The Pro/Con Campus Debate and Community Forum program at The Ohio State University serves the educational mission of the department of communication and contributes to the intellectual life of the student body and the larger community by emphasizing the needs of the audience. Eschewing jargon and rhetorical tricks, the program encourages the…

In 1978-79 the Michigan Interscholastic Forensic Association adopted a three-part testing procedure to certify debate judges and make them eligible for officiating at district and state tournaments. The development and application of the procedure required a blending of debate principles and administration. Certification as a debate judge required…

Richard Whately's imprecise description of the concept "presumption" and the brevity of his treatment of it have led to confusion in applying the concept within the realm of argumentation. In proposing a theory to eliminate such confusion, it is argued that any dispute concerning the concept of presumption and its attendant burden of proof ("onus…

This paper argues that the judge who uses argumentation and logic as the sole criteria for determining the winner of an academic debate sees debate as an intellectual contest with speech being only an incidental element. A paradigm for judging is presented and discussed in terms of the following core concepts: analysis, investigation, evidence,…

The concept of inherency is an important issue in contemporary academic debate, although little attention has been paid to the underlying rationale behind its use. A review of the literature suggests that one purpose of inherency is to demonstrate that the cause of the problem that the affirmative position isolates is accurately described. A…

At the first annual Cal-State Hayward Conference in Rhetorical Criticism, upper division and graduate students from 12 colleges and universities presented papers on the theory, history, and criticism of rhetoric. A panel of faculty members, serving as editor-critics, judged the five papers in this volume as outstanding. The titles and authors of…

The points and counterpoints presented in this article highlight a few of the many issues that stand in the way of a fully organized, sustained approach to school programming for the gifted. ( Author/AM)

Examines the use of pretournament workshops and instruction packets as means of eliminating errors made by uninformed debate judges. Offers suggestions to judges which are intended to help them develop more articulate and educationally valuable student critiques. (Author/GEA)

Examines arguments used in three United Nations Security Council debates which contradict the conclusion that different nations use different argumentative forms and think differently. Finds that the nature of data and the relative emphasis on principle as a negotiating strategy were more characteristic factors. (MS)

Discusses the tradition of rhetorical theory and scholarship to sketch the chief characteristics of public communication. Suggests some implications for the study and criticism of contemporary media discourses of a rhetorical nature. (JK)

Three separate articles present advantages and disadvantages of microcomputer use in libraries and some guidelines for determining whether their use is appropriate. Highlights include potential of microcomputers for improving existing situations; merits of automation; health hazards posed by microcomputers; man-machine interface difficulties;…

Reviews the format, organization, presentation, grading, objectives and benefits of debate as used in an undergraduate sociology course. (JDH)

Discusses two problems in defining the requirements for policy advocacy in academic debate, namely the disputes over plan specificity and counterplan competitiveness. Argues for the priority of debatability over realism. (PD)

Using the historic debates as a case study, the author draws inferences about how and why conspiracy arguments become credible and concludes that Lincoln's achievement was strategic and tactical, reflecting an intuitive understanding of how political arguments involving moral questions are discussed in the public sphere. (PD)

Argues that hypothesis testing is an inadequate paradigm for evaluating academic debates because (1) defenders of hypothesis testing cannot meet the standards they impose on other arguers and (2) hypothesis testing does not achieve its goal of discovering probable truth. (PD)