

Speaker points.
I don't really have a set system. Obviously the carrot and stick above apply. It's mostly based on how well you did technically, with modifications for style and presentation. If you do something that upsets me (you're unnecessarily rude, offensive, do something shady), your points will reflect that.

Tim Ellis
Head Coach - Washburn Rural High School, Topeka, KS
Email chain - ellistim@usd437.net,

I am the head debate coach at Washburn Rural High School. I dedicate a large portion of my free time to coaching and teaching debate. I will work very hard during debates to keep an accurate flow of what is being said and to provide the best feedback possible to the debaters that are participating. I cannot promise to be perfect, but I will do my best to listen to your arguments and help you grow as a debater, just like I do with the students that I coach at Washburn Rural.

Because I care about debate and enjoy watching people argue and learn, I prefer debates where people respond to the arguments forwarded by their opponents. I prefer that they do so in a respectful manner that makes debate fun. Tournaments are long and stressful, so being able to enjoy a debate round is of paramount importance to me. Not being able to have fun in a debate is not a reason I will ever vote against a team, but you will see your speaker points rise if you seem to be enjoying the activity and make it a more enjoyable place for those you are competing against.

I will do my best to adjudicate whatever argument you decide to read in the debate. However, I would say that I generally prefer that the affirmative defend a topical change from the status quo and that the negative team says that change from the status quo is a bad idea. I am not the best judge on the planet for affs without a plan (see the first part of the previous statement), but I am far from the worst. I am not the best judge on the planet for process counterplans (see the second part of the previous statement), but I am far from the worst. Much like having fun, the above things are preferences, not requirements for winning a debate.

Topic specific things about intellectual property rights:

• The neg is in a tough spot on this year's topic in terms of generics. If you are good at debating topicality, it will likely not be difficult to convince me that a more limited version of the topic could be better. However, limits for the sake of limits is not really a persuasive argument, so a big limits DA alone does not automatically result in a negative victory.
• Equally debated, I can be convinced that the mere presence of resolutional words in the plan is insufficient to prove that the affirmative's mandate is topical.
• Please debate the affirmative case. I know it can be tempting to just impact turn the aff, but generally the scenario you are turning lacks solvency or an internal link, and perhaps that would be a better use of your time than ripping into heg bad cards off your laptop for 13 minutes.
• This topic is dense and difficult to research. Speaks will likely reward teams who engagein specific research, affirmative or negative, for the positions that they present.
• I am not going to stop you from doing open cross-ex, but I really think it is overutilized and generally uneducational. In most situations, the best outcome is that you look mean or make your partner look incompetent. If your strategy revolves around not letting your partner speak in cross-ex, do not expect to receive high speaker points from me.

Put me on the e-mail chain - aegoodson@bluevalleyk12.org and annie.goodson@gmail.com

**I'll be honest, I wrote my dissertation this summer and have done basically zero reading in this topic literature. Assume I'm unfamiliar with the specific scholarship you are reading.

Top Level:

I'm the head coach at Blue Valley West. I tend to value tech over truth in most instances, but I 100% believe it's your job to extend and explain warrants of args, and tell me what to do with those args within the context of the debate round. I expect plans to advocate for some sort of action, even if they don't present a formal policy action. I won't evaluate anything that happens outside of the debate round. This is an awesome activity that makes us better thinkers and people, and when we get caught up in the competition of it all and start being hateful to each other during the round (which I've 100% been guilty of myself) it bums me out and makes me not want to vote for you. Be mindful of who you are and how you affect the debate space for others--racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. will result in you losing the round and I won't feel bad about it.

Delivery:

Clarity is extremely important to me. Pause for a minute and read that last sentence again. Speed is only impressive if you are clear, and being incomprehensible is the same as clipping in my book. I'm generally fine with [clear] speed but need you to slow down on authors/tags. You need to speak slower in front of me than you do in front of a college kid. Slow down a few clicks in rebuttals, and slow down on analytics. The more technical your argument, the slower I need you to go. I won't evaluate anything that's not on the flow. Please signpost clearly and extend warrants, not just authors/dates. Good rebuttals need to explain to me how to fill out the ballot. I'm looking for strong overviews and arguments that tell a meaningful story. We often forget that debate, regardless of how fast we are speaking, is still a performative activity at its core. You need to tell a story in a compelling way--don't let speed get in the way of that. Going 9 off in the 1NC is almost always a bad call. I'd rather you just make a few good arguments then try to out-spread the other team with a lot of meh arguments. I think going a million-off in the 1NC is a bad trend in this activity and is often a bad-faith effort to not engage in a more substantive debate.

T:

I default to competing-interps-good, but I've voted on reasonability in the past. Give me a case list and topical versions of the aff. If I'm being honest I definitely prefer DA/CP or K debates to T debates, but do what you enjoy the most and I will take it seriously and evaluate it to the best of my ability.

Performance-based:

These are weird for me because I don't have as nuanced an understanding of these as some other judges in our community, but also I vote for them a lot? I'm not the best judge on these args because they're not my expertise--help me by explaining what your performance does, why it should happen in a debate round, and why it can't happen elsewhere, or is less effective/safe elsewhere. I have the most fun when I'm watching kids do what they do best in debates, so do you. Know that if the other team can give me examples of how you can access your performance/topic *just as meaningfully* through topical action within the round, I find that pretty compelling.

CPs:

These need to be specific and include solvency advocates, and they need to be competitive. I'll defer to just not evaluating a CP if I feel like it's not appropriately competitive with the aff plan, unless the aff completely drops it. I think delay and consult CPs are cheating generally, but the aff still needs to answer them.

K:

Assume I'm unfamiliar with the specific texts you're reading. You'll likely need to spend some more time explaining it to me than you would have to in front of another judge. One thing I like about this activity is that it gives kids a platform to discuss identity, and the K serves an important function there. Non-identity based theoretical arguments are typically harder for me to follow. K affs need to be prepared to articulate why the aff cannot/should not be topical--again, TVAs are really persuasive for me.

DAs:

Love these, even the generic ones. DAs need to tell a story--don't give me a weak link chain and make sure you're telling a cohesive story with the argument. I'll buy whatever impacts you want to throw out there.

Framework:

Make sure you're explaining specifically what the framework does to the debate round. If I vote on your framework, what does that gain us? What does your framework do for the debaters? What does it make you better at/understand more? Compare yours to your opponents' and explain why you win.

