Judge Philosophies
Abel Chavez - Butte
n/a
Abel Urena - SJSU
n/a
Adam Mitchell - Solano CC
n/a
Adilene Banuelos - SJSU
n/a
Alex Balingit - SFSU
n/a
Alia Khan - MJC
n/a
Alondra Martinez - SJSU
n/a
Ameya Puranik - DVC
n/a
Anna Wolde - LPC
n/a
Annie Koruga - UC Berkeley
n/a
Ben Brogger - MJC
n/a
Bobby Rentfro - DVC
n/a
Branden Sandner - LPC
n/a
Brian Singer - Chabot
n/a
Casey Snell - SFSU
n/a
Christian Villanueva - Solano CC
n/a
Claire Willard - LPC
n/a
Daisy Guerreo - Solano CC
n/a
Destiny Riley - Chabot
n/a
Ethan Jennings - MJC
n/a
Frida Torres - Solano CC
n/a
Jason Sabbadini - DVC
n/a
Jasper Pacheco - St. Mary's
n/a
Josh Turnbull - MJC
n/a
Josue De Leon - Sacramento
n/a
Julia Irvine - Butte
n/a
Kaci Thornton - Santa Rosa
n/a
Keala Sexton - SJSU
n/a
Kyle Landrum - Butte
n/a
Kylie Duncan - SFSU
n/a
Luis Mora - St. Mary's
n/a
Maag Domingo - MJC
n/a
Madisen Wieland - Butte
n/a
Malika Amin Mirador - Solano CC
n/a
Mari Garcia - Sacramento
n/a
Marnie Singer - Chabot
n/a
Mason Crump - MJC
n/a
Matt Wood - CCSF
n/a
Michelle Yanez - Ohlone College
n/a
Mikaela Silva - Clovis
n/a
Neena Grewal - DVC
n/a
Rachel Oh - SJSU
n/a
Rob Boller - USFCA
What is your experience with Speech and Debate?
20+ yrs coaching and judging; mostly BP, Civic, and Parli. 25+ yrs teaching argumentation. Former high school debater a loooong time ago. Extensive experience with coaching and judging IEs + lots of performance stuff in my background.
What does your ideal debate round look like?
Well organized. Accessible to an average educated person. If my Dad couldn't follow you, or you'd make little sense in a courtroom or city council meeting, I'm not interested. Debate for debaters only is a silly game. My ideal round avoids spreading and speed at all costs and instead focuses on well fleshed out arguments with solid evidence/examples and warrants. I love good rebuttal and good manners. Finally remind me what your big picture ethical angle is and why you won the round.
Is there anything you would like the debaters in your round to know about your judging preferences?
Avoid debate jargon. Be nice to judges and fellow competitors. Don't be angry when you "lose"...its just the opinion of one person. Think about how you want civil discourse to be in the world and model it in your debates.
Ryan Guy - MJC
UPDATED: 11/13/5/2021
Ryan Guy
Modesto Junior College
Video Recording: I always have a webcam or DSLR with me. If you would like me to record your round and send it to you, check with your opponent(s) first, then ask me. I'll only do it if both teams want it, and default to uploading files as unlisted YouTube links and only sharing them with you on my ballot (I'll leave a short URL that will work once I am done uploading... typically 4n6URL.com/XXXX). This way no one ever has to bug me about getting video files.
Online Tournaments:I can screen capture the debate if you all want a copy of it, but like live recording I'll only do it if both folks ask me to.
Me:
- I was a NPDA debater at Humboldt State in the mid 2000s
- I've coached Parli, NFA-LD, IPDA and a little bit of BP, and CEDA since 2008.
- I teach courses in argumentation, debate, public speaking, etc
The Basics:
- In NFA-LD please post arguments you have run on the case list (https://nfald.paperlessdebate.com/)
- Use speechdrop.net to share files in NFA-LD and Policy debate rounds
- NOTE: If you are paper only you should have a copy for me and your opponent. Otherwise you will need to debate at a slower conversational pace so I can flow all your arguments. (I'm fine with faster evidence reading if I have a copy or you share it digitally).
- I'm fine with the a little bit of speed in NFA-LD and Parli but keep it reasonable or I might miss something.
- Procedurals / theory are fine but articulate the abuse
- I prefer policy-making to K debate. You should probably not run most Ks in front of me.
