Duff,+Sean

Debated 4 years at Dowling HS in Des Moines, Iowa (09-12, Energy, Poverty, Military, Space) Debated 3 years at KU (13-16, Energy, War Powers, legalization) Ast. Coach Shawnee Mission Northwest (2012-14) Ast. Coach & Teacher Lansing HS (2015-current)

Edits -- I will listen for clipping cards. If you are not reading all of the highlighted and you are not saying where you are stopping, you will lose the debate. Do not read only off case in the 1nc and then case for the first time in the 2nc. The same can be said of reading only case in the 1nc and off case in the 2nc. I will allow very shallow answers from the 1ar to these arguments, and your speaker points will reflect my displeasure. **Allow me to reiterate, I do not appreciate this practice, Kansas high school debaters, please stop doing this in front of me.**


 * Edit -- Flash evidence before the speech or lose. No exceptions. Still looking at you Kansas HS debaters.**

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 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 keep me from resolving unanswered questions in the round.

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)

Transportation Infra Topic Is boring, and I've judged a lot of rounds on it (~40 on 11/3). No real biases on one side or the other. I do believe that states solve most of the affs, but that comes down to each round.

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 bad 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. Conditionality is the exception to that rule.

T - Default competing interps. Will vote on potential abuse. Topical version of the aff and case lists are must haves. "X" o.w. T args are silly to me (EDIT -- This has become less true, but still persuaded by T comes first. Gotta make the arg to win it though).

Ks - dropping dirty k tricks will lose you the debate. I'm down with Ks, do what you have to. Make sure that what you're running is good 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, losing this will usually result in you losing the round.

K affs - a fiat'd aff with critical advantages is 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. (EDIT -- moving further towards allowing these affs, certainly not to say that you can't win on T, but it's not a sure thing).

Speaker points. I don't really have a set system. 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. It bears repeating, using offensive language will reflect in your speaker points, and, if the other team makes the argument, will lose you the round.