General Cranky Stuff:

1. A ton of you aren't flowing, or you're just flowing off the speech doc, which makes me really irritated and guts half the education of this activity. You should be listening. Your cross-x questions shouldn't be "Did you read XYZ?" It's equally frustrating when kids stand up to give a speech and just start mindlessly reading from blocks. Debate is more than just taking turns reading. I want to hear analysis and critical thinking throughout the round, and I want you to explain to me what you're reading (overviews, plz). I'll follow along in speech docs, and I'll read stuff again when you tell me take a closer look at it, but I'm not a computer with the magic debate algorithm--you need to explain to me what you're reading and tell me why it matters.

2. 1NCs, just label your off-case args in the doc. It wastes time and causes confusion down the line when you don't.

3. The point of speed is to get in more args/analysis in the time allotted. If you're stammering a ton and having to constantly re-start your sentences, then trying to go fast gains you nothing.....just......slow down.

4. You HAVE to slow down during rebuttals for me--other judges can follow analytics read at blistering speed. I am not one of those judges.

5. In my old age I have become extremely cranky about disclosure. Unless you're breaking new, you should disclose the aff and past 2NRs before the round. Anything else wastes everyone's time.

**Clipping is cheating and if I catch you it's an auto-loss

**Trigger warnings are good and should happen whenever needed BEFORE the round starts. Don't run "death good" in front of me.

I try to use this scale for speaks:http://www.policydebate.net/points-scale.html

Anything else, just ask!

they/them

please add me to chain - jamdebate@gmail.com

important stuff not directly related to my opinions about debate:

after over a year of the most public display of genocide in history i am no longer going to pretend that defending “the u.s. led liberal international order” is not morally equivalent to defending the holocaust

climate topic update - i have done no research for it

please be honest with yourself about how fast you are going. i need pen time! i don't need you to go dramatically slower than you normally would, but please do not drone monotonously through your blocks as if they are card text or i will likely miss some arguments.

if debating online: go slower than usual, especially on theory

how i decide stuff:

i try my best to decide debates strictly based on what is on my flow. i generally try to intervene as little as possible, but i am not a judge that thinks that any argument is true until disproven in the debate. as much as some consider themselves "flow purists," i think every judge agrees with this to a degree. for example, "genocide good" or "transphobia good" etc. are obviously reprehensible arguments that are harmful to include in debate and i won't entertain. that being the case, i have kind of a hard time distinguishing those "obvious" examples from more commonly accepted ones that are, to me, just as harmful and can even be outright genocidal, like first strike counterplans, interventions good, arms sales to israel are good, increasing police funding is good, etc.

despite how the above paragraph might be interpreted, i frequently vote for arguments i don't like, including arguments i think are harmful for debate. at the end of the day, unless something i think drastically requires my intervention, i will try to judge the debate as objectively as i can based on my flow

by default i will vote for the team with the most resolved offense. a complete argument is required to generate offense, so i won't vote for an incomplete argument (e.g. "they dropped x" still needs a proper extension of x with a warrant for why it's true). judge instruction is very important for me. if there is an issue in the debate with little guidance from the debaters on how to resolve it, don't be surprised if there is some degree of intervention so i can resolve it. i will also not vote for an argument that i cannot explain

opinions on specific things:

i am willing to vote on arguments about something that happened outside of the debate, but need those arguments to be backed up with evidence/receipts. this is not because i don't/won't believe you otherwise, but because i don't want to be in the position of having to resolve a debate over something impossible for me to substantiate. i know it’s somewhat arbitrary, but it seems like the least arbitrary way for me to approach these debates without writing them off entirely, which is an approach i strongly disagree with. however, if someone i trust tells me that you are a predator or that you knowingly associate with one, i will not vote for you under any circumstances.

plan texts: if yours is written poorly or intentionally vaguely, i will likely be sympathetic to neg arguments about how to interpret what it means/does. neg teams should press this issue more often

planless affs: i enjoy judging debates where the aff does not read a plan. idc if the aff does not "fiat" something as long as it is made clear to me how to resolve the aff's offense. i am very willing to vote on presumption in these debates and i yearn for more case debating

t-usfg/fw: not my favorite debates. voting record in these debates is starting to lean more and more aff, often because the neg does a poor job of convincing me that my ballot cannot resolve the aff's offense and aff teams are getting better at generating uniqueness. i am less interested in descriptive arguments about what debateis (for example, "debate is a game") and more interested in arguments about what debate ought to be. the answer to that can still be "a game" but can just as likely be something else.

k thoughts: not very good for euro pomo stuff (deleuze, bataille, etc) but good for anything else. big fan of the cap k when it's done well (extremely rare), even bigger hater of the cap k when it's done poorly (almost every time). if reading args about queerness or transness, avoid racism. i don't mind link ev being somewhat generic if it's applied well. obviously the more specific the better, but don't be that worried if you don't have something crazy specific. i think "links of omission" can be persuasive sources of offense. for the aff, saying the text of a perm without explaining how it ameliorates links does not an argument make

theory: please make sure you're giving me pen time here. i am probably more likely than most to vote on theory arguments, but they are almost always a reason to reject the arg and not the team (obvi does not apply to condo). that being said, you need a warrant for "reject the arg not the team" rather than just saying that statement. not weirdly ideological about condo (i will vote on it)

counterplans/competition: a perm text without an explanation of how it disproves the competitiveness of the counterplan is not a complete argument. by default, i will judge kick the cp if the neg loses it and evaluate the squo as well. aff, if you don't want me to do that, tell me not to

lastly, i try to watch for clipping. if you clip, it's an auto-loss. the other team does not have to call you out on it, but i am much more comfortable voting against a team for clipping if the issue is raised by the other team with evidence provided. if i clear you multiple times and the card text you're reading is still incomprehensible, that's clipping. ethics challenges should be avoided at all costs, but if genuine academic misconduct occurs in a debate i will approach the issue seriously and carefully

avoid saying slurs you shouldn't be saying or you'll automatically lose

Paradigm

Email: Krousekevin1@gmail.com

Background:

Coaching:
Olathe North Assistant Debate Coach (2024-present) - Policy Debate
Simpson College Assistant Debate Coach (2024-present) - LD focus
Olathe East Assistant Debate and Forensics Coach (2017-2024) - Policy and LD focus

Debate experience:
4 years competing in Policy and LD in High School
3 years competing in College Parli debate (NPTE/NPDA circuit)

If you only read one thing on this paradigm, it should be my thoughts below on extending arguments:

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 (see above paragraph) 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/offense 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!

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 (ESPEICALLY IF THEY ARENT IN THE DOC). 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 and generate offense against the resolution. I wish negs going for framework did more work explaining how the TVA articulated is sufficient instead of just reading their blocks with random TVAs v K aff, these debates are often shallow and too generic. I think being in the direction of the resolution makes the debate considerably easier for the aff as opposed to a full rejection of the topic, but I've voted for both a decent amount. 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.

