Judge Philosophies
Alex Azzopardi - EMU
n/a
Alicia Batice - Cal State LA
Allison Bowman - Moorpark
For parli: I try to just look at arguments made in the round. Both sides should weigh their impacts and explain why they should win. I expect everyone to be respectful to their opponents. I love counterplan debate. I am not the biggest fan of Ks. If you do choose to run a K spend extra time on alt. solvency. I have no problem with speed or jargon.
For IPDA: I view IPDA separately from parli and try to leave my parli knowledge at the door. I don't think debate jargon or speech belong in IPDA. Delivery and persuasion matter. I view IPDA as a combination of debate and extemp.
Anika Gore - UW
n/a
Bart Aikman - COC
Above all else, I look for a concise argument that has a clear, logical flow. Strong implementation of the principles of critical analysis (claim, support, impact, etc.) is also essential. Do not make unfounded logical leaps in your argument, utilize your sources, and be kind and generous to each other as competitors. Best of luck!
Brittney McClure - ORU
n/a
Christian Pipion - OCC
- First, thank you for taking part in this activity! I'm excited to hear what you have to say!
- Next, clash is incredibly important. Make sure you clear about what arguments you're addressing and please attempt to engage with the heart of your opponents arguments as best as you can
- Impact analysis is also big with me. Explain to me why and in real terms why your arguments matter in the round.
- In rebuttals, I'm looking for comparative analysis. Don't simply review your case. Explain to me why you think your points are better than the other sides'.
- If the tournament doesn't allow oral critiques I won't give them. Otherwise, I'm happy to give critiques after the round is finished, after my ballot is turned in, and only if it doesn't impede with the tournament running on time. If you see me after the round, I'm happy to give you feedback then.
- Clarity: I need to understand your arguments. Make sure that you're providing enough clear analysis of your points that I can pick up what you're putting down. If the other side is less clear, I might even pick you up just because you were clearer than the other side.
- Speed: I don't like it. I think speed gets in the way of clarity. If both opponents know each other, the debate format allows for it, and both debaters are comfortable, I'm happy to flow more quickly, but I will say "clear" or "speed" if I feel you're spreading your opponent out of the round.
- Kritiks: I generally am not a great person to run Kritiks in front of, but if both teams are down for it I can be down myself. I would encourage you to ask before the round what my stance on Kritiks are if you would like a more detailed answer
- IPDA: I believe IPDA should be performed in a manner that would be engaging to a lay judge. I don't believe terms like topicality, kritik, or tricot belong in IPDA. That being said, if you can rhetorically unpack your arguments in a manner that you think would be persuasive to a lay judge, I could certainly still pick it up. While I don't want to hear the word "topicality" for example, if you explain in simple terms how the Affirmative team misdefined a term, describe why it's unfair to you, and give me some reasons why they should lose because of it, I could definitely buy that argument.
- Feel free to ask me before the round if there's anything I haven't covered that you'd like clarification with!
Cindy Gutierrez - Mt. SAC
-All claims should have a clear link to evidence or precedent. If youre going to tell me that UBI leads to nuclear war, you need to have someincrediblystrong evidence.
-Dont be rude to your opponent. We debate because we enjoy it, dont ruin that for someone.
-I do not like spreading. I believe it makes debate incredibly inaccessible for many people who are not neurotypical. I understand that some forms of debate require it, so if you spread, make sure you are still saying words. If I have your case and can not even track your arguments while reading them, that is too fast. I will say clear if that is the case.
Danny Cantrell - Mt. SAC
Debate should be presented in such a way that a lay audience can understand the arguments and learn something from the debate. In general, debaters should have strong public speaking, critical thinking, and argumentation. Don't rely on me to fill in the holes of arguments or assume we all know a certain theory or argument -- it is your burden to prove your arguments.
Dawson Khoury - Mt. SAC
Donald Warden - Mercer
TL;DR: Make my job easy.
- Run T when needed. I hate T debate, so please do not spend the whole neg block on it.
- I don't time, and I don't care if you want to respond to the question or finish your sentence after the timer; being pedantic about times ruins education.
- Please signpost. You can jump around the flow as much as you want as long as I know where to jump.
- Explain perms clearly.