- I default to net-benefits criteria unless you tell me otherwise
- Please tell me why you think you are winning in your last speech
IPDA:
In IPDA I prefer that you signpost your arguments and follow a logical structure for advantages, disadvantages, contentions, counter-contentions etc. If it is a policy resolution you should probably fiat a plan action and argue why implementing it would be net-beneficial. I think it is generally abusive for the affirmative to not FIAT a plan in the 1AC if it is a resolution of policy. Please note the official IPDA textbook states the following about resolutions of policy "With a policy resolution, the affirmative must specify a plan that they will advocate during the debate. The plan of action should consist of at least four elements: agent, mandates, enforcement, and funding." (pg 134) (2016). International Public Debate Association Textbook (1st edition). Kendall Hunt Publishing.)
You get 30 minutes prep, you should cite sources and provide me with evidence. Arguments supported with evidence and good logic are more likely to get my ballot. I will vote on procedural arguments and other debate theory if it is run well in IPDA, but you should try to explain it a bit more conversationally than you would in other forms of debate. Try to use a little less jargon here. I flow IPDA just like I would any other form of debate. Please respond to each other and try not to drop arguments. A debate without clash is boring.
At its heart IPDA is a form of debate meant to be understood by non-debate audiences and skilled debater audiences alike.Argumentation still exists under this framework, but certain strategies like critical affirmatives, spreading, and complicated theory positions are probably better situated in other forms of debate.
General Approach to Judging:
I really enjoy good clash in the round. I like it when debaters directly engage with each other's arguments (with politeness and respect). From there you need to make your case to me. What arguments stand and what am I really voting on. If at the end of the round I'm looking at a mess of untouched abandoned arguments I'm going to be disappointed.
Organization is very important to me. Please road-map (OFF TIME) and tell me where you are going. I can deal with you bouncing around if necessary but please let me know where we are headed and where we are at. Unique tag-lines help too. As a rule I do not time road maps.
I like to see humor and wit in rounds. This does not mean you can/should be nasty or mean to each other. Avoid personal attacks unless there is clearly a spirit of joking goodwill surrounding them. If someone gets nasty with you, stay classy and trust me to punish them for it with speaks.
If the tournament prefers that we not give oral critiques before the ballot has been turned in I won't. If that is not the case I will as long as we are running on schedule. I'm always happy to discuss the round at some other time during the tournament.
Kritiques: I'm probably not the judge you want to run most K's in front of. In most formats of debate I don't think you can unpack the lit and discussion to do it well. If you wish to run Kritical arguments I'll attempt to evaluate them as fairly as I would any other argument in the round.I have not read every author out there and you should not assume anyone in the round has. Make sure you thoroughly explain your argument. Educate us as you debate. You should probably go slower with these types of positions as they may be new to me, and I'm very unlikely to comprehend a fast kritik.
Weighing: Please tell me why you are winning. Point to the impact level of the debate. Tell me where to look on my flow. I like overviews and clear voters in the rebuttals. The ink on my flow (or pixels if I'm in a laptop mood) is your evidence. Why did you debate better in this round? Do some impact calculus and show me why you won.
Speed: Keep it reasonable. In limited prep formats (IPDA / NPDA) speed tends to be a mistake, but you can go a bit faster than conversational with me if you want. That being said; make sure you are clear, organized and are still making persuasive arguments. If you cant do that and go fast, slow down. If someone calls clear ...please do so. If someone asks you to slow down please do so. Badly done speed can lead to me missing something on the flow. I'm pretty good if I'm on my laptop, but it is your bad if I miss it because you were going faster than you were effectively able to.
Online Tournaments: Speed and online based debate are not a great ideas. I would slow down or everyone will miss stuff.
Speed in NFA-LD: I get that there is the speed is antithetical to nfa-ld debate line in the bylaws. I also know that almost everyone ignores it. If you are speaking at a rate a trained debater and judge can comprehend I think you meet the spirit of the rule. If speed becomes a problem in the round just call clear or "slow." That said if you use "clear" or "slow" to be abusive and then go fast and unclear I might punish you in speaks. I'll also listen and vote on theory in regards to speed, but I will NEVER stop a round for speed reasons in any form of debate. If you think the other team should lose for going fast you will have to make that argument.
Please Note: If you do not flash me the evidence or give me a printed copy, then you need to speak at a slow conversational rate, so I can confirm you are reading what is in the cards. If you want to read evidence a bit faster...send me you stuff. I'm happy to return it OR delete it at the end of the round, but I need it while you are debating.
Safety: I believe that debate is an important educational activity. I think it teaches folks to speak truth to power and trains folks to be good citizens and advocates for change. As a judge I never want to be a limiting factor on your speech. That said the classroom and state / federal laws put some requirements on us in terms of making sure that the educational space is safe. If I ever feel the physical well-being of the people in the round are being threatened, I am inclined to stop the round and bring it to the tournament director.
