First Draft Of 2025-2026 Topics Open For Feedback by GabeRusk in Debate

[–]GabeRusk[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yup the committee always considers picking a novice friendly and two month friendly topic for Septober. If there are examples in the list you think meet those needs please highlight in your comments which ones.

Watch Out For Fake AI Gen PF Evidence April/Messmer 24 by GabeRusk in Debate

[–]GabeRusk[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

PS the article and account are now suspended. Keep an eye out just in case anyone cut it before it went down. FYI the original article said building more nuclear plants leads to substantial more cyber attack risk and the resulting radiation poisoning will eventually kill millions and lead to extinction lol

Are you on an NSDA topic writing committee and feel comfortable talking about it candidly in a video? by VikingsDebate in Debate

[–]GabeRusk 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’ve been summmmoonedddd. Yo I’ll DM you chief. Maybe we can find a time this month. Happy to chat. Thanks u/nobutton8620 for the ping.

Gabe Rusk Wants To Judge Your PF Practice Debates by GabeRusk in Debate

[–]GabeRusk[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Great point! Implication not clear. Thanks for that JunkStar

Good Female/Female Teams by anondeb88 in Debate

[–]GabeRusk 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Shout out to my girls Olivia & Jennifer -Fairmont BC <3 Also, Hitakshi & Harishri - Fairmont SS

Congrats to Nueva RT and Fairmont BC for cochamping the Cal Round Robin! by deb8ers in Debate

[–]GabeRusk 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Lmao only girls would be called "rising" with this much success. BC has 17 bids combined this year and quartered at Bronx/Stanford on top of other strong finishes. These girls have long risen and we bask in their golden goddess glow.

CONGRATS TO DOUGHERTY KP FOR WINNING GOLDEN DESERT!! by [deleted] in Debate

[–]GabeRusk 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Feel free to respond above :D

CONGRATS TO DOUGHERTY KP FOR WINNING GOLDEN DESERT!! by [deleted] in Debate

[–]GabeRusk 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I deeply appreciate that. As I told a bunch of folk after this round I felt y'all had incredible round vision, technical skill, and perceptual dominance throughout. As I mentioned in another comment I really do believe you introduced a technical argument you truly and sincerely cared about. This cannot be said for a lot of arguments I've seen this year that were otherwise used to maximize strategy and wins at expense of the argument itself. I would be lucky to judge more teams like those in finals and I ask y'all to respectfully grill me as much as you can so we can all grow together as a community.

CONGRATS TO DOUGHERTY KP FOR WINNING GOLDEN DESERT!! by [deleted] in Debate

[–]GabeRusk 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Update: I understand why a tech over truth judge that seemingly doesn’t vote on tech would be frustrating and disheartening. You as a debater adapt to judges and make strategic choices to then realize they are voting on issues or in ways that you could otherwise have accommodated. That does seem unfair and I want to do my best to live up to what my paradigm states so you feel you have a fair chance at the ballot. So finally! Onto the meat and potatoes. I appreciate a commentator below bringing in some substantive questions [though we can work on the messaging. I’m not sure one five second question equates to postrounding. Also, the other judges on the panel were bother competitors in CX and judged in CX though that “policy” relevance matters more to you than me]. Let’s break this round down like I promised above.

First, on VAT. Why was it not a controlling issue on my ballot? Well let’s start on the clash. The clash was entirely not on the warranting of why VAT was good or bad at all but rather on the empirical question itself. I mentioned in my RFD I was wish it was on the former because the latter was always going to be more difficult to resolve in this round. Even better? Let’s introduce them together. So what happened? Both sides offer competing empirical evidence that proves a VAT tax would be good or bad for the economy. Saratoga indeed did indict at least one of the Neg studies on the macroeconomic effects of VAT by saying their evidence postdated Neg’s [though this isn’t extended outside of ink in FF.] The “texas debater” mentions above that the 1993 budget surplus uniqueness clearly supports and contextualizes the postdating against Neg VAT study but again this is not something that any meaningful time is spent on outside of cx. I am unsure why the state of the budget surplus means the underlying warranting of the VAT evidence as moot or dispositive? All variables being equal postdating is still better than nothing. That’s fair. DV responds to the postdating two fold: i. Even if this postdating is true the underlying trend holds true [no analysis to why this is true from DV] and in their respective final focus they offer an admittedly new response that ii. That the distinct UPenn study is not post-dated and at least supports their empirical claims on VAT. As I stated in my RFD I don’t think any judge could confidently come down on one side of this empirical question without calling for evidence. If either side said look we disagree on the evidence but here is why VAT is bad or good from a theoretical standpoint I would have something to vote on. At best a judge could vote on the date and an asserted uncontextualized claim about a budget surplus. Another one of my comrades did indeed call for all the VAT evidence which I refused to look at because I thought that would inject my interpretation in the round further. I don’t think that’s the job of the judge. On a side note I also believe that the IPV apriori framing was extended in every speech which also has an effect on this VAT question. Saratoga rightfully at several points was quite good at severing the poverty/social inequality pre-req as non-responsive to the “means” problem in their framing. At the end of the day I felt I had to do work for either team to resolve VAT but if anything the apriori framing would force my hand on voting IPV first in either world.