- Spreading your opponents out of the round. Whatever. But I also recommend not spreading your judge (me) out of the round either.
- K and performative debate is just as valid as straight debate. Make the arguments clear.
Gregory Nunez - Mt. SAC
Jedi Curva - Mt. SAC
Debate should be presented in such a way that a lay audience can understand the arguments and learn something from the debate. In general, debaters should have strong public speaking, critical thinking, and argumentation. Don't rely on me to fill in the holes of arguments or assume we all know a certain theory or argument -- it is your burden to prove your arguments.
Jenifer Montgomery - SCC
My Experience:
2.5 years of college individual events for OCC and CSUF (NFA/AFA)
INFO, POE, POI, IMP, PROS
3 years coaching elementary, middle school, high school and college-level forensics
- Coached and judged all IE events as well as Parli, POFO, IPDA, and a bit of LD
Tldr; I'm looking for logical, respectful, and fair debates where you show confidence in your arguments and sources. Fun debates are welcome as long as any sassiness, jokes, etc. are made in good fun maintain respect, and everyone is clear on this. Focus building YOUR argument most of all.
What are the most important criteria you consider when evaluating a debate?
I'm looking for solid arguments that are backed by sources and can be defended against your opponent's questions and counter-arguments. Confidence in your argument makes a huge difference as well; if you don't believe your own arguments, how do you expect me to?
I appreciate a slower, clear, emphasis on your main contentions so that I am clear on what I am judging and where points are dropped. It's extra helpful however, fo you to call out any dropped arguments as it (1) helps me catch any I missed and (2) shows me that you caught it and are critically analyzing your opponent's arguments.
What are your expectations for proper decorum from the debaters?
Courtesy above all else. This usually isn't a problem, but I have seen some eye rolls, face-making, and rude remarks made mid-debate. I don't mind a friendly banter amongst competitors (in fact, I LOVE a witty and fun debate) but please make that clear at the end with some good sportsmanship. Overall I don't want to see any lines crossed in terms of respect. Keep ad hominem at the door, we are a community and should treat each other as such.
I also love to see your personalities pop in a debate and love to see any personal ties to your arguments. You are a unique human being so play to your strengths as a speaker, I will adapt to you.
What strategies/positions/arguments are you predisposed to listen to and consider when you vote?
I want you to make a strong argument for YOUR point and not just focus on dismantling your opponent's points (especially neg). Even if you manage to poke holes in your opponent's arguments or plans, if they're the only ones who gave me a solid plan to go off of, they will still get my vote. Do not simply tell me to vote for you, let your arguments convince me of that.
How do you evaluate speed, jargon, and technical elements?
If your opponent is fine with these aspects so am, however, I am also aware of the many arguments against spreading so if this is brought up mid-round that is something I will take into consideration against anyone spreading who did not check in with their opponents (& me) beforehand. In short, your opponent needs to be able to follow along with your arguments in order for this debate to be fair.
Most importantly: Have fun!
Joel Anguiano - SCC
I have had expereince in Parli, NFA-LD, and IPDA, both as competitor and coach. I understand all debate arguments and tend to vote on clear voters by both sides. But please make sure that you are doing the work and connecting the dots. It is always better to have the voters presented clearly then to leave up to me and the flow. As far as techincal arguments in Parli and NFA-LD I think T is an argument that the Neg has and will weigh it if there is a clear reason to use it as. weighing mechanism in the round. I also think that all debaters should be respectful of ecah other. I will weigh anything you want to put on the flow, just make sure you give a clear reason why.
Joseph Lee - Cal State LA
n/a
Josh Arp - UCSB
I competed in LD as well as IPDA. The only debate I have judged before is IPDA
My judging style is relatively traditional
Essentially debaters should debate to me as if they are trying to convince the average college-educated layperson (who has the ability to differentiate strong arguments from weak ones) that their side is correct. This doesn't mean employing sophism or theatrical tricks or anything like that one might actually use against a truly lay audience. Strength of evidence is very important.
Don't make things up, if you do and I discover that, you will likely lose
Speed is typically not an issue for me, however, in IPDA specifically, there is an aspect of persuasion and eloquence so don't go too fast
Evaluation of impacts is crucial, do not forget to do this.
Jules Patelita - BGSU
I live for chaos ... and Godzilla ... and D&D ... possibly veggie pizza ... but only good veggie pizza.
