1958-1959

The Yearbook said . First row, left to right: Nancy Poesnecker, Marilyn Miner, Byron Ehle. Second row, left to right: Pat Smith, Steve Pollock, Doug Flegel, Ted Meckstroth. Faring successfully at Columbia Basin Junior College, Pacific Lutheran, Washington State, University of Idaho, and Linfield tournaments, the Whitman Varsity Debate squad brought home a grand total of one first, seven seconds, and three thirds in debate and a first and two seconds in the individual events. Concluding the year, the varsity team was the host to University of Idaho and Washington State College at the triangular meet here.

The Faculty Dean McSloy, Director of Forensics Byron Elhe was president of the forensic honorary, Pi Kappa Delta. Arlene DuMond Assistant Professor, Speech B.F.A., M.F.A., Carnegie Institute of Technology

Whitman News

A. The college added 6 new professors to the faculty.

1. In the division of arts and letters Richard I. Sikora, assistant professor of philosophy; and David J. Hanson, instructor of english were added.

2. New to the division of social sciences were William R. Jensen, instructor of education; and Donald R. Connell, instructor of economics.

3. The science division added David L. Frasco, assistant professor of chemistry; and Douglas H. Underwood, assistant professor of mathematics to their staff..

B. Mike Wymer was the student body president.

C. Chester C. Maxey was college president, before retiring after ten years of the presidency in June.

D. Several construction activities were underway. The theater was being expanded after fire destroyed much of the original structure. Lyman House was repainted and decorated inside, and maintenance touchups were given to nearly every building.

E. Whitman College celebrates the centennial anniversary of the original charter of Whitman seminary as an institution of higher learning.

F. The Whitman Pioneer ran ads for Viceroy and L&M cigarettes, and West Coast Airlines.

Intramural Debate Kappa Alpha Theta and Phi Delta Theta were this year's winners of the women's and men's divisions of intramural debate. Susan Vickery and Betty Martin, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Packard Phillips and Jeff Horton, Phi Delta Theta, were the winning team members. Byron Ehle directed the outstanding intramural teams from which the Junior Varsity members were chosen and Dean F. McSloy advised the groups. The forensic activities offer a healthy opportunity for group rivalry, besides stimulating an interest in debate.

Speech Major and Courses THE MAJOR: Thirteen hours selected from courses in speech; Dramatic Art 47, 48; twelve hours selected from English 25, 26, 35, 36, 39, 40, 75, 76, 79, 80; three hours selected from History 27, 28, 57, 58, 61, 62, 64. Of the total of thirty-six hours, eighteen must be in courses numbered above 50. Advised: As much additional work in dramatic art as time permits. SPEECH 11, 12. Fundamentals of Speech, 3 hours. SPEECH 41. Theory and Practice of Discussion, 3 hours. SPEECH 42. Argumentation and Persuasion, 3 hours. SPEECH 43, 44. Principles and Practice of Debate, 2hours. SPEECH 51. Business and Professional Speech, 3 hours. SPEECH 53. Introduction to Radio and Television, 3 hours. SPEECH 72. Radio Production and Direction, 3 hours. SPEECH 78. Oral Interpretation, 3 hours. SPEECH 80. Voice Science and Phonetics, 3 hours. SPEECH 81. Introduction to Speech Correction, 3 hours. SPEECH 82. Problems in Speech Correction, 2 or 3 hours SPEECH 85, 86. Senior Honors Course, 3 hours.

World News

A. Alaska becomes the 49^th state in the Union.

B. The Supreme Court ordered Little Rock School District, in Arkansas, to proceed with desegregation of their facilities. The National Guard is called in to keep peace at the Little Rock High School.

C. Transcontinental commercial jet airline service began. British Overseas Airways Corp, offered services from New York to London. The flight required a refueling stop in Newfoundland.

D. “The Hungarian Communist regime executed Imry Nagy, the leader of the Hungarian revolution of 1956.”

E. Nassar successfully negotiated the merger of Egypt and Syria into the United Arab Republic (but the merger only lasted until 1961).

F. The US launched its first satellite “Explorer I” into orbit around the earth – one year after the Soviets had successfully launched their satellite “Sputnik.”

G. “Pan Am introduced 707 trans-Atlantic jet services.”

H. “The F-4 Phantom was unveiled by McDonnell-Douglas” and soon became the “backbone of the US Airforce.”

I. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, was established.

J. “An earthquake in Alaska triggers the largest tsunami on record. The wave washes 500 meters up a mountain.”

K. “Batista flees as rebels under Fidel Castro advance toward Havana.”

Team Awards

A.     The topic of debate for both intercollegiate and intramural competition was "Resolved: That the further development of nuclear weapons should be prohibited by International Agreement."

B.     In the intramural competition, Betty Martin and Sue Vickery, of Kappa Alpha Theta, and Jeff Horton and Packy Phillips, of Phi Delta Theta, won their respective divisions. Byron Elhe was the IM coordinator.

C.     Several Whitman debaters gave demonstration debates to high school students at Walla Walla High School and the world forum at the Pioneer Methodist Church.

D.     Intercollegiate debate

1.      At the Columbia Basin Junior Varsity Debate Tournament, Steve Pollack and Jack Martin tied for 1^st place in debate with a record of 5 wins and 1 loss. Nancy Poesnecker and Marilyn Miner placed 2^nd in their division. John Gatzke placed 2^nd in oratory.

2.      The Pacific Lutheran College invitational speech tournament brought Whitman more honors, from John Gatzke placing 1^st in oratory and Steve Pollack placing 2^nd in junior debate with a 5-1 record. As a whole, the team had a 66% win ratio. The field of competition was large, with 267 students from 18 schools competing.

3.      Ten Whitties traveled to the Washington State College debate tournament. The teams of Steve Pollack and Jack Martin, and Dennis O'Brien and Byron Elhe tied for second in senior men's debate, with records of 5-1. Jerry Riess and Ted Meckstroth placed 2^nd in junior men's debate. The team's record overall was 23 wins and 7 losses.

4.      At the University of Idaho tournament, the teams of Ted Meckstroth and John Martin, and Betty Martin and Margo Fellman tied for 2^nd in the junior varsity competition. Both teams had 5 wins and 1 loss.

5.      In a field of 500 students, The Linfield Tournament of Champions brought 2^nd place honors to Dennis O'Brien and Byron Elhe, with a debate record of 6 and 2. Cliff Fletcher placed 2^nd in men's interview, and Dennis O'Brien received 3^rd in Lincoln-Douglas debate. Every Whitman debater had a trying or winning record at the tournament.

6. Dennis O'Brien and Byron Elhe were one of 3 teams from the Northwest invited to participate at the National Debate Tournament, held at West Point in New York. After fundraising help from many campus groups, the team was able to attend. They received speaking rankings of "excellent," the second-highest category, but in the debates themselves, only won 2 of 8 rounds.

7.      Whitman ended the year winning the Triangular tournament, held at Whitman. The team was tied with the University of Idaho, but won on the coin flip. Whitman standouts included Ted Meckstroth and John Martin.

E.      Award totals for the season in debate were: one 1^st, seven 2^nd places, and three 3^rd places. In individual events, one 1^st and two 2^nds were won.

F.   Chester Maxey Award in Intercollegiate Forensics is given annually to a student who has shown distinguished achievement in intercollegiate forensics.

Janet Halton-Ames wrote Jim sometime in 2001: “It was a wonderful experience for me.”