Mielke,+Luke

I debated for three years at Roseville Area High School and currently attend Macalester College.

--Overall-- I consider myself a game theory judge. I will vote for nearly anything you can argue well. Any argument is interesting and educational if run effectively. I was mostly a critical debater in high school, so I enjoy listening to those debates over policy but it doesn’t mean I will give your argument any preference. I judged at MDAW and have done some topic research so I have a general idea of what the topic is about.

--What I Want to See-- I love CX. I will listen to it and keep you to your word. Using CX to force your opponent into a corner or point out contradictions will get you good speaker points. Please use this time to lead into your own case! Debate needs clash. If it didn’t I really only need one team, so please respond to the other team. If they read new cards, don’t read new ones back at them. Explain how the cards interact and why I should value one over the other. I will not be deciding who wins on the number of cards you read. A good analytic works just as well as a dozen new cards. Explain to me the problems of their case and I will listen. On the other side, don’t just extend cards in response, explain to me why your cards are better than their analytic. Impact weighing is necessary in your rebuttals. Why do your nuclear war scenarios matter more than theirs? Explain to me the probability, the timeframe and the magnitude. Just saying we outweigh is not enough: I need to hear why. Debates should be fun and enriching. We don’t all get up at 6:00 in the morning to pad our resumes—at least I hope not. Everyone should look forward to debates and want to spend their weekends doing this, so keep it fun.

--What I Don’t Want to See-- Don’t make me fill in the blanks. Assume I know nothing and need to be pulled along by the nose. Don’t make me decide which card or impact or theory voter matters more. Tell me why yours is the one I need to vote on. Misinterpreting your own arguments and reading things you don’t understand will only help your opponent and make CX hell for you. I don’t recommend it strategically and I don’t recommend for your speaker points. Assuming that I will vote for you because you claimed your theory is better for education and fairness. I need you to explain why you are best for both of those and I will need an abuse story to give it weight. Arrogance will hurt. I don’t care what school you come from, I expect you to respect your opponents. Be nice, always have a viewing computer and don’t ask me about my credentials. I have a pen and a ballot and that’s all I need.

--Specific Arguments-- Aff: whatever you want to run and think you can defend, I don’t care. But I need more than “we’re utilitarian, so we’re moral.” Tell me why you’re moral. Case Debate: be specific and answer solvency because otherwise the aff gets full weight of the plan. Topicality: make sure you have an abuse story that you can impact. If you plan to have me vote on topicality, you need to spend time on it. Ten seconds in the 1NR is not enough. I have no problem voting for an untopical aff if I have to. Disads: I need links. If any link is taken out, there is no risk. Counterplans: I need a net benefit, but otherwise I think PICs can be a good argument. Kritiks: explain the argument and what it means for me to vote neg. Is there a change in the real world? If not, then what does voting neg do? Theory: I enjoy a good theory debate. Default of competing interpretations unless you tell me to be specific. If asked in CX about your status, give a straightforward answer.

--Final Notes-- All it takes is a flip of a switch to solve all impacts unless you attack solvency. Don’t clip your cards. We don’t all debate paperless, so be prepared. I won’t time your flash drive speech sharing unless it you steal prep or bog the debate down. Classism, racism, sexism or any other intolerance will not be tolerated. And remember, I may be a hung-over, sleep deprived college student who only showed up for the food but I still am your judge.