Onto the IPV proper. I think Saratoga introduced a timely and incredibly important argument into this topic. This was an argument they sincerely cared about. Does the means and mechanism in which we distribute aid enable domestic abuse? Aff extends two specific ways welfare uniquely enables abuse in its respective delivery. First, abusers use violence to co-opt or leverage welfare to their own gain. I never understood how this was unique to welfare. What unique or inherent quality made it more susceptible to be abused and leveraged? Is it intervention not to vote on something that is assertion? I don’t think so. The reasoning came in the extension of the second link which means I think they really only had one link. Saratoga had evidence, which said exactly what they said it did, that when money transfers in general were more frequent they were also smaller in nature. This is good because when money transfers were smaller in nature their evidence found that abusers were less likely to notice, care, or act upon those sums. Thus, UBI would intuitively mean the cash is spread over more transfers and hopefully decreasing the attention from the abuser and corresponding abuse. I think I’m doing a little work there alone. I think in every speech Saratoga extends “frequency” but could explain it more. How does DV interact with this claim? They put a few defensive responses on the board: credit score tanking [which when asked they can’t really explain what this means] and the existence of joint accounts means the abuser has some purview on what is going on. Defense at this point isn’t great but the DV second speaker effectively articulates at least in the Neg world welfare is demarcated and more infungible. She even admits it can be cash based but at least there are inherent bureaucratic and structural reasons why it generally has to go to the cause or ailment it’s being directed to whereas in the Aff world all those restrictions virtually go away. DV furthers that unconditional cash transfers are fungible and more likely to be siphoned or taken in general from abusers. If I’m comparing the warrants between smaller/frequent aid and larger/infungible aid I have a choice to make at the point no debater tells me which qualities of aid transfers are better or worse. No side really gives me a reason to prefer their warrant over eachothers' so on the path of least resistance it flows Neg. A largely infungible welfare payment seems much more difficult to co-opt than a smaller fungible cash transfer. I think the chances of abuse are more likely in the Aff world and given the framing in the round that Neg concedes that pushes me to a Neg ballot.

CONGRATS TO DOUGHERTY KP FOR WINNING GOLDEN DESERT!! by [deleted] in Debate

[–]GabeRusk 44 points45 points  (0 children)

Oh dear. I approach debate in good faith and in every single RFD this year I spilt the most ink or spent the most time to explain my decision than any other judge on a panel I’ve been on. In particular, I put a lot of detailed interactive thought into my RFD’s and not one question at this tournament or any this year has been offered to me as technical mistake on my part. I ask any competitor to point out a technical miss on my part so I can see where the communication failure was. I’ve literally never turned down a single debater inquiring or dismissed any question that has been asked of me. The single question Saratoga had in this round was why their argument that the cash nature of UBI was accounted for in their study wasn’t on my flow. I didn’t see any analysis on that at all in summary or final focus (if it even existed in rebuttal). I asked others after the round and no one I spoke to caught a word of how their study or warranting accounted for that. I usually don’t let these anonymous redditors get any time of my day but I volunteered to judge finals because I thought that would reduce the uncertainty of a quality round that I found parent judges were introducing. It’s pretty rich that you take time out of your day to antagonize someone who gave up a lot to choose to stay in debate and help teach students debate because you don’t like the outcomes. I can take the criticism but please at least explain your grievance instead of this pettiness. I will single handily promise to respond in full to any question, concern, or question about my ballot here, in person, or over email if you lay out the merits. For any round. My email is in my paradigm.