Document sharing:

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.

Ev Quality:

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. I don't go back and thoroughly re-read every piece of evidence after the round unless it is a card that has become a key point of contestation.

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.

add me to the email chain alexmc.debate@gmail.com

General Thoughts:

1. Be respectful.

2. You do you, read what you want and debate how you want.

3. !!! Judge instruction + impact calc in the 2nr/2ar is the best way to get me to vote for you. What does an aff/neg ballot look like? What does winning x argument mean for how I evaluate the round? These are the types of questions I want answered in the 2nr/2ar. Being ahead on some part of the flow is cool but not telling me what that means for how I evaluate the round may result in you being disappointed when I decide who won the debate based on my interpretation of what those claims mean for the debate rather than what you think they mean. Dropped arguments don't automatically mean you win the debate if impact framing or something can negate my need to evaluate that argument.

4. Offense is everything - if you win a substantive piece of offense in the debate there is a high likelihood that you win the round. No aff offense in the 2ar means I vote negative on presumption. Arguments needs warrants.

The Specifics:

Topicality / Theory - I default to competing interpretations. Most theory arguments outside of condo are a reason to reject the arg unless I'm told otherwise. I don't think RVI's are much of a thing unless something egregious occurs.

CP/DA - Perms are just a test of competition. All your cheating counterplans are fine but be ready to defend their legitimacy in the debate. I find world of the aff versus world of the neg framing especially helpful in these debates.

Kritiks- I want a clear link in the 2nr. If you think I shouldn't evaluate the implementation of the aff, the justifications need to be clearly outlined and you need to do impact calc on fw.

K Affs / Framework - I heavily lean towards fairness as an internal link, not an independent impact. I can be convinced otherwise but will likely need more impact explanation and comparison in the 2nr. Switch sides should have a unique reason it's good rather than solves fairness while only linking to aff offense half the time.

K v K - I find ethos can more heavily influence my decisions in these debates, I'm not a huge fan of conditional ethics. Ultimately if you engage in good faith debate you should be fine.

Hayden '22

KU '26

Add me to the email chain:

Smcconnell.debate@gmail.com

TLDR: I've gone for a mix of policy and critical arguments. I don't have preferences about what you read. Just do what you do well.

Speed is fine---Slow down for analytics and give some pen time

Unique strategies and in-depth explanation = Increased Speaks

Tech>Truth, but truth is a tiebreaker

Impact calc is good

LD/PF Note:

I did LD a few times in high school, but don't know too much about the event.

I've never done or judged PF, but know the basic structure.

This means I don't really have any preconceived notions about these events, so you have to explain how I evaluate certain arguments in the round.

Just debate your best and I will try to adjudicate the debate my best.

If you have any questions just ask!

me

she/her. debating @ the university of kansas. debated at lawrence free state. coaching @ lawrence free state and barstow. aaronjpersinger@gmail.com. put me on the chain! have it sent before at or before start time, please and thanks.

tldr

i do not care what you read or how you read it; you should debate how you've invested in whatever way you desire. that said, my debate and academic experiences are almost exclusively critical and inform how i think about debates.

big-picture rebuttals, clear judge instruction, and robust impact calculus matter far more to me than small technical issues. i will flow and pay attention to concessions, but typically find it easier to resolve debates when the final rebuttals center on framing key issues in the debate as meta-filters for weighing offense/defense.

all of my specific takes and predispositions are malleable with good debating. if you have questions about specific things, you're free to reach out or ask before the debate!

policy

i learned how to debate in kansas and have spent my fair share of time thinking about stock issues and counterplans and disads. i coach teams that exclusively say policy things on the aff and neg. do with that information what you will.

my threshold for voting for dropped arguments has increased with the trend of teams not properly extending their affs/impacts to disads. yes do work on the line-by-line, but explain impacts and solvency mechanisms as you do it. i will not vote on things that you don't extend as a complete argument.

k

i have spent most of my debate career reading arguments about/in the veins of trans studies, queer theory, black feminism, anti-capitalism, sex work, and embodiment. i love good k debates, but really dislike bad ones that result from overadaptation.

i walk into debates with the assumption that the aff gets to weigh the plan and its consequences, and the neg gets links to all facets of the aff, including performance, affect, representations, etc. framework matters a lot to me and should be used to guide judge instruction if you want me to change the above assumptions.

link texture is good and helps tremendously in close debates...examples, framing arguments, turns case arguments, etc.

random qualms and notes:

---clarity and flow time are a must. i flow on my computer, but that certainly does not mean you should spread through blocks or trade clarity for speed.

---partner prompting makes it extremely difficult for me to flow...please just talk at me if you're the one doing the prompting, even if it's not your speech (i am going to flow you regardless). that said, excessive prompting is bad and will (circumstantially) tank your speaks.

---i don't like reading evidence at the end of debates...if you want me to read a piece of evidence you need to explain to me what i should be looking for and why it matters in your final rebuttal. read rehighlightings.

---treating cross ex like dead time makes me so so sad. it is a speech (that i will flow!) and is integral to argumentative and strategic developments that can easily flip a ballot...please use it to your advantage.

glhf!

he/him

blue valley west '23

UPenn '27 (not debating) (haven't debated since high school and have absolutely zero knowledge on the topic, so please over-explain)

assistant debate coach @ blue valley west

sakethsaipradhan@gmail.com

Top level:

I debated for 4 years at blue valley west - mostly k on the neg and a mix of policy and k on aff. I've been on both sides of policy vs k, k vs k, k vs fw, and policy vs policy (although not as much), so please read what YOU want to read and not what you think I want to hear. I will caution, though, that the extent of my familiarity with k literature is cap, set col, imperialism, security/militarism, afropess (mostly read up on Wilderson, Sexton, and Warren but never ran their arguments in a round), and some variations of IR (racial or fem). Anything beyond this will probably require more 2nc explanation than you'd like.

If I were to explain how I think you can win a debate in front of me in one sentence, it would be to execute the perfect balance between (a) macro-strategy + judge instruction (b) clash + line-by-line ACCORDING to the speech in the round.

T: Never an RVI. I usually lean towards competing interpretations being good, so if you go for a reasonability push, you need to thoroughly explain why the aff is "good" and why "good" is "good enough." As for the neg, a clear explanation of what and how the aff violates a word/phrase in the resolution through the 2NR is important to me. Both teams: be sure you understand your interpretations because T is an argument functionally grounded in definitional accuracy and author qualifications.

Counterplans: Clearly identify the net benefit in the block and explain how the counterplan solves the aff or some of the aff. I'm neutral on the textual v. functional competition debate, so take that as you will. I think the aff typically has two methods of winning the counterplan debate (a) [1] win aff key [2] win some sort of permutation (please not intrinsic) [3] explicitly answer each plank (b) theory.

