Hooks,+Alyssa

I debated for Barbers Hill HS for four years. In both LD and CX. Qualifying for TFA state my junior and Senior year. I now do IPDA- public debate- with Lee College. Conflicts: Strake WD, Strake DT, Barbers Hill LW, Barbers Hill RM, Cy-Fair TW.

__Jan-Feb Specific Stuff:__ I think this topic is unique because it gives everyone a chance to have a lot of important discussions, but any discussion needs to be done as carefully and tastefully as possible. With that being said, trigger warnings will always be important--especially if there are graphic things read within a speech. Please so your best to make the debate round safe and enjoyable for everyone in the room. If I were debating this topic, I have a feeling that I would entertain the idea of reading narratives or non-T affs. I think that these have a special spot in debate. So please feel free to read them in front of me, they normally create very important discussions. I've seen a good amount of preformative contradictions wihtin this topic and I have no qualms voting you down because of it.

__TLDR (1 = best):__ LARP/Stock: 1 K: 1 Framework: 2 Theory: 3 Tricks: 5 Generic: 3-4

__General:__ I'm fairly open to seeing what you're most comfortable doing as long as it creates good debate. Many times I have seen rounds where it was like two ships passing in the night because someone read something so off the wall there was no way to respond to it, or maybe there is a way but no one knows it but you. That's not cool. I will yell slow, clear or loud. Sit, stand or float. I don't mind one way or another. I always stood, but because my coach didn't afford the option-- do what makes you happy! Taken from Megan Nubel’s paradigm- “Please do not use derogatory or exclusionary language, including but certainly not limited to referring to arguments as ‘retarded,’ saying that you ‘raped’ someone on a particular argument, or using ‘gay’ as synonymous with stupid, etc.” On that note, definitely don’t impact turn something like racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.; things like cap and extinction, though, I’m fine with. If you do something morally repugnant, I’ll drop you with 0 speaks."

__Speed:__ You do you. I will yell slow or clear if need be. Please, though, for the love of debate, slow down for author names or tags at least. If you get an unnecessary amount of "clear" warnings, I'll probably deduct speaker points or stop flowing altogether. You need to be aware of your threshold of what is clear and what is not clear.

__LARP:__ I've always been a Util debater but will listen to the best you have. Having done policy before, buying extinction impacts are more difficult for me (I say this because I had a judge say they were totally cool with it all, I read an extinction impact and then was told I read the one thing they wouldn't ever vote on), but I won't vote on it. You just need to make it very clear to me why it's such a big issue. Tip: the longer the chain the less buy-able the extinction impact is. If you want an easier way to my heart and my ballot, read short chains with more plausible impacts.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Ks:__ I fell in love with the K debate at the end of my junior year and tried to read them as much as possible my senior year. While I wasn't necessarily a K debater all of high school, I've read plenty to know generally where you're probably going to be trying to go. But do not assume I know everything about your K. I don't appreciate backfile Ks just to have something to read-- I feel like that errs on the said of the bad debate. Taken from Cameron McConway's paradigm- " I’m willing to listen to critical affirmatives but am also willing to listen to framework and cede the political style arguments against non-T affs. I also will default to evaluating the K the way it is articulated in round, not based on how I understand the literature. I do think incorrect interpretations of literature are fair game for lower speaks, though."

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">__T/Theory :__ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Flesh it out if you expect me to buy it. I’ll listen to it for sure, but it needs to be done well. I’ve had my butt kicked by too many good debaters with very good T/Theory strats to just be okay with you reading something and not doing something effective with it. If you read it to try to spread the aff out of the 1A, it;s strategy, but I’m not a huge fan of kicking something like that. I was taught it was the top layer of debate, so I wouldn’t kick out of the top layer of debate. I will just you (get it because I have the ballot lol). I don’t want to feel like I should be defaulting to anything, but if I have to not only will I draw a sad face on the ballot but I’ll only to it to drop the argument and competing interps. I also believe it’s a very good strat when faced with these arguments, to go ahead and read RVIS. I will for sure evaluate them if you do it correctly.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Phil/Framework:__ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">I have high expectations when it comes to framework debates because that’s one thing I prided myself in doing fairly effectively. If you’re going to do it, be sure you can do it well in front of me. I’m not proud to say, but I feel fairly underread in phil to be able to judge it if you’re not fleshing out the arguments for me, but if you can flesh it out, I’ll listen. Just don’t fly through these arguments because I’m going to need a little bit more time to catch them and comprehend them than I normally would.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Tricks:__ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">I’ve never been a fan, but if it's what you do and you do it well enough for it to get my ballot then by all means. I wasn’t sure what else to say, so I did some searching and Cameron McConway put it perfectly. “ I think burden affs can be interesting and strategic, and I am willing to listen to skepticism to contest frameworks or justify frameworks because it is the grounding of most normative ethics and important in philosophy, but please do not read skep to answer oppression arguments. [...] I’m not going to be thrilled if there are arguments that change function or trigger something in the next speech either; I think the function of arguments should be clear from the time they are read (not saying you cannot use something to take out another argument that it doesn’t appear to interact with- this is about contingent standards).”

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Things that will kill your chance at my ballot:__ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">-Racism, sexism or anything that is offensive to anyone <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">-Belittling someone in round-- also called ad hominems <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">-Reading things that link back to the idea of oppressive situations being acceptable <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">-Making the room uncomfortable or unsafe.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">-Not reading a trigger warning on something that clearly needs one <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Please always remember: debate is a safe space and should be treated as one

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Things I appreciate:__ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">-Kindness <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">-Politeness <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">-Assertiveness (there is a difference between being assertive and aggressive) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">-Trigger warnings <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">-Being true to yourself as an individual, a debater, and an advocate <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">-Having fun

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Speaks:__ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">I was once, told “if you ever get a ‘WIN-30’ you should quit debate because that means you were perfect and you no longer need the activity.” I do not believe this is true to any extent, I will give you a 30 if you deserve it. Speaks are about clarity, strategy, and ability to adapt to the room. If you’re a seasoned debater and you go five off on someone who got thrown into varsity, your speaker points may hurt a little, but not enough to hurt you from breaking if i feel like you deserve to break. I average a 27.5-28. If you get a 25 from me then you did something horribly egregious in round, and you should expect it to be on the ballot with some way for your coaching faculty to contact me to discuss it in depth, if they so please. A 29 means that you did very well, but you made some easily fixable errors.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">__PS:__ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">I hope you find yourself in debate to grow as a person. Be an advocate for something you care about, be true to yourself, and be comfortable saying the important things. Remember, it isn’t always about the ballot, but the message you bring in and out of the round.

__<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">PPS: __

A couple of times, I have had people ask if I would be okay with them trying out an unorthodox or new strategy in round. I, always, feel like there has to be a spot for it. I think that if you want to try something out and you want feedback beyond the ballot back, just let me know and I'll be sure to be super extensive and let you know. I want debate to be a learning experience before anything else.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Any other questions feel free to: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Email me: __alyssa.j.hooks@gmail.com__ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Text me (713)314-6230 <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Or ask me before the round