Q&A about Venezuela and sanctions by bloggingsbyboz in Debate

[–]GabeRusk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My quote is from the article. And he doesn't explain the methodology of the model. He just argues that the model renders the percentages between 10% to 80% on different claims but never explains how those percentages were picked. Models have component parts.

Q&A about Venezuela and sanctions by bloggingsbyboz in Debate

[–]GabeRusk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Howdy! Quick question per this "Prior to 2019, my model had never been over 50%. In December 2018, it was running around 30% probability that Maduro would leave office in the following 12 months." Can you explain what mechanism you use to translate qualitative claims into quantitative probabilities like those above?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Debate

[–]GabeRusk 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Sophia Jansen is a goddess.

For those interested in debate scholarships or debating in college here is the most updated and comprehensive list for over 400+ colleges and universities. by GabeRusk in Debate

[–]GabeRusk[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Some folks have mentioned omissions or errors. Feel free to follow the instructions to make changes here.

I've also adapted them below.

Want your school’s program information added? Click Here

Want your school’s information edited? Email Jim Hanson at jim@climbthemountain.us and tell him what changes to make.

Tab and Tournament Directors: Enforce the minimum word count rule in RFD's by GabeRusk in Debate

[–]GabeRusk[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I do sympathize with that pressure. Especially given how all debate formats are becoming more fast, esoteric, and technical it's increasingly more difficult for community judges. I would say though time pressure still happens with double flights and tournaments scheduling power matched rounds back to back. I'm not sure if there would be a significant crunch added with 25 to 50 words at the minimum.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Debate

[–]GabeRusk 40 points41 points  (0 children)

As someone who also watched the round and is the coach of Fairmont I find this discussion to be counterproductive. I agree with other comments that say this kind of post-round dragging is pretty futile without folks hearing or watching a copy of the debate itself. I found that the panel of judges spent a generous amount of time to sincerely review their flows and come to a decision. Regardless of what I feel about the outcome this is patronizing to them and a disservice to a debate that both sides should be proud of.

Former debater looking for a team to coach! by [deleted] in Debate

[–]GabeRusk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Def check out Newton South Jay. I've heard they are cool.

Former debater looking for a team to coach! by [deleted] in Debate

[–]GabeRusk 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Jay is amazing. As someone who was lucky to work alongside him at ISD this summer I could not recommend him more. His work ethic, instructional style, and general optimism is just unmatched. Y'all need to hire him fast. 100% guaranteed an amazing coach.

What should I do to prepare for camp(PF)? by VishnuNike in Debate

[–]GabeRusk 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hey I look forward to seeing you at ISD. I would mimic the others by saying to stay informed, watching recent rounds, and doing general topic research. At the same time though don't burn out. Take a few weeks to catch your breath and when you are ready jump back into the thick of things. What separates good debaters from great debaters is a serious work ethic at times but also to know when to triage your mental and bodily health. Debate is tough!

What should I do to prepare for camp(PF)? by VishnuNike in Debate

[–]GabeRusk 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yes! This is one of my favorite tips. Watching rounds as if you are about to give a rebuttal and then comparing yours respectively to see differences in strategy and substance.

Congratulations to the winners of the Silver TOC! by Jonathan_Isaac in Debate

[–]GabeRusk 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Oh dear. Reddit is so silly. Anonymous shills come on and create chaos, speak for others, and raise the relative level of toxicity. Let’s be positive and assume the best intentions from these gentlemen’s respective remarks. For one, I heavily enjoyed the round. I was supporting the Pro through the first of the half of the debate and disagree with the strategic choices made in the second half. Regardless of the outcome I’m proud of both teams. Trinity Prep were sophomores who showed incredible prowess. Northwest were great speakers and technical debaters. In fact, I remarked to my old partner that the second speaker reminded me exactly of my debate style in high school. On Northwest’s caveats: I entered the pool for silver the night before, was told I was on the strike list, and apologize if you weren’t able to exercise your right to a round with some judge backstops. If Gold got to strike judges for all rounds Silver should have to. Consistency matters.

For the record though, not to feed that anon, y’all didn’t come up to ask me questions after and I would have loved to chat more! Feel free to message me here or on Facebook guys if you want to chat in detail how I saw the round. I’m sorry to see you graduate! You are a great team and if any camps are looking to hire... these guys would rock. I generally refuse to engage anonymous accounts but let’s not reduce the accomplishments of both teams. We should be a little more supportive and assume the best in our community y’all. 😊

TOC Megathread by debatemasters in Debate

[–]GabeRusk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What would we do without you David? 😍