Disads: I typically err on the side that there's a risk of the disad's internal link chain, unless the aff [1] wins some sort of top-level framing argument that "zeroes" the risk of the disad [2] or wins a thumper [3] or wins that the impact is functionally impossible. My only ask in these debates is that there's sufficient impact framing from both sides. Otherwise, everything is fair play.

Kritiks: A clear link to the aff - whether it be a criticism of scholarship, rhetoric, performance, representations, etc - is absolutely necessary. An explanation of how the alt solves the link(s), in my opinion, is what the core of block alt explanation should be. It's obvious when debaters run a K without reading and understanding the thesis the authors they use make, so please only read a K if you truly grasp the K's theory of power/thesis/etc. For the aff, depending on the type of K, I think a cohesive framework push and/or no link + permutation is the most reliable defense (and often successful when executed efficiently). Both teams: clash + explanation > blocks saturated with jargon. **If you're inclined to run suffering/death good, please know I have an extremely high threshold for these arguments**

K aff v. fw: These debates are simply a question of who's model of debate is better. I believe clash is uniquely critical in these debates, as they structure your ability to articulate how and why your model of debate is more accessible/better for education/etc. A good 2nr fleshes out the role of debate, its implications, and how those implications interact with the 1ar's disad to framework AND terminal impact. On the flip side, a good 2ar chooses between a counter-interpretation or impact turn to framework, sufficiently explains my role as a judge, and does top-level analysis on why their model of debate offers xyz advantages that outweigh the neg's terminal impact(s) to framework.

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to email me and/or ask before the round!

This is my first tournament on the IPR topic just fyi

I debated at Lansing High School for 4 years

I currently do speech and debate at Western Kentucky University

email: nik.schintgentf@gmail.com

they/them

Judge is weird and makes me feel old, so please use it sparingly if you don't want to call me nik.

\\ I have an apd which makes it difficult to hear spreading so I'm probably not the best judge if you wish to do that, im sorry. Either way, you can go slow or spread in front of me but on the chance that you do spread don't blitz through the tags so I can actually pick up what you're trying to put down - the same goes for analytics or the rebuttals - if you need me to write make it so I can hear it. I cleared people at the end of my career as a debater and I will clear you now.//

General

Be respectful towards you're opponents

I think pre-round disclosure is good

Judge Instruction is going to be the most important for me. I want to know why you win the debate and how. Do comparative analysis, should be able to explain your evidence and why it is better than theirs and why this one thing means the debate goes entirely in your favor. If you don't then that's on you and will probably require me to do more intervening on my part.

I'm not going to read the evidence unless you tell me to. Don't just insert a rehighlight - tell me why it proves the aff/neg thesis to be false and then prove where that is in the ev.

I'm open to pretty much any arg - I've never had a problem with too many but if you as a debater think ev is bad and can be violent or exclusionary then tell me why. My debate partner and I in highschool made arguments like this in highschool so I can find them compelling.

IK this doesn't have a lot in it but I have a lot of the same debate philosophy as Jam Hoffman, Azja Butler, Joshua Michael, Alaina Walberg, Nate Nys, and some other folks as they have greatly influenced my debate career

___________________________________________________

Tech/Truth

I always find myself to be tech over truth - unless you give me a reason not to be

Disadvantages

I like disadvantages and think the creative ones with a good link story end up winning my ballot the most. There are lots of tricks teams don't utilize enough, especially with ptx DAs. Do the impact calc and link work - you know.

Counterplans

I love counterplans and I don't feel like they get used creatively enough. I don't think a counterplan needs to solve for the entirety of the aff but you should have a reason why it doesn't need to.

Kritiks/K-Affs

I did K debate my last year of highschool reading Afro-Pessimism, Afro-Futurism, Vampiric Necropolitics, Taosim, Cap, Empire, and Ableism. I think the link debate is always important, you need to be able to answer questions like how does it link to the aff/topic? Impacts need to be impacted out- duh. You need to explain the alt/advocacy and how it resolves your impacts. Teams don't do this enough and just repeat the name of their alternative and other teams don't call them out enough on it.

T-FW/Framework

I don't think the negative spends enough time trying to frame aff offense out of the debate and that causes the negative to lose lots of rounds. Same goes for the aff, there are sometimes just lots of easily conceded arguments that can cause you to immediately lose the debate. I find these debates become extremely messy and make following very difficult so please keep it organized.

Topicality

A lot of the same stuff on T-FW applies over here. T violations are better when they are carded and I don't see people answering we meets well enough

MISC.

Clipping is an academic malpractice and will result in a loss and low speaks.

Same with slurs, etc.

I've noticed I have lots of feedback sometimes, especially for novices, so I'm sorry if you do not like that. Sometimes my writing tone can come off as mean or passive aggressive, I pinkie promise its not.

Email chain: lfsdebate@gmail.com

Who Am I: I debated four years at Field Kindley High School in Coffeyville, KS, did not debate in college, and have been an assistant coach at Lawrence Free State High School in Lawrence, KS since 2013. I have a Master's degree in International Relations.

General Approach: Tell me what I should be voting on and why. If you want me to evaluate the round differently than they do, then you need to win a reason why your framework or paradigm is the one that I should use. If no one does that, then I'll default to a policymaker paradigm. I don't view offense and defense as an either/or proposition, but if you do then I prefer offense.

Standard Operating Procedure: (How I will evaluate the round unless one of the teams wins that I should do something different) The affirmative has a non-severable duty to advocate something resolutional, and that advocacy must be clear and stable. The goal of the negative is to prove that the affirmative's advocacy is undesirable, worse than a competitive alternative, or theoretically invalid. I default to evaluating all non-theory arguments on a single plane, am much more willing to reject an argument than a team, and will almost always treat dropped arguments as true.

Mechanics: (I'm not going to decide the round on these things by themselves, but they undeniably affect my ability to evaluate it)

• Signposting - Please do this as much as possible. I'm not just talking about giving a roadmap at the start of each speech or which piece of paper you're talking about during the speech, but where on the line-by-line you are and what you're doing (i.e. if you read a turn, call it a turn).
• Overviews - These are helpful for establishing your story on that argument, but generally tend to go on too long for me and seem to have become a substitute for specific line-by-line work, clash, and warrant extension. I view these other items as more productive/valuable ways to spend your time.
• Delivery - I care way more about clarity than speed; I have yet to hear anybody who I thought was clear enough and too fast. I'll say "clear" if you ask me to, but ultimately the burden is on you. Slowing down and enunciating for tags and analytics makes it more likely that I'll get everything.
• Cross Examination - Be polite. Make your point or get an answer, then move on. Don't use cross-ex to make arguments.
• Prep Time - I don't think prep should stop until the flash drive comes out of your computer or the email is sent, but I won't police prep as long as both teams are reasonable.