NFA-LD Specifc Things:
Files: I would like debaters to use www.speechdrop.net for file exchange. It is faster and eats up less prep. If for some reason that is not possible, I would like to be on the email chain: ryanguy@gmail.com. If there is not an email chain I would like the speech docs on a flashdrive before the speech. I tend to feel paper only debate hurts education and fairness in the round. I also worry it is ableist practice as some debaters struggle with text that can't be resized and searched. If you only use paper I would like a copy for the entire round so I may read along with you. If you can't provide a copy of your evidence digitally or on paper, you will need to slow down and speak at a slow conversational pace so I can flow everything you say.
Disclosure: I'm a fan of the caselist. I think it makes for good debate. If you are not breaking a brand new aff it better be up there. If it is not I am more likely to vote on "accessibility" and "predictably" standards in T. Here is the case-list as of 2021. Please post your stuff. https://nfald.paperlessdebate.com/ If your opponent is anti-case list you may wan't to run a wiki spec / disclosure theory against them. I think that teams who chose to not disclose their affirmatives are abusive to teams who do.
LD with no cards: It might not be a rule, but I think it is abusive and bad for LD debate. I might even vote on theory that articulates that.
Other Specifics:
Speaker Points:Other than a couple off the wall occurrences my range tends to fall in the 26-30 range (or 36-40 for IPDA). If you do the things in my General Approach to Judging section, your speaks will be higher.
Topicality:AFF, make an effort to be topical. I'm not super amused by squirrely cases. Ill vote on T in all its varieties. Just make sure you have all the components. I prefer articulated abuse, but will vote on potential abuse if you don't answer it well. I'm unlikely to vote on an RVI. In general I enjoy a good procedural debate but also love rounds were we get to talk about the issues. That said if you are going for a procedural argument...you should probably really go for it in the end or move on to your other arguments.
Salvatore Barone - Santa Rosa
n/a
Sam Goodman - St. Mary's
n/a
Sequoia Sanchini - Santa Rosa
n/a
Shavon Odom - Solano CC
n/a
Sokha Som - Santa Rosa
n/a
Sophia Obbagy - Santa Rosa
n/a
Steve Robertson - Contra Costa
Steve Robertson
Contra Costa College, Director of Forensics
Years competed:1 yr LD (high school), 4.5 years NDT/CEDA (college)
Years coaching: 25+ years (middle school, high school, college - LD, parli, NDT/CEDA, IPDA)
Philosophy - The round is for you to convince me why your side should win the debate. try to be as non-interventionist as I can be. I work off the flow, focusing on your claims, warrants, and evidence. Believability is also a factor. I find it very difficult to vote for arguments that I don't understand how they work or function. So be sure to explain why things are the way they are. Compare impacts, and explain why your impacts/argument outweigh or should be viewed as more important than theirs. The main point is that you need to justify your position to me: what is your argument, why is it legitimate, and why does that matter in light of the other side's arguments. If you can adequately answer those three questions better than the other side, you should win the argument.
I punish non-responsiveness - meaning that if you drop or undercover arguments, they suddenly get much more weight in the round (especially if exploited by the other team). However, if you under-develop your arguments (such as blipping out theory pre-empts without justifying them), it doesn't take much to respond to these arguments.
I also communicate through nonverbals. If you see me nodding, then that means I understand your position (not necessarily agree with it, but I get what you're saying). If you see me cocking my head to the side or scrunching up my face, it means I don't get what you're saying or I don't understand your argument or I don't see why it's relevant. If you see that face, you should either give more explanation (until you see a head nod) or cut your losses and move onto another argument. If you see my hands in the air, that means I don't know where you are on the flow. You should give me a signpost, because I'm currently not flowing you.
Here are some event-specific concerns:
Parli- Debate starts at the highest point of conflict. I will listen to arguments of trichot/type of resolution, though if the tournament identifies it as a particular type of resolution this becomes a bit more difficult.
I don't care about partner to partner communication. However, if it's done during the other team's speech, then mute yourselves from this 8x8 (e.g., chat privately, mute yourselves and talk in another venue, etc.). Don't disrupt the other speaker.
If you want to give your partner advice or arguments, that's fine as well. There are 2 things to be aware of: First, I only listen to what the speaker says. So if you tell your partner something, it doesn't reach my flow until the current speaker says it. Saying "yeah, what she said" will get onto my flow as "yeah, what she said" - not the actual argument. Second, the more you parrot or puppet your partner, the lower your speaker points will become. This is purely subjective on my part, so use at your own peril.
