1978-1979

Brent Stratton, Tim O'Connell and Cathy Tanasse

The Faculty Remy Wilcox, Director of Forensics JoAnne Rasmussen Instructor, Speech and Drama

Whitman News

A. North Hall opened.

B. ASWC president was Dave Hartsfield for fall semester and Kent Phillips for Spring semester.

C. College President was Robert A. Skotheim.

D. Chuck Drabek, Bob Carson, and John Desmond were all granted Tenure.

E. MECCA house was in planning.

Speech Courses

The department's course descriptions reflect a focus on diction and articulation and the debate course offers argumentation training.

Speech Department Description: Courses treat public speaking as a liberal art, proposing that such speaking is not a skill learned by rule but an exercise of judgment that can be no better than the speaker's understanding of the nature of the communicative acts.

SPEECH 11. Fundamentals of Speech, 3 hours. (description changes; 11 and 12 are focus more on delivery and articulation)

SPEECH 14. Fundamentals of Articulation and Diction, 3 hours. 

SPEECH 43, 44. Principles and Practice of Forensics, 1 hours (individual events), 2 hours (debate). 

World News

A. A great deal of attention was given to the US’s aiding South Africa in the Apartheid state

B. A Boeing 727 crashed head-on with a student pilot’s rented plane; nearly 150 died

Team Awards

Taken from notes Remy Wilcox wrote:

1978-79

Students did well in CEDA. First year to focus on it.

13' and 3rd at Lower Columbia, 2nd and 3rd at Boise, 2nd at Pacific, quarterfinalists at U of 0.

Karen Wishart was named I't place debate speaker and Joel Carlson 3d place at the U of 0 tournament. Other CEDA winning debaters were Brent Stratton, Steve Daniels, Chuck Harwood, Bob Bowyer, Chris Johnson, John Leitch, Don Taylor, Todd Lewis, Dick Doidge

We won I' in sweepstakes at Lower Columbia, 2nd at Boise and again won a Superior in sweepstakes at the Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament at St. Louis. (We were the smallest squad and the only school west of the Rockies to get a superior.)

Other Superiors at Nationals were Tim O'Connell in Oratory with the best individual score, Brent Stratton in Discussion and David Hartsfield in Interp.

Excellents were won by Cathy Tanasse in Interp, Brent Stratton in Oratory and Karen Wishart in Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Individual winners throughout the year were Tim O'Connell in Oratory and ADS, Brent Stratton in Oratory and Impromptu and Dave Hartsfield in Interp.

A. At the R. D. Mahaffey Memorial Debate Tournament at Linfield College, Dave Hartsfield finished third in Oral interpretation, and Tim O’Connell finished first in After Dinner Speaking.

B. November was a busy month for the debate team; at Pacific University, Chris Eckman and Dick Doidge finished first in NDT. Joel Carlson and Chuck Harwood finished second in CEDA. In Individual Events, Brent Stratton finished first in Oratory, Cathy Tanasse was a finalist in Interpretation and Eckman was a finalist in Extemporaneous. At Southern Idaho, Tim O’Connell finished first in oratory and third in After Dinner Speaking. Lori Perry was a finalist in interpretation. In the last tournament of the first semester, at the University of Oregon, the team finished fourth out of 22 schools. Quarterfinalists in debate, Karen Wishart and Joel Carlson won first and third speakers, respectably. Brent Stratton and Steve Daniels also made it to quarterfinals. Chris Eckman and Dick Doidge finished third in junior division, while Bob Bowyer and Chris Johnson placed first in Novice. Individual Events had Stratton finishing second in oral interpretation, Doug Miller a finalist in Oratory, and Tim O’Connell an extemporaneous finalist.

C. The second semester began with a tournament at Boise State in February. In value debate, Check Harwood and Joel Carlson finished second and John Leitch and Don Taylor finished third. Brent Stratton placed second in Impromptu; Tim O’Connell finished fourth in ADS and Extemporaneous. While Lauri Perry was a finalist in Prose. Cathy Tanasse and Dave Hartsfield also were semi-finalists in prose.

D. At the Lower Columbia tournament, Whitman finished first. Bob Bowyer and Chris Johnson placed first in values while the two Whitman teams of Dick Doidge and Todd Lewis, and Don Taylor and Steve Daniels tied for third in value debate. In oratory speaking, Allen Weymiller finished second while Jenny Falk finished fourth and Mertie Duncan was a finalist.

E. At the prestigious Pi Kappa Delta tournament in St. Louis, Whitman won a “superior” rating, placing them amongst the top 10% of teams in the country. Dave Hartsfield won a “superior” in Prose Interpretation and an “excellent” in poetry interpretation, while Tim O’Connell won a “superior” in oratory and a “good” in ADS and Extemporaneous. Brent Stratton won a “superior” in discussion and an “excellent” in oratory. Karen Wishart won an “excellent” in Lincoln Douglas while Cathy Tanasse won an “excellent” in prose and a “good” in poetry.

Joseph Urlacher wrote to Jim sometime in 2001: “Bill Baxter and Joe Urlacher never won (maybe ran) a debate but we competed in several tournaments. I am heartened by all of the success since that time at Whitman. Quote of wisdom: “One of the great steps towards universal peace would be the establishment of a universal language.” Abdu’/-Baha”