Argumentation: (I'll probably be fine with whatever you want to do, and you shouldn't feel the need to fundamentally change your strategy for me. These are preferences, not rules.)

• Case - I prefer that you do case work in general, and think that it's under-utilized for impact calc.  Internal links matter.
• CPs/DAs - I prefer specific solvency and link cards (I'm sure you do, too), but generics are fine provided you do the work.
• Framework - I prefer that framework gets its own page on the flow, and that it gets substantive development beyond each side reading frontlines at each other/me.
• Kritiks - I prefer that there is an alternative, and that you either go for it or do the work to explain why you win anyway. "Reject the Aff." isn't an alternative, it's what I do if I agree with the alternative. I don't get real excited about links of omission, so some narrative work will help you here.
• Performance - I prefer that you identify the function of the ballot as clearly and as early as possible.
• Procedurals - I prefer that they be structured and that you identify how the round was affected or altered by what the other team did or didn't do.
• Theory - I prefer that theory gets its own page on the flow, and that it gets substantive development beyond each side reading frontlines at each other/me.
• Topicality - I prefer that teams articulate how/why their interpretation is better for debate from a holistic perspective. TVAs and/or case lists are good. My least favorite way to start an RFD is, "So, I think the Aff. is topical, but also you're losing topicality."

Miscellaneous: (These things matter enough that I made a specific section for them, and will definitely be on my mind during the round.)

• I'm not planning to judge kick for you, but have no problem doing so if that instruction is in the debate.  The Aff. can object, of course.
• Anybody can read cards, good analysis and strategic decision-making are harder to do and frequently more valuable.
• Individual pages on the flow do not exist in a vacuum, and what is happening on one almost certainly affects what is happening on another.
• Comparative impact calculus. Again, comparative impact calculus.
• You may not actually be winning every argument in the round; acknowledging this in your analysis and telling me why you win anyway is a good thing.
• Winning an argument is not the same thing as winning the round on an argument. If you want to win the round on an argument you've won or are winning, take the time to win the round on it.
• The 2NR and 2AR are for making choices, you only have to win the round once.
• I will read along during speeches and will likely double back to look at cards again, but I don't like being asked to read evidence and decide for myself. If they're reading problematic evidence, yours is substantively better, etc., then do that work in the debate.

Zen: (Just my thoughts, they don't necessarily mean anything except that I thought them.)

• Debate is a speaking game, where teams must construct logically sound, valid arguments to defend, while challenging the same effort from their opponents.
• It's better to be more right than the other team than more clever.
• A round is just a collection of individual decisions. If you make the right decisions more often than not, then you'll win more times than you lose.

I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Blue Valley West Assistant Debate Coach

Email chain: tanmansmith5@gmail.com

If you have any questions before or after the round you can email or just ask me!

Update for Waru:

I spent the whole summer in Canada so I don't have a lot of topic specific knowledge for early season rounds. So bear with me and maybe cut down on the topic specific jargon a tad.

Big Picture:

I've had quite a bit of experience with debate over the years so I'm cool with whatever you want to throw out. I have more experience with some arguments than others (see below) but am willing to vote on just about anything. The only thing I will not vote on is things that are racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. Other than that do whatever you want. When I debated I tended to be more tech>truth but I can be convinced otherwise if you warrant it out. Be kind to everyone and you will be just fine.

Also please drop arguments as the round goes on. The 2NR should pick one (or maybe 2 at most) arguments to go for. What those arguments are are completely up to you.

Delivery:

Speed is great and I loved going fast when I debated. If you could slow down on tags, theory, analytics, and a bit for rebuttals I would appreciate it. I would also love the speech doc if you are going to go fast.

Framing:

I will vote how you tell me to. Prove why your framing is better for debate and warrant out why your model is better. I'm a big believer in being told why voting a specific way is good for not just debate but for how we look at the world outside of debate. Prove why your way of thinking is better and I'll probably vote for you.

DAs:

I prefer specific links but I also get that sometimes you just need a bad politics DA. This is where I've got the most experience so read as many as you want. If I am going to vote on a DA though make sure it either outweighs or turns the case.

CPs:

These are great so read them. I love Advantage CPs in conjunction with a DA but read whatever you want. Condo is always up for debate but I tend to think that condo is good unless proven otherwise. Process CPs are fine unless you convince me otherwise. Consult and CPs like that are probably cheating unless you have some really good theory.

T:

I default to competing interpretations but can be convinced of reasonability. Maybe slow down a bit for T in the rebuttals but I am receptive to T if you want to run it.

K/K Affs:

I have run Cap K and am familiar with the more generic Ks (Cap, Security, Militarism, Imperialism, etc.). I will vote on any K but assume if it is not one of the above mentioned you need to do some more explaining. I will also vote for K affs although I also don't have a lot of experience in that regard.

Random Notes:

For some reason I have spent a lot of my debate career running SPARK so I am probably about as receptive to SPARK as any judge you will ever find.

Debate is an activity that should be fun so if you have an argument that will make the round fun/more entertaining I would be excited to hear it.

Final Note — If you tell me a joke before the round I'll give you a small boost in your speaker points. Like I said, debate should be fun and I like rewarding people for reading my paradigm!

He/him/his. wsoper03@gmail.com

I am the debate coach at Manhattan High School. I did NDT/CEDA debate for four years at the University of Kansas. I worked at both the Michigan and Kansas debate camps this summer and I've judged a lot of debates on the topic.

Kansas Swings Update: I have not judged any debates on the college topic. I am a full-time high school coach and I judge a lot, just not on the college topic.

I am a better judge for topic-specific, evidence-based arguments. ASPEC, counterplans that compete off of certainty and immediacy, and impact turns which argue large portions of the population should die are examples of common arguments which are not persuasive to me.

Clarity. Clarity is very important to me. I flow on my computer in an excel spreadsheet BUT I do not have the speech document pulled up when the debate is happening. If I don't understand you, I will not vote for your argument.

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. The best final rebuttals mention the author names of key pieces of evidence and spend time comparing the evidence both teams have on crucial issues.

Presumption/Vagueness. I am willing to (and have) voted negative on vagueness and that the affirmative has not met its stock issues burdens.

Plan text in a vacuum. I think there are two ways the negative can demonstrate a topicality violation. 1. Explaining why the affirmative's plan text does not meet the specific requirement set by the interpretation or 2. referencing a CX where the affirmative clearly committed to a mandate of their plan.
The plan text is the focus of the debate. If you think the affirmative's solvency advocate or advantages describe something other than their plan text, that is a solvency argument, not a topicality argument.