Finally, parli has the Point of Order. I will not protect against new arguments or other rules violations (unless specified to do so in the tournament rules). Use this if applicable. Frivolous use of it, however, will desensitize me to it.
LD- You have the obligation to provide evidence in this debate. Please do so. Referencing evidence that has not been read in the debate will carry the same weight as an assertion for me.
For me, reading the source (publication title and/or authors' last names) and date is sufficient for citations, provided that all additional information is provided on the card's citation itself. If you want to run an official rules violation on this in front of me, I will entertain it, but realize I am disinclined to vote evidence or a debater down if that information is available on the card. Doesn't mean you can't win it, just that it'll be an uphill battle.
Realize that while underlining and highlighting are acceptable ways of modifying evidence for a round, ellipses, unreadable font size, or gaps in text are unacceptable.
IPDA- IPDA is more of a communication event than a debate for me. It is NOT treated the same as parli. I do not flow, but take a very limited amount of notes. Eloquence factors into the decision for me. I think of this as a townhall meeting, closer to interactive persuasion than debate. Avoid debate jargon, extensive line by line analysis, and other more traditional debate tactics. This is about persuasion, not strict argumentation. Think of debating in front of your grandmother, not a debate judge.
Bottom line - make good arguments, offer clash, give impact calculus/comparison, and be civil to one another. Oh...and have fun! :)
Sylvia Ho - Chabot
I do parli!
add me to the chain smhpoppy@gmail.com, tech>truth, i'm down for anything, ask me in round if you have questions. so:
respect your opponents, pronouns, preferred labels/lack of them, all that jazz. That said, be as aggressive as you want! I lean towards letting ethics debates and stuff play out in round, but if you're getting uncomfortable or if there's just something you don't feel like having to justify, just let me know!
if you ask me to gut check nothing will happen. Dont rely on reasonability; spell out your competing interps and impacts. I'm tabula rasa the rest of this paradigm is just my defaults
Spreading: cool, but if you can't do it well, like. please don't. speed is good, spreading not so much. If you do spread, have a case drop ready for me to access.
K/Theory: Love! I default theory>kritik=case, but obviously subject to change if you say so. I will consider anything and everything and will likewise happily drop arguments if the other team points out frivolity/bigotry. go for the fun alts! solvency arguments against "reject res" will convince me pretty easily. i will not disclose what lit base i'm most familiar with because if you're not able to eli5 it, i assume your opponents won't be able to understand either. If and only if you check in with your opponents before round and confirm they're familiar with what you're running will I vote for not clearly explained Ks.
Signpost.
i dont care what your strat is, give me a clear path to the ballot. Ngl idc about case i'm probably voting on this. I do really mean this because I think debate is what competitors make of it, whether that means a substantive case debate, a tricks game, or a round of mariokart. i will judge however competitors tell me to and i will and have judged IErs who just ran their speeches during round instead of debating the res. it is genuinely up to you how you want the round to go.
I also take tabula rasa very literally! if someone says something like "vote aff because aff is the coolest team in round," i need some sort of response on the flow, even if it's just "neg cooler than aff" bc otherwise i will buy whatever i hear, though obv IPDA is mostly exempt from this.
more about ipda: i will kind of let deliberate misinformation (e.g. moon is made of cheese) slide but i will be a little more interventionist about things that seem to just be common misunderstandings in round (e.g. vaccines cause autism). it will not affect my decision directly unless it comes down to tiebreaker evidence v evidence clash, where, all other things equal, i will lean towards truth in IPDA and IPDA only (this is highly subjective so dont do it unless youre very, very sure ill agree with you!).
i wont accept new arguments if i notice, but its on you to call the other team out and to tell me what to kick etc.
speaks start 26, but go ahead with speaks theory! Swearing won't drop your speaks, jokes will raise em, if you make jokes at the expense of a minority i will in good faith assume you're part of it. if ur reading this far add a mention of tax fraud, cats (2019), or baguettes in your speech and i'll raise. I don't care about clothes, but if you wear a halloween costume or smth i'll add a couple points
IE: sorry i think yall can tell ur getting side shafted but! Be entertaining however you choose. I sort of value content over delivery and i kind of dislike slow speeds to be honest but it wont affect my judging!! This is to say ill be more lenient towards fast speeches than a typical speech judge probably. If you want the rubric ill be judging off of here you go!
tldr: do literally anything as long as you do it well, you don't have to be polite but be kind, and whatever i say in this paradigm doesnt matter as long as you can justify it.
Victor Ramos - Solano CC
n/a
Xander Struckmann - LPC
n/a