1A: First affirmative speaker. Add C for constructive or R for rebuttal.

2A: Second affirmative speaker. Add C for constructive or R for rebuttal.

1N: First negative speaker. Add C for constructive or R for rebuttal.

2N: Second negative speaker. Add C for constructive or R for rebuttal.

AR: Allen Rumsey House.

Chihote (hee HO tay): A device consisting of surgical tubing and a kneepad for propelling water balloons great distances.

Co-ed: 1) n. female student. 2) adj. containing both male and female students. In this period no house was co-ed, but some dorms (e.g., South Quad) were.

Constructive: Ten-minute speech.

Drop: In debate, to miss or neglect an argument made by the other team.

Flowing: Taking notes (including planned responses to an opponent’s arguments) in a debate. The sheet(s) of paper is called a flow or flow sheet.

House: Smallest unit of dorms at Michigan. Quads had 6-10 houses.

IM: Intramural sports. At Michigan the competition was separated between frat houses and dorms.

MISL: Michigan Intercollegiate Speech League—all colleges in Michigan

NDT: National Debate Tournament held in March every year.

RA: Resident Adviser: one per floor in a dorm.

RD: Resident Director: one per house in a dorm.

Rebuttal: Five-minute speech for advancing, refuting, and summarizing arguments. No new arguments are allowed in the rebuttals.

Resolution: The topic being debated. The same resolution is debated all year. The ones for 1966-1970 were:
1966-1967 RESOLVED: “That the United States should substantially reduce its foreign policy commitments.”
1967-1968 RESOLVED: “That the federal government should guarantee a minimum annual cash income to all citizens.”
1968-1969 RESOLVED: “That executive control of United States foreign policy should be significantly curtailed.”
1969-1970 RESOLVED: “That the federal government should grant annually a specific percentage of its income tax revenue to the state governments.”

Spread: To present an inordinately large number of arguments, sometimes with the intention of dropping some later. If the opponent does not mention an argument, it can be claimed as valid by the team that made it. Spreading can be done by talking fast or using economy of language. The best debaters do both.

SQ: South Quad.

Topicality: The issue in a debate as to whether the affirmative’s plan is a legitimate interpretation of the debate resolution.

U-M: University of Michigan

WQ: West Quad.