Liliana Ma - UCSB
n/a
Lily Schwab - EMU
n/a
Lindsey Warden - Mercer
She/her/hers. I am returning to assistant coach for Mercer this year having previously competed as our program was making its transition from small, Southern tournaments to large NPDA tournaments. I have been out of college debate for about six years - my background is in K-12 education, and I have coached some middle and high school programs, mostly public forum debate and a little policy. I am not super technical, but I enjoy hearing all kinds of arguments and I like it when I can learn something new in-round. I am good with most kinds of arguments, strategies, and approaches to debate. I like good organization, lots of signposting, and rebuttals that group and collapse arguments intelligently so that I can discern exactly where you want me to vote. Overall I believe the debate space is yours. I want you to be able to debate about the things you like to debate about, in the way that you like to debate about them, but I think there are a few things that are fair for you to know about me, so here they are.
(1) I am convinced that spreading can be problematic for the activity, and is potentially ill-suited to a debate format where the topic changes from round to round and there are no text files we can share to help people follow along. To be honest top speeds and lack of clarity trigger a migraine for me nine times out of ten and I want to listen to debates at conversational to slightly faster than conversational rates. On your end, it is probably important to you that I can hear and follow all of your arguments.
(2) My threshold for voting on T is pretty high. If their interpretation is actually abusive and causing ground loss/education loss/etc, run it, but I don't necessarily enjoy t debates that are introduced just because you can. I won't drop folks if they run a topicality arg that I don't like of course, I just think your time might be better spent on something else with me in the back of the room. If you love T and you run it every round and it doesn't feel like debating for you without it, then please carry on.
(3) I am interested in critical debates, but I have been out of the debate world for a minute, teaching middle school social studies and being a mom, so you are going to want to explain your argument in pretty fine detail. Unlike some of your judges, I am usually not devoting a bunch of my free time to reading and cutting literature exclusively for debate. I think you should always be detailed as a rule, but I just want to be clear that I am probably not the best judge for blippy and/or very generic kritiks. Explaining your story on the link level is very important, I want to hear explicitly how you're jumping from point A to point B.
(4) I don't think that debate is just a game. I don't necessarily mind judging traditional policy-oriented rounds, but it's always important to keep in mind that the statistics and literature and news headlines that are just a means to a ballot for some are real life for many others, both within and without the debate space. Be thoughtful. Be measured. Be kind.
Lizeth Chimal - Mt. SAC
Hi! My Name is Lizeth Chimal.
When judging, I want a clear reason on why I should be voting for you. (Make it easy for me) I should not have to fill in the holes. Logic in arguments is very important. The more you break down an argument the more enticed I will be to vote for you. Have fun! No spreading.
Megan Smith* - LTU
n/a
Mikayla Holzinger - Mt. SAC
I competed in speech and debate from 2009-2019, and have been coaching since 2017. Although I have mainly done IE events, I have done debate as well. My one and only requirement for this round is to NOT SPREAD. Not because I can't follow along, but because this does nothing for you. Throwing out random sources and trying to get through as much information as you can does not make for a good debate. Also, respect each other, and please use gender-neutral terms if you do not know your opponent's pronouns.
Mohamad Almouazzen - Mt. SAC
Experience: I completed for two years on the community college circuit in IPDA and Parli debate, taking both events to Regionals, State, and Nationals. My ideal debate round is most importantly respectful on all sides, and focuses on the clash of ideas! IPDA for me is not about the detailed refutation of every claim, but the overall argument of the two sides on the resolution. For Parli, I have one fundamental rule which is to never spread, there is most definitely a difference between spreading and speaking fast, but if I have to call clear you are speaking way too fast.
Nikolas Welker - BGSU
I hate debaters ... especially with sauerkraut ... because that is nasty.
Noelle Anderson - Moorpark
I judge IPDA based on the arguments made in the round and
how each debater adapts while listening to their opponent. Additionally, I take
into account delivery and camaraderie. Please avoid debate jargon or talking so
fast that the audience cannot follow along.Â
Phoebe Melikidse - COC
Sofia Mendez - Mt. SAC
Tiffany Chen - LACC
n/a
Timothy Ward - EMU
n/a