Biggest issues in my decisions on the IP topic.
1. If you are going for a kritik, you need to contest the case OR overwhelmingly win an explicit framework argument that tells me the consequences of the plan shouldn't matter.

Contesting the case doesn't necessarily mean reading impact defense or traditional solvency arguments, but you should explain why winning your link arguments disprove or turn aff advantages. For example, if you read a China threat K with links about the plan's China war advantage, your 2NR should also include some defense to the aff's other advantage(s), provided the aff extended any of those.

Neg framework interpretations which tell me to totally ignore the consequences of the plan are an uphill battle in front of me. You are almost always better off telling me why the aff's advantages are incorrect and arguing that your impacts of the kritik outweigh, rather than telling me to ignore the aff.

2. The topic seems very big and every aff seems very confusing. This has been my biggest coaching challenge this year. I will reward specific strategies and case debating with higher speaker points. Update: I am serious about this. I will give high 29s if a majority of the negative speech time is spent discussing specific problems with the affirmative case.

3. I am not a great judge for planless affirmatives. If you plan on reading a planless affirmative, I should be lower on your pref sheet. It's not that I hate them, I just really struggle to understand the aff's answers topicality, presumption, or even "why should we negate your affirmative"-style arguments. In every debate I judge, I will attempt to make a decision based on the arguments in the debate and provide educational feedback, regardless of the type of affirmative you read.

4. I am extremely anti-prompting/"parroting" your partner. Past the first time, I will not flow any argument that a person not giving the speech prompts the speaker to make. I think that's the most fair way I can discourage the practice.

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.

You're welcome to ask me questions after the debate or email me if you have questions or concerns about my decision.

Former debater in high school (Washburn Rural '04) and college (Emporia State '08)

Former Direct of Speech & Debate 2009-2024 (Hutchinson High, BV North, Free State)

*Please add me to the email chain if one exists: kmikethompson@gmail.com

tl;dr

I will do my best to answer any questions that you have before the debate.

-I do not know anything about this topic - not coaching, haven't done any research - adapt accordingly

-I don't care how fast you talk, but I do care how clear you talk. I'm unlikely to clear you but it will be obvious if I can't understand you because I won't be flowing and I communicate non-verbally probably more than most other judges. This is particularly relevant in online debate.

-I don't care what arguments you read, but I do care whether you are making arguments, responding to opposition arguments, and engaging in impact calculus throughout the debate. Conducting impact calculus without talking about your opponent's impacts isn't impact calculus, in my opinion.

-I don't care what aff you read, if you defend a plan, or if you debate on the margins of the topic, but I do care if you have offensive justifications for your decisions, and if you solve the problem(s) you've isolated.

-If you're reading generic link arguments or CP solvency cards - it will matter a great deal how well you can contextual that generic evidence to the specific affirmative plan.

-I think teams should be willing to go for theory more.

Some top level thoughts:

1) "New in the 2" is bad for debate. Barring an affirmative theoretical objection - I'll evaluate your arguments and not intervene despite my bias. But, if the other team makes an argument about it - I will disregard all new positions read in the negative block.

2) People should assume their opponent's are winning some arguments in the last rebuttals. A decision to assume you're winning everything nearly guarantees that you are incorrect and minimizes the likelihood that you're doing relevant impact calculus. I really think "even-if" statements are valuable for final rebutalists.

Topicality- I really enjoy T debates, I think competing interpretations is probably true and find reasonability arguments to be uncompelling almost always.; If you're not topical you should have an offensive reason that you're not. If you are topical then you should win why your vision of the resolution is superior to the negatives.

**Having zero topic knowledge makes T a double edged sword - I'm less likely to default to whatever the community consensus might be; but I'm also likely to be more difficult to persuade of arbitrary distinctions which would require me to have some understanding of aff and neg ground on the topic.

Critiques- K debaters tend to spend an extraordinary amount of time on their link arguments, but no time on explaining how the alternative resolves them. Affirmatives tend to concede K tricks too often. My recommendation would be for your side of the debate to avoid these pitfalls.

Counterplans - I like smart, aff specific counter plans more than generic, topic type counter plans. No topic knowledge probably makes permutations more compelling, but who knows.

Critical affs - I ran primarily K affs in college eons ago. I have coached teams who have read K affs. I have judged many debate rounds where K affs have been read. I think I'm pretty middle of the road and am around equally likely to vote for one or not. I am probably an easier sell on a carded or well explained Neg TVA on Framework than many other judges.

I am in my 8th year of debate. Fourth year in college at Kansas (NDT ‘24), four years prior at Lawrence Free State. I coach at Shawnee Mission East. I have judged close to 200 debates in my short 3.5 year tenure of judging.

Please add both: jwilkus1@gmail.com and smedocs@googlegroups.com. I am not a fan of SpeechDrop or Doc Share, and would prefer an email chain.

Last Updated: December 16th, 2024.

General:

Debate is a technical game. Any argument is at play as long as it is complete. This means I could care less if you go for the K, read a plan, or force me to evaluate a highly technical counterplan competition debate.

Arguments are complete when they contain a claim, warrant, and impact. I have a higher threshold for "completeness" than most. Arguments made or extended without a reason, or without comparison to your opponent's arguments, are not complete and matter less than those that are. This applies equally to "answered" and "dropped" arguments---repeating the statement "x was dropped" 50 times does not make it true, but extending it with a warrant and implicating it in the debate does.

I am a policy debater at heart---I almost always go for a DA and/or CP. I very rarely go for the K, and always defend a plan. I've been in a lot of clash debates, but that does not mean I am subject matter expert in them.

I care a lot about this activity, and know you likely do as well. That means I will try my hardest to render the most accurate decision even in debates I am the most uncomfortable. I don't care about clout, number of TOC bids, or anything in between. I do care about clear, concise, and technical debating.

That means I will try to give as thorough feedback as possible, and I implore you to ask me as many questions as you want. If you disagree with the decision, let's talk about why. If you were unsure about an argument in the debate, let's talk about how to answer it in the future.

I tend to find the link of any argument to be far more important than any other part of the debate. Whether its a DA, K, or T argument, identifying why the AFF does or does not do something tends to be central to how I write my decisions---I've made many, many decisions precisely on the link, or lack thereof.

Procedure:

I flow on paper, and will have my computer half-shut. I will not actively look at the speech document during the debate unless a card being read peaks my interest. This means pen time is a must. Spreading full speed into your computer means I will likely miss things. If you choose not to slow down, I will feel no remorse for missing things.

