Alattar,+Zaki


 * Debated at UC Berkeley for 2 years.**
 * Debated at Katy Taylor for 4 years.**
 * Updated: 1/6/18**


 * Email:** alattar.zaki@gmail.com

My opinion on this is not fully formed. I'm inclined as a 2A to believe that these debates are shallow and detract from substance, but recently, I've felt its existence as a strategic option for the negative. It's also very easy for me to get lost in these debates. So here's my fair warning, going for T may have unpredictable consequences both in and against your favor. I f***ing love a good T debate.
 * Topicality**

[1/16/17] I had a random conversation with non-debaters about the difference between existentialism and nihilism and they were completely perplexed on how to argue which of their definitions was better. For this reason, I have recently changed my mind and decided that there is educational value in the very process of topicality and competing interpretations. This does not mean I will not vote on reasonability or that I disagree with the shifting goalposts arg or that I even really like T debates.

[1/5/18] I f***ing love a good T debate.

I like K affs, but you still need to justify your model of debate. I also appreciate the fact that the topic changes every year and I like the variety that that brings. I think very highly of teams who apply their favored literature to the topic in creative and interesting ways and poorly of ones who mention the topic once in the first tag of the 1AC and then never again.
 * Framework vs. Kritikal** **Affirmatives**

We probably have drastically different conceptions of symbolic exchange, the Imaginary, and that Stanley 11 ev. Use jargon sparsely and define it well when you do. The best K debates are the ones where the debaters and not buzz words or evidence are doing the debating. I'm most familiar with queer theory and Baudrillard.
 * For K Debaters:**

Even if its dropped in the 2NC. Maybe even if its dropped in the 2NR.
 * Vague Alts are NOT a voter. **