Ramesh,+Chander

Chander Ramesh

=About me: = I debated for 4 years at Saint Francis High School, went to the TOC twice (junior and senior year), and debated for 1.5 years at Dartmouth College. I have periodically judged tournaments (at the Dartmouth Debate Institute during the summers and any local tournaments to the Bay Area), but in general I have been fairly removed from the debate community since my graduation. In other words: Assume I do not know the topic. Any topic specific knowledge will have to be explained to me.

=Argument preferences: =  __Kritiks__ I am comfortable with Kritiks as a concept, but I am not familiar with all literature. So please explain things to me. I have run D&G, Nietzsche, Agamben, and Foucault, so I am familiar with the basic K strategy and most common terms; but if this is some obscure literature, assume I don't know it. Some debaters use the K to avoid having to talk about the case. I am not part of this school of thought. The best K's are *extremely* relevant to the case and they use the case to contextualize their generic links. This will also help you in terms of any 'K turns case' claims, and also color the actual explanation of the alt, should the K have one. K's don't necessarily need alts, but nearly every K I've ever seen in a debate would be helped by having one.  __Topicality__ Stop going so fast. Warrants matter. RVI's are silly. I will vote on reasonability, if properly explained and articulated.  __Politics__ <span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: open_sans,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: middle;">Intrinsicness is a reason to disregard the DA, and I will do it. Blame Wake Forest; they have influence me heavily in this regard. Take the argument seriously (if it's made well). On the other hand, a 2 second blip is not a proper intrinsicness argument either. <span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: open_sans,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: middle;">The quality of your links matter a great deal - something people often forgt about. <span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: open_sans,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: middle;"> __General stuff__ <span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: open_sans,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: middle;">a. There is such a thing as 0% risk (it is merely a 100% risk of that thing's opposite). Both are very rare to win in a debate. <span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: open_sans,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: middle;">b. Arguments are merely claims until you make warrants. Let me put it another way: As Ross Smith said, a dropped argument is merely as true as when it was first made. If you didn't explain it properly, dropping it doesn't give it any more weight. <span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: open_sans,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: middle;">c. I will vote on pretty much anything that is well explained (module point b). For example: I will vote on Obama is an alien - but you better have phenomenal evidence and great warrants; otherwise, the other team dropping this (or any other awful, unspecific evidence) doesn't mean anything. <span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: open_sans,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: middle;">d. I've found that, while important, most debaters overvalue impact calculus and undervalue the internal link and probability debate. <span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: open_sans,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: middle;">e. I have a soft spot for affs that have smaller, true impacts (when properly executed). Blame Kathryn Kernoff. :) <span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: open_sans,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: middle;">f. I like people who debate the case; you may not win, but you'll probably get high(er) speaker points. <span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: open_sans,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: middle;">g. Be nice. Believe me, you *can* win without having to be rude. Nothing you have to say in C-X is as important as you think it is. <span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: open_sans,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: middle;">h. Have fun. I've gone for wacky, fun arguments (ice age, spark, D&G reality doens't exist) - at the end of the day, you have a limited number of debates in your life. Enjoy them - and believe me, it will show when you do.

=<span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: open_sans,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: open_sans_bold; font-size: inherit; vertical-align: middle;">Things that irk me: = <span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: open_sans,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: middle;">1. Stealing Prep - don't do it. Prep starts as soon as the speech is over. Debate is about trust. This is especially important with paperless debate. <span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: open_sans,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: middle;">2. I am 'you', the other team is 'they' <span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: open_sans,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: middle;">3. CX starts as soon as the speech is over. I keep time during all debates; my timer is official. CX does not start after you stack papers for 5 seconds and take 30 seconds to walk over. <span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: open_sans,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: middle;">4. STOP going so fast on plan / cp texts - be clear; same applies with huge theory debates.