I will attempt to line up arguments on my flow, but will resort to flowing straight down when that becomes impossible to ensure I write down everything. Teams that make this easier will receive high speaks, those that don't will receive low speaks.

I will open my computer during CX to write down the questions and answers in a notepad document, transcribing the wording as directly as possible.

At tournaments where oral RFDs are the norm, I will write my RFD on paper and only very limited comments or notes on the Tabroom ballot, and give my RFD based on what I wrote down. At tournaments where I am unable to give an oral RFD, I will write a thorough RFD and comments on the Tabroom ballot.

In close debates, I will re-inscribe the important parts of the 2NR/2AR onto a separate piece of paper. On this paper, I will write the implications of and answers to each point, and begin to construct my decision based on each minute part of the debate and my understanding of it. I will likely take until decision time in these debates.

In all other debates, where there are pretty clear pieces of offense being dropped or there is a clear winner, I will quickly write my RFD and give it as soon as possible after the 2AR to maximize time for questions.

Topicality vs. Policy AFFs:

Reasonability is meaningless. Go for an interpretation that includes your AFF, and has offense that outweighs the NEG's.

Vague plans that barely modify the language of the resolution frustrate me. You can win on plan text in a vacuum, but your speaks will drastically improve if you go for something else.

Specificity matters---you shouldn't just describe your impact as "so many AFFs based on this mechanism" or "so many DAs we cannot read", but instead about specific arguments your opponent's interpretation removes. I care far more about 1-2 good pieces of NEG ground lost, or 1-2 strategic AFFs lost, than blanket statements without contextualization.

Topicality vs. Planless AFFs:

Fairness can be an impact. So can clash. I am agnostic to which is better.

I find AFF teams that go for a tricky counter-interpretation intended to solve NEG offense, with a small bit of differential offense, to be far more persuasive than broad impact turns to T.

I find NEG teams that go for a unique, contextualized TVA far more persuasive than any switch side debate argument. Just reading a TVA alone is insufficient, it must be explained in a way that both accesses an in-road to AFF discussions and attempt to solve the AFFs impacts.

I find technical concessions in these debates mattering far more than big picture, framing questions---if the NEG has dropped the "small schools DA" or the AFF has dropped "T is a procedural, means case cannot outweigh"---extend it, explain it, and implicate it to their strategy.

Disadvantages:

Turns case matters the most to me---both "impact turns case" and "link turns case". I end up finding myself concluding close debates based on mishandled turns case arguments. Likewise, I find AFF turns the DA equally persuasive.

Politics is dead, but no one acts like it. Just finding a single card about some piece of legislation, attaching a "plan decks PC" card, and a generic democracy impact does not meet the burden of proof. Politics DAs about legislation being actively debating, where the president or speaker of the house is taking an active role in negotiations, are far more persuasive.

It frustrates me that these don't exist on the IPR topic. It equally frustrates me that we continue selecting high school debate topics without ensuring there is adequate and balanced AFF and NEG ground. If you write a DA intrinsic to the AFF or the topic, and go for it in front of me, your speaks will reflect it.

Counterplans:

Process CPs bore me, but I understand their necessity. I'd prefer if the counterplan competed off of words unique to the resolution rather than "should is immediate and certain".

I think perm do the CP is far more persuasive and defensible than an intrinsic perm---find reasons the CP is not functionally competitive, and extend those, rather than defending an arbitrary, unjustifiable argument.

Competition is not topicality, and "the AFF is certain for DAs but not for CPs" is a defensible statement. I find the question of how could the AFF be implemented to be distinct from what should AFFs look like.

Theory is usually a reason to reject the argument, not the team. That doesn't mean you shouldn't extend it if you are winning it, but it equally means you shouldn't proliferate theory arguments and go for whatever was under covered. Proliferating bad arguments does not improve your chance of victory.

Kritiks:

I find 2NRs that go for framework to be far more persuasive than those that go for the alternative. I personally believe the AFF ought to weigh the plan, but so many debaters are horrendous at defending why.

I find the link turn and permutation to be a more persuasive AFF strategy than the impact turn. I think if the AFF can be in the direction of the alternative, or can resolve portions of NEG offense, then it is likely the permutation can overcome the links to the plan.

Performative contradictions matter a lot to me---they are not reasons to reject the team, but basically zero the chance I think you can win a reps argument.

AFF specific links > topic generic links > the USFG is bad > the theory of power is a link.

Case:

The more time you spend on case, the better. My ideal 1NC is a single DA, a single CP, and 5.5 minutes of case. But this is high school policy debate so I know I will never get that.

I find case debating that is just impact defense to be woefully insufficient. Solvency deficits, internal link defense, or analytics of any kind go a long way.

Live Laugh Love Debate

zwillingham04@gmail.com

Washburn Rural '22

University of Kansas '26

Assistant for Washburn Rural

General Thoughts

I’m studying math and environmental engineering. I don’t know much about intellectual property.

Debate is a technical game of strategy. If you debate more technically and more strategically, you will likely win. Read whatever and however you like. Any style or argument can win if executed well enough or if answered poorly enough. I don’t believe judges should have any predetermined biases for any argument. Dropped arguments are true.

I am operating under the assumption that you have put in considerable effort to be here and you want to win. I will try to put reciprocal effort into making an objective decision unless you have done something to indicate those assumptions are incorrect.

Nothing you say or do will offend me, but lack of respect for your opponents will not be tolerated.

My background is very policy-oriented. I strategically chose to talk about cyber-security instead of criminal justice and water resources. The best argument is always the one that wins. Do what you are best at.

My favorite part about debate is the way different arguments interact with each other across different pages. The way to beat faster and more technical teams is to make smart cross-applications and concessions.

Except for the 2AR, what is "new" is up for debate. Point out your opponent's new arguments and explain why they are not justified.

Evidence is very important. I only read cards after the debate if the issue has been contested. A dropped card is still dropped even if it is trash. Quality > Quantity. I do not see any strategic utility in reading multiple the cards that say the same thing. Card dumping is effective when each card has unique warrants.

Cross-ex is very important. Use it to set up your strategy, not to clarify what cards were skipped. I appreciate it when the final rebuttals quote lines from cross-ex/earlier speeches. Cross ex about things that will be relevant to the 2NR and 2AR.

I do not want to hear a prepped out ethics violation. Tell the team before the round.

I do not want to hear an argument about something that happened outside of the round.

Rehighlightings can be inserted as long as you explain what the rehighlighting says. I see it as more specific evidence comparison.

Argument Specific

Topicality:

Your interpretation is the tag of your definition. If there is any discrepancy between the tag and the body of the card, that is a precision indict but not a reason the aff meets.

