December 5, 2003 Highlights
Utah
State Wright Flyer to be Featured on History Channel
  The
Utah State University Wright Flyer will be featured on The History
Channel's The Wright Challenge, Tuesday, Dec. 9 at
7 p.m. MST.
The show follows four teams from around the country when they
take up the challenge to build and fly replicas of the 1903
Wright Flyer to commemorate 100 years of flight.
"This show is an adventure story," said Rick Beyer,
producer of The Wright Challenge and owner of Smash Entertainment.
"The most exciting part is the viewer gets to go on the
same adventures as these people who are building these planes.
It is exciting to watch and figure out which team to root for
and see how it will work out in the end."
The USU Wright Flyer story is a large portion of the special,
as the audience anticipates whether the Utah State team has
the “Wright stuff” to get its flyer off the ground.
The documentary follows the Utah State team’s failures
and successes.
To learn more about the History Channel special, see http://www.historychannel.com/wright/teams.html
Mitten
Tree Project Keeps Kids Bundled Up
 Phyllis
Hall, wife of Utah State President Kermit L. Hall, read stories
with a group of about 30 children from the Children’s
House Tuesday as part of the Women’s Center Advisory Board’s
“Mitten Tree” project, where new mittens, hats,
scarves and socks are donated from the community to the Head
Start and Child and Family Support Center.
The mitten tree project, which began in 1988, has since been
supported extensively in the community.
“This story time is a special treat for the children
and will certainly enhance the mitten tree project,” said
Janet Osborne, director of the Women’s Center. “We
are excited to have Phyllis’ support in such an important
tradition at Utah State.”
At the end of story time, the children enjoyed treats and each
child was given a pair of mittens to take home. Hall read from
two small story books: “The Old Man’s Mitten,”
a traditional tale retold by Yevonne Pollock, and “The
Mitten Tree,” by Candace Christiansen.
The mitten project will collect items through Dec. 9. Those
interested in donating to the project can contact the Women’s
Center at (435) 797-1729.
Speech
and Debate Returns to Utah State University after 20 Years
 Speech
and debate has returned to Utah State University after a 20-year
hiatus and team members are back in winning action at tournaments.
The club has 37 members and has already successfully competed
in one tournament at Northwest College in Wyoming. Utah State
finished fourth in the debate competition and sixth overall
in a competition against much more experienced teams from around
the West.
“I am extremely proud of how well the team performed,
especially given the fact that many of the other teams have
years of tournament experience,” said Tom Worthen, coach
of the team and a faculty member in the department of languages
and philosophy. “This is a good feather in the university’s
cap.”
Worthen said he hopes to rekindle interest in the speech and
debate team.
“The speech and debate team is a wonderful outlet that
polishes students as speakers and as individuals,” Worthen
said.
Utah State University is the only university in Utah that does
not have a university funded speech and debate team, with most
of the other universities providing class periods and scholarships
to accommodate the program. Worthen said that, in general, students
who participate in speech and debate have higher GPA and ACT
scores.
The speech and debate program at Utah State was discontinued
in 1983 after budget constraints could no longer support the
program. The department of languages and philosophy funded the
program prior to 1983 as a university club. Worthen coached
the last Utah State team as a graduate student. He returned
to the university in 1997, and as a current faculty member volunteered
to take on the challenge of reviving the club.
Due to budget constraints, only seven members could attend
and compete in the Wyoming tournament. Tournaments consist of
two categories — parliamentary debate and speech. In the
speech category, students can compete in a variety of categories
ranging from literature to public events.
Utah State donated the use of a van to the team but the rest
of the cost of the tournament was donated by Worthen. Worthen
said donating his time as a coach and covering the cost of the
first tournament out of his pocket was a way to show the department
the value and capabilities of a speech and debate team.
For more information about the Utah State University Speech
and Debate Team or to find out how to provide support to continue
the program, contact Worthen at (435) 994-0023, or John Seiter
of the department of languages and philosophy at jsseiter@cc.usu.edu
or (435) 797-0138.
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