Krishnan,+Nikhil

Lexington High School (MA), Class of 2015 University of California-Berkeley (CA), Class of 2019 Affiliations: Lexington High School, Wayzata High School, St. Vincent De Paul National Circuit -- Debated 4 years, Coached 1 year

Feb 2016 (Update): Have not judged on the HS topic yet. The Berkeley tournament will be my first. Flashing counts as prep. Include me (nk [DOT] nikhilkrishnan [AT] gmail.com) on the email chain. Tabula rasa.

Debate about whatever you are good at (or feel like) debating. Do not change your argumentation style or content based on your perception of me. I think debate should be about the debaters, and thus I try to remove myself from whatever biases I might have and evaluate the debate solely on what the debaters quarreled about. I am a good judge for well-researched/prepared, confident, and persuasive students (in that order). I evaluate arguments logically unless given a different framework. I loved cross-ex back in high school, and I will reward a fantastic cross-ex with speaker points. Debate is an activity with a research/preparation aspect and a presentation aspect, and good debaters cannot exist without good strategies and good ethos. Strategies could range from a full-fledged case debate to a topic specific criticism to a mechanism counterplan/disad to a methodology debate, etc. Ethos includes your clarity, speed, intonation, and overall your in-round persona. Own the room. I will vote for any argument that isn't morally reprehensive (e.g. discrimination/oppression good). Accidental discursive blunders should be followed with an apology, but can still be losing if furtherly criticized. Ones that demonstrate mal-intent are flagrant voting issues.

Topicality is solely a game of execution. Whoever wins the technical battle (w/ decent evidence) oftentimes wins the debate.

Counterplans with a solid solvency advocate and ones that are grounded in the literature base are good. If you wish, run whatever cheating counterplans you want, but be prepared to have a robust theoretical defense.

Disads can have zero risk. Evidence quality and comparison really matter in close debates. Have nuanced impact/internal link debates. The better the link story the better (most of the time link controls the direction of uniqueness). Theory debates on politics are boring.

Kritiks are won and lost in framework. I read quite a bit of critical literature back in high school, and even though I have probably dabbled in your choice of philosopher, please give me a consistent explanation of your argument from the get-go. These debates are either hit or miss.

Alternative and/or non-traditional forms of evidence/presentation are welcome. Affirmative sets the focus of the debate (unless the Negative snatches it back).

I do not vote on theory a lot (partly because I rarely debated it). That being said, a large portion of the time that I will consider voting on theory is when there is a well-articulated and impacted reason why the opposing team's strategy/decisions have put you at an insurmountable disadvantage. The other times theory is often only enough reason to reject the argument. Do not think of theory as the last resort to win an otherwise unwinnable debate. Presumption resides with the team that advocates the least change of the status quo.

Quality over quantity. I do not call cards often (often because I'm on the email chain), and thus I would prefer a great explanation of evidence than having to interpret it myself. Remember claim/warrant/impact and evidence comparison. When considering truth vs. tech, I often find myself on leaning to the side of tech (whatever tech really means). Learning to package arguments will make you a more successful and efficient debater.

Clipping is a breach of academic integrity. I will vote against the team who clipped and assign them 0 speaker points if sufficient cause/admissible evidence is proven. Debate is an intellectual activity that mirrors real academic and industrial encounters, so the violators will have to face the harshest of consequences. Most of the time intent does not matter; it is your responsibility as a debater to take authority of your presentation.