Counterplans:

I enjoy quality competition debates. I like tricky perms. Put the text in the doc.

"Links less" makes sense to me for certain disads, but makes it harder for the net benefit to outweigh the deficit. Perm do both is probabilistic. Perm do the counterplan is binary.

If a perm has not been extended, solvency automatically becomes a net benefit.

Most theory arguments are a reason to reject the argument, not the team. I will not reject the team even on a dropped theory argument unless there is a coherent warrant for why it would not be enough to only reject the argument.

I will only judge kick (without being told) if it has been established that conditionality is good.

Advantages/Disadvantages:

Most scenarios are very construed. Logical analytical arguments can substantially mitigate them. I do not like it when the case debate in the 1NC is only impact defense.

Punish teams for reading new impacts in the 2AC and block.

Extinction means the end of the species. Most impacts do not rise to this threshold. Point it out.

"Try or die" or similar impact framing is very persuasive when executed properly. If the negative doesn't extend a counterplan or impact defense, they are likely to lose.

Zero risk is possible if your opponent has entirely dropped an argument and the implication of that argument is that the scenario is 0. However, I can be convinced that many arguments, even when dropped, do not rise to that level.

Kritiks v Policy Affs:

I will determine which framework interpretation is better and use that to evaluate the round. I will not adopt a middle ground combination of both interpretations unless someone has convinced me that is the best option (which it usually is).

Make it very explicit what the win condition is for you if you win framework. Only saying "The 1AC is an object of research" does not tell me how I determine the winner.

If the K is just one of many off case positions and the block reads a bunch of new cards, the 1AR probably gets to say any new thing they want.

Perm double bind makes a lot of sense to me. The negative needs a reason why the plan and alt are mutually exclusive, a reason why the inclusion of the plan makes the alt insolvent, or framework offense the perm can’t resolve (this is your best bet).

Planless Affs:

All affirmatives should endorse a departure from the status quo.

I do not like it when the 1AC says X is bad, the 1NC says X is good, and the 2AC says no link.

Things to boost speaks, but won't affect wins and losses

Give final rebuttals off paper.

Number/subpoint arguments.

Impact turn whenever you can. Straight turn every disad if you're brave. I love chaos, but the final rebuttals better be resolving things.

Good wiki and disclosure practices.

Don't read arguments that can be recycled every year.

Stand up for cross-ex right when the timer ends. Send docs quickly. Preferably in the last few seconds of their speech.

Make jokes. Have fun. Respect your opponents. Good-natured insults can be funny but read the room.

Pretty speech docs. I will subconsciously judge you need for bad formatting.

Debate with integrity. Boo cheapshots. It is better to lose with honor, than win by fraud.

LD

I’ve never had the privilege of sitting through an entire LD round so if there is specific vocabulary I am not in the loop. Assume I have minimal topic knowledge.

Tell me why you access their offense, why it is the most important thing, and why they don’t access their offense. Be strategic.

Answer your opponent’s arguments explicitly. I want to hear “They say x, but y because z”.

he/him, sophomore at Columbia in New York, debated 4 yrs at Blue Valley West at KDC/Open and DCI/Nat Cir

add to email chain: kx2203@columbia.edu

T/L:

Please be nice (to me, the other team, and please don't forget your partner), have fun, and talk about stuff you're passionate about

• This activity can be toxic but we'll all have a more enjoyable time if this round isn't

• I'm fine evaluating any arg as long as it's not racist, homophobic, sexist, otherwise offensive — you will lose if it is

Haven't judged or done any research about this year's topic or its "norms" besides the very brief stuff Nargis/other friends have mentioned

If you use some funny analogy or joke, I might boost your speaks

Not gonna go into too much detail but please ask about anything you might be curious abt

Biggest debate influence/inspo: Brandon Yao (he made me write this)

General:

Please do clear signposting (love numbered arguments they tickle my brain correctly), line by line, and judge instruction

Obviously feel free to spread BUT clarity and efficiency > speed, please don't become an incomprehensible spreading mess or CLIP

• It'll be better for both of us if you slow down for analytics, tags, anything you want to emphasize

• Haven't watched a debate in like a year so do with that info what you will (be extra clear and explain please)

• Grouping and cross-applying arguments is strategic, efficient, and something I will make particular note of when giving speaks

Make sure to actually properly extend args to carry them throughout a round — this is something I feel like I take particular note of

• Don't just say "extend 1AC 1" or "extend Blessing 22", please extend warrants + impacts too or else your evidence loses value

• From experience, you can win a lot of debates against a lot of really good teams by mentioning when they don't extend warrants, impacts, etc

Policy:

Was mostly a policy debater (esp on aff)

I find T to be underused by the neg, especially because I've witnessed so many 1ARs just completely fumble on it if the neg spends even a couple minutes on it in the block

• I'm coming in with no idea what the "consensus" about topical affs has become

• Please don't just re-read your same blocks over and over, these debates still need progression w/ clash, impacts, etc

Link chains are super important obviously

• Ev quality > quantity (when explained well), esp when it comes to disads (where link chains are often suspicious)

Rare massive ptx disad fan

• Plz don't rely only on months old UQ cards from camp

• I think smart, informed analytics can go a long way (e.g.: just analytically naming a bunch of thumpers)

• Been super into polling/election modeling/tracking/random election stuff my whole life

• Will always appreciate some interesting or unique DAs — I cut a lot of uncommon PTX DAs and hated when judges would be skeptical of them

Impact calc/sufficiency framing analysis!!!!!

• Impact turns, DA O/W and turns case, case O/W and turns DA, etc, love that stuff

Do I believe presumption/absolute defense is a thing? Probably, but you might have a harder time convincing me of 0 risk than others

Can go either way on judge kick if instructed

Not the most proficient theory judge, warrant out reject arg vs reject team

• I will say I find the aff defending like 2 condo and neg defending like 3 condo slightly silly and arbitrary but do what you gotta do

K:

I ran Ks semi-frequently in HS and deal with critical theory (mostly postcolonialism/orientalism) a good amount in college.

Don't let that prevent you from explaining everything and how all your arguments interact on the K flow. I'm going to know a lot more than a lay judge but I don't want to misevaluate the contents of a kritical argument after not understanding it due to a lack of explanation, especially on the alt level or with more high theory or less common Ks

Don't really care what you run for the most part, just explain it and how it interacts with the aff

I think I tend to be more swayed by args about root cause/alts or links turning case than "you link you lose", but either way can win depending on what happens

I might tend to be more skeptical of the perm than some other judges

Aff please don't randomly drop framework, especially not in the 2ac, I've seen it happen too many times

Overall, big fan, found myself loving K debates more and more throughout high school and ran one basically every neg round senior year