1948-1949

Speech Department splits from English Whitman College Pioneer Sept. 17, 1948 English Department Now in Three Fields This year the English department has been divided into three major fields of concentration. These three fields are: (1) Drama, (2) Speech, and (3) Language and Literature. This will enable students wishing to concentrate in certain fields to do so, rather than major in English as a whole. Freshman English is not included in any of the major divisions.

The Faculty Lloyd Robert Newcomer, A.M. Assistant Professor of English; Northern Illinois State Teachers College; Iowa University; A.B. University of Wyoming; A.M., University of Southern California. Joins the faculty in 1946. He resigned May, 1951. William Owen Pugh, A.M., Instructor in English, A.B., Whitman College; State University of Iowa; A.M., College of the Pacific; joins the faculty in 1946; teaches speech courses Howells McGeehan Reese Frederick James Hunter, A.M. Assistant Professor of English; Los Angeles City College; A.B. University of California; A.M., University of North Carolina; joins the faculty in 1946; teaches drama courses

Whitman News

1. Whitman College in 1948-1949

A. The college added 11 new professors to the faculty.

1. In the division of arts and letters: Rodney Alexander, instructor in Drama; Manual Lopez, associate professor of Spanish; Florence Nesbit, Art appreciation; Dr. Judith Perlzweigh, assistant professor in Classics, and Eugene Meiners, instructor in Art.

2. The division of social sciences added: Dr. Paul Arnolds-Patron, associate professor of Economics; and Edward Watson, instructor in Political Science.

3. The science division received Dr. Newton Gray, associate professor of Physics, and Winston Backstrand, instructor in Physics.

4. D. A. Lingenburg was hired as assistant professor of physical education for men.

5. Miss Elisabeth Chambers was hired as Director of Women's Affairs.

B. Robert "Pete" Reid was the student body president.

C. Winslow A. Anderson was the college president.

D. Lloyd R. Newcomer was the debate coach.

E. Mrs. R. B. Bragg helped coach the debate team.

Prizes awarded at this time

The John Brining Prizes in Extemporaneous Speaking of &12.50 each are awarded to the best man and woman speakers in a speaking contest that is open to all members of the freshman class.

The Delta Gamma Reading Prizes of $25, $15, and $10 are awarded at Commencement to the students who read during the year with intelligence and appreciation the largest amount of good literature, apart from their required college work.

The Dovell-Gose Prizes in Oratory of $30 and $20 are awarded at Commencement to students upon the basis of a contest in oratory. The contest is open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

The Austin Rice Debate Trophy is awarded to the champion women's intramural debate team.

The John W. Ackley Debate Trophy is awarded to the champion men's intramural debate team.

The Hugh Elmer Brown Debate Trophy is awarded to the man who is adjudged to be the best intramural debater.

Department News The department is born as Speech separates from the English department. Classes are renumbered and advanced radio and speech correction courses are added. The basic course emphasizes the foundations of the department.

Speech Courses SPEECH 1 or 2. Fundamentals of Speaking. The course emphasized voice and diction, public speaking, and interpretation. SPEECH 28. Voice and Phonetics. SPEECH 41. Argumentation and Debate. SPEECH 42. Theory and Practice of Discussion. SPEECH 53. Introduction to Radio Speech. SPEECH 54. Radio Speech SPEECH 56: Public Speaking. SPEECH 74: Advanced Radio Speech SPEECH 75 and 76: Advanced Public Speaking (debaters were advised to take this course) SPEECH 81. Introduction to Speech Correction. SPEECH 82. Problems in Speech Correction.

World News

II. In the world

A. In the U.S., the recession following the war is declared over.

B. The Cold War intensifies, as tensions between democracy and communism arise.

C. The Soviets explode an atomic bomb, ending the United States' monopoly of the weapon.

D. The rise of communism in China is closely watched by the U.S.

E. “In a bloodless coup, the Communists seized control of Czechoslovakia.”

F. A civil war begins in Costa Rica.

G. “Soviets recall advisors from Yugoslavia.”

H. “Soviets imposed a blockade on Berlin.”

I. “The Pan American Conference, held in Bogotá, established the OAS as the United Nations' regional grouping for North and South America.”

J. “On May 14, as the British Mandate was ending, the Jews of Palestine declared themselves independent.”

K. “After being a supporter of the rights of the Jews to create an independent state, President Truman extended American recognition” of Israel.

L. “South Africa embraces Apartheid.”

M. “On October 30th, Nationalist troops were defeated in Manchuria after the Communists captured the city of Mukden.”

N. “Edwin Land developed the first instant camera that developed photos on the spot.”

Team Awards

III. At Whitman College

A. The new Student Union Building is open for the start of the school year.

B. Nov. 13, 1948. Whitman College President Winslow Anderson dies after a lengthy viral illness. He had been President at Whitman for 5 years. He was succeeded by Chester Maxey, a 1912 graduate of Whitman, and a political science professor at the school since 1925.

C. Greek organizations debated the merits of a delayed rush instead of rushing in the opening week of the Fall semester.

D. The Pioneer ran ads for Chesterfield cigarettes, the U.S. Airforce, and Union Pacific Railroad.

IV. Debate at Whitman

A. The English Department splits its degree into three areas of emphasis, Drama, Speech, and Language and Literature, allowing students to pick an area of emphasis.

B. The Radio Speech and Advanced Public Speaking classes presented a biweekly, half hour radio show, entitled "The Voice of Whitman"

C. The debate topic for the year, in both intercollegiat and intramural debate was "Resolved: That the United States abandon free economy in favor of price controls."

D. Shirley McCartney was the IM debate manager. The Tri Delts won the women's competition, and the Phi Delts won the men's division.

E. Intercollegiate debate

1. Coach Newcomer held a forensic institute at Whitman, inviting college and high school coaches from around the Northwest. Topics of discussion include unifying debate rules, agreeing on one type of ballot, and deciding goals for judges.

2. 33 students attend the 14^th annual Western Student Speech Conference in Seattle, competing in a field of 400.

3. At the Western Speech Association forensic meet, 16 Whitties reached the finals, and 9 placed.

4. Bettymae Sperry Anderson wrote to tell us: There were several hundred participants that year, and I remember how proud I was to win 2nd place in Interpretive Reading, an individual event. I was in first place until the finals on the 3rd day. No one told me that I could not read the same poetry as I had in previous rounds, and the judges told me that I would have placed first except for that fact. It was the first year that event was included, and I was terrified at competing against "big time schools" like Stanford, U.S. Berkeley, U. of WA, and many others. I was so proud to take the silver cup back to Walla Walla. (Actually, I never did see the cup, but I was told that it would go to Whitman).
I hope it did. My advisor was Rod Alexander, who had just come to Whitman to teach Theater and Speech.

5. 16 students were going to attend the Linfield's 19th annual tournament in February, when they were forced to cancel due to bad road conditions.

6. Whitman College hosts the 25^th annual Pacific States Forensic meet in April. Men from 12 colleges debated the topic "By what means can we deal with the problem of monopoly." Gorden James placed 1^st in extemporaneous speaking, and Ernie Miller placed 3^rd in the oratorical competition.

7. Students attended the Invitational at the University of Montana to make up for missing Linfield.

F. Charles Chalfint was president of Delta Sigma Rho, and members included Shirley McCartney